With the MLB draft and the All-Star break behind us, all eyes now turn to the August 2 trade deadline. As postseason contenders look to upgrade their rosters, big names could be on the move.
While most eyes will be on whether Juan Soto is moved by the Nationals, there are plenty of other players that will find new homes come August 3.
With so much excitement over the next couple of weeks, let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories around the league from this last week.
AL Makes It Nine In A Row
The American League just keeps on winning. Given that the MLB All-Star game was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, it has now been a decade since the American League has lost the All-Star game.
On Tuesday, the AL won 3-2 in Dodger Stadium thanks to a combination of dominant pitching and some timely home runs. One of those home runs came from the All-Star game MVP, Giancarlo Stanton, who went back-to-back with the Minnesota Twins’ Byron Buxton.
Houston Astros’ pitcher Framber Valdez picked up the win, and the AL reigned supreme in the mid-summer classic.
The AL has completely dominated the 21st century. Since 2000, the AL has gone 18-3 with one tie sprinkled in there in 2002. The NL won three consecutive years from 2010 to 2012, but those are their only wins stemming back all the way to 1996.
Giants Land Reliever
Trevor Rosenthal hasn’t pitched since 2020 when he went 1-0 with a 1.90 ERA, 0.845 WHIP, 11 saves, and had 38 strikeouts in 23.2 innings, but this week he landed a nice contract with the San Francisco Giants.
San Francisco announced the addition of the reliever Thursday on a prorated one-year, $4.5 million contract. There are additional bonuses that could push that total up another million or so.
Rosenthal is still rehabbing a strained hamstring, but the Giants still feel that when he can recover, he can help a bullpen that currently has a 4.19 ERA.
At 48-43, the Giants sit 12.5 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers for first in the NL West. San Francisco is +6000 to win the World Series this year.
Baltimore Has Deal With Top Pick
The Orioles made headlines as they drafted Jackson Holliday, the son of former Rockies and Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday, with the first overall pick in the MLB draft.
On Thursday, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported that Holliday has a deal worth just under $8.2 million.
This deal is about $650,000 less than the slotted amount, allowing the Orioles to have some flexibility in some of their other signings.
As a high school shortstop, the 18-year-old Holliday has several years of seasoning before he makes the big leagues, but he makes an already elite farm system that much better for the Orioles.
Chris Sale Has Finger Surgery
It has been a rough stretch for Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale. After taking a comebacker off his pitching hand, he underwent surgery to fix a fracture in his finger.
Sale hasn’t pitched more than nine games since 2019 when he went 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA for Boston. Last season, in nine games, he was 5-1 with a 3.16 ERA, but injuries again derailed the season.
Despite the surgery, there is still some optimism that Sale could return this season. That would be a welcomed relief for a Red Sox team that sits just two games out of the last Wild Card spot.
Boston ranks 20th in team earned run average at 4.04. They are +5000 to win the World Series this season.
