(We interrupt yesterday's nostalgia series for this nearly timely baseball report.)
7-30-21
What a trade deadline!
Twitter was probably the best way to keep up with all the developments,
thus proving that it has some value. Of
course, we’ll never know how much breaking and relevant news they
suppressed. The MLB post-deadline report ran a mile-long. I’ll try to make some sense of it and
reevaluate the upcoming soon-to-be canceled postseason. (With each passing day, it’s becoming less
likely there’s any future.)
Dear Cubs and Nationals fans,
I hope you enjoyed your respective championships. You will now suck for the foreseeable
future.
Sincerely,
Your GM’s.
Yeah, the Cubs traded off their youthful core that was
going to deliver the city of Chicago multiple championships. Even with the pain relieved of their century
plus World Series drought, this had to hurt their fans. Meanwhile, there’s an old axiom that when a
team is playing badly it’s easier to fire the manager than the players. The Nationals have declined that advice and
gone the other way with it. Their
deadline activities were more like a D-Day casualty list. I was shocked by how much they traded
away.
The Rockies
turned out to be the most enigmatic team at the deadline. They didn’t trade any of their sellable
players. They said nobody gave them a
worthwhile offer for Trevor Story,
which is a laugh, given what they gave Nolan
Arenado away for. I really find it
hard to believe that they didn’t get any good offers for pitchers German Marquez or Jon Gray. Oh boy, will that
be an unhappy clubhouse for the rest of the season. On that note, given how well the Mariners are doing, that move of their
ace closer to their division rival, the Astros,
had to be crushing, especially the day after beating them and coming from seven
runs down to do it.
While the Padres
got an all-star infielder in Adam Frazier, what they really needed was pitching help,
as their staff is starting to break down.
At the last moment, they lost out on getting Max
Scherzer to
the Dodgers. Not
to mention, they were also trying to dump Eric
Hosmer in
the deal. Hosmer doesn’t just have World
Series experience, he was a hero in the Royals’ win in 2015.
I’d like to keep someone like that in the clubhouse in any
capacity. He can’t be entirely happy
given how hard the team tried to trade him.
Yes, the Dodgers basically won the trade deadline by
getting an ace pitcher and Trea Turner. They’ve actually had enough injuries (and
losing Trevor Bauer to litigation)
to somewhat justify the move. The
Dodgers did have to move their #1 and #2 prospects to make that deal.
The Padres’ farm system is basically exhausted from
trades. (Trust me, I’ve been listening
to the Chihuahuas this season.) They couldn’t compete on that front. Mackenzie
Gore is their only desirable prospect and he’s in witness protection or
something. He disappeared off the face
of the earth after an injury. I have no
idea what happened to him. Now Fernando Tatis Jr. is injured again,
along with Chris Paddock. When it rains
it pours. After getting stiffed, the
Padres did get Jake Marisnick from Cubs and Daniel Hudson from Nationals.
The Yankees may
have come in second in deadline deals by getting Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo. Yep, all they needed were a couple of big
left-handed bats for the Little League dimensions of the right field at Yankee Stadium to be winners. This time for sure. (I can’t wait to hear their next excuse for
not winning.) They also got Andrew Heaney from Angels, who may be throwing in the towel on this season with Mike Trout still out.
Others in the AL East did not sit idle. The Blue
Jays snagged Jose Berrios from Twins, Joakim Soria from D-backs,
and Brad Hand from Nationals. The pitching reinforcements have
arrived. They think they can make it
into the postseason. The Rays got batting help with Nelson
Cruz
from Twins. Tyler Glasnow may be done for season
though. That hurts. I’d thought the Red Sox were smugly idle, but they picked up Kyle Schwarber from Nationals’ yard sale. However, their best move may be waiting for Chris Sale coming back in the near
future.
The White Sox
got Eloy Jimenez back from his
Spring Training injury (but quickly lost him again to a more minor injury). Their cross-town rivals chipped in some
pitching help in the form of Craig
Kimbrel. All that and they weren’t
even being pressured in their division.
The Astros, in addition to
the M’s Kendall Graveman, got a scalp from the Indians in the form of Phil Maton. (I’ve got to get in all of these Indian quips
in while I can.) Have the Astros have
almost locked up their division? They’re
doing well. (I’ve been listening to Alex Bregman rehabbing in Triple-A
against the Chihuahuas, so he’s close.)
The A’s may have something to
say about that. At least, they’re
leading the wild card race. They picked
up Yan Gomes and Josh Harrison from Nationals and Starling Marte from the Marlins.
What else? The Giants got Kris Bryant to pick up their offense. I guess Evan Longoria is done for the season
at least. The Mets got Javier Baez,
though I think Francisco Lindor is
out with an injury, so that’s a bit of a wash.
The Braves picked
up Joc Pederson. That
takes care of the Cubs’ contributions to other teams’ playoff efforts. The Braves also picked up Jorge Soler from Royals. None of this is
going to help them with Ronald Acuna Jr.
down. The Brewers got Eduardo Escobar
from the D-Backs, who are now
officially devoid of Major League talent.
The Phillies
took all of the Rangers’ good
pitchers. (“Good” being a relative term.) And the Cardinals
bolstered their pitching staff with J.A.
Happ from Twins and Jon Lester
from the Nationals. Holy crap! Did the Nationals keep anyone other than Juan Soto? Is the locker room there like him and 24
slots labeled “Player to be Named Later?”
Oh, and Orioles picked up a
bunch of Nationals fans. May as well
watch a losing team in a nicer nearby stadium.
How does all of this affect the playoffs, which may or may
not be played? Time for some
ill-considered updated picks to replace my previous ill-considered preseason picks. Ugh, my head is swimming from
all of these moves. Worse, I don’t have
the current standings in front of me as write this. Do the Nationals have anybody left that I
could trade my leftover pizza for to have them write the rest of this?
(It was my birthday today.
I hate birthdays. This one
involved getting sung to twice at work.
They also gave me a pizza there for dinner. Unfortunately, this was after I’d had pizza
with my dad for lunch. I have leftovers
from both.)
The surprising Red Sox, the White Sox, and the Astros will
win their divisions in the American League.
I don’t think any of them will be seriously threatened. The Rays, Yankees, Blue Jays, and A’s will
fight over the other two spots. (Wait, did the MLB go back to the previous
playoff format? Screw it. I’ll going with this.) I think the A’s have a better chance of
getting a spot given that the four AL East teams will beat each other up. The Jays fade, even with their new pitching
help. Do the Rays over-perform, or do
the Yankees under-perform? I think the Rays
do it with their usual smoke and mirrors, even with Rizzo and Gallo hitting 100
home runs at Yankee Stadium in less than half a season.
The even more surprising Giants will lose the NL West to the unsurprising Dodgers, but will get a wild card spot. The Mets squeak out a win in the NL East over the mediocre Phillies and Braves. The Brewers beat out the Reds for the Central. (The Cardinals don’t figure into it.) I think the Padres win the other wild card over the Reds. (I admit that the Padres are sitting on really shaky ground right now.)
How does it all end?
Probably badly for everyone this fall.
If the playoffs begin, I’ll take the White Sox over the Red Sox to win
the AL, and Dodgers beating anybody in the NL.
The White Sox somehow win the
World Series, because I’m not
picking the Dodgers. (Actually, the
White Sox pitching is better and their offense is probably as good.) Now you know who would win, whether or not
the playoffs are played.
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