Sports
Rosenthal: In a busy MLB trade deadline, quantity of deals overshadowed quality of players
Before calling for your general manager’s head, bemoaning the players your favorite team didn’t land, consider the bigger picture.
The three top left-handed starters discussed in trades – Tarik Skubal, Garrett Crochet and Blake Snell – did not move.
Hitters who might have shaken up the market – Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Luis Robert Jr., even Brent Rooker – also did not move.
It wouldn’t be fair to call it a “Dudline,” not when 60 trades were made in the final six days, including 32 on Tuesday before the 6 p.m. ET cutoff.
But think about it:
Who was the best starting pitcher traded? Jack Flaherty, who was not as big a prize as David Price was in 2014 and ‘15, Zack Greinke was in 2019 or Max Scherzer was in 2021.
The best relievers traded? Tanner Scott and Carlos Estévez, both of whom are enjoying fine seasons, but to many fans are relative unknowns.
The best hitters traded? Take your pick between Jazz Chisholm Jr., Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes, none of whom will be confused with Juan Soto, the prize of the 2022 deadline.
Some of this is luck of the draw. For whatever reasons, the crop of available players this season was just not all that stellar. But some of it also relates to the shift in trade dynamics that occurred when Major League Baseball adopted expanded playoffs in 2022. With 12 postseason spots available, more teams are in contention. And fewer teams are apt to be pure sellers.
MLB.com’s Mike Petriello put it well, saying on X, “I think we have to stop saying it’s a seller’s market, because with the expanded playoffs, there’s only a handful of teams really selling now, and it’s going to be like this every year.”
Call it an unintended consequence of the league’s decision to invite more teams to the October party. Some might argue the league should adjust by pushing the deadline to mid-August. The additional two weeks would allow more separation to occur in the standings and perhaps create clearer lines between buyers and sellers. But such a move would diminish the drama. Acquisitions would be less impactful. And for six weeks of a rental, teams would be even less reluctant to give up better prospects.
Isaac Paredes was one of the biggest names to move teams, heading from Tampa Bay to the Chicago Cubs. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)
This deadline, for all of its oddity, did not lack intrigue. The Tampa Bay Rays made 10 trades, most of the sell variety, and still believe they might contend for a wild card. The Miami Marlins detonated their roster, also making 10 trades, starting with the Luis Arraez deal in early May. Their flurry resulted in 11 additions to their list of their top 30 prospects, according to MLB.com.
The Chicago Cubs’ trade for Isaac Paredes and the three-team deal between the Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox qualified as stunners, if not blockbusters. And San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller was his usual frenzied self, trading 12 prospects from the Top 20 list The Athletic’s Keith Law released in February , including nine of the top 11. (Shortstop Leodalis De Vries, 17, did not make Law’s list, having only signed in January; Law ranked him the game’s 39th best overall prospect in his latest Top 60).
Yet, for all the bodies flying, many teams were left wanting more.
The Baltimore Orioles determined none of the players available merited the sacrifice of their top prospects, one of whom, second baseman Jackson Holliday, hit a grand slam Wednesday in his first game back from Triple A.
Even two players below Baltimore’s top tier, infielder Connor Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers, were possibly too high a price for lefty Trevor Rogers. And the Orioles’ biggest addition, right-hander Zach Eflin, through his career mostly has been a league-average starter.
The Cleveland Guardians and Milwaukee Brewers are practically mirror images in the game’s respective Central divisions, first-place teams with new managers and frighteningly thin starting pitching. Both had reason to be aggressive. Neither quite was, and not simply because of payroll considerations.
With a limited supply of starters available, the Guardians took chances on two pitchers coming off injuries who have yet to appear in a major-league game this season, lefty Matthew Boyd and righty Alex Cobb. The two starters the Brewers added, righties Aaron Civale and Frankie Montas, each had ERAs over 5.00 at the time they were acquired.
The Pittsburgh Pirates, too, did Pirates things, making a series of modest upgrades – infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, outfielder Bryan De La Cruz, lefty relievers Jalen Beeks and Josh Walker.
Ideally, they would have done more to capitalize on the ascent of rookie righty Paul Skenes, who gives them an excellent chance to win every five days. But again, the pool of available talent was not exactly teeming with difference makers.
Even certain high-revenue teams struggled to fill their needs.
The New York Yankees were left without a starting pitcher after failing to come to an agreement with the Tigers on Flaherty. The Boston Red Sox addressed their bullpen by adding Lucas Sims and Luis Garcia, but failed to acquire a right-handed hitting middle infielder and a starting pitcher in addition to James Paxton. The Dodgers settled for complementary offensive parts (Tommy Edman, Amed Rosario, Kevin Kiermaier) rather than land the impact hitter they desired.
On it went. The Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros and Yankees were shut out in their quests to land one more hitter. The San Francisco Giants added only Mark Canha while subtracting Jorge Soler. Most contenders filled their bullpen needs, but it’s not as if the 2016 versions of Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller were available. Some of the relievers, notably Estévez and Scott, should prove good additions. But the New York Mets, who kept their top prospects while adding four relievers as well as righty Paul Blackburn and outfielder Jesse Winker, were among the clubs that essentially just subbed out bodies in their bullpen.
This is not to make excuses for the teams that failed to do more. Preller, with his acquisitions of right-hander Dylan Cease in spring training, then Arráez in May, then relievers Jason Adam and Scott at the deadline, proved big moves are possible, if the head of baseball operations is daring enough.
Some teams, to be sure, warrant scrutiny. The White Sox, for failing to make a bigger score while parting with three major leaguers (Erick Fedde, Michael Kopech and Tommy Pham) in their deal with the Cardinals and Dodgers. The Oakland A’s, who could have exploited the hot relief market by trading Mason Miller, even after his pinky injury. The Minnesota Twins, for acquiring only Trevor Richards, a mediocre setup type. The Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies, both of which limited their activity mostly to trading relievers.
The Angels, under owner Arte Moreno, operate in their own insular universe, with their long-term plan extending only to the next day’s lineup. The Rockies are just as bizarre, seeming to take pride in being conscientious objectors at the deadline.
The acts of those teams are tired. But for most other clubs, the deadline offered limited opportunity, one way or the other. Time will tell if the Astros overpaid for lefty Yusei Kikuchi, if Preller did the same for relievers Scott, Adam and Bryan Hoenig, if other teams, in trying to fix their bullpens, also went too far. But the high prices simply reflected supply and demand.
Just this once, cut your GM some slack. There was only so much quality to be had.
(Top photo: Rich Storry/Getty Images)
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
All eyes were on Caitlin Clark on Wednesday night as she made her anticipated return from injury in a road matchup in Los Angeles.
But instead of a triumphant comeback, the Fever spent the entire night chasing the Sparks as Clark’s rough return fueled a 106-92 rout.
The superstar never found a groove, looking completely out of sync in her return from a back injury.
STEPHANIE WHITE GIVES CAITLIN CLARK STATUS UPDATE AHEAD OF FEVER-SPARKS, BUT HER NEXT MOVE RAISES QUESTIONS
Caitlin Clark huddles with teammates as the Indiana Fever battle the Sparks. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) ((Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images))
Much of that disjointed performance falls squarely on head coach Stephanie White, who kept Clark on a ridiculously tight leash by limiting her to just 16 minutes. The stop-and-go approach could have sabotaged any chance for the phenom to establish a rhythm.
Clark finished with just 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Her minus-16 plus-minus told the story.
The Los Angeles Sparks were severely shorthanded, taking the floor without stars Kelsey Plum and Cameron Brink.
MERCURY’S NOW-DELETED SOCIAL MEDIA POST MOCKING CAITLIN CLARK DRAWS SCRUTINY AFTER STAR’S INJURY
Yet while a depleted Sparks roster played to win, Indiana spent the night over-managing its biggest asset.
With Clark on a minutes restriction and Aliyah Boston out of the lineup, Kelsey Mitchell was forced to shoulder the entire offensive burden.
Mitchell did her part, pouring in 29 points while shooting 5-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Caitlin Clark orchestrates the Fever offense as Indiana battles the Los Angeles Sparks in primetime action. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) ((Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images))
But one hot hand couldn’t stop an efficient LA squad.
The Sparks shot 45% from three-point range, going 9-of-20 from deep to cruise to the 106-92 victory.
White’s next move is to sit Clark against the Mercury on Thursday while Boston returns.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
After Wednesday’s loss to a shorthanded Sparks team, it’s fair to question whether Indiana’s cautious approach is working. The Fever dropped to 12-9.
Caitlin Clark and Dearica Hamby face off as Fever and Sparks battle at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. (Photo by Tyler Ross/NBAE via Getty Images) ((Photo by Tyler Ross/NBAE via Getty Images))
Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela
Mookie Betts’ first hit this series against the Rockies couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. With the crack of the ball against his bat, Tommy Edman scored from third, giving the Dodgers the lead.
And as Betts reached first, he pointed to Freddie Freeman, whose single put Edman in scoring position. It had taken a team effort to overcome another middling start from Roki Sasaki, and Betts, who had little to show before his game-winning hit, took the chance to highlight the joint contribution in the Dodgers’ 4-3 rubber-match win over Colorado (38-56).
“It feels great,” Betts said of his nine-pitch battle. “Helping the boys win, that’s really all it is. We play the game to win, and coming through in a big moment is kind of what, when you’re a kid, playing in the backyard, getting that hit is what you always strive to do, and fortunately, I was able to do it.”
Given a three-run lead in the first inning, brought to the Dodgers by a wild pitch and Kyle Tucker’s two-run, line-drive single to left field, Sasaki seemed set up for success.
Still, he gave away the lead as quickly as it came. In the second inning, he left a fastball too far over the plate, and third baseman Kyle Karros drove the ball over the left-center wall. The slider he dealt two batters later to second baseman Edouard Julien also crossed the zone too far over the plate, and Julien rounded the bases with another homer. In the third, a sacrifice fly by Mickey Moniak evened the scored, 3-3.
Sasaki’s troubles this season have been hard to pin down since his last win on May 23, as Sasaki tries to claw back the triple-digit velocity that’s escaped him as of late.
Against the Rockies, his fastball topped out at 99.1 miles per hour before steadily dropping to 98. He had managed five strikeouts in his six innings when manager Dave Roberts replaced him with Jack Dreyer, though the three earned runs couldn’t be ignored.
But Roberts also acknowledged the possibility that the pitcher had been tipping his pitches, possibly since he was playing in Japan, and Sasaki has tried to address it after a three-inning, six-run start last week. Even if he had fully self-corrected, his control issues remain. In the third inning, he walked the tying runner, Brett Sullivan.
“I’ve been working on a lot of things like the tipping stuff,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. “Also, I need to make quality pitches.”
Sasaki regained some of his confidence in the fourth when he worked out of a two-base jam with two strikeouts and a flyball to right, something that didn’t go unnoticed by Roberts.
“You can see the demeanor walking off the mound, the confidence,” Roberts said. “For me, it was more of let him end on a high note, feeling good about his outing, and then go from there.”
The Dodgers’ problems were compounded by Alex Call wasting the team’s two challenges in his at-bat in the first inning when the team had already taken the lead. And maybe it would’ve been excusable if Call had driven in the runners on first and second, but instead he ended the inning on a strikeout, stranding both. Roberts called the situation an “outlier” and didn’t feel as though he needed to have a conversation with Call regarding the situation.
After the three-run first, the Dodgers (61-33) remained hitless until Max Muncy laced a double down the right-field line in the sixth, though to little avail. As the innings ticked forward, Colorado’s chances seemed to increase. The Rockies hold the best league batting average (.297) in the eighth and ninth innings (the Dodgers are fourth with .268). And the Dodgers relievers, within the same constraints, have a 3.83 ERA — not bad, but not in the top 10 either.
Third baseman Max Muncy can’t get his glove on a line-drive double by Kyle Karros in the fourth inning.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
So when Alex Vesia struggled against the Rockies in the eighth inning and Muncy suffered a throwing error, Colorado seemed in position to score with the bases loaded and one out. Vesia struck out TJ Rumfield and Edgardo Henriquez (4-0), his replacement, retired Karros on a fly ball to right.
After Betts’ single allowed the Dodgers to take the lead, Tanner Scott (13) shut down the Rockies with back-to-back strikeouts, avoiding the team’s eighth series loss of the season.
“Didn’t feel great,” Roberts said. “Fortunately, we won a series, but that’s not the kind of way you want to do it.”
Sports
Justin Verlander announces he will retire after this season: ‘I’ve realized that time has come’
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
One of the greatest pitchers in the history of baseball will be hanging up his cleats after this season.
Three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander announced on Wednesday that the 2026 season will be his last.
Amid an injury-riddled season with the Detroit Tigers, Verlander decided it’s time to go.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander watches from the dugout during a game against the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park in Detroit June 21, 2026. (David Rodriguez-Munoz/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
“This season has challenged me in ways I haven’t experienced before, both physically and mentally. I’ve always believed that as long as I could compete at the level I expect of myself, I’d keep playing. I never wanted to retire because of a milestone, a number, or a date on the calendar. I wanted the game to tell me when it was time. Over the last several months, I’ve realized that time has come,” Verlander said in a social media post.
“While I’m fully committed to giving my team everything I have for the rest of this season, I’ve decided this will be my last. It’s fitting that I get to finish where it all started – with the Detroit Tigers, the organization that drafted me and gave me my first opportunity.”
Verlander inked a one-year deal with the Tigers, with whom he spent his first 12½ seasons before being traded to the Houston Astros, in the offseason. In Houston, he returned to dominance, winning both of his World Series titles and two of his Cy Young Awards.
“Baseball has given me more than I could have imagined. It taught me discipline, resilience, and the value of continuing to adapt and evolve. I’ve been fortunate to play with and against incredible players, for outstanding organizations, and compete in-front of fans who deeply appreciate the game,” Verlander added in his announcement.
Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros celebrates after the Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 of the 2022 World Series at Minute Maid Park Nov. 5, 2022, in Houston, Texas. (Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
PHILLIES STAR SAYS ‘BS RULE’ IS KEEPING HIM FROM BEING NAMED ALL-STAR IN FRONT OF HOME CROWD
“To every teammate, coach, player, clubhouse attendant, and fan who has been part of this journey – thank you. It’s been a privilege to share the field with you. To my family, especially my wife Kate, thank you for standing beside me through every season, every rehab, and every high and low. I couldn’t have done this without you. It’s time for the next chapter. But first, I’m excited to finish this season the only way I know how – with everything I’ve got.”
Verlander is the active leader with 3,554 strikeouts, which is good for eighth all-time. He needs 21 to surpass Don Sutton and 87 to pass Tom Seaver.
The 43-year-old made his MLB debut in 2005 and won the American League Rookie of the Year Award the following season in what was just a small glimpse of what was to come.
Verlander was a Cy Young Award finalist on four other occasions, consistently near the top of the leaderboard in just about every pitching stat. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred gave Verlander a legend’s exemption to this year’s Midsummer Classic, making him a 10-time All-Star.
One could argue that Verlander should have at least one more Cy Young Award on his mantle, but he is on the fast track to Cooperstown and very much in the conversation to join Mariano Rivera as the only player unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame.
Verlander’s best season came in 2022, when he pitched to a career-best 1.75 ERA along with a 0.829 WHIP. However, that came after he missed the entire 2021 season due to Tommy John surgery for an injury he suffered after pitching just one inning in the abbreviated 2020 season.
Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander throws against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning Aug. 22, 2023, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
He won his first Cy Young Award in 2011, when he was also awarded the MVP Award, and his second in 2019. Verlander’s 11 seasons between his first and final Cy Young Awards are the second-most behind Roger Clemens, who had 18 seasons between his first and seventh.
Verlander led the majors in innings and WHIP four times while recording the most strikeouts in three seasons.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
-
News8 minutes agoFormer Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges
-
Los Angeles, Ca1 hour agoHeat advisory, beach hazards in effect as Southern California sizzles
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoTeen on moped hit by car after cruising through stop sign in Detroit
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoFlight of fancy: San Francisco moves to build private luxury airport terminal
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoDallas’ digital creator economy is booming. Burnout is too.
-
Miami, FL2 hours ago
I went to 2 famous Miami restaurants, a flashy steakhouse and a Cuban hot spot. Here’s how they compared.
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoPedestrian struck and killed in Roxbury – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoSanta Fe Drive in Denver closed this weekend for pedestrian bridge construction
