— Trade deadline is Thursday; who will buy, who will sell?
AL Wild Card standings:
1- New York
2- Seattle
3- Boston
Rangers- 0.5 games behind
Rays- 2.5 games behind
Guardians- 4 games behind
Angels/Royals- 4.5 games behind
Twins- 5 games behind
NL Wild Card standings:
1- Cubs
2- Phillies
3- Padres
Reds- 2 games behind
Cardinals- 3.5 games behind
Giants- 4 games behind
Arizona/Miami- 7 games behind
All that leaves seven teams who are non-contenders; Arizona has already pretty much thrown up the white Flag. How many other teams will do that before Thursday?
— Apparently MLB commissioner Rob Manfred was in the Phillies clubhouse last week, and he got cursed out by Bryce Harper, when Harper got steamed when he thought Manfred wanted to talk about a potential salary cap in the sport’s near future.
It isn’t looking good for baseball in 2027, when the next collective bargaining deal is expected to start; some owners want a salary cap, the players’ union, with scumweasel agent Scott Boras behind it, vehemently does not want one.
Sounds like we could be having a spring full of Korean baseball at 4am in a couple years.
— Diamondbacks’ 3B Eugenio Suarez is a hot commodity at the trade deadline; hell, I was trying to trade for him in our fantasy league, but he got drilled with a pitch on his right hand Monday and left the game. X-rays were negative; more tests are expected Tuesday.
Tigers 5, Diamondbacks 1- Arizona has scored total of two runs in four games since they traded Josh Naylor to Seattle.
— Twins 5, Red Sox 4
Brooks Lee’s 2-run single was a walk-off winner for the Twins.
There was a 90-minute rain delay during the ninth inning.
Twins traded P Chris Paddack to Detroit earlier in the day.
— Pirates 6, Giants 5
Andrew McCutchen hit a 2-run homer in the 7th inning.
Mitch Keller started for Pittsburgh, lasted only 2 IP, throwing 73 pitches.
Willie Adames was 3-5 with two RBI for the Giants.
— RIP to Hall of Fame 2B Ryne Sandberg, one of the most beloved players in Cubs history, who passed away Monday at age 65.
Sandberg hit .285 with 282 home runs, 1,061 RBI and 344 stolen bases in 15 years with Chicago. He made 10 All-Star teams — winning the Home Run Derby in 1990 — and took home nine Gold Gloves.
Sandberg was MVP of the National League in 1984; his OPS was .887 that year.
He later managed the Phillies for a couple years. RIP, sir.
— Famous birthdays, July 29th
Mike Starr, 75
Ken Kravec, 74
Scott Wedman, 73
Ken Burns, 72
Dave LaPoint, 66
Steve Pelluer, 63
Pepper Johnson, 61
Ryan Braun, 45
Dak Prescott, 32
Jack Suwinski, 27
— Cleveland Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase has been put on paid leave as part of a betting investigation, joining Cleveland starter Luis Ortiz on that list.
Apparently the investigation revolves around prop bets, like whether the first pitch of an inning will be a strike or not. Prop betting is for total degenerates; this is bad for the game.
Rockies 8, Guardians 6- To make matters worse for Cleveland, the dreadful Rockies scored four runs in the top of the ninth, after the Guardians had rallied from a 3-0 deficit to take a 5-4 lead after eight innings.
— Padres 7, Mets 6
Elias Diaz had a walk-off single for San Diego; they trailed 5-1 in 5th inning.
Mark Vientos homered, had four RBI for the Mets.
Luis Arraez homered for the Padres.
— Nationals 2, Astros 1
Riley Adams hit a tie-breaking home run in the 7th inning.
Astros have lost 10 of their last 11 home games.
Last three games, Houston was held to 1-1-1 runs.
After the game, Houston P Framber Valdez complained about the Astros’ defensive placement in the outfield. He wasn’t happy where the RF was playing in the 6th inning, when a double scored the Nationals’ first run.
— Mets paid $97M in payroll taxes last year, that’s how high their payroll was.
By way of comparison, the Pirates’ entire payroll last year was $88,542,440.
— Royals P Kris Bubic is out for the year with a left rotator cuff strain.
— Dusty Baker is going to manage Team Nicaragua in the World Baseball Classic next winter.
— RIP to former big league pitcher Bill Denehy, who passed away last month at age 79.
Denehy was a big enough prospect that he was on a rookie baseball card with Tom Seaver in 1967; he faced Willie Mays four times, struck him out three times, but Denehy pitched in only 49 big league games, starting nine of them.
Mets actually traded him to the Washington Senators in 1967 for a manager, Gil Hodges, who two years later let the Miracle Mets to the 1969 World Series title.
RIP, sir.
