The Los Angeles Dodgers look to stay hot when they open a four-game series against the San Diego Padres tonight.
The Dodgers (-178) come into the contest as the clear favorites over the Padres (+170), and I’ll break down why the hosts will run up the score against some shoddy pitching.
Read my full Padres vs. Dodgers predictions and free MLB picks below.
Who will win Padres vs Dodgers today: Dodgers -1.5 (+114)
The Los Angeles Dodgers are 11-4 over their last 15 games and firing on all cylinders offensively. The hosts are hitting .283 as a team over that span while averaging 5.5 runs per game.
Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki hasn’t been great, but he owns a solid 3.50 ERA at home, holding opposing batters to just a .228 average at Dodger Stadium.
Padres vs Dodgers Over/Under pick: Over 9.5 (+119)
L.A. has loved facing right-handed pitching this season, leading the majors in runs scored (348), batting average (.272), and wRAA (68.5). Vasquez has a massive 7.84 ERA over his last five starts, so expect the Dodgers to put up plenty of offense.
Sasaki last faced San Diego on Friday, giving up three runs in just four innings, so the Padres will be capable of scoring some runs as well.
The Over is 3-0 in each of the last three starts for both pitchers.
Playable to +110.
Chris Faria's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 4-1, +2.05 units
Over/Under bets: 1-4, -3.12 units
Padres vs Dodgers weather
It'll be a fairly cool night in Los Angeles (67F), but hitters will get a slight bump with winds blowing out to right-center at 8 mph.
Padres vs Dodgers odds
Moneyline: San Diego +170 | Los Angeles -178
Run line: San Diego +1.5 (-117) | Los Angeles -1.5 (+113)
Over/Under: Over 9.5 (+122) | Under 9.5 (-127)
Padres vs Dodgers trend
The Dodgers have covered the first five innings (F5) run line in 27 of their last 45 games (+5.80 Units / 10% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Padres vs. Dodgers.
How to watch Padres vs Dodgers and game info
Location
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
Date
Thursday, July 2, 2026
First pitch
10:10 p.m. ET
TV
Padres.TV, SportsNet LA
Padres starting pitcher
Randy Vasquez (6-6, 4.44 ERA)
Dodgers starting pitcher
Roki Sasaki (3-5, 4.88 ERA)
Padres vs Dodgers latest injuries
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
BOSTON - FEBRUARY 27: Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown (7) has an animated second quarter conversation with head coach Brad Stevens, left, as teammate Kyrie Irving comes over and joins in. The Boston Celtics host the Portland Trail Blazers in a regular season NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston on Feb. 27, 2019. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) | Boston Globe via Getty Images
Today is a tough one, Celtics fans. It’s the day after what’s being viewed as potentially one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history, and we’re on the wrong end of it.
We’re not used to being in this position. The Celtics are the franchise that wins those trades and turns them into banners. Consider Boston’s greatest hits.
1956, Red Auerbach trades two future Hall of Famers, Ed Macauley and draftee Cliff Hagan to the then-St. Louis Hawks for rookie Bill Russell. Eleven championships ensue.
1980, Auerbach sends two first-round picks (no. 1 overall plus no. 13) to the Golden State Warriors for center Robert Parish and overall pick no. 3, which became Kevin McHale. Parish and McHale win three titles on their way to the Hall of Fame.
1983, Auerbach roasts the Phoenix Suns, acquiring Dennis Johnson and a first-rounder for back-up center Rick Robey. DJ wins two rings with Boston.
2007, Danny Ainge gives up young star center Al Jefferson, four other expendable players, and a pair of first-round picks for all-time great Kevin Garnett. Banner 17 follows.
2013, Ainge tops himself by shipping a package of players and picks – headed by two aging superstars, Garnett and Celtics legend Paul Pierce – to the Brooklyn Nets for a bunch of players and first-round picks. Two of those picks result in nine seasons of The Jays, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, becoming arguably the best duo in the league.
2017, the Celtics win the draft lottery thanks to the Nets trade, and Ainge completes his masterful trade trilogy. Confident that his draft target, Tatum, will be available at no. 3 overall, Ainge sends the top pick in the draft to the Philadelphia 76ers for the third pick plus a future first-rounder. The Jays win Banner 18 together.
Now the Sixers might have their revenge. The NBA world certainly thinks so. Reaction has been pretty much unanimous.
If the Luka Doncic trade is the worst ever made, this Jaylen Brown one by Boston is easily the second worst.
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) July 2, 2026
This appears to be the first time the Celtics have traded away an all-NBA talent who’s undeniably in his prime. To be fair, we don’t yet know why the Celtics took this deal. Was it a financial decision because Brown is in line for a massive contract extension? Also, why could they not get a better return? We can only hope there’s a second trade lined up that will take the sting out of this one. But until more is revealed, all we can do is compare this deal to the most notable trade failures.
Paul Westphal – Auerbach drafted the athletic point/shooting guard in 1972, and two years later Westphal helped the Celtics win their first title since Bill Russell had retired. However, a year later, possibly because Westphal was up for a new contract, Red traded him to the Phoenix Suns for guard Charlie Scott, who was on the downside of a Hall of Fame career. The Cs won one title with Scott, but he was gone less than two years later. Meanwhile, Westphal hit his prime, made all-NBA four times, and also was voted into the Hall of Fame.
Joe Johnson – Like Westphal, Johnson was drafted by Boston, who already had Paul Pierce. They might’ve become the precursor to The Jays, but Johnson didn’t even last his rookie year before being shipped to the Suns by impatient general manager Chris Wallace. The Celtics received rotation players Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers, but Johnson played 18 seasons and scored more than 20,000 points.
Chauncey Billups – Yet another young talent traded too soon. Billups was the third overall pick in 1997, but Celtics president Rick Pitino gave him just a half-season in green before exiling him to Toronto for point guard Kenny Anderson and others. Billups ultimately played for seven teams, but he also was named multiple-time all-NBA and all-defense, plus a Finals MVP with the Pistons.
Kendrick Perkins – At the 2011 trade deadline, Danny Ainge gambled and lost. The Celtics were leading the East with a 41-14 record when Ainge surprisingly sent Perkins to Oklahoma City for short-term rental Nenad Krstic and talented wing Jeff Green. The justification was that Boston had enough other bigs (including the aging Shaquille O’Neal) to continue their run – but that backfired. The deal disrupted team unity, Shaq missed virtually the entire second half of the season with various hip and leg injuries, and the post-trade record was just 15-12. The Cs fell to third in the East and suffered a second-round playoff exit. Green also missed the entire next season due to a heart condition.
Bob McAdoo – In 1979, the Celtics were rebuilding, and they had a new owner, the volatile John Y. Brown. Auerbach had collected three first-round picks for that year’s draft, but Brown impulsively traded them to the New York Knicks – without consulting Red – for the high-scoring McAdoo. Problem was, the forward-center didn’t hide that he had no interest in playing for Boston. Ultimately, McAdoo appeared in only 20 games in green and white, and the Celtics finished with what was then their worst record ever, 29-53. Fortunately, Auerbach salvaged the bad trade by sending McAdoo to the Detroit Pistons for the draft picks that became Parish and McHale, as described above.
That brings us back to Jaylen Brown.
All of this happened so quickly. It was just a few days ago when the Milwaukee Bucks traded Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat, rendering moot the speculation that the Celtics had offered a trade package led by Jaylen. The basketball arguments against trading Brown for Antetokounmpo included Giannis being two years older, his injury history, and not wanting to see JB suit up for a conference rival.
But what’s come to pass is worse on each of those levels. Paul George is seven years older than Brown, has played more than 56 games just once in the past seven seasons, and now Brown will be on the side of Boston’s oldest and most bitter divisional rival. The fact that this comes just after the Celtics blew a 3-1 lead and lost to Philly in the playoffs for the first time since 1982 makes the situation infinitely worse.
While this deal has similar vibes to the McAdoo trade, it remains to be seen if Stevens can imitate Auerbach and find a way to turn this L into a W. If he can’t, the unfortunate judgment here that this trade will indeed turn out to be the worst one in the 80 seasons of Boston Celtics history.
The 2026-27 Boston Celtics will be almost unrecognizable to those who have followed the team closely over the last decade.
After 10 memorable seasons with Boston, superstar Jaylen Brown was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday in exchange for Paul George, two first-round draft picks, and two second-rounders. The move was met with stunned reactions across the NBA world as Brown will continue his career with a storied Eastern Conference rival — one that ended Boston’s season in the first round of the 2026 playoffs.
The Celtics also were criticized for bringing in George, who turned 36 in May and will be owed about $57.7 million in 2026-27. It’s hard to believe Boston couldn’t have gotten a better return for someone of Brown’s caliber.
Here’s a full breakdown of the Celtics’ roster, contract situations, and more following the Brown trade:
Updated depth chart
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A Celtics depth chart without Jaylen Brown will take some getting used to. Paul George replaces Brown in the C’s projected starting lineup.
Mitchell Robinson gives Boston much-needed frontcourt depth behind Neemias Queta. Mike Conley will provide the Celtics with guard depth behind Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, while bringing a respected veteran voice to the locker room.
Draft picks Chris Cenac Jr. and Dillon Mitchell will almost certainly spend the season in Maine.
Contracts
Jayson Tatum: $58.5 million for 2026-27 (contract expires after 2028-29; includes player option for 2029-30)
Paul George: $57.7 million (player option for 2028-29)
Derrick White: $30.3 million (expires after 2027-28; player option for 2028-29)
Mitchell Robinson: $15 million (expires after 2028-29)
Sam Hauser: $10.8 million (expires after 2028-29)
Payton Pritchard: $7.8 million (expires after 2027-28)
Ron Harper Jr.: $3 million (expires after 2028-29)
Hugo Gonzalez: $2.9 million (team options for 2027-28 and 2028-29)
Luka Garza: $2.8 million (expires after 2026-27)
Dalano Banton: $2.8 million (expires after 2026-27)
Baylor Scheierman: $2.7 million (team option for 2027-28)
Neemias Queta: $2.7 million (expires after 2026-27)
Jordan Walsh: $2.4 million (expires after 2026-27)
Mike Conley Jr: $2.4 million (expires after 2026-27)
Amari Williams: Two-way
George’s contract includes a 15 percent trade kicker, bumping his $54.1 million salary for 2026-27 up to the 35 percent max of approximately $57.7 million. His bloated contract makes acquiring him in exchange for Brown even more of a head-scratcher, as Boston’s cap situation remains virtually unchanged.
Harper re-signed with the Celtics on a three-year, $9 million contract. Boston exercised Banton, Queta, and Walsh’s team options.
Robinson signed a three-year, $47.4 million contract in free agency. Conley joined on the veteran minimum.
Rookies
Chris Cenac Jr. (27th overall pick in 2026 NBA Draft)
Dillon Mitchell (40th overall pick in 2026 NBA Draft)
Cenac and Mitchell are expected to sign two-way contracts and begin the 2026-27 season with the G League Maine Celtics.
Unrestricted free agents
Max Shulga
John Tonje
Shulga, a 2025 second-round pick, didn’t get his team option picked up and is now an unrestricted free agent. The VCU product appeared in 11 games for Boston last season.
Tonje was acquired by the Celtics in exchange for Chris Boucher and a future second-round pick at the NBA trade deadline in February. He signed a two-way contract with the C’s on March 1.
Tonje appeared in six regular-season games for the Celtics, including a season-high 13 points against the Magic in the regular-season finale. Boston didn’t pick up his team option this summer.
Draft picks and TPEs
Future first-round draft picks
2027: Own
2028: Top-1 protected first-round pick swap with Spurs
2028: Most favorable of Sixers or Clippers
2029: Traded away (will go to Blazers or Wizards)
2030: Own
2031: Own
2031: Unprotected Sixers pick
The Celtics received a 2028 first-rounder and a 2031 unprotected first-rounder from Philly in the Brown trade. They also acquired two second-round selections.
Notable traded player exceptions
The Celtics created a huge $27.7 million TPE in the Anfernee Simons trade, which expires at the 2027 trade deadline.
They also have an $8.4 million TPE from the Georges Niang trade and a $4.7 million TPE from the Jrue Holiday trade.
Jun 26, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Athletics pitcher J.T. Ginn (35) throws against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Another month down, and June was a bit of a letdown for the Athletics. The club only managed to go 12-15 against what looked like an easier portion of the schedule. They escaped getting swept by anyone but only won three series. They avoided getting swept, but they’re now lower in the standings than they were at the beginning of the month, and with more teams ahead of them too. We’re almost halfway through the regular season schedule and the A’s are hovering around playoff contention. What can we expect to see from the Green & Gold in the upcoming month, one that’ll determine the direction of this team for the final few months of the year?
1. Will we see any limitations on the young arms?
The club currently has three young starters that for all intents and purposes are rookies (though technically only in Gage Jump’s case). Righties J.T. Ginn, Jack Perkins and the lefty Jump have all made multiple starts during these past few weeks and if the A’s are going to make a push for the playoffs they’ll need each of them to pitch to their maximum potential. But more importantly, to pitch at all.
The problem for manager Mark Kotsay is that all three pitchers might be, need to be, or should be on some sort innings limit this season. Ginn is at 94 1/3 innings already while his career-high including minor league innings is 102 in 2024. Jump hit 112 frames last year in his first professional season split between Single and Double-A; he’s currently at 78 between Triple-A and the majors. Perkins might be in the best shape vis-à-vis innings as he’s only tossed 58 2/3 with a career-high of 107 2/3… back in 2023. The right maxed out at 78 and 86 innings pitched the last two years, respectively, so it’s not like he’s ready to fire off 150+ innings.
It’s not an easy position for Mark Kotsay to be in. Now in his fifth seal at the helm, he’s made progress in the win department every year but this year expectations were raised. With a bullpen as shaky as the A’s have, it can’t be easy for the manager to balance between removing his young starters early but saving their health, versus riding them another inning to ensure an extra win here and there with the playoffs on the line. He’s signed through ‘28 but his long-term position isn’t fully secure. If the club under him doesn’t show major progress before the move to Las Vegas, the front office may decide to start the Vegas years with a brand new voice leading the club.
It hasn’t helped matters that Luis Severino is currently on the IL with no set timetable for a return. If the A’s are still in contention come trading season adding a veteran starter could be a two-fold addition: allow the A’s to continue to be competitive this season, while preserving the arms and making sure we don’t blow out an elbow over the final few months. These three guys will all be critical to the Athletics over the coming seasons and how Kotsay handles them in these early days could lay the groundwork for their career arches. Is he going to be cautious, or ride them until the wheels fall off?
2. Can any of the young stopgaps step up in place of an injured regular?
The Athletics are going through a bit of a rough patch regarding injuries right now. The club is currently missing four of the lineup regulars: left fielder Tyler Soderstrom, shortstop Jacob Wilson, DH Brent Rooker and super-utilityman Zack Gelof are all on the shelf for various reasons and timelines (along with Opening Day center fielder Denzel Clarke). Before yesterday one could have argued the most serious of that group was Wilson and his shoulder injury. He’s reaggravated the shoulder dislocation he suffered earlier this year and we’re all hoping he hasn’t done anything serious to it. Baseball fans have seen every type of timeline from this injury in the past: from weeks, to months, to a full season or offseason worth of time on the shelf (most recently Gelof, who had season-ending shoulder surgery last September). Any sort of shoulder surgery would almost certainly end his season and deprive the Athletics of one of their best hitters and a real glue guy for the lineup.
Now the A’s are certainly going to miss Brent Rooker after the news yesterday that he’d be undergoing the knife on that bulky left knee of his. Even though he wasn’t off to the best start this season, he was still already at double-digit home runs and a real threat in the lineup that opposing pitchers had to consider and deal with. Losing him for the final three-plus months of the season is going to hamstring the Athletics’ lineup, and now the team has a decision to make: stick with the guys we have, or go after a trade?
Turning our attention to our starting left fielder, all indications are that Soderstrom is facing a relatively minor absence due to the hip impingement he suffered last weekend. Still, that means it’ll likely be weeks until we see him back on the field for the big league squad, and we still don’t have confirmation that we’re looking at that shorter end of the timeline for his return. It could end up being a situation where we don’t know he needed surgery until a few weeks have passed. Luckily for the A’s, they have someone ready to step into his spot in Colby Thomas.
It’s easy to forget, after two seasons of a small amount of unsuccessful big league action, that Thomas was considered the club’s #3 prospect as recently as last year. The 25-year-old proved everything he has to in the minors. He has plenty of power in his bat, is an adequate fielder in a corner, and has cut down on his swing-and-miss tendencies here in his second year in the big leagues. But the strikeouts are still around to a degree and he’s still allergic to walks, which has made everything much harder on himself when facing big league pitching. Perhaps this is the chance that he’s been waiting for. It’s not easy to ride the bench as a rookie and succeed when called upon when you’re not getting those everyday at bats. If there’s one positive to Soderstrom’s injury, it’s that Thomas will get those everyday chances. It’s up to him to make the most of those, and hopefully help the A’s while Sodey is on the shelf. We should be getting an answer one way or another on Thomas soon enough.
The player most likely to make his return soonest is also the one who is the most versatile in Gelof. And honestly, the A’s can probably play him just about anywhere on the diamond or in the grass save for perhaps shortstop and catcher. The club has used Alika Williams at shortstop and also have former first-rounder Max Muncy, but now the A’s have added a new young guy to the infield mix in Joshua Kuroda-Grauer. Gelof is still on the shelf for a bit and might need a couple games to get back in the swing of things, but if Kuroda-Grauer or Muncy or Williams can prove they’re capable at their respective positions, that’d allow Kotsay to get Gelof’s bat into the lineup at some other spot of need. We’ve gotten middling production out of Muncy so far, and now it’s time to see what we have in the 23-year-old Kuroda-Grauer, who burst onto the scene with a three-hit debut.
3. Buy, sell, or standing pat?
The A’s looked like surefire buyers earlier this year when they were atop the AL West standings. They never ran away with the division but also seemed to have finally grown into a team that could make a legitimate push for a playoff spot, even if it came a year or two before many expected. The A’s had a 2 1/2 game lead in the division in late May. The starting pitching had work to do but Ginn was pitching well and Jump was set to join the rotation. And for the most part, the A’s position player group was healthy. Everything was going well for the most part.
June has put a damper on the buying prospects of this organization. The club wasn’t awful but a 12-15 record in June was enough to drop the Athletics to where they are now, 3 1/3 games out of first in the AL West with three other teams to jump. It’s not much better in the Wild Card race as the club is in the same position, but with four teams ahead of them for the final Wild Card spot.
The next few weeks will be critical to determining how the A’s proceed around the August 3rd trade deadline. Should the A’s rattle off a few wins before and after the All-Star break, that might be enough to convince the front office to pony up some minor prospect capital to bolster this young and upcoming group. Starting pitching would be atop the list, as well as obviously relief help. In a perfect world, maybe the club swings a trade for someone like Luis Arraez to be the DH for the rest of the season. There’s a lot of paths the A’s could go if they wanted to give the roster a boost for the final playoff push.
Now, if the opposite happens and the A’s drop farther and farther in the standings, the team will have some tough decisions to make. Some of those decisions could hinge on health updates regarding Wilson, Soderstrom and Gelof. If the A’s find out that one or more of those guys will join Brent Rooker on the season-ending IL, that could push them more in a sell direction. Should the A’s go that route, guys like Jeffrey Springs, Aaron Civale, Jeff McNeil, and pretty much any reliever in the bullpen that any other team has interest in would be available. The jury is still out on if the front office would consider a deal involving Langeliers but one would think they’d need more than a king’s ransom to pry him from our grasp.
Or the team could just say, “Let it ride” with this group and hope for the best. Not the boldest strategy in the world, but for a young team like the A’s they just don’t have many attractive trade pieces that are close to free agency. One doesn’t have to make a deal simply to make a deal. If the A’s are fringe contenders and other clubs are trying to give them a bad deal on a player, then walking away and keeping our chips should absolutely be an option on the table.
Bonus: Will any other Athletics join Shea in Philadelphia?
The club will almost certainly send the starting catcher for the American League to this year’s Midsummer Classic. Backstop Shea Langeliers is having a borderline MVP-caliber season, hitting .265/.330/.497 with 20 homers while catching five out of every six games. That production alone has kept the A’s from being a bottom-dweller this year, making him perhaps the most logical MVP candidate in the league. Seriously, he’s been that important to the team.
A’s fans will be treated to seeing Langeliers catching whoever starts for the AL in the upcoming All-Star Game. Now A’s fans will begin to wonder if any of his teammates will join him fighting for the Junior Circuit.
The most obvious candidate to join the catcher is first baseman Nick Kurtz. The reigning Rookie of the Year has had a great first-half in his sophomore season. After a semi-slow start he’s batting .279/.422/.516 with 19 home runs. He’s second in the entire sport in OBP behind only first-half MVP Yordan Alvarez. He leads baseball in both RBI’s and walks. Oh and let’s not forget about that epic 48-game on-base streak he had earlier this year. In a just and fair baseball world Kurtz would be the starting first baseman for the American League but thanks to fan voting giving Vladimir Guerrero Jr. the nod (he of four total home runs), Kurtz will have to rely on another way to make his first All-Star Game.
Among A’s pitchers there’s really only one candidate on the roster: J.T. Ginn. It’s pretty remarkable considering how he began the year: initially on the outside looking in on an Opening Day roster spot, struggling through a tough camp, being a surprising selection for Opening Day, starting the year in relief, and then getting a shot to start in mid-May. Since then he’s been a revelation for the Green & Gold with a 2.87 ERA in 16 starts. He likely doesn’t have the name recognition, and with Langeliers already on the team there’s no “need” for another Athletic to satisfy the “one player per team” stipulation in the All-Star festivities. A’s fans know what Ginn has meant to this club though and no one would be surprised if Ginn ends up being selected to what would be his first All-Star Game in his second season.
Jun 19, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski (32) check in with umpire Tom Hanahan (69) after the first inning against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images | Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images
The Brewers will go for a rare four-game sweep this afternoon as they wrap up their series with the Reds, but that’s not the headline. This game will feature one of the most exciting pitching matchups of the season, when Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski faces off against Cincinnati’s Chase Burns.
Misiorowski and Burns are two of the most exciting young players in the game. They’re both flamethrowers; Misiorowski’s fastball is untouchable at an average of 100.3 mph, but Burns is in the 93rd percentile at 97.9. Miz, at 24 years old, is a year older than Burns. Both have some of the nastiest stuff in the league; in FanGraphs’ Stuff+ metric, Misiorowski and Burns rank first and fourth, respectively. They’re first and sixth in ERA. They’re both in the top eight in pitching WAR via Baseball Reference and the top six via FanGraphs. Simply, they are two of the most thrilling young pitchers the game has seen in some time, and given that they’re division rivals, this will likely be the first matchup in what could become a real rivalry.
The teams, though, are going in opposite directions. The Brewers, at 53-31 on the season, have won eight of their last 10 — a stretch that includes a 6-0 record against the Reds. Cincinnati, on the other hand, is floundering: they’ve won just two of their last nine games and are just 9-18 since June 1.
After a day off yesterday, Christian Yelich is back in the leadoff spot for the Brewers. Garrett Mitchell is also back in the lineup after his big day yesterday. Sal Frelick and Jackson Chourio join Mitchell in the outfield, while David Hamilton, Cooper Pratt, Brice Turang, and Jake Bauers make up the infield. William Contreras is doing the catching.
First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network. The Brewers then jump on a plane to Phoenix, where they’ll start a series with the Diamondbacks tomorrow night.
DALLAS, TX - NOVEMBER 22: Santi Aldama #7 of the Memphis Grizzlies drives to the basket during the game against the Dallas Mavericks on November 22, 2025 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
On Wednesday, the Mavericks made their first big splash of the summer in trading for Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama. In a deal in which the Mavericks also acquired the rights to draft Turkish sharpshooter Tarik Biberovic, Dallas sent A.J. Johnson, a 2030 first-round pick (via Golden State), and two second-round picks to Memphis. The move gives the Mavericks more scoring off the bench and a big man who can space the floor.
Why Dallas did it
There’s no doubt the Mavericks need more scoring, especially from the perimeter. New team president Masai Ujiri has an affinity with big, scoring forwards, and Santi Aldama is exactly that. During Ujiri’s tenure with the Toronto Raptors, he drafted names like O.G Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, and Scotty Barnes. He loves a forward who can put the ball in the hoop. Aldama was drafted by the Utah Jazz 30th overall in the 2021 NBA draft and later traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, where he’s spent his entire career. He’s a known Dallas killer, so at bare minimum, he’s one less problem to worry about in the four meetings with the Grizzlies during the regular season.
For the Mavericks, adding a 25-year-old scoring big for what they had to give up is a win. A.J. Johnson wasn’t going to be a long-term piece for Dallas, and the Golden State pick won’t be great (top 20-protected). If this is the return for Aldama, you have to pull the trigger. But it does create a traffic jam at power forward/center for the Mavericks. It’s been widely speculated that some other names potentially on the move could include P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford. There are still some uncertainties in the frontcourt for Dallas. This week, the Mavericks extended a qualifying offer to Moussa Cisse, but he can seek a better deal elsewhere, and Marvin Bagley III has agreed to a one-year deal with the Denver Nuggets. But the Mavericks drafting Morez Johnson Jr. signaled a change for Dallas in the frontcourt, and more moves are likely to be made. Dallas will absorb Aldama’s $17 million per year into its $20 million trade exception from the Anthony Davis trade
What Aldama brings
Cooper Flagg needs scoring around him. The Mavericks just need scoring in general. Santi Aldama brings that and with size. In the 2025-2026 season, the 7-foot, 215-pound Spaniard averaged 14.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists on 47.9% from the floor and 35% from three in 28 minutes. Until last season, in which he only played 43 games due to knee surgery, Aldama had three consecutive seasons of playing at least 60 games. So as a general statement, he’s durable, and the Mavericks desperately need that from their frontcourt. For his career, Aldama has averaged 10.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.1 assists.
Although he’s not great defensively, Dallas shouldn’t be a weak defensive team, so you can still have him guard the four. His weakest link is guarding in space, so if he has to guard a forward who can operate from the high post or put the ball on the floor, it could be a problem, but overall, not a major concern. For what Aldama brings as a three-level scoring threat, you take the bad with the good.
Memphis received financial flexibility, and Dallas got more scoring. Both sides won.
Looking ahead
As we continue to charge through the offseason, in what has been a very bizarre offseason for many teams, very few things are off the table for the Mavericks to consider. There will likely be more names on the move, but for now, the Mavs added a scoring big, and in today’s NBA, that’s not a bad thing.
Boston, MA - May 2: Boston Celtics fans react in the fourth quarter. The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers played in the first round of the NBA Playoffs at TD Garden on May 2, 2026. (Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) | Boston Globe via Getty Images
As President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics, Brad Stevens has spent years building up a healthy trust bank.
The Derrick White trade was a hefty deposit. Kristaps Porziņģis for Marcus Smart? Ouch, but ultimately, cha-ching. Jrue Holiday was maybe the biggest down payment in recent memory, one that also led directly to Banner 18. Even the smaller moves over the years helped drive up the balance, one smart decision at a time, hitting singles until “In Brad We Trust” became less of a slogan and more of a reflex.
A strange move would happen, and eventually it made sense.
A painful move would happen, and eventually the gains outweighed the pain.
Something would feel uncomfortable, and the Celtics would usually end up better for it.
That is how trust works. You do enough smart things over enough time, and people start lending you patience they would not give to others.
BLOCKBUSTER: The Boston Celtics have agreed to trade Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/xNcNlIV2mh
I’m still trying to find a reasonable way to process that sentence, but every time I look at it, my brain makes the same dial-up internet sound. Jaylen Brown. To Philadelphia. For Paul George and a handful of picks.
This was not some routine withdrawal from the trust bank.
This was Brad walking into the lobby wearing a ski mask, handing the teller a note that said “I can explain,” and sprinting out with a duffel bag full of every ounce of goodwill he had been methodically building up over years.
Fans deserve to know what, why, and how this just happened.
The first read is ugly
For starters, this is not a “Fire Brad Stevens” column. That feels too simple, and frankly, too soon.
Stevens has earned more than that. Since he was handed the keys in 2021, he was able to build a champion and turn a roster that needed something different into one that could actually finish the job. If anyone in Boston has earned a minute to explain the part of the plan we can’t see yet, it’s probably him.
The problem is that the surface read of this trade is undeniably brutal.
Boston didn’t get younger. Brown is 29. George is 36.
Boston didn’t get better in any obvious way. Brown just averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists while carrying a heavier load than anyone expected after Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury. He led a team projected by many to take a step back to 56 wins and finished sixth in MVP voting. George averaged 17.3 points and 5.3 rebounds last season, and played 37 games. Yes, he had his moments in the playoffs, primarily at the Celtics’ expense, but he’s not Jaylen Brown.
Boston didn’t get that much cheaper. The Celtics saved just $2.9 million this season, which feels equivalent to finding a twenty in your jeans. Nice? Sure. Franchise-altering? Please. George will make $54.1 million next season and has a $56.6 million player option for the year after that. Brown’s contract ran longer and carried bigger long-term implications, but this was not a clean financial reset where the Celtics suddenly opened the windows and let the fresh cap space breeze roll in.
Then there are the picks.
Two firsts and two seconds aren’t nothing. The unprotected 2031 Philadelphia first could be enormous if the Sixers eventually Sixer themselves into the sun, which history suggests should at least remain on the table. The 2028 pick situation has upside too, especially with the Clippers involved. Future draft capital gives Stevens more avenues, and Adam Himmelsbach reported that the Celtics still intend to build around Tatum.
That is where the confusion starts to curdle into anger.
Shams on the Jaylen Brown trade:
"Sixers president reached out to the Celtics made offers in recent weeks…the Celtics had such a high bar on a deal. They were thinking if you're gonna trade us Paul George we need 4 firsts, 5 firsts, we need a player like a VJ Edgecombe. That… pic.twitter.com/iwTaEqw0s8
You can understand why Boston may have wanted to move Brown’s money. You can see why his leaguewide market may have been more complicated than fans wanted to believe. You can even justify why Stevens might prefer George’s shorter contract, a couple of firsts and future flexibility over years of trying to thread the same expensive needle.
Understanding the ingredients does not mean the meal tastes good.
Right now, Celtics fans are staring at the plate like a waiter brought out lasagna with a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream on top. All things I like, but it may warrant a chef’s explanation. I would love to hear it. Until then, I’m not going to pretend this looks appetizing.
The unique pain of losing Jaylen Brown
The hardest part of this trade is that Brown was never only a contract, a market value, or an on-off debate waiting to be won by the loudest person on Twitter.
He was a Celtic in the way very few players get to be anymore.
Fans watched him get booed on draft night, then watched him grow from an athletic swingman with a questionable handle into one of the most decorated players in franchise history. They watched him become an All-Star, then an All-NBA player, then the Eastern Conference Finals MVP, then the NBA Finals MVP. They cheered him on as he locked up Luka Dončić in the Finals. They celebrated him as he helped deliver Banner 18. For almost a decade, Brown gave Boston deep playoff runs and real stakes nearly every spring.
Jaylen could also be maddening. Anyone who watched him dribble into traffic knows this. There were possessions where the ball seemed to turn into a live fish in his hands. The passing reads could come late. The advanced numbers have never fully known what to do with Brown, and honestly, neither have a lot of people watching him.
Still, he meant a lot to Boston.
That part feels obvious if you lived through the last 10 years of Celtics basketball instead of viewing Brown as a contract to move rather than a player who helped define the era. Brown was imperfect, expensive, complicated and deeply human. He was also one of the reasons this whole era felt worth believing in.
I keep thinking back to Game 7 against Philadelphia, which is probably a terrible idea for my mental health but here we are. Tatum was out. The Celtics were trying to hang onto a season that had already started slipping away. Brown showed up, blocked shots, attacked Embiid, scored through contact, and for a few minutes in the fourth quarter, it felt like he might drag everyone back from the edge by force.
BOSTON, MA – MAY 2: Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers is guarded by Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics during the game during Round One Game Seven of the 2026 NBA Playoffs on May 2, 2026 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
They never got over the top. The season ended. Philadelphia won the series. A few months later, Boston sent Brown to go play for the team that just embarrassed them in the first round.
If the basketball gods wanted Celtics fans to be reasonable about this, sending Brown to Philadelphia of all places was a strange place to start.
Trading Smart hurt, but the return made sense quickly enough. Porziņģis changed the geometry of the team, Jrue did Jrue things, and Banner 18 gave the pain somewhere to go.
This feels different. There is no immediate emotional landing spot. George is not nothing, but he arrives as an older star with injury questions and a giant price tag attached to him. The picks are useful, but abstract. Flexibility is great in theory, though it has never hit the floor for a loose ball, guarded the other team’s best player, or stared down a hostile crowd in May.
Jaylen Brown did all of that.
10 years 5x All-Star 2x All-NBA Second Team 2024 ECF MVP, Finals MVP, Champ
So if the Celtics were going to move him, especially to Philadelphia, the explanation needed to be obvious enough for fans to hate it and still understand it.
We are not there yet.
Brad has to earn back the trust he just spent
There are reasonable basketball arguments buried somewhere inside this deal.
Brown’s contract was always going to make the next stage of team-building harder. The second apron was already squeezing the Celtics. Tatum’s recovery changed the timeline. Porziņģis, Holiday, Al Horford and Luke Kornet were already gone. If Boston looked at all of that and decided the cleanest version of the Jays era had already passed, that would be painful, but not impossible to understand.
The league may have viewed Brown differently than Boston fans did, too. His résumé says star, as does his production last season. His playoff history says winner. At the same time, the analytics conversation around him did not come from nowhere, and his contract was always going to make teams think twice. Add in the failed Giannis pursuit, the reported frustration and whatever the Celtics heard behind closed doors, and maybe his market was never going to match what he meant here.
Fine.
That can all be part of the story. It still is not a sufficient explanation.
In my article yesterday about the Celtics’ quiet start to free agency (take me back, I beg you), I wrote about the sign Stevens said he keeps above his desk. It reads, “What do you want? What’s true? And how do you get there?” At the time, it felt like the right framework for a quiet offseason. Brown’s future was unclear, the Celtics had not made the big move yet, and the rest of us were nervous but confident in Brad’s vision, despite having questions.
Now we have the first real answer.
The Celtics traded Jaylen Brown.
That tells us something, and yet not nearly enough.
The “what do you want?” part still seems simple enough. Boston wants to win with Tatum. Himmelsbach reported that the Celtics still intend to build around him, and the additions of Mitchell Robinson and Mike Conley Jr. point more toward reshaping than bottoming out. George, assuming health does not turn this whole thing into a Babe Ruth-esque curse, can still help a good team.
“What’s true?” is where it gets harder. Brown apparently never requested a trade, but had grown frustrated with how Boston handled the situation. Stevens had recently called him “a big part of us” while also refusing to predict the future. Celtics brass reportedly agonized over the decision before deciding George and the picks gave them their best path forward.
Boston, MA – May 6: Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens speaks at the team's end-of-season press conference on May 6, 2026. (Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) | Boston Globe via Getty Images
That is a lot of context. Still, it leaves fans waiting for the rest of the receipt.
Then comes the hardest part of Brad’s sign.
How do you get there?
If the answer starts with trading Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia, Stevens has to walk people through the rest of the plan. He does not need to reveal every private conversation or turn the front office into a group chat with the fanbase. That has never been his style, and it would be strange if he started now. But this trade is too big and too illogical for the usual silence.
Fans shouldn’t ask Stevens to apologize for running a front office. They just want him to explain why this was the move that had to happen, why this return was the best haul available, and why the franchise is better positioned now than it was before trading away one of the most important Celtics of this century.
I am open to the idea that there is a plan here. George may be healthier than the internet wants to believe. Those picks could become something bigger. The shorter money may matter more than we can see today. Maybe Stevens chose the least bad door in a hallway full of bad doors.
I can hold those possibilities in my head.
I can also look at this trade and think it makes very little sense from where I’m sitting.
That is why “In Brad We Trust” cannot be the whole argument anymore. Not after this.
Whatever trust Stevens had built up did not disappear completely, but it is hard to pretend there is much left sitting untouched. A vault that once felt packed to the brim now looks like it has a couple of loose pennies rolling around the floor, and Celtics fans are standing outside wondering how the guy who filled it up is the same guy who emptied it.
Maybe Stevens can earn that trust back. Maybe George stays healthy, the picks turn into players as good as Brown was, and the next move makes this one easier to stomach. But that is work he has to do now. The benefit of the doubt is no longer a lifetime pass.
He spent more trust than he ever has before.
The bank is still standing. The vault is open. The alarms are screaming.
Now Celtics fans deserve to know where the money went.
Jairo Iriarte 1.26 ERA, 14 1/3 IP, 7 BB, 15 K Garrett Schoenle 3.29 ERA, 13 2/3 IP, 5 BB, 15 K Jonathan Cannon 4.66 ERA, 19 1/3 IP, 10 BB, 18 K Shane Murphy 5.18 ERA, 24 1/3 IP, 9 BB, 20 K Hagen Smith 5.40 ERA, 13 1/3 IP, 8 BB, 23 K Mason Adams 5.74 ERA, 15 2/3 IP, 5 BB, 18 K
The Knights kept the good times rolling in June by finishing 14-11, although they closed the month on a four-game losing streak. Overall, the Knights have scored 518 runs, which is the most among all 20 teams in the International League. Charlotte’s +87 run differential is also No. 1 in the entire International League. In June, the Knights’ OPS was fifth in the International League in OPS (.827), and their ERA was 10th (4.84).
With Jacob Gonzalez making his way to the majors, first baseman Ryan Galanie, 26, stood out from the crowd in June. Galanie went 27-for-76 with five homers, two doubles, six walks, 17 RBIs, and he stole two bases without getting caught. With this excellent performance, Galanie’s overall season slash line is .265/.357/.521 (120 wRC+). Especially with Murakami set to return soon, the path to the majors is not straightforward for Galanie, but if he continues hitting anywhere close to this well, he will get there.
2026 Charlotte Knights Players of the Month Jacob Gonzalez (March-April) Jacob Gonzalez(May) Ryan Galanie (June)
Birmingham Barons June record8-18; Overall record 27-49
Barons Player of the Month Anthony DePino .276/.413/.529, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 87 at-bats
Alec Briley .265/.333/.480, 3-for-4 stolen bases, 98 at-bats Caleb Bonemer .267/.377/.378, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 45 at-bats (promoted from Winston-Salem on June 16) Jordan Sprinkle .269/.381/.288, 5-for-7 stolen bases, 52 at-bats Jacob Burke .241/.338/.310, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 58 at-bats Colby Shelton .187/.245/.352, 3-for-4 stolen bases, 91 at-bats Samuel Zavala .179/.301/.244, 0-for-1 stolen bases, 78 at-bats
Connor McCullough 3.80 ERA, 21 1/3 IP, 7 BB, 22 K Dylan Cumming 4.21 ERA, 25 2/3 IP, 10 BB, 22 K Lucas Gordon 5.12 ERA, 19 1/3 IP, 11 BB, 25 K Jake Palisch 8.57 ERA, 21 IP, 9 BB, 7 K Gabe Davis 13.22 ERA, 16 1/3 IP, 10 BB, 18 K
The Barons won the Southern League Championship in 2024 and 2025, but it is highly unlikely that they will pull off a three-peat. Birmingham is struggling immensely, only finding eight victories in June. During the month, Birmingham was sixth out of eight Southern League teams in OPS (.682) and last by a wide margin in ERA (6.34).
Once again, first baseman Anthony DePino was a diamond in the rough for the Barons. DePino went 24-for-87 with six homers, a triple, two doubles, 20 walks, 22 RBIs, and a stolen base in his only attempt. This is an offense that tends to stagnate for long periods, but DePino is not allowing the negative contagion to get to him. DePino has now won back-to-back Baron of the Month awards. The only other one this season went to Braden Montgomery, who has since been promoted to the majors, where he is off to a solid start. DePino, 23, is likely pretty close to a promotion to Charlotte, although Birmingham’s offense would be quite ugly if he moved up.
2026 Birmingham Barons Players of the Month Braden Montgomery (April) Anthony DePino (May) Anthony DePino (June)
Winston-Salem Dash June record13-12; Overall record 43-33
Dash Player of the Month Boston Smith .293/.481/.603, 58 at-bats (promoted to Birmingham on July 1)
James Taussig .254/.375/.612, 67 at-bats Ely Brown .253/.427/.329, 79 at-bats George Wolkow .243/.328/.485, 3-for-4 stolen bases, 103 at-bats Kyle Lodise .222/.393/.389, 10-for-11 stolen bases, 90 at-bats Ryan Burrowes .221/.373/.316, 12-for-14 stolen bases, 95 at-bats
Justin Sinibaldi 2.18 ERA, 20 2/3 IP, 4 BB, 15 K Riley Eikhoff 3.50 ERA, 18 IP, 2 BB, 15 K Mathias LaCombe 3.52 ERA, 15 1/3 IP, 6 BB, 24 K Drew McDaniel 5.03 ERA, 19 2/3 IP, 10 BB, 19 K Grant Umberger 6.62 ERA, 17 2/3 IP, 8 BB, 10 K
The Dash finished June on a high note, winning four of their last six to complete their third consecutive month with a winning record. In June, out of 12 teams in the South Atlantic League, the Dash finished fifth in OPS (.802) and third in ERA (4.20).
Catcher and outfielder Boston Smith, 23, was a major contributor to Winston-Salem’s strong month. Smith went 17-for-58 with five homers, a triple, a double, 20 walks, and 13 RBIs. Smith is primarily a catcher, but he also has some experience in left field. The White Sox selected Smith in the sixth round last year, and he is off to a fast start to his professional career. Smith’s overall slash line for the season is .285/.436/.560 (157 wRC+), and that was enough for a promotion. Smith will open July as a member of the Birmingham Barons. Congratulations to Smith on his promotion, and it will be interesting to see how he adjusts to Double-A pitching. Hopefully, Smith can provide the Barons with a much-needed spark.
2026 Winston-Salem Dash Players of the Month Colby Shelton (April) Boston Smith (May) Boston Smith (June)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers June record 11-14; Overall record 37-39
Cannon Ballers Player of the Month Blaine Wynk 0.00 ERA, 15 IP, 1 BB, 11 K
Caedmon Parker 3.32 ERA, 21 2/3 IP, 9 BB, 30 K Gabriel Rodriguez 3.79 ERA, 19 IP, 3 BB, 17 K Alexander Martinez 5.87 ERA, 15 1/3 IP, 11 BB, 17 K Truman Pauley 6.43 ERA, 21 IP, 15 BB, 22 K
After a horrible April and an excellent May, the Cannon Ballers settled for a mediocre month of June. The Cannon Ballers fell back slightly below .500 with an 11-14 month. The offense posted a poor month (.687 OPS, 11th out of 12 Carolina League teams), but the pitching staff’s ERA (3.76) was third.
Starting pitcher Blaine Wynk, 22, was mighty close to unhittable in June. Wynk did not allow any earned runs in 15 innings of work, and he collected 11 strikeouts while only issuing one walk. After this excellent month, Wynk’s season ERA sits at 2.38, and his FIP is 3.96. Overall, opposing hitters are slashing a modest .250/.322/.388 against him, and those numbers are certainly trending in the right direction. Well done to Wynk on his clean month, as he spearheaded the pitching staff’s strong effort.
2026 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Players of the Month Max Banks (April) Max Banks (May) Blaine Wynk (June)
ACL White Sox June record 5-16; Overall record 12-30
Complex Sox Player of the Month Yordani Soto .390/.510/.585, 41 at-bats
Reinder Gomez 6.52 ERA, 9 2/3 IP, 7 BB, 9 K Jeremy Gonzalez 6.97 ERA, 10 1/3 IP, 5 BB, 6 K Justin Fuson 8.47 ERA, 17 IP, 3 BB, 16 K Fabian Ysalla 9.17 ERA, 17 2/3 IP, 9 BB, 7 K Fidel Montero 9.82 ERA, 14 2/3 IP, 11 BB, 21 K
The Complex Sox did not provide many highlights, as they are really suffering. In June, out of 15 teams in the Arizona Complex League, the Complex Sox posted the No. 14 OPS (.725) and the No. 13 ERA (7.99). Before anyone asks, yes, somehow, two teams had a worse June ERA, but regardless, it was a horrible month.
Despite the team’s poor performance, shortstop Yordani Soto, 17, was a force to be reckoned with. Soto slashed .395/.519/.651 in June to lead the way for the offense. Overall, Soto is slashing .290/.393/.540 (120 wRC+), as he has consistently been among the best players on this 12-30 squad.
2026 Complex Sox Players of the Month Kendry García(May) Yordani Soto (June)
DSL White Sox June record 6-16; Overall record 6-16
DSL White Sox Player of the Week Sebastian Romero .338/.430/.765, 4-for-5 stolen bases, 68 at-bats
Yordany Marte 4.26 ERA, 12 2/3 IP, 6 BB, 16 K Ronald Kelly 6.00 ERA, 15 IP, 12 BB, 20 K Roderic Ramirez 6.23 ERA, 13 IP, 8 BB, 13 K Jefferson Timaure 7.59 ERA, 10 2/3 IP, 7 BB, 9 K Alexander De Los Santos 8.03 ERA, 12 1/3 IP, 5 BB, 9 K
Yeah, the White Sox affiliates are not having a good time in the Rookie Leagues. The squad in the DSL just posted a .777 OPS (26th out of 51 teams) but a ridiculous 9.52 ERA (50th out of 51). Also, before anyone asks, the DSL Twins posted a 10.19 ERA.
Thank goodness for center fielder Sebastian Romero, 17, who was on top of his game. Romero went 24-for-71 with seven homers, two triples, four doubles, six walks, 27 RBIs, and he added four stolen bases while only being caught once. Romero’s big month resulted in a 154 wRC+, and he showed that he can be a jack of all trades.
2026 DSL White Sox Players of the Week Sebastian Romero (June)
Who gets YOUR vote for Minor League Player of the Month?
A week ago Tuesday, Pete Crow-Armstrong was on first base in a game against the Mets. It’s the top of the seventh and there’s one out. The Cubs are leading the game 7-3.
Then PCA took off for second on what turned out to be ball four to Michael Busch.
PCA was called safe at second, only to have the review crew rule him out for coming off the base and being tagged by Mets shortstop Bo Bichette.
Interestingly enough, in the video clip you don’t see second base umpire Stu Scheurwater make a call at all – as if PCA was just safe because Busch had walked. It should be noted that Scheurwater did not make an immediate judgment for the same reason umpires do not do so on missed tags or missed bases by runners. It’s not the umpires’ place to call attention to plays that are incomplete for any reason. It’s the players’ responsibility to know the possibilities and the alternatives, under the rules as written.
This play has happened at least two other times over the last couple of decades to Cubs runners.
On April 20, 2007, Ronny Cedeno was on first base with one out in the ninth in a game the Cubs were trailing 2-1. He took off for second as ball four was thrown to Jacque Jones.
Then this happened:
It’s much more clear here. Cedeno clearly came off the base and was tagged by Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein. Of course, there was no replay review back then, but the play was pretty obvious. That was a really bad play by Cedeno, under the rule he has to hold the base. If he had done so, he would have represented the tying run with one out. Instead the Cubs had a runner on first with two out, and Matt Murton popped up to end the game.
A similar play occurred June 9, 2023 in San Francisco. Nick Madrigal was on first base with one out in the top of the first. Ball four was thrown to Seiya Suzuki as Madrigal took off for second.
The same thing happened. Madrigal briefly came off the base and was tagged out. This time, a review crew reversed the safe call and Madrigal was out. The Cubs eventually won the game anyway, 3-2.
For the sake of argument, let’s say the ball four pitches in each of these situations had been a hit by pitch instead. In that case, the ball is dead and the runner would have been safe.
So why not have the same situation if it’s ball four? In my opinion, this rule should be changed to make it the same as a HBP if a runner is going in that situation. In that case – same as a walk – the batter is awarded first base and any runners are safe at other bases.
Here are the rules in question.
MLB Rule 5.06 (3) (b) says, in regard to base advances:
Each runner, other than the batter, may without liability to be put out, advance one base when:
The batter’s advance without liability to be put out forces the runner to vacate his base, or when the batter hits a fair ball that touches another runner or the umpire before such ball has been touched by, or has passed a fielder, if the runner is forced to advance.
This applies to a hit, a hit batter, an error, many other things… except! This comment is below that rule:
A runner forced to advance without liability to be put out may advance past the base to which he is entitled only at his peril. If such a runner, forced to advance, is put out for the third out before a preceding runner, also forced to advance, touches home plate, the run shall score.
This is the situation we’re talking about here. On a hit batter, the ball is dead. But on a walk, the ball is considered “live” in this situation, and that’s the rule by which PCA was tagged out. There’s another place in the rule book where this play is specifically referred to, as a comment to Rule 5.09 (b) (6):
PLAY — Runner on first and three balls on batter: Runner steals on the next pitch, which is fourth ball, but after having touched second he overslides or overruns that base. Catcher’s throw catches him before he can return. Ruling is that the runner is out.
Again, this is precisely what happened on this play.
“Umpires interpret rules correctly. They don’t get that stuff wrong,” Counsell said. “It’s a bad rule. It’s a terrible rule. I mean, I don’t know what else to say. Like, not a good rule.”
I concur with Counsell. The rule (or, more correctly, the comment noted above) should be changed to note that if that pitch is ball four and caught by the catcher, the ball should be dead and the runner given second base. The key here is “caught” – if the ball isn’t caught for any reason, sure, the play should then be live and continue.
That’s it. That’s the point of this article and my argument. Change this rule as noted above. That’s what I think. That’s what Counsell thinks. What do you think?
Jun 17, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves shortstop Mauricio Dubon (14) in the dugout during the game against the San Francisco Giants during the second inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images | Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images
No snappy post-colon headline here. I can’t think of a better way to describe the Braves over the last two weeks, or in June as a whole, other than awful. While I’ll get to the actual horrendous stats in a bit, I do want to indicate that things aren’t awful because the Braves lost a bunch of games, or because they basically destroyed their division lead.
No, the reason why this is awful is because it’s the second year in a row that we’ve basically seen how the combination of not pushing full bore to win every game and an entirely self-inflicted adverse change in offensive approach can absolutely destroy a team.
If the Braves had hit a run of poor outcomes in one-run games (part of 2025), or a massive xwOBA underperformance (part of 2024), then you could say, “Yeah, but look at the first two months” and write it off as a correction (there’s that word again). But that’s not really what happened. This isn’t the space for it, and I’ll cover their self-inflicted gaping wound later, but fundamentally, the Braves did this to themselves. Again. So they’ll need to stop doing it to themselves, or else this is literally just going to be 2025-except-for-two-months-without-an-0-7-start-before-it. In case you forgot, the Braves started 2025 0-7, but then went on a bit of a tear afterwards, looking like the team they were earlier in terms of offensive approach, albeit with some inconsistency. Then, the offensive approach clearly shifted towards walking and slapping at the ball, and though maybe they couldn’t have overcome the injuries and one-run game stuff, the combination of all of those things destroyed the season.
The 2026 season isn’t destroyed yet, but the Braves can’t stay passive at the plate for much longer and continue to reap the withered fruit (and losses) from doing so. Whatever the rationale for changing how they approach plate appearances from April and much of May, it needs to be identified and crossed off, or else 2026 will just be 2025 compressed into four months and not six. It doesn’t matter what the pitching does, it doesn’t matter what they do or don’t do at the Trade Deadline, it doesn’t really even matter who is or isn’t healthy (within a reasonable level of injury): what matters is some collectively group of bats hitting akin to their talent level (a la, a top ten in baseball unit) and not something worse. If they can do that, this will be a good season, If they can’t, prepare for pain.
Awful. At 3-9 in June’s second half, the Braves were definitively the worst team in baseball in that span. That two of those three wins came in a single series against the Brewers, of all teams, makes it worse, not better, as it means they went 1-8 against the Giants, Padres, and Cardinals. Though none of the games were these super-gigantic mismatches, the Braves should’ve gone something like 6-6 or maybe even 7-5 at the outside given the team talent levels and pitching matchups. They… did not.
The end result is that the Braves’ 9-14 June was their worst calendar month since last year’s 8-17 July… but the team was largely already dead by that point. The last time the Braves had a month with a sub-.400 winning percentage other than 2025 was August 2017, the last time it happened while they were relevant to the playoff picture was the September 2014 collapse that cost the Frank Wren regime their jobs and ushered in years of deliberate losing in Atlanta.
While some collapses are somewhat unjustified for various reasons, especially when concentrated in small samples, it’s hard to feel that way here:
In June’s second half, the Braves were dead last in position player value (below replacement) and 29th in xwOBA. This is also true for June as a whole. The fielding was top ten-ish, but they also tossed away an entire game with bad fielding, so that doesn’t do much in the way of consolation.
In June’s second half, the Braves were 23rd in pitching value (19th for the month). This breaks down into 27th in the rotation and 12th in the bullpen (26th and fourth for the month). The ERA-/FIP-/xFIP- ranks are 16th/19th/20th (and ninth/15th/17th for the month). This isn’t good, but it’s eminently survivable with good defense and actual hitting. The Braves… did not produce actual hitting.
So, put this together, and you have the Braves shedding, over the course of June:
Four wins off their projected end-of-season total;
About six percent in playoff odds (down to 92 percent);
About 28 percent in division odds (down to 61 percent); and
Going from the best record to the fourth-best record.
From June 16-on alone, they have shed:
Three of those four wins;
Even more in playoff odds (seven percent, over six); and
21 percent of the division odds.
How are the Braves doing overall?
This is a weird section / question to answer. On the season, the Braves look okay. But June was so aberrant and so problematic that things don’t feel okay, and they will quickly not be okay if any of June leaks into July. If June 2026 Braves was a virus, you’d need to quarantine it immediately, except that they went through all of June without doing it, so…
On the season, the Braves are now 19th in position player value and 14th in pitching value. They are underperforming their run differential by two games, but overperforming BaseRuns by two games. However, by WAR-wins, they have sunk down to a “should be a 42-41 team,” because their offensive performance has just been so unthinkably poor that it basically reverses the credit for all the good play they managed previously. Basically, it’s kind of an interesting thing, conceptually. The number of games suggests that one bad month will have a hard time counteracting two great ones, though I guess it’s technically possible if the bad month was horrendous. But, context-neutral performance without tallying wins and losses is a lot more granular.
I’ll just summarize it this way: if the Braves don’t start playing better now, they are already dead for the season, unless they luck into some kind of insane one-run game overperformance or something else that is unlikely to happen. They can’t play “the way they have been,” where that includes the season as a whole, because doing so will lead to them having a .500ish record at the end of the year.
How are the hitters doing?
What a psychotically stupid question to have as a standard biweekly recap section, past me.
The hitters died. Not literally, but figuratively. And also, if they had died literally, it’s not clear whether you’d be able to tell a difference in their results.
This chart probably says most of it here. The Braves only had two or three guys even play okay over the last two weeks. Mauricio Dubon is playing out of his mind, but no one else even played that well. On the season, this slide has transformed the team into one where they have five producers, and… nothing else. It’s basically half a lineup. Again, to be clear: the talent level is not “half a lineup.” But the overly-passive approach has killed any semblance of additional production that would push the roster into more than “half a lineup.” Drake Baldwin shed in two weeks basically a third of what he had accumulated in about two months.
Left side is last two weeks, right side is the season as a whole.
Mauricio Dubon deserves a medal for being the only guy really chugging in June, and Ozzie Albies basically stole a win from the Brewers with two cheap homers to right field that one time, but beyond those guys, Matt Olson, and Michael Harris II, the rest of the position players probably could’ve been submerged in a vat of acid and then brought back to the plate and I’m not sure June would’ve been any different.
How are the pitchers doing?
It’s kind of like the lineup…
Chris Sale is the only guy doing stuff, but he’s pitching like a normal-Cy Young-candidate-in-an-age-without-Jacob-Misiorowski. Everyone else, well… they didn’t help. Bryce Elder and Martin Perez have reasonable stats on the season as a whole, but got shelled recently — though Elder’s was largely HR/FB-related. The whole Grant Holmes saga and JR Ritchie failing to hit the ground running multiple times are additional, but nowhere near primary, reasons why June went as it did.
On the relief side, Dylan Lee, Didier Fuentes, and Robert Suarez all continued to be awesome, though it doesn’t really matter when they don’t get leads with which to pitch… or the team elects not to use them with said leads. Oh, and Robert Suarez got hurt. Lee in particular is having a ridiculous season: he has 1.4 fWAR already, and has already amassed a career-high 15 shutdowns.
Anyway, see you next month, if no one dips us all in a vat of acid. Which may be preferable at this point.
Both the Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates were forced to brave triple-digit temperatures in their series finale at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday afternoon.
The Pirates just braved ‘em a little better than the Phillies did.
The Phils concluded their last homestand before the All-Star break with a 6-1 loss to their cross-state rivals in front of a parched crowd of 37,851. The two teams split the four-game series.
Left-handed relief pitching proved to be an issue for the Phillies in the series. Kyle Backhus hit two of the three batters he faced – one of the HBPs forced in a run – in Wednesday night’s game, which the Phillies ended up winning, 10-6. He returned in Thursday’s defeat and gave up a solo homer to the first batter he faced in the ninth.
Earlier in the game, lefty Tim Mayza faced five batters in the fifth inning and gave up three hits and the tying run.
Two innings later, the Phils’ top bullpen lefty, Jose Alvarado, faced six batters and was tagged for three hits, one of which was a triple, and two runs as the Pirates took the lead.
Alvarado’s ERA stands at 6.10. He has allowed 41 hits in 31 innings.
Phillies baseball boss Dave Dombrowski has several holes to consider filling at the trade deadline. A late-game bullpen arm, possibly from the left side, could be one of them if Alvarado can’t get it going.
The bullpen struggles continued in the eighth inning when Lou Trivino gave up two runs, including a home run to Endy Rodriguez.
The bullpen was hardly the only culprit in defeat. The Phillies’ bats produced just four hits on the day and never built on an RBI double by Bryce Harper in the third inning. Harper has at least one RBI in eight straight games. He leads the team with 57.
Right-hander Alan Rangel started for the Phillies. He did not allow a run and left with a 1-0 lead after four innings. However, he needed 90 pitches to complete those four innings. Rangel is filling the fifth spot in the rotation until the Phillies add an arm in a trade or Andrew Painter returns from Triple A as a new man.
Pittsburgh got excellent pitching from Jared Jones, Carmen Mlodzinski, Gregory Soto and Mason Montgomery.
Montgomery struck out Brandon Marsh, Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott to end the game at 3:38 p.m. The temperature on the scoreboard read 105 degrees.
The Phillies hit the road for Kansas City after the game. They will play their next nine games on the road, taking them into the All-Star break. They are off Friday before starting a three-game series against the Royals on Saturday. After Kansas City, the Phils play three at Cincinnati and three at Detroit. It’s a favorable schedule for the Phillies as the Royals, Reds and Tigers are a combined 35 games under .500.
Rasmus Andersson’s future is officially in Las Vegas.
After joining the Golden Knights in a midseason trade from the Calgary Flames, the veteran defenceman has signed a seven-year contract worth $59.5 million, carrying an average annual value of $8.5 million. The agreement ensures Andersson will remain a key part of Vegas’ blue line for years to come.
The 29-year-old was acquired by the Golden Knights on Jan. 18 in one of Calgary’s biggest moves of the season. In return, the Flames received defenceman Zach Whitecloud, University of North Dakota prospect Abram Wiebe, a 2027 first-round draft pick, and a conditional second-round selection in 2028. Calgary also agreed to retain 50 percent of Andersson’s salary as part of the transaction.
Andersson made his impact felt after arriving in Vegas, notching 17 points (7 goals, 10 assists) in 33 regular-season games. Between the Flames and Golden Knights, he finished the 2025-26 campaign with 47 points, including 17 goals and 30 assists, in 81 games.
He also played an important role during Vegas’ playoff run, contributing six assists in 22 games.
Andersson is one of the most productive defencemen in franchise history. Over 584 games with the Flames, he recorded 261 points, ranking sixth among blueliners in team history in scoring. He also sits seventh among Calgary defencemen in games played and ranks 15th overall in franchise history.
With the trade for Kawhi Leonard, the Toronto Raptors announced themselves as a major threat in the East. They had locked down a roster capable of winning the conference.
Now, they have locked down their coach, too. Toronto announced a multi-year extension with coach Darko Rajakovic, who was about to head into the final year of his contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"I'm proud of the progress we've made, but our team knows there is still a lot of work to do, and I am looking forward to continuing to build and win with the Raptors. We will keep growing, keep working together and stay committed to getting better every day as we reach for our goal of an NBA Championship," Rajaković said in a statement announcing the extension.
Toronto had previously locked down general manager Brian Webster, who was also headed into the final year of his contract.
Rajakovic has a 101-145 record since taking over the Raptors three years ago, but the team has steadily improved each season and finished last year 46-35, earning the No. 5 seed in the East.
"We're thrilled to extend Darko as head coach of the Toronto Raptors. Darko's strong development philosophy and commitment to a team-first culture shine through on a daily basis," Webster said in announcing the extension. "We've seen these qualities play out on the court - our team plays hard, plays together, and fights until the end. Darko knows there's more to be done, and we're looking forward to seeing the continued growth of this team."
Nashville Predators general manager Chris MacFarland has put a lot of stock in Colorado Avalanche center Jack Drury early on.
On June 24, the Predators sent Zach L'Heureux and Fedor Svechkov to Colorado for Drury, Chase Bradley and a 2029 third-round draft pick.
Four days later, Drury was signed to a five-year, $22.5 million contract, with a AAV of $4.5 million.
While the contract came under some criticism for its size and length, MacFarland defended it, saying that Drury would be an important player, supplementing the middle of the ice and building on the established culture.
"Jack (Drury) is a guy that is not a 25-goal, 60-point guy, but he is elite defensively," MacFarland said ahead of the NHL Draft. "That ability for a coach to throw out a center against the other teams' top players and feel comfortable doing so on the road is massive.
"Then what Jack does off the ice and what he'll do for the young players. I believe it is really, really important long term."
On Thursday, Drury spoke to the media for the first time, saying he wants to continue doing what he does best on the ice, adding a defensive element down the middle and showing he can be utilized up and down the ice.
"Hopefully I can take on a bit more responsibility in general (than in Colorado), but be good defensively and help offensively when I can," Drury said. "Be good on the penalty kill, and just play a solid 200-foot game. That's kind of who I've been since I've joined the league. I can take my game to another level, but at the same time I want to stick with what makes me good and do what I can within my role."
Last season in Denver, Drury scored 27 points off of 10 goals and 17 assists in 82 games, giving Colorado a depth boost from the middle six. He's expected to play in that same role this season in Nashville, forecasted to center Ross Colton and Matthew Wood.
When it comes to the leadership aspect off the ice, MacFarland made it clear that Drury will be an important player in bringing in the next generation of Predators.
Drury said he isn't looking to drastically change anything but wants to help expand the already established culture built by guys like Roman Josi, Filip Forsberg, Ryan O'Reilly, and others.
"It means a lot here, and it comes from CMAC," Drury said on MacFarland's leadership comments. "He's someone I respect so much, and I'm glad he sees that in me. As far as what I can bring, I think they've already got a great leadership corps there...It's just continuing to do what I do every day.
"It's just kind of about the habits, being a profession and being consistent doing things day in and day out the right way."
"We'll continue to build that culture in Nashville, as I'm sure the guys have already laid a great foundation."
As for what he'd seen from Nashville before his arrival, he was surprised by where the Predators were in the standings last season, as Colorado was put to the test in all four meetings.
The Predators picked up two wins over the Avalanche last season, one in a 4-3 shootout result on Dec. 9 in Nashville and the other a 7-3 blowout in Denver on Jan. 16, which was Colorado's first regulation loss at home.
"I was always kind of surprised by where they were at the standings whenever we played them because, quite frankly, they dominated us," Drury said. "I know it's a fast team. It's a really good mix of some veteran guys who have been superstars in the league for a long time and some young guys who bring a lot of speed, energy and skills. They've got the depth now and obviously, incredible goaltenders."
COVERS INTEL: Vasquez is 0-3 with a 5.57 ERA in five career appearances vs. the Dodgers.
