Outside The Confines: Not in the Cards

The big news today is the London Series, although a lot of that is Cub Tracks territory. However, the stuff on the Cardinals and the general baseball stories are the territory of this feature, so I’ll cover that here.

• Connor O’Halloran has the story of how MLB hopes the London Series will reignite the progress they had in establishing the sport in Europe after the pandemic put a screaming halt to it. Although they do have the story of Brenda Marsh, a schoolteacher from Kent who discovered baseball and the Cubs during the pandemic. She says she loves the Cubs but her favourite player is still Anthony Rizzo. Brenda, I can tell that you’re already a true Cubs fan with that statement. I’m glad you got to sing “Go Cubs Go” after a Cubs win.
• Matthew Ritchie has more on why and how MLB hopes to use the London Series to spread the sport internationally.
• In that light, MLB announced that the 2024 London Series games will be between the Mets and the Phillies. I suppose that if you don’t want to bring the West Coast Dodgers/Giants to Europe and you’ve already done Yankees/Red Sox and Cubs/Cardinals, Mets and Phillies are the next rivalry that makes the most sense. I guess Mets/Braves would have worked too.
• The first London Series has already had a big impact on the English sporting world, but not in the way you might of thought. Michael Clair explains how the Red Sox led to “Sweet Caroline” becoming an anthem for the English National Football (soccer) Team.
• Meanwhile, it was a very big series for the Cardinals, who, as Gabe Lacques writes, were hoping to use the London Series to turn their season around. Lacques also writes about what the Cardinals need to do to compete in the second half.
• Saturday’s game didn’t help at all, as Adam Wainwright called it “one of the worst starts of my career.” (The Athletic sub. req.)
• As you no doubt know if you watched the telecast of Fox, Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt became the first person to play in an MLB game in five different countries.
• On to non-London Series topics. There was a trade as the Mets traded third baseman Eduardo Escobar to the Angels for two pitching prospects. The Mets will pay all but the major league minimum of Escobar’s salary.
• Mets manager Buck Showalter and shortstop Francisco Lindor react to the deal, saying that they’re sad to see Escobar go.
• Tom Verducci writes about how the Mets have become a $359 million disaster. Bob Klapisch and John Harper wrote a book “The Worst Team That Money Could Buy” about the 1992 Mets. Seems like a sequel is in order.
• Rhett Bollinger writes about why the Angels needed Escobar and how he fits in.
• The Angels made another acquisition, picking up Rockies infielder Mike Moustakas for minor league pitcher Connor Van Scoyoc.
• Will Leitch writes about what the Angels need to do to make the playoffs this season. Trading for Eduardo Escobar is not on the list.
• Mark Feinsand has a look at relievers who might be available at the trade deadline. Hey, he’s got two Cubs relievers on the list. The Cubs are going to be buying relievers, not selling.
• Emma Baccellieri has “bubble teams” that could either buy or sell at the deadline. The Cubs are technically on the list, but only because she lists the entire NL Central as a candidate.
• You’ve probably heard this already, but Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge has a torn ligament in his toe. There’s no timetable for his return as of yet.
• Buster Olney writes that as the Yankees struggle without Judge, they need to look to the trade market now to get going again. (ESPN+ sub. req.) He does list Cody Bellinger as a candidate to go to his father’s former team, but Olney thinks the price will be too high for the Yankees as the Cubs can keep him all year and give him a qualifying offer.
• Hannah Keyser notes that the Mariners may have turned their season around with a trip to the Bronx.
• Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz hit for the cycle on Friday in just his 15th major league game.
• De La Cruz makes Matt Snyder’s “All-Fun Team.” This is a team I could get behind, even if he only names one Cub to the list. I don’t argue with his choice, however.
• Dan Hayes looks at how Marlins infielder Luis Arraez had made the changes to give him a chance to hit .400 this season. (The Athletic sub. req.) It’s also about a luxury suitcase that was a gift from Carlos Correa.
• Chris Gilligan notes that Athletics outfielder Esteury Ruiz is keeping his slugging percentage up with speed.
• Brent Maguire explains why Rangers shortstop Corey Seager is having the best season of his career.
• Jonathan Mayo has a mock draft.
• Kiley McDaniel explains why the Yankees (or a different team) could completely blow up the draft this year. (ESPN+ sub. req.) And why that might be a good idea.
• Jayson Stark writes about how the Orioles, Diamondbacks and Reds have exploited the new rules to become the surprise teams of 2023. (The Athletic sub. req.) I’d say they more exploited years of picking early in the draft by tanking and now those kids are in the majors, but sure, the new rules may have played a role too. And I don’t think Stark would really disagree with me from the article.
• David Schoenfield writes that MLB has a problem with bad-hitting designated hitters. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• And finally, back to London. If you stuck around to watch the postgame Saturday, you saw Derek Jeter, in his first game as a broadcaster for Fox, react with disgust to David Ortiz’s birthday present to The Captain. (HInt: it was a jersey with Jeter’s name and number on it.)

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