Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day:
1. 2025 All-Star Game:
The main event of the All-Star break is set to take place later today when some of the biggest stars from the AL and NL take the field for the Midsummer Classic. Reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal will take the mound to represent the junior circuit, managed by Yankees skipper Aaron Boone. The National League, led by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, will counter with 2024 National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young finalist Paul Skenes. Skubal has a 2.23 ERA in 19 starts this year and leads the majors with a 2.01 FIP, while Skenes leads the majors with a 2.01 ERA in 20 starts. Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, Mariners catcher and Home Run Derby champ Cal Raleigh, Orioles first baseman/designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn, and A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson will all start the game in their first career All-Star appearances. The game is slated to begin at 8pm local time in Atlanta and will air on FOX.
2. Trade season to begin?
The 2025 draft has now officially concluded, and that means the attention of front offices around the game can turn fully towards the impending trade deadline. There have already been a handful of deals, including last month’s shocking Rafael Devers blockbuster and the swap that sent draft capital from the Orioles to the Rays in exchange for reliever Bryan Baker last week. For the most part, teams have held off on making moves of real significance. Several clubs on the fringes of playoff contention are still weighing whether to sell off for the future or make an effort to push in this year — or some combination of both. While fans wait for the deals to start rolling in, MLBTR Front Office subscribers and check in on our Trade Deadline Outlook series. Our Top 40 Trade Candidates for the 2025 Deadline, meanwhile, is available to all readers as a primer for trade season.
3. MLBTR chat today:
With the All-Star break underway and the draft in the rearview mirror, MLB’s trade deadline is just over two weeks away! Plenty of deals should be expected between now and then now that trade season can finally kick into full swing, with a number of contenders surely interested in patching holes in their roster ahead of the stretch run. Whether you’re looking ahead to the deadline or still trying to sort between the contenders and pretenders, MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered in a live chat scheduled for 1pm 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.
So relieved that schedule and workload precludes Crochet from pitching in the ASG. Whenever my team’s pitchers are involved it makes me nervous.
100%. Never forget Pedro blowing himself out.
Same w HR Derby. Some very bad habits/injuries can come from going hard like that.
Swan – Sale did the same thing, overthrew in the ASG.
Pedro was placed on the DL following the ALL-STAR game but returned to pitch brilliantly. Leading the Sox to the playoffs. His epic ,no hit , series clinching, relief performance in game 5 against the Indians. As well as a 7 inning ,12 K jewel in game 3 against the Yankees. All with back and shoulder ailments. Even though it is basically an exhibition, that 99 all-star performance is one of the first of many accomplishments you think of when reminiscing about the greatness of Pedro. I doubt he regrets it. I remember watching and was like ,DAMN ! .
cdc – Right you are!
Little known fact, if Pedro hadn’t made that one injury-plagued start after the ASG (7 ER in 3 2/3 IP) he would have had a 1.80 ERA on the season ….. how about that!
Look at Adley’s performance since last year‘s HR Derby. His average is a tad over .200
The HR Derby didn’t break Adley.
I think it was the fast ball to the top of his hand that hurt Adley.
Hes fallen so far that Elias is going to entertain possibly trading him? Hard to believe how quickly he’s fallen from prodigy to also-ran.
Adley was in the 2023 derby, not last year. Also, he had a higher wRC+ in the second half of 2023 than he did in the first half (129 vs 123) and then had a 122 wRC+ in the first half of 2024. Competing in one round of the derby did not lead to this decline.
Oldguy58/CC Ryder has been complaining about Ohtani for so long that he lost track of Adley Rutschman’s previous HR derby appearance…
Nah he is just overrated
Next season, yes. If Adley shows signs of decline and/or contract talks aren’t favorable, he’s gone. We’ve drafted like eight catchers and have one knocking on the door.
The Miz ASG pick reminds me of the time hockey fans voted enforcer John Scott into the ASG. Fun for the fans, but ultimately hurts players who have real contract incentives tied to the honor. Merit based reforms should come next year.
I don’t pretend to know all the details of how incentives work with regards to being named an All Star, so I’m curious as to whether or not one would need to be on the eligible roster for the game to collect or should they drop out for whatever reason do they still get the bonus. Likewise if you’re the 10th alternate named because of injury or someone not able or wanting to pitch, do you collect as well? Seems to me that there is a very good likelihood that several incentives are being met, some in a roundabout way. My point is that there are a great many “All Stars” getting bonuses that wouldn’t otherwise have been entitled to them.
So what’s 50 grand to most of these guys? Tip.money.
Casual $50k. Ok, would you give up $500 to the new intern that started in your office?
Hoping the MLB’s ASG is better produced by Fox than ESPN did to the HR hitting contest. Between the MLB’s having not the best HR hitters partake in the contest, and ESPN’s split screening every HR it was one of the worse showings. Fox does not have to do much to better what ESPN showed the home audience. The bar is not high.
How is MLB supposed to have the “best” hitters compete in the derby if they decline?
When MLB don’t even ask a 31 hr hitter to participate, where was Suarez he even said MLB did not even ask him, he also said he was more than willing to participate it would been his honor to be asked. The HR contest is becoming a marketing ploy for MLB, when you have a participant like Chisolm c’mon really, instead of not even asking Suarez that is a marketing ploy for TV ratings. MLB is turning this event into NBA’s dunk contest.
Gotta have a Yankee for ratings.
You haven’t realized by now that that’s all they care about? It’s all they’ve ever cared about. It’s a business. To make money. It will always be this way. Best thing you can do is try to have fun and enjoy the exciting players involved instead of complaining about what you don’t get
Turning into?? it’s always been a dunk contest. It’s hitting batting practice homers.
Jazz had no business being there and his performance confirmed this.
After last nights derby I officially hate listening to ESPN’s broadcast crew
Eduardo Perez wouldn’t shut up about the “Dominican dynasty” that no one talks about because he just made it up
His voice only makes me just change the channel. And I had him on one of my Apba teams years ago, hit .331
He sounded legit upset that Cal won lol
He was! Ravech and Todd Frazier were the ones that talked about Raleigh as Eduardo wouldn’t stop talking about the crowd of Dominicans surrounding caminero
That’s what Eduardo does. Without Dominican players – no MLB. In his mind. He’s wrong, of course.
ESPN’s coverage of the HRD was perhaps the worst produced/directed live sports event I have ever seen on a major network. It was embarrassing.
You’ve never seen Roseanne Barr sing Take me out to the ballgame at Wrigley apparently
Or her sing the national anthem in San Diego
Sad to say I attended that game and yes it was embarrassing.
I feel that Macafee intro was equivalent to that
ESPN and Fox Sports, 2 reminders for me of how glad I am not to have a cable box anymore.
Derby was an unwatchable joke.
Never have been or ever will be a fan of the HR Derby . A much younger me really enjoyed watching the players in there own uniforms . I believe they are playing in there own uniforms tonight. Which will be cool. Also the automated strike zone will be used tonight. It’s coming and once it’s here it’s not going away.
Who was the 5th-grader that designed the ASG uniforms? Ugh…
Hypothetically speaking, if the Pirates decided to move Paul Skenes and O’Neil Cruz in a Juan Soto type of deals, don’t they have to pursue that? The Nationals a largely living of that trade in their MLB club now…but the Pirates could get twice as much back and still hold onto the rest of their young pitching. I dunno what clubs have that type of prospect capital, but from Pittsburgh’s perspective, if they can’t win with those players…
(I think the Pirates probably have a better group of Major Leaguers than the Nats had at the time of the Soto trade, so I’d gather it would have a better result for the Pirates in trading Skenes and Cruz).
Skenes would net a kings ransom, but Cruz has been, to this point, a non-special player. He hasn’t really come close to the hype. There’s still potential, of course, but it’s been largely unrealized.
Those two players wouldn’t add up to twice what the Nats got for Soto.
O’Neill Cruz for Luis Robert Jr would be a fair trade if they had comparable salaries and control.
The Nationals’ return on the Soto is the dream scenario. Most prospects don’t become strong players.
That is why the Padres will be kicking themselves in about 3 or 4 years. I could see the Nats having at least 3 or 4 of those traded then prospects now becoming stars for the next 5 to 10 years. Whereas the Padres will always be the team that gave up way too much for Soto, it sold their future for a couple years of a 250 hitter that really did not produce while in SD.
Too bad teams can’t trade “regular” draft picks. If that was allowable then trading would be more frequent and interesting. For a comp look at the Dallas Cowboys trade of Hershel Walker where they received 5 players and 8 draft choices from the Vikings.
Picking a rookie with 5 career starts over Sanchez might be the biggest snub I’ve ever seen. I can’t even watch it.
MLB should put in a clause in the AS Game that says if a player is called up after May or is drafted during the season he is not to be selected to the AS Game. Not fair to the players that come out of ST and compete from start of the season.
On the surface, I would agree. But I’ve seen reports saying that both Sanchez and Suarez were OK with it and welcomed the rest.
As awesome as Miz is, he should probably earn it. I bet there aren’t even complete scouting reports on the kid yet.
Anibal Sanchez?
Which Sanchez are you referring to Joe,?
Christopher Sanchez. He’s been one of the top-4 SPs in the NL.
I never watch it, but there’s nothing wrong with having an electrifying rookie starting pitcher in the game.
Phillies are Chokes!!!
Pedro did go on the DL following his brilliant performance in the all-star game. He did return that season to lead the Sox to the playoffs. His 6 innings of no hit relief performance in game 5 against the Indians was epic. Also 7 innings, no runs ,12 strikeouts against the Yankees in game 3. All while nursing shoulder and back ailments.
“Meanwhile” must START the sentence. It cannot come in the middle, between commas.