bukie

Pages is a top 15 fielder and the Dodgers are the 3rd best defense in baseball by Fangraphs DRAA team metrics. It's okay for more than one thing to be good.

Also, the Cubs have hit a new high mark over .500 on the season at 16 over.

If the Cubs win tomorrow, they would clinch the tiebreaker with the Dodgers for when the teams tie each other atop the NL standings at the end of the season.

This highlight is brought to you by the letters P, C and A:

Assad gets a ring too.

Roster moves for tonight: Taylor and Zeferjahn activated. Alcantara optioned to AAA. Woodford DFA.

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.