Let’s go around Major League Baseball for three quick points followed by an update on the Nationals and Orioles. Tune in each Monday.
- Skubal to the Dodgers: The Tigers, only a few games behind the White Sox for First Place in the AL Central, dumped their franchise player Tarik Skubal. Why oh why would the Tigers willingly make the Dodgers better? What ever happened to refusing to trade with a World Series champion? Every team has prospects. The Tigers should’ve gone elsewhere. No shame to the Dodgers. The best team added the game’s best left-handed pitcher. Watch out for a three-peat.
. - Red Sox Keep Winning: The Boston Red Sox began the season with a bunch of loses. They have recently rebounded to contending for a Wild Card spot. They have no chance to win their division, and they have a losing record at home (29-31), but their comeback has been impressive.
. - Jordan Alvarev is on Fire: Houston’s slugger is leading the American League in Batting Average, Homeruns, and Runs Batted In. Triple Crowns are rare. Miguel Cabrera won an American League Triple Cown in 2012, the first since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.
Nationals (59-61): The Nationals were trade deadline sellers. They gave up Luis Gracia Jr., who is having a solid season, to the Yankees for prospects. They also traded the Australian Third Baseman to the Red Sox for a rookie left-handed pitcher, which looks like a great trade for the Nationals, but a long-term trade. The Nationals have enough offense to trade bats for pitching, which they did, but Gracia is good enough to keep and the return, right now, looks too weak to justify the trade.
Orioles (57-61): The O’s were trade deadline dumpers. They traded away Adley Rutschman, a special player and an important connection to their fan base. Rutschman is a switch-hitting catcher, an All-Star, a number one overall draft pick, a helluva athlete, and his jersey has been the most popular in the stands the last few seasons. You don’t trade a guy like that. And you certainly don’t trade him in your own division. The O’s foolishly traded him to the Red Sox, a team that they’ll have to play, hopefully, meaningful games against in the near future. The O’s now have to go through Rutschman to win a division title. That shouldn’t be. Fire the GM.