7/27/25
We are just days away from the 2025 MLB Trade Deadline and last week, the first moves began to trickle in as teams look to set up their rosters for deep postseason runs and potentially a World Series. While things have been relatively quiet so far, there were a handful of moves that bolstered contenders rosters. We also saw some teams go on runs to get back into the playoff mix and a couple of storylines regarding award races. Let’s take a look at what happened last week in baseball.
Trade Deadline on Thursday
The biggest day of the baseball season is just days away and things have been…quiet. Normally there are frantic GMs and moves being made daily but this season has been very mellow so far. Seattle did make the first big splash in acquiring Josh Naylor from Arizona, New York added Ryan McMahon to try to fix their third base problem, and some veterans have been moved but outside of that, it’s been crickets.
With the playoff expansion back in 2022, teams that would normally be out of the race can stay in longer which makes them hesitate to sell. Arizona is a prime example of that and the Los Angeles Angels are in a similar spot as are the Kansas City Royals. The D-Backs seem more willing to move players after dishing Naylor, but for a guy like Eugenio Suarez it might not happen until Thursday as they evaluate all the offers. Things will likely pick up over the next few days, but this is shaping up to be one of the quieter deadlines in recent memory as we await 1pm on Thursday.
Aaron Judge Placed on IL, Yankees Struggling
While things felt like they couldn’t get any worse for the New York Yankees who are in the midst of a major slump, they sure did on Saturday when the team announced that two-time MVP and a candidate for his third, Aaron Judge would be headed to the IL with a flexor strain. The good news for the Yankees is that it should be a short stint on the IL and Judge’s UCL is intact which means he will be back very soon. Now that injury will be one to keep your eye on and the Yankees will use Judge in a DH only role when he does return. That could deal a big blow to Judge’s MVP run especially if Cal Raleigh gets hot over the next 10-days.
The bigger question for the Yankees is can they hold on to a playoff spot while Judge heals? The team is 4-8 in their last 12 games and the defense and offense have both been flat out bad over that stretch. The American League is going to have a couple really good teams miss the playoffs and nobody should feel safe. New York is just a game ahead of Boston and 1 1/2 games ahead of Seattle and Texas with Tampa Bay 4 1/2 back with a four-game series between the Yankees and Rays coming this week. New York is a sinking ship right now and they have to find away to stay afloat until Judge returns.
Texas, Cleveland Still Alive
You really saw this week how one good stretch of baseball can bring a team back from the dead and give them a chance at the postseason. Two teams are currently on runs that have potentially turned them from sellers to buyers. First, the Texas Rangers had a perfect 6-0 week, tying them with the Seattle Mariners for the final Wild Card spot. Texas has had fantastic pitching all season, but the bats have finally started producing and they have made up a ton of ground in a short period of time. They also have four games against the Mariners this week that could either move them into the postseason or undo all their work from the past week.
Cleveland is a more intriguing team due to them taking advantage of Detroit currently collapsing. The Guardians are still nine games behind Detroit in the AL Central but just four games back of the Wild Card. Now many still expect Cleveland to sell with Steven Kwan and Emmanuel Clase being floated out there. However, Clase was placed on leave by MLB due to an investigation involving betting, similar to teammate Luis Ortiz last month. That could force Cleveland to just sell and focus on getting their gambling issues corrected and focus on 2026.
Two Teammates Battle for AL Rookie of the Year
While the National League Rookie of the Year race is a discombobulated mess, the American League race for the award is much clearer. However, the race is between two players on the same team. The Athletics’ Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz will battle it out over the next two months to decide who takes home the award barring a collapse from both and a scorching hot stretch from another rookie.
Wilson started the year on an unbelievable run but has cooled since being named an All-Star starter earlier this month. Nick Kurtz has been out of his mind in the month of July and took the baseball world by storm with his 6-6 performance on Friday in Houston, including hitting four home runs in one game. The two have a very different skill set with Wilson being a contact oriented hitter and Kurtz more of a guy that can hit the ball into orbit. There isn’t much excitement around the A’s as we get into August, but fans of the team will be treated to an exciting race where they will win either way.
Hall of Fame Class of 2025 Inducted
Five players joined the MLB Hall of Fame in Cooperstown over the weekend and it was a star-studded class. Headlined by Ichiro Suzuki, the class was also made up of CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner, the late Dave Parker, and the late Dick Allen. Always an incredible event, there was a great mix of players from Dick Allen in the 60s to Ichiro and CC Sabathia who both played into 2019. Ichiro, Sabathia, and Wagner all gave incredible speeches, highlighting how special the moment was. Dick Allen’s widow, Willa, gave a very emotional speech about Allen promising he would make it to the big leagues before Jackie Robinson had ever played a game. Dave Parker’s son, David, gave a speech for his father who passed away one month before the ceremony that concluded with a poem written by Dave himself. It is always one of the best weekends of the year and this year’s class did a fantastic job in showing how special the moment is and honoring the best to ever play the sport.
Three Series to Watch Next Week
Chicago @ Milwaukee (7/28-7/30, Three Games)
This is the biggest series of the week by far as the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers enter the series tied atop the NL Central and tied for the best record in baseball. Chicago has been towards the top of the sport especially in terms of offense all season long while Milwaukee caught fire in June and have just continued to build upon that as we approach the deadline. The Cubs enter the series up on the Brewers 3-2 in the season series so the pressure is on Milwaukee especially since they will be playing at home. Three tremendous pitching matchups are scheduled so this will be the series every baseball fan is watching this week.
Tampa Bay @ New York (7/28-7/31, Four Games)
The race for the three American League Wild Card spots is getting very interesting and the two teams struggling the most in that race will meet in a four-game series in the Bronx. With Aaron Judge out, someone will have to step up for the Yankees as they have fallen all the way out of first place in the AL East and are now in danger of losing the top Wild Card spot. The Rays have been struggling for the month of July and fell out of a playoff spot and all the way behind Texas. The Rays do trail New York, Seattle, Boston, and Texas in the standings 15 games against the teams ahead of them. If the Rays falter this week, that could push them to sell before the deadline so they have a lot riding on the next four games,
Texas @ Seattle (7/31-8/3, Four Games)
Where in the world did the Texas Rangers come from? A perfect 6-0 week has brought them even with the Seattle Mariners for the third and final American League Wild Card spot and those two teams play for the final time in a four-game series this weekend. Texas is playing their best baseball of the season while the Mariners have been treading water against a very tough schedule to start the second half. The Mariners are 7-2 against the Rangers in 2025 which gives them the tiebreaker over the Rangers. A good series could push Texas right by Seattle but they will have to solve a puzzle they have yet to solve this season and to add to it, the Rangers were swept by the Mariners in their only trip to Seattle so far this season.
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