The Houston Astros’ Josh James will be out for the next 6-8 months after it was announced that he underwent hip surgery last week, putting his status for the upcoming season into question.

James injured his hip in an August game against the Colorado Rockies, suffering what was later discovered to be a labral tear. Despite this, he returned to Houston’s active roster by the end of the season and even pitched in three playoff games for the team.

What’s even more surprising is that James pitched well with his injured hip, throwing 6 2/3rds innings after coming back and posting a 1.35 ERA.

However, it appears that in order to avoid long-term damage, the hard-throwing righty’s hip needed to be repaired surgically. The surgery, which was done last Friday, necessitates a recovery time of six to eight months.

This means that James, who was presumed to be a potential bullpen and rotation option for the team next season, might not even be ready to pitch anywhere from May until July.

The 27-year-old pitcher, the owner of a 4.60 ERA in 101.2 career minor league innings, will now set his sights on getting back to being healthy as soon as possible to help the Astros contend for another playoff berth in 2021.

The post Astros P Josh James to Miss 6-8 Months After Hip Surgery appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After two thrilling series which required 7 games to decide the champion of each respective league, the 2020 World Series matchup is finally set and will kick off on Tuesday night.

The two top seeds in the 2020 Postseason will face off, with the AL’s Tampa Bay Rays taking on the NL’s Los Angeles Dodgers. This matchup of 40+ win teams is the first time that the two top seeds have faced off in the Fall Classic since 2013 when the Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals.

Let’s break down the World Series matchup and pick a winner, shall we?

Offense

The Los Angeles Dodgers led the Major Leagues in wRC+ during the regular season (122), hitting the most home runs in the league (118) and posting an enviable .338 on-base percentage. LA’s lineup did all of this despite an off season from 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger, who might have woken up after hitting a game-winning home run in Game 7 of the NLCS.

The Rays have many strengths, and Kevin Cash knows how to get the best of platoon advantages and a roster without any offensive superstars. They were an above-average regular season offense but lack the punch that the Dodgers have. They are clearly the weaker side on offense.

Advantage: Dodgers

Pitching

The Rays and Dodgers both excel at pitching, as they finished the regular season 3rd and 1st in the Majors in ERA. The Dodgers have a deep rotation and bullpen anchored by future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw and a whole stable of young, talented arms like Walker Buehler, Brusdar Graterol, and Dustin May.

Tampa might not have the big names that LA does, but they are good enough to go toe-to-toe in this facet of the game. Tyler Glasnow and Charlie Morton are a heck of a one-two punch at the top of the rotation, and a bullpen led by Nick Anderson, arguably the Majors’ best reliever in 2020, is nothing to sneeze at either.

Advantage: Push

Defense

This is the one facet of the game where Tampa has a clear advantage. The Rays, buoyed by a stable of excellent defensive players and a strategy which emphasizes shifting and positioning to get the best out of those players, had the best defensive record in MLB based on UZR/150 (10.6) and the fifth-best total of defensive runs saved (24).

The Dodgers are a super team, but their Achilles’ heel can be their defense at times. Located near the bottom of MLB’s defensive rankings, Mookie Betts’s excellence in right field isn’t enough to make up for holes that other players like Corey Seager (SS) and Max Muncy (1B) have.

Advantage: Rays

Prediction

The Rays have made history by qualifying for the World Series with the 3rd-lowest payroll in baseball, and they are a genuinely excellent team. They can pitch and play defense with anyone, but they haven’t come up against a hot Dodgers team which is firing on all cylinders like this one yet.

The Dodgers are a super team, filled with MVP-level talent, playoff experience, and generational talent. Tampa Bay will put up a fight, no doubt, but I just cannot see a situation in which Los Angeles’s talent doesn’t rise to the top and lead them to their first World Series crown since 1988.

Dodgers in 6 Games

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After just 60 games of regular-season action in the shortened 2020 season, the expanded playoff bracket has been set and October baseball is just around the corner!

16 teams will take part in the three-game Wild Card Round of the playoffs, which has the potential to lead to tons of exciting action and maybe even a few upsets. Let’s predict each series!

American League

#1 Tampa Bay Rays vs. #8 Toronto Blue Jays

The top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays will do battle with the division rival Toronto Blue Jays in what should be an interesting series. While the Blue Jays are on the upswing and promise to be playoff threats for years to come with plenty of young talent, I expect the more experienced Rays to come out on top.

Prediction: Rays in 2

#4 Cleveland Indians vs. #5 New York Yankees

Few expected the Indians and Yankees to meet up in the first round of the playoffs after both teams were on the fringe playoff picture for much of the season, but these two AL rivals will do battle in a matchup of baseball’s best pitching staff against one of its best offenses. The old adage says that pitching wins championships, and I think Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, and company will be enough to sneak past the Bronx Bombers.

Prediction: Indians in 3

#3 Minnesota Twins vs. #6 Houston Astros

The Astros might have made the World Series last season, but without ace pitchers Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole along with a floundering offense, they’re a shell of what they were last year. The Twins, on the other hand, have a dynamic offense bolstered by Nelson Cruz and Byron Buxton alongside new addition Josh Donaldson. They should take care of the ‘Stros.

Prediction: Twins in 3

#2 Oakland Athletics vs. #7 Chicago White Sox

The A’s got a tough draw despite facing the #7 seed, going up against one of baseball’s most exciting young teams in the White Sox. While they look like World Series contenders just a month ago, the Sox have fallen off in past weeks as their rotation’s warts have come to surface and its offense hasn’t looked quite as deadly. The A’s might not be flashy, but they’re the #2 seed for a reason and I think they’ll squeak out a tight win.

Prediction: Athletics in 3

National League

#1 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. #8 Milwaukee Brewers

The Dodgers are the team to beat heading into the 2020 Postseason, and for good reason. Corey Seager and Mookie Betts were MVP candidates after putting together huge offensive seasons for baseball’s best offense, and Clayton Kershaw put together a resurgent season alongside Walker Buehler. With no offense to Milwaukee, this shouldn’t be much of a contest.

Prediction: Dodgers in 2

#4 San Diego Padres vs. #5 St. Louis Cardinals

The Padres finished with the league’s second-best record but were forced into the playoffs as a #4 seed thanks to the Los Angeles Dodgers. While they didn’t look quite as good in the final two weeks of the season thanks largely to a cold streak by Fernando Tatis Jr., it’s hard to see the Cardinals getting past them despite their veteran savvy.

Prediction: Padres in 3

#3 Chicago Cubs vs. #6 Miami Marlins

The Marlins are finally back in the postseason 17 years after their last appearance, but few might believe that they could get past the NL Central winning Cubs and their fearsome collection of talent, including NL Cy Young candidate Yu Darvish. Miami was a great story this season, but they simply don’t have the talent to keep up with Chicago.

Prediction: Cubs in 2

#2 Atlanta Braves vs. #7 Cincinnati Reds

While the Braves might be the #2 seed in the playoffs, they have a truly difficult matchup ahead of them against the Reds. The Braves had one of baseball’s best offenses this season, but Cincinnati’s formidable 1-2 punch of Trevor Bauer and Luis Castillo has the potential to shut them down. Add Atlanta’s rotation troubles to the mix, and I think this series has the makings of an upset.

Prediction: Reds in 3

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In yet another twist to the upcoming MLB Postseason in an atypical season, this year, teams’ seeding in the playoffs will be more important than ever after the league agreed to make seeds the base for home-field advantage.

The agreement with the MLB Players’ Association, which includes an eight-team playoff for the first time in the league’s history, also stipulates that in any given matchup between teams, from the first round of the playoffs to the World Series, the team with the higher seed will bat last in a game.

As matchups throughout the playoffs could include a wild card team with a better record than a division qualifying team in the National League and American League stages, this could be important even before the World Series.

However, the World Series, which is set to be played at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, will be the main part of the playoffs where this change will play a role.

Since the All-Star Game provision was changed prior to the 2017 season, the team with the better record had home-field advantage in the World Series.

Now, though, if the #4 seed team in the NL has a better record than the #3 seed in the AL and the two teams meet in the Fall Classic, the American League team would play as the home team in Games 1, 2, 6, and 7.

This new provision adds a new foreign twist to what should be an interesting October for baseball fans.

The post Seeding to Determine Home-Field Advantage in MLB Playoffs appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Monday’s MLB Trade Deadline came and went with more movement than was expected during a shortened season, seeing plenty of important players move to contending teams.

So, which teams emerged from the Trade Deadline as the biggest winners, and which ones lost out after disappointing? Let’s take a look at the winners and losers of the deadline.

Winners

San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres, one of the breakout teams of the 2020 season with a 22-15 record and a sure thing to make the playoffs, got even better at the Trade Deadline after making a whirlwind of moves.

The acquisition of the best starting pitcher on the market in Mike Clevinger was the crown jewel of their haul, as the former Indians starter will bring a career 3.20 ERA to a team with one of the best rotations in the game.

Not only that, but they made a number of other moves including trades for catcher Austin Nola, DH Mitch Moreland, and bullpen help in players like Trevor Rosenthal. They gave up plenty, but the Padres are set for a World Series charge.

Oakland A’s

The Oakland A’s were also one of the most active teams at the Trade Deadline, as the AL West leaders made a couple of moves to upgrade both its lineup and its pitching rotation.

The A’s gave up former top prospect Franklin Barreto to get him from the Rangers, sure, but newly-acquired starting pitcher Mike Minor had a 3.59 ERA last season in 34 starts and will help sure up the team’s one weak point

The addition of Tommy La Stella for two players to be named later from the Angels is an underrated move as well, as the second baseman/DH option has broken out over the past two seasons and will give the team some left-handed thump.

Losers

Atlanta Braves

Arguably the biggest disappointment of the trade deadline was the Atlanta Braves, the NL East leaders who have had success despite a starting rotation that has been decimated by injuries and poor play.

While there were plenty of starters on the market to improve a rotation that has featured only Max Fried as a consistent option, the team failed to make a deal with any of its number of prospects to improve in anticipation of the playoffs. They were only able to acquire back-end starter Tommy Milone, who promptly gave up 7 runs in only 2.1 innings of work in his Braves debut.

Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers find themselves in fourth place in the AL West and out of the playoff picture, and many speculated that they would trade front-end starter Lance Lynn to improve its prospect stash.

However, the Rangers failed to do so, and their one major trade of Mike Minor failed to net a significant return. Jon Daniels really could’ve done better at this deadline, but he seemed to hold onto his chips for too long.

The post Winners and Losers of the MLB Trade Deadline appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The San Diego Padres, one of the breakout teams of this Major League Baseball season, made its roster even stronger after acquiring Boston Red Sox first baseman Mitch Moreland on Sunday.

The Padres have been using players like Josh Naylor and Wil Myers at times in their designated hitter role, but Moreland figures to be the main option for the team against right-handed pitchers at this time.

The veteran slugger has been tearing it up with the Sox this season, who have committed to a complete rebuild after a disappointing start to the season. Moreland has hit .328 with 8 home runs and 21 RBI as the best hitter on the team’s roster in 2020.

San Diego, at 21-15 this season, currently figure as one of the Wild Card teams in this year’s expanded playoff system. They’ll hope that Moreland, whom they acquired in exchange for third baseman Hudson Potts and center fielder Jeisson Rosario, will spark them towards a playoff run in their first appearance since 2006 if they qualify.

The Red Sox acquire two prospects at the same time, marching towards what could be the first true rebuild the team has done in decades.

Moreland is set to debut for the Padres on Monday night against the Rockies.

The post Padres Acquire 1B Mitch Moreland from Red Sox appeared first on SportzBonanza.

With the MLB trade deadline just around the corner, some of the league’s top teams are beginning to show their cards when it comes to their needs and wants before the playoffs start up.

For the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves, reports are that the team is desperate to acquire starting pitching before Monday’s trade deadline comes.

The Braves, who maintain a slim lead over the Miami Marlins and the rest of their division counterparts, have succeeded despite one of the worst starting rotations in the league this season.

After losing star starter Mike Soroka to a torn Achilles tendon and with veteran stalwarts Felix Hernandez and Cole Hamels out, the Braves have struggled to get quality starts from anyone outside of #2 starter Max Fried this season.

Atlanta has limped to a 5.37 starters’ ERA this season, the fifth-worst mark in the league.

Starting pitchers which could reportedly be on the market include the Cleveland Indians’ Mike Clevinger, the San Francisco Giants’ Johnny Cueto and Kevin Gasuman, and the Texas Rangers’ Lance Lynn. With a strong farm system, Atlanta could well swing a deal for at least one arm to help strengthen their rotation come October.

The trade deadline is set for Monday, August 31st at 4 pm Eastern.

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Albert Pujols tied Alex Rodriguez with his 2,086th career run batted in during his team’s Wednesday night loss to the San Francisco Giants, tying him for second place on the all-time RBI list in MLB history.

Pujols hit an RBI single in the 6th inning off of Giants pitcher Andrew Suarez, which drove in teammate Anthony Rendon and moved him into a deadlock with Rodriguez.

The run batted in was ultimately wasted by the Angels, who dropped a 7-2 and saw their record fall to a putrid 8-17 mark.

“The Machine,” who has been one of the league’s most-feared hitters for his nearly two-decade-long career, now only trails all-time home run king Hank Aaron for 1st place in the record books. With one year left on the 10-year, $240 million contract that Pujols before the 2012 season, it appears unlikely that he will reach the Braves legend before the end of his career.

Pujols has been hampered by leg injuries and declining production over the past few years, as he has been a below-average hitter and player since 2017.

The Dominican slugger is batting only .209 with 3 home runs so far this season.

Next on the record watch list for Pujols is his next home run, which will be the 660th of his distinguished career and will tie him with Willie Mays for 5th on the all-time list.

The post Albert Pujols Moves into 2nd Place on All-Time MLB RBI List appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Just a few days into the late start of the 2020 MLB season, the Miami Marlins revealed that their team had multiple players test positive for the COVID-19 virus.

On Monday, after those figures ballooned to over 15 players and staff members, the team’s Monday game against the Baltimore Orioles was postponed.

Just a day later, Major League Baseball made the decision to postpone all of the team’s games through Sunday in order to prevent the spread of the disease and allow players and coaches to recover.

The Marlins, who opened their season with a weekend series in Philadelphia, got word of the first positive tests on Saturday and then learned later that the virus had spread throughout their team.

The league had no option but to suspend the team’s travel, activity, and games in order to protect other teams and players, despite the vast majority of players being asymptomatic.

The league has yet to announce how it plans to make up the Marlins’ games in the future, but this development is certain to cause a logistical nightmare for the league, which opted not to go with a “bubble” approach.

Expect the league to provide another update on the situation later this week.

The post MLB Suspends Marlins’ Season Until Sunday Due to COVID-19 Outbreak appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The Toronto Blue Jays received word on Saturday that the Canadian government had denied their request to play the 2020 MLB season at home at the Rogers Centre, meaning that they will need to find another place to play their games this year.

The Jays’ players and staff had been granted an exception to reunite in Toronto in early July to train after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of this year’s baseball season until late July.

A Canadian government ban on Americans entering the country due to the high level of infections in their southern neighbors meant that they would have to give the league’s teams special permission to cross the border and play home games against the Jays.

The Canadian government, however, decided that this exception would not be in the best interest of the safety of their country’s people, meaning that the Jays have no other option but to play elsewhere at a location in the United States.

There are two main possibilities, the Jays’ triple-A ballpark in Buffalo, New York and their Spring Training facility in Dunedin, Florida.

While no decision has yet been made, the Jays will have to scramble to decide where they will play this season before their scheduled home opener on July 29th against the Washington Nationals.

The post Blue Jays Denied Permission to Play Home Games in Canada in 2020 appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The Houston Astros’ Josh James will be out for the next 6-8 months after it was announced that he underwent hip surgery last week, putting his status for the upcoming season into question.

James injured his hip in an August game against the Colorado Rockies, suffering what was later discovered to be a labral tear. Despite this, he returned to Houston’s active roster by the end of the season and even pitched in three playoff games for the team.

What’s even more surprising is that James pitched well with his injured hip, throwing 6 2/3rds innings after coming back and posting a 1.35 ERA.

However, it appears that in order to avoid long-term damage, the hard-throwing righty’s hip needed to be repaired surgically. The surgery, which was done last Friday, necessitates a recovery time of six to eight months.

This means that James, who was presumed to be a potential bullpen and rotation option for the team next season, might not even be ready to pitch anywhere from May until July.

The 27-year-old pitcher, the owner of a 4.60 ERA in 101.2 career minor league innings, will now set his sights on getting back to being healthy as soon as possible to help the Astros contend for another playoff berth in 2021.

The post Astros P Josh James to Miss 6-8 Months After Hip Surgery appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After two thrilling series which required 7 games to decide the champion of each respective league, the 2020 World Series matchup is finally set and will kick off on Tuesday night.

The two top seeds in the 2020 Postseason will face off, with the AL’s Tampa Bay Rays taking on the NL’s Los Angeles Dodgers. This matchup of 40+ win teams is the first time that the two top seeds have faced off in the Fall Classic since 2013 when the Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals.

Let’s break down the World Series matchup and pick a winner, shall we?

Offense

The Los Angeles Dodgers led the Major Leagues in wRC+ during the regular season (122), hitting the most home runs in the league (118) and posting an enviable .338 on-base percentage. LA’s lineup did all of this despite an off season from 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger, who might have woken up after hitting a game-winning home run in Game 7 of the NLCS.

The Rays have many strengths, and Kevin Cash knows how to get the best of platoon advantages and a roster without any offensive superstars. They were an above-average regular season offense but lack the punch that the Dodgers have. They are clearly the weaker side on offense.

Advantage: Dodgers

Pitching

The Rays and Dodgers both excel at pitching, as they finished the regular season 3rd and 1st in the Majors in ERA. The Dodgers have a deep rotation and bullpen anchored by future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw and a whole stable of young, talented arms like Walker Buehler, Brusdar Graterol, and Dustin May.

Tampa might not have the big names that LA does, but they are good enough to go toe-to-toe in this facet of the game. Tyler Glasnow and Charlie Morton are a heck of a one-two punch at the top of the rotation, and a bullpen led by Nick Anderson, arguably the Majors’ best reliever in 2020, is nothing to sneeze at either.

Advantage: Push

Defense

This is the one facet of the game where Tampa has a clear advantage. The Rays, buoyed by a stable of excellent defensive players and a strategy which emphasizes shifting and positioning to get the best out of those players, had the best defensive record in MLB based on UZR/150 (10.6) and the fifth-best total of defensive runs saved (24).

The Dodgers are a super team, but their Achilles’ heel can be their defense at times. Located near the bottom of MLB’s defensive rankings, Mookie Betts’s excellence in right field isn’t enough to make up for holes that other players like Corey Seager (SS) and Max Muncy (1B) have.

Advantage: Rays

Prediction

The Rays have made history by qualifying for the World Series with the 3rd-lowest payroll in baseball, and they are a genuinely excellent team. They can pitch and play defense with anyone, but they haven’t come up against a hot Dodgers team which is firing on all cylinders like this one yet.

The Dodgers are a super team, filled with MVP-level talent, playoff experience, and generational talent. Tampa Bay will put up a fight, no doubt, but I just cannot see a situation in which Los Angeles’s talent doesn’t rise to the top and lead them to their first World Series crown since 1988.

Dodgers in 6 Games

The post 2020 World Series Breakdown: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Tampa Bay Rays appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After just 60 games of regular-season action in the shortened 2020 season, the expanded playoff bracket has been set and October baseball is just around the corner!

16 teams will take part in the three-game Wild Card Round of the playoffs, which has the potential to lead to tons of exciting action and maybe even a few upsets. Let’s predict each series!

American League

#1 Tampa Bay Rays vs. #8 Toronto Blue Jays

The top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays will do battle with the division rival Toronto Blue Jays in what should be an interesting series. While the Blue Jays are on the upswing and promise to be playoff threats for years to come with plenty of young talent, I expect the more experienced Rays to come out on top.

Prediction: Rays in 2

#4 Cleveland Indians vs. #5 New York Yankees

Few expected the Indians and Yankees to meet up in the first round of the playoffs after both teams were on the fringe playoff picture for much of the season, but these two AL rivals will do battle in a matchup of baseball’s best pitching staff against one of its best offenses. The old adage says that pitching wins championships, and I think Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, and company will be enough to sneak past the Bronx Bombers.

Prediction: Indians in 3

#3 Minnesota Twins vs. #6 Houston Astros

The Astros might have made the World Series last season, but without ace pitchers Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole along with a floundering offense, they’re a shell of what they were last year. The Twins, on the other hand, have a dynamic offense bolstered by Nelson Cruz and Byron Buxton alongside new addition Josh Donaldson. They should take care of the ‘Stros.

Prediction: Twins in 3

#2 Oakland Athletics vs. #7 Chicago White Sox

The A’s got a tough draw despite facing the #7 seed, going up against one of baseball’s most exciting young teams in the White Sox. While they look like World Series contenders just a month ago, the Sox have fallen off in past weeks as their rotation’s warts have come to surface and its offense hasn’t looked quite as deadly. The A’s might not be flashy, but they’re the #2 seed for a reason and I think they’ll squeak out a tight win.

Prediction: Athletics in 3

National League

#1 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. #8 Milwaukee Brewers

The Dodgers are the team to beat heading into the 2020 Postseason, and for good reason. Corey Seager and Mookie Betts were MVP candidates after putting together huge offensive seasons for baseball’s best offense, and Clayton Kershaw put together a resurgent season alongside Walker Buehler. With no offense to Milwaukee, this shouldn’t be much of a contest.

Prediction: Dodgers in 2

#4 San Diego Padres vs. #5 St. Louis Cardinals

The Padres finished with the league’s second-best record but were forced into the playoffs as a #4 seed thanks to the Los Angeles Dodgers. While they didn’t look quite as good in the final two weeks of the season thanks largely to a cold streak by Fernando Tatis Jr., it’s hard to see the Cardinals getting past them despite their veteran savvy.

Prediction: Padres in 3

#3 Chicago Cubs vs. #6 Miami Marlins

The Marlins are finally back in the postseason 17 years after their last appearance, but few might believe that they could get past the NL Central winning Cubs and their fearsome collection of talent, including NL Cy Young candidate Yu Darvish. Miami was a great story this season, but they simply don’t have the talent to keep up with Chicago.

Prediction: Cubs in 2

#2 Atlanta Braves vs. #7 Cincinnati Reds

While the Braves might be the #2 seed in the playoffs, they have a truly difficult matchup ahead of them against the Reds. The Braves had one of baseball’s best offenses this season, but Cincinnati’s formidable 1-2 punch of Trevor Bauer and Luis Castillo has the potential to shut them down. Add Atlanta’s rotation troubles to the mix, and I think this series has the makings of an upset.

Prediction: Reds in 3

The post MLB Wild Card Round Predictions appeared first on SportzBonanza.

In yet another twist to the upcoming MLB Postseason in an atypical season, this year, teams’ seeding in the playoffs will be more important than ever after the league agreed to make seeds the base for home-field advantage.

The agreement with the MLB Players’ Association, which includes an eight-team playoff for the first time in the league’s history, also stipulates that in any given matchup between teams, from the first round of the playoffs to the World Series, the team with the higher seed will bat last in a game.

As matchups throughout the playoffs could include a wild card team with a better record than a division qualifying team in the National League and American League stages, this could be important even before the World Series.

However, the World Series, which is set to be played at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, will be the main part of the playoffs where this change will play a role.

Since the All-Star Game provision was changed prior to the 2017 season, the team with the better record had home-field advantage in the World Series.

Now, though, if the #4 seed team in the NL has a better record than the #3 seed in the AL and the two teams meet in the Fall Classic, the American League team would play as the home team in Games 1, 2, 6, and 7.

This new provision adds a new foreign twist to what should be an interesting October for baseball fans.

The post Seeding to Determine Home-Field Advantage in MLB Playoffs appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Monday’s MLB Trade Deadline came and went with more movement than was expected during a shortened season, seeing plenty of important players move to contending teams.

So, which teams emerged from the Trade Deadline as the biggest winners, and which ones lost out after disappointing? Let’s take a look at the winners and losers of the deadline.

Winners

San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres, one of the breakout teams of the 2020 season with a 22-15 record and a sure thing to make the playoffs, got even better at the Trade Deadline after making a whirlwind of moves.

The acquisition of the best starting pitcher on the market in Mike Clevinger was the crown jewel of their haul, as the former Indians starter will bring a career 3.20 ERA to a team with one of the best rotations in the game.

Not only that, but they made a number of other moves including trades for catcher Austin Nola, DH Mitch Moreland, and bullpen help in players like Trevor Rosenthal. They gave up plenty, but the Padres are set for a World Series charge.

Oakland A’s

The Oakland A’s were also one of the most active teams at the Trade Deadline, as the AL West leaders made a couple of moves to upgrade both its lineup and its pitching rotation.

The A’s gave up former top prospect Franklin Barreto to get him from the Rangers, sure, but newly-acquired starting pitcher Mike Minor had a 3.59 ERA last season in 34 starts and will help sure up the team’s one weak point

The addition of Tommy La Stella for two players to be named later from the Angels is an underrated move as well, as the second baseman/DH option has broken out over the past two seasons and will give the team some left-handed thump.

Losers

Atlanta Braves

Arguably the biggest disappointment of the trade deadline was the Atlanta Braves, the NL East leaders who have had success despite a starting rotation that has been decimated by injuries and poor play.

While there were plenty of starters on the market to improve a rotation that has featured only Max Fried as a consistent option, the team failed to make a deal with any of its number of prospects to improve in anticipation of the playoffs. They were only able to acquire back-end starter Tommy Milone, who promptly gave up 7 runs in only 2.1 innings of work in his Braves debut.

Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers find themselves in fourth place in the AL West and out of the playoff picture, and many speculated that they would trade front-end starter Lance Lynn to improve its prospect stash.

However, the Rangers failed to do so, and their one major trade of Mike Minor failed to net a significant return. Jon Daniels really could’ve done better at this deadline, but he seemed to hold onto his chips for too long.

The post Winners and Losers of the MLB Trade Deadline appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The San Diego Padres, one of the breakout teams of this Major League Baseball season, made its roster even stronger after acquiring Boston Red Sox first baseman Mitch Moreland on Sunday.

The Padres have been using players like Josh Naylor and Wil Myers at times in their designated hitter role, but Moreland figures to be the main option for the team against right-handed pitchers at this time.

The veteran slugger has been tearing it up with the Sox this season, who have committed to a complete rebuild after a disappointing start to the season. Moreland has hit .328 with 8 home runs and 21 RBI as the best hitter on the team’s roster in 2020.

San Diego, at 21-15 this season, currently figure as one of the Wild Card teams in this year’s expanded playoff system. They’ll hope that Moreland, whom they acquired in exchange for third baseman Hudson Potts and center fielder Jeisson Rosario, will spark them towards a playoff run in their first appearance since 2006 if they qualify.

The Red Sox acquire two prospects at the same time, marching towards what could be the first true rebuild the team has done in decades.

Moreland is set to debut for the Padres on Monday night against the Rockies.

The post Padres Acquire 1B Mitch Moreland from Red Sox appeared first on SportzBonanza.

With the MLB trade deadline just around the corner, some of the league’s top teams are beginning to show their cards when it comes to their needs and wants before the playoffs start up.

For the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves, reports are that the team is desperate to acquire starting pitching before Monday’s trade deadline comes.

The Braves, who maintain a slim lead over the Miami Marlins and the rest of their division counterparts, have succeeded despite one of the worst starting rotations in the league this season.

After losing star starter Mike Soroka to a torn Achilles tendon and with veteran stalwarts Felix Hernandez and Cole Hamels out, the Braves have struggled to get quality starts from anyone outside of #2 starter Max Fried this season.

Atlanta has limped to a 5.37 starters’ ERA this season, the fifth-worst mark in the league.

Starting pitchers which could reportedly be on the market include the Cleveland Indians’ Mike Clevinger, the San Francisco Giants’ Johnny Cueto and Kevin Gasuman, and the Texas Rangers’ Lance Lynn. With a strong farm system, Atlanta could well swing a deal for at least one arm to help strengthen their rotation come October.

The trade deadline is set for Monday, August 31st at 4 pm Eastern.

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Albert Pujols tied Alex Rodriguez with his 2,086th career run batted in during his team’s Wednesday night loss to the San Francisco Giants, tying him for second place on the all-time RBI list in MLB history.

Pujols hit an RBI single in the 6th inning off of Giants pitcher Andrew Suarez, which drove in teammate Anthony Rendon and moved him into a deadlock with Rodriguez.

The run batted in was ultimately wasted by the Angels, who dropped a 7-2 and saw their record fall to a putrid 8-17 mark.

“The Machine,” who has been one of the league’s most-feared hitters for his nearly two-decade-long career, now only trails all-time home run king Hank Aaron for 1st place in the record books. With one year left on the 10-year, $240 million contract that Pujols before the 2012 season, it appears unlikely that he will reach the Braves legend before the end of his career.

Pujols has been hampered by leg injuries and declining production over the past few years, as he has been a below-average hitter and player since 2017.

The Dominican slugger is batting only .209 with 3 home runs so far this season.

Next on the record watch list for Pujols is his next home run, which will be the 660th of his distinguished career and will tie him with Willie Mays for 5th on the all-time list.

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Just a few days into the late start of the 2020 MLB season, the Miami Marlins revealed that their team had multiple players test positive for the COVID-19 virus.

On Monday, after those figures ballooned to over 15 players and staff members, the team’s Monday game against the Baltimore Orioles was postponed.

Just a day later, Major League Baseball made the decision to postpone all of the team’s games through Sunday in order to prevent the spread of the disease and allow players and coaches to recover.

The Marlins, who opened their season with a weekend series in Philadelphia, got word of the first positive tests on Saturday and then learned later that the virus had spread throughout their team.

The league had no option but to suspend the team’s travel, activity, and games in order to protect other teams and players, despite the vast majority of players being asymptomatic.

The league has yet to announce how it plans to make up the Marlins’ games in the future, but this development is certain to cause a logistical nightmare for the league, which opted not to go with a “bubble” approach.

Expect the league to provide another update on the situation later this week.

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The Toronto Blue Jays received word on Saturday that the Canadian government had denied their request to play the 2020 MLB season at home at the Rogers Centre, meaning that they will need to find another place to play their games this year.

The Jays’ players and staff had been granted an exception to reunite in Toronto in early July to train after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of this year’s baseball season until late July.

A Canadian government ban on Americans entering the country due to the high level of infections in their southern neighbors meant that they would have to give the league’s teams special permission to cross the border and play home games against the Jays.

The Canadian government, however, decided that this exception would not be in the best interest of the safety of their country’s people, meaning that the Jays have no other option but to play elsewhere at a location in the United States.

There are two main possibilities, the Jays’ triple-A ballpark in Buffalo, New York and their Spring Training facility in Dunedin, Florida.

While no decision has yet been made, the Jays will have to scramble to decide where they will play this season before their scheduled home opener on July 29th against the Washington Nationals.

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