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It is one of the national media’s favorite pastimes – what players on the San Diego Padres can we put on another team? Most of the time this speculation leads to a Padres player landing with the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox or Philadelphia Phillies. This trade season is starting the same way thanks in large part to San Diego limping into the All-Star break following an eight-game losing streak which led to the Padres finishing the first half of the season with a 48-48 record.

Typically, the focus of trade speculation on the San Diego roster is Fernando Tatis Jr. The national writers have tried to get him to New York for years. There was some of that earlier this season, but as the MLB prepares to open the second half of the season this weekend, the new focus on the Padres is All-Star closer Mason Miller. The right-hander was added at last season’s trade deadline and is considered the most dominant reliever in the game. San Diego gave up top prospect Leodalis De Vries to make it happen so it seems unlikely that Padres general manager and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller would flip him this season.

Most of the speculation around Miller has involved the Yankees. There has been talk that New York has the talent pool of major league-ready players and prospects that an offer could be made to get San Diego to the negotiating table. The Padres and Yankees have lined up deals in the past, most recently involving Juan Soto and Michael King, but whether or not there is any truth to the rumors about New York wanting to make a deal again remains to be seen. For that matter, San Diego has not decided if it is going to buy or sell at the deadline and that decision could be made over the next 16 games.

Padres News:

Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the Padres need to make intelligent decisions if the team decides to buy at the deadline.

Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune had a one-on-one interview with Padres rookie infielder Sung-Mun Song and talked with him about several topics including why he signed with San Diego.

Dennis Lin of The Athletic looks ahead to the second half for San Diego and identifies potential stories to watch.

Baseball News:

The Milwaukee Brewers landed Lance McCullers Jr. in a trade with the Houston Astros.

The Washington Nationals are set to promote catcher Harry Ford when the team returns to play.

The Athletics called up their No. 7 prospect, Tommy White.

Baltimore Orioles reliever Keegan Akin had Tommy John surgery.

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Yankees open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Bronx on Friday...

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5 things to watch

Measuring stick series

Sure, it's just the first series after the All-Star break, but this weekend against the Dodgers should be a measuring stick for the Yankees.

We all remember what happened in the 2024 World Series, and the Dodgers are still the class of not just the National League, but all of MLB. While the Yanks have to compete with other AL teams to even get a chance at their first title since 2009, going up against the team with the best record in baseball (61-36) can show GM Brian Cashman how the Yankees stack up against them and what moves need to be made at the deadline to bridge the gap. 

Will Ben Rice continue to mash?

It feels like forever ago that Rice was in one of those 0-fer streaks that major leaguers go through during a 162-game season. But the final week before the All-Star break was impressive for the young slugger.

Over his last seven games, Rice was 11-for-26 (.423) with five home runs and 12 RBI. 

With Aaron Judge on the shelf, Rice has stepped up massively to give the Yankees the offense needed to keep pace with the Tampa Bay Rays. New York will continue to rely on the youngster, and that starts this weekend. 

Aaron Judge update?

Speaking of Judge, Cashman said that the reigning AL MVP was to undergo more imaging over the All-Star break. 

While the club doesn't expect Judge's imaging to come back clean, they hope there is enough healing that he can expand his workouts, which would give the team a clearer picture of when he can return.

Obviously, the offense goes as Judge does. And although Rice and Cody Bellinger have done their parts, there's no replacing what Judge brings every game. 

Shohei Ohtani Mania

Whenever the Dodgers are in town, Ohtani is the main attraction. And although he had to skip the All-Star festivities due to a knee injury, manager Dave Roberts assured everyone that Ohtani will be in the lineup this weekend. 

He won't pitch, but Ohtani's at-bats will be must-see. 

Can Austin Wells stay on the right track?

Wells has had his worst season as a major leaguer, but he's shown signs that he may be turning things around.

The backstop has just six home runs this year, but two of them came in the final four games before the All-Star break -- and he had at least one hit in three of them.

While those are low bars for a potential World Series team, the Yankees and Wells will take it. Can he keep it up this weekend? 

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Ben Rice

Rice went into the break on fire and he'll come out of it the same.

Which Yankees pitcher will have the best game?

David Bednar

Without knowing the probable starters for the weekend, we'll go with the closer. Bednar has been nails, not allowing an earned run since May 18.

Which Dodgers player will be a thorn in the Yankees' side?

Freddie Freeman

Freeman has had a great first half and he's tortured the Yankees before. 

The Red Sox season changed dramatically back on April 25th when the team fired Alex Cora and appointed Chad Tracy as interim manager. However, their initial trajectory did not. Starting seven games under .500 when Tracy took over, the team fell another seven games under .500 over the next eight weeks. (It certainly hasn’t helped matters that Garrett Crochet and Roman Anthony have each been absent for over two months.)

But now? They’ve won 14 of their last 16 games and rocketed back into the race. And oddly enough, it’s not the first time something like this has happened in the Tracy family. Back in 2009, Chad’s father Jim took over the Colorado Rockies when they got off to a horrible start under Clint Hurdle. That group bottomed out at 12 games under .500 at 20-32 before ripping off 17 of 18 slightly earlier in the calendar than this Red Sox team.

Still, the resemblance is remarkable. Check out this graph from the wonderful folks at pennant-race.com comparing the 2009 Rockies (who went on to make the playoffs with 92 wins) and the 2026 Red Sox:

So now the question is, can it continue? They 2026 Red Sox have less time left on the calendar than the 2009 Rockies when they approached .500, but they also don’t need to climb nearly as high given the additional Wild Card spots and the historically weak American League.

Either way, if Chad Tracy ends up leading this team to the playoffs from 14 games under .500 after taking over partway through the season 17 years after his father Jim led a Rockies team to the playoffs from 12 games under .500 after taking over partway through the season, it will be an amazing family accomplishment.

Talk about this and whatever else you’d like as we wait through one last day of All-Star break doldrums, and as always, be good to one another.

We’ve seen a few things occur as a result of the current, highly-diluted playoff format. One, which Alex Anthopoulos alluded to in remarks aired on a recent broadcast, was that the low barrier for entry (and though he didn’t say it, the implicit idea that said low barrier for entry has resulted in a lot of same-y, so-so rosters) has made teams hesitant to sell, in case they start playing well in July. The corollary to that, then, is that a team with a poor July can suddenly turn into a seller, even if that wasn’t the plan a few weeks ago.

The AL and NL are very different as we stand here at the All-Star Break. The AL has a bunch of teams with decent-to-good rosters not playing well, so the selling calculus is complicated by the fact that many of those teams probably expect to do much better over the remaining 70-odd games of the season. The NL has kind of the opposite issue, with less-than-complete rosters reeling off bunches of wins, which means less successful teams have a lot more leapfrogging to do.

With that said, here are six teams I’m thinking about:

The Orioles, Blue Jays, and especially the Tigers all seem like they might not sell because of their expectations going forward. If you figure the last AL Wild Card spot may truly be a .500 team, and these three teams with all their banked losses figure to win 78-79 games, then… maybe it’s worth it to try. The Tigers, in particular, project to have the fifth-best roster going forward, so it would be kinda weird to see that team sell. I don’t know if any of these teams will sell, but I’d mark it as somewhat surprising if they started right now. Of course, if they slide much more in the next couple of weeks, that’ll be a more obvious direction to take, but that’s why I’m asking the question now.

In the NL, the Cardinals are in an unexpected place because they have been winning while rebuilding. They’re currently one game out of a playoff spot, and if it came down to just them and the Marlins going forward, maybe they shouldn’t sell, figuring the Marlins’ bottom is at least as likely to drop out as their own. But this Cardinals team was also built around explicitly rebuilding and maybe moving some short-term signings for stuff to improve that rebuild, so…

Then you have the Diamondbacks and Padres, who are in a pretty similar position. The division is out of reach, but a Wild Card spot isn’t, and the rosters aren’t bad. The Padres actually seem like they might be more obvious sellers, but AJ Preller is a wild man.

Anyway, do you think any of these teams might sell when it comes down to it? Or, will it be another team that seems to be in an okay position right now (the Pirates, for example). Who ya got?

It has been a rough season for the San Francisco Giants. In spite of the positives, the negatives have been so severe as to potentially cause some long-term damage on the field. Personally, I don’t think it’s possible for the Giants to have a “respectable” season no matter what they do, and that includes going 66-0 the rest of the way and winning the World Series, but I recognize that I’m in the minority. For most fans, there’s a version of this failed experiment that is the 2026 Giants that stumbles or crawls its way to a finish that is notably less embarrassing than their play in the first part of the season.

They’re 41-55 coming out of the All-Star break. Since they’re unlikely to go 66-0 and win the World Series, what’s the final record that would make you say, “Wow, I didn’t think they’d wind up there after that terrible start.” Or even, “Yeah, that’s probably the best they could’ve done with a rookie manager and everyone still trying to figure out that new situation.” Some notes to get you in the right frame of mind:

• The Giants haven’t won 4 games in a row all season.
• They ended April 13-18, May 23-36, and June 35-50.
• Robbie Ray leads the rotation in innings pitched and is likely to be traded.
• At 97 IP, Landen Roupp is just 9.2 innings away from matching his season total of last season, which was just 0.2 innings below his professional high of just 107.1 IP (which he hit in 2022).
• Tyler Mahle is likely to be traded and is currently 5th in the rotation in terms of IP.
• Caleb Kilian and Erik Miller might be traded, JT Brubaker has rarely pitched in a pressure situation, and Keaton Winn is always just a pitch away from winding up back on the IL. The bullpen is likely to be Sam Hentges, Dylan Smith, and whatever they can coax out of Jason Foley.
• Luis Arraez, the most valuable player on the team, is likely to be traded.

If this list of negatives makes it difficult to actually conjure up a final result, I’ll add this note to help:

They’re 13-13 since Pride Night, and if they simply hold that .500 mark, they’ll go 33-33 and finish the season at 78-84. To me, that seems like it would be a pretty solid recovery and indicative of (1) a team that was projected to hover around .500 all season unless some events broke in their favor but (2) had a drag co-efficient of a new, inexperienced major league manager calling the shots. So, if you thought Tony Vitello might have a learning curve that cost the team in the realm of, say, 6-10 games while he sorted things out, a record of 78-84 would make sense. And if you looked at the way Zack & Buster cobbled together a bullpen, then 78-84 would seem like an especially lucky result.

And even with all those negatives, holding a .500 record the rest of the way seems plausible and maybe even probable. Sure, purging 40% of the rotation and a key lineup figure would hurt a lot, but it’s starting to sound a lot like the Giants won’t go full tilt on a rebuild, and so losing Arraez and Ray might be smoothed over by a combination of guys playing better (Matt Chapman when he returns, Willy Adames generally), some prospects contributing (Carson Whisenhunt), and some major league-ready players they get in trades helping out.

Since the beginning of June, the Giants’ offense is 8th in MLB (6th in the NL) with a 112 wRC+ (though, just 19th in runs scored) while their pitching has been valued at 18th (+2.2 fWAR). Again, removing Luis Arraez (144 wRC+ since June 1st) would not help the offense, but if this lineup has turned a corner overall, then losing him might not be so catastrophic. So, then it would come down to the trades they make and the pitching they get in return that could sort out the staff the rest of the way. The pitching is bad enough that, at this point, any additions are likely to improve it.

The Giants still have a relatively tough (for them, anyway) strength of schedule, with 6 remaining against the Dodgers, 3 against the Brewers, that makeup game against Atlanta in Atlanta, 6 against the surprising Cardinals, 3 against the Guardians, and 3 against the Pirates. But they also have to face a surging Tigers team (22-14 since June 1st), the so-so Astros (47-51), and the Reds, who are usually a tough matchup no matter the site of the series. Is .500 the rest of the way actually plausible or does it just sound like it?

Let’s run through the remaining schedule:

at Seattle (3 games) — The Giants have won 1 series in Seattle. It was in 1999. Prediction: 1-2
at Kansas City (3 games) — the Giants swept the Royals in Kauffman Stadium back in 2024 when they were in a heated playoff chase. That’s not the case this year for either team. Prediction: 1-2
vs. Angels (3 games) — a truly horrendous team, but the Giants are just 3-6 against them the past 3 seasons; and, this series will be before the trade deadline, meaning that the few good players on that roster likely to be traded will be showcased against the Giants. Prediction: 2-1
vs. the Brewers (3 games) — they’re 59-37 right now and 30-19 on the road. They are just 7-6 in July, though. Prediction: 1-2
at San Diego (4 games) — the final series before the trade deadline and despite the Padres’ struggles (48-48, 29-37 since May 1st, including the fewest runs in the sport scored since then) it’s likely that they won’t be sellers at the deadline. They, like the Giants, are just drawing too well. They have a new ownership group coming in, too. They’re just 3.5 games back of a Wild Card spot. The Padres have lost just 1 season series to the Giants this decade (2021, natch). Prediction: split?
at Texas (3 games) — Like the Mariners and Padres, the Rangers are one of those teams hovering around .500 all season. They’re 5-5 in July (-12 run differential) but 21-16 since June 1st. But their .500 home record (25-25) is surprising. They’re 16-14 in interleague, though, and their only setbacks there have been against the Reds (0-3) and Dodgers (1-2). Still, 2-4 against the Angels? I guess this one’s a coin toss. Prediction: 2-1
vs. Detroit (3 games) — The Tigers handled the Giants pretty easily last year in a sweep in Detroit and while it’s true that the 2026 version has struggled a lot, it’s still the case that they’re much, much, much (much?) better than the Giants. Their lineup features three All-Stars: Dillon Dingler, Kevin McGonigle, and Riley Greene, and an enviable rotation with Tarik Skubal, Framber Valdez, Casey Mize, and even Jack Flaherty, Keider Montero, and now Troy Melton. They are 17-29 on the road this season, though. Hmm… Prediction: 1-2
vs. Houston (3 games) — A tricky team. Are they buyers or sellers? Are they a “fake” .500 team? Well, I’ll just let this decide: they’re 10-17 in interleague this season with a -30 run differential. Prediction: 2-1
vs. Colorado (3 games) — Gosh, I hope this isn’t a tough series. Prediction: 3-0 (is this where the first 4-game winning streak happens???)
at Cleveland (3 games) — Patrick Bailey revenge series? Who cares, the Guardians have great pitching and they are good for a second-half run. Prediction: 0-3
at Boston (3 games) — The Red Sox look to be buyers at the deadline and even though their offense has struggled, they will get up to face the Giants’ weak pitching. Prediction: 1-2
vs. Cincinnati (3 games) — This team seems to be out of it. Prediction: 2-1
vs. Arizona (4 games) — The Giants are 1-8 against the Diamondbacks this season. I would expect this series to put the team out of its misery. Prediction: 1-3
at Atlanta (1 game)— I cannot fathom the Giants sweep. Prediction: 0-1
at Pittsburgh (3 games) — Will the Pirates fade down the stretch? That’s the big question. On the other hand, the Pirates are tied with the Nationals for the most runs scored in all of MLB (516), so, I think they will get a big kick out of kicking the Giants’ collective ass. Prediction: 1-2
at Mets (3 games) — This team will probably remake itself at the deadline and I wonder if they will be one of those teams that improve after retooling on the fly. Anyway, unless the Mets reacquire Jeff McNeil or Pete Alonso, I’m a bit more confident about the Giants facing the Mets. Then again, it’s a road series, and the Mets will still have Juan Soto (and Francisco Lindor, probably). Prediction 1-2
vs. St. Louis (3 games) — Another good road team (24-19, +40 run differential); however, this series will be the final leg of a 3-city, 9-game road trip for the Cardinals where the first two series are at Dodger Stadium followed by Coors Field. So, I’ll be a little bullish here. Prediction: 2-1
vs. San Diego (3 games) — Let’s just keep the good vibes going. Prediction: 2-1
at St. Louis (3 games) — Of course, the Cardinals will get their revenge. Prediction: 1-2
at Dodgers (3 games) — The Giants have played the Dodgers hard, but ending the season against them has, time and again, been disastrous. Prediction: 1-2
vs. Minnesota (3 games) — Will the Twins’ surprising season continue? They’ll have just come off a 4-game series against the Angels in Anaheim, but prior to that, they’ll have run a pretty remarkable gauntlet: 6 against the White Sox, 6 against the Tigers, 3 against the Guardians, and 3 against the Yankees. That 18-game stretch might be enough to short circuit their season and set them on a course to merely play out the string against the Giants. That’s the thinking I have to have in order to make this prediction: 2-1.
vs. Dodgers (3 games) — Since 2017, here is the Giants’ record versus the Dodgers in September: 11-27. For the sake of the rivalry, lets say Prediction: 1-2.

So, I can squint and see 30 wins the rest of the way, or 30-36, or 71-91, and that’s operating under the assumption that Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray are traded and that their replacements are capable and the rest of the roster plays at a level consistent with their recent run. Is that “respectable,” given that Buster Posey was brought in to put the franchise over the top rather than begin yet another rebuild? Would that stoke the hope that the future will be bright?

Yes, if some things break the Giants’ way later in the season, then it’s easy to imagine them netting a few more wins to get to 78-84, but maybe you, gentle reader, imagine something more ambitious. So, what say you? What’s a final record that sounds reasonable/plausible to you and also says, “Wow, that’s an impressive finish given their horrendous start?”

Tuesday night’s All-Star Game served as the end of the almost weeklong baseball festivities which make up All-Star Week that descended upon Philadelphia beginning last Friday. It was a citywide celebration of baseball from games and competitions taking place at Citizens Bank Park to fan experiences and meet and greets at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Center City.

The Phillies were prominently featured in all of the events going on in the city, thanks to of course being the hometown team but also leading the way with six All-Star nominations. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper both took part in a memorable Home Run Derby with Schwarber coming up just short of winning the contest to Jordan Walker. All six of the Phillies representatives played in the All-Star game, but only Jesús Luzardo and Jhoan Duran had what one could call “successful” appearances in the 4-0 NL loss.

Besides the active players, Phillies legends were also out and about over the last week. There were numerous alumni who took part in the All-Star village where fans could take photos or get autographs. Some of those players even took the field at Citizens Bank Park again when Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, and Shane Victorino assembled teams comprising of celebrities and the very best of the AUSL for the MLBx All-Star home run derby, with Victorino’s team taking home the championship.

Then of course there was the MLB draft which was also held at the Convention Center. There the Phillies selected Tyler Spengler with their first pick and made 21 total picks.

So, what was your favorite part of All-Star Week? Did you attend any of the events? Or were you enjoying the fun through your television screen?

The Orioles completed their 2026 draft class across 20 rounds on July 11 and 12. This year’s class has 20 players in it, one for each round. The next step is to get players signed and into the organization. In most cases, that’s going to be settled before the trade deadline. The signing deadline this year is July 27 at 5pm Eastern.

In last year’s draft class, the Orioles signed 21 of the 24 players that they drafted. Although there have been “sign every pick” years in the Mike Elias era, this one probably isn’t going to be one of them.

Bonus pool math

Last year, the Orioles had the largest draft bonus pool that any team ever had up to that point. The record was beaten by this year’s White Sox in the same way that last year’s Orioles did, with a draft week trade bringing a tradeable competitive balance pick into the mix. This year, the Orioles have the 13th-biggest pool available, with $13,114,200 as their official allotment.

The bonus pool system has been in effect since the 2012 Draft. Each pick in the first ten rounds is assigned a value that decreases as the draft goes along. Add up these values and you get a team’s total bonus pool. Discussion about whether a particular signing is overslot or underslot is relative to the value for that pick. The top Orioles pick at #7 overall has a slot value of $7,327,200, all the way down to the tenth round pick’s value of $198,900.

On the whole, players who have more leverage to get overslot bonuses are those who have just graduated from high school, as well as draft-eligible college sophomores and junior college players. They can just say they’ll go to college or play another year of college if they don’t like what a team offers. Picks who were either college seniors or even graduate students still playing baseball tend to get way under slot bonuses of $25,000 or less.

You can expect a team will sign a player taken in rounds 1-10. They lose their bonus pool money for an unsigned pick in those rounds. It will get done unless there’s a surprise medical issue, which has only happened once with the Orioles in the Elias-era drafts. Don’t worry about players unsigned as the deadline approaches.

The Orioles may end up having more bonus pool math to sort out this year compared to past years. They drafted three high school players and a junior college player within the first ten rounds, and another five high school players in rounds 11-20.

Players taken from rounds 11-20, and undrafted players, can receive a signing bonus up to $150,000 without counting against the pool. Any amount that exceeds $150,000 for these picks is what counts against the pool. Recently, the league added the option for junior college-bound players to sign late as “draft-and-follow” players for a bonus of up to $225,000 before next year’s Draft.

Also, a team can exceed its pool by up to 5% and it will only have to pay a tax on the overage amount, equal to 75% of the overage. There are steeper penalties for exceeding 5% that no team has ever incurred. In last year’s draft, the Orioles used nearly every dollar available to them in their 5% overage. This year, the extra 5% gives the Orioles an additional $655,700.

This article will be updated between now and the deadline as signings or non-signings are reported by media or announced by the team. Signing bonus information listed where available.

Players who have signed

• 16th round, 470th overall – Brayden Fry – SS – Cranford (NJ) HS (source)

Apparently not signing

Nothing official yet

For more information about this year’s draft class, check out my article on what is one of the youngest groups the Orioles have ever taken.

• 1st round, 7th overall – Eric Booth Jr. – OF – Oak Grove (Miss.) HS
• 2nd round, 46th overall – Ty Head – OF – NC State
• 3rd round, 82nd overall – Dominic Voegele – RHP – Kansas
• 4th round, 110th overall – Kevin Roberts Jr. – OF – Jackson Prep (Miss.) HS
• 5th round, 142nd overall – Jimmy Anderson – SS – Heartland CC (Ill.)
• 6th round, 171st overall – Zane Adams – LHP – Alabama
• 7th round, 200th overall – Ryan Piech – RHP – Xavier
• 8th round, 230th overall – Will Plunkett – SS – Mamaroneck (NY) HS
• 9th round, 260th overall – Collin McKinney – RHP – Arizona
• 10th round, 290th overall – Carlos Sanchez – UT – LSU-Shreveport
• 11th round, 320th overall – Ross Norman – RHP – Coastal Carolina
• 12th round, 350th overall – Leo Marrero – C – Hardee (Fla.) HS
• 13th round, 380th overall – Garrison Sumner – RHP – BYU
• 14th round, 410th overall – Miguel Hugas – RHP – Mercer (Ga.)
• 15th round, 440th overall – Braden Smith – RHP – Central Florida
• 17th round, 500th overall – Diego Gutierrez – RHP – San Diego
• 18th round, 530th overall – Gunnar Garrison – RHP – Eaton (Colo.) HS
• 19th round, 560th overall – Victor Salazar – OF – Paetow (Tex.) HS
• 20th round, 590th overall – Ross Davis – RHP – Rusk (Tex.) HS

Undrafted free agents

These players are also able to sign for up to $150,000 without counting against the bonus pool, with any amount beyond that going against the pool. These are signings collected by Baseball America, typically sourced from college team social media accounts reporting that their player has signed a contact.

• Regan Hall – LHP – Illinois
• David Lally Jr. – RHP – Michigan
• Colton Sampson – LHP – Seminole State JC (Fla.)
• Camden Wicker – RHP – Central Florida

The Mets open a three-game series against the Phillies in Philadelphia on Thursday night at 7:10.

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Mets Notes

• A.J. Ewing is hitting .302/.369/.508 (.877 OPS) with six homers, eight doubles, 18 runs scored, and 18 RBI in 141 plate appearances over his last 36 games
• Juan Soto is slashing .316/.469/.622 (1.091 OPS) with eight homers in 128 plate appearances over his last 30 games
• Luke Weaver hasn't allowed an earned run since April 30. In 27.0 innings over 25 appearances since then, he has given up just 11 hits while walking seven and striking out 35

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Today's Lineups

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Meet the Mets

With the Trade Deadline approaching the Mets will need to focus on retooling for the future with this season dead in the water.

The team limps into the second half as one of the worst teams in the league and it’s not likely to get better any time soon.

Brett Baty has changed his approach at the plate which will hopefully lead to better success in the second half.

Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor were voted as two of the best athletes to play in New York right now.

The team signed Carson Wiggins, their top pick from this year’s draft, to a $3,466,500 signing bonus.

Around the National League East

The Braves have been struggling recently and have a few needs to fill if they want to stay atop of the NL East in the second half.

The Marlins open the second half against tough opponents as they try to compete for a playoff spot.

The players who represented the Phillies in the All-Star Gane were a big bust in front of their home crowd in Philadelphia.

The Nationals officially signed their first round draft pick, local kid Chris Hacopian.

Around Major League Baseball

The Brewers have reportedly traded for Lance McCullers Jr. from the Astros to bolster their rotation.

The Yankees have emerged as a potential suitor for Padres All-Star closer Mason Miller.

The All-Star Game remains a stressful experience for managers trying to keep other team’s pitchers from getting hurt in an exhibition game.

ESPN got an inside look at the White Sox draft room as they drafted Roch Cholowsky with the number one overall pick.

Pitchers in today’s game are throwing harder than ever before with many routinely hitting 100 mph.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Steve Sypa wrote draft profiles for Kooper Schulte, John Smith III, Marcus Ward, Cooper Dossett, Gavin Guidry, Dustin Hagens Jr., Zach Crotchfelt, and Jacob Madrid

Vasilis Drimalitis suggested that there are at least a few reasons to tune into games once the second half starts.

Lukas Vlahos wrote a trade deadline primer and speculated who could be on the move.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 2006, Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran hit a grand slam in the same inning in the team’s 13-7 win over the Cubs at Wrigley.

Morning, all!

Did you enjoy the non stop excitement of direct-to-consumer streaming through Victory+? Well, that’s too bad because the Rangers have announced that they are switching streaming platforms effective immediately.

The new platform will be BZZR, a sports streaming and social media platform with an executive that is also a minority partner in Rangers ownership.

The Rangers could use another high leverage arm in the second half.

Although Chris Young says they need both another high leverage arm and to keep playing with positive energy and camaraderie.

This past week, Mookie Betts surpassed the number of games he had played with the Boston Red Sox, officially making him Dodger longer than he was a Red Sox. Spanning those two teams, Betts has amassed six Gold Gloves. Now, he has started his own baseball glove company.

Named LGND, Betts says this line is “built around versatility, craftsmanship and player-first innovation.”

“Every detail matters when you’re on the field, and your glove is one of the most important tools you have,” Betts said in a statement. “I started this with the intention to build something that reflected the way I play the game, which is with passion, preparation and attention to detail.”

Currently the company sells two different collections. The MOOK series is inspired by Betts’ experience playing both infield and outfield. This glove features his personal game-worn colorways, a “50 Tri-Star” logo embroidered on the thumb, and his signature stamped in the palm of the glove.

The MVRK series is meant for those playing multiple positions along with some distinct styling.

“LGND is about giving young players a glove they can trust from the first time they put it on,” Betts said. “Whether you’re chasing a championship, working toward a college scholarship or just falling in love with baseball, I want these gloves to help young players perform at their best.”

Betts has three partners in this endeavor, Cameron Lewis, Brandon McPhail and Andrew Montgomery. The lifelong friends competed together in high school in the Nashville area.

Steve Henson of the L.A. Times has more details on the gloves including the cost here.

Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic has an article of what to expect in the second half of the season. He poses questions about whether the Dodgers will ever be at full strength this season, (maybe?), how the team will handle Shohei Ohtani going forward (carefully), and what will they do at the deadline (probably not much, but…).

As all baseball fans know, it boils down to health and your stars performing. Kyle Tucker, we’re looking at you, kid.