Category: Sports News

Five days remain between now and the MLB Trade Deadline. The action has yet to pick up beyond the Red Sox trading a starter to the Nationals for an infielder who promptly got his wrist broken by a pitch in his Boston debut. That sounds about right.

Sooner or later, we’ll really get going though, muck of 20 teams in vague contention be damned. And when it does, the Yankees are expected to be one of the deadline’s primary figures. They remain a win-now team in Aaron Judge’s prime, and they need to supplement while their captain continues to recover from his broken rib. Carlos Rodón, Giancarlo Stanton, and now Cody Bellinger are working their way back from the IL as well. The offense has lagged without Judge—particularly in the past month—and there are questions about the rotation depth and bullpen as well since David Bednar, Fernando Cruz, and Brett Headrick have all seen a lot of work.

Whatever the Yankees end up doing, they will have to give up something to get something. The question we’re asking today is who you think is most likely to be moved? We’re not talking about just bottom-of-the-roster-type backups, either (and Camilo Doval is too easy an answer since he could just be a DFA). There have been a number of major- and minor-league names thrown into the trade rumor winds: Jasson Domínguez, Spencer Jones, Anthony Volpe, Will Warren, Ryan Weathers, Dax Kilby, Henry Lalane, Elmer Rodríguez, Henry Lalane, and Carlos Lagrange have all seen their names bandied about at one point or another. So has George Lombard Jr., though it’s harder to see the Yankees parting ways with him.

To throw my own thoughts out there, Jones is probably the safest pick. It seemed like only a well-timed hot streak saved him at the Trade Deadline last year, and it seems like he has enough red flags in his game that the October-focused Yankees can only be so patient regarding his development at the big-league level. There’s still talent in there too, and it’s not hard to envision another team champing at the bit at seeing what they can pry out of him with more tweaks to his approach at the plate. It’s not just the swing-and-miss concerns and high strikeout numbers; it’s also his stance and wobbly mechanics, not to mention always-tough numbers against lefties.

I do think that there’s a good player somewhere in there. The ceiling’s just not as high as it once was and this isn’t 2016, when the Yankees had sold at the deadline and could just let Aaron Judge test himself out in The Show to see what worked and what didn’t. (The following offseason’s strategic response changed everything for him.) And you of course can’t bet on Jones turning into Judge just because he’s also a 6-foot-7 outfielder with light-tower power. There’s nuance! For the record, there’s a lot about Jones that could also be said about Domínguez, who has seen even more MLB time and had also had too many uncharitable comps thrown on him. If we’re picking from the batch of Yankees though, Jones is probably the most likely to move.

Today on the site, Jeremy will suggest the “Grandson of the Wind,” Jung Hoo Lee, as a potential addition to shore up the outfield, Madison will tackle the Rivalry Roundup, Jonathan will celebrate the 75th birthday of a forgotten 1978 World Series champion, and Michael will throw a bone at the Yankees’ catchers, discussing what they do do well.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox

Time: 7:40 p.m. EST

TV: Amazon Prime Video, Chicago Sports Network, MLB Network, WCIU TV

Venue: Rate Field, Chicago, IL

Columbus Clippers 6, Toledo Mud Hens 4 (box)

Carl Edwards Jr. gave up four runs in the first two innings, and the Hens couldn’t quite fight back enough in this one. Edwards did eventually settle in and strike out eighth, but he continues to be pretty vulnerable to the long ball.

Max Clark was clipped by a pitch to start the game. Jace Jung struck out, but Max Anderson singled and Gage Workman walked to load the bases. There was the opportunity, but Corey Julks struck out and Trei Cruz lined out to end the inning.

New depth catcher Carlos Pérez cracked a solo shot, his third already with the Hens, to open the second inning, but it was 4-1 by the time the inning ended.

Julks did unleash a solo shot in the fifth to make it a 4-2 game. Clark doubled off the wall in right center field in the sixth, but they couldn’t get him home.

Pérez hit a second leadoff homer in this one in the eighth. Max Anderson added a solo shot in the ninth, continuing his red hot month of July.

Anderson: 2-5, R, RBI, HR

Clark: 2-4, 2B, K

Perez: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR

Edwards (L, 4-8): 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start in Columbus on Wednesday.

Akron RubberDucks 12, Erie SeaWolves 3 (box)

Max Alba and the SeaWolves bullpen took a beating in this one as Akron pounded out 19 hits to win easily.

Alba gave up two in the top of the first, but in the bottom half, Seth Stephenson led off with a single and Peyton Graham ripped an RBI double to left. So it was 2-1 Akron, but that was the last the SeaWolves would see of their foes as they pulled away with nine runs over the next four innings.

Justice Bigbie’s hit streak came to an end over the weekend, but he started a new one with a solo shot in the fourth. Andrew Jenkins followed him with a solo shot of his own, but that completed the scoring for Erie.

Pennington: 2-3, BB

Graham: 1-4, RBI, 2B, K

Bigbie: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, K

Alba (L, 1-4): 2.2 IP, 7 ER, 10 H, 0 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start on Wednesday.

West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Belmont Sky Carp 0 (box)

Rayner Castillo threw a good one, and the Whitecaps got some power from an old friend to carry them at home on Tuesday.

Woody Hadeen led off the bottom of the first with a single to right. Bryce Rainer struck out, but Izaac Pacheco, in the first at-bat of his rehab assignment, hammered a two-run shot to right center field. 2-0 Whitecaps.

In the second, Stephen Hrustich singled to lead off the inning and later stole second base. A Caleb Shpur single made it a 3-0 game.

Castillo wouldn’t need any more. The big right-hander went five innings, scattering three hits and three walks, striking out four.

The Whitecaps had two new faces in the lineup as catcher Edian Espinal and first baseman Beau Ankeney were promoted from Lakeland. Espinal cannot be stopped at the plate, and he walked in the first and singled in the third to get some firsts out of the way. He also cut down his first High-A runner along the way.

Ankeney singled in the sixth for his first Midwest League knock. That moved Clayton Campbell, who led off the inning with a walk, to second. Hrustich walked as well, loading the bases, and Campbell scored on a wild pitch. That’s all they got, but the pitching staff didn’t need any more help.

Preston Howey and Jalen Evans handled two innings apiece to complete the shutout.

Pacheco: 1-2, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB

Hadeen: 2-3, R

Hrustich: 1-2, R, 2 BB, K, SB

Castillo (W, 2-8): 5.0 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Wednesday.

Tampa Tarpons 10, Lakeland Flying Tigers 7 (box)

Things went poorly for Grayson Grinsell in this one and only a late storm of runs kept this one from being a rout.

Jordan Yost singled to open the game, but Michael Olivato grounded into a force at second in his first full season A-ball at-bat, and Roberto Campos, on a rehab assignment, grounded into a double play.

Five hitters into the bottom half, it was already 4-0, and a third home runs off of Grinsell made it 5-0. After allowing another run in the second, Grinsell did settle in and go four inning with six strikeouts and no walks, but the damage was done.

Antonio Florida and Andrew Pogue each allowed two runs in relief.

Ronald Ramirez doubled in the third inning for his first hit at the Single-A level. Javier Osorio crushed a long home run in the fifth to get Lakeland on the board. In the top of the eighth, Oliveto singled for his first knock in full season ball.

In the top of the ninth, Ramirez cranked a solo shot to left.

Osorio walked with one out and Jordan Yost reached on an error. Oliveto smoked an opposite field automatic double to play Osorio.

Anibal Salas mashed a three-run homer, and Nick Dumesnil took one out to right center field for his sixth of the year.

That was where the party ended but it did make the Tarpons uncomfortable at least.

Ramirez: 2-4, R, RBI,, 2B, HR, K

Dumesnil: 2-4, R, RBI, HR, 2 K

Osorio: 1-3, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB

Grinsell (L, 5-4): 4.0 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 5:00 p.m. ET start in Tampa on Wednesday.

Rarely have the top 25 targets at Major League Baseball’s trade deadline been so fluid.

So, let’s do it again.

As teams bob their heads above or dip below the .500 mark, the notion of buyers and sellers shifts day to day, perhaps hour to hour. And while some of the best names expected to be on the move won’t change, others land on the list with dispatch, a poorly-timed losing streak shifting their fate.

With that, a look at the top two dozen-plus one names that could be on the move as the Aug. 3 deadline draws closer, based on their possible impact, the likelihood of their availability and the fit of their contracts:

1. Luis Arráez, 2B, Giants

You don’t hear his name very often these days, simply because his departure has been such a foregone conclusion. Yet his hitting ability combined with an .811 OPS will loom large down the stretch and in the postseason, a crucial part of a healthy offense.

2. Luke Weaver, RP, Mets

Practically untouchable in his last 17 games, giving up one earned run with a 19-3 strikeout-walk ratio. Weaver closed games for the 2024 AL champion Yankees and would smoothly take over a high-leverage role for a playoff team.

3. Robbie Ray, SP, Giants

His 4.49 FIP would seem to belie his 3.16 ERA, but facts are facts: Ray has given up three or fewer runs in 18 of his 21 starts. Like Arraez, easily movable and plug-and-playable.

4. Zach Neto, SS, Angels

Now this one would be interesting. Neto swings hard and plays hard, and should provide close to 30 home runs from the shortstop position – while offering a contending team three years of control beyond this season.

5. Tarik Skubal, SP, Tigers

He’s moved on up from nine to six in these rankings as the Tigers are once again in danger of falling on the wrong side of the buy-sell fence. Obviously, the top talent potentially on the market, but this is the American League, where nobody’s out of it until 5:59 ET on Aug. 3.

6. Michael Wacha, SP, Royals

He has limited no-trade protection and makes a reasonable $15 million in 2027. Better yet, he’s a workhorse and veteran of five postseasons

7. Adrian Morejon, RP, Padres

While Mason Miller is the high-velocity king causing a hubbub on the rumor mill, Morejon, a pending free agent, much more closely matches the Padres’ objective of playing the middle of this deadline. Morejon is the best lefty reliever who should be available, with a 1.08 WHIP.

8. Jake McCarthy, OF, Rockies

An excellent buy-and-flip maneuver by the Rockies as McCarthy has an .842 OPS (117 adjusted).

9. Sandy Alcantara, SP, Marlins

Will they or won’t they? A ghastly 12-game losing streak sent the Marlins from playoff position to below .500 and a franchise crossroads. Will the Marlins truly be serious about contending? Because Alcantara gives them their best chance to win this year and next, when he has an affordable club option. Otherwise, he’ll make a playoff-bound club very happy.

10. Isaac Collins, OF, Royals

A switch-hitting outfielder with a .344 OBP and a dash of speed? Eminently useful. Perhaps not the sexy move Yankees fans might want to shore up their outfield, but Collins will be useful for somebody.

The deadline for signing 2026 MLB draft picks was at 5:00pm ET on Monday. The Toronto Blue Jays had 19 picks in this year’s draft, having forfeited their 2nd and 4th round selections for signing Dylan Cease after he rejected the San Diego Padres’ qualifying offer but receiving a compensation pick in the fourth round for the Mets’ signing Bo Bichette.

The table below shows the picks, their signing bonuses (per sportrac.com), and their net effect on the Jays’ bonus pool:

As a reminder, bonus amounts in the top 10 rounds form a team’s total bonus pool. Teams can exceed their pool by up to 5% with only a tax, but there are extreme penalties for going beyond that and in practice teams never do it. The pool covers all players drafted in the first 10 rounds and any bonus amounts in excess of $150,000 for players drafted in rounds 11-20.

The Blue Jays’ draft pool this year was $5,543,100, the second smallest ahead of the Dodgers. They’ve exceeded it by $212,125, 3.83%, so they’ll pay some tax but continue the trend of no team ever having exceeded the 5% threshold.

Strategically, they’ve clearly decided to hang their draft on first rounder Cole Carlon and fourth rounder Will Brick. Carlon got most of his slot bonus, while they were forced to go way over slot to pay Brick the equivalent of borderline first/second round money. To get there, they reached slightly on Ryan Cooney in the third round to find a player they like who would sign for a cut relative to slot, and mostly punted rounds 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 by signing lower profile college guys who would sign for very little, allowing them to reallocate their slot money to Brick. That puts a lot of weight on two players, but if they think he’s a first round talent then they’ve done well to get two prospects of that calibre with this little capital to spend.

Dean West, in the seventh round, is the only other player in the first 10 to sign anywhere close to slot. West was a relatively well regarded prospect, #302 on Baseball America’s top 500, and the Jays must have liked him and decided they could get one near-full-value pick in while still saving up enough money. 11th rounder Brayden Martin, #227 on BA’s list, got a little over the $150,000 late-round amount as well, indicating another place where they felt that they could make a value pick up.

At the back of the draft, the Jays picked three upside players who were potentially in a position to command over $150,000. 20th rounder Eddie Rosado has opted to take $150,000 to sign instead of following his college commitment to St. Joseph’s University while it appears that 19th rounder Cole Travers will go to Texas A&M and 18th rounder Jake McCoy will go through with his transfer from South Carolina to Tennessee rather than turning pro. Travers and McCoy declining to sign is not a surprise. The former has a top college offer, and the latter will receive a medical redshirt after missing 2026 undergoing Tommy John surgery, allowing him to enter the 2027 season as a junior in line for a significant bonus. Both likely fell out of the top 10 rounds only because of high bonus demands, and were probably picked mostly as insurance in case a medical issue with Carlon or Brick allowed the Jays to sign them significantly below their expected bonus, creating an unexpected cash surplus.

Later this week I’ll review the Jays’ top 40 prospects, graduations, departures, additions and risers to paint a picture of the state of the farm as we head into the trade deadline.

New York Post | Dylan Svoboda: The Padres have inquired about Dax Kilby, the Yankees’ 2025 first-rounder and their number-two prospect behind George Lombard Jr., per The Post’s Joel Sherman. The Yankees also have a scout monitoring the Padres as rumors continue to swirl around Mason Miller, San Diego’s all-world closer who could be on the move. New York has also been linked to Adrian Morejon, a left-handed Padres reliever who would likely warrant a smaller return.

NBC Sports | Eric Samulski: Carlos Lagrange has begun throwing in his return from injury. The 6-foot-7 right-hander has been on the shelf since July 3rd with a capsular sprain in his right shoulder. The initial plan was that he’d be shut down for at least six weeks, so this update puts him nearly three weeks ahead of schedule. Lagrange, the Yankees’ number-two pitching prospect, was transitioned to the bullpen during the season in hopes he could help the big-league club in that capacity down the stretch. He wowed in spring training with his 100-mph fastball before starting the season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The Athletic | Brendan Kuty: ($) Ali Sánchez’s three-run homer Monday was his first in the big leagues, 2,179 days after making his debut with the Mets in 2020. The unheralded journeyman has carved out a role in New York, backing up Austin Wells. And, while Max Fried praised his “quality at-bats,” he’s drawn more admiration from the club for his work behind the plate, learning to work with a veteran staff midstream after his call-up last month. Sánchez’s run of play with the Yankees has come during a difficult time for his native Venezuela. The backstop has been wearing the letters “VZ” stitched into his cap to honor his homeland after devastating earthquakes on June 24th killed more than 5,000.

New Y ork Daily News | Gary Phillips: As the Yankees look to augment their catching corps ahead of the trade deadline, they signed veteran Christian Bethancourt to a minor-league deal. The right-handed hitter, who posted a .775 OPS in 206 at-bats with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate earlier this season, was cut loose a couple of weeks ago. He provides veteran depth as the team pursues a more high-profile upgrade. With Sánchez out of options, the Yankees would likely lose him if they add another catcher via trade, leaving them with only the left-handed J.C. Escarra as a viable option in wait at Triple-A.

The Athletic | Ken Rosenthal: ($) As Major League Baseball pushes for a salary cap under the guise of competitive imbalance, Rosenthal opines that the current season refutes their argument. With the Trade Deadline approaching, 21 of 30 teams sit within two games of a playoff spot while the big-market Mets, Giants, and Blue Jays are each at least 5.5 games out. This flies in the face of the league’s “Level the Playing Field” ad campaign, which Rosenthal decries as a “spurious” attempt to influence fans against the players and towards a cap with a potential lockout looming.

WASHINGTON — Toronto pitcher Shane Bieber’s start against the Washington Nationals was anything but a walk in the park.

The former Cy Young Award winner issued walks to six of the nine batters he faced — including three with the bases loaded — before departing after two-thirds of an inning Tuesday night in the BlueJays’ 8-6 loss. In his previous 149 pitching appearances, the 31-year-old right-hander’s high for walks was five.

According to Stathead/Baseball Reference, Bieber is the 11th pitcher in major league history to walk at least six while recording two outs or less, and the first to do so since Florida’s Ryan Dempster on Oct. 5, 2001, at Atlanta.

Bieber said he had difficulty gripping the ball and struggled with his command as a result. Bieber didn’t walk anyone in his previous start Thursday, when he allowed one run in seven innings against Tampa Bay.

“You have to find a way to get through it, right, and I wasn’t able to do that tonight,” Bieber said. “Ultimately, I follow up what was maybe my best start as a Blue Jay with what was definitely my worst.”

Bieber is the first Cy Young winner to have such an outing, although Hall of Famers Bob Feller and Christy Mathewson did, too. Bieber won the AL Cy Young in 2020.

Bieber threw 42 pitches, with only 15 strikes. He is the second player this season to throw that many pitches with so few strikes. Kansas City’s Eric Cerantola threw 14 strikes in a 42-pitch relief outing against Tampa Bay on June 30.

“I have no excuses,” Bieber said. “I have to find a way to get out of that first inning. Dry my hands off and change shirts and eat up innings after that. That’s what I was trying to do and unfortunately I wasn’t able to. I don’t think I’ve ever had anything like that happen.”

Washington’s James Wood led off the first with a walk, and Luis García Jr. followed with a grounder to second. Dylan Crews then earned a free pass, and CJ Abrams followed with a well-placed infield single.

The typically free-swinging Keibert Ruiz followed with a four-pitch walk that scored the first run, and Daylen Lile drew another walk that pushed in another run. Nasim Nuñez hit a sacrifice fly before Jorbit Vivas loaded the bases again with the inning’s fifth walk, prompting a mound visit from Toronto pitching coach Pete Walker.

Jacob Young then took six pitches — three balls and then two called strikes followed by a slider well outside the zone — to force in a fourth run. That prompted manager John Schneider to head to the mound and end Bieber’s outing.

It was Bieber’s seventh start of the season after missing almost three months with elbow inflammation. He was limited to a combined nine regular-season starts over the previous two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2024.

“Kind of just the last thing we thought was going to happen with him right there,” Schneider said. “When you get up to that pitch count in the first, with him, with his history and everything, just didn’t want to push it.”

Reliever Brendon Little got Wood to ground out to end the inning.

CHICAGO — Carlos Lagrange may still be a long shot to impact the Yankees this season — assuming he is not traded in the next week — but his progress from a shoulder injury has at least kept the door open.

The top pitching prospect, who was diagnosed with a capsular sprain of the right shoulder July 3, has resumed throwing on flat ground after about a four-week shutdown — two weeks shorter than the club originally estimated for him.

The 23-year-old Lagrange, who was in the midst of a transition from starter to reliever in hopes of helping the Yankees bullpen in the second half, still has a ways to go to even potentially make himself an option. But the earlier-than-expected return to throwing at least keeps the possibility in play for the time being.

“We’ll see,” manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday before the Yankees’ 3-2 win over the White Sox when asked if he expected Lagrange to become a consideration at some point this season. “He has started throwing again, so you never know for sure. But we’ll just listen to his arm and body and hopefully, as he starts his throwing progression, things go well and he puts himself in position to be in the conversation. But impossible to know right now.”

On Tuesday, Lagrange posted video to social media of himself throwing, though Boone said he actually started throwing “a handful of days ago.” Lagrange last pitched at Triple-A on June 28, with the shoulder diagnosis coming a few days later.

The Yankees are still expected to add a high-leverage reliever or two before Monday’s trade deadline, but if Lagrange is not used in a package to make that happen, his rehab process will be worth monitoring to see if he can become a wild card late in the season.

One of those bullpen targets the Yankees are believed to be pursuing is Padres stud closer Mason Miller.

It remains to be seen whether the Padres will actually make him available, but Boone was asked for his thoughts on the hard-throwing righty.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

“Feels like a speculative question cloaked in an opinion on a player,” he said with a grin. “Look, obviously he’s one of the game’s great closers and has been now for a few years. Tremendous stuff. I don’t even know if he’ll be moved or not. He’s probably as good as is out there right now in that role.”

The Yankees signed veteran catcher Christian Bethancourt to a minor league deal Tuesday and added him to the roster at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for depth.

The 34-year-old, who has played 427 career big league games, had been at Triple-A for the Cubs this season, batting .262 with a .775 OPS in 59 games.