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.
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.
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?
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?
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."
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - JUNE 27: Jared Jones #17 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches in the first inning during the game against the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park on June 27, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Philadelphia Phillies, July 2, 2026, 12:35 p.m. ET
The Pittsburgh Pirates are finishing off a four-game set against their in-state rival, the Philadelphia Phillies.
Taking the mound to close out the series for the Pirates is Jared Jones, who is making his seventh start of the season. In his last appearance on June 27 against the Cincinnati Reds, Jones pitched 4.2 innings, giving up four hits and three earned runs as Pittsburgh lost 9-7 at home to Cincinnati. Jones has only gone five innings in one of his six starts this season, so the bullpen might be tasked with picking up a few more innings than they normally would.
Countering for the Phillies is Allen Rangel, who is making his first start of the season. Rangel has made three relief appearances for the Phillies this season as a long reliever:
Pitched 3 innings against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on April 22.
Pitched 5 innings against the Washington Nationals on June 22, giving up one earned run.
Pitched 4 innings against the New York Mets on June 27 in a 6-2 loss at Citi Field. Tim Mayza was the opener, and Rangel came in during the second inning. He gave up four hits and four earned runs as the Phillies struggled to give him much run support.
Location: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh
Pitching Matchup: Jared Jones (1-1, 5.76 ERA) vs. Alan Rangel (0-1, 4.50 ERA)
BD community, chime off in the comments section below.
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker will undergo surgery to repair a cartilage tear in his left knee and miss the remainder of the season.
“This is a big blow,” manager Mark Kotsay said before the A’s played the Los Angeles Dodgers. “It’s a middle-of-the-order bat. It’s a guy that produced for us offensively for the last three seasons with 30-plus homers. There’s not one guy that is going to come in here and step in with that type of production. We’ll do our best to fill that void and make the best of the situation.”
The tear was discovered during an examination at Stanford.
A two-time All-Star, Rooker hasn’t played since June 8.
Rooker played in all 162 games in 2025 but was in and out of the lineup this season due to his knee and a nagging oblique issue. The 31-year-old slugger was batting .200 with 10 home runs and 29 RBIs before he was placed on the injured list June 12, retroactive to June 9.
In addition to Rooker being sidelined, three other A’s starters landed on the IL in late June: infielders Zack Gelof (bruised right hand) and Jacob Wilson (right thumb inflammation), and left fielder Tyler Soderstrom (left hip impingement).
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 30: A guest walks by a cutout of former Major League Baseball player Jose Canseco at the newly opened Jose Canseco's Showtime Car Wash on October 30, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images) | Getty Images
José Canseco is probably one of the most famous baseball players of recent times. While he had success in the major leagues, winning several awards and two championships, said fame is probably infamy more than anything else. He was always a bit of a character and his revelations about PED use, both by him and other players, only burnished his reputation as a wild card. His career with the Yankees wasn’t especially notable other than one moment or two, but he did end up winning a World Series ring.
As he celebrates his birthday today, let’s look back at the wild life and times of José Canseco.
José Canseco Capas Jr. Born: July 2, 1964 (Havana, Cuba) Yankees Tenure: 2000
Canseco was born in Cuba in 1964, along with a twin brother. Said twin — Osvaldo, more commonly known as “Ozzie” — would also make the major leagues, albeit with less success and fame. His family left Cuba shortly after Fidel Castro came to power, eventually settling in Miami, Florida.
In high school, Canseco was a bit of a slow developer, failing to make his school’s varsity team until he was a senior. However, he pretty quickly hit the ground running as a senior, catching the eye of former major league pitcher Camilo Pascual, who happened to be both the father of one of Canseco’s teammates and also a scout for the Oakland Athletics. He convinced his employers to draft Canseco, and the A’s picked him up in the 15th round of the 1982 Draft.
Upon getting drafted and working his way through the minors, Canseco’s talent started to draw rave reviews. His ability to hit monster home runs got him all kinds of lofty comparisons, with some even dubbing him “the next Mickey Mantle.” Oakland eventually called up Canseco to the big leagues in September 1985. He impressed in his short cameo, hitting five homers in that final month. The following year in his first full season, Canseco was good enough to be honored with the 1986 AL Rookie of the Year.
Two other important things for the A’s happened that season. One was that a midseason managerial changed led to them hiring Tony LaRussa. The other was that Oakland gave a MLB debut to another young slugger in Mark McGwire. The following year, McGwire won Rookie of the Year himself, as he and Canseco formed a powerful middle order combo that would be dubbed “The Bash Brothers.” (Later, wonderfully parodied by Andy Samberg and “The Lonely Island.”)
In 1988, Canseco broke out in a big way. Putting up the first-ever 40-40 season with 42 homers and 40 steals, he was named AL MVP, helping the A’s win the American League pennant. They would famously be upset by the Dodgers and Kirk Gibson’s heroics in the World Series, with Canseco going just 1-for-19 in the five games. Despite that, he had arrived into stardom.
Around that time, Canseco’s off the field antics also started to get him a name. Prior to the 1989 season, he was arrested for carrying a loaded handgun while on a college campus, claiming that he was carrying the gun for protection. Between that and injuries, he was limited to 65 games that season. However, he again helped Oakland win the AL, and this time around, he hit much better, as the A’s beat the Giants in the “Bay Bridge Series.”
Canseco and the A’s returned to the World Series in 1990, but fell to the Reds. Over the next couple years, Canseco generally continued putting up good numbers, but he continued to get unneeded attention off the field. Further legal issues and further tabloid fodder — such as a rumored affair with popstar Madonna — eventually became a bit too much for the A’s. Just ahead of the 1992 trade deadline, Oakland sent him to Texas.
With the Rangers, Canseco continued producing, but those teams generally went nowhere. Plus, the most famous moment of that stint was probably him failing to catch a ball on the warning track, allowing it to bounce off his head and over the fence for a home run.
Despite still mostly putting up decent numbers and still having his prodigious power, Canseco started to become a journeyman after that. Texas eventually traded him to the Red Sox, and after that he had stints back in Oakland, with the Blue Jays, and then with the early “Hit Show” Devil Rays. It was in Tampa Bay where in the midst of an injury-plagued 2000 season, Tampa Bay placed him on waivers. Somewhat shockingly, as they didn’t particularly need an outfielder/DH type, the Yankees claimed him and agreed to terms with the D-Rays on a trade on August 7th. Speculation was heavy that the Yankees only claimed him to keep him away from some of the other contending teams that might’ve had an interest in Canseco. By his own admission, Joe Torre didn’t really know what to do with him.
Canseco’s tenure with the Yankees wasn’t especially notable, except for a towering home run that he hit at Yankee Stadium.
Canseco put up just above average numbers, but he ended up being somewhat useful, as the Yankees stumbled down the stretch and just barely hung on to the AL East title. However, they caught fire in October, eventually beating the Mets and winning Canseco his second ring. Personally though, he didn’t have fond memories of his Yankee tenure, calling it “the worst time of my life,” due to his curtailed playing time.
Canseco played for the White Sox in 2001. That would be his last major league season, although not for a lack of trying. After failing to make the Montreal Expos in 2002 spring training and spending much of it back at the White Sox Triple-A affiliate, he announced his “retirement,” but continued playing in various independent leagues for several years after that. As late as 2018, he still appeared in some games for various independent teams, often trying his hand as a pitcher as well.
Now, it’s time to talk about the thing I haven’t been mentioning throughout all this: Canseco’s steroid use. Rumors around his PED use dated back to during his active playing career, but Canseco admitted to using them in his infamous book “Juiced” released in 2005. The book gained notoriety as Canseco not only admitted his own use, but accused several other famous major leaguers as well, including his former Bash Brother McGwire. He ended up being proven correct on many of the names. He said his own use dated back to his early minor league years and continued throughout pretty much all of his MLB years.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 27: Alan Rangel #57 of the Philadelphia Phillies throws a pitch during the second inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field on June 27, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Caleb Bowlin/Getty Images) | Getty Images
