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American League

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BALTIMORE ORIOLES
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Acquired RHP Miguel Castro from Colorado Rockies in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. [4/7]

Signed RHP Edwin Jackson to a minor-league contract. [4/7]

If this makes you want to say that the Blue Jays won the Troy Tulowitzki trade, I’m certainly not going to stop you. While Castro may not have been the “headliner” of that 2015 deal—that honor goes to Jeff Hoffman—he was the second-most important piece and expected to at least thrive in a bullpen role. But Castro caught the same case of Rockies-itis that so many young pitchers contracted before him, and now he’s just a hard-throwing anthropomorphized question mark. Yes, his career 6.12 ERA reflects just a 30-inning small sample and there’s plenty of time to turn things around, but every reliever has a mid-90s fastball and a decent slider these days. Since he’s 22, Castro should get a load of chances; just don’t expect him to crack the talented Orioles' bullpen until 2018.

Meanwhile, Jackson seems only to exist for the purpose of collecting new uniforms and soaking up innings. After another season in which he was well below replacement level—this time for the Padres—he finds himself in perhaps the only other rotation with depth issues as bad as the Friars’. Even still, there’s no excuse for running him out every fifth day ahead of Gabby Ynoa or Mike Wright, save a spate of horrible luck. Most likely, he can be a veteran presence for the Norfolk rotation, an emergency spot starter, and a reminder that, even at 33 years old, it’s possible to be well past your prime. —Bryan Grosnick

SEATTLE MARINERS
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Claimed RHP Evan Marshall off waivers from Arizona Diamondbacks. [4/4]

As a response for putting Drew Smyly in drydock for 60 days, the Mariners picked up the middle reliever who was released at the end of spring training in a roster crunch. He’s a classic Mariners reliever acquisition, in that he hasn’t been good in several years. He’s almost a perfect foil for incumbent Evan Scribner; the latter is an extreme fly-baller with excellent control and the strikeout rate of a man who lives up in the zone, while Marshall prefers grounders and missing the plate by half a foot. They share, unfortunately, an Evan-based affinity for allowing an eighth of their fly balls to leave the yard.

In an attempt to rediscover the sub-three ERA glory of his rookie year, Marshall has ditched the sinker-heavy repertoire this spring for his old four-seam approach, in hopes of striking a few batters out again. Given the state of the Mariners' pitching staff, both starting and relieving, he’ll likely get a couple of opportunities to search for answers before he’s caught in another roster shuffle. —Patrick Dubuque

MILWAUKEE BREWERS
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Claimed UT-B Nick Franklin off waivers from Tampa Bay Rays. [4/5]

He can at least stand at seven positions. He can switch-hit. He flashes a little power and a little patience, depending on the day. The only thing Franklin can’t do is break out and become an average MLB regular. We’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting since his excellent age-22 season in 2013, but the Rays finally ran out of patience. In 2016, Franklin posted solid enough offensive marks, including a .443 slugging percentage and 0.6 WARP, but his defense has become mostly untenable up the middle and he’s only much of a threat against right-handed pitchers.

In swooped the Brewers, looking for assets anywhere they can get them. Despite already being stocked with low-cost players who are the definition of “interesting, but maybe not good,” they picked up another in Franklin. He might make a nice fallback in case Travis Shaw breaks down, or as a do-it-all utility bat. Still, too many saberists and Mariners/Rays fans expected so much more from Franklin, once a foundational part of the trade that parted the Rays from the best pitcher in team history. He might have a pop-up season here or there if he runs into a few Jered Weaver types, but we may finally be getting the “real” Nick Franklin in Milwaukee. —Bryan Grosnick

NEW YORK METS
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Signed OF-R Desmond Jennings to a minor-league contract. [4/5]

He’s formerly fleet, formerly a center fielder, and formerly good; if this were 2013 then the Mets would be getting a perfect fit for their talented-but-lopsided outfield. Unfortunately, Jennings isn’t the same player he used to be, and years of playing on the Tropicana turf wrecked his legs and left him a shell of his top-10 prospect self. Best served now in a corner, Jennings could perhaps flash a little platoon offense if he can stay in the lineup, but even the woeful Reds couldn’t make room for him following a dismal spring showing.

The name value is certainly there, but Jennings is most likely a Triple-A outfielder on this Mets squad. The team has four full-time outfielders in Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce, Curtis Granderson, and Michael Conforto, not to mention Juan Lagares, who is likely the rich-man’s Jennings at this point. If something terrible happens to both Lagares and one of the Mets’ sundry corner bats, then perhaps Jennings will get a chance to play in the majors before September. If not, he’ll hope to stay healthy and hit in Las Vegas—a likely outcome—and hope to rehabilitate himself enough for another team to give him a 25-man spot. —Bryan Grosnick

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