Worldwide Sports News

Some quick grades for the Jays deadline day deals.

Kevin Gausman to the Cubs for Ty Southisene and Brett Bateman

Gausman’s having the poorest season of his five with the Jays, but still has a 102 ERA+, so he’s still a useful pitcher. And he could step it up in a pennant race. The Jays didn’t send any money along with Kevin.

Southisene was listed as the Cubs #10 prospect by Baseball America. He’s 21, and has played most of this season in High-A ball. hitting .326/.451/.372. I do like guys who get on half the time. But he has no power and I think pitchers will throw him more strikes as he moves up the ladder. He can play short or second. Could end up a utility players. Has some speed.

Bateman is #21 on MLB Pipeline’s list of Cub prospects. He’s a lefty bat, hitting .312/.430/.421 with 20 steals in Triple-A. Could be a lefty hitting Myles Straw-type. I’d imagine we’ll see him in Toronto before the end of the season.

Quick Grade: C. Not an overwhelming return for Gausman, but I don’t know that you could have hoped for much more.

Arjun Nimmala, Eddie Macheletti, and Angel Rivero to Angels for José Soriano

In the middle of all this selling, the Jays became buyers.

Soriano won’t be a free agent until 2029. He’s been a good pitcher for the Angels, with a 3.29 ERA and a 2.7 bWAR this year in 22 starts. Career, he has a 7.0 bWAR in 113 games 73 starts. He, Cease and Yesavage could be a very good threesome at the top of our rotation.

Nimmala is a very good prospect. I hate losing him, but you have to give up something to get a starter like Soriano.

Quick Grade: B. Depends on what Nimmala becomes.

Adam Macko to Rangers for Josh Smith and Josh Stephan

Macko has been on the highway from Toronto to Buffalo a lot. He’s been perfectly ok. Macko is out of options after this year.

Smith has had five years in the MLB. He’s played every position other than catcher and pitcher. In 2024 he had a 3.5 bWAR and in 2025 a 2.9 bWAR. This year hasn’t been as good, -0.6. He’s hitting .213/.299/.272. And he’s, more or less, major league average defensively where ever he’s played. We do seem to like utility infielders. If he can be the player he was the last couple of years, he would be useful. If not, he can’t be optioned.

Stephan is a 24-year-old RHP. He has a 5.44 ERA in Triple-A this year. He gets ground balls. He could have Macko’s job of bouncing between Buffalo and Toronto if all goes well.

Quick Grade: C. Macko’s value was that he had options, that changes next year. Smith either remembers how to hit or spends a lot of time in Buffalo.

Daulton Varsho to Astros for Spencer Arrighetti

Varsho was having a terrible season for the Jays. The team is sending some money to Houston as well. He’s a free agent at the end of the season.

Spencer Arrighetti is 27, a right-handed pitcher, who can’t be a free agent until 2030 and he still has an option year left. He was a sixth round pick in the 2021 draft. He’s in his third season in the majors. This year he has a 4.60 ERA in 17 starts. In 88 innings, he’s got 87 strikeouts, but 50 walks. Batters are hitting .215/.344/.360 against him. If Pete Walker can work a little magic and bring his walk rate down, he could be a decent back of the rotation starter. As we’ve seen this year, you can never have too much pitching.

Quick Grade: A. Turning two months of Varsho into a starting pitcher with three-years of control left is pretty good. If Walker can help him find the strike zone more, it would be a great trade.

Jeff Hoffman to the Twins for Dasan Hill, John Klein and Dameury Pena

Hoffman was not a fan favourite, had a very rough time as our closer, but was excellent since moving into the setup roles. It’s entirely possible that he will be great for the Twins. He is signed through next season.

The Twins pick up their second Jays reliever in a month, after getting Tommy Nance. They give up:

Hill, who Baseball America had as their #8 Twins prospect is a left-handed pitcher. He was their Competitive Balance pick in 2024 (the 69th overall pick). He walks too many, but struck out 35% of batters this year. If he can’t cut down the walk rate, well he could be a back of the pen reliever. If he does cut back, he could be a very good starting pitcher.

Klein is 24, a RHP. He’s has pitched 4.1 innings in the majors this year. In Triple-A, he has a 5.91 ERA this year, with 74 strikeouts in 64 innings (also 34 walks and 14 home runs). He looks like a middle reliever type. Hopefully, Pete can work a bit of magic with him.

Pena turns 21 September first. He’s playing mostly second base in A ball but sounds unlikely to stay in the middle infield. He’s hitting .300/.373/.362. Lots of walk, not many strikeouts, but not enough power to make it as an outfielder. Some speed, but seems a long shot to have a major league career.

Quick Grade: A. Honestly, getting Hill for Hoffman would be an A for me, if Klein can be a semi useful reliever that’s gravy.

Overall Quick Grade: B.

Of course, if Soriano pitches great and the Jays make run at a Wild Card spot, I’ll edit this to a A.

The Jays come out of the trade deadline with +1120 odds to make the playoffs, +30000 odds to win the AL East and a +17500 odds of winning the World Series. I don’t gamble, but I’m figuring that those are very long odds. I wouldn’t suggest betting the mortgage on them winning the World Series.

This post is sponsored by FanDuel.

Record: 60-53. Pace: 86-76. Change on 2025: +6.

The resurrection of Brandon Pfaadt continues. The team won his seventh consecutive start since he came back from Reno. The pitcher should have a 7-0 record, if not for the Thompson/Sewald meltdown in Pittsburgh. He’ll have to settle for being 6-0 with a 1.55 ERA (40.2 IP and 7 ER), after going 6.2 innings tonight, allowing only an unearned run. To be fair, he did get some help from his defense, with a number of quite excellent plays. But that ERA is the best by a Diamondbacks starter across any seven-game span, since Zac Gallen’s figure of 1.16 (46.2 IP and 6 ER) in April-May 2023. I may just have made myself a little bit sad with that memory.

Tonight was definitely a contrast in opposites, with Pfaadt being remarkably efficient, in contrast to the Padres’ Michael King. It took Brandon only 31 pitches to record nine outs. 31 pitches into his outing, King was still working with two outs in the first. Arizona didn’t manage to score, but it was still a promising start against a man who had given them trouble in the past. Over five previous starts against the D-backs, covering 25.2 innings, King had a 1.05 ERA. But tonight spawned chances from the off. A pair of two-out walks were stranded in the first. Tim Tawa stood on third with one out in the next frame, then fell victim to the dreaded contact play. A Max Kepler double-play ended the third.

I do want to talk about a pair of quite terrible Diamondbacks challenges tonight (above). One came with one out in the top of the first inning by James McCann, on a pitch which was nowhere near the zone – 1.7” from the edge, according to the graphic. That left the D-backs down to just one challenge, two batters into the game. As a result, they – specifically, Ketel Marte – had to suffer some egregiously terrible calls by home-plate umpire Ramon De Jesus. Though the three most obviously blown ones didn’t impact the outcomes of the at-bat: Marte walked twice, and Nolan Arenado singled. However, Marte then decided to waste Arizona’s second challenge on an equally blatant strike.

Had this all led to a loss, I’d probably be more than the “slightly irritated” all of the above made me reach. In the fourth inning, the D-backs finally broke through against King. One of those Ketel walks led things off, and one out later, Adrian Del Castillo singled. Then, Tim Tawa blasted his fifth home-run of the year down the left-field line and into the home bullpen (below). It was one of Tawa’s three hits on the day, and his OPS is now higher than that of Max Kepler. Also on form tonight was James McCann, a late replacement in the line-up after Gabriel Moreno had to go off and give birth (or something – I was in the kitchen…). He had an RBI double plus a single, and is now batting .319 for the year.

Pfaadt continued to cruise through six innings, with a two-out double in the fifth the only time a Padres got past first base. But he was beginning to look a little rosy-cheeked, and Pfaadt connoisseurs will be aware, that often indicates he’s running out of gas. So it proved in the seventh. He allowed his first walk with one down, and a single followed one out later. A ball hit into the shortstop hole proved too difficult for Nolan Arenado, his throw sailing wide of Tawa, and putting the Padres on the board. Torey Lovullo had seen enough, and Pfaadt was lifted. His final line: 6.2 innings, with just five hits and a walk, and three strikeouts.

Juan Morillo took over, and disposed of Xander Bogaerts on three pitches, the last a 100 mph fastball. Morillo then worked around a leadoff single in the eighth. Arizona added a pair of insurance runs to make the score 5-1, one on McCann’s double mentioned above, and the other on a well-worked sacrifice fly off the bat of Jorge Barrosa. He was clearly hyped at getting the job done, and why not? But it wasn’t all good news. Corbin Carroll went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts in the leadoff spot, and some really bad choices. Over his last 30 games, a spell now covering 137 PA, he is hitting just .148. It’s the worst 30-game streak of his career.

Still, a four-run lead proved far more than adequate. New chairman of the closer committee, Brandyn Garcia, set down the Padres in order in the ninth, on 12 pitches – non-save situations apparently not proving an issue there. The win was an important one, over a wild-card rival and on a night where all the other active contenders won. It kept Arizona in a tie for the second wild-card spot with the Phillies, two games up on the Padres, who are now tied with the Marlins. The Diamondbacks are also “only” nine games back of the Dodgers in the NL West. Their lead in the division hadn’t been that small since June 27.

I also want to call out the Arizona defense. Ryan Waldschmidt had a lovely running catch in deep right center, and Max Kepler might have robbed a home-run at the wall in left. There was also an excellent double-play turned, and despite his error, Arenado also made a play worthy of a man with ten Gold Gloves. All told, a solid game for Arizona on all sides of the ball, and a welcome win after the understandable disappointment of the team’s limited moves at the trade deadline.

Click here for details, at Fangraphs.com
Trade winds: Tim Tawa, +32%
Trading partners: Pfaadt, +23%; Morillo, +15%
Trade deadline: Corbin Carroll, -7%

Comment of the thread to ercil, for an observation regarding Barrosa’s sacrifice fly:

Tomorrow night, it’ll be the same two teams in this best of four series, with the D-backs now having a very good chance of at least securing a split. Eduardo Rodriguez starts for Arizona, with another 6:40 pm first pitch.

This game had a little bit of everything, and it really was not as close as the final score. This game was well in hand very early, but Coors did what it often does and made things interesting late. It is rather crazy this game was 13-9 with the wind screaming in from left field that actually supressed what would have easily been a three-run home run by Hunter Goodman.

This was one of several interesting plays disrupted by the wind in the outfield, but the most notable one as it would have plated the first three baserunners of the inning before an out was recorded in the 9th. These were the types of games Coors was infamous for before the humidor came into play, so it was comforting to see the Rays get out to an early lead the way they did.

The matchup on paper could not have been better for the beleaguered Rays offense coming off a slumber of a weekend series. Michael Lorenzen was the starter for the Rockies and came into the outing with a 8.86 ERA at home, and that number only got worse when Junior Caminero hit this 442 ft laser beam the other way in the first inning:

The second inning was no better than the first as consecutive singles by Chandler Simpson and Richie Palacios brought Kenny Piper to the plate for his first major league plate appearance. Piper is the 56th different catcher to put on a Rays uniform in franchise history and he could barely contain his excitement for his first at bat, which resulted in him drawing a walk to load the bases:

Taylor Walls would single to drive in the first two followed by a Yandy Diaz sacrifice fly to plate Piper. Walls would steal second and come around to score on the second of Jonathan Aranda’s four hits on the evening.

Caminero would come up later and blast another long home run, this one into the teeth of that aforementioned wind from left field:

The offense would continue to pick up some runs off singles and baserunning while Ian Seymour kept the Rockies offense at bay through the first six innings. Seymour pitched about as well as one can in Coors striking out 9, walking none, while scatting seven hits over six complete innings

Seymour generated 18 swings and misses by Colorado hitters tonight, 11 coming off the changeup. He featured the pitch this evening, and aside from a hanging one which Ezequiel Tovar hit out, it was fantastic for him tonight. Michael Grove, Casey Legumina, and Kevin Kelly had to get the final nine outs and the former two made things interesting enough that Kelly was called in to throw one pitch to get the elusive final out of the 9th inning.

The 9th inning saw Richie Palacios blast a no-doubt homer run to plate Cedric Mullins after his leadoff double, but the highlight of the inning belonged to Piper collecting his first major league hit:

The dugout was absolutely elated for him, which was heartwarming. Longtime fans might remember the 0 for 25 stretch Stephen Vogt had in his only season with the club and how he was thrown out at first by a hair in his final at bat of the season. It was great to see Piper get his first ht as a 28-year old who has spent the past five years in the organization while earning the admiration of his peers in that time.

Piper was called up from Double-A Montgomery as an emergency backup plan for the trade deadline plans, and it worked out for all involved. He and the rest of the offense bankged out 15 hits and went 6 for 14 with runers in scoring position on the evening. This was a much needed outing after the offense was catatonic in the series against the White Sox and the club hopes to continue the effort against Gabriel Hughes Tuesday evening with new catcher Liam Hicks likely hitting cleanup and receiving new starter Freddy Peralta.

Fresh off a Trade Deadline that saw the Yankees fail to add a catcher or increase their bullpen depth, fans at Yankee Stadium were rewarded with a 13-7 loss that was somehow even more painful than the final score indicates. The Cardinals crushed young ace Cam Schlittler and ran up a 6-0 lead. The blowout was on, until a furious barrage of Yankees homers was capped by a two-run shot from trade addition Luis García Jr. to make it 7-6. One disastrous seven-run (!) eighth later, and, well there’s your final score.

In short, the outlook wasn’t brilliant (to invoke “Casey at the Bat”) on Yankees news as the clock approached midnight on the East Coast. Then came a bolt of lightning from YES Network’s Jack Curry, bringing the news that a 21-year-old long discussed in fan circles would be debuting the next day: George Lombard Jr.

Does this make me feel better about the Yankees after a Monday like this one? I’d like to say that it does, but it only does so much. This loss really stunk and unless Lombard has secret two-way talents that he’s not disclosing, he’s not helping the bullpen. (Austin Wells at least had a nice game behind the plate, so that frustration was mildly assuaged.)

That being said, this is still the right move. This is the time for Lombard.

The Yankees’ top pick in the 2023 MLB Draft has zoomed through the system, getting the bump from Double-A Somerset to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre back at the end of this past April. Across 78 games in the minors in 2026, he’s hit .284/.411/.498 with 24 doubles, 12 homers, 13 stolen bases, and a 157 wRC+. Now those figures are different when only looking at Triple-A (.268/.405/.440, 126 wRC+), but Lombard really started raking once he got his feet wet in May. From the beginning of June onward, he’s hit a staggering .352/.470/.648 with a 183 wRC+ in 30 games. Although he missed time with a sprained finger, he did not take any breathers upon returning just after the All-Star break.

Lombard is also extremely deft at shortstop, and it wasn’t long after he was drafted that folks started calling him the best defensive shortstop in the system regardless of level. In a midseason update, Baseball Prospectus ranked Lombard as the 24th-best prospect in baseball. His glove has been big-league ready for some time; it’s just been a matter of the bat catching up. Now, it’s here.

As demonstrated by Lombard’s bumpy adjustment to the International League back in May, fans should not assume that he’s going to hit nearly as well in The Show as he did at Triple-A. The chasm of talent between Triple-A pitching and Major League Baseball has never been higher, and he’s had an understandable pattern of needing to figure things out. Patience is not a virtue that Yankees fans are known for, but they’re going to need to demonstrate some of that with Lombard. Honestly, as long as Lombard plays well on defense and adds a little righty boost to the lineup against southpaws, then the Yankees will be thrilled.

Now, what does mean for incumbent shortstops José Caballero and Anthony Volpe? Well for the former, he was a nice story when he was hot at the outset of 2026, but his position has always been utilityman extraordinaire. And when he’s not finding his way into the starting nine, he’s a former stolen base leader who is an easy pinch-running threat. Caballero might eke his way into the lineup here and there regardless due to the Yankees’ current injuries, but there will be less of a reliance on him.

As for Volpe, the ship has sailed. He was in Lombard’s shoes once, at the start of the 2023 season when he was named Opening Day shortstop and won the job in spring training from another highly-regarded shortstop prospect, Oswald Peraza. Now, Volpe is being demoted to Triple-A for the second time this year (following a decent rookie year and two follow-ups that left a lot to be desired). His first demotion was because the surging Caballero displaced Volpe as starting shortstop while he worked his way back from injury. There was no room at the inn.

Once Caballero himself went on the IL, Volpe had another shot. He’s hit .240/.325/.322 with only one homer and an 87 wRC+, barely above his career-average 85 wRC+. The story is the same; it’s just a slightly different flavor every year with Volpe. Caballero was once again getting more reps at the six in July, and the writing was on the wall. Now that Lombard’s up, Volpe is going down.

Volpe will be be joined by Jasson Domínguez, who has had chances to nail down a starting spot of his own due to injuries to Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Cody Bellinger. He’s hit worse than Volpe: .230/.270/.380 with an 81 wRC+, and he has no idea how to play the outfield. The Yankees just traded for the Giants’ Heliot Ramos and Spencer Jones at least knows what he’s doing out there, so Domínguez is back to being a RailRider. (Angel Chivilli was walloped in relief on Monday despite a nice run recently and the Yankees need a fresh arm, so out he goes.)

Back to the focus of Lombard, Volpe and Peraza are the warning flags here. There’s a very real chance that fans are never going to love Lombard as much as they do in this very moment. The onus will be on Lombard to be his own person and ultimately fare better than Volpe and Peraza, who never adequately corrected the serious flaws in their approaches at the plate.

I do honestly feel pretty good about Lombard. And just because past recent stories of the six have disappointed, that obviously doesn’t mean you never try again. He can break the pattern. Even in the current flawed Yankees lineup, he doesn’t need to be the star as a rookie. New York is simply looking for a solid defender who can get his share of hits here and there. If he can do that as a 21-year-old—he was born in June 2005, barely a month after Robinson Canó‘s MLB debut if you want a jump-scare—then that’s as good a way as any to begin!

Go get ’em, George. Welcome to The Show.

The Rockies pieced together a decent late rally, scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn’t enough to overcome an eight-run deficit on Monday night at Coors Field.

The game capped off an action-packed day that included the Rockies trading Brenton Doyle, Antonio Senzatela and Victor Vodnik.

This one got out of hand early as Tampa Bay (66-46) jumped out to a 7-0 lead after three innings. It was too big a hole to crawl out of as the Rockies dropped to 45-68.

Ezequiel Tovar went 4-for-4 with a homer and Mickey Moniak added his 18th homer of the season to try to help the Rockies, but they couldn’t keep up with the hard-hitting, speedy Rays. It didn’t help that the Rockies struck out nine times in the first six innings against Tampa Bay’s Ian Seymour.

In the final box score, both teams posted 15 hits, but the Rays made them count more. The Rockies went 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven guys on base, while Tampa Bay went 6-for-14 and only left five on base.

Lorenzen stung early, Gordon blasted later

It only took the Rays three innings to record seven hits — including one homer — three stolen bases, three walks and seven runs. Junior Caminero hit a two-run shot for his 31st homer of the season in the first inning to put the Rockies behind right off the bat.

In the second, Chandler Simpson and Richie Palacios hit back-to-back singles and then Lorenzen walked Kenny Piper, who was making his MLB debut, to load the bases with no outs. Taylor Walls hit a two-run single, Yandy Díaz hit a sac fly and Walls stole second and moved to third on a throwing error from Hunter Goodman to move into scoring position for Jonathan Aranda’s RBI single. Caminero hit into a double play to avoid further damage, but it was 6-0 after two innings.

Two more walks, another stolen base and a single in the third gave the Rays a touchdown after three innings and ended Lorenzen’s night. To get nine outs, Lorenzen needed 75 pitches. His record dropped to 3-10 and his ERA increased to 6.94.

“I just didn’t think he was in the zone enough. That’s all,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “…When you are behind in counts to a good hitting team, it’s probably not going to go that well, especially here at Coors Field.”

Tanner Gordon relieved Lorenzen in the fourth. Caminero hit his 32nd homer of the season, but otherwise, Gordon retired nine out of the first 10 batters he faced through the sixth inning. Schaeffer said he thought Gordon was “extremely efficient.”

“That’s what TG does for us. He gives us a chance there to come back,” Schaeffer said. “Just pounding the zone with his stuff and early contact, which is all good. It’s what you want to hear.”

Trouble came in the seventh when the Rays added two more and continued to add to their lead, which came in handy in the end. Gordon finished with six runs — only four of which were earned — on eight hits, including two homers, with three strikeouts and no walks in six innings.

Seymour strikes out more

The biggest reason the Rockies couldn’t keep up with the Rays on the scoreboard was Seymour. The part-time starter went six solid innings and registered nine strikeouts. He held the Rockies to two runs on seven hits with no walks thanks to a nasty changeup that drew 11 swings and misses.

“He pounded the strike zone,” Schaeffer said of Seymour. “He used his changeup well. Left-on-left changeup was good. He’s a good pitcher and we knew that coming in.”

Despite giving up triples to Willi Castro and Moniak, each with only one out, neither was able to come in to score.

Seymour and Michael Grove, who pitched the final three innings, were also aided by outstanding defense throughout the game. The first came from Richie Palacios when he climbed the stairs to rob Jake McCarthy of a base hit with runners at first and second in the fifth inning.

In the seventh, Victor Mesa Jr. took away extra bases from Cole Carrigg with this catch in front of the out-of-town scoreboard.

Tovar time

It’s no secret that Tovar has struggled this season. On Monday night, he looked more like his old self.

He went 4-for-4 in his first multi-hit game since July 3, while also scoring four runs. And it started with a bang. In the third inning, he connected for his ninth homer of the year to put the Rockies on the board. The solo shot went 398 feet to left center field.

He added a single in the fifth and came around to score on an RBI single from Kyle Karros to score the Rockies first two runs of the game.

In the seventh, Tovar scored again. Troy Johnston led off with a double and Tovar followed up with a single. After McCarthy hit a sac fly to score Johnston, Karros hit another single to plate Tovar and make it 10-4.

Tovar added a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth as well. He came around to score immediately when McCarthy doubled.

“It was awesome to see Tovy have that night. Good for him. He’s been looking for that for a while,” Schaeffer said. “Three hard-hit balls and that was a tough matchup there in the ninth for him with another base hit. I just saw a balanced, ready-to-go hitter. Hopefully, he can carry that over.”

Tovar did make an error in the field after he was unable to come up with a ground ball in the middle of a two-run seventh inning from Tampa Bay. Both runs were unearned.

Moniak’s big day

On the same night the Rockies announced plans for a two-year extension with Moniak that will likely be finalized on Tuesday, Moniak tripled and hit his 18th homer of the season. It was a blast, too, measuring 447 feet.

Moniak finished the night with a sac fly in the bottom of the ninth for his 49th RBI of the season.

Carrigg hit an RBI double and Hunter Goodman added a sac fly in the ninth-inning rally that came up too short.

Up next

The Rockies and Rays will face off again on Tuesday. RHP Gabriel Hughes (0-3, 3.33) will start for the Rockies, while RHP Freddy Peralta (5-9, 4.99 ERA) will likely make his Tampa Bay debut after being traded from the New York Mets earlier on Monday.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

The San Francisco Giants did the inevitable and got rid of multiple players in a fire sale during MLB's trade deadline in hopes of salvaging the remainder of the season with a focus on next year.

Six players were shipped out of San Francisco and on to different teams. Those players included Tyler Mahle to the Atlanta Braves, Luis Arraez and Caleb Kilian to the Philadelphia Phillies, Heliot Ramos to the New York Yankees, Robbie Ray to the San Diego Padres, and Erik Miller to the Boston Red Sox.

In return, the Giants got back a couple right-handed pitchers, Ramon Marquez and Marty Gair, from the Phillies. The Padres sent right-hand pitcher Miguel Mendez and infielder Joniel Hernandez to the Bay Area. The Yankees sent back left-hand pitcher Henry Lalane and shortstop Kaeden Kent, son of Giants legend and Hall of Famer Jeff Kent. San Francisco got infielder Marcelo Mayer from Boston. While Anthony Molina, who they immediately assigned to their Triple-A affiliate, Sacramento River Cats, came via trade with the Braves.

Notable players that remain on the roster are Matt Chapman, Rafael Devers and Willy Adames. Their names were floated around the trade rumor mill but ultimately stay put in San Francisco.

Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey appeared on Bay Area sports radio station 95.7 FM "The Game" to provide insight and feedback on his approach at the trade deadline and moving forward.

"We made it known to teams that we were really willing to talk about any player," Posey said. "I don't think it does any good to say one way or another for us. We're still excited that we've got those big three guys, we have Devers, Chapman, Adames on the team, and still feel like there's a lot of great baseball left for those guys to play."

The bottom line, Posey said, is that he's "glad they're going to be San Francisco Giants."

As for the rest of the season ― which has about two months remaining ― it's officially an evaluation period.

"We're going to get some looks at some younger players, and I think as much as anything, it's going to be an opportunity for us as a front office and a coaching staff to evaluate some of our players, and some of them are going to get some longer runways than they've had in the past," Posey said.

Prospects looking to make a name for themselves will have an opportunity in San Francisco. But there will be a standard to live up to, and Posey is setting it.

"We keep saying you look for fundamental baseball guys that are going to throw throw the ball over the plate, control the strike zone at the plate, catch the ball on defense and make smart decisions on the bases," he said. "I do think it's been nice to see that we've been pushing the envelope a little bit more as far as stolen bases have gone the last month or so. So that's been nice to see, but just just trying to create a brand of baseball."

"I think these last two months that we can be excited about, to build off of, and and you know look to to look to build on from what we do here these last couple months and into the future," Posey added.

There's optimism to the ending of an otherwise abysmal season. Following the trades, here are the winners and losers from the Giants' moves:

The Pirates made two trades at the buzzer right before the 6 p.m. trading deadline to bolster the bullpen.

In addition to acquiring right-handers Luke Weaver (Mets) and Kirby Yates (Angels), the Pirates traded for Marlins righty Lake Bachar.

Bachar, 31, has been steady for the Marlins this season, totaling a 3.84 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over 38 outings.

Through 58.2 innings, Bachar has struck out 61 and walked 21. He’s allowed 25 earned runs and the ERA is somewhat inflated by one outing allowing five runs and another four runs during the past month. 

Bachar saved two games for the fish and blew one save, owning a 1-2 record. He’s also started four games for Miami as an opener.

Bachar isn’t arbitration eligible until 2028 and is under club control for the next four seasons. 

He averages 94.5 mph with his fastball and is in the 95th percentile in breaking run value for his secondary stuff, according to baseball savant.

His .207 expected batting average and 30.6% Whiff percentage are top 15 in baseball. 

Bachar does get hit fairly hard (89.4 average exit velo, 9.0 barrel percentage), and uses his fastball the most of any pitch (30%).

The righty utilizes a four-seam fastball, slider, sweeper, curveball, split finger, and sinker.

He joins a reloaded Pirates bullpen that added Weaver,  Yates, and Camilo Doval in the last three days.

The Pirates needed to completely change their bullpen going into the final two months of the year.

Ben Cherington added four relievers, now it’s time to see if they were the right ones and if it is enough. 

The Yankees are promoting top prospect George Lombard Jr. for a potential MLB debut, according to multiple reports.

Lombard, 21, is the Yankees' No. 1 prospect and No. 20 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline's preseason rankings. 

The Yankees announced after the 13-7 defeat to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday that struggling shortstop Anthony Volpe, outfielder Jasson Dominguez, and reliever Angel Chivilli were optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. (Dominguez's spot will be taken by Heliot Ramos, added in a trade deadline day deal with San Francisco, and Chivilli will be replaced by an added bullpen arm after the righty got shellacked for six runs on three home runs in a tough eighth inning.)

The news of his promotion comes just hours after general manager Brian Cashman downplayed the idea of Lombard soon getting called up to the majors for his debut.

"If he does, we'll certainly let you know," Cashman said soon after Monday's MLB Trade Deadline passed. "Obviously tonight, that's not the case and it's business as usual the way we're currently set."

Lombard, who New York took with the 26th overall pick in the first round of the 2023 draft, is slashing .268/.405/.440 for an .845 OPS in 56 games with six home runs and 21 RBI at Triple-A this season, his first at that level. In 20 games with Double-A Somerset earlier this year, he had tallied 12 extra-base hits in 20 games with a .312/.400/.571 slash line for a .971 OPS.

Volpe, who has struggled for health this season, has slashed .240/.324/.322 for a .646 OPS (82 OPS+ and  87 wRC+) in 56 games. The fourth-year man is still looking to put together some consistency at the plate to go along with his solid defense, but in the small sample size of the 2026 campaign, he was showing slight improvement in that area. His walk percentage was up, strikeout percentage down, and weighted OBA (.294) was the highest of his career. But the power numbers were way down; he had just 11 extra-base hits (one home run) and 19 RBI.

Dominguez, who had a hit and two strikeouts looking in Monday's loss, was slashing .230/.270/.380 for a .650 OPS with six home runs and 14 RBI and 46 strikeouts to nine walks in 53 games on the year.

On a night where your job appears to be on the line, that was not the performance Brewers right-hander Brandon Sproat was needing to have.

Sproat struggled to finish innings once again, getting the first two outs in the 1st, before allowing a single and a walk. Then he put together his first 1-2-3 inning since June 30th, and then the rails promptly fell off.

Sproat got the first two batters out in the 3rd, then allowed back-to-back singles and then a walk to load the bases. Spencer Horwitz promptly doubled to clear the bases and bring home three runs. That was bad enough. Then the 4th inning happened.

A leadoff single from Endy Rodriguez put a runner on. Then as Sproat faced Jacob Gonzalez, he threw a wild pitch, and then threw another wild pitch. Back-to-back wild pitches was enough and before Sproat could get a new baseball, Pat Murphy was out of the dugout and walking towards the mound to pull his starter from the game.

Mid-at-bat, Sproat gets pulled. You don’t see that kind of frustration very often.

“Yeah, it’s frustrating. The kid is great. He’s got so much potential, he really does. But, again, two out walks, thinkgs like that, the big misses, wild pitches, that stuff you got to keep under control.” Pat Murphy said.

Garrett Stallings came in and settled things down, going three scoreless to keep the Brewers in it, but the offense wasn’t able to provide enough.

Bubba Chandler gave up some hard contact to the Brewers, but stuff was not falling through until the 5th inning when David Hamilton and Joey Ortiz supplied singles to get the Brewers on the board. In the 6th, Jackson Chourio led off with a walk and came around to score after singles from Jake Bauers and Andrew Vaughn. On Vaughn’s single, Bauers was heading for third and would’ve been dead to rights with a good throw, but the throw bounced away and Bauers popped up immediately to come around to score to make it a one run ballgame and chase Chandler from the game.

The Brewers would threaten again in the 7th with runners on first and second and one out for Christian Yelich and William Contreras. You would think that would put the Brewers in an advantageous spot. However, Yelich and Contreras both struck out to end inning and the Brewers did not get another runner in scoring position the rest of the way against the Pirates bullpen.

There were opportunities to be had that the Brewers could not convert. A bunt by the Pirates in the 4th inning led to confusion on the Brewers defense with Contreras calling for a throw to first rather than covering for a potential play at the plate that led to everyone being safe.

It’s a tough night for the Crew and an especially tough night for Brandon Sproat. He may soon find himself on the outside looking in of not only the rotation, but potentially the big league roster altogether.

They are back at it tomorrow night with Logan Henderson on the mound against Jared Jones.

Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo record the latest episode of The Mets Pod live after the MLB Trade Deadline, with full reaction to all the moves made by the Mets leading up to it. 

Connor and Joe break down the deals, and do a full analysis of the prospect return for the Mets in exchange for Clay Holmes, Freddy Peralta, Huascar Brazoban, Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley, A.J. Minter and more. 

The guys also react to comments earlier in the evening from Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, and do an early preview of Joe's all-new Top 30 Mets Prospects List, which looks a lot different with many new names in the mix. 

Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.