NEWSLETTER
MLB Notes —
Shohei Ohtani keeps slugging, and the Dodgers keep winning. But we’ll start in San Diego, where the Padres and Marlins made the first notable trade of the season on Friday afternoon … in May!
Padres Land Luis Arraez in Early Season Swap with the Marlins
When my phone went off on Friday afternoon to alert me that the Padres and Marlins struck a trade that will send Luis Arraez to San Diego in exchange for a reliever and a trio of prospects, I had to check the date. It was, in fact, May 3, which is waaaayyyy too early to be making these kinds of trades.
But as Ken Rosenthal said in his column today at The Athletic, “Any trade in which a team lands a two-time batting champion while lowering its payroll is worthy of further examination.”
The head-scratcher here, for me, is why now? For the Marlins, anyway. Why not wait until closer to the deadline and extract the most value in your return by making desperate teams bid against each other, especially if you will eat almost all of Arraez’s salary, making him incredibly valuable to other teams?
“The trade deadline is almost three months away. Bendix, in his first year as a head of baseball operations, said he feared the same deal might not have been available if he waited. According to a team source, he explored deals for Arraez in the offseason and into the season and believed he had a good understanding of the market. But if he had stayed patient and broadcast to the other 29 teams his willingness to cover virtually all of Arraez’s salary, might he have extracted more?”
I think Bendix jumped the gun here and ultimately got less than he could have had a month or two later.
More on the trade from Ken Rosenthal:
Shohei’s Big Day Powers the Dodgers to a Weekend Sweep of the Braves
Shohei Ohtani drilled a 464-foot home run in the bottom of the eighth inning on Sunday to extend the Dodgers lead over the Braves to 5-1. It was Ohtani’s second home run and fourth hit of the day. It also helped the Dodgers complete a weekend sweep of the Braves, leaving little doubt that their early-season struggles are behind them.
Ohtani is enjoying one of the best starts to a season he’s ever had, and that’s saying something about the caliber of the player that he is. He’s clubbed 10 home runs, driven in 25, and has an insane 212 wRC+. His 1.111 OPS is the highest single-season mark of his career, and while it’s only May, it’s safe to say that Ohtani is flourishing in his new home.
The Dodgers moved to 23-13 with their sweep of Atlanta and are five and a half games ahead of the Padres in the National League West entering play today. I don’t care much about the Dodgers’ success, but I love watching Shohei Ohtani play baseball.
Let’s watch all 10 of Shohei Ohtani’s home runs this season.
The Tigers City Connect Jerseys are Here (and they’re very … blah)
I think people are too hard on the City Connect uniforms in general, mainly because they refuse to consider the local element in many alternate threads whose purpose is to resonate with their fans and their community.
But sometimes there are some duds, local flavor be darned like the Cubs “Wrigleyville” jersey. That’s just a very generic and blah concept. The Detroit Tigers’ new City Connect uniforms are one of those times. It looks like the Pistons’ alternate uniform, and the hate would be much better if they used the Tiger face logo with the modified colorway. But, hey, that’s just my opinion on them.
Here’s the inspiration behind the uniforms from a press release by the team this morning:
TIGERS CITY CONNECT DESIGN ELEMENTS AND INSPIRATION
TIRE TREADS: Down the middle of the jersey is shaded in electric blue, tire treads represent the wheels keeping the Motor City and the Tigers accelerating toward the future. M-1 – 313 PATCH: CRUISING ON WOODWARD: The 313 patch stitched on the left sleeve of the jersey takes you on a ride to M-1 – known to Detroiters as Woodward Avenue, America’s first paved road in 1909. The baseball diamond-shaped patch features Detroit’s “313” area code, with the number 1bolded and emphasized to emulate the classic M-1 road signs. The iconic Woodward Avenue runs 27 miles long from the riverfront in downtown Detroit its southernmost point, to the city of Pontiac on the north end. M-1 unites neighborhoods, and is a central heartbeat of the city’s pride, progress, and potential. Generations of people have enjoyed their travels on Woodward Avenue whether to see its City of Champions sports parades, the Thanksgiving Day Parade, or hearing engines revving along the Dream Cruise – there is no doubt Woodward Avenue is Main Street in the Motor City. Comerica Park, located at 2100 Woodward Avenue, has served as the home of the Tigers since 2000. The ballpark hosted the 2006 and 2012 World Series, the 2005 MLB All-Star Game, and there continues to be investment in the fan and player experience to usher in the next era of Tigers fans and standouts on the field. SLEEVE TAPE: The Motor City for nearly a century long has been at the core of the racing industry.The addition of racing stripes at the bottom of each sleeve of the jersey is nod to Detroit’s central role in the racing industry and parallels the Tigers youthful speed and energy. VIN TAG: Much like every vehicle has its own unique VIN (Vehicle Identification Number), Detroit’s City Connect uniforms and caps will feature a VIN tag that is exclusive to the Tigers baseball club. The numbers are 190135456884, which represent the first year of the club’s charter membership in the American League (1901), alongside 35, 45, 68, and 84, which celebrate Detroit’s four World Series Championships in 1935, 1945, 1968, and 1984. TIGER EYES: “Tiger Eyes” symbolize the passion, energy, and tenacity of Detroiters and its baseball team. These “Tiger Eyes” appear near the beltline on the right side of the jersey and appear on the inside brim of the cap. THE CAP: “DETROIT” adorns the Tigers dark navy-blue City Connect cap with the VIN tag on the right side.* THE BATTING HELMET: The Tigers City Connect batting helmets are electric blue with a similar gradient design seen on the jersey. Like the cap, “DETROIT” is scripted across the front and includes the VIN tag on the right side with a matte finish.
What to Watch this Week
The A’s (somehow less crappy than everyone expected them to be) and the Rangers (a bit crappier than anyone expected them to be) square off in Oakland this week with a four-game series starting tonight. The A’s took two-of-three from the Rangers in their meeting in April, and JP Sears took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning. Sears will pitch on Wednesday. The AL West is wide open, and Oakland is doing their best to recreate the storyline from the original Major League film, and I like it.
The Twins always do this. They never have enough on paper during Spring Training, and they figure out how to maximize what they have. Minnesota is 19-14 entering play today, and they’re welcoming the Seattle Mariners into town this week for a four-game series. After a 7-13 start, the Twins rattled off 12 straight wins before losing on Sunday. So, which team are they? This set with the Mariners will be a good litmus test.
The Astros and the Yankees open a three-game series tomorrow, and the two expected AL pennant contenders couldn’t be further apart right now. Can the Astros wake up? Will the Yankees continue to roll?
