Ohtani & Soto Trades; Are we taking Trout’s Injury too Lightly?; Mega Millions is Obscene
AL East Snapshot
The O’s are in 4th place in the AL East ahead of the DISMAL Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox offense is terrific, but their defense is absolutely “laughable”, by Tom’s standards. They aren’t out of the picture here, but it doesn’t look like things are turning around. That being said, Boston has a ton of trade bait in J.D. Martinez and Devors; but Bogaerts is untouchable. They lost the Toronto series 40-10 which is maybe indicative of a lack of effort, and it ain’t looking good.
Not a lot of people are talking about it, but Toronto is a few pieces away from being a legit contender. The offense is unbelievably explosive and with another front-end arm they could catapult themselves to a top tier contender. The lineup, top to bottom, is absolutely brutal for any pitching staff.
The O’s on the other hand continue to grind and could be in a position to be buyers and push for a Wild Card spot. Conversely, recently, Trey Mancini seems to be settled with being traded, and his interviews have seemed like he knows the writing is on the wall. Thursday against the Yankees felt like a goodbye especially with the inside the park home run - if he goes it won’t be a surprise, but it will hurt the Orioles fans’ souls.
The Yankees are still running away with the division. Toronto is on top of the Wild Card race and Tampa Bay is 3 games back so things are heating up heading into August.
Soto & Ohtani Sweepstakes
The Nats & Angels are both waiting on huge offers for their stars in Soto and Ohtani respectively. The Yankees, Padres, and Dodgers are the only three teams in baseball that can probably get this done from a financial standpoint.
Both of these guys will absolutely make at least $300 million dollars, but whoever comes in for either one will have to give up “The Farm” on this one…literally and figuratively. In all honesty, neither one of them will move, but they should. It will be good for baseball to see these guys playing meaningful baseball into the Fall.
Trout’s Back!
Mike Trout has a back injury that he’s downplaying but that the rest of the world seems seriously concerned with. According to his doctor’s statement, this is a rare spinal condition that will be a chronic issue and impact his career.
Trout seems to be nonchalant about it, but it sounds like he won’t be able to play CF everyday, and maybe not even get At-Bats everyday. He has had a lot of injuries over the years, but none that were quite as serious as this. The Angels have to be cursed, because they’re currently holding two generational talents with no shot of winning and are facing the possibility of losing both in the next few years.
NFL Storylines
Tampa - Tom Brady’s O-Line is taking some hits which is always a concern for TB12. It’s early in the off-season so there is time to get a band-aid but this is an interesting storyline as we start up training camps across the league.
New Orleans - Dennis Allen taking the helm in New Orleans will be another interesting NFC South storyline. After all the years of Brees & Peyton we see Jameis with a new offense and head coach Kamara will be back healthy, too. They’ll need to knock of Brady and the Bucs to get anywhere.
New England - Mac Jones in New England has gotten public praise from Bill Belicheck, which is possibly a sign of the apocalypse. The O-Line has been reshuffled for him, but no real weapons have been added for him. Devante Parker could have himself a year, if he stays healthy. The team is centered around Mac though, so he’s in a comfortable spot, and the team should be solid.
QB Headlines
Aaron Rodgers. Can we have less Aaron Rodgers? Tom would like Aaron Rodgers with no personality back, because this one is…can we just have less Aaron Rodgers? The Con Air thing was pretty spot on, but still…
Russell Wilson showing up in a tank in his own throwback Broncos jersey may be the corniest thing to happen in the NFL since Jim McMahon’s dance moves on “The Icky Shuffle”. McMahon’s play was not corny though, for the record! The Broncos are going to stink though, because he’s overrated.
Josh Allen in Buffalo just lost Brian Daboll and this will be the first real test for him. Allen will most likely navigate this well because he’s incredibly talented, and expectations are high. The Defense is probably the bigger concern because they were a stop away. Allen should be fine.
Matthew Stafford gets a second year of comfortability with the playbook. Allen Robinson added to the mix to help Kupp. Bobby Wagner joined the Defense, and Cam Akers is the hands-down starter in the backfield. Nobody is mentioning them, but he should be licking his chops.
Rookie Predictions
Tom: “George Pickens. Pittsburgh Steelers. Looks like a Stud”
Somebody is confident about one of their rookies, but there are more important things to talk about than the Steelers.
Wide Receivers
Drake London in Atlanta will help open up some space for Mariotta and hopefully get some focus off of Pitts, who showed some great ability last year, minus the touchdowns.
Treylon Burks in Tennessee has some big shoes to fill with AJ Brown traded to the Eagles. Tannehill definitely has some competition in the division now with Matt Ryan in Indy.
Christian Watson in Green Bay will have a fair amount asked of him with Adams gone and a new #1 stepping into the role. Any rookie would love having Rodgers throwing to them.
Running Backs
Kenneth Walker out of Michigan St. looks like he is poised to win that RB1 spot over Rashaad Penny in Seattle. Pete Carroll is always cooking.
Breece Hall for the New York Jets is also looking to take the RB1 spot there as well, soon. Michael Carter was decent last year so it’ll be interesting to see who wins.
James Cook in Buffalo will be asked to be an every down RB, which is what Josh Allen needs to take some heat off of him. He looks a lot like his brother Dalvin, who we know is elite
Wide World of Sports
LIV Golf tried to get Charles Barkley, but it looks like they missed their man. Barkley announced he is staying on TNT to keep talking about the NBA. There is no telling what the next LIV Golf move is, but it sure is entertaining. Short of getting a Rory McIlroy or a Justin Thomas there isn’t much left for them to poach. The product needs to get a little better, but is sustainable if they clean up some of the formatting and can get a TV deal.
Zion Williamson is getting some flack for some contract language surrounding his weight. Details are a little fuzzy but Zion is in tremendous shape, he’s just a giant, so this is a little silly.
Kyler Murray is in the same boat with his “homework” clause, which is a little more concerning than the weight clause. The need for a contract clause to get your $200+ million dollar QB to do his job might be a red flag.
Never a dull moment in the wide world of sports!