Category: MLB

Note: This piece was written before the Brewers traded for Lance McCullers Jr. on Wednesday. Ultimately, I don’t believe the Brewers are putting much stock in the oft-injured and otherwise ineffective McCullers as a person to do much besides eat a few innings, so I don’t think that trade materially changes any approach that I suggest they might take below.

Welcome back to the trade deadline primer series here at Brew Crew Ball. In part one, we examined the team’s needs — which, of course, have changed completely since I wrote that piece two weeks ago — and looked at the landscape across the league to see who might be selling (another fool’s errand to do with a month remaining to the deadline). In part two last week, we looked at potential targets that could bolster the Brewers’ bullpen.

Today, the focus is the starting rotation. Since I first wrote the initial piece of this series, Brandon Woodruff got injured and received ominous news that makes it sound like he won’t be pitching again this season. Kyle Harrison was placed on the IL, and while everyone is saying the right things to make us believe it’ll be a short stint that’s geared more toward rest than anything else, the term “forearm tightness” is never something you want to hear.

The point is, the Brewers’ desire for starting pitching is very likely a bigger priority today than it was two weeks ago.

The way I see it, there are two ways the Brewers could go about targeting starting pitching at this deadline, so I’m going to structure this piece a little differently than I did the relief pitcher article. Here, I’m going to break things into two different categories. The first group we’ll look at would be splashier moves aimed at raising the ceiling for the team’s postseason rotation — players who the Brewers would expect to make a start or two in a playoff series. The second (and larger) group is what I’d consider “innings eaters” — players who would maybe would not be expected to start in the playoffs barring injury, but who would be able to capably take some innings and pressure off of the younger starters throughout the rest of the season, thus keeping those arms fresh for the stretch run.

I’ll also try to not just discuss the players themselves, but also how realistic (or not) it might be that the Brewers could or would acquire them.

The Postseason Ceiling-Raisers

Let’s get the big one out of the way first.

Tarik Skubal is a free agent after the season. He has won the Cy Young Award in the American League each of the last two seasons. The assumption is that the Tigers will not be able to afford to keep him. Detroit is 44-52 and in fourth place in the abysmal AL Central.

Since the AL is so bad, the Tigers aren’t completely out of it, and they have played good baseball in July. But they’re still not good, and Skubal, even as a two-month rental, could net them a fortune. While I’m not sure that adding a very tip-top of the rotation arm should be the Brewers’ highest priority, the simple fact is that there isn’t really another player on Skubal’s level that’s expected to move at this deadline (at any position), and there’s certainly no reason why you wouldn’t want to add a guy like Skubal if you were trying to win the World Series.

There are some questions about his health. Skubal missed a few weeks earlier this season to get loose bodies removed from his elbow, but he’s been solid in six starts since coming off the injured list and while his numbers aren’t as good as they have been the last two years, he’s still clearly one of the best pitchers in the league.

A challenge here is that it is assumed that the Dodgers will be in on Skubal. Their top four prospects are all outfielders, three of them are at the same level in the minor leagues, and all four are ranked No. 31 or higher in MLB Pipeline’s top 100. They don’t really need them all, and it would seem logical that they’d be willing to build a package around one of them for the right piece.

The Brewers likely can’t beat a Dodgers offer unless they include Jesús Made (not happening) or Luis Peña (whose trade value may have taken a dip given how much time he’s missed this season). Would the Brewers be willing to part with Peña (and probably at least one more of their top 10 prospects, probably two) for two months and a postseason with Skubal? It doesn’t seem like the type of move this front office would make, particularly since even with Skubal, the Brewers would still be heavy underdogs in a series against LA. Likelihood: 2/10.

Another top-line trade target who has been talked about frequently this season is Minnesota’s Joe Ryan. Ryan, unlike Skubal, is under control next season (he has a mutual option, but if it’s declined, he just goes back to arbitration). Ryan isn’t Skubal, but he’s a really good pitcher: over the past three seasons, he has a 3.33 ERA/3.39 FIP, he’s been mostly healthy, and he’s made two All-Star Games (including this season).

The thing is, though, the Twins are not remotely out of postseason position, even while they are under .500. They don’t look like a good team but they’re only three games back of the third Wild Card in the AL. Their owner also appears to want to compete and doesn’t seem happy with the sell-off his brother oversaw last year. My guess is convincing the Twins to trade Ryan would require a significant overpay for a player that already would’ve demanded a huge prospect package; I don’t think there would be much discernible difference between the cost for Ryan and the cost for Skubal. Plus, the Twins are surely less motivated to make a move than Detroit is even if that package is available. Likelihood: 1/10.

There is another Tigers pitcher who is having an excellent season who is an impending free agent: former No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize. It has taken Mize a while to become a good major league pitcher — after a promising rookie season in 2021, he missed most of the next two years when he needed Tommy John surgery. After two seasons as a roughly league-average starter after his return, Mize has found it in 2026 at age 29 to the tune of a 2.79 ERA and even more impressive 2.69 FIP in 14 starts.

From a financial perspective, Mize is quite cheap — his full season salary in 2026 is just $6.15 million — so that could be something that makes him attractive to the Brewers. He’s also got far less of a track record as a good player than either Skubal or Ryan, so while the prospect cost would be significant, it would surely be more palatable. Mize will be a popular target, should the Tigers sell, but he seems far more realistic to me than either of the two guys mentioned above. Likelihood: 4/10

Let’s talk about the next two in tandem. I don’t know if anyone has any idea what the Angels are going to do at this trade deadline; they’re working with interim general manager John Mozeliak, and while they are clearly bad, they also seem to think that “next year is our year,” so I’m skeptical they’ll trade anyone who isn’t a free agent after the season.

If they do entertain that possibility, though, there are two pitchers on their squad who are both 27 and both under control for two more years after this one who would both be intriguing pickups. The first is Reid Detmers, the No. 10 overall pick in 2020 and a former top 30 prospect. Detmers’ major league career thus far has been a roller coaster. As has become the Angels’ M.O., he probably debuted too early — he was barely 22 when he first arrived in the big leagues in 2021. He wasn’t bad in 2022 and 2023, but he wasn’t particularly good, either, and things went sideways in 2024 when he had a 6.70 ERA in 87 innings. Last season, Detmers pitched out of the bullpen, and while his surface-level stats weren’t great, there was some promising stuff under the hood.

That has continued this season. In a return to the rotation, Detmers has a 4.39 ERA — that’s slightly worse than league average — but his FIP is 3.36, and he’s got good peripherals with 10.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9. He’s also been quite durable, with 108 2/3 innings pitched as of the All-Star break.

The other interesting Angels pitcher was a big story in the season’s first month but has since cooled. José Soriano allowed just one run through his first six starts of the season — his ERA after six games and 37 2/3 innings was 0.24. Since then, Soriano hasn’t been all that good — he has a 5.15 ERA and 4.89 FIP in 73 1/3 innings across 14 starts since April 28. But I’ve long eyed Soriano as a potential Brewers target because he has certain traits that they value: he throws hard (96.8-mph average fastball velocity), gets ground balls (91st percentile), and has a lot of extension (78th percentile).

I imagine that because of these players’ relative youth, team control, and their high-ish profiles, the cost would be very high. There’s also the fact that no one knows what the Angels are going to do, and if I had to guess, I’d say that they’re going to make anyone who might help beyond this season more-or-less untouchable (even if it’s a dumb stance). Likelihood: 1/10.

What about Toronto’s Kevin Gausman? He’s in the last year of a five-year, $110 million deal signed before the 2022 season, and while he’s got a 4.33 ERA (105 ERA+), his peripherals are very much in line with what he’s done the last couple of seasons. Gausman isn’t as good as he was when he got Cy Young votes each year from 2021-23, but he’s still a solid pitcher who never gets hurt (at least 174 innings each year since 2020) and pitched very well for the Blue Jays in the postseason last year (a 2.93 ERA in 30 2/3 innings across six starts). It’s definitely an open question as to whether the defending American League champs would be willing to sell (they’re just 45-51 but only 2.5 games back in the Wild Card race), but if they do, Gausman is an obvious candidate. Likelihood: 4/10.

One last person that I’ll dedicate some actual time to is someone who is not having a good season, but who would surely get Brewers fans buzzing: Freddy Peralta. Things haven’t gone well for Peralta as a Met, though his peripherals aren’t all that far off what they were during his 2023-24 seasons in Milwaukee. The big concern here is that Peralta’s strikeouts have dipped — his 9.0 K/9 is the lowest of his career, and just the second time he’s ever been in single digits (9.9 in 2022).

The Mets should be willing to deal Peralta. He’s a free agent after the season, and given how poorly things have gone, you’d imagine they’re going to let him hit the open market rather than try to work out an extension before other teams get a crack at him. (They could also be curious to see if he bounces back after the All-Star break.) The optics of trading Peralta back to the Brewers — likely for quite a bit less than they gave up for him — would not be good for an already beleaguered front office. But if they can get something for him, they should. From the Brewers’ side, they may see a player they’re familiar with who they think they can get right, and even if they can’t, he would certainly fit the “innings eater” mold, as he’s been one of the more durable starters in the league over the last four seasons (and it’s not like he’s a disaster this season or anything). Likelihood: 3/10.

Finally, I’m going to zip through a few other potential but, in my opinion, extremely unlikely targets who fit the “ceiling-raiser” type.

San Francisco’s Logan Webb would surely command a king’s ransom if he were available; he’s been one of the best pitchers in the league for basically six years, he’s not 30 yet, and he’s got two more years of team control at an entirely reasonable $18 million a year. We haven’t really gotten any indication that San Francisco is interested in a multi-year rebuild, but if they do think they will go that way, they should absolutely dangle Webb, whose numbers are down a little but are still quite good.

I don’t see the Reds trading within the division really under any circumstances, but especially not when it’s a player who could help the Brewers beat them again next year. But if there were a world where Nick Lodolo was available to the Brewers, I’d be interested, even though his season has been inconsistent.

I suppose we should mention a third Tiger, Jack Flaherty, who is also a free agent after the season. He’s having an OK season, but he’s walking more batters than you’d like and he’s also been inconsistent over the last several years. The other thing with Flaherty is that he’s making a ton of money this season, $32 million, so the Brewers would probably want Detroit to pay some of that down.

Speaking of Detroit, Keider Montero and Troy Melton are both intriguing, but given that neither has even reached arbitration, I suspect the Tigers will hold them for the future, especially if any or all of Skubal, Mize, and Flaherty go. Somebody has to pitch. (Framber Valdez, another Tiger, makes too much money to be a Brewers target.)

There’s a lot of noise around Sonny Gray, who would probably be on the move if the Red Sox sell. Gray, though, has a full no-trade clause and there has been a lot of noise regarding Atlanta, so I don’t see a match with the Brewers.

Michael King is a solid pitcher and of all the starters on the Padres, he is by far the most desirable in a trade. The issue is money: King has player options in each of the next two seasons worth $25 million a year. Would the Brewers be willing to potentially take on $50 million in new money to acquire King?

A common name in trade discussions for over a year now has been Miami’s Sandy Alcantara, the 2022 NL Cy Young winner who is having a good bounce-back year after Tommy John in 2024 and a down season in his first year back. But the Marlins are too good to sell at this point, I think; the surprise team in the NL this year is right in the thick of it, and Alcantara is likely off the block.

There has been some talk that the Mariners would be willing to move one of their starters, as they essentially have six guys who would be in most teams’ top three. But the most likely candidate is the expensive and maybe-not-that-good-anymore Luis Castillo (he’s been a bit better over the last month but is still a net negative on the season), and the Mariners are definitely a team trying to win this season; their needs — a high-leverage reliever and a right-handed hitter — align too closely with the Brewers’ needs to make this a match that works.

The last one to mention in this section: All-Star Eduardo Rodríguez is having a very nice season for Arizona. But there’s a huge gap between his 2.25 ERA and his 4.00 FIP that gives me pause, and he’s not cheap either, with two more years at $20 million each. Rodríguez also has a limited no-trade clause, which he famously invoked when the Dodgers thought they were trading for him at the 2023 deadline. I don’t see this one as much of a possibility.

The Innings Eaters

Okay, so that was a whole bunch of starting pitchers who, were the Brewers to acquire any of them, would be expected to play a real role in a postseason starting rotation. But what if the Brewers aim lower? What if they’re just looking for someone to competently cover a bunch of innings between now and the end of the season so that players like Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison can get enough rest that they’re ready to go full speed in the postseason?

That invites a much larger player pool. These guys wouldn’t be the most exciting acquisitions, but they could certainly play a role. I’m not going to give likelihood ratings here, but I’ll comment on availability when I need to.

Looking back at Cincinnati, Brady Singer is an acquisition that didn’t really work out for them. His numbers this season aren’t very good, and he’ll be a free agent after the season. But what Singer can offer is durability: he has made at least 24 starters every year since 2021 and has thrown over 150 innings in each of the last four seasons. He’s not going to win you many games by himself, but if you’re just looking for a guy who can keep you in it, he’s not a bad choice.

One semi-intriguing option hasn’t pitched since May 15 but could be back by the time we reach the deadline, and that’s the Mets’ Clay Holmes. This is a move that might have a higher ceiling than just “innings eater,” as Holmes was an above-average starter last season and a good reliever for several years before that. But the Brewers would certainly want some guarantee of health before making the move. There’s also murkiness over next season: Holmes holds a $12 million player option for 2027.

Another Met, Sean Manaea, is making way too much money ($22 million this year and next) for a mediocre pitcher. He started the year in long relief, but he’s been solid since returning to the rotation in mid-June. If the Mets ate some of the contract, I could see it, but there’s no way the Brewers would do this if they had to pay the whole contract.

San Francisco has couple of veteran pitchers, Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle, who are both free agents after the season. Mahle’s surface numbers are poor, but the peripherals are a bit better, and he’s been decent at times. Ray is the opposite: the 2021 AL Cy Young winner has good surface-level numbers, but the peripherals are bad. Either could work if expectations are low.

The Royals have a few pitchers who could conceivably be involved in something. Seth Lugo makes too much money to be any sort of realistic target. Michael Wacha has a $14 million club option next season and has been solid, if not spectacular, this season — he’d be one of the higher-end “innings eater” types, but he might be good enough to tempt a new manager to use him in the playoff rotation, which I’m not sure would be good.

Kris Bubic could’ve been an interesting target — he’s a free agent after the season and was an All-Star last year — but he just had a setback in rehab from a shoulder injury, and he probably won’t be ready by the deadline.

There are a few Baltimore pitchers who might be worth sniffing around. Trevor Rogers was excellent in 2025 but hasn’t been nearly as good this year; he’ll be a free agent after the season. Dean Kremer missed two-and-a-half months this year with a strained quad, and he’s only made four starts, but last year’s version was a perfectly fine back-of-rotation starter, and he’s got another year of control. Kyle Bradish has two more years of control, but while he’s healthy this season he’s had injury problems in the past. His value is also low right now, so Baltimore might want to hold him to see if they can get it back up.

Might a team try to buy low on Boston’s Brayan Bello? He’s had a horrible season and was sent back to the minor leagues for most of the last month until returning right before the break. He’s not cheap, with three years and an option remaining all at about $9 million on a big extension he signed prior to the 2024 season. It would be a risky project.

San Diego’s Walker Buehler obviously has some experience, but there’s not a lot to like, there. Also on the Padres, Griffin Canning has been a bit unlucky but walks too many batters. I wouldn’t be excited about Colorado’s Michael Lorenzen, but if all you’re looking for is innings, he could handle it.

Arizona’s Michael Soroka has pitched well this season when he’s been healthy, but he’s currently on the injured list with a glute issue. He should be back before the deadline and might be an interesting pickup. A bigger name on that same club but one who seems to be broken is Zac Gallen, who is a free agent after the season but is making a LOT of money this year. He’s just been getting demolished; not sure what happened to him.

Wrapping up

Kyle Harrison’s availability moving forward is likely to be the biggest influence on what the Brewers do at the trade deadline. If the Brewers think (or know) that Harrison is fine but just needs a little rest, then you might see them pick up an innings eater type who, if needed, could throw a few innings in the postseason — think about a version of Jose Quintana from 2025.

But if the Brewers are worried about Harrison — or Misiorowski, for that matter — making it to the end of the season at full effectiveness, they might — and maybe should — make a more aggressive move.

If they’re aggressive, the names that make the most sense to me are Casey Mize, Kevin Gausman, or — as wild as it might seem — Freddy Peralta. If they go the other route and look for someone to fill in toward the back of the rotation, I could see Tyler Mahle or Michael Lorenzen as options. If they’re looking to thread the needle and going for a pitcher who is more of a question but has a bit of upside, I wouldn’t be shocked by a move for Clay Holmes, Michael Soroka, or Trevor Rogers.

The Skubal move just doesn’t feel right to me right now. The aging Dodgers can’t keep this up forever, and while they’ll surely keep replenishing, the Brewers might think they’ll be a little closer in a year or two, at which point they’ll make an all-in move or two. I’m not saying it can’t happen, but this is a fairly deliberate front office who has put a lot of faith in building from within. Getting a player for such a short period of time who won’t even make them the league’s favorite just doesn’t feel like a Matt Arnold move.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Pirates fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

The MLB Trade Deadline is August 3. The Pittsburgh Pirates are sitting at 50-47. They are 9.5 games back in the division but just 2 games back of a Wild Card. The Pirates are typically sellers at the deadline. This week’s question is what do you think this year? Will the Pirates be buyer or sellers?

Cast your vote, tell us in the comments, and we’ll be back soon with the results.

The All-Star break giving us a four-day reprieve before kicking off the unofficial second half of the season is always a good time for reflection, as many front offices are surely doing with their rosters in the weeks remaining before the trade deadline. A lot can still happen to change up what the Yankees are working with, but until a move is made the team that they’ve got on paper needs to be the one showing up on the field. They finally pulled out of their tailspin in the week before the break, splitting a series with the Rays and sweeping the Nationals to give themselves a platform to hopefully spring off of once they’re back starting on Friday, but they’ve got a tough schedule in front of them.

The Yankees are in the tougher half of the toughest remaining schedules leaguewide with the 12th hardest foes left to face from the rest of July through September, and a few of the biggest ones are right on the horizon. Right out of the gate they’ve got the two-time defending champion Dodgers visiting the Bronx, and following them is a Pirates team that has surprisingly been rather competent surfacing over .500 this season. A road trip to Philadelphia is next up, and the Phillies have completely turned their season around since firing Rob Thomson and installing Yankee legend Don Mattingly as the interim manager putting them just two games behind Atlanta for first place in the NL East. A week in Chicago rounds out the month with both the White Sox and Cubs coming up back-to-back, and the ChiSox are another surprise as they narrowly lead the AL Central with the Cubs remaining a solid postseason threat in the middle of the NL Wild Card.

That’s a lot of contending teams to face in a row, and while the Yankees may have had a good week finally they’ll need to be on their A-game to not continue sliding down the standings with that many strong opponents on the docket. The schedule doesn’t let up from there, but let’s zoom in on this stretch to close out July for a moment. With the expectation that the big clump in the standings is going to force teams to wait around until the last minute before committing to being buyers or sellers, it’s reasonable to assume that the roster as it stands is going to be the ones handling this stretch, and it’s a crucial one. So how can we expect the Yankees to handle it, and how many series can they convert into wins?

Their immediate challenge with Los Angeles would certainly set the tone if they can win it, and they’ll be rolling out the top of their rotation rested and fresh with Cam Schlittler going in the first game to give themselves a chance, but I don’t think anyone would be surprised if they only came away with a win at most from the three-game set. Pittsburgh is a different discussion though, and for all the good they’ve done this year they have to be viewed as a team for the Yankees to beat. The Phillies are the pivotal point in this run, as the second-best team of the bunch and the first stop in a lengthy road trip — winning two out of three here would be a statement that the Yankees are back.

The White Sox got smashed the last time they faced New York, giving up 10+ runs in back-to-back games, and will be looking for vengeance on their home turf, but even though they’re a division leader they’re one of the weaker ones in all of baseball. With a four-game set the even split is the most common outcome, but tilting it in the Bombers’ favor is the kind of result they’ll need to catch the Rays. The Cubs will be a tough task to round things out with, and the prospect of facing them to end a 10-game road trip is daunting — I don’t know if they’ll be able to manage that, but expecting to win every series is impossible and I wouldn’t fault them for stumbling here if they play up to their lofty standards in the thick of this stretch. All in all, I see an 11-6 or 10-7 run to open the second half as a realistic goal if the Yankees are done stumbling all over themselves. Do you think it could be better? Is hoping for .500 with all of these contenders in the way the best they could hope for? Let us know what you think down below.

We’ve got a chill day ahead as we take our last day of rest before starting the dog days of summer. Nick leads off with a look at one of the few names that has been directly linked to the Yankees in trade rumors so far with Ryan Jeffers, and Matt follows with a birthday post for Tom Metcalf and the charming run he had in his lone year in the majors. Peter and Andrés both take Paul Blackburn under the microscope, with the former giving him the Sequence of the Week treatment while the latter looks at his breakout season at large. Then, Josh will preview the pitching matchups we’ll see when the Dodgers arrive tomorrow to kick off the post-break push.

Today’s Matchup

Off-day (Yankees will resume tomorrow at home against the Dodgers at 7:05 p.m. EST)

PHILADELPHIA — Within a 162-game campaign, there are multiple seasons within a season, each segment sowing hope or despair or perhaps just drudgery. Make it to July in decent shape, though, and anything’s possible.

Bryce Harper knows that all too well. His Philadelphia Phillies started out 9-19, cost manager Rob Thomson his job, then welcomed back Zack Wheeler – and exhaled.

A 45-24 tear to end the first half – Wheeler winning 10 of his 11 decisions – nudged the Phillies within two games of first place in the National League East – and firmly in wild card contention.

“Once we got Wheels back,” All-Star first baseman Bryce Harper tells USA TODAY Sports, “everybody took a deep breath and understood he was coming back and was going to do his job and do it well. That helped a lot of our other starting pitching fall into place and understand Wheels was going to do his job and everything was going to be OK.

“Once he got back, things started rolling a little more and kind of took off from there.”

And here we are, poised on the eve of the second half, with a mass of mediocrity huddled in the standings and 20 of 30 teams harboring fairly legitimate playoff hopes. Some are far better off than others, though, and with that in mind, USA TODAY Sports breaks down the tiers of playoff contenders as the season re-starts Friday, July 16:

Tier 1 – Almost certainly getting in: Dodgers, Brewers, Braves, Rays, Yankees

For what it’s worth, this group’s playoff odds, per FanGraphs, land in the 91-100% range, and you can guess which team enjoys the latter projection. Atlanta holds just a two-game lead over Philadelphia, and both teams possess below-average farm systems, which will make the trade deadline upgrade game fascinating. But Atlanta’s big league product features superior depth than the Phillies.

Milwaukee can largely rest on its first-half laurels and cruise to the postseason, but injuries to starting pitchers Kyle Harrison and Brandon Woodruff complicate matters. The Brewers hold a five-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central; the teams will face each other seven times in 10 games as August turns to September, spurring memories of their fairly epic five-game 2025 NLDS matchup won by the Brewers.

“Every game felt like a Game 7,” remembers Brewers ace Jacob  Misiorowski. “It didn’t matter if it was a Game 1 or a Game 3. It was a lot of fun.”

Despite the loss of Aaron Judge, the Yankees and Rays are simply the only teams with a semblance of consistency in the AL. The Rays have a three-game lead over the Yankees and 10 over third-place Boston. The Yankees should face the same scenario last year, a wild card in hand and a battle for the division, with Tampa Bay replacing Toronto. In case you were wondering: The Rays hold a 6-3 head-to-head advantage, so the Yankees best not tie for the division title once again.

Bloomberg | Silas Brown and Randall Williams: The Yankees are reportedly moving closer to raising $3 billion of financing from Apollo Global Management, Inc. The package is mostly comprised of debt and equity. Per the NY Post, the fresh capital is expected to be used ‘to refinance existing obligations and fund future expansion projects.’

ESPN | Kiley McDaniel: The 2026 MLB Draft is now in the books, and you can say that the Yankees added some exciting prospects. McDaniel updated each team’s top 10 prospects list and added the Bombers’ first two picks, left-handers Hunter Dietz and Sean Duncan, in the sixth and seventh spots, respectively. Fellow southpaw Henry Lalane (No. 8) and third baseman Richard Matic (No. 10) also cracked the list.

NY Post | Jon Heyman: A few weeks ago, former Yankees and current Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman suggested that if the Bombers wanted to acquire him before the deadline, he would need an apology from general manager Brian Cashman. That doesn’t appear to be the case anymore. “I turned the page a long time ago,” Chapman told the Post. “They asked me a question and I answered it.”

Chapman’s tenure in New York ended on a sour note back in 2022, but the left-hander appears to be over it. A trade, however, is highly unlikely at this point, even though he has been magnificent this year with a 2.20 ERA.

Newsday | Erik Boland: The Yankees enter the second half with a 54-42 record, three games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East. Per Boland, there are five burning questions surrounding the team at this point. He wonders about Aaron Judge’s return date, Ben Rice’s ability to keep up his torrid run, Gerrit Cole and his ability to return to top form, and more.

Five things to watch as Phillies return from All-Star break originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies return from the All-Star break and host the New York Mets on Thursday night.

Before Aaron Nola takes the mound and the boos start raining down on Juan Soto at Citizens Bank Park, let’s take a look at five storylines that will impact the Phils as the games get bigger and they try to make the postseason for a fifth straight year.

THE TRADE DEADLINE

At various times this season, the Phillies’ top need has appeared to be a right-handed outfield bat or a back-end starting pitcher. The club would still benefit from both, though newcomer Derek Hill’s contributions on both sides of the ball have at least partially addressed some of the outfield deficit.

In recent weeks, bullpen has probably become the team’s No. 1 need, specifically a quality late-game leverage arm that can help deliver the ball to All-Star closer Jhoan Duran. It doesn’t really matter if the Phils get a lefty or a righty, as long as it’s a quality arm that throws strikes. In a perfect world, however, it would be a left-hander because Jose Alvarado has struggled. Aroldis Chapman would be the pie-in-the-sky acquisition, but his Boston Red Sox rallied before the break and are just a half-game out of the last wild-card spot in the American League.

Not only has Alvarado struggled but right-hander Brad Keller, signed in the offseason to pitch in leverage situations in the seventh and eighth innings, recently missed time with forearm inflammation. Keller is back now, but eyebrows were raised over the weekend when he was not used in Detroit. That’s something to keep an eye on.

Since June 1, the Phillies’ bullpen ranks 25^th in the majors with a 5.21 ERA. In July, it ranks 29^th with an 8.05 ERA and has walked 5.45 batters per nine, second-most in the majors over that span.

The trade deadline is August 3. The Phillies are in the midst of their annual search for bullpen help. Baseball boss Dave Dombrowski got a good one in Duran last year. He doesn’t have a deep farm system to entice potential trade partners, but he’ll get something done. With a high-priced, aging, win-now team, the stakes are just too high not to.

Fans aren’t the only ones curious to see what happens.

The players are, too. Especially the guy in the first locker with the colorful spikes.

“I think you know what we need, what we’re good at and what we’re not good at right now,” Bryce Harper said at All-Star media day Monday. “Obviously John (Middleton) wants to win. He’s going to put all his chips in where he needs to, but he’s going to be smart about our future as well. I’ve said this before. Obviously, I like the future of our organization and we need our future, but you’ve got to try to win as well. So whatever that looks like, I think Dave is going to do a great job, or I hope he does, and gets the things we need.”

RACE FOR THE CY

Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler are right in the thick of a crowded NL Cy Young race that could go down to the wire. They rank Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in bWAR for pitchers in the NL – Sanchez at 5.4 and Wheeler at 4.8.

Sanchez, who finished second in the voting last season, ranks second in the NL in innings (127 1/3) and strikeouts (144). He is sixth in ERA at 2.62. He racked up the fifth-longest scoreless innings streak (50 2/3 innings) in MLB history earlier this season.

Since the streak ended, however, Sanchez carries an ERA of 4.50 in eight starts. Makes you wonder if he’s getting a little fatigued. Something to keep an eye on as the second half gets going.

Wheeler missed five starts at the beginning of the season so he does not yet qualify for the league ERA lead. If he did, his mark of 2.13 ERA would be second-best in the NL to Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski. His 0.892 WHIP would also be second in the league. Wheeler projects to have enough innings to qualify for the league lead by mid-August. He has twice finished second in the Cy Young voting and badly wants to win one. His innings total may end up being around 170. Can he win it at that number? Sure, he can. Corbin Burnes won the award with 167 innings in 2021, beating out Wheeler, who led the majors with 213 1/3 that season.

Sanchez and Wheeler face plenty of competition for the Cy Young. Misiorowski, Chris Sale, Chase Burns, Eduardo Rodriguez, Max Meyer and Shohei Ohtani, among others, are all in the mix.

SOME NOTABLE SERIES

The Phillies have a big one next week when they host the Los Angeles Dodgers for three games at Citizens Bank Park. The Dodgers have the best record in the majors and eliminated the Phillies from the postseason last year. Once again, they look to be a team the Phillies must get past if they want to make the World Series. The Phils lost two of three at Dodger Stadium in May. They’ll have another chance to measure themselves against baseball’s best next week.

A week after seeing the Dodgers, the Phils travel to Miami for three against a surging Marlins team that is right on their heels in the NL East and wild-card races. Miami has the best record (26-11) in the majors since June 1 and is 31-20 at home.

The Phils come back from the All-Star break trailing first-place Atlanta by two games. The Marlins are just four back. The Phillies and Braves will square off seven times in 10 days in early September.

HELP FROM THE MINORS?

If the Phils spend their limited trade currency to add bullpen or outfield help, they may not have enough to address the back end of their starting rotation. They would love nothing more than to see enough improvement in Andrew Painter to bring him back from Triple A.

It’s worth keeping an eye on Gage Wood’s progress at Double A. Would Dombrowski bring last year’s first-rounder to the majors down the stretch to help in the bullpen? It probably depends on the hard-throwing right-hander’s ability to throw strikes. It might be a long shot, but Dombrowski has been bold in the past.

Right-handed reliever Alex McFarlane is also at Double A, striking out almost 12 batters per nine innings. However, he’s walking almost five per nine. He throws hard and features a good slider. Maybe he earns a look if he can throw strikes.

Also, veteran Tommy Pham is still in the minors. The right-handed hitting outfielder could be in the mix if he gets hot.

CHASING RECORDS

Kyle Schwarber leads the majors with 32 homers. He’s on pace for 56, which would equal his NL-leading total from last season. Can Schwarber break Ryan Howard’s club record of 58, set in 2006? Can he get to 60?

Schwarber is 28 shy of 400 homers in his career. Bryce Harper is just 17 short of 400. Can they both get there this season?

On the flipside, Schwarber leads the majors with 144 strikeouts and is on pace to break the all-time single-season record of 223, set by Arizona’s Mark Reynolds in 2009.

Harper, who missed time each of the last five seasons with injury, has been remarkably durable this season. He’s played in all 97 games. Manager Don Mattingly knows he must get Harper an occasional day off in the second half to optimize production.

It’s the “break” part of the All-Star break now, as the festivities are complete and the team doesn’t return to action until Friday. There are still select minor league games, transactions, and draft pick signings left to track, however.

Braves News

Ivan took a look at the Braves’ performance in the first half of July.

Keep track of the franchise’s progress signing their 21 draft picks with our signing tracker here.

MLB News

The A’s are calling up former LSU star and second round pick, 3B Tommy White, despite him posting a 97 wRC+ across 346 PAs in the upper minors this season.

The Astros traded big-name pitcher Lance McCullers to the Brewers.

The A’s DFA’d veteran starter Aaron Civale.

The Post’s Howie Kussoy takes a look at three questions facing the Mets in the second half of the season.

Who will be moved?

The decision to sell before the trade deadline (Aug. 3) has never been easier.

Outside of their biggest stars (Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor) and promising rookies (Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Nolan McLean), the Mets could make virtually anyone available to improve their standing in 2027 and beyond.

That includes Luke Weaver, Clay Holmes and Huascar Brazobán.

Pending free agents include Freddy Peralta, A.J. Minter, Brooks Raley and Tyrone Taylor.

Who’s next?

Amid one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history, the Mets have found glimmers of hope in a crop of youngsters, including Benge, Ewing, McLean, Christian Scott and Zach Thornton.

A series of trades could open additional roster spots, creating potential call-up opportunities for starters Jonah Tong and Jack Wenninger, power-hitting first baseman Ryan Clifford and outfielder Nick Morabito, among others.

Who believes?

You only have to go back to last season to be reminded that the second half of the season may not look anything like it did before the All-Star break. Soto could finish with MVP-like numbers.

Lindor could bust out after missing 57 games and hitting .216. Bo Bichette is hitting .315 since June 1. Marcus Semien and Devin Williams have made a combined five All-Star appearances this decade.

Francisco Alvarez, 24, could still get closer to his potential. This projected 2026 contender will be running many of the same faces back next season. A second-half surge could salvage some optimism from a lost season.

Second-half schedule

July 16, 18-19: at Phillies
July 20-22: at Brewers
July 24-26: vs. Dodgers
July 27-29: vs. Braves
July 30-Aug. 2: vs. Marlins
Aug. 4-6: at Guardians
Aug. 7-9: at Pirates
Aug. 10-12: at Braves
Aug. 14-16: vs. Nationals
Aug. 17-19: vs. Padres
Aug. 21-23: at White Sox
Aug. 25-27: vs. Brewers
Aug. 28-30: vs. Astros
Aug. 31-Sept. 2: at Rays
Sept. 4-6: vs. Giants
Sept. 7-9: at Marlins
Sept. 11-13: at Yankees
Sept. 14-16: vs. Orioles
Sept. 17-20: vs. Phillies
Sept. 22-24: at Rangers
Sept. 25-27: at Nationals

Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani won the ESPY Award for Best Single-Game Performance.

Boxing legend Mike Tyson, boxer/influencer Jake Paul and music producer DJ Khaled announced Ohtani as the winner during the show. Ohtani was not in attendance.

Ohtani received the award for a performance against the Milwaukee Brewers, where he hit three home runs and pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 10 batters, in Game 4 of the 2025 National League Championship Series.

Before the Yankees took the field again for the second half, YES broadcasters Michael Kay and Paul O’Neill fielded some questions about the Bombers from The Post’s Steve Serby.

Q: The state of the Yankees?

Kay: I think they’re grinding, they’re battling, going through a lot of injuries. … I truly believe if they’re 100 percent healthy, they’re by far the best team in the American League. I think the league is really weak this year. I think when the Yankees have [Max] Fried and [Carlos] Rodón to go along with [Cam] Schlittler and [Gerrit] Cole, that’s their best starting rotation. Obviously they need [Aaron] Judge back and if they get [Giancarlo] Stanton back, I think it lengthens the lineup. Now are they gonna get all of them back? That’s anybody’s guess. If they don’t, then it’s a different story.

O’Neill: Well if you’d have asked me a week ago going into Tampa Bay and the way Tampa Bay was playing, and the way the Yankees were playing, they could have played themselves out of the American League East, but they didn’t. They had a nice little run going up to the All-Star break, and so I think that you’re back on solid ground as far as looking to try to win the American League East.

Q: What would be the Yankees’ biggest concern?

O’Neill: You can nitpick and break everything down, it’s basically consistency. They go through these unbelievable times where they look like a great baseball team, and then all of a sudden they fall off a cliff. It’s kinda baffling at times.

Kay: Not getting Judge back. That’s the key to everything. People go, “Why don’t you have reinforcements?” There’s nobody that can be Judge. Judge is a once-in-a-generation player, so when you take him out of the equation it changes everything and I think you’ve seen that … he’s the most important person on any team in the American League.

Q: What did you think when they decided to run it back this season?

O’Neill: I didn’t have a problem with that because you had Cole coming back, you had Rodón coming back … you had a healthy Aaron Judge and a healthy coming out of spring training (Giancarlo) Stanton, so I thought you had enough pieces. … [Cody] Bellinger’s a complete player, [Trent] Grisham is back in the lineup and really solidifies everything in the outfield. He’s just capable of doing a lot of things that aren’t really seen in the scorecard to help this team. And you had some question marks — is [Jasson] Domínguez gonna be a future player? But Aaron Judge was Aaron Judge, and it all changed obviously with his injury.

Kay: I thought that was somewhat blown up because if anything, they ran it back from Aug. 1 on, I think they made a lot of their changes at the trade deadline. They traded for [Ryan] Weathers, and I knew that they were gonna get back Gerrit Cole who they didn’t have last year. Yeah for the most part they ran it back, but even if they totally ran it back, they won 94 games last year, the same amount as the Blue Jays, so that was the most in the American League, and they just had to play better against the Blue Jays.

Q: Whenever Judge returns, what are expectations for him?

O’Neill: I don’t know what has happened this day and age, but guys come back off of the IL, it’s not like a two-week play-in. I mean, I’ve seen Stanton do it year after year, come back and be effective immediately. I don’t know if it’s ’cause of the equipment, the machines or whatever, but it seems to be like they get back in the groove much easier. But Aaron Judge is not allowed to do anything upper body-wise. He is so big and strong that it might not hurt him, I don’t know. I just hope that he has a month or so to really get ready before the October games.

Kay: It’s all according to when he comes back. So if he comes back third week in August, middle of August, I think he’s got plenty of time to get himself right and get his swing down and go into the postseason like Aaron Judge. I think every time he steps onto the field, he has the potential to change the game. … He’s won two MVPs in a row, and now, the fact that he’s missed all these games and you see how it’s affected the Yankees, he could be the MVP again this year, without even playing.

Q: What moves might Brian Cashman make at the trade deadline?

Kay: Everything changes if Judge is back or not. If they know he’s coming back, I think they need a right-handed catcher, and I think they need a swing-and-miss arm in the bullpen. I really don’t think they need anything else other than that.

O’Neill: I think you’re always looking to upgrade a bullpen. The pitching is gonna be much more leaned on this year with Aaron Judge and Stanton out of the lineup. [David] Bednar’s been great, Tim Hill has had some struggles but I always trusted him ’cause he throws strikes. [Fernando] Cruz is a strikeout pitcher, and when Fried comes back one of the starters will go to the bullpen. I think late innings getting to Bednar is gonna be the one thing if one of the starting pitchers doesn’t fill that role that you’ll probably see something happen.

Q: Thoughts on Ryan Jeffers and Luis Arraez as potential targets.

Kay: Jeffers would be a good fit because he’s also worked with Tanner Swanson, the Yankee catching guru, so it’s not like he’d be coming in cold into the Yankee system. I don’t think the Mets and the Yankees will make a trade, but a guy like Luis Torrens could be somebody that could fit in. People talk about Hunter Goodman, but why would the Rockies trade him? He’s their best player, he’s young, they have control of him for a long time. They’re gonna have to get creative. Tampa Bay needs catching too. Maybe this best hope is that Austin Wells suddenly gets hot.

Q: Arraez?

Kay: He doesn’t fit the perfect Yankee player profile, he’s certainly not a home run hitter, he’s improved defensively a lot. I still think that they believe in Jazz Chisholm. I think with the things that they have to get, Luis Arraez would be lower on the list.

O’Neill: Jeffers has always been rumored because it seemed like a perfect fit, because he’s a right-handed kid who can hit. [Austin] Wells, coming into the year, nobody expected him to be where he was offensively. Does he have a big second half ahead of him? Arraez has always been a guy … I like average hitters in the lineup, you’re taking strikeouts away where you have so many strikeouts in the game today, if you have a few guys in your lineup that are consistently getting on base, putting the ball in play, I think it breaks up the monotony of hit a home run or strikeout.

Q: The difference this season in Ben Rice.

O’Neill: He’s made some adjustments as far as his stance this year, he kind of opened up a little bit which you don’t have to worry as much getting to the inside pitch. He’s a smart hitter. You just hope that this is a year where you look back and say this guy really became a star.

Q: What is Rice’s ceiling?

Kay: I think he’s such a smart player, he goes up there with a plan, he’s gotten stronger every single year, you can just see by the exit velocity and the balls that come off his bat. If he can have the next five years of hitting in front or hitting behind Judge, I think the sky’s the limit. He could be a perennial All-Star, he could be an MVP, and if he does it for 10 years, you could look at him and say, “Well maybe Cooperstown will call one year.”

Q: Thoughts on Cam Schlittler.

O’Neill: I’ve been kind of blown away with him ever since he got here. What he did in the minor leagues and what he’s become in the major leagues, I look forward to calling the game every time he pitches, his ability to throw hard, to control three different fastballs … he’s an ace. On any given night, you’re looking at double-figure strikeouts. He’s not afraid to throw strikes. That’s what I always appreciate, where guys are challenging hitters, and from Pitch 1, that’s what he does.

Kay: Without injury, I think he could be one of the best pitchers of his generation. He’s smart, he’s tough, he gets angry, he takes any perceived slight and turns it into an advantage for him. Nothing scares him — nothing. The only thing that stops him from being a generational type of ace is an injury.

Q: Come the playoffs, will Cole be stronger, fresher because of the time he missed?

Kay: I think that could be an advantage for him, for Fried and for Rodón. You worry about Schlittler’s innings, because he’s gonna pitch innings he’s never pitched before, but I think Gerrit Cole is still a work in progress. When you come back from that surgery, you don’t really get it right away, but he’s shown flashes of it where he throws 98, 99, so you know the elbow is fine. I think he can be a real factor in the playoffs, and Max Fried, maybe last year he got fatigued, he didn’t even miss a start, this year he’s gonna miss two months, so he’s gonna be really really fresh going into the playoffs, and the same thing with Rodón.

O’Neill: He could be. I think he’ll be sharper. I think that you’ve seen some games and some innings where he’s Gerrit Cole. And you’ve also seen some innings where he misses the location, it’s nothing to do with stuff and velocity. That’s all up since the injury. It’s just being sharp, and I think that every single time he takes the mound, he’s gonna get closer to where he was, and that’s a great thing for the Yankees. When he’s right, he’s as good as anybody in the game, and that’s the kind of pitcher you need in the playoffs.

Q: This Yankee team is built for the playoffs because of their starting pitching when healthy.

O’Neill: I agree. And especially when Max Fried gets back in there, you’re looking at guys that can be dominant. You’re not looking at guys that need to pitch perfect, low sinkerballers that have to throw complete perfect pitches to get outs. You’re looking at guys that have the type of stuff that can dominate certain lineups. And if you do that in the playoffs, it takes a lot of pressure off your offense because you’re gonna be in the game. But that being said, a pitch here or there, and next thing you know it’s 3-0 and you’re struggling. I think this is the best starting pitching on paper that the Yankees have had since the late ’90s.

Kay: I would say that every team in the American League wouldn’t want to mess with them … People talk about, “Well they should get Tarik Skubal,” or things like that. Obviously you never turn down Tarik Skubal. What a Tarik Skubal does is every single time he takes the mound in the playoffs, you got a legitimate chance to win. I think all four of those guys, the Yankees have a legitimate chance to shut down any lineup when they’re right. I don’t think anybody would want to face the Yankees ’cause there’s no break. They don’t ever have to do a bullpen game, they’ve got four legitimate starters and then if they even had to go five, you choose between [Will] Warren and Weathers.

And then Clarke Schmidt should be coming back maybe toward the end of August. This guy could be a weapon too, if not in the rotation, probably out of the bullpen. So if the Yankees can’t improve themselves at the trade deadline with relief pitchers, some of those starters are gonna go in the bullpen. Weathers has swing-and-miss stuff, Clarke Schmidt has swing-and-miss stuff as well.

Q: What’s happened to Anthony Volpe?

Kay: I really don’t know. He’s actually hitting better average-wise and on-base percentage-wise than he has any of his three years. The power’s not there, and I think one of the things that’s happened honestly, is he’s now in the crosshairs of Yankee fans. It’s strange — a local kid, comes up through the Yankee system, that’s usually the guy they want to see really do well. I think they’ve kind of turned on him. So every time he makes an error, anytime he makes an out, he hears it. I’ve seen them do that with Gary Sánchez as well.

Maybe all of that put into the pot has contributed to him struggling a bit. The other thing that’s really happened is that when he was hurt and rehabbing, José Caballero established himself as a plus defender and a guy that can hit and steal bases.

Q: Do the Yankees believe he has a future with them?

Kay: I do. I don’t know if it’s at shortstop. … I don’t think they’ve given up on him by any stretch of the imagination. I hear the way [Aaron] Boone talks about him. Seems like he still has a lot of respect. I think everybody in the room likes him, he works really really hard. They think there’s something there.

O’Neill: I think that he’s kind of changing and evolving into the player that he should be, from where he was, and then he had the injuries. I’m sure he’s frustrated ’cause (José) Caballero looks very comfortable at shortstop and he adds a lot of enthusiasm to the lineup. That’s another thing that’s gonna be kind of played out here in the second half — is Anthony Volpe gonna be the future of the Yankees or is it gonna be another plan? That’s kind of a work in progress if you ask me.

Q: What’s happened with Wells?

O’Neill: I think it’s a confidence thing at this point. I think he’s been able to separate it offensively-defensively ’cause catching he’s been pretty solid. You just never expected to see the type of year he’s had offensively the first half. But it’s amazing how things could even out in a long season, so you’re looking at a guy that has the ability to have a big second half if his mind will allow him to, and that’s only gonna help this offense. You can kind of short-term-goal-it where you become successful again, he can really really help this lineup.

Kay: Wow, I don’t know. I don’t think they know. He is really so committed to being a great catcher that sometimes you don’t take the extra batting practice, sometimes your mind is on the game you’re calling, not so much on the four at-bats you’re gonna have. Maybe it’s that. The guy came up as a hitter catcher and then he was gonna struggle defensively. He’s a really good defensive catcher, he does everything well, the pitchers trust the heck out of him, he puts together a good game plan, frames well, does a good job throwing out baserunners. But the offense has kind of disappeared. I don’t know what happened.

Q: Paul Goldschmidt at age 38.

O’Neill: Unbelievably solid. I think that he’s had a lot of roles on this team as far as coming into the season with really just a backup job to becoming a huge part of the offense and shouldering a lot of it too because he’s swung the bat well. Veteran leadership — he fills a lot of holes on this team and it’s allowed Rice to DH a lot and that’ll help him in the long haul.

Kay: What he did early, he kept this team afloat. I know one thing — they love him in that room.

Q: George Lombard Jr.?

O’Neill: It’s always exciting to hear about big prospects. Do they take off from their first dip in the major leagues or is it a process of a year or two? Teams need energy from young players. I don’t think that you have a great team with all veterans. And you don’t have a great team with all young people ’cause you really need a mix. The youth has the energy, the veterans have the leadership and the knowledge, and if you mix that together, then I think you have a really really good team. So I always look forward to when a young guy’s called up if he can add some spark to a lineup.

Kay: I don’t know if they want to risk Lombard coming up, because I think he’s defensive ready right now, the question is offensive ready.

Q: Jazz Chisholm Jr.?

O’Neill: Truthfully in my opinion, Jazz can really really be the wild card for this team. He has so much talent for what he can do on the field. If you could just keep him directed to what you’re able to do, and that’s hit home runs, that’s steal bases, that’s play defense. But every once in a while you get caught up in these other things going on — whose pants you have on, what bats you’re swinging. He has a lot of talent if it’s directed in the right way. The Yankees’ challenge is to let him know how important his presence is in playing every single out of every single game, how important it is to this team.

Q: How critical is Caballero?

O’Neill: I just like his emotion, his intensity. He rubs people the wrong way from other sides and that’s usually a good thing because it means that you’re engaged and you’re in the game. He and [Amed] Rosario to me add some intensity to the game, and I like that. I don’t think that you have everybody on the team that are wired the same. Some guys are even keel, some guys are emotional, some guys just take it as it comes. He’s a daring runner, he looks solid at shortstop and he puts together good at-bats in big situations.

Q: This team has more speed than previous Yankees teams.

Kay: Yeah, they lead the American League in stolen bases. They’re built to be a home run team, but they can steal bases, they can create runs, they can put pressure on the defense. I don’t think they’ve had that much going into the postseason in recent years. When their bench is their bench, it matches up with any bench in baseball. When Caballero’s on base, he disrupts everything! EVERYTHING. When Chisholm’s on base, he disrupts the pitcher, and if you can get the pitcher to take a little of the attention away from the batter, that could lead to the home run that you’re looking for.

Q: David Bednar?

Kay: He’s got the guts, he’s got the courage, he doesn’t scare easily, and most importantly, he has stuff.

Q: [Brent] Headrick in the bullpen?

O’Neill: There’s certain guys that are kinda surprises year after year, I would definitely say that he is. He’s been solid against righties and lefties.

Q: Max Schuemann?

O’Neill: You’re not scared when a ball’s hit to him no matter where he is. The way the game is now you’re always trying to find somebody to play a position they’re not comfortable playing and he does a good job of that.

Q: Who can be an X-factor?

Kay: I think it could be [Ryan] McMahon. He’s hitting a lot better. He can run into one and hit a home run in a big spot, and the fact that he’s so good defensively, he tightens things up. A Max Fried start, you need a great third baseman, and he is a great defensive third baseman. You don’t need McMahon to do anything more than he ever did in Colorado.

Q: Other than Judge, who would you nominate as The Warrior on this Yankee team?

O’Neil: This team in my mind is gonna win with pitching, so I would probably say Schlittler, Cole, Fried … any of these starting pitchers that can absolutely dominate throughout the playoffs.

Kay: I would say the guy that would run through a wall to win a game would be Cody Bellinger. He’s as good a left fielder as there is in baseball. He’s a plus-plus defender. When he’s right offensively, he hits lefties, he gets big hits, he’s an All-Star, he’s a tough, gritty player. To me, he approximates O’Neill as much as anybody.

Q: Is there any psychological component for the Yankees against the Dodgers this weekend?

Kay: I think it’s something for the fans, you like to test yourself out against the best, although the Dodgers are kinda banged up right now and they just got swept over the weekend. The important series this weekend is Tampa Bay against Boston.

O’Neill: I don’t think a weekend series in July tells you how you’re gonna play a team in the World Series. Everybody looks at that World Series where the Dodgers on paper look like they beat up the Yankees but the Yankees had a couple of games that they could’ve coulda won and it could’ve been a seven-game series. I never feel that the Yankees are truly overmatched by anyone. I would assume that the media will turn it up to be a big, big series, but Aaron Judge is not a part of it, Stanton’s not a part of it. Ohtani, who knows? He might not even be a part of it, won’t be pitching probably. It’s gonna be a different scenario if you meet them again in October.

Q: The pressure on Aaron Boone to win a championship.

O’Neill: Well I think that he understands that that goes along with New York with the Yankee logo, with the big city and the number of championships that have come before him. I don’t think he shies away from that. He does an unbelievable job at trying to protect his players as far as what he says about ’em, what the organization portrays about ’em, what the media … I think that he has everybody on a same page as far as they respect him as a manager.

I just always remember Joe Torre saying “I’m loyal to my players” until it comes down to winning playoff games and winning World Series games, and I think that there is a point where you gotta make tough decisions and put yourself in a position to win a huge playoff game rather than try not to hurt somebody’s feelings.

Q: Does Boone need to win a World Series to keep his job?

Kay: I don’t think he has to win it. I just think that Boone does the job that the organization wants him to do. He’s a great front face for the organization, he explains the decisions well, I think he handles the media well, and the players love him, would run through a wall for him. I know that Judge is a huge fan of Boone. I think something catastrophic would have to happen for them to not bring him back. I know Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner really like the job he’s doing.

Q: What would you tell these Yankees about the Canyon of Heroes?

O’Neill: It’s really hard to explain unless you go through it. You can’t tell me that anybody that was on those teams, late ’90s into 2000, it didn’t change our lives. And still to this day, people are celebrating that time every 10-year, 20-year, 30-year reunion (laughs), it goes farther and farther away, but people have the memories of it. And believe me, I still remember almost every single play and every single pitch. It’s something that comes along with winning in New York.

Q: Are you expecting the Yankees to win the AL East or get to the World Series?

O’Neill: This last week has really put them back on even ground as far as winning the East. I think this team’s gonna get better. Aaron Judge is the gigantic question mark on when and where. Stanton … the injuries that you could fill in on this team IF healthy, if they are who they’re supposed to be on the back of their card, this team could go as far as it wants.

Q: Can this team win a World Series?

Kay: I think this team can win a World Series if they’re healthy. And the most important bit of health, is the health that belongs to Aaron Judge. If he can come back the last week of August and give you 15 home runs before the end of the season, that would be an unbelievable boost to this team. When you ask me, “Could they win a World Series?” If they get all their injured players back, they most certainly can, and if they don’t get Judge back, it would be very difficult.

The All-Star Game is over and the true second half of the MLB season begins Thursday night, when the Mets visit the Phillies in a stand-alone game on ESPN in a matchup that probably seemed bigger when it was scheduled. Here’s a look at some of the top storylines the rest of the way as teams battle to get to October:

Judge-ment Day in the Bronx 

Perhaps no development will be bigger in the second half than the status of Aaron Judge. 

Out since June with a fractured right rib, Judge was expected to get imaging of the injury during the All-Star break, with the Yankees hoping it showed enough healing in the area for him to start working out.

There’s still no timeline for Judge’s return, other than general manager Brian Cashman saying: “The time frame that it would take to heal should allow him to be back with us this season.”

That uncertainty could doom the Yankees.

They entered the break atop the AL wild-card race, but they talked extensively this spring about the importance of not just making the postseason, but of winning the AL East. 

They came up a game short last season and then lost to the Blue Jays in the ALDS.

Their best chance of getting past the first-place Rays, who have a three-game lead on the Yankees (four in the loss column), is to get Judge back in the lineup.

They’ve proven to be as good as any team in the American League with him and simply mediocre without their superstar.

Three years ago, the Yankees missed the playoffs when Judge was affected by the torn ligament in his toe, and their lineup has mostly gone in the tank without him this time around, although they did sweep Washington heading into the break.

Getting Judge back isn’t the only thing the Yankees are waiting on, as they will try to upgrade the catching position and bullpen before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

Besides that, there’s the George Lombard Jr. watch, which figures to move into high gear in the coming weeks, as the team’s top prospect comes back from a hand injury. The Yankees clearly need help at shortstop, where José Caballero and Anthony Volpe have underwhelmed.

Trade deadline 

The Aug. 3 trade deadline is the next major date on the schedule and Tarik Skubal will be at the center of it — unless the Tigers, who played better heading into the break, opt against moving him and instead make a run at the postseason.

Back and healthy following elbow surgery, Skubal would be far and away the top trade target if Detroit decides to trade him.

He’s a free agent at the end of the season. While the Yankees and Dodgers appear to be long shots to acquire the left-hander, they can’t be ruled out. The Cubs, Braves and Rays are among the teams that could make a play for the Cy Young Award winner.

Whoever lands him will change their potential postseason fortunes immediately.

Skubal won’t be the only big-name player to keep an eye on, as Sonny Gray could go if the resurgent Red Sox don’t decide to keep him.

There’s also closer Mason Miller with the inconsistent Padres, as well as the top contact hitter of his generation, Luis Arraez, excelling again on a bad team with the Giants.

Can the Dodgers do it again? 

Death, taxes and the Dodgers winning the NL West. 

Los Angeles is well on its way to a fifth straight division title and have finished first in the division every year since 2013 outside of 2021.

And that success has come even with high-priced free agent signing Kyle Tucker having a subpar season, Tyler Glasnow (back) appearing in just seven games and Blake Snell (elbow) only one. Both pitchers are expected back at some point next month, making a fearsome rotation even tougher.

And they’ve also been without Edwin Díaz (elbow), who is expected to return. 

Then there’s the status of Shohei Ohtani, who has been dealing with left knee irritation and didn’t participate in the All-Star Game in Philadelphia.

He had fluid drained from the knee before the break and manager Dave Roberts said he is expected to be the DH when the Dodgers open a series against the Yankees in The Bronx on Friday.

Who are these guys? 

While teams like the Dodgers and Rangers were expected to be near or at the top of their divisions, you could be forgiven if you had to look twice to make sense of the standings at the break.

Are the White Sox really leading the AL Central?

And are the Rays really outdoing the Yankees and the rest of the high-payroll AL East again?

The Twins and Guardians, both seemingly playing for the future, are right in the mix for the postseason.

The other question: Are any of these AL teams really that good?

The competition has been underwhelming, with the majority of the best teams residing in the National League.

Still, there are surprises there, as well, as the Marlins enter the second half in a wild-card spot, with the Cardinals and Pirates right on their heels. 

Meanwhile, teams like the Giants, Diamondbacks and Padres — and especially the Mets — have been colossal disappointments.

Can the upstarts in both leagues continue their strong performances all the way to the playoffs?

Much will depend on how some of them handle the trade deadline.

As Minnesota’s Joe Ryan said, he wants to remain with the Twins and give the front office a reason to not sell at the deadline, as they did a year ago.

Many of his contemporaries agree, and their play over the next two-plus weeks could determine how their organizations handle those decisions.

How bad will it get in Queens? 

The Mets were the laughingstock of the sport in the first half, as even the most skeptical of observers couldn’t have predicted how badly their offseason makeover would go. It’s already cost Carlos Mendoza his job in the dugout, even though he was one of the least responsible for the disaster. 

Now it’s up to president of baseball operations David Stearns to try to fix his own mess.

Despite Juan Soto saying this week he expects “a turnaround” this season at Citi Field, it’s just about inconceivable that will happen.

More likely is a sell-off of a few bullpen arms, like A.J. Minter and perhaps Luke Weaver. As things figure to get worse before they get better, all eyes will be on Stearns to see how he steers the team forward while key offseason acquisitions like Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr. and Devin Williams continue to struggle with health, production — or both.

Manager carousel 

Alex Cora and Rob Thomson had excellent résumés and plenty of respect around the league, but both were fired when the Red Sox and Phillies, respectively, got off to poor starts. The moves made waves in both cities, but unlike with the Mets — who were already too far gone when Andy Green replaced Mendoza in the dugout — Boston and Philadelphia have both responded well to the changes.

In Boston, first-year manager Chad Tracy has the Red Sox back in the hunt, as they took a nine-game winning streak into the break and Don Mattingly, in his third stop, has the Phillies firmly in the wild-card mix, thanks in no small part to the return of Zack Wheeler.

Award season 

Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski is having one of the best seasons on the mound in recent memory — not just with his results, but also his record-setting velocity. If that continues, the 24-year-old will run away with the NL Cy Young, but he didn’t pitch in the All-Star Game due to arm fatigue. If that remains an issue, it could open the door for someone like Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez.

In the American League, Judge has been unstoppable unless injuries get in the way. Since that’s happened again, Houston’s Yordan Alvarez is currently the favorite, with Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero trailing.

It’s another Wednesday evening here at BCB After Dark: the coolest night spot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and cool off with us for a while. There’s no cover charge. We have a few good tables available. The show will start shorty. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last night I asked you for your predictions of where the Cubs would finish the season. There was a pretty solid bell curve in the votes at 41 percent of you thought that the Cubs would get the first Wild Card and thus, home field advantage in the Wild Card round. Another thirty percent thought that they’d get a Wild Card spot but on the road and 18 percent of you think the Cubs will win the Division but not get a bye. I don’t know. I think if the Cubs catch the Brewers, they get a bye, but it’s certainly possible Milwaukee crashes to earth but the Braves take off, so I’m not going to disagree too strongly with that position.

Here’s the part with the music and the movies. You can do with it what you will. We’re here to please.

Tonight we’re featuring drummer Jeff Hamilton and the Jeff Hamilton Trio at the Jazz Port Townsend Festival in Washington in 2022. This is also a broadcast on KNKX Public Radio in Seattle-Tacoma.

Joining Hamilton are Tamir Hendelman and Jon Hamar on bass.

I haven’t had much time to watch films over the past week or so, but I wanted to give you something. So tonight we’re featuring Canadian director Guy Maddin’s six-minute silent film The Heart of the World (2000).

Maddin is one of the greatest iconoclastic and experimental filmmakers around. I’ll recommend his surrealist mockumentary My Winnipeg (2007) for the way it weaves a fictional history of the city of Winnipeg around a fictional history of his own family. What drew me to it in the first place is that he found an 86-year-old Ann Savage, the femme fatale of the all-time great 1945 film noirDetour, to play his mother. But what kept me in was the terrific black-and-white imagery as well as the bone-dry absurdist humor. Maybe I’ll write more about My Winnipeg another day.

But The Heart of the World is a rapid-fire, surrealist silent film shot in the style of the early Soviet filmmakers like Sergei Eisenstein. The plot, such as it is, is about Anna, a scientist who studies the earth’s core, where a beating heart exists. Literally. Anna looks down a tube and there is a diseased heart at the center of the earth’s core.

Anna has two men in love with her. The first in Nikolai, a young mortician. The second is Osip, an actor playing Christ in a passion play and who stays in character the entire film. Nikolai tries to impress Anna with his embalming skills and Osip tries to impress her with all the suffering he does as Christ.

A third man, an industrialist, comes into Anna’s life, and he’s a caricature of how the Soviets portrayed rich capitalists. But that relationship is interrupted by the Earth suffering a fatal heart attack. Anna must then slide down to the earth’s core to prevent the end of the world.

So yeah, if that sounds nuts, it is. Maddin has the images going a mile a minute, all accompanied by the frenetic beat of the Time Forward! March by Soviet composer Georgy Svirdov.Maddin packs around 100 shots per minute into the six-minute film, which gives the film a feel like it’s a one-hour movie sped up into six minutes. The imagery, while absurd, is also fascinating. It’s at once familiar to anyone who has seen silent movies (especially Soviet silent films) but also fresh in the way Maddin throws it all in together into one big stew. In this way, The Heart of the World is both a a loving tribute to silent film and a silly parody. But in the end, Maddin reaffirms the power of cinema to change the world. Unless that’s just a joke too.

I could go on about The Heart of the World, but it would be better for you to just watch it and decide for yourself. At six minutes, it’s shorter and probably more enlightening than any podcast your listening to right now.

Here’s the whole short film.

Welcome back to whomever skips the music and movies.

I don’t think I have to tell any of you the Cubs are going to have to add pitching before the Trade Deadline. The Cubs have stayed afloat in the playoff hunt with all the pitching injuries they’ve had. But if they want to make some noise in the postseason, they will have to get some good, healthy arms.

Jon Heyman made a little noise by writing that the Braves, Rays and Cubs are expected to be the most aggressive teams going after Tarik Skubal. Now Heyman gave himself a little wiggle room there by saying “expected” and not claiming that he’s talked to Jed Hoyer about it, but it is one of the first indicators that the Cubs are interested in the two-time defending American League Cy Young Award winner. Heyman is probably repeating the scuttlebutt that the front office executives are passing around, but they generally have a good idea what the market for players is.

I’m not going to directly ask you about Skubal tonight because I’ve done that fairly recently. Three weeks ago, you weren’t so keen to give up a lot for a two-month rental in Skubal. But there is another pitcher who has been linked to the Cubs lately and that’s Twins right-hander Joe Ryan.

Ryan is a very good pitcher, but he certainly doesn’t have the track record of Skubal. He’s a two-time All-Star but he’s never gotten a single Cy Young Award vote, for example. You can argue that Ryan has been the better pitcher than Skubal this year, because he has been. Ryan has a 2.85 ERA and a 2.77 FIP compared to 3.09 ERA and 3.06 FIP. But it should be noted that Ryan had a similarly excellent first half of 2025 and then fell off a cliff after the All-Star Break. Skubal was also hurt for a part of this season. He struggled in his first three games off of the IL, giving up nine runs over 16.1 innings. But in his last three starts, he’s only allowed four runs over 16 innings, which is a 2.25 ERA. He’s also struck out 23 and walked just three in those 16 innings. In other words, it looks like the old Tarik Skubal is back.

Skubal is a hard-throwing lefty whose fastball averages around 97 miles per hour. He’s also got a sinker that also comes in around 96, an upper-80s slider and a change. All four of those pitches rate from above average to plus. The Cubs don’t have anyone on their staff with anything like Skubal’s arsenal.

Ryan, on the other hand, is a right-hander who gets by on movement rather than velocity. His fastball is a pretty average 93 mph, but it has very good movement and “rise.” Yes, I know pitches don’t really rise. It’s the illusion of rise. It’s what scouts call an “invisiball” because it’s so hard for hitters to get a read on it. It’s a plus pitch despite the lack of pure velocity.

But Ryan also has a splitter, a sinker and a sweeping slider, all of which are at least average or better. This year he also seems to have junked his changeup for a better knuckle-curve. All-in-all, Ryan may not be a Cy Young Award candidate in most years, but he’s a very good pitcher who could anchor almost any rotation in the majors.

All things being equal, I would still go with the pure stuff and track record of Skubal over Ryan. But there are two big factors that might push the discussion towards Ryan. For one, Skubal makes $32 million this year and Ryan only makes $6.2 million. You might say that’s Tom Ricketts’ money and I don’t care and I’d say I agree with you. But Ryan might leave more money in the payroll for a second player acquisition at the deadline that Skubal doesn’t.

But the other factor is that Skubal becomes a free agent at the end of this season and Ryan doesn’t become one until the end of next year. So a trade for Skubal is just for the final two months of the season and the playoffs. With Ryan, you get the end of this year and all of next. Yes, Ryan will be in line for a big raise next year, but he’s not getting $32 million like Skubal did.

Neither pitcher will be cheap in terms of the quality of players the Cubs would have to surrender to get them. Matt Shaw, Jefferson Rojas, Jaxon Wiggins, Kane Kepley and maybe even Josiah Hartshorn are the types of players that would have to headline a deal to get one of those two pitchers. In other words, at least one and maybe more of the Cubs top-four prospects or Matt Shaw would have to go in a deal. Before someone misunderstands me, no. The Cubs aren’t trading all five of those players for a pitcher. At least one of those five would have to go along with maybe two more solid prospects from farther down the rankings.

So tonight’s question is, all things being equal, which pitcher would you rather the Cubs have? Skubal or Ryan? That is, if both the Tigers and Twins would accept the same package for their pitcher, which deal would you pull the trigger on? I’ll let you vote “neither” if you want. Spoilsport.

Thank you for stopping by tonight. We’re so glad to see a friendly face. Get home safely. Call a ride if you need to. Don’t forget any personal items. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again next week for more BCB After Dark.

Usually, making predictions is a great way for us to make fools of ourselves. Even speculating on the future can do the job, as the Purple Row community will see as the staff revisits and updates our State of the Position series this week from preseason prognosticating to midseason reflection and projection. 

That being said, making predictions is still fun. 

With that in mind, what are your predictions for the post-All-Star portion of the 2026 season. While we’d love to hear all your predictions — big and small — here are four categories for a guide if you want them. 

Category 1: What are your predictions for the final record? 

Some will measure this in wins and others in losses. For my pick, I am hoping and believing the Rockies will finish with fewer than 100 losses — even if it’s just by one or two games. So maybe 63-99?

Category 2: What player will have the best second half? 

It could be a pitcher or a position player. He could end the season with the Rockies or not. My prediction is that Kyle Karros continues to tear it up and finishes with 20 home runs and a batting average over .275. 

Category 3: Who gets traded?

Same deal — this could be a position player or a pitcher. I am leaning toward Antonio Senzatela, who could be a valuable arm for a contender in exchange for some future bullpen arms.

Category 4: Outside-of-the-box predictions

What’s something wild that will happen in the second half? This could be a single-game performance, a final stat total or anything you can think of. 

I think Jake McCarthy hits another inside-the-park home run, bringing his total on the year to three. I am also predicting Hunter Goodman finishes with 50 homers, making his Home Run Derby omission embarrassing for MLB.

What do you all think? Feel free to expand the categories!

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