Here is Jorge Soler getting called the best designated hitter who might be available at the trade deadline. The article suggests that Taylor Ward might be available depending on whether the Orioles decide to buy or sell. Angels second base draft pick Jarren Advincula is among the players Jonathan Mayo picks to reach the majors quickly.
“I’m not going to mention names, but what I am going to stick to is we know things have to change,” Mozeliak said. I want to say “Who’s “we?”” but he said he wasn’t going to mention names.
Here is the first proposal by the MLBPA concerning the amateur draft.
The Royals placed Bobby Witt Jr. on the injured list with lower back tightness. They’ve brought up Andrew Velazquez to fill in in the meantime. They designated outfielder Kameron Misner for assignment. The Royals also picked up right-hander Nate Pearson from the Astros in exchange for minor league right-hander Max Martin.
The Cardinals designated reliever Scott Blewitt for assignment. With a name like Blewitt you just know he is going to end up on the Angels.
Much travelled right-hander Carlos Carrasco just signed with the LG Twins of the KBO. He took the roster spot of Yacksel Rios who has been released.
Just your basic game ending 5-2-6-4 double play.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Red Sox Have Interest In Zach Neto
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/07/red-sox-have-interest-in-zach-neto.html
Pandas win 5-4!
Walkoff in the 9th!
Light that Trashcan Up!
Washington must have taught him how to bunt.
At least we don’t have to watch Kirby Yates in the Trash Panda game.
Off topic. Trash Pandas leading Knoxville 4-1 bottom 6
4-4 8th
The bullpen is the same at every level of the org
So cool that the Rocket City game is on ABTV.
Yep. 4-1 bottom 6
I have been vacillating back and forth on trading various players depending on the plan, but I’ve reached the conclusion that the only way out of our current situation is to start over and trade everyone with 3 years or less control. That’s the only way we have a chance of being competitive in the next 2-3 years. We need to acquire a bunch of players with the same 5-6 year window. I am optimistic, based on the things that JM has said that he realizes his earlier statement about not needing to rebuild was incorrect and his more recent statements seem to reflect that now that he’s had a chance to get a closer look.
Watch out here comes JackFrost.
🙂
Frosty is all about trading Neto, I’m sure.
Yep.
Of all the guys being discussed he is the one I am most happy trading…. That said, as usual I am demanding at least one proven, everyday player in return. Assuming the Red Sox are a target I am demanding Rafaela back in the trade, along with a couple of minor leaguers. Maybe you are finally coming around to my thinking Trojan ??
I do not want to trade Soriano. I don’t think there is a way we’d get back equal value for him, so I say keep Jose. Detmers I would grudgingly trade for good value coming back.
I don’t think many organizations would trade a proven player for another proven player unless they had a major positional logjam or something.
At least not at the deadline when it’s all about loading up the major league roster for the playoffs. Shedding an MLB asset wouldn’t make sense.
I’ve come around to the idea of trading Neto if we get a haul back. I still believe his poor play could be largely corrected with proper coaching. 4 WAR shortstops don’t grow on trees.
Mrs said all the right things in Rhetts article except for the corporate speak “We’re obviously not having the year we hoped for”. The year they are having is very consistent with predictions, the issue has been not really knowing or admitting how bad they really are and doing the things needed to address them.
Gotta love spell check. JM said all the right things.
Gabriel is having a solid lower minors debut this season but one might reasonably wonder how much better it would be if… you know. Was hoping org trainers could “lean him up” over the summer in the Cal League but it certainly doesn’t appear so.
https://x.com/Jared_Tims/status/2079758600906723792
I cannot believe how large he is.
And I agree – how on earth is a professional training staff not able to get that under control at least a little bit? I’m not saying the guy has to be 3% body fat but surely they can do better than that.
He’s irrelevant now, and so is the GM that signed him, but had to post this:
Alek Manoah’s last 3 starts:
9.2 innings, 28 earned runs…in AAA.
Next time somebody tries to write a Perry defense post, feel free to share this with them.
28 earned runs in 9.2 innings? 😲 That’s batting practice and not pitching.
How in the world did Minasian get and keep a job as a GM as long as he did. A testament to Arturo Moreno, the worst owner ever.
Maybe I’m getting old. I couldn’t remember the name of our big pitching signing. I had to look it up. Alek Manoah. We’re much better off with Walbert
Fun with numbers:
As of July 23, 2026 – There are only (7) hitters batting .300+
Somehow, Mike Trout is still 9th in OBP at .388. He also still runs well and strikes out at a lower rate than Zach Neto. Why is he not leading off?
CF/DH – Trout (Siri plays CF when Trout DH’s)
1B – Nolan
IF/DH – Grissom
SS – Neto
RF – Adell
LF – Meckler
IF – Guzman
IF – Peraza
C – Logan
Grissom, Guzman & Peraza are all position flexible in the IF so you go with matchups/hot hand.
I’m presuming that Soler & Lowe are jettisoned after the deadline.
the 1968 AL batting average leaders are pretty wild. This is the year Gibson had a 1.12 ERA. Yastrzemski led the AL with .301. Danny Cater was 2nd at .290. The NL had 5 over .300 led by Rose at .335. Also for reference the second lowest NL ERA was Bobby Bolin at 1.99 and 5 AL pitchers were under 2
from wiki:
“Overall, team batting averages in 2026 range from .237 to .246, indicating a competitive season for hitters across the league” so Trout’s .234 isn’t really all that bad plus he’s 3rd in the AL in walks
Worth $40m? And then repeat for 4 more seasons as his body and skills continue to decline?
Just to keep the conversation going. I like this exchange – maybe not as much as my Soriano-to-Marlin package from yesterday, but it works for the BTV model.
Wooooooo playoffs!!! Baby Angels looking to go b2b.
Angels affiliate in the Arizona Complex League clinched a playoff berth last night with losses from the Royals, Padres and Guardians — if ACL Angels win tonight, they face Mariners affiliate in opening round on Saturday, if not, they face Rockies affiliate on Saturday
https://x.com/i/status/2080313255667667062
🔥
Saturday it’ll be 114 F
🔥
Also means we’ll likely finally get a look at some of these kids at Rancho when the playoffs complete. Would be fun to see a lineup with Ford, Alvarez and Advincula up top to see how much havoc that’d generate on the base paths.
We need Scott Blewitt in our bullpen today. No matter how bad he pitches he would give us things to say.
This gives me hope. “We know things have to change”. That’s a great place to start.
He had a mouse in his pocket.
The more I hear Mozeliak speak, the more I hope he comes hired on a permanent basis.
So we can have a real dad!
Praying that SoCal weather convinces him that he wants to be our President of Baseball Ops and then hire a qualified GM. Can’t overexaggerate what that would mean for us
As in replace Molly? Or is her role different from POBO?
Molly is team president. She runs the organization as a whole. She is the one who launched the new TV network, fired Perry, etc.
Mozeliak would be president of the baseball operations side. That position focuses solely on the player side of the organization.
Got it, makes sense. Thanks.
Arte has never had a dual POBO+GM before has he?
True, and he doesn’t now either, and still may not going forward. So far Perry has been replaced by JM 1 for 1. If JM hires a new GM there will be a POBO and GM together at the same time for as long as JM sticks around after the new GM is hired. He has always had a team president, who used to be his college buddy but when he retired was replaced by Molly.
We could have had Kade Anderson but Perry was the smartest guy in the room and Kade was right in our own back yard. The damage that guy did was substantial. Let’s move forward.
Kinda hard to move forward when we keep bringing it up daily haha. While we’re on the topic — Seth Hernandez 😭
Quote from Brett Bollinger at MLB.com-
Shortstop Zach Neto is their most valuable piece but he’s not a free agent until 2030, and making those kinds of trades at the Deadline are rare. Otherwise, they’ll look to move impending free agents like Jorge Soler, Kirby Yates and Brent Suter.
Talk about a garage sale table full of junk.
If that’s all that happens, there would be no reason to watch them until the winter hoping for action then. I am hoping this is different and exceptional because of all the circumstances. JM is keeping things close to the vest but he may actually have a plan. I’m hoping someone that has his ear reads this site and at least share information with him to give him ideas of possibilities. When there is no hope, that’s all you have left.
We’re all waiting with eager anticipation to see what happens over the next week, and then Turks puts this out and the beer goggles go on. I’m hoping big positive change happens but Lucy has pulled the football every time for many years so I’m skeptical but hopeful.
It’s a sim, not a prediction, Roy. 🙂
I get that but it provides ideas and possibilities.
We do not have an everyday fielding or hitting Shortstop on this team or in the minors currently, we have players who could play SS but are not the hitter of Neto nor his range. Neto is not going anywhere but to his home after home games. It does not matter what he could bring in return if you are creating another hole to plug.
I would argue that Guzman is Neto’s better at SS, at least defensively. He’s simply playing out of position.
You may have seen more of Guzman play at SS than me but, with what I have seen his first step to both L& R are not as crisp as Neto, arm strength on any given day same, accuracy Neto and Neto faster release which Neto seems to control better since April and May. But if indeed they are the same in the field Guzman does not as yet shown the power that Neto has. imho.
Guzman is 22 and a first year prospect. His natural position is shortstop, so you’re viewing him as a player who is learning a new position on the fly.
Not just me saying this – Guzman gets a 60 grade on fielding and throw tools from Fangraphs and Baseball Ameirca both.
Are you looking for a Neto equivalent? Because even blue chip shortstop prospects that the team might theoretically acquire aren’t likely to step in and match a guy like Neto in his fourth season on day one.
Let’s remember. Neto hit .225/.308/.377 in season one. Guzman is hitting .246/.288/.381 in season one. Very similar ISO/SLG metrics.
I’ve seen Guzman up close in pregame drills and his hands are as fluid as any I’ve seen. He has a nice build for shortstop as well.