Saturday was a disappointing day for the Yankees on the field, as they let a narrow late lead slip away with the back of their bullpen allowing four runs to cross in the last two innings. The offense could’ve done a lot more to set them up for success though, managing to score just two runs (one earned) against David Peterson and his 5.52 ERA. They did, however, begin their remodeling by working a trade with the Pirates to ship off Camilo Doval in exchange for a couple of prospects. They’ll be buying
more than likely from here on out, but Doval was an obvious odd man out of the ‘pen after struggling since coming over at last year’s deadline and the team is shopping for an upgrade over him anyway so it doesn’t hurt to get something back instead of dropping him.
Dealing Doval was one of the first moves made yesterday, but it was far from the biggest one. The baseball world has been gearing up for an explosive Trade Deadline weekend, with teams holding off on deciding whether they were in the buyer or seller camps until the last minute with a muddy competitive field. The Dodgers have had no doubts about where they stood though, and they shoved their chips into the middle of the table to land the best arm on the market — two-time reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, for a package headlined by their fifth-best prospect Zyhir Hope. Make no mistake, just because he’s their fifth-best prospect doesn’t mean he’s a nobody; Hope is ranked 25th overall by MLB Pipeline, a rare blue chip getting moved for a rental, but the Dodgers’ system is loaded and they were always planning on offloaded someone to get the best upgrade available this year.
Before we get to the rubber match with the Cubs, Estevão starts us off with a look at Pete Fairbanks and the underlying stats that make him a trade candidate despite a dismal season thus far. Andrew has the Rivalry Roundup as the AL East continues to push the Yankees in the standings, Nick honors a Yankee that has a myth attached to his brief time with the team on his birthday, and Scott highlights the work that Ernesto Martinez Jr. has been doing down in Triple-A this season. After the game, John will deliver the weekly social media spotlight.
Today’s Matchup:
New York Yankees at Chicago Cubs
Time: 2:20 p.m. EST
TV: YES Network, Marquee Sports Network
Venue: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Questions/Prompts:
1. What did you make of the Dodgers’ blockbuster deal to land Skubal? Does anyone stand a chance against their superteam now?
2. Will the Yankees make any more deals today, or leave it all up to deadline day tomorrow?
