bukie

Boy, I really hope the Dodgers were able to bring in some pitching this deadline or they're dead in the water.

I'm still anticipating 1-3 pitchers being added for the Cubs today. 1 starter, 1-2 relievers.

So you're suggesting the Cubs just need to find the right Angle for this trade.

If ever the Cubs had a sell-high prospect, it's Ayers, who shot to the moon out of nowhere this year, and if a trade is the best way to maximize that value, then go for it. Vastly prefer that to, for example, letting Alcantara rot in AAA forever.

I think it means that the Iowa Cubs have been traded.

At a base level, we know that Pedro Ramirez hasn't already been traded.

I for one can't imagine why they'd use a different catcher for a day game after a night game.

I mean, to me the only real annoyance about this trade is if it somehow sets the market on pitchers, because the White Sox got fleeced.

Top 100 in the team's system I assume.

5-2 road trip against NL Central and Wild Card contenders where the only losses were by 1 run on Jamo HR Derby day and an extra inning 1-run loss that was one ground ball placement away from a Cub win.

The Cubs started the season 27-12, then went on a 7-22 stretch, then 27-12 since to equal their high watermark for the season.

Taillon's performance yesterday left the Cubs Wantz-ing.

So now we're about 5 days from the deadline, and with both leagues having playoff spots up for grabs among teams even hovering near .500, very few teams are truly out of it. Here's the landscape for the league as of this morning: 1. Teams that are clearly in seller mode (< 5% chance of playoffs) (7): Angels, Rockies, Royals, Mets, Giants, Athletics, Reds There aren't a ton of great options here for pitching, especially long term. Mets bullpen has some short term options. Reds might be hesitant to deal with the Cubs, but I'd at least kick the tires on some of their pitchers (*cough* Greene *cough*), as they have a dearth of offensive options and are probably unloading their older hitters at the deadline like Suarez and Stephenson. 2. Teams that could still squint and see a way to play into contentiion (< 25% chance of playoffs) (5): Blue Jays, Nationals, Marlins, Padres, Cardinals Basically the Blue Jays streaking their way into contention since the AL is terrible, and the .500 NL teams that don't have good underlying numbers suggesting they'll fall off. They could fool themselves into panic buying here at the deadline (I mean, I don't put it past the Padres, who continue to operate like they're a fantasy team of statistics without any consideration for team composition). Any of these teams lose the next couple games, they'll convert to for sure sellers, and there are some really good pitching options here that the Cubs should try to pry away, like Gausman, but I have a hard time seeing any of these teams going full rebuild right now, save maybe the Padres. 3. AL teams that are in contention because the AL is garbage, and NL teams that can snag the last wildcard spot, but the World Series is not really in play (11): Twins, Astros, Orioles, Tigers, Pirates, White Sox, Guardians, Mariners, Rangers, Red Sox, Diamondbacks I don't expect any of these teams to give up at this point, as the AL Central and West are not strong, and anyone could leap into a playoff spot with a week of good play. Twins and Tigers are probably the closest to borderline here, but they're still right there and it could be hard to get good assets here (Ryan, Skubal) without a huge overpay that makes it worth their time. Lots of these teams are just looking at making the playoffs as a success, so I don't see them sandbagging that for the future unless they can really get bonus value for expiring assets. 4) Actual contenders that are favorites to make the playoffs and have a realistic shot at the WS (7): Phillies, Cubs, Yankees, Rays, Braves, Brewers, Dodgers These are the true buyers this year, the teams that are a piece or two away from a WS trip. Also the competition with the Cubs for some of the pitching options on the market. It's on the Cubs to decide whether to go all in for a shot this year or stay the course another year, but they really need at least one starter option and one bullpen option to feel better about this year's chances, even if they can get guys like Steele, Palencia and Brown back before the season is over.

July 19, folks.

MLS, go home, you're drunk.

Being 13 games over .500 would suggest that no, they don't.

So you're suggesting that Gausman might be a better option than a Pfaadt in the wind?

Damn, hadn't read yesterday's news, and was excited to have that two-forward combo. Guessing Cuypers didn't want to share offensive time with Lewandowski.

Oh well, back to MLS and the Chicago Fire, who somehow seem to be the best run sports franchise in Chicago right now, with their new stadium deal, currently 3rd in the standings and just signed Robert Lewandowski (if you don't know, Polish striker that scored tons of goals for Bayern Munich and Barcelona). So, that should be fun to watch at least.

It's the most fair option. Half of OT in each direction, one moment doesn't automatically end it, creates sustained excitement. Very similar to NBA overtime, and NFL overtime continues towards this outcome.

Second yellow, turns out.

The AL is so weak that the 47-45 White Sox not only make the playoffs, but win the division and get the bye as the 2 seed.

In my experiences, I'd say the problems are about 50% the parents, and 50% the layers of capitalism set up to take money from people for what should be rather affordable services. It shouldn't be that hard to set up soccer games for kids with proper training and skill development. But parents get ultra competitive, wanting every advantage they can afford for their kids, whether it be paying extra for every little amenity, or threatening every authority figure within earshot so nobody will dare confront or challenge their child in any way. But the many layers of horsefeathers on top of what should be basic is insanity. What should be doable with just a ball, a set of cleats, a set of shinguards, and some basic clothes for maybe $50 total turns into insanity when you have to pay a club to join a team, pay coaches to train, pay a middle man for rights to play on a field they lease out, pay a middle man for an officiating finder, pay a software vendor for the official scorekeeping app, pay a tournament business for the right to play in their tournament, pay the park itself for the right to watch your kid, pay the parking lot operator for the right to park at the field, pay to travel 1000 miles to get to the field, pay the official tournament hotel for the right to stay near the field to play, and pay the catering company for refreshments when you can't bring in your own drinks or food.

Great article on the youth soccer landscape in the US and how it compares to Europe:

Even 10 years ago, rec baseball was more organized and had more participation, but most of even the base level kids who aren't really travel but just enjoy baseball get cannibalized by various travel programs. I've coached both rec and travel for 13 years now, and there is surprisingly little difference in terms of parent behavior at games and towards coaches and umpires, so in some senses going travel at least gets you parents that are invested somewhat, so they have something to lose if they get penalized. Soccer was an entirely different beast. For my older, I had to get a class C license to coach his rec league team (so, like, this was a serious rec league). I set the team's goal every season to try to get every player a goal, or at least a shot on goal. Parents were largely on board, up until the last season I coached, where one family demanded their child start and never play defense because they were a big contributor to the program, even though every time I tried to put the child in to play they didn't want to even go on the field. I had another coach threaten to fight during a game because their kid lost a 50-50 ball (that wasn't even called as a foul). That's when I decided I was done at that league. For the youngest, I joined another nearby rec league and coached because they were short. This was much less organized, and in the two years I coached there, I had kids not show up for any of the practices and half the games, kids sit down on the field while in the game and do nothing, and kids not come off the field when I subbed them off, and then not come back to the bench at all (they'd just go sit on the other end of the field by their parents). The kids that were interested in playing and could actually do things were bored out of their minds because they could just score at will whenever they liked. Nobody was learning anything, so the league was pointless. So, in my experience, rec is no less stressful than travel, except families aren't as invested so they can no-show at will and treat everyone badly with fewer consequences. I think most of what's needed to fix this is on parents and families, because there needs to be some kind of investment in the kids enjoyment and participation, but not to the level that you ruin the experience for everyone involved.