MLB Player News

The Cardinals acquired Saggese, right-hander Tekoah Roby and left-hander John King from the Rangers on Sunday in exchange for left-hander Jordan Montgomery and right-hander Chris Stratton, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

Of the three minor-league players heading back to St. Louis, Saggese projects to have the most long-term real-life and fantasy value. The 21-year-old has dabbled at shortstop, second base and third base during his time at Double-A Frisco this season, but he'll probably be a better fit defensively at one of the latter two positions once he reaches the big leagues. Saggese lacks any standout tools but has been a well above league-average hitter at each stop in the minors since being selected by Texas in the fifth round of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft. Over 417 plate appearances with Frisco this season, Saggese slashed .320/.385/.522 with an 8.5 percent walk rate, a 22.5 percent strikeout rate, 15 home runs and eight steals (in 10 attempts).

Wendle is not in the lineup for Sunday's game versus Detroit, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Wendle is 0-for-12 over his past five games and will take a seat Sunday with southpaw Tarik Skubal on the mound for the Tigers. Jon Berti will start at shortstop and bat cleanup.

Williams is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Phillies, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Williams will take a seat for the series finale after he started at shortstop in each of the past three games while going 1-for-9 with an RBI. Though Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero will draw starts at the two middle-infield spots Sunday and appear to be the Pirates' preferred options at the positions for the time being, neither player has produced well enough yet to run away with an everyday role. As such, look for Williams to stay involved and occasionally poach starts from one of the two players while he's up with the big club.

Lindor went 2-for-4 with a walk and a two-run home run in Saturday's 11-6 loss to the Nationals.

His fifth-inning shot off Patrick Corbin came too late for the Mets on Saturday, but it did snap a 15-game homer drought for Lindor. The shortstop has reached 20 home runs for the sixth straight full season, a streak interrupted only by the pandemic campaign, but his .231/.318/.451 slash line still falls well short of his production from his Cleveland heyday.

The Giants reinstated Crawford (knee) from the 10-day injured list Saturday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Crawford wasn't expected to be back until Sunday, but the veteran shortstop will return to the Giants' bench a day early while Marco Luciano draws the start Saturday against Boston. It remains to be seen what role Crawford fill with Luciano, who is the Giants' top infield prospect, now up with the big club. Brett Wisely was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in a corresponding move.

McLain went 2-for-3 with two doubles and a run scored in Friday's 6-5 win over the Dodgers.

McLain was involved in the Reds' three-run first inning when he doubled and came home on Jake Fraley's home run. He's been a steady contributor since coming up in May with no extended slumps during his time in the majors. The middle infielder has never gone more than two games without a hit and is batting .305 with 10 home runs, 36 RBI, eight stolen bases and 48 runs over 63 games.

Crawford (knee) is expected to return to the Giants' lineup Sunday against the Red Sox, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

After reporting improvement during the week, Crawford cleared his final hurdle Friday, logging at-bats against a minor-league pitcher. It sounds like he will return after missing just over the minimum, though his exact role is to be determined in light of Marco Luciano's promotion. Luciano was reportedly taking grounders at second base Friday.

Leonard was designated for assignment by the Dodgers on Friday.

Leonard is a 40-man roster casualty following the Dodgers' acquisition of both Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly from the White Sox. Justin Bruihl also got the boot. Leonard, a 22-year-old infielder, had slashed .254/.327/.411 with 11 homers and three steals through 92 games this season at Double-A Tulsa.

Abrams went 1-for-3 with two walks, a run and a stolen base in Thursday's loss to the Mets.

Abrams was one of just two Nationals hitters to reach base multiple times in the loss, and he scored the team's only run following a walk and a stolen base in the sixth inning. Though the shortstop has begun to tail off just a bit by going 4-for-19 over his past five games, that won't prevent July from being arguably the best month of his career thus far. Through 21 July games, Abrams is slashing .337/.398/.542 with three homers, four doubles, two triples, eight RBI, 21 runs, and 12 thefts on 12 attempts.

Edman (wrist) is scheduled to begin a minor-league rehab assignment Saturday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Edman resumed taking live at-bats earlier this week and his sore right wrist has apparently responded well. Out since July 7, the 28-year-old super-utilityman should be back on the Cardinals' active roster by the middle of next week if all goes smoothly on the farm.