MLB - NEWS & NOTES

Cat, I respectfully disagree about your opinion on the higher-ups in Philly and the fan based being pissed. The Phillies have bent over backwards to land Machado, but I think their also smart enough to know that spending the bank on him, doesn't gaurantee a damn thing.

Spending isn't always the answer and the Yankees are a prime example.

Right now as it stand the Phillies are competing with what they have and doing it at a minimum outside of the signing of a certain pitcher who has under-performed. One man doesn't make a team these day's... used to be in the old days, but not anymore, in my opinion.

The farm, as stated earlier, is alive and thriving... Phils are set up for the future and actually ahead of schedule.

 

Yeah I agree with this.

 

well Will you're not in Philly to see the backlash i do in the newspapers and via online through thousands of fans on facebook. i watch a ton from the phillies tv show on their gm and owner who are on all the time. Do you ?? THey promise this and that and NONE of it has happened. Win now. Plenty of money to spend, etc is all they say and now watch Machado trot to LA. if they didn't brag so much, i wouldn't care. they do and now it's going to blow up in their faces.

spending doesn't win but it sure makes things easier for a struggling hitting team that lost 4 last week to new york and florida with 2 shutouts. it would've been 3 shutouts but the pitcher got a hit and winning rbi.

what pitcher ? happ ? hamels ? machado plays everyday. his bat alone can help the team more so than any 5 day rotation pitcher.

 

What if the Dodgers are simply offering more? Are you willing to part with some top prospects for what could very well be a rental?

I don't think the Phillies are actually a win now roster at this moment and I don't think Machado does quite enough to put them over that hump.

This is probably a decision that comes down to adding a few more wins this season versus potentially being a contender for a 4 to 6 year window or more potentially if a lot of the studs on the farm pan out.

I know Andy MacPhail very well from his days running the Cubs. Not a huge fan of the man. But the Phillies seem to be in a good spot moving forward.

Fan reaction and newspaper backlash means nothing. If you read newspaper in Chicago and read some fans on Twitter you will believe Joe Maddon is the worst gameday manager in baseball and should be fired.

 

after he handle chapman a few yrs ago, that's all Cubsnation said about him ! haha. i went to college in the west suburbs of Chicago. I know their newspapers and fans well.

phils are also after brad hand, moustakis, happ, hamels and others, so this is not just getting machado and doing nothing else. this is about a commitment to winning. landing the AL MVP is potentially step 1.

read O's wanting pitching prospects. phils offered their #2 prospect up, who is a pitcher and were leading last night. LA offers some outfielder and now they're leading. ??

 

Don't discount that all these reports of who is or isn't in the lead are more than likely coming from Baltimore's side.

Plus, if past history is any indicator, the O's will scuttle the final deal after finding out one of the prospects had a hang nail in 3rd grade, anyway.

 

well it was coming from heyman at 9 am this morning and now buster olney that LA is in the lead and closing the deal soon.

 

Understood, but the sources for their info are probably within the O's organization...it's in their best interest to keep the other teams involved and bidding up against each other.

 

LA upped their offer with the stud pitcher and stud outfielder. pretty much over.

 

Jean Sagura with a 3-run shot...

 

6 straight W's for the American League.

 

Manny Machado reportedly traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers

This has been the worst kept secret all day, but Ken Rosenthal has now reported that, yes, Manny Machado has been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The full return is not yet known, but Rosenthal says that outfield prospect Yusniel Diaz — who starred in the Futures Game on Sunday — is part of the package heading back to Baltimore. Rosenthal says that other players, and the amount of money, if any, going from Baltimore to Los Angeles, is not yet known. It would make some sense, however, for the Orioles to do that. First, to secure a better package of prospects in return and second to help the Dodgers stay under the luxury tax threshold.

That this was a done deal well before first pitch tonight is clear. As I noted earlier today, the reporters talking about the deal used far more certain terms than they usually do, keeping themselves just short of announcing that it was official. Before the All-Star Game Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp was seen taking a selfie with Machado. During the game, as Kemp was mic’d up while playing the outfield, Fox broadcaster Joe Buck asked him about the possible trade and Kemp, not at all convincingly said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” and offered a chuckle.

Francisco Lindor pinch-hit for Machado in the top of the sixth inning and, at that moment, Rosenthal asked Machado about leaving Baltimore. Machado spoke of the Orioles in the past tense. Just as they went on the air, Rosenthal tweeted out news of the deal being official. It’s obvious that Major League Baseball or the teams involved asked him to embargo news of the trade until Machado was out of the game.

The mechanics of the deal will not be remembered. The significant thing is that the Dodgers just acquired the best available player at the deadline. Machado is hitting .315/.387/.575 with 24 homers and 65 RBI so far this year. While his shortstop defense has been suspect, his bat will play quite well at a position where the Dodgers are currently in trouble due to the season-ending injury to Corey Seager. Machado will slot right into shortstop for the current NL West leaders, and will add serious pop to what has already been a potent lineup all year long. Machado will be a free agent at the end of the season, but he’ll be an excellent rental for the Dodgers for the final two and a half months of the season and into the playoffs, should the Dodgers make it to October. (NBC Hardball Talk)

 

10 homers smash All-Star Game record
Astros' Alex Bregman, George Springer go back-to-back for AL squad...

The 2018 All-Stars crushed 10 home runs Tuesday night, smashing the previous record of six in a single Midsummer Classic, previously set in 1951 and matched in '54 and '71.

No All-Star Game had even seen six homers in 47 years. That 1971 Midsummer Classic at Tiger Stadium had some serious star power involved. The AL took a 6-4 victory that year behind homers from Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson and Harmon Killebrew, overcoming NL big flies off the bats of Johnny Bench, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente. All six of those home run hitters are Hall of Famers.

On Tuesday, Aaron Judge got things started with a solo shot off NL starter Max Scherzer in the second inning, and Mike Trout added on with another solo blast in the third against Jacob deGrom. The NL clawed back with two solo homers of its own, from Willson Contreras in the third and Trevor Story in the seventh before Jean Segura struck the big blow of the night with an eighth-inning three-run shot against Josh Hader to give the AL a 5-2 lead. Christian Yelich got a run back and tied the All-Star Game record with his eighth-inning, opposite-field solo shot against Charlie Morton.

No All-Star Game had even seen six homers in 47 years. That 1971 Midsummer Classic at Tiger Stadium had some serious star power involved. The AL took a 6-4 victory that year behind homers from Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson and Harmon Killebrew, overcoming NL big flies off the bats of Johnny Bench, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente. All six of those home run hitters are Hall of Famers.

On Tuesday, Aaron Judge got things started with a solo shot off NL starter Max Scherzer in the second inning, and Mike Trout added on with another solo blast in the third against Jacob deGrom. The NL clawed back with two solo homers of its own, from Willson Contreras in the third and Trevor Story in the seventh before Jean Segura struck the big blow of the night with an eighth-inning three-run shot against Josh Hader to give the AL a 5-2 lead. Christian Yelich got a run back and tied the All-Star Game record with his eighth-inning, opposite-field solo shot against Charlie Morton.

Votto's solo shot off J.A. Happ in the bottom of the 10th wasn't enough to complete another NL comeback, but it did mean that both teams finished with five homers, something that no All-Star squad had ever done. The record was four, with the AL doing that in 1954 and the NL in '51, '60 and '81.

In fact, It was the first time that five different players have homered for each team in the same game -- not just in an All-Star Game, but also in the regular season or postseason, according to ESPN.

Here are some other facts and figures to know from the 2018 All-Star Game:

AL KEEPS STREAKING

• This was the sixth straight victory for the AL, although none of those have been blowouts, each coming by three runs or fewer. The AL now has taken 19 of the past 22 Midsummer Classics going back to 1997.

• The AL leads the all-time All-Star series, 44-43-2. It is the first time the AL has led the series since it was 17-16-1 in 1963.

(MLB.com)

 

why wasn't Springer MVP? His HR won it, not Bregman's ? And enough of the fucking selfies during the damn game !

in other news - why has the Machado deal been deemed official, but yet no announcement of the full deal is anywhere to find online ??

 

interesting tidbit...

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/scene-josh..._source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=yahoosports

Josh Hader's twitter past comes back to haunt him last night...

 

2 of the prospects LA was sending to the O's have medical issues. trade has hit snag per several reports via the web.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/...o-dodgers-hits-a-snag-over-prospect-medicals/