MLB trade rumors and news: Mariners acquire Tyler Anderson

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• Tuesday was the biggest trading day of the season, and it should only get busier from here. Lefty Tyler Anderson thought he was going from the Pirates to the Phillies early in the day, but the deal fell through, apparently due to a medical concern with one of the prospects who was set to go to the Pirates: right-hander Cristian Hernandez and catcher Abrahan Gutierrez. Late Tuesday night, the Pirates pivoted and dealt Anderson to the Mariners for minor league catcher Carter Bins and Joaquin Tejeda. It’s a deal that Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto apparently believes will soothe Mariners fans and players after he traded his closer while the team was one game out of a playoff spot on Tuesday.
• The Anderson deal was Seattle’s second of the day. Before a matchup with the division rival Astros, one night after they came back from a 7-0 deficit to beat Houston 11-8 and pull within a game of a wild card spot, the Mariners dealt star closer Kendall Graveman and recently DFA’d right-hander Rafael Montero to the Astros for infielder Abraham Toro and veteran sidearmer Joe Smith. Mariners players expressed major displeasure at the move, with several crying, one going postal in the clubhouse, and a few anonymously ripping the front office to the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish. With Seattle still within reach of a playoff spot, it should be interesting to see what they do Friday.
• For a few fleeting moments on Tuesday evening, many fans and media members believed that All-Star shortstop Trea Turner, a frequently discussed trade candidate in recent days, had been traded after he exited in the first inning of the Nationals’ matchup with the Phillies. As it turns out, he exited for a much more familiar and disheartening reason — because he tested positive for COVID-19. It shouldn’t affect his trade value if Washington wants to move him, but now Turner almost certainly won’t get back on the field until after the deadline.
• The Reds took two veteran relievers off the Yankees’ hands late Tuesday night, acquiring lefty Justin Wilson and righty Luis Cessa from New York in exchange for a player to be named later. Neither is a surefire solution to the Reds’ bullpen woes, but Cincinnati will take a wild guess and see if they can improve a relief corps that ranks last in the majors in ERA.
• The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the Nationals are increasingly eager to get a Max Scherzer trade done, with the eight-time All-Star hoping to be dealt to the Giants, Dodgers, or Padres.
• The Padres have acquired Adam Frazier from Pirates. Infielder Tucupita Marcano, who ranked fifth among San Diego’s prospects in the MLB Pipeline rankings, headlines a three-player package going to Pittsburgh.
• The Mets have officially done something! On Friday they acquired Rich Hill from the Rays in a deal that also relived them of injured pitcher Tommy Hunter and Double-A catcher Matt Dyer.
• It’s finally happening: the Cleveland Indians are set to become the Cleveland Guardians next season.
• Tax Payroll: Trade Deadline Edition.
• The have Rays acquire Nelson Cruz from Twins, along with minor league pitcher Calvin Faucher. In exchange, Minnesota receives pitching prospects Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman.
• José Berríos wants to get paid. The Twins better do it.
• The Giants are “one of the key teams to watch” if Marlins center fielder Starling Marte is dealt before the deadline, per Craig Mish and Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. Marte’s numbers are roughly equivalent to those of Giants center fielder Steven Duggar, so he wouldn’t appear to provide a transformative upgrade. But if the asking price for the pending free agent is mild enough that San Francisco can acquire him as a right-handed hitting platoon option, perhaps there will be interest.
• While the Marlins weren’t going anywhere this season, they clearly have formed an exciting young core of players that should be competitive in the National League East in the coming years who are fun to watch even now. Unfortunately, a chunk of that young core appear to be set to miss some time as Jazz Chisholm and Garrett Cooper hit the injured list after getting hurt in the exact same game.
• Mets fans, don’t look: Jacob deGrom has hit the injured list with forearm tightness. New York has made it very clear that the time table on this injury is flexible, and deGrom won’t throw until that tightness has subsided. I don’t think I need to tell you how devastating this is for the Mets. Doctors are still doing tests to get to the root of what’s causing this.
• The White Sox have signed Lance Lynn to a two-year, $38 million extension with a club option for 2024. In ten seasons, Lynn has been a solid rotation staple, but this season feels like the comeback most players only dream of. So far in 2021, the veteran is hurling a 1.99 ERA with 105 strikeouts, and only 31 walks over 90.2 innings. Talk about getting your money’s worth.
• The Braves’ outfield has been ravaged by injuries and/or legal issues this season. With prospects Drew Waters and Cristian Pache still getting work in the minor leagues, the Braves decided to make a move to shore that unit up as they acquired Joc Pederson from the Cubs for 1B prospect Bryce Ball.
• But the Braves weren’t done wheeling and dealing quite yet. They then acquired Stephen Vogt from the Diamondbacks, securing another strong leadership presence in the dugout. In return, Atlanta will send 25-year-old first base prospect Mason Berne to Arizona.
• Shohei Ohtani threw a perfect first inning to earn the win and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit an absolute moonshot in the third inning as the American League earned its eight straight All-Star victory in last week’s Midsummer Classic. The 22-year-old Guerrero, who had two RBI, became the youngest player ever to earn All-Star MVP honors.
• Encouraging news for baseball fans who don’t like the major rule changes instituted over the last two seasons: Rob Manfred says that seven-inning doubleheaders and the runner-on-second rule in extra innings are unlikely to survive beyond the 2021 season, with Manfred saying those changes were instituted for the purpose of limiting time at the ballpark during the COVID-19 pandemic — something that isn’t expected to be a factor in future seasons.
• In what turned out to be a really great Home Run Derby with multiple mini-storylines, the final came down to Trey Mancini vs. reigning champ Pete Alonso. When Mancini put up an astonishing 22 home runs in the final round, it looked like it very possible that the cancer survivor would take home the hardware in an upset. However, Alonso flipped a switch and took home the win with 23 home runs (despite his BP pitcher hitting him with a pitch).
• Amidst the draft still going on and the All-Star festivities, MLB announced that over the course of the next decade, they are going to donate up to $150 million to the Players’ Alliance. The Players’ Alliance is an organization that seeks to increase the amount of representation and access for Black people to the sport of baseball. Count us among those that say well done, MLB...but there is a lot of work to do.
• To say that the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft was a wild one may be a bit of an understatement, as mock drafts were blown up within the first five picks. That started with the number one overall pick as Henry Davis was chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates in a bit of an upset.
• In devastating news for Braves fans, Ronald Acuña Jr. was injured when trying to make a play on a fly ball. None of the aftermath looked good as Acuña was unable to finish leaving the field and had to be carted off with an apparent knee injury. Sadly, he did not escape major injury this time as it was confirmed that he completely tore his ACL and will miss the remainder of the season.
• Trevor Bauer remains under investigation after being accused of sexual assault, and to allow time for that investigation to complete, his administrative leave was extended by another seven days. If the investigation is not completed by then, the notion of an indefinite suspension is most definitely on the table.
• White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal will miss 4-6 weeks with a torn tendon in his left knee.
• Sixto Sanchez came into the 2021 season as a guy who was on most people’s shortlists of guys that could win National League Rookie of the Year. Unfortunately, the injury bug bit him and instead of trying to help the Marlins climb out of the cellar of the NL East, he is going to miss the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
• The Blue Jays are determined to reach the playoffs for a second straight season, and they boosted their roster by acquiring sidearming reliever Adam Cimber and currently injured outfielder Corey Dickerson from the Marlins in exchange for veteran utility player Joe Panik and relief prospect Andrew McInvale.
• Braves starter Mike Soroka has re-ruptured his Achilles and will not pitch again in 2021. After making three starts in 2020, he tore his Achilles. He hadn’t pitched since then. Soroka looked like he’d be the Braves’ ace for years to come after going 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and .236 OBA in 2019, but now his future is extremely uncertain.
• Rays ace Tyler Glasnow’s season is in jeopardy after he suffered a partially torn UCL and flexor strain in his right arm. He’ll initially try to rehab the injuries rather than immediately opting for Tommy John surgery. In an interesting crossover with the biggest story being discussed around baseball right now, Glasnow said MLB’s crackdown on foreign substances contributed to his injury, as he stopped using a mixture of sunscreen and rosin, and as a result he began gripping the baseball so hard that he injured his elbow.
• A lot has been made in recent weeks about the proliferation of foreign substances used primarily (but certainly not exclusively) by pitchers to get better grip on balls to have better command as well as to generate greater spin. It has been clear that MLB was going to crack down on the practice and now it looks like it has landed on its chosen punishment, as it was announced that players found to be using such substances will receive a 10-game paid suspension.