The Cardinals, Giants, Phillies and Cubs are among teams that could join the Red Sox, Dodgers, Braves and Twins in pursuit of one of the big free-agent shortstops — Trea Turner, Dansby Swanson, Carlos Correa or Xander Bogaerts (Correa and Bogaerts will be opting out).
The Yankees are thought to be OK with Isiah Kiner-Falefa holding the spot for top prospect Anthony Volpe, unless they ultimately decide Volpe is better suited for second base.
One way for the Marlins to acquire offense without spending money they don’t have would be to trade one of the most valuable players in the game, Sandy Alcantara, who not only is the NL Cy Young favorite, but also has a long-term deal that now looks team-friendly. A Marlins source, however, said, “Alcantara is as close to untouchable as you can find.”
Much more likely is Miami finding a taker for Pablo Lopez, who was close to being dealt to the Yankees at the deadline.
It’s unlikely longtime White Sox general manager Rick Hahn will pay for the team’s stark underachievement. On paper, they look solid, and some trades look terrific, especially the crosstown deal for Dylan Cease and Eloy Jimenez. Plus, while owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s legendary loyalty worked against the baseball ops department with the Tony La Russa hiring, it likely works in their favor now.
Rival execs were “shocked” by Kansas City’s “cold and abrupt” firing of all-time good guy Dayton Moore, the one GM to get to two World Series and actually win one. Also odd: new Royals owner John Sherman announcing they need a new direction while replacing Moore with Moore’s right-hand man of the past 16 years, J.J. Picollo.
Cincinnati’s Alexis Diaz, Edwin Diaz’s younger brother, is having a huge year, too. “He’s very talented and super deceptive,” a scout says. Like Edwin, he’s said to be a gem of a guy.
The Reds lost their record for being hit by pitches to the Mets, but set a record for hitting batsmen.
Of all the speculated landing spots for Aaron Judge, the Cubs would be a surprise. He and Anthony Rizzo are very close, and while Rizzo surely loves Cubs fans, things didn’t end well there with the front office.
Roger Maris Jr. shouldn’t be getting criticism for saying Judge will have the true record if he gets to 62. The Maris family has handled this chase with class, as they did the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa pursuit in 1998, and Maris Jr. is entitled to his opinion. Maris Jr. also happens to be right.
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