MLB Trade Rumors and News: Yankees on a homer binge, Rays and White Sox clinch

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The Yankees are getting hot while the White Sox and Rays clinch playoff berths

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• The Yankees had a bit of a rough stretch earlier in the season, but they seem to have shaken that off and are on a crazy run off offense that has carried them to eight straight wins. Last night, they made it three straight games with six or more homers led by slugger Luke Voit.
• We are officially at the time of the year where we are going to be seeing teams clinching playoff spots and the first two teams to clinch playoff spots are the White Sox and Rays, just like we all predicted at the beginning of the season /s. Chicago were the first team to clinch with a 4-3 win over the Twins while the Rays punched their ticket to the postseason with a doubleheader sweep of the Orioles.
• In an announcement that had been expected for several weeks, MLB announced Tuesday that the final three rounds of this year’s postseason will be held at neutral sites in Texas and California, with the World Series being held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The biggest twist in the plan? There will be no off days for the first three rounds, meaning that teams’ pitching depth will be tested in the playoffs like never before.
• The Mets, for several years, have been a bundle of drama and disappointment and the faces of those struggles has been, without question, their owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon who have have been widely panned for their mismanagement of the team on both financial and personnel levels. Now, after a lengthy and drama-filed period of time where they sought a buyer for the team, it appears to be set that billionaire and minority owner Steve Cohen will purchase the Mets,
• Matt Chapman will undergo season-ending hip surgery, a significantly different outcome from what was first looked at as mild inflammation that wouldn’t land him on the IL. It should have been a red flag to everyone that something was wrong when the third baseman, who we now know was dealing with a strained hip, put up the worst strikeout rate and batting average of his career. Chad Pinder and the newly-signed Jake Lamb will soak up the vacated playing time at the hot corner.
• Pitcher injuries have become commonplace this season with big names and lesser ones dropping left and right with various ailments. Thursday night was no exception as Chris Paddack exited his start for the Padres with what turned out to be a sprained ankle. In addition to Paddack, Sean Doolittle, who has been the heart of the Nationals bullpen for a while and who had recently started to turn around a rough season, suffered an oblique injury at a time when the Nationals need to very quickly get their season on track if they want any hope of defending their title.
• Despite the fact that he was elected to a new four-year term last year, Minor League Baseball president Pat O’Conner announced last week that he’ll be retiring after the season. This seems like bad news for the future of MiLB as we know it, as there’s a strong possibility that his position will be eliminated upon his departure as part of Rob Manfred’s “One Baseball” plan — one that would give the commissioner’s office much more authority over MiLB and calls for massive contraction in the minors. While O’Conner played a major role in the growth and development of Minor League Baseball, his legacy is tainted by the fact that he very publicly advocated against minor leaguers having a right to a living wage.
• The trade deadline came and went, and the biggest move of the day was without question the Padres’ trade for Mike Clevinger. San Diego has very clearly made a huge play for a deep playoff run this year as they sent six players, a mix of MLB talent and prospects, to Cleveland for the talented young starter’s services.
• The Athletics find themselves in a strong position of their own in the race for the playoffs. In a move that seems like a peak Billy Beane move, they pulled the trigger on a buy-low opportunity when they added starter Mike Minor from the Rangers.
• Not many people would have pegged the Marlins as buyers at the trade deadline when the season started, but 2020 is a weird year and that is exactly what happened. They went and snagged Starling Marte from the Diamondbacks for a trio of prospects.
• The Mariners and Padres swapped breakout star Austin Nola and prospect Taylor Trammell as a part of a massive seven-player deal.
• There are some very real and serious discussions happening in this country right now, and one of those conversations is in regards to police conduct towards people of color. The recent shooting of Jacob Blake has brought this discussion back to the forefront and players across multiple sports took action recently, with multiple MLB teams postponing their games.
• Aaron Judge finally returned to the Yankees lineup against the Braves after dealing with a calf injury, but he quickly headed back. While running the bases, Judge aggravated his calf injury and was sent right back to the injured list.