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One of the commenters on the Daulton Varsho lab asked if I would do a lab on Trevor Larnach. Usually, I don’t pay much attention to what hasn’t been done, but multiple reports have now indicated that a deal was in place to send Bryan Abreu to the Twins in exchange for Larnach. According to all of those sources, Jim Crane nixed the deal. Before I dive into numbers, we should probably look at the differences between the two deals.

Everyone has opined about the Varsho deal. The primary criticism is that you traded away a pitcher with years of control (can become a free agent following the 2029 season) for a player with no control beyond this season. However, Arrighetti had minimal present value. He was 7-5 with a 4.60 ERA, but virtually all of those wins came in a brilliant first month that saw him win the Pitcher of the Month Award. He was not currently in the Astros rotation and some would argue that he wouldn’t likely rejoin it unless there were major injuries. So, this was a classic get something now for someone that could help in the future kind of deal.

As much as I have enjoyed covering performance in spurts lately, the overall numbers on Arrighetti tell a story. He is 15-23 with a 4.66 ERA. He had a really good month in 2024 and a really good month this season. Take those two months away and he is a 5.00 ERA pitcher. Naturally, the Blue Jays are thinking but what if he can become THAT pitcher again? The deal makes sense for them because they aren’t going anywhere this season anyway, so why not trade for a lottery ticket?

The Larnach trade is different because you would have traded a pitcher that has an ERA near 2.00 since May 1st. Abreu is useful to you right now and certainly has been lately. The fact that the trade was vetoed by ownership means one of two things (both can be true at the same time). First, Jim Crane has little confidence in Dana Brown, so he is micromanaging him through the end of his contract. Secondly, Crane might actually be interested in re-signing Abreu and that wouldn’t happen if he is dealt.

Both of those statements deserves some additional focus, but I will save that for another piece. In this piece, we will look at what Brown was thinking and whether there was some upside there. Larnach has only been a regular for three seasons, so we will go back three years instead of five like we did for Varsho. However, we are looking at the same numbers as yesterday’s piece except I will jettison bases per out for now.

I seriously doubt that Jim Crane or his buddy Jeff Bagwell are crunching Statcast numbers in their spare time. However. there is an axiom here that even traditionalists can follow. When a player is having a career year, they are rarely ever really THAT good. Things are just coming together and there is always the possibility that they will stop at any moment.

The current average OPS in MLB is around .720. That means that Larnach has largely been an above average big league hitter over the last three seasons even if you look just at the Statcast numbers. We can call the Varsho deal a something for currently nothing deal and feel somewhat good about it if we couch it in those terms. However, Varsho is not a middle of the order hitter no matter how badly Joe Espada wants to call him one. Larnach would be a lot closer to what they were looking for and he has another season of control left beyond this season.

Again, I seriously doubt Crane and Bagwell are looking at THESE numbers, but I could be wrong. The hard hit percentage in particular is troubling. 40 percent is the league average, so he has been better than average until this season. The fact that he has better overall numbers in spite of making softer contact jumps off the page. However, the rest of the numbers are music to my ears.

Keep in mind that the average chase rate is 30 percent. The average swing rate is also higher than what he is currently doing as well (46-48 percent). So, he is a patient hitter and my little sabermetric heart loves those kinds of hitters. The contact rates are a little below league average (76-78 percent) but they are not drastically low. Essentially this guy has the profile of an above average major league hitter. Having that in the outfield sure would look nice.

However, as we saw with Varsho, fielding is a concern and one of the reasons why Varsho was considered a plus. Larnach could charitably be called a corner bat, but he is listed as a left fielder and designated hitter. We already have a designated hitter, so he would be the left fielder everyday. How does he look according to the defensive metrics?

Yikes. This looks even worse when you include the defensive innings. A standard everyday player plays about 1200 defensive innings over the course of a full season. Larnach had 429, 441, and 629 so far this season. So, any average fan with a calculator on their phone could prorate those numbers over the course of a full season’s worth of innings. It isn’t a pretty sight.

Now, certainly Dana Brown could look at the short porch in Daikan Park and talk himself into saying it is an easier left field to play than for most ballparks. That makes some sense. You could even talk yourself into the idea that you needed that bat and were willing to stomach the glove. I did not include BWAR or FWAR in the Varsho piece, but it is fair to point out that Larnach has been worth 2.1 FWAR this season. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

Abreu has been worth 0.5, but there are tons of analysts out there that would say that WAR does not do a good job of capturing relief pitcher’s contributions. It is hard to account for leverage and he definitely would be given more leverage from here until the end of the season. However, it is also not hard to see what Dana Brown was thinking. Those of us that have been critical of him should take this deal into account when evaluating his baseball acumen. After all, he reached an agreement according to multiple sources. Ownership simply vetoed the deal. We will have to explore that angle down the road.

Meet the Mets

The new-look Mets defeated the Cleveland Guardians 6-2. Luis Torrens had a tremendous game, going 3-for-3 with a home run and a walk, driving in four of the Mets six runs.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, Faith and Fear in Flushing, New York Daily News, New York Post

It might take some time before anyone can know how David Stearns’ deadline moves worked out, but he stuck to his guns in his vision.

While some of the prospects the Mets traded for might become part of a future Mets team, others could be used in trade packages on the not-too-distant future.

The Mets aren’t done trading, they’re simply on hold until they can resume this offseason.

Clay Holmes was nearly traded to the Diamondbacks, before troubling medical records put a stop to the potential deal.

New Mets prospect Sammy Stafura grew up a die-hard Mets fan, rooting for David Wright and Ruben Tejada in his home less than 40 minutes from Citi Field.

Sammy Stafura has declared his undying dedication to his new organization, giving the Mets a prospect willing to do anything to help them.

Robert Stock will be making his start in the next turn of the rotation, with Kodai Senga being turned into a one-inning leverage reliever.

Will Sammon reflected on the Mets trade deadline and the conversations and thoughts that shaped their decisions.

Around the National League East

The Phillies won a 5-0 shutout of the Nationals. Jesus Luzardo had a fantastic outing, going eight scoreless innings giving up four hits and two walks while striking out seven.

The Braves got the better of the Marlins with a 4-2 win. Austin Riley drove in two of the Braves’ four runs with a two-run home run in the seventh inning.

Around Major League Baseball

The Adley Rutschman deal illustrated two teams with opposite approaches, one constantly worried about the future that may never come and another chasing present glory.

The Yankees, after a disappointing trade deadline, have played the final card in their hand, promoting top prospect George Lombard Jr.

The Angels designated Jorge Soler for assignment.

MLB.com listed the six biggest winners of the trade deadline.

It was a chaotic trade deadline, and there were eight huge surprises that shocked the league.

To pair with the biggest splashes, there were some more under the radar trades that could make big impacts.

Deesha Thosar attempted to answer the ten biggest questions after the trade deadline.

While the Tarik Skubal trade seemed to come together pretty quickly for the Dodgers, the Brewers also threw their hat in the ring.

Tigers president Scott Harris has responded to the criticisms of the return the Tigers received in the Skubal trade.

Skubal himself also defended the trade, saying that every team could’ve traded for him.

Ippei Mizuhara’s bookie said that the signs of Mizuhara’s gambling addiction were evident early on.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

A Pod of Their Own was back with a post-trade deadline episode.

Steve Sypa published another group of Mets Minor League Players of the Week.

Lukas Vlahos broke down the return the Mets got in the trade of Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor.

Allison McCague released both her pitcher meter and position player meter for the last two weeks of Mets baseball.

This Date in Mets History

The 1973 New York Mets reached their worst record of the season, falling 12 games under .500, ahead of an eventual NLCS win and World Series appearance.

The Yankees offense might be hanging on by their fingernails, but thanks to immaculate starting pitching, they come away from the road trip they just completed winning six of ten. They’ve scored two or fewer runs in each of the last four games in Chicago yet still snuck out of Wrigley with a series win. All of their offense in the rubber game boiled down to consecutive ABs in the third, Ryan McMahon and José Caballero winning the game with a pair of swings.

We join McMahon to lead off the third, expectations already low after Cubs starter Colin Rea struck out five of the first six Yankees he faced. McMahon has seen his playing time taper off in recent weeks as the Yankees have faced a host of left-handed pitchers, so what looked like the stirrings of an uptick in production at the plate in June were swiftly halted in their tracks.

Rea typically attacks lefty hitters with four-seamers and changeups, and that’s exactly the course of action he chooses against McMahon, starting with this first-pitch four-seamer at 94.

I’ll be honest, I have no idea what McMahon is looking for here. This fastball exits Rea’s hand aimed right down the middle and only fades a bit toward the outer half, but McMahon takes it all the way for called strike one. One of the many things contributing to the Yankees lineup’s struggles has been this tendency to take very hittable pitches early in the count. Not only is that likely the best pitch you’re going to get in a given AB, but it effectively gifts the pitcher count leverage without having to do to much as the Yankees give a strike away.

After earning a called strike with the heater on the outer half, a logical followup pitch would be to tunnel a changeup along a similar aiming point before it fades down and away trying to get McMahon to chase.

Rea yanks this changeup into the zone and this time McMahon does swing at the meatball, lining it to right at 111 mph for a leadoff single.

Here’s the full AB:

Next up is Caballero. He was something of a revelation out of the gate, starting the season with league-average offense, league-leading defense at short, and typically elite base running. But Caballero like much of the Yankees offense fell into a deep slump in June and July, mustering an anemic 71 wRC+ with worsening defense in the those two months. As such, expectations are yet again not high that he can do something of note in this spot.

Rea tends to have a different approach against righties — instead of four-seamers, changeups, and curveballs, he tends to go sinker, sweeper, slider against same-handed batters. Indeed, the first pitch Caballero sees is a 93 mph sinker.

This is a really disciplined take from Caballero. This sinker looks like a strike for most of its path toward home, only ducking out of the strike zone down and in during the final 15 feet before reaching the batter.

Curiously, Rea opts for a four-seamer for his 1-0 pitch to Caballero. On one hand, it makes sense given Caballero has performed a lot worse against the four-seamer than the sinker. On the other, Caballero has chased pretty much every sweeper and slider out of the zone in recent weeks, so I was expecting a breaker rather than a heater in this spot.

Rea leaves this 94 mph four-seamer up and out over the plate and Caballero jumps all over it, crushing it 408 feet to left-center to open the scoring, 2-0. You can tell Caballero is sitting dead red and he certainly doesn’t miss it.

Here’s the full AB:

I’m not going to make any declarations that this pair of ABs from McMahon and Caballero are at all indicative of some sort of turnaround in form for either player. However, both are illustrative of something I’d like to see more from pretty much the entire Yankees lineup. I mentioned earlier how detrimental it was for Yankees hitters to be so passive against hittable first-pitch fastballs. Another thing that has really limited their production has been an inability to punish mistake pitches when they do swing, the Yankees seemingly fouling off a disproportionate number of meatballs over the summer. Both McMahon and Caballero made sure to punish the two mistakes that Rea offered up, and it resulted in them winning the game.

The coming weeks could be a time of upheaval for McMahon and Caballero. Even with Anthony Volpe and Max Schuemann optioned to Triple-A, the infield is pretty crowded right now. Luis García Jr. seems most likely to just play first and DH, though he has seen plenty of time at the keystone if the Yankees decide to go down that road at all (Aaron Boone seemed to indicate that this was unlikely). Monday night’s call-up for Yankees top overall prospect George Lombard Jr. means that Caballero’s days starting at short are numbered. And Amed Rosario’s presence still cuts into McMahon’s time at third as well. It’s not a bad thing to have options, and the possibility of moving McMahon and Caballero to the bench gives the Yankees flexibility to use the former as a late-inning defensive substitution and Caballero as the super utility player he was initially envisioned to be.

The Atlanta Braves kicked off the series against the Miami Marlins with a 4-2 win on Tuesday evening. Despite some drama in the later innings, Grant Holmes made the start and pitched a gem. He tossed six scoreless innings, striking out five and giving up a base on balls. 

The Marlins outhit the Atlanta offense, but fortunately, the Braves were able to hold on and get their sixth straight win. The series continues tonight at 7:15 ET.

More Braves News:

Walt Weiss had lots to say on the trade deadline and his trust in Alex Anthopoulos.

Atlanta lost a piece of history, as a magnolia from Ponce de Leon Park fell in a storm.

MLB News:

Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing has been diagnosed with a partial UCL tear. He will continue to hit but has been shut down from throwing. 

The Washington Nationals placed outfielder James Wood on the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain. The strain was described as “subtle” and “mild.”

The Colorado Rockies agreed to a two-year, $16.25M extension with outfielder Mickey Moniak. 

From the Feed:

Cast your vote for Braves Player of the Game here.

Elieser Hernández has rejoined the Braves on a minor league deal. 

The entire baseball world turned their collective heads towards the city of Chicago on Tuesday, as the Dodgers debuted their shiniest new addition.

Tarik Skubal took the mound for the first time in Dodger blue after being dealt from the Detroit Tigers late Saturday night. While Skubal finished with a quality start— six innings, two earned runs, six strikeouts— the offense could only provide him with one run of support as the Cubs handed the reigning two-time AL Cy Young award winner a tough defeat.

The Chicago crowd gave Skubal a resounding chorus of boos and heckles, and the left-hander admitted that pitching at Wrigley Field put him in a playoff atmosphere, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com.

“Going in and competing, I don’t expect anything else,” Skubal said of the hostile atmosphere. “As far as environments, I’ve pitched in plenty of them. I haven’t actually made a home start in the postseason. They’ve all been on the road. I’ve pitched in pretty good environments, and I’d say that’s up there with any of those postseason starts.”

The Dodgers’ offense has fell into a slumber during the team’s five-game losing streak, and it was ever apparent on Tuesday as they could only tack on one run against Javier Assad and company. That lone run belonged to a home run by Kyle Tucker, and he has managed to put up good numbers back at Wrigley Field. He has done that while receiving unfavorable treatment from his former fanbase, leaving him feeling blindsided, per Jack Harris of the California Post.

“I don’t know,” he said when asked of the hostilities afterward. “I tried my hardest last year. I tried playing through a hand fracture and calf thing, just trying to get back for the playoffs for them, trying to do what I could to help out the team.”

Mookie Betts is in the midst of a summer slump, as the shortstop is now slashing just .196/.211/.321 with two home runs and five RBI over his last 15 games, striking out eight times compared to just one walk. Betts recounted his recent struggles at the plate with Kirsten Watson of SportsNet LA following Tuesday’s loss to the Cubs.

“Just a rut… I just know I need to be better… I’m gonna have to help the team at some point; it’s been too long.”

The 2026 MLB Trade Deadline has come and gone, and nearly 50 trades were made across the league. The Colorado Rockies were relatively more active this time around than in years past as they made three trades during the day, bringing back five prospects and a utility infielder with big-league experience. They also decided to extend outfielder Mickey Moniak to a two-year deal.

As the dust settles from the hectic Monday, there are those surprised, myself included, that more moves weren’t made.

President of Baseball Operations Paul DePodesta explained the thought process behind holding onto a lot of their tradeable players on Monday, and it makes sense. The value the offensive players bring to the current Rockies, both on and off the field, is important, and the team values that even more than settling on the principle of trading a player just to trade him. Still, there is one move that wasn’t made that needs a little more diving into.

Should left-handed reliever Brennan Bernardino have been traded?

Heavily Rumored

Bernardino has been a phenomenal addition to the Rockies bullpen this season. Entering Tuesday, he owns a 3-3 record and a sparkling 2.28 ERA in 45.1 innings over 52 games. He started the year with a 0.71 ERA in his first 14 appearances before getting roughed up a little more in May. However, since June 9, Bernardino has thrown 20 innings without allowing an earned run.

His name was certainly a popular one to come up in trade discussions this year. His name swirled in prediction circles because effective left-handed relievers are always valuable, teams always need bullpen help, and despite being 34, he doesn’t become a free agent until 2030.

It’s understandable why the Rockies would keep him around. He’s been the only lefty reliever they have in the bullpen all season and he’s easily one of their most reliable bullpen arms this season as well as a leader. Yes, the team added left-handed prospect Mark Manfredi from the Milwaukee Brewers in the Antonio Senzatela deal, but big-league-ready southpaw relievers are fairly scarce in the organization as a whole.

Still, with the moves that were being made around the league, was it wise not to push harder to move him? Let’s take a look at deals for lefty relievers that were made at the deadline.

JoJo Romero

The Brewers were busy trying to acquire pitching, and they swung a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals to acquire starting pitcher Dustin May and left-handed reliever JoJo Romero.

Romero has been excellent for the Cardinals since joining them in 2022 in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies. This season, he has a 3.35 ERA in 43 innings of work with 43 strikeouts against 16 walks. He is a solid, reliable arm but is also slated to be a free agent after the season at the age of 30.

The combination of Romero and May, who is also a likely free agent after the season, netted the Cardinals a pair of intriguing outfield prospects in a strong Brewers farm system. Alexander Frias was the No. 11 prospect in a Brewers system, while Carson Ragsdale ranked 13th.

Caleb Ferguson

The Cardinals also pivoted to make a trade for left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for international bonus pool money.

Ferguson, 30, has bounced around the league quite a bit with overall success in his career. He appeared in 26 games with the Reds this season, posting a 4.01 ERA in 24.2 innings with 22 strikeouts and 11 walks. He is also slated to become a free agent after the season.

Erik Miller

The Boston Red Sox were busy on Monday and matched up with the busy San Francisco Giants for a quick deal for reliever Erik Miller and outfield prospect Carlos Gutierrez.

Miller has had a fantastic season for the Giants, pitching to a 2.76 ERA in 38 games while racking up 45 strikeouts — and also issuing 22 walks — in 32.2 innings. Despite the high walk rate, Miller has a higher strikeout rate than any Red Sox pitcher to throw at least 30 innings this season. At the age of 28, Miller is entering his first year of arbitration and is under team control through 2029.

The Giants received former Top 10 prospect Marcelo Mayer, who has not lived up to the pedigree of a fourth-overall pick in 2021. He has dealt with injuries, and there is a sense of a clash of personalities that exhausted his time in Boston. Still, there is plenty of potential that the Giants will try to unlock.

Brooks Raley

Another disappointing season for the New York Mets led to them moving what they could at the deadline. 38-year-old veteran Brooks Raley found himself on the move to Philly after four years with the Mets.

Raley has been having one of the best seasons of his career, pitching to a 1.96 ERA over 41.1 innings in 45 games. He has collected 40 strikeouts against 15 walks and allowed just nine earned runs all season. He also has limited hits against him while continuing to keep the ball in the yard. As a pending free agent, Raley is making $4.75 million this season, so the cost was relatively small, but the results could be huge for an already strong Phillies bullpen down the stretch.

In return, the Mets received unranked pitching prospect Luke Gabrysh and outfielder John Spikerman, who was the Phillies’ No. 27 prospect. Spikerman is the notable piece here with 55 stolen bases in his minor league career over three seasons.

A.J. Minter

Another notable move was for veteran southpaw A.J. Minter when the Mets sent him to the Minnesota Twins on July 30.

Minter, 32, was also having a fabulous season with the Mets after returning from injury in May, but became expendable with his expiring $11 million contract, meaning the Twins only have to pay about $3.5 million before he becomes a free agent. In 23 games, he posted a 2.35 ERA for the Mets with 20 strikeouts against just two walks. He is playoff-tested and is a nice late-game option for the Twins as they try to fight for a postseason run.

The Mets acquired infield prospects Bruin Agbayani and Billy Amick. Agbayani was a sixth-round pick by the Mets last season but hasn’t been able to do much in his career thus far as he was placed on the 60-day injured list back in May. Amick was the Twins’ second-round pick in 2024 and has exploded this season with 24 home runs in Double-A.

Brent Suter

Old friend Brent Suter has continued his reliable ways since leaving the Rockies in 2023, making stops with the Reds and the Los Angeles Angels. The latter organization went on a fire sale Monday, sending Suter to the Atlanta Braves.

Suter, 36, pitched to a 4.12 ERA over 41 games with the Angels this season, continuing to pound the zone and limit hard-hit balls. He also has a 2.51 ERA in nine appearances since the start of July. Suter is mostly just a reliable and durable arm that will be helpful down the stretch and is making just $1.25 million before becoming a free agent after the season.

The Angels received utility man Nacho Alvarez Jr., who was once a highly regarded prospect for the Braves but has been hindered by injuries. He hit .216 with two homers and a .575 OPS across 240 plate appearances for Atlanta from 2024 to 2025. 

Could a deal have been made?

Looking at the deals across the league, it’s difficult to assess what the Rockies could have gotten for Bernardino. He is certainly as good, if not better, than most of the arms moved. However, the Rockies had a set price point for interested teams, and if they didn’t meet those demands, Colorado was fine holding on to the player.

That strikes me as the case for Bernardino. While it would have made perfect sense to trade him, and certainly would have brought back a nice piece or two, the unwillingness to settle for something other than what you truly wanted could have hurt the market.

Still, Bernardino could be a chip in the offseason, or a carryover into a 2027 season as the key part of the bullpen foundation. He’s already proven to be a reliable piece of the puzzle that the Rockies hope can help them compete sooner rather than later.

He probably should have been moved if possible, but retaining the services of a controlled quality lefty isn’t a bad idea at the end of the day.

On the Farm

Triple-A:Sugar Land Space Cowboys 4, Albuquerque Isotopes 3

The Isotopes fell behind early, scoring just one run until they rallied for two in the eighth, but couldn’t finish the job in the 4-3 loss. Jake Brooks made the start on the mound and took the loss after allowing four runs, two in the first, on seven hits over six innings of work. Chad Stevens had two of the Isotopes’ seven hits while Vimael Machín launched his 12th home run of the season, a two-run shot in the eighth. Blas Castaño and Victor Juarez were excellent out of the bullpen, firing three scoreless innings.

Double-A:Binghamton Rumble Ponies 6, Hartford Yard Goats 3

A close game early got away from the Yard Goats as they failed to score past the fourth inning and fell 6-3. Roc Riggio and Aiden Longwell each had two hits in the game while GJ Hill drove in two runs with his 13th home run of the season. Fisher Jameson made the start and went 3.2 innings, giving up four runs on six hits with three strikeouts. Davison Palermo followed with three innings of relief, giving up two runs on two hits.

High-A:Eugene Emeralds 13, Spokane Indians 1

It was a tough night Spokane’s pitching as they combined to give up 13 runs on 13 hits in the loss. The pitching also issued 12 walks against seven strikeouts. The only pitcher to not allow a run was Austin Emener who recorded just one out in the ninth inning. The lone run for Spokane came in the fourth inning when Roldy Brito hit a home run. The offense combined for four hits, while striking out eight times and walking twice.

Low-A:Visalia Rawhide 10, Fresno Grizzlies 9 (F/11)

The Grizzlies took a 7-4 lead into the eighth inning, before giving up four runs to trail 8-7. They managed to tie things back up in the bottom half of the inning as both teams traded runs in the 10th to keep the game tied 9-9. However, Visalia finally got the deciding run in the top of the 11th as Fresno failed to get the ball in play to score the tying run. Marcos Herrera made the start, giving up four runs on nine hits over 3.1 innings. Grif Hughes followed with 3.2 scoreless innings of relief. Easton Marks was tagged for the four runs in the eighth and althrough Manuel Olivares gave up two unearned runs over three innings, he was tagged for the loss. Ronny Ugarte drove in four runs offensively, including hitting a three-run Homer. Wilder Dalis also drove in three runs and had a solo home run.

Rockies Reacts Survey: Grade the 2026 trade deadline

Affected by Altitude Episode 220: Farewells and New Faces | Rocky Mountain Rooftop

On this week’s episode, Evan Lang and I break down the Rockies moves at the deadline and then share our Players of the Month.

Rockies trade deadline analysis: How the moves Colorado didn’t make signal the direction of club | The Denver Post ($)

Kyle Newman shares some thoughts on how the Rockies’ inactivity at the deadline says a lot about how the front office is going about trying to build the roster and a winning culture.

Purple Row Prospects polling thread, mid-season 2026 | Purple Row

Be sure to join the polling thread to get your new PuRPs rankings in for mid-season!

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

The Kansas City Royals announced a litany of moves ahead of Tuesday’s return to action, but the injury situation gets worse. Royals starters Luinder Avila and Stephen Kolek are slated for Tommy John surgery today, putting their 2027 availability into question.

“It’s been a tough year injury-wise all the way around,” Quatraro said. “You know, you can name off a whole bunch of guys that have gone through it. And like we said a bunch of times, it’s really unfortunate and I feel really badly for the guys. They have put in the work to try to stay healthy and unfortunately they haven’t. Especially when you have these major surgeries that cost you a whole year there, it’s really trying.” The Royals will now turn to remaining starters Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, Noah Cameron and Randy Dobnak. It’s possible the club also tries Daniel Lynch IV in a starting role given the injuries.

David Lesky did not hold back in his reaction to the trade deadline by the Royals.

That was uneventful and even maddening. The Royals made three trades (though one was simply a DFA pickup, and a player I knew very little about was traded for him), but they held on to multiple pending free agents. I can’t remember the last time I was this disappointed by a Royals trade deadline. I had a pretty good idea that they were not going to trade anyone controllable other than maybe a reliever, but I didn’t expect them to hang on to John Schreiber. I can’t believe there wasn’t a team in baseball that wouldn’t have offered something for him.

So this is a big miss from me for the Royals. I will get to this shortly in more detail, but what they did (and didn’t do) yesterday has told the whole baseball world what they’re going to do this offseason. And if they don’t do it successfully, I believe that they both should and will be looking for new jobs. They absolutely can still run this gambit successfully, but they’ve chosen the path that leads to jobs being lost. In some ways, I suppose that’s admirable. In others, well, it’s probably foolish. The 2027 Royals have to win, and they have to win with pitching brought in from outside the organization. That is certainly no easy task, which I will get to shortly.

Craig Brown had similar thoughts on the trade deadline he dubbed a dud.

None of this is surprising because these are the Kansas City Royals, where next year is forever going to be their year, damnit. Therefore they never tear down or build up, instead choosing to plod forward, never failing to deviate from the only path they know. They are predictable in their mediocrity.

What makes this so frustrating is that the Royals actually have assembled a roster with some talent. They have a generational superstar. They have a decent nucleus of young bats. They built a successful pitching lab and the depth to serve it. Yet they somehow always seem to shoot themselves in the foot. And when they’ve finished blowing off a few toes, they wonder how it all happened and then resume course on the exact same path. Weird how things never seem to change around this team.

Can we be disappointed if we’re not surprised? It seems as if we’re angry at the Royals for their lack of proactivity in attacking a trade deadline, shouldn’t that be on us? We have years of evidence at this point. The Royals are who they are, stuck in a quagmire of their own mediocrity. The lack valuable players to deal and those who have value are too often held past their “sell by” date, rendering the eventual return uninspiring and unhelpful.

Royals Opening Day third baseman Maikel Garcia hasn’t played since June 23 and is still working back to playing after receiving a cortisone shot in his left hand.

“They found, you know, a similar area that had kind of not resolved yet,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “They found a more specific, smaller area that they were able to give him a cortisone injection, which we think will calm it down.” Garcia is set for 4 to 5 days with no activity. And from there, he will begin a progression towards a return to action. “He’ll ramp back up for another five days or so and hopefully, he’ll be able to, if everything goes smoothly, be able to get back into games,” Quatraro said.

Royals general manager J.J. Picollo responded to reports of the interest in Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo at this week’s trade deadline.

Not only was the interest in Wacha and Lugo not as reported in the days leading up to the deadline, but discussions with teams showed the Royals wouldn’t get a return they found satisfactory.

“I think the big takeaway, it’s important to understand, you trade a Michael Wacha, you trade a Seth Lugo, you’re going to get prospects back, which is not a bad thing, but also depends on where your team’s timeline is. And right now with the injuries we’ve suffered this year, we’re going to be active trying to build a starting rotation up,” Picollo said. “Given the injuries we have, that guys who won’t be available for the better part of next year — we’ve got a lot of work to do to try to rebuild the pitching staff. So getting prospects back that are three years away, four years away, wasn’t that exciting to us, but it doesn’t mean we weren’t going to listen. It just never got to the point where I would categorize it as great interest. There was some interest, but there wasn’t great interest in that. So if we were able to get a bat, get another arm in return that are already in the major leagues, that’s a different discussion. But when we’re a team that’s not in contention right now, and you’re dealing with teams that are in contention, the last thing they want to do is really take off of their major league team, so that makes it a difficult match.”

Royals catcher Salvador Perez spoke with the media ahead of Tuesday night’s celebration of his breaking Hall of Famer George Brett’s franchise home run record.

Kansas City Star’s Vahe Gregorian had a tribute of sorts to Perez following his press availability.

While signed through next season, his production has dwindled this season, and it’s unclear how much longer he will seek to play. Farther down the road will come discussions of whether he will join Brett in Cooperstown. Time for all that later, though, after a night to pause and appreciate Perez’s journey. Perhaps most of all coming from Perez himself because of all he came from … and how unlikely any of this at all was.

The Athletic’s Eno Sarris says Royals outfielder John Rave is poised for a bigger role following the trade deadline.

John Rave, who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha last week, might be 28 years old, but that’s not too old to join the party in Kansas City. He’s done some bat speed training and now pairs well above-average raw power with good swing decisions and around average contact. The projections don’t agree but this sort of skill set should produce an above-average hitter. Since 2020, the Royals have had two outfielders put up an above-average slash line in more than 400 plate appearances, so they have a need at any outfield spot that Rave can fill.

Can he be a center fielder? The prospect grades, usage and age don’t necessarily suggest it, but that’s where the best opening is, considering that Kyle Isbel hasn’t approached league average with the stick in any of his chances at the spot. Maybe it makes sense, in a lost season, to put Rave out there in center and see if he can hack it. And see if the added bat speed has changed his trajectory as a player.

KC Kingdom’s Parker Buchele ponders if Randy Dobnak is a Royals pitcher beyond this season.

But provided that J.J. Picollo, for all his faults, has it in him to pay the man for 2027, Dobnak would probably best serve the Royals as a sort of in-between piece. KC is set on Lugo, Michael Wacha, Noah Cameron, and hopefully Cole Ragans as starters next year when he returns. Making Dobnak basically the fifth-to-sixth rotation starter and the first guy they’d call out of the bullpen to see extended time on the mound.

Assuming Dobnak can keep up his solid play so far in his Royals tenure, there should be no doubt his new contract is coming. Letting him walk in the offseason after trading for him would be incredibly poor asset management by Picollo, but that’s something he’s all too familiar with.

The Athletic gave Kansas City a C grade on the trade deadline.

The Royals decided to hold on to both Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo, as both veterans are under team control beyond this season. The best player they traded was Thomas and they got a strong return back with Braun, who profiles as a mid-rotation starter. It’s been a disappointing season for the Royals and with little to sell at the deadline, they just weren’t able to help their future much.

The Royals were also labelled “snoozers” for their bare-minimum approach by Stephen J. Nesbitt.

The Royals operated sensibly at this trade deadline. They sent lefty Kris Bubic to the Dodgers for right-hander Carlos Duran. They swapped outfielder Lane Thomas and lefty reliever Bailey Falter for two interesting prospects. They did what teams with bad records but reasonable hopes for next season do at this time of year: They sold what needed to be sold, and held the rest.

NBC Sports, George Bissell reports that former Royals pitcher Dan Altavilla exercised the opt-out in his minor-league contract with the Royals.

FanGraphs names its winners and losers from the 2026 trade deadline.

The San Diego Padres’ new rotation additions are set for their team debuts this week.

The Colorado Rockies sign surging outfielder Mickey Moniak to a two-year deal worth $16.25 million.

The Milwaukee Brewers push young pitcher Brandon Sproat to Triple-A after acquiring Dustin May.

The Seattle Mariners shuffle the position player corps as they look to right the 2026 ship.

Shortstop George Lombard Jr, the New York Yankees’ top prospect, hits a home run for his first MLB hit.

Philadelphia Phillies fans hear from new acquisition Luis Arraez for the first time.

How does backstop Adley Rutschman gel with his new team? The Boston Red Sox catcher is trying to find the answer.

The Atlanta Braves activate catcher Sean Murphy and utilityman Ha-Seong Kim from the IL.

After decades of dwindling numbers, a drive-in theater in Wichita is rebuilding hope for the niche movie-going experience.

Could two houses in Ivanhoe blossom into a larger, more affordable community for area families?

Today’s song of the day is I Hope I’m Stoned (When Jesus Takes Me Home) by Charlie Worsham and Old Crow Medicine Show.