Category: Sports News

In the hours leading up to MLB's annual trade deadline, the Yankees orchestrated a makeover of their struggling bullpen and added a speedy infield threat, capping off a swapping season that had already seen them find a new third baseman and fortify their bench. Bravo.

The Yankees are now in position to send wave after wave of mega bullpen arms at opponents in their march toward the postseason. And imagine how new relief aces Camilo Doval, David Bednar and Jake Bird might meld with incumbents Devin Williams and Luke Weaver to shorten playoff games. That, of course, is what really matters in today’s league, where bullpens can rule October.

That is the pinstriped best-case scenario, obviously. We’ll see if it works out. In the meantime, here is a report card on general manager Brian Cashman’s trade deadline moves.

Trade(s): Relief re-up over three separate deals

The Yankees got Bednar, Doval and Bird — all righties — for a total of nine prospects. Bednar is under club control through next season, while Doval and Bird are under control through 2027 and 2028, respectively. So, the Yankees have a future back-end cushion with Williams and Weaver heading for free agency after this season.

Bednar was so bad at the start of the season, that the Pirates sent him down to Triple-A. But he’s roared back with a 1.70 ERA in 39 games since, allowing one homer in 37 innings while striking out 50 and walking eight. He could be the Yankees' closer next season.

Doval walks too many (24 in 46.2 innings), but he can pile up strikeouts and ground balls and suppress homers. He’s got 15 saves and a 3.09 ERA. Two years ago, the then-Giants closer led the NL with 39 saves. He could be next year’s closer, too.

Bird’s curveball is a nifty swing-and-miss weapon, and his 62 strikeouts were tied for fourth-most in the NL. Batters are hitting only .185 against his curve this season, and he’s allowed just one extra-base hit on the pitch in 57 plate appearances that have ended on it. Bird was great early (1.41 ERA through June 10), but he hasn’t been as good since and his season ERA is 4.73.

To make these deals, the Yankees had to dip into their farm system. But they didn’t trade their brand-name prospects, though their cache of catching depth will be hurt by the loss of Rafael Flores and Edgleen Perez. Both were in the Bednar deal. Flores, who was signed for just $75,000, was their eighth-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

Grade: A

Trade: INF/OF Jose Caballero from Rays for OF Everson Pereira and PTBNL/cash 

The Yankees needed a backup shortstop, and Caballero can do that and also chip in around the diamond, including the outfield. He’s tied for ninth in outs above average at short, according to Statcast, so he’s a fine defender.

It’ll be interesting to see how/if his presence impacts Anthony Volpe, who leads the league in errors (16). At least the Yankees now have a true backup, should they decide to give Volpe a day off.

Caballero is also a huge threat on the basepaths — he's tied for the MLB lead in steals with Oneil Cruz of the Pirates at 34, and he led the AL with 44 steals last year. Caballero, who turns 29 at the end of August, is batting .226 but has a .328 on-base percentage.

Back when he was with the Mariners in 2023, Caballero stepped in and out of the batter’s box a bunch while facing Gerrit Cole. Cole struck out Caballero and then, amidst chirping and finger-wagging from the Seattle dugout, famously stared at Caballero and wagged his index finger back.

Pereira, once a top prospect, had 19 homers at Triple-A. He made his MLB debut in 2023, but batted just .151 in 27 games and never got back to the big-league club.

Grade: B

Trade: 3B Ryan McMahon from Rockies for two pitching prospects

The Yankees solved their third-base problem short term and for the next two years by trading for McMahon, a player they’ve been linked to for quite some time. A 30-year-old who won’t be a free agent until 2028, McMahon is a very good defensive player with some pop who might even get an offensive boost from Yankee Stadium. 

Of course, some Yankees fans may be suffering from FOMOG, an affliction translated as “Fear of Missing Out on Genio,” because the club did not get the best third baseman on the market — Eugenio Suárez. And the Mariners, a potential October roadblock, did. Should the Yankees have aimed higher? Perhaps.

But McMahon instantly made the Yankees better. Isn’t that what trades are supposed to do? They would not survive long with Oswald Peraza (.452 OPS) as their primary hot-corner option.

McMahon is a lefty hitter who swings hard (79th percentile in Statcast’s bat speed metric at the time of the trade), hits the ball hard (98th percentile in average exit velocity) and is aiming at that ludicrous short porch in right field in the Bronx. In other words: “Yes, please!”

McMahon has smacked at least 20 homers in each of the last five full seasons and had 16 entering play Thursday. He’s already made his presence felt in five games in pinstripes, knocking a walk-off hit Wednesday, batting .353 entering Thursday and dazzling Yankeeland with his defense.

Clearly, the Yankees thought the Suárez price was too dear. McMahon cost the Yankees lefty Griffin Herring and righty Josh Grosz, neither of whom is among their best pitching prospects. Worth it, even if they also imported McMahon’s prodigious strikeout numbers (31.4 K%).

Grade: B

Trade: UTL Amed Rosario from Nationals for RHP Clayton Beeter and a prospect

Trade: OF Austin Slater from White Sox for a pitching prospect

We are treating these trades in one capsule because Rosario and Slater, both rentals, give the Yankees some protection against left-handed pitching — a much-needed addition. They wanted to improve their bench at the deadline and it has indeed improved.

Assuming Slater (.860 OPS against lefties this year) produces, the idea of giving him outfield starts against left-handed beasts such as Tarik Skubal, Garret Crochet or Framber Valdez at least offers some comfort for a team with a lot of lefty bats. Especially with how Jasson Dominguez has struggled when he bats righty — he’s hitting a measly .205 with a .578 OPS. 

Rosario, a rental, offers a capable bat against lefties (.307 average, .829 OPS). He was never going to be the backup shortstop — a job that belongs to Caballero now — but he’s capable at second base, third base and in the outfield.

There’s plenty to like about late pinch-hit at-bats for both players against lefty relievers, too. Slater, for instance, has eight pinch-hit homers since 2017, tied with Wilmer Flores for the most in the majors over that span.

Grade: B-

Trade: INF Oswald Peraza to Angels for OF Wilberson De Peña and international bonus pool money

This grade is no comment on the 18-year-old De Peña, who was batting .227 with four homers for the Angels’ team in the Dominican Summer League. Rather, it’s an indictment of how the Yankees couldn’t turn Peraza, a slick shortstop who was once one of their best prospects, into something more over time. 

Peraza did not perform — he’s batting .152 — but in his first taste of the majors in 2022, he hit .306 with an .832 OPS in 18 games and even started a postseason game. The next spring, he lost the shortstop competition against Volpe and struggled to impact the big-league club afterward.

Grade: D

Overall

The Yankees must blend seven new players into their clubhouse, something Aaron Judge figures to make smooth. If it is indeed an easy transition, Yankees new and old could all be playing together deep into the chilly part of the year. 

The bullpen likely will be key. Their relief ERA is 4.89 since June 1 and — egad! — 6.29 since July 1. Only the hopeless Rockies had a worse ERA in July. By adding Bednar, Doval and Bird, they now have the potential for a daunting pen and should get Mark Leiter Jr. and Fernando Cruz back from injury at some point in August. Even Jonathan Loáisiga (4.45 ERA) has looked better recently. 

The bench is better and McMahon could lengthen the lineup while boosting the left-side defense. And doing all of it didn’t seem to cost that much — Spencer Jones and George Lombard Jr. are still in the organization — though we won’t get a full accounting of that until we see how all those dealt prospects develop. 

One complaint — they did not acquire a starting pitcher. Not that it would’ve been easy or cheap, but it might prove necessary. That’s why the grade is not an overall A. 

But the 2025 Yankees are more formidable now.

Grade: A-

Cubs set to host 2027 MLB All-Star Game at Wrigley Field originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

After decades of waiting and hundreds of millions of dollars in renovations, Wrigley Field will host the 2027 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

The game will mark the first time the Chicago Cubs have hosted the All-Star Game since all the way back in 1990, and will mark the first time the game itself will have been played in Chicago since the White Sox hosted at Rate Field (then U.S. Cellular Field) in 2003.

The team announced the news in a press conference Friday, just days after the death of Cubs legend and Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg — a fitting move noted by Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts.

“Fitting because Ryne played in 10 All-Star Games, notably he played in the last All-Star Game that was at Wrigley in 1990,” Ricketts said. “And he won the Home Run Derby that year.”

Surprisingly, despite being the oldest ballpark in the National League, 2027 will mark only the fourth time the Cubs have hosted the game, with previous editions in 1947, 1962 and 1990 all hosted at the stadium.

MLB has been looking to host the All-Star Game at the Friendly Confines since the Cubs launched a massive renovation project of the ballpark and the neighborhood in the 2010s. The “1060 Project” as it was dubbed ultimately overhauled the stadium’s entire infrastructure, including its suites, concourses, restrooms, restaurants and numerous structural repairs and replacements within the ballpark.

The team also built completely new clubhouses and renovated the press box, and added video boards into the iconic bleachers after rebuilding the entire structure before the 2015 season.

Ultimately, the entire project cost more than $550 million, and completely transformed the neighborhood around the ballpark, ushering in the advent of Gallagher Way, Hotel Zachary and more amenities.

The 2026 All-Star Game will be contested at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, celebrating the 250^th birthday of the United States.

There are questions over whether the game could be impacted by a potential work stoppage in Major League Baseball, as the sport’s collective bargaining agreement is set to expire at the end of the 2026 season. Those questions will certainly loom large over the festivities until labor peace is achieved, but for now, the Cubs are preparing to host one of the sport’s flagship events at one of its oldest stadiums.

Cubs set to host 2027 MLB All-Star Game at Wrigley Field originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

After decades of waiting and hundreds of millions of dollars in renovations, Wrigley Field will host the 2027 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

The game will mark the first time the Chicago Cubs have hosted the All-Star Game since all the way back in 1990, and will mark the first time the game itself will have been played in Chicago since the White Sox hosted at Rate Field (then U.S. Cellular Field) in 2003.

The team announced the news in a press conference Friday, just days after the death of Cubs legend and Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg — a fitting move noted by Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts.

“Fitting because Ryne played in 10 All-Star Games, notably he played in the last All-Star Game that was at Wrigley in 1990,” Ricketts said. “And he won the Home Run Derby that year.”

Surprisingly, despite being the oldest ballpark in the National League, 2027 will mark only the fourth time the Cubs have hosted the game, with previous editions in 1947, 1962 and 1990 all hosted at the stadium.

MLB has been looking to host the All-Star Game at the Friendly Confines since the Cubs launched a massive renovation project of the ballpark and the neighborhood in the 2010s. The “1060 Project” as it was dubbed ultimately overhauled the stadium’s entire infrastructure, including its suites, concourses, restrooms, restaurants and numerous structural repairs and replacements within the ballpark.

The team also built completely new clubhouses and renovated the press box, and added video boards into the iconic bleachers after rebuilding the entire structure before the 2015 season.

Ultimately, the entire project cost more than $550 million, and completely transformed the neighborhood around the ballpark, ushering in the advent of Gallagher Way, Hotel Zachary and more amenities.

The 2026 All-Star Game will be contested at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, celebrating the 250^th birthday of the United States.

There are questions over whether the game could be impacted by a potential work stoppage in Major League Baseball, as the sport’s collective bargaining agreement is set to expire at the end of the 2026 season. Those questions will certainly loom large over the festivities until labor peace is achieved, but for now, the Cubs are preparing to host one of the sport’s flagship events at one of its oldest stadiums.

If Thursday felt like a bit of a letdown for Mets fans, it’s largely because David Stearns wowed them on Wednesday with deals for two elite relievers, making it seem the president of baseball operations was setting the stage for a spectacular trade deadline.

It didn’t quite rise to that level, as it turned out. Stearns did get a much-needed upgrade for center field in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles for Cedric Mullins on the final day, but that seemed to be a fallback deal after pursuing the potentially more impactful Luis Robert Jr. of the Chicago White Sox.

And there was a case to be made that the Mets needed another starting pitcher, especially the way converted reliever Clay Holmes has seemed to wear down in recent weeks. But as the 6 p.m. deadline came and went, there was no indication the Mets got close to a trade to help their starting rotation.

So, no, it wasn’t a spectacular trade deadline, but it was a strong one for Stearns, as he made four trades, acquiring three relievers to transform a weak bullpen, and Mullins to likely be the, mostly, everyday center fielder.

Here are the grades, individual and overall...

TYLER ROGERS

This was the most surprising move, as no one expected the Giants to trade Rogers, and it’s potentially the most impactful. Helsley has a bigger name because he throws 100 mph and has been an All-Star closer for the St. Louis Cardinals, but for what the Mets needed most, a lockdown set-up guy, perhaps nobody has been better in baseball than Rogers in that role.

He’s durable, among the MLB leaders with 53 appearances, and has been for years. The right-hander has a sparkling 1.80 ERA and his dominance is mostly the result of deception, despite below-average velocity, as he gives up very little hard contact with his submarine delivery that befuddles hitters. According Statcast, Rogers is in the top four percent of all MLB pitchers in limiting hard contact. And he’s allowed a grand total of four walks in 50 innings.

This trade is also the only one to get pushback on social media, as some Mets fans think they gave up too much in prospects Drew Gilbert, Blade Tidwell, and reliever Jose Butto, especially considering Rogers can be a free agent after the season. However, scouts made the point that other prospects had surpassed Gilbert and Tidwell, notably outfielder Carson Benge and pitchers Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat, and Jonah Tong.

In any case, this was a move Stearns absolutely had to make for a team trying to win a championship.

GRADE: A

RYAN HELSLEY

The surprise here was that the Mets got another elite reliever only hours after the Rogers trade, and the trade made it obvious that Stearns’ priority was to load up in the bullpen not only to lock down the late innings but also as a way of supporting a starting rotation that has lacked length for most of the season.

As a free agent after the season, Helsley was expected to be traded. One of the top closers in the majors the last few years, the right-hander is one of the hardest-throwers in the game, his fastball averaging just under 100 mph. And his slider is actually his best pitch, as the opposition is hitting .092 against it this season.

However, Helsley hasn’t been as dominant this season, at age 31, with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.386 WHIP, mostly because his fastball has been hit hard at times — the opposition is hitting .406 against it this season. However, he has been better lately, allowing one run in his last 11 appearances.

At his best Helsley can still be as overpowering as any reliever in the game. But he’ll need to command his fastball better to be that guy the rest of the way.

To get him the Mets gave up three minor leaguers, most notably infielder Jesus Baez, the No. 6-ranked prospect in SNY's preseason Top 30.

GRADE: A

CEDRIC MULLINS

Mullins is no longer the 30-30 guy who was such a dynamic center fielder in 2021 for the Orioles, but at age 30, he’s still a solid upgrade for the Mets, who were getting nothing offensively from Tyrone Taylor and only serviceable defense from Jeff McNeil.

How impactful Mullins can be for the Mets remains to be seen. His numbers for the season are rather pedestrian, hitting .229 with a .305 on-base percentage and a .738 OPS, but he did have a hot July, slashing .290/.346/.522/868. He doesn’t have the outstanding range he once did, but he’s still plenty athletic, as evidenced by his climbing-the-wall catch this week to rob a home run against the Toronto Blue Jays at Camden Yards.

It seemed clear the Mets’ top center field target was Robert for his potential impact offensively and defensively, but he also would have come with more risk, due to his history of injuries and underperformance. As a result, all indications are that the Mets felt the White Sox wanted too much in return and that an overpay wasn’t worth the gamble.

To get Mullins, also a free agent after the season, the Mets gave up three prospects, most notably Raimon Gomez, a right-hander who throws 100 mph but ranks only as No. 28 in SNY's preseason Top 30.

GRADE: B +

GREGORY SOTO

This was the first of the three trades for relievers, completed a week ago with the Orioles, and it’s important primarily because it gives the Mets a second left-hander in their pen to go with Brooks Raley, who is only a few weeks back from his long absence due to Tommy John surgery.

Soto has a big arm and strikeout stuff, averaging 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings, but he also had a 3.96 ERA for the O’s, due to a handful of bad outings and his penchant for walking too many hitters at times.

He dominates left-handed hitters, holding them to a .138 average this season, but has had a tougher time getting righth-anders out.

To get him, the Mets gave up expendable prospects Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster.

GRADE: B

OVERALL

The bottom line is Stearns addressed the Mets’ most glaring flaws, and did so effectively, especially in the bullpen, turning a weakness into what should be a strength. In fact, they could have one of the deepest and most dominant bullpens in the majors, loaded now with high-leverage relievers that will give Carlos Mendoza the ability to use quality arms like Reed Garrett and Ryne Stanek in the middle innings if necessary.

Still, it remains to be seen if Mullins can impact an offense that has been puzzlingly inconsistent this season (and just plain bad with runners in scoring position), or whether Stearns needed to do more in acquiring a bat.

And then there is Stearns’ decision not to add a starting pitcher. If Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea build themselves back up to where they’re going deeper into games again, and Holmes gets a second wind, the Mets’ rotation should be strong to the finish line.  

Or there is the possibility that top prospects like Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat could produce if the need is there down the stretch.

But it does seem the Mets could have used another starter like Merrill Kelly, traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday, to add some quality depth to the rotation, especially since they like to give their starters more than the typical four days' rest between starts.

It’s not a miss on Stearns’ part, to be sure, but it’s enough to ding his grade a little bit anyway.

GRADE: A-

A funny thing blocked the path to another Andrew Friedman midsummer triumph.

An Andrew Friedman midsummer failure.

The Dodgers and their renowned baseball boss came to bat at baseball’s trade deadline Thursday poised to knock another fat midseason pitch out of the park en route to a second consecutive World Series championship.

They never took the bat off their shoulder.

Strike out, staring.

The Dodgers needed a proven closer. Six teams picked up proven closers. The Dodgers weren’t one of them.

Read more:Dodgers pass MLB trade deadline quietly, add Brock Stewart and Alex Call

Mason Miller went to the San Diego Padres, Camilo Doval to the New York Yankees, Griffin Jax to the Tampa Bay Rays, Ryan Helsley to the New York Mets, Jhoan Duran to the Philadelphia Phillies and David Bednar to the New York Yankees.

Some other reliever went to the Dodgers. I think his name was Brock Stewart or something.

How does this make sense? Are they watching what we’re watching?

So you’re telling me they must forge ahead through the rest of the season hoping that Tanner Scott gets healthy or Kirby Yates gets consistent or Blake Treinen gets younger or, heck, maybe the Boston Red Sox cut Walker Buehler and he comes back for one more ninth inning! That’s crazy, but this entire situation is crazy, a $400-million roster with nobody to pitch the last out.

The Dodger also entered Thursday needing a defensive-minded outfielder. Four teams found one. The Dodgers did not.

Harrison Bader went to the Phillies, Mike Yastrzemski and Randal Grichuk to the Kansas City Royals, Austin Slater to the Yankees and Cedric Mullins to the Mets.

The Dodgers picked up an outfielder named Alex…is it Call?

So now Dodger fans are haunted with the fear that Michael Conforto will lose a fly ball down the left-field line on Halloween with the season on the line.

This is all so weird. This is all so, well, arrogant.

Granted, the Dodgers have baseball’s best team on paper, but they’ve had its best team for several years and that hasn’t stopped Friedman from dominating the last week in July.

One could argue that Friedman actually won last year’s championship by brilliantly acquiring Jack Flaherty and Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech at the deadline.

This has always been Friedman’s strength, humbly adding talent to a group already possessing riches of talent.

Remember, this is the time of year he also once traded for Rich Hill, Yu Darvish, Manny Machado, Max Scherzer, Trea Turner and Evan Phillips, all of whom led them deep into the playoffs.

The only two years during which Friedman has fumbled the deadline? He failed to acquire pitching in 2022 and they were beaten by the Padres. He brought in only Lance Lynn in 2023 and they were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

This suddenly feels like one of those years.

“We felt like this is an incredibly talented group that, as we get healthy and these guys hit their stride, we feel like we're in a great position for another deep run into October,” general manager Brandon Gomes said on a conference call with reporters.

In other words, they think they’re good enough that they don’t need to trade any top prospects for win-now talent.

But are they? And even if they are, why take a chance?

If there’s anything the first 109 games of this season has taught us is that the Dodgers' greatness, like all greatness in a sport that hasn’t had consecutive champions in a quarter of a decade, can be fleeting.

The window suddenly seems to be slowly closing on the Hall of Fame careers of Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Shohei Ohtani has been so physically stressed that he’s leaving games with cramps.

Teoscar Hernández doesn’t look like last year’s revelation. Max Muncy can’t stay on the field. And Edman is batting aches that may last all season.

The rotation is also shaky, with fragile Tyler Glasnow and aging Clayton Kershaw and underwhelming Roki Sasaki and injured Blake Snell and, really, just one sure-fire starter is Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

“Obviously there was a lot of action today throughout the game, and a lot of teams improved, but we feel really good about this group,” Gomes said. “Coming into the year, felt like this was as talented of a roster as we've ever had. We're in a position where we're in first place, and I don't even think we've played our best baseball yet. So as we continue to get some of our starters back, and then adding these pieces, and our guys just kind of playing up to their potential, we feel like it’s still a really, really strong team, and we don't feel any differently about our aspirations than we did at the beginning of the year.”

Read more:Shohei Ohtani leaves pitching start because of cramping, Dodgers go on to lose to Reds

Through their stunning inaction Thursday, the Dodger clearly made the statement that they’re good enough to a championship without any more help.

All those teams that greatly improved don’t agree.

The baseball world is sensing a Dodger vulnerability, as if there’s blue blood in the water.

Given a chance to dissuade everyone of that notion the Dodgers sighed, shrugged and passed.

A strikeout of a day, a turning point of a season?

Read more:Dodgers Dugout

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

While NASCAR is racing in corn country this weekend at Iowa Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway is on deck to host a Field of Dreams-caliber event of its own.

In a matchup where baseball meets motorsports, the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds will clash inside the confines of the “Last Great Colosseum” this Saturday, Aug. 2, in the MLB Speedway Classic presented by BuildSubmarines.com (7:15 p.m. ET, FOX), the first MLB game ever played in the state of Tennessee.

RELATED: More info on 2025 MLB Speedway Classic

“We love hosting the races that we host, but it’s always fun to showcase our facility in a different light, and we’ve done that with football, and now we’re thrilled to be able to do that with Major League Baseball,” Jerry Caldwell, president of Bristol, told NASCAR.com. “They’ve been great to work with. We’re blessed with a world-class team within Speedway Motorsports and at Bristol Motor Speedway. And then you couple that team with the team that Major League Baseball has assembled, and it’s really putting together something special, and I can’t wait for folks to get here and see it and just be wowed.”

With the event, Bristol continues to expand its non-racing resume. In addition to hosting a National Football League exhibition between Philadelphia and Washington in 1961, the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile” laid the gridiron for the University of Tennessee and Virginia Tech during the “Battle at Bristol” in 2016, which drew 156,990 spectators, an NCAA football record.

Bristol’s attendance muscle will again be flexed this weekend, with MLB announcing that more than 85,000 tickets have been sold for the event, surpassing the previous record of 84,587 set on Sept. 12, 1954, when Cleveland Stadium hosted the New York Yankees.

Any collaboration of this magnitude requires plenty of planning, and the MLB Speedway Classic is no exception. Soft demolition of several walls and buildings began May 27, with the property being turned over to MLB and associated partners and vendors June 23. Roughly 100-150 workers were involved in the demolition process, while a crew of approximately 400 was responsible for building the baseball infield.

Plenty of material went into the effort, too, including 340 tons of infield clay, 450 wall pads (based on MLB’s London Series build), 17,500 tons of rock, 80,000 square feet of backstop netting, 124,000 square feet of Diamond Series AstroTurf (the same turf type utilized by Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays) and much more. The final product? A Bristol diamond with dimensions spanning from 330 feet down both foul lines to 400 feet dead center.

“It’s kind of dreaming up this concept and saying, what if?” Caldwell said regarding the event, which has been years in the making. “Then we get computer renderings of what it could look like, and then now we’re showing pictures of what it really is like, and you’re seeing all that stuff come together. It’s a great sense of accomplishment and fun for me to see and for our team just because our teams work so hard on it, getting everyone to see this kind of work of art, almost, that they’ve created.”

Baseball players have taken notice, with “Talladega Nights”-inspired catching gear, racing-centric uniforms and simulator attempts all the rage. While NASCAR drivers continue their regular-season push at Iowa, they, too, recognize just how significant an event like this can be in getting more eyeballs on Bristol and NASCAR as a whole.

“A lot of baseball fans are going to go to Bristol and be like, man, this is wild. I can’t imagine they race on the banking and stuff like this. And hopefully, they come back for a race,” Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe said. “And even for the players, I know that I was able to do some stuff with the Reds. And even Elly De La Cruz (Reds’ shortstop), right? He was racing around the track, and he was so intrigued by it. So hopefully, we can get some more of those guys to the race track. I think the more we can do that kind of stuff just helps you know push all this in the right direction.”

“Any time you can introduce yourself and expose yourself to new fans and create new opportunities, great, and I think we’ve done a good job of doing that with a lot of different opportunities, whether (Clash at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum), whether it’s street races, whether it’s going to cities, going to different places, engaging in other sports and engaging with other athletes,” Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell said. “I feel like that’s a big part of just overall growing our brand as a NASCAR brand.”

The MLB Speedway Classic isn’t the only major event on Bristol’s docket. After all, the 0.533-mile short track will host all three of NASCAR’s national series in September, headlined by the Bass Pro Shops Night Race as the Round of 16 elimination race in the Cup Series Playoffs (Sept. 13, 7:30 p.m. ET, USA, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). According to Caldwell, the process to transition the facility back to a race track is already in motion. Approximately 200 crew members from MLB, along with 90-100 from Bristol, will aid in the dismantling process of the baseball field.

MORE: Cup Series schedule

“We’ve got to make sure we’re keeping our eye on the ball, and we can do that,” Caldwell said. “There are lots of major facilities that host huge events weeks apart, and we’re going to be able to do that, but it takes a tremendous amount of planning, a tremendous amount of cooperation, and that’s what we’ve done. … From the partners with Major League Baseball, understanding that we have to get ready for the race, and then partners that we’re going to bring in that are from the construction space that will help us execute as we head towards the playoff race, and we’ll be ready, but it’s really just a tremendous amount of planning and making sure we’re all on the same page.”

At a venue with plenty of history, “Thunder Valley” will have another vaulted chapter written in its annals, and whether as a regular or first-timer, the MLB Speedway Classic will be a wonder under the lights for all in attendance.

Batter up.

“It’s one of those places you have to see to believe it,” Caldwell said about Bristol. “It’s a football stadium or baseball stadium on steroids, if you will. But you really want to get in and just take in the magnitude of the place. Enjoy every aspect of it. Walk around the facility. Make sure you see it from different angles. It’s in a beautiful part of the country, but it’s also just an amazing facility to think that this is built in Bristol, Tennessee, and is one of the largest spectator facilities in the country and in the world.”

Cubs set to host 2027 MLB All-Star Game at Wrigley Field originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

After decades of waiting and hundreds of millions of dollars in renovations, Wrigley Field will host the 2027 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

The game will mark the first time the Chicago Cubs have hosted the All-Star Game since all the way back in 1990, and will mark the first time the game itself will have been played in Chicago since the White Sox hosted at Rate Field (then U.S. Cellular Field) in 2003.

The team announced the news in a press conference Friday, just days after the death of Cubs legend and Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg — a fitting move noted by Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts.

“Fitting because Ryne played in 10 All-Star Games, notably he played in the last All-Star Game that was at Wrigley in 1990,” Ricketts said. “And he won the Home Run Derby that year.”

Surprisingly, despite being the oldest ballpark in the National League, 2027 will mark only the fourth time the Cubs have hosted the game, with previous editions in 1947, 1962 and 1990 all hosted at the stadium.

MLB has been looking to host the All-Star Game at the Friendly Confines since the Cubs launched a massive renovation project of the ballpark and the neighborhood in the 2010s. The “1060 Project” as it was dubbed ultimately overhauled the stadium’s entire infrastructure, including its suites, concourses, restrooms, restaurants and numerous structural repairs and replacements within the ballpark.

The team also built completely new clubhouses and renovated the press box, and added video boards into the iconic bleachers after rebuilding the entire structure before the 2015 season.

Ultimately, the entire project cost more than $550 million, and completely transformed the neighborhood around the ballpark, ushering in the advent of Gallagher Way, Hotel Zachary and more amenities.

The 2026 All-Star Game will be contested at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, celebrating the 250^th birthday of the United States.

There are questions over whether the game could be impacted by a potential work stoppage in Major League Baseball, as the sport’s collective bargaining agreement is set to expire at the end of the 2026 season. Those questions will certainly loom large over the festivities until labor peace is achieved, but for now, the Cubs are preparing to host one of the sport’s flagship events at one of its oldest stadiums.

Perhaps lost in the various trade deadline moves the Mets made was the transfer of Jesse Winker to the 60-day IL.

While this sort of move is a paper one, and this does allow Cedric Mullins to be added to the roster, it also means the Mets won't see Winker back on the team until September at the earliest.

Winker, placed on the IL in mid-July with back inflammation, has seen his 2025 injury-riddled. The veteran slugger has appeared in just 26 games this year, and while there's optimism he will return before the end of the season, president of baseball operations David Stearns provided an update that justified the 60-day designation.

"We still have some hope he’ll be back at some point this season, but clearly this has taken a little bit longer than we originally appreciated," Stearns said during his post-deadline Zoom call. "Wink go an epidural. We’ve seen progress since then, but not at the pace he or we were hoping. So the 60-day IL timeframe lined up. Not closing the door on this season, but it’s not going to be August."

Alongside right-handed hitting Starling Marte, Winker was the pairing the Mets were looking to use in the DH spot this season. But with Winker down for most of the season, the team has had to look elsewhere for left-handed at-bats. Mullins fit that profile while also playing elite defense, so he was a natural fit and a target before Winker's diagnosis, but Stearns admitted his slugger's slow recovery pushed him to get a left-handed bat at the deadline.

"[Winker's injury] played into it or was a part of it. We were looking at this segment of the market even before this direction for Wink became clear," Stearns said. "But certainly as it became evident that Wink’s absence was going to be longer, it made us look even harder at this segment, especially left-handed bats."

Now that Mullins is in the fold, and none of the Mets' young infielders (Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, Luisangel Acuna) were traded, where and how will the lineup be configured?

Jeff McNeil, who was platooning with Tyrone Taylor in center field, will continue to have his bat in the lineup more often than not, but with the addition of Mullins, will not be needed in center as often.

"We’ll work through that. Jeff’s still going to play a lot, he’s swinging the bat very well. There will be outfield opportunities at times, 2B opportunities, probably going to be DH at-bats. For our left-handed hitters, there will be ample opportunity for all of them. It’s just finding where the pieces fit on each day in the lineup."

On that same vein, with McNeil likely playing the bulk of his games at second, that leaves fewer opportunities for those young infielders. Stearns said he's confident that Mendoza will be able to balance the lineup and find ways for all the infielders to get time on the field.

"The good news is, there are a lot of at-bats to go around," he said. "When you talk about a couple of Infield positions, an outfield position, DH at-bats, there’s a lot of bats to go around. All those guys are going to get plenty of time. Is there going to be one or two guys on the bench each day? Yea. And then they’ll probably gonna get a leverage at-bat, or pinch-hit later in the game. Mendy does a great job of figuring out which guys for the lineup based on who we’re facing… We’ll continue to do that."

Update on Jose Siri

While talking about Winker, Stearns was asked about Siri and whether they expect him to return this season.

"With Jose, still possible," Stearns said. "Wouldn’t write it off but we need a little bit more news or an update to see what the timeline is for him to progress."

Siri will get an update on his recovery in 7-10 days and then the Mets will have a better idea.

The first-year Met went down in April with a left tibia fracture and has yet to see the field. He's played in just 10 games this season.