Mining the News (10/20/25)

Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

American League

Angels

Astros

• The team signed Nate Pearson:

Nate Pearson to sign a 1-year deal with the Astros, per Chandler Rome.The team plans to use him as a starter.

— MLB Daily News (@fantasymlbnews.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T19:47:15.600Z

Athletics

• After missing all of 2025, Luis Medina will be healthy at the start of Spring Training.

This puts him on track to be healthy for Spring Training, where the A’s will determine whether Medina and his high-90s fastball are best suited for a starting or relief role.

“There’ll be some limitation next season on the innings,” Kotsay said. “That’ll be a conversation we have going forward as to where he can impact our club. He’s done the starting pitching for us. He’s also pitched out of the bullpen. We’ll have to see where we feel he can have the biggest impact for our club.”

A quick refresh on Medina, he threw a 96-mph fastball, has two good secondaries (slider and curve) with a 16% SwStr% or higher, and has a huge problem throwing strikes (4.5 BB/9, 1.58 WHIP).

• Brett Harris had surgery on his thumb.

Harris, who performed well in his limited big league time this year by batting .274 in 32 games while also providing strong defense at third, underwent left thumb surgery in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The A’s expect him to be ready for Spring Training, where he could find himself in a battle for the third base job.

Guardians

• After some minor league coaching, Joey Cantillo focused on throwing more strikes.

Cantillo opened the season in the bullpen and was optioned to Triple-A Columbus twice, including on Aug. 17 as Cleveland challenged him to attack the strike zone more frequently. He was recalled on Sept. 3 and recorded a 1.55 ERA in five starts after.

He dropped his walk rate from 4.9 BB/9 before the demotion to 1.9 BB/9 after it.

Yankees

• Carlos Rodón had surgery on his elbow to remove bone pieces and will start the season on the IL.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced at the club’s postmortem news conference that Rodón underwent a scope of his left elbow on Wednesday to remove some loose bodies and to shave down a bone spur. Rodón won’t be able to throw for the next eight weeks. Factoring in his throwing program to ramp up into a starting pitcher’s workload, he won’t be ready for Opening Day, March 25 at the San Francisco Giants.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Rodón will start the season on the injured list, and it’s hoped the left-hander is ready in April or early May, as long as he doesn’t experience any setbacks with his recovery.

• Gerrit Cole will be ready to throw sometime after Opening Day.

They hope Cole can be ready to pitch in the big leagues “not too far” after Opening Day.

• Clarke Schmidt will not be available until the second half of next season.

Schmidt will not be an option for the big-league rotation until the second half of the season, if all goes well after he begins his throwing program in December.

• Anthony Volpe had shoulder surgery and won’t be ready to play by Opening Day.

Volpe underwent a left shoulder arthroscopic labral repair on Tuesday. He won’t be able to hit for four months, and he won’t be able to dive on his shoulder for six months. The hope is Volpe could start a rehab assignment in the minor leagues come Opening Day.

• While Giancarlo Stanton will not have surgery on his elbows, they are still bothering him and will need to continually treat them.

Giancarlo Stanton also doesn’t require any procedures to treat his double tennis elbow that forced the start of his season to be delayed. Stanton will continue treating his elbows over the offseason with rest and rehab.

National League

Cardinals

• Brendan Donovan (hernia repair), Iván Herrera (remove bone spur), and Lars Nootbaar (heel shaving) all had surgeries this offseason.

The #STLCards announced surgical procedures for three players:

Brendan Donovan had a sports hernia repair on Oct. 7.

Ivan Herrera had right elbow scope to remove bone spurring on Oct. 15.

Lars Nootbaar had surgery on both heels to shave down Haglund’s deformities on Oct. 7.

— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) October 17, 2025

Cubs

• Kevin Alcántara had surgery to repair his sports hernia.

OF Kevin Alcántara
Injury: Sports hernia
Expected return: 2026
Status: The Cubs announced that Alcántara underwent “successful surgery” to repair a sports hernia on Oct. 16.

Padres

• Nestor Cortes had surgery on his throwing arm and won’t be available until around the All-Star break.

On the heels of an injury-plagued season, Nestor Cortes announced on social media that he underwent surgery on his throwing arm. Francys Romero reports that the procedure repaired a tendon tear. Cortes, an impending free agent, is expected to resume baseball activities in nine or ten months.

That timeline indicates that the southpaw won’t resume throwing until around the All-Star Break. That raises doubts about his availability for next season. He’d need well over a month of batting practice and bullpen sessions before he’s ready to begin a rehab assignment.

• Yu Darvish may retire, may have surgery on his elbows, or may pitch through the pain. His future is unclear.

That Darvish even alluded to an impending decision was noteworthy. He has three years remaining on his contract. But his last few seasons have been injury-plagued, and it’s unclear whether Darvish is pondering retirement. If not, it’s unclear whether Darvish would need further steps to resolve the elbow issue that limited him to 15 starts this season.

• Top prospect (#49 overall) Ethan Salas is dealing with a stress reaction in his back.

Salas, the Padres’ top-ranked prospect, was initially part of the team’s Arizona Fall League roster. But he was removed from that roster just before the season was scheduled to start, while he continues to deal with a stress reaction in his back that forced him to miss nearly the entire season.

The top international prospect in the 2023 class — and, at one time, the best catching prospect in baseball — Salas’ stock has taken a hit because of the injury. Initially, the Padres forecasted a three-month absence, but it has lingered well beyond that.

Preller reiterated that the Padres are taking a cautious approach. It’s possible Salas could play winter ball, he said, but that’s not the priority.

“Ethan’s doing well, he’s starting to swing the bat, get into baseball activity,” Preller said. “It’s not really a setback. It’s just been us and our medical staff, our doctors, our specialists that we’ve talked to about Ethan, just understanding he’s 19 years old, and this is all about the next 10 years.”

Phillies

• The GM (or whatever title he made up for himself) mentioned Justin Crawford, Andrew Painter, and Aidan Miller along with …

Dombrowski also mentioned top prospects Justin Crawford, Andrew Painter and Aidan Miller as possible spring contributors — though not all will be Opening Day ready. Thomson echoed that enthusiasm: “I love young players because they bring energy — and the fan base loves watching them have success.”

… Otto Kemp and Gabriel Rincones Jr. as guys he hopes will contribute in 2026.

Dombrowski also mentioned youngsters like Otto Kemp, Gabriel Rincones Jr. and Miller playing important roles next season.

• Otto Kemp played through a fractured knee cap since June and he’ll have surgery to repair it.

There is important context required for Kemp’s rookie season: He fractured his left knee cap on June 17 when he fouled off a pitch that struck him there, team sources said. He chipped a piece off the bone; Kemp continued to play. He’ll have surgery to repair it. He will also undergo a minor surgery on his left shoulder to clean out some damage.