bukie

Terrell Smith makes the one good play by the secondary in the first half. Unfortunately, he can't catch or it would have been tied.

Yikes, another poor coverage by Blackwell followed by yet another whiff on the tackle after the catch.

Always nice when one play makes the QB, WR and HC look good.

Rookie LB Hippolite with a couple solid plays in the 1st. Josh Blackwell whiffed on a couple tackles early, getting abused a bit by Miamis offense early on.

Early goal line stand against Miamis #1 offense early on, though they gave up chunks of yards each play until they got inside the 5.

Hey the first preseason game started. No Caleb Williams, but opening drive with Bagent was a 3 and out with a sack and a short completion to Loveland. Nothing means anything, and I'm just hoping nobody gets injured.

Or something like Horton + Shaw + prospects.

Personally, I'd feel worse about today if top end starters were being wheeled and dealt everywhere and the Cubs just watched it happen, but no top tier starters were dealt and just one second tier starter was (Kelly), to the point where you could reasonably say the Cubs acquired the second best starter that was dealt. To me, that paints a picture that the SP market was just unreasonably high.

After 10 years as a high K reliever, Pressly suddenly stopped being able to miss bats this year at an astounding rate. He was able to adjust for a while and be effective for about 2 months, and then stopped again.

The Cubs did acquire two high K, low BB, high GB relievers, which should thrive on this team. They also acquired Soroka, who was a dominant reliever last year, though will probably be used as a 4/5 starter.

The Cubs have the second best record in baseball, not just in their division. This ignorant fatalism is just silly. They're basically the only team in baseball that has consistently been good to great all season. And the trade deadline isn't some all you can eat buffet where you just pick out what you like and take it. If the opportunity cost is prohibitive, then you don't bite. If no teams bite, it definitely sounds like the opportunity cost was prohibitive.

The Marlins think they're in playoff contention now. The Pirates failed to take advantage of a sellers market because they forgot that only works if you sell.

So, they did half of 2, and all of 3 and 4. So...B+, but addressed the lesser 2 of 3 needs. EDIT: And #1 was apparently off the table as effectively none of my #1 or #2 options were moved aside from Kelly.

Castro has a 109 wRC+ and is a plus baserunner, average defender. Effectively an above average switch hitter which is always a useful tool. Insurance policy for OF and 3B depth.

The Cubs were already the best team in baseball at the deadline, and that's why they won the World Series.

I have to imagine the Cubs are well aware his velo was down the last few starts and are making the acquisition based on reliable information. The prospect cost of Soroka gives me very "he's fine, he's just been sandbagging it to save the arm" vibes that make me somehow less concerned.

I still have my Cubs 23 jersey I got in the 90s, loved watching him play every day growing up. First sports memory was watching the Sandberg game, so it feels like a huge part of my childhood died yesterday. Had some rocky coaching years, and his opinions on things weren't always great, but his ability to be an ambassador of the game the last 10 years or so really cemented his legacy. On a lighter note...never forget

With Judge out due to injury for an unknown amount of time, there is a very real chance PCA finishes the year with the highest bWAR in MLB:

I mean, it makes sense for the Brewers to try to upgrade their offense with what is by far the best available offensive option. Their offense is their weakness.

If the Cubs sit tight and do nothing, they're still the best team in baseball, so that's a B for me. It's reactionary to say they can't beat the Phillies or Dodgers in the playoffs with their current roster, as their current roster is already performing better than them so far this season (and the Cubs already went 4-3 against the Dodgers this year, including 2 way too early to count games in Japan that went against them). However, there are ways to measurably improve the team, so here's my thoughts: 1) If you can get Ryan or Gore without giving up Shaw or Horton, do it. Both are immediate and long term improvements, but if you have to give up Horton/Shaw to get them, it's not as big of an immediate improvement and you would still need extra pieces to complete the team. Just doing this would get them to A- level. 2) If that isn't an option, look to get 2 starter pieces, preferably of the Cease/Lugo/Kelly/Keller/Cabrera/Alcantara crowd. 3) Pick up an extra high leverage reliever. The pen was doing really well until the last 2 weeks, but having just one more reliable arm in there should bolster the whole pen. One of the Twins (Duran/Jax) or Guardians (Clase/Smith) options would be preferred, or Bednar from the Bucs. 4) Bolster the bench/LHP hitting. Suarez is the big score here, though I may overrate him due to how much he crushes the Cubs in particular and worry he could turn into a pumpkin at any time. More low-budget options would be someone like Yoan Moncada, Ramon Urias or Ke'Bryan Hayes. If 1 or 2 is accomplished, that's an A trading deadline. If they do everything, that's an A+.

While a sound idea in a vacuum, there are several reasons this is highly unlikely: 1) The Yankees are also trying to win and make the playoffs, and are very unlikely to unload their all-star starting 1B in a season where they're statistically still probably the 2nd best team in baseball, despite their record. 2) The Cubs already have an all-star caliber 1B, so Goldschmidt would effectively be replacing Justin Turner. The sheer amount of resources it would take to acquire him for so minimal a role is a poor use of the Cubs resources, seeing as they're already the best offensive team in baseball. 3) The Cubs desperately need pitching over offense and are unlikely to send actual assets to improve their offense until they acquire at least 2, if not 3 pitchers, especially at a position where they're already sporting the 2nd best offensive output in baseball (Kurtz of the Athletics is higher, that's all).

Cubs have the best record in baseball again. Looking forward to tomorrow's front page article detailing how everything is now fixed.

The Dodgers SP fWAR are one of 8 teams that have been worse than the Cubs SP fWAR. Their offense had scored the most runs in baseball until about an hour ago.

Scoreboard watching in July is stupid and pointless. Especially when you aren't chasing anyone and already have the best team.