With what figures to be a very busy week around the league ahead, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. One week until the deadline:
The trade deadline is now just one week away, and things have been fairly quiet on the transaction front to this point. Just four trades of players who weren’t already designated for assignment have been executed so far in the month of July: right-hander Aaron Civale to the Brewers, outfielder Austin Slater to the Reds, right-hander Phil Maton to the Mets, and right-hander Hunter Harvey to the Royals. That relative dearth of activity on the trade market should change quickly as teams currently on the fence between buying and selling begin to make their final decisions, as the Cubs did yesterday. Forty-nine of MLBTR’s Top 50 Trade Candidates For The 2024 MLB Trade Deadline are still on the board, and while not all of them will change teams over the next week, it’s likely that many of them will.
2. Bryant to be activated:
As noted by JustBaseball’s Patrick Lyons yesterday, Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters that $182MM man Kris Bryant could be activated from the injured list as soon as today after a strong showing at Triple-A on Sunday where he went 5-for-5 with a home run. Bryant, 32, has spent nearly two months on the shelf due to what was initially believed to be rib soreness but eventually turned out to be a strain of his internal oblique muscle.
Now in year three of his Rockies tenure, it’s been a frustrating few years for both Bryant and the Rockies as he’s dealt with a number of injuries and struggled when healthy enough to take the field. In a combined 146 games with Colorado, Bryant has posted a wRC+ of just 86 with a .247/.331/.385 slash line in 617 trips to the plate.
3. MLBTR Chat Today:
With the All-Star break and amateur draft now behind us, the attention of MLB clubs has now turned to the coming trade deadline on July 30. If you have any questions about your favorite team’s direction ahead of what should be a very busy week, or perhaps a trade idea you have in the back of your mind, MLBTR’s Steve Adams is holding a live chat with readers at 3pm CT today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete. (Note: link to chat has been updated to include the correct link; apologies for the error)
Moderator login link for chat just fyi
Jerry, Justin, I’m begging you: DO SOMETHING. SAVE THE SEASON
Hopefully they are not bailing on it like my bunch.
CALL UP COLE YOUNG
I didn’t even fathom that as a possibility. But at this point I’m not against it
I am the most irritated with Mitch Garver. He is consistently late on every hittable fastball. I guess the dude is just done. And Jerry always seems to acquire guys right at that magical moment when they transition from professional hitter to cooked hitter. Why is that? Why is Jerry’s timing so impeccable on that?.
I was thinking Bliss might get a chance at everyday ABs at SS.
CORRECTION. Everyday PLATOON ABs because the mariners don’t believe in playing guys everyday that aren’t named Julio Cal Garver or JP
It honestly just came to me, too. I don’t want the M’s to ruin him, but he’s fairing well in AA in those pitcher-friendly parks and has had over 1000 MiLB PA (maybe AB, too, I can’t remember). They could call him up and if he struggles mightly in the show, send him to AAA and let him rake.
Just a thought.
I’m also good with giving Bliss a full opportunity, too.
Bliss would be better than playing someone like… wait who else?
I just realized we might have to have an infield of Rojas Moore Polanco and raley for the next few games because there isn’t anyone else
I’ll do you one better, BRING THE TEENAGERS UP
If my math is correct having 19 year old yordan Alvarez would help with the offense assuming the kid doesn’t blow a casket in the head
I get your point, but I guess the question is are any of those guys at that level? I don’t wanna ruin our 2025-2029 seasons at the expense of this season when it’s all too obvious that we’re just not good enough.
I truly belive at least a few of Emerson, Young, Ford, Montes, Celesten, Farmelo, and Peete will develop into above average or better regulars, so I’m weary about rushing anyone not named Young, who I believe has proven himself enough at AA to get a look already.
shapiro and his useless GM atkins are still in Toronto, the Nightmare continues !!!
Fire Shatkins !!!
I’m stocking up on torches and pitchforks
Nobody’s offering their starting infield plus their entire AA roster for Skubal? What are they waiting for?
Not fair that Bryant will be activated today, couldn’t he wait until AFTER the Red Sox series?
I can’t bear to watch Red Sox pitching give up yet another 470+ foot homerun.
That Miguel sano home run is still flying
Phillies have looked like garbage the past few weeks. Sweep the Dodgers and then lose 2 of 3 to the Jokeland A’s, 2 of 3 to the Bucs and got blown out 7-2 against the hapless Twinkies. What a joke. Almost makes me think MLB is scripted like the NFL.
Huh? I’m confused how a rough stretch in a 162 game season means that the league is rigged? Are all the players in on this? Heck of a leap in logic.
@Patriot12992
Yes, I’ve got my tinfoil hat on. I even drew the Dodgers logo on it when I go to the ballpark.
😀
well I give you credit for committing to your beliefs lol
Teams are not infallible, they’re going to lose games
Even the Phillies
So many teams and so many teams fans seem complacent. Hopefully there are some big trades coming soon. Prospects are good and important but winning is what really matters.
I don’t know about that. There are 9 teams pretty much out of it, leaving 21 contenders or quasi-contenders. But that also means that 9 of those teams will miss.
If you’re trading Rule 5 candidates or lottery tickets for minor upgrades, no one cares. But a fair amount of damage can be done by trading away decent+ prospects and still missing the playoffs.
The only way it really hurts is if you trade good prospects away for rentals. And then you miss the playoffs. Like what the Angels did last year that hurt. But a lot of deals don’t add up to much for the team acquiring the prospects.
You are a Red Sox fan. You don’t want your team to try to get better?
Yes, but we are closer to the playoffs than some of the 21 contenders. And we have a deeper farm.
Just for context, of the 12 best records in 2023 at the trade deadline, 9 of them made the playoffs, meaning only 3 others snuck in. And it was similar in 2022. Even the teams that snuck in were already pretty close.
I think more teams make mistakes thinking that they are contenders than teams that quit too early.
Of course more teams end up losing than winning. Only 1 team wins a championship every year but when they do it makes up for all those other times they tried and weren’t successful. That’s just the nature of the situation. When you have a chance you gotta go for it. That doesn’t mean selling the farm for rentals it just means do something to get better and help your team make a run.
Bryant should donate a chunk of his salary to charity
It’s criminal to keep that kind of money and give nothing in return
When teams get superstar performances from young thoroughly under paid players, do they give the money they saved by underpaying the player to charity?
Yeah $27M is simply pennies. I feel so bad for Bryant.
I really don’t think you have any idea how much baseball owners/groups make.
But go ahead tell me how much the Rockies owners made last year, and any other team owners… maybe the Yankees.
Comparing Bryant’s 600 PAs/contract to what owners make is a red herring. Bryant is vastly over apid. Has nothing to do with what owners make.
CBeisbol,
Again, I asked you to tell me how much the owners made for the Rockies and Yankees. You came back with nothing.
Educate everyone and stop avoiding the question.
Forbes com publishes a detailed account of every team’s total revenue, player salaries, profits and franchise value every spring
It’s probably available on their website if you’re really interested instead of waiting for someone else to provide you information
TheMan, I do know where to locate the info, I’d like to see repeating “Just wait to see how much the owners make.” To bring the data to the discussion.
CBeisbol,
Bryant is overpaid.
Still waiting for you to provide the nbers on how much the owners make. Support your statement.
Boo hoo…
don’t blame, Bryant, blame the Rockies for paying him that kind of money
No one is “blaming” Bryant. Why can’t people just accept that Bryant isn’t earning his salary… pretty simple.
who exactly determines if a player is earning his salary?
Because of their history? Hundreds of players have enjoyed what are known as “career years” only to follow that one year becoming mediocre or worse the rest of their careers
And that’s the owners/GMs fault. The LAA have been signing 30-31 year old guys for years, despite the fact that it never works out.
I find it hard to be sympathetic to guys making the same mistake over and over.
“hard to be sympathetic to guys making the same.”
Who is feeling sorry for the owners? Saying Bryant isn’t pulling his wait, or that he’s a bust isn’t shedding tears for the owners.
I have both overpaid and underpaid for various things in my life. I don’t give money back and I don’t expect a refund.
Huh… you’ve never returned something you purchased because it was broken or you didn’t like. Amazing…
Peary!! WTF are doing with the Angels? Trade everyone!
Perry on his way to trade Joyce and o’hoppe for Kris Bryant
“You see this move will help us for 2024 and years to come and we welcome Kris to Anaheim” as they go 62-100
anyone who sells because of a bad week should not be the one at the head of the pack. this deadline is going to be really interesting, but i have a feeling it is going to disappoint more than most expect, as far as teams jumping across the line from buyer to seller. the top teams will trade for the top guys, the mid tier teams will trade for small depth and filler guys, and only the rebuilders (+ blue jays and rays, and probably a few tigers) will be seeing mlb talent leave
there is too much pressure to win, and too many playoff spots up for grabs. i dont see anyone who hasnt decided they were going to sell off certain guys moving anyone. two hot weeks in the next two months, and youre looking back down on everyone else.
What are the Rays gonna do? I would like to pluck Yandy & Randy from them to throw into Mariners lineup
The issue is that there is unlikely to be any long sustained winning or losing streaks. Over the past ten games, no team has more than 7 wins. That’s kind of insignificant.
I object to Kris Bryant taking up a spot on the roster, knowing that there are young players who will contribute more offensively than he ever will again.