Frayed Knot

Christian Scott faces Tanner Bibee (Pronounced BUY-bee, btw, so as to not be confused with Jim Bibby, Shane Bieber, Tanner Roark, or Chuck Tanner). Mr Bibee (R/R) is toting around a 4 - 11 record despite a solidly respectable 3.81 ERA and 1.15 WHIP Again a 6:40 first pitch and, as always, those who are late do not get fruit cup.

Back to the original subject of this thread: the Rays and Freddy Peralta, well things aren't off to a good start for that pairing. In his initial start for TBR Tuesday night, Peralta allowed 7 earned on 9 hits (2 HRs), 3 K in just 3-2/3 innings (but, Hey, only one walk!). In the interests of full disclosure, the game was at Cape Coors but that's an ugly line no matter where you are. He faced 19 batters and retired just 9 of them with two GiDPs helping to keep things from being even worse.

First outing for the recently-gutted bullpen: 3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 3 BB, 1 K Probably helps that they weren't facing a lineup of Shohei/Mookie/Freddie, but I'll take it anyway.

Skubal's LAD debut (at Wrigley): 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 K ... and a big 'ol 'L' next to his name as the Dodgers lose 5 - 1 for their 5th straight loss [BOS x 3, CHC x 2] and 7th in their last 10. Probably not panic time in LA quite yet though. BoSox keep on rolling: 14 - 2 last night over the ChiSox. Now 24 - 4 since June 24, or from 14 G under .500 to 10 G above. And to think that it all started with a four game sweep over the Yanx [June 25 -28]. Sox were 15.5 behind the then 1st place Yanx when that series started. Now they're just two games behind the 2nd place Bombers and 5.5 in back of TBR

Yanx beat Cards 2 - 0 on solo HRs by Jazz Chisholm and ... George Lombard in his second ML AB

New acquisition Jo Adell (he of the three HR-stealing game earlier this year) makes his Guardians debut after being part of yesterday's marketplace mayhem.

No they didn't. They were likely doing what they had done the previous year which was to see where the market was heading for Pete just one year after, despite both predictions and demands that he'd get up to eight years, no team even went four. Pete/Boras had to know off of that that the Mets were reluctant to go long-term and so likely jumped at the first offer that had the words 'five years' in it without ever giving the Mets the option to match (which they almost certainly wouldn't have done anyway even if he had). And while the Mets under Cohen/Stearns have certainly not being shy on offering high-dollar/shorter terms deals (including for Pete himself for the '25 season), I think it's clear that the Pete negotiations (or non-negotiations) were always more about the length than the dollars. Many of us said as much beforehand in a nearly three-year long thread on the topic.

I failed to mention in the opening post that today (and tomorrow) are 6:40 EDT starts and that Thursday's game goes off at 1:10 ... so plan your lives accordingly.

Yeah, after they were done with their trades they demoted both SS Anthony Volpe and their previous prized prospect Jasson Dominguez in order to make room for new faces including the newly promoted Lombard. They also got what seemed like a big HR from newly acquired Luis Garcia: a 2R come-from-behind job in the 7th of a game where the Cards were once up 6 - Zip including 4 earned of Schlittler in just 3 frames (4 runs, 4 hits, 5 BBs). But then the Cards stormed back with seven in top 8th for a 13 - 7 win. Alex Burleson hit three HRs in the game. Amid all the trade talk on our off-day it was easy to overlook that there were games last night. Don't think the Yanx know what to do with Volpe these days. A former 1st round pick and a local kid, he won a Gold Glove as a 22 y/o rookie and seemed to be a fan favorite. But his offense never got any better: his OPS+ over four seasons is 81, 86, 82, 82 (at least he's consistent) and his defense somehow got Much worse to the point of unreliable. Still just 25 years old, but it now looks like he'll finish the season with < 200 PAs after getting 600+/yr in each of his first three.

Once they found out that others were willing to go five years on him, yes.

I've tried and I've tried but I'm still mystified. I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied. OK so they're forcing us to play tonight. No, it's not optional, it's on the schedule and stuff. But, after dealing away about 1/4 of the active roster this past weekend you might not even be able to tell all the players With a scorecard so the mystery of who is actually on the 26-man roster will presumably reveal itself over the next dozen hours or so. The Guardians, currently in 2nd place in the AL Central 3 games behind the ChiSox, pitch well (8th lowest RA/G) but score even less than the Mets (29th in RS/G) A pair of lefties match up in the opener as Sean Manaea and Joey Cantillo [23 starts, 3.88 ERA / 1.45 WHIP] will find a game ball sitting on their locker room stool when they arrive at the ballpark. As a side note on Cleveland's starters, five guys [Cantillo, Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, Slade Cecconi, and Parker Messick*] have started 112 of the team's 113 games this season. Seeing that makes me wonder what color the sky is in a world where that kind of thing happens. * btw, I'm thinking that not many of you had a lot of Tanners, Slades, Parkers, or Gavins as part of your grade school classrooms. Just a guess.

Oh sure, I get why it's happening. But, in any universe, five teams in five seasons which contain three (and possibly four) batting crowns is remarkable.

Things have already been testy between Harper and Dombrowski at least twice in this calendar year. I wonder if Bryce is on board with this or whether they even ran it by him first.

The Tiggers are trying to replicate their 2024 stretch drive where they were heavy sellers at the deadline and then went 34 - 19 in Aug & Sep to make the playoffs and win a round before going out 3G to 2 in the ALDS round. But dealing a reigning 2x CY AND a former 1/1 draft pick in the same weekend deserves special recognition.

The only guys dealt away who qualify as 'under control' are Weaver (one year) and Brazoban (three more). With both I suspect their justification is: a) selling high. Relievers are notoriously tough to rely on from year to year. And while Brazzy's resume is unusually short for a 36 y/o, this was, by far, the best year of his career. ERA ('22 - '25): 3.73; ERA in '26: 2.56; WHIP ('22-'25): 1.33; WHIP in '26: 1.006 ... And I KNOW few if any of you/us or NYM fans in general, were sayin 'Oh good, it's Brazoban coming in form the pen' prior to this season. b) he'll be 37 y/o next season Weaver is younger and even better but rewind all the way back to 2023 and you'll see Luke Weaver traded twice in season due at least in part to the 6.40 ERA and 1.58 WHIP he pitched to that year. So the 'selling high' and unpredictability things again. Raley, Taylor, Holmes (player option), Peralta were all free to leave in seven weeks time.

Listed in BB-Ref at 5' 11" / 150 On the other hand I seem to remember Ronny Mauricio being listed at about 170 at a similar age. Now at 21 y/o this kid is unlikely to get any taller but Mauricio is certainly a lot thicker than when I saw him play a game in A-ball a bunch of years back.

Jefferson Rojas (SS/3B) is the return.

Mets also kicked in a lot of money. You wouldn't normally think that would be necessary given Weaver's season, but it sounds like it was a combo of being the Pirates as the partner and the Mets hunting for the prospect they wanted and being willing to pay for it.

The Luis Arraez tour of North American cities continues. 2019 - 2022: Minneapolis 2023: Miami 2024: Miami & San Diego 2025: San Diego 2026: San Francisco & Philadelphia Five cities in the last five seasons. Amazing for a guy with his kind of bat-to-ball skills.

Houston gets Dalton Varsho form Toronto. The Astros were said to be looking for a LF (they've used 14 apparently this season) so I was thinking Tyrone Taylor ... but I guess not now.

2027 is a player option year for Holmes. Perhaps mgmt doesn't like how the winds are blowing on that front.

Adley Rutschman, the former 1/1 draft pick (2019) is a good player but also one who failed to match the expectations of many. His offense, and maybe not coincidentally, his games played totals have fallen virtually every year since his rookie campaign in 2022 [OPS+ = 131, 128, 105, 90, 115] and with just 157 games played total for '25 & '26. He's also currently on the IL Apparently the consensus is that the BoSox gave up A LOT for less than a year and half of the 128 y/o Rutschman.

Not surprising that it comes for the guy who was the most attractive of the NYM trade bait crew.

To nix a deal where?

And just to brighten everyone's day, the Braves have "checked in" on Jacob deGrom (acc to NY Post's Jon Hey Man!). Heyman adds that it's "unclear whether the Rangers would move him" but that they're "listening on everyone". Losing three straight this past weekend to the cross-state Astros dropped them 2.5 out of 1st place in ALW (and two games below .500) which possibly makes them listen more closely. Just in case you've lost track, JdG turned 38 in June, is signed for 2027 and there's a mutual option for 2028 ('terms of option unknown' sez BB-Ref) when he'd turn 40 just prior to mid-season. In 21 starts this year JdG is 7 - 7 w/a 3.96 ERA (by far the highest of his career) and a 1.14 WHIP. This follows seasons of 6, 3, and 30 starts since signing with Texas in the winter of '22 - '23