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Outside The Confines: The Trade Deadline looms

Hugwatch is at high alert.

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Houston Astros v Seattle Mariners Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images

There’s a beloved word in baseball writing circles that gets used with blistering frequency around this time of year: hugwatch. The term is in reference to players who, upon getting traded mid-game or right before a game starts, take a moment to hug their former teammates one last time before heading off for their new team.

As the trade deadline gets closer and closer (it’s officially over next Tuesday, August 2 at 5 p.m. CT) we’re seeing some displays that could be qualified as “hugwatch” material (Cubs fans know what I’m talking about), and some statements from players where they politely claim to want to stay with their team, but what most of them really mean is that they want to win a World Series.

Teams on the postseason hunt will be looking to add pieces to help get them there, and teams that are tanking fast and hard (ahem, the Tigers) are looking to sell off whatever they can in the hopes of maybe having some better luck next year. You can certainly expect that the next few days will be loaded with trade deadline content, and the links below are no exception.

  • But first, a nice moment at the Jays game...

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