MLB Bullets and the Great Chicago Fire Sale

Good morning. I know the Bullets columns over the past week haven’t been as good as the ones previous, but I want you to know that it’s all a result of the Home Run Derby messing up my writing.

• There was a big trade last night as the White Sox fire sale continued. The Pale Hose sent third baseman Todd Frazier and relievers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle to the Yankees for three prospects along with reliever Tyler Clippard.
• The White Sox followed this up by calling up top prospect Yoan Moncada.
• Here’s a quick reminder of the first time Frazier stood on the field at Yankee Stadium was as a 12-year-old next to Derek Jeter for the National Anthem.
• Travis Sawchik thinks the deal makes the Yankees better this season and next without sacrificing the jewels of their farm system.
• There was another deal yesterday as the Tigers sent outfielder J.D. Martinez to the Diamondbacks for three minor leaguers.
• Martinez was a good pickup for the D-Backs.
• Craig Edwards thinks the Diamondbacks had a big upgrade for this year and that the Tigers are not looking to compete again anytime soon.
• Jon Tayler believes that Martinez makes the D-Backs more dangerous this year and for the postseason.
• Ken Rosenthal takes to Facebook to report that the Diamondbacks need to add even more talent because their window of contention will be short. Plus more trade rumor tidbits from Rosenthal that he’s not allowed to publish on Fox Sports’ website.
• Henry Druschel thinks the Cardinals should be buyers because they need to take advantage of the Cubs’ down season.
• But Jesse Spector thinks it’s already too late for the Redbirds.
• Buster Olney has a list of players who should be traded at the deadline but probably won’t be. Lots of Orioles on that list.
• The Orioles front office did get permission from ownership to trade some relievers.
• Jerry Crasnick thinks that Orioles reliever Zach Britton could be this year’s Andrew Miller.
• Will Leitch notes that while the Orioles have exceeded expectations for the past few years, those days are likely over and it’s a shame.
• The Giants are getting teams calling them about pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Hunter Strickland.
• Dave Cameron argues that Blue Jays reliever Danny Barnes could be the steal of the trade season for some team.
• Grant Brisbee lists the Twins, Brewers and the Royals as the three teams with the toughest decisions at the trade deadline.
• Neil Paine breaks down what the statistics say about which teams should buy and which should sell.
• Cliff Corcoran looks at some top prospects traded at the deadline over the past decade and how they turned out.
• Astros shortstop Carlos Correa will miss 6-to-8 weeks with a torn thumb ligament.
• Jordy McElroy reassures panicking fans on Twitter that the Astros can afford to be without Correa for a few months. They do have a 16.5 game lead. They could probably play Triple-A Fresno’s starting lineup for the rest of the season and still win the division.
• Zach Kram agrees that the injury to Correa is nothing to worry about, as long as he’s 100% for the playoffs.
• Brewers catcher Stephen Vogt will miss a month with a MCL injury.
• Andrew Marchand looks at Aaron Judge’s second-half struggles and how he plans to work through them.
• Tony DeMarco asks what’s wrong with Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez.
• Albert Chen has a fascinating look at how the Rockies have tried to deal with the altitude over their history. It’s a good reminder that when the Rockies entered the league in 1993, the effects of altitude on a baseball were not well-understood within the game.
• With that in mind, commissioner Rob Manfred has suggested Mexico City as a possible expansion site for MLB. While Mexico City makes some sense for its size and the way it would expand the market, Ben Lindbergh notes that playing 81 MLB baseball games a year at 7,380 feet would likely be unworkable. That’s over 2000 feet higher than Denver. Also, the average humidity is much higher there, so a humidor wouldn’t even work without making the balls water-logged.
• The Giants failed to sell out AT&T Park for the first time in seven seasons.
• The Dodgers want to sell naming rights to Dodger Stadium. Don’t do it.
• Eno Sarris examines whether or not sidearm pitchers are more prone to hip injuries.
• Bradford Doolittle compared Mike Trout and Bryce Harper to other historic duos playing in the same era.
• Ryan Zimmerman is now the Expos/Nationals all-time franchise home run king.
• However, Zimmerman’s new teammate, reliever Sean Doolittle, was also his teammate at the University of Virginia, where Doolittle hit more home runs.
• Will Leitch writes about Bartolo Colon trying to keep his pitching career going with the Twins. Colon faced his manager, Paul Molitor, as a pitcher. Molitor once faced Jim Kaat, who pitched against Ted Williams. This could go back a ways.
• This annotated box score of Edwin Jackson’s first major league game by Eric Nusbaum got some attention yesterday. It tells what all the players from that game are doing now. The article also traces Jackson’s long career.
• Brewers third baseman Travis Shaw hit a home run into the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh.
• The Astros held a funeral for the glove of their DH, Carlos Beltran. It was a terrific glove, once upon a time.
• And finally, four members of the Tacoma Rainiers, the Triple-A farm club of the Seattle Mariners, decided to catch a later flight from Phoenix to Albuquerque. so they wouldn’t have to wake up so early. However, they couldn’t get on the flight after all and they ended up taking a $683 Uber ride to New Mexico. Our good friend Daniel Vogelbach was one of the four on this trip.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.