Showing posts with label Baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baseball. Show all posts
Friday, 31 July 2026
Thursday, 23 July 2026
RED SOX WINNING STREAK AFFECTS MULTIPLE TEAMS TRADE DEADLINES
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| Jul 7, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Boston Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran (16) hits a single RBI against the Chicago White Sox during the ninth inning at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images |
The Red Sox’s winning streak is over. Its effect on the MLB trade deadline is not. Boston won 15 straight games, tied the franchise record and transformed itself from a potential seller into a team that now has to strengthen its roster. One loss to Baltimore does not undo that. The Red Sox have already changed the market.
Jarren Duran and Aroldis Chapman should now be off the table
A month ago, both made sense as trade candidates. Boston had a crowded outfield, Duran carried two additional years of club control, and Chapman looked like the most attractive rental reliever available. Moving either player could have brought back meaningful talent for 2027.
That argument disappeared when Boston started winning. Duran is helping a playoff push, while Chapman gives the Red Sox exactly what contenders spend July trying to acquire – a proven late-inning arm with the ability to close games and shorten postseason series. Trading either now would contradict everything the last three weeks revealed about this team.
The consequences extend beyond Boston
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| Jun 18, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman (44) pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the ninth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images |
Teams that viewed Duran as an attainable outfield upgrade must look elsewhere. Clubs searching for a closer can no longer assume Chapman will enter the market. That reduces supply, increases prices and strengthens the leverage of every remaining seller.
It also changes Craig Breslow’s job. He is no longer deciding how much of the roster to dismantle. He has to determine how aggressively to add without sacrificing the future that made Boston’s turnaround possible.
The Red Sox do not need a reckless blockbuster. They need another starter, bullpen depth and perhaps a right-handed bat capable of balancing the lineup.
Boston’s 15-game streak ended Wednesday night. Its deadline impact will last through August 3. The Red Sox are no longer one of the teams supplying contenders. They have become one of them – and every front office that expected to shop from Boston must adjust.
- Derek Antoine
Saturday, 4 July 2026
DODGERS' SHOHEI OHTANI WON'T PITCH IN ALL-STAR GAME
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says he is not ready to make it official, but moving Ohtani’s pitching start this week means he would have to pitch on short rest in the All-Star Game and the Dodgers are not likely to ask him to do that
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| After a recent change to his pitching schedule, Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani will likely just be a hitter in the All-Star Game later this month in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) |
LOS ANGELES — It’s not official. But it’s obvious.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged Friday that the decision to move back Shohei Ohtani’s start this week will make him unavailable to pitch in the All-Star Game later this month.
“I think so,” said Roberts, who is the National League manager for this year’s game. “I haven’t formally said it. But if you just kind of do the math, it would be hard to imagine. But I don’t have to make that decision quite yet.”
The full rosters for the All-Star Game will be announced on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. on FOX (Ch. 11). Ohtani has already earned the starting spot as the NL DH by leading all players in voting during the first phase.
Ohtani started Friday night against the San Diego Padres and is lined up to start again next Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. That would put him on just three days of rest before the All-Star Game in Philadelphia. The Dodgers have asked him to pitch on as little as five days of rest just once this season.
Ohtani has only pitched in the All-Star Game once. He started for the American League in 2021 at Coors Field in Denver.
Roberts will have two strong options when choosing his starting pitcher even with Ohtani out of the mix – Milwaukee Brewers flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski or hometown 1Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez.
Ohtani had an 0.74 ERA through his first 10 pitching starts this season but has slipped since then. Over three starts before Friday, Ohtani allowed 11 runs (nine earned) in 18⅔ innings.
Dalton Rushing has been behind the plate for each of those starts, and the two were visibly at odds during Ohtani’s start in Minnesota last week.
“Some of it is Shohei hasn’t had his best stuff recently and that’s the truth,” Roberts said before Friday’s game. “The fastball command hasn’t been what it was earlier in the season. The sweeper hasn’t been the same. He’s started using the split a little bit more recently, which he was using a lot more earlier in the season. So there’s a lot of variables outside of just saying it’s the catcher.”
RUSH POWER
Rushing has been surging at the plate, going 8 for 18 (.444) with a double and two home runs in five games through Thursday. He hit just .179 (15 for 84) in 29 games before that.
Roberts gets some credit for the turnaround. Before last Saturday’s game in San Diego, he went to Rushing with some hitting advice, backed up by video.
“He’s taken it and run with it,” Roberts said. “It was just more of a cue on who he is as a hitter, getting back to finding his particular strike zone versus trying to chase the pitcher all around the hitting zone.
“I pulled some video to show when he is good and what he’s been doing the last couple months. … It kind of landed with him. I ran it by the hitting coaches, so I didn’t go rogue. I got their blessing.”
MAKING PROGRESS
After ruling both catcher Will Smith and utility man Kiké Hernandez out for a return before the All-Star break, both have made progress in their recoveries during the homestand.
Roberts said Smith has been throwing and even hit in the batting cage on Thursday. Smith has been out since June 5 with an inflamed disc in his neck.
Hernandez took batting practice on the field with the team Friday. He has been out since May 26 with an oblique strain suffered in his second game back after recovering from elbow surgery.
UP NEXT
Padres (RHP Griffin Canning, 1-5, 7.09 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 8-5, 2.67 ERA), Saturday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM
- BILL PLUNKETT
Friday, 26 June 2026
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT NEW METS INTERIM MANAGER AFTER CARLOS MENDOZA'S FIRING
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| Mar 30, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza (64) looks on before a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images |
Fans of the New York Mets can exhale now that Carlos Mendoza has been let go.
But who is the Mets’ new manager, and what is New York getting in interim manager Andy Green?
Green, the former Mets player who has been a coach since 2012, is taking over for Mendoza, who was fired Friday after the Mets went 34-47 in their first 81 games.
Mets fans of a certain age will remember Green from his one-season tenure in Queens (2009) or his three seasons as a player for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Or you may recall his three-plus years as the manager of the San Diego Padres.
Andy Green Played for the Mets and Managed the Padres
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| Getty New Mets interim manager Andy Green finished his playing career with the Mets and managed the San Diego Padres for four seasons between 2016-19. |
Green came up in the D-backs system as a scrappy 5-9, 165-pound infielder who was chosen in the 24th round of the 2000 MLB Draft — a round that doesn’t even exist anymore.
So you can bet Green will want to push the Mets to be scrappier, hungrier and more intense over the second half of this season.
The Mets will be Green’s second role as a major-league manager. He spent three-plus seasons managing the Padres (2016-19) and finished with a .428 win% before he was fired with one week remaining in the 2019 season, posting a 69-85 record before being let go in September.
The Padres then made the playoffs in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, going 37-23.
Green only played 140 big-league games and finished his big-league career with a .547 OPS and two home runs. His attitude was enough to earn a job in the D-backs system as the manager in Missoula of the Pioneer League.
He won the title there in 2012 then was named Southern League manager of the year in 2013 and 2014 before being promoted to D-backs third base coach.
The Mets’ Manager Search is Officially on
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| Getty Alex Cora is likely to be high on the list of candidates for the Mets’ manager role. |
The Mets may have put Andy Green in place to ride out the rest of the season, but you can bet they will leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of their next manager.
Mendoza was well-thought-of candidate from the New York Yankees organization that pushed all the right buttons in 2024, when they went to the NLCS. But owner Steve Cohen has already flexed his financial might in signing Juan Soto and luring David Stearns from the Milwaukee Brewers.
You can be sure he’ll do the same when finding his next manager.
So Alex Cora immediately comes to mind as the top candidate for the Mets job. He, of course, was fired by the Boston Red Sox in April then turned down the Philadelphia Phillies role, which ultimately went to former-Yankees great and 2020 NL manager of the year Don Mattingly.
Cora could again be a candidate for the Phillies role, which makes it imperative that the Mets at least bring him in for an interview — especially with the Phillies playing well under Mattingly.
Cora, of course, won the World Series in Boston in 2018 and boasts a .534 win% over his 1,161-game tenure as a manager. Other candidates will arise, including Mattingly if he is not retained by the Phillies.
But Cora has to be the first option for the Mets.
- Pat Pickens
Saturday, 20 June 2026
Wednesday, 17 June 2026
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Sunday, 24 May 2026
Thursday, 7 May 2026
THAT TIME TED TURNER (BRIEFLY) CONSIDERED CHANGING THE BRAVES NAME
At the time of acquiring the Atlanta Braves, Ted Turner had an idea that they'd join the flock of other local sports names
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| When Ted Turner acquired the Braves, he considered a name change | Image originally published by the Atlanta Constitution |
The Atlanta Braves mourn the loss of their former owner, Ted Turner, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 87. Upon his death, many started to look back at the stories that helped shape his legacy. One story that arose involved a brief idea that he didn't act on.
When he was finalizing his purchase of the team in 1976, Turner admitted he was considering a name change. He already had one in mind: The Eagles. While this is a name that immediately makes one think of the NFL team in Philadelphia, and then maybe Emory, Turner had a logical reason behind the choice.
For starters, Turner had nothing against the name Braves. According to the Atlanta Constitution, which has since merged with the Atlanta Journal, it was part of a vision to change the whole image of the team. He also felt that local teams of the same feather should flock together.
"That would tie in with the names of our other teams, the Hawks, the Falcons," he said in 1976. "I am thinking about changing the name, though, although legally, it would take a year to get it done."
A column in the paper the following day jokingly noted that the Firebirds would be more appropriate since Atlanta also had the Flames of the NHL.
At the time, the Atlanta Constitution lent some defense to the notion of changing the name. The team had gone through multiple names in its history, and they had abandoned the name "Braves" before. They've been the Beaneaters, Red Stockings, Reds (which has since been claimed elsewhere), Red Caps, Doves, Rustlers, and, mostly infamously, the Bees.
The Braves had been the name since 1941, though they went by that name previously from 1912 to 1935. Apart from a bee-related hiatus, they had been using the name for nearly 60 years. It was the name of the team when Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Warren Spahn represented them, and it had traveled to three different cities.
However, the name didn't have the same association with winning that it does now. While they won the World Series twice, along with four pennants and a division title with the name, they were mostly known for being a mediocre team.
They played second fiddle to the Red Sox in Boston, regardless of name. Following their appearance in the World Series in 1958 and their divison title in 1982, the Braves saw postseason action once in 1969. That was also the only time during that multi-decade stretch where they won 90 games or more.
The year before Turner acquired the Braves, they had finished 40 and a half games behind first. However, despite this limbo period for the team, Turner never circled back to the name change.
In time, the Braves' name built national recognition, being broadcast to millions coast to coast on the TBS Superstation. Eventually, it became associated with more Hall of Famers, one of the best starting rotations of all time and two more World Series titles.
It was an idea that Turner likely had no regrets leaving as an idea. That being said, he didn't fully give up on his idea of matching bird names. The succeeding NHL team in Atlanta, the Thrashers, which he owned at their inception in 1999, joined the flock.
- Harrison Smajovits
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