Arizona deals first baseman Josh Naylor to Seattle, and they’re not done yet. Other players who might get dealt this week. It’s Hall of Fame induction weekend.
Good morning. Trade season is open.
- The Diamondbacks traded first baseman Josh Naylor to the Mariners for two pitching prospects, left-hander Brandyn Garcia and right-hander Ashton Izzi. Daniel Kramer reports.
- Bradford Doolittle and David Schoenfield grade the Naylor trade.
- Just a few hours before that deal was announced, Ken Rosenthal reported that the Diamondbacks plan to sell at the deadline. (The Athletic sub. req.) He does add that it’s unclear just how much Arizona plans to deal, but that third baseman Eugenio Suárez is the one most likely to be traded.
- R.J. Anderson has five “burning” questions for the trade deadline.
- Patrick Mooney and Will Sammon report on what starting pitchers are likely to be available for trade. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Mark Feinsand lists the players most likely to be traded this week.
- Thomas Harrington argues these hard-throwing relievers are likely to be in high demand this week.
- The MLB Pipeline people list ten teams with the prosepcts to make a big deal.
- The Yahoo! Sports baseball writers list six trades they’d like to see. None involve the Cubs.
- Mike Axisa predicts one trade for each contender.
- Axisa also has three reasons that the Nationals might want to trade MacKenzie Gore. I have a team in mind that would be a good fit for Gore.
- Dayn Perry has three deals the Red Sox should make. (Fellow CBS writer Matt Snyder does this for the Cubs, and I’d be dancing a jig if the Cubs made all three of these acquisitions.)
- The Cardinals designated right-hander Erick Fedde for assignment. Jay Jaffe looks at what has gone wrong for St. Louis in general this year and Fedde in particular.
- Michael Baumann writes that the Brewers are exactly what he expected them to be. Including “streaky.”
- Bob Nightengale reports on how the Brewers are winning as a tight-knit “Island of Misfit Toys.”
- Jesse Chavez, the most-traded player in MLB history, has announced his retirement.
- And Gold Glove infielder Nick Ahmed has also announced his retirement.
- Jim Callis has named Pirates shortstop prospect Konnor Griffin as the new top prospect in all of baseball.
- Jayson Stark looks at the cases for Cooperstown for active major leaguers. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Manny Randhawa examines the lasting impact on the game on both sides of the Pacific that new Hall-of-Fame inductee Ichiro Suzuki has had.
- In connection with Ichiro’s induction, Cooperstown has a new exhibit on Japanese baseball and the trans-Pacific exchange surrounding the game. Bill Francis reports.
- Yesterday was the anniversary of the famous George Brett “Pine Tar” game. Scott Chiusano remembers that game.
- Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru has a list of players chasing after big career and single-season milestones in the second half.
- To honor the Hall of Fame inductees, all 30 teams will be wearing throwback caps this weekend. Although good luck telling the Cubs’ throwback 2016 caps apart from today’s caps.
- With the Speedway Classic coming up a week from Saturday, MLB dot com is doing a bunch of articles on speed. Mike Petriello writes that the question of who is the fastest player in baseball is a complicated one that depends on what is being measured.
- Anthony Castrovince polls players on whom they think is the fastest man in the game.
- Petriello also marvels at two players, the Phillies’ Trea Turner and the Twins’ Byron Buxton, who have managed to remain among the fastest players in the game for ten years now, even after turning 30.
- David Adler tries to figure out what is the fastest possible inside-the-park home run?
- David Laurila believes Reds lefty Andrew Abbott deserves more attention.
- Gabe Lacques looks at the popularity of Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz, especially among young fans.
- Eric Samulski asks around to try to explain what pitchers mean by “feel.”
- Davy Andrews marvels at Rich Hill grunting on the mound.
- And finally, Michael Baumann wonders under what circumstances the players should accept a salary cap and he comes up with a entire new baseball structure with 150 teams and a system of promotion and regulation.