Outside The Confines: Trade deadline madness

The trade deadline is looming, and teams only have until 3 p.m. CT Friday to make the essential moves they will need in order to bolster their rosters for the quickly approaching postseason.

With that in mind, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of the only things anyone in the baseball world can talk about is the deadline and the moves that have already been made, and the ones people expect to see.

Big names are on the radar (including Kris Bryant, notably, as well as some other Cubs), Max Scherzer, and more surprises sure to come (I can’t say I saw the Nelson Cruz to the Rays trade coming!). With that in mind we’re leading first with the big trade discussion, then we’ll get into some non-trade links after that.

• MLB.com gives us the five trades that SHOULD happen but won’t.
• Eno Sarris has a list of 11 trades that NEED to happen before the end of the week. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Emma Baccellieri tries to assess how the Twins will go about selling off pieces at the deadline.
• Jeff Passan has a solid working list of the teams who might go all-in before Friday.
• The Athletic has a live-updating trade tracker, if you want to stay completely on top of things. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Andrew Simon tries to determine which team needs Max Scherzer the most.
• Kendall Graveman is headed to the Astros, and David Schoenfield has the details.
• Brian McTaggart also looks at the surprising Graveman trade.
• Lots of names are in the mix for the deadline, but Joey Gallo is hoping his won’t come up, writes Kennedi Landry.
• Now if we’re all done with trade rumors and trade discussions, here’s a small update on the Trevor Bauer suspension.

• Last night Bryce Harper hit an inside-the-park home run against the Nationals, and Madeline Coleman gives us a little insight into the moment.
• Joe Posnanski thinks the new Clevleand team name is just fine, thank you very much. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Patrick Dubuque does a deep dive into the collapse of the 2021 Twins season. (Baseball Prospectus subscription required.)
• I promise I didn’t mean to share three David Schoenfield articles today, but he’s had a very busy two days, and this post on Shohei Ohtani’s MVP-worthy season also deserves to be shared.
• Stephen J. Nesbitt has Jerry Meals reflecting on the “worst call ever” 10 years later. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Brendan Gawlowski looks at how hitters are making adjustments in a pitcher’s world.
• Is the playoff run boring now? Robert Arthur thinks we’ve pretty much established who will be in the postseason, and it’s making for a fairly boring 2021 playoff run. (Baseball Prospectus subscription required.)
• Want to know everything you need to get invested in Olympic baseball? David Schoenfield has what you’re looking for.
• Is Chris Taylor the most super of super-utility players? Jay Jaffe checks in on the Dodgers utility star.
• Curious to know what everyone here will answer for this, so share yours in the comments! (I thought the Prince Fielder trade to the Tigers would get them a World Series win.)

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