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(Arizona Sports) D-backs’ Derrick Hall: Any trade deadline move will be to improve MLB roster
“Whatever moves we might possibly make here at the deadline, it’s going to be to improve this team, this Major League roster,” he added. “It’s not about acquiring young prospects at this time. It’s about making moves that are buying and selling at the same time, which (general manager Mike Hazen) and his staff has been really good at the last couple years.”
MLB News
“Here’s what I’ll say on PitchCom,” he said (via Newsday). “It works. Does it help? Yes, but I also think it should be illegal. I don’t think it should be in the game. Stealing signs is part of the game. For me, I’ve always taken pride in having a complex system of signs and having that advantage over other pitchers.”
Add this to the list of “skills that are going to disappear in baseball and no one will miss” right along side pitch framing.
(NESN) Chaim Bloom Adamant Xander Bogaerts Trade ‘Not On (Red Sox’s) Radar’
“I just think to make those types of guarantees is kind of silly,” Bloom said. “But I will say this: I cannot conceive of a set of circumstances between now and Aug. 3 that would change that. I don’t like to say things that I absolutely can’t back up, but I don’t know what would change that situation, because it’s not something that’s on our radar — for him not to be here — in any way, shape or form.”
(The Athletic) The life of an MLB GM at the trade deadline: What it takes to close a deal
The week leading up to the MLB trade deadline is a hectic time for GMs and their staff. You are inundated with texts and phone calls. You are constantly communicating with other GMs and brainstorming possible deals with your executive cabinet. Most teams are working on four to five trades at a time.
There is no sleep, there is no rest for the mind, the clock is ticking, and if you can’t close deals to improve your organization, you have failed at your job. At the deadline, the GM is just as important to a club as the star player.
(ESPN) What recent MLB blockbusters tell us about the Nationals’ potential Juan Soto trade options
There has never been a player traded quite like Washington Nationals star Juan Soto, at least not in modern major league history. Oh, there have been big names, for sure, some as big or even bigger: Mookie Betts, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., Rickey Henderson (multiple times) and Reggie Jackson, among others. But in an era when a player’s value is a combination of on-the-field production and salary, Soto is a perfect storm of trade hype.