Outside the Confines: Assessing the damages

Good morning to everyone. We’re still cleaning up the mess left by the busiest trade deadline ever.

What’s this I hear about poisonous cats?

• Ben Lindberg gives the numbers behind the busiest trade deadline ever and tries to explain why things got so crazy. He also asks if this is just a fluke or a sign of what future trade deadlines will look like?
• Zach Crizer believes the sell-offs by the Cubs and the Nationals are going to be the wave of the future in MLB.
• Ben Clemens has more winners and losers from the trade deadline. The Cubs are among the winners, if that makes you feel better. Although there are a few caveats to that evaluation.
• Eno Sarris tries to use playoff and World Series odds to better define what we mean by “winners and losers” at the trade deadline. (The Athletic sub. req.) But he also thinks the real winners are the fans, who got an exciting trade deadline. Although he does allow that Cubs fans have a right to be a little salty.
• Buster Olney thinks that former Cubs Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Báez all needed a change of scenery. (ESPN+ sub. req.) He’s also got some stuff on former Cub Kyle Schwarber and why the Padres window of contention is now.
• Jay Jaffe writes that an underwhelming trade deadline and injuries have dealt a big blow to the Padres hopes this season.
• Eric Longenhagen ranks all the prospects who were dealt at the deadline.
• Jonathan Mayo also ranks which teams got the most prospect talent back in deals.
• The trade deadline would have been even wilder if the Rockies hadn’t, somewhat bizarrely, only made one minor deal. Kevin Goldstein indicts the Rockies organization and says they don’t seem to understand how winning teams get built.
• Tom Verducci notes that after the trade for Trea Turner and Max Scherzer, the Dodgers are the favorite to win the World Series again. So he looks at all the things that could stop the Dodgers from winning back-to-back titles.
• Speaking of the Dodgers, the Astros played in Dodger Stadium for the first time since the sign-stealing scandal and Dodger fans let the Astros know what they thought of them. The Astros got the last laugh as they won 3-0, however.
• Will Leitch ranks the best rivalries in baseball at the moment.
• After Mets and first-round pick Kumar Rocker failed to agree to a deal, R.J. Anderson examines what Rocker’s options are now.
• Now it’s time for the butcher’s bill. Phillies minor leaguer Daniel Brito is reportedly in stable condition after suffering a medical emergency in Saturday’s game. So that’s good news.
• Mets ace Jacob deGrom says that he’s confident that he’ll pitch again this season.
• The Angels “hope” that injured superstar Mike Trout will return this year. Trout was supposed to miss 6-8 weeks, but it has been 11 weeks already and he’s not close to playing yet.
• Yankees starters Jordan Montgomery and Gerrit Cole have tested positive for COVID.
• Brewers pitcher John Axford came out of retirement, pitched a third of an inning and then went on the IL with an elbow injury.
• Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow will undergo Tommy John surgery today.
• Ken Rosenthal reported that the Rays were in talks with the Cubs to trade Glasnow for Kris Bryant and Craig Kimbrel. (The Athletic sub. req.) The Rays did tell the Cubs that Glasnow might need Tommy John, which probably meant the Cubs weren’t interested. But Rosenthal has more on the Rays approach to the trade deadline.
• Will Leitch has the best current MLB player at every age.
• Ryan McGee has a profile of Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics, who he calls a group of “has-beens” and “not-yets.” He even quotes Coach Lou Brown from the movie Major League when he said “I never heard of half of these guys, and the ones I do know are way past their prime.”
• Team USA lost 7-6 in extra innings to Team Japan after a bullpen meltdown. Former Cub (and 13 other teams) Edwin Jackson was one of the pitchers who blew the lead. But Team USA is still alive in the double-elimination tournament after a win over the Dominican Republic last night.
• Giants catcher Curt Casali got called for a rare equipment violation after he corralled the ball with his mask. That’s a no-no.
• And finally, all of baseball was talking about the delay in the Yankees/Orioles game on Monday when a cat ran out onto the field at Yankee Stadium. But the best line came from Orioles manager Brandon Hyde who said, “But I didn’t know if it was a poisonous cat or what it was because there wasn’t a whole lot of movement happening when it ran on the field.” There are poisonous cats now? Good gracious. Now the only thing preventing cats from taking over the world is the fact that they sleep 20 hours a day. If they ever discover coffee, we’re doomed.

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