Tuesday, August 04

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Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today’s edition is brought to you by David Adler.

It’s the calm after the storm of the Trade Deadline. Let’s recap the action. 

There were nearly 50 trades yesterday alone. There were blockbusters. There were shockers. There were last-minute deals before the 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline hit. 

There was a lot that happened, and we’re here to make sense of it all. 

Here are seven big things that happened on Deadline day: 

1) The Red Sox land Adley 

The Red Sox trading for Orioles cornerstone catcher Adley Rutschman was the biggest deal of Deadline day itself — and second only to the Dodgers’ Tarik Skubal blockbuster for the biggest move of Deadline season overall. It also might’ve been the biggest surprise of the Deadline. The O’s got a big haul back for Rutschman, but they’re only 2 1/2 games out of an American League Wild Card spot, and they just traded their three-time All-Star backstop to a division rival. 

This wasn’t the only stunner involving Boston yesterday, either. The Red Sox also traded away Marcelo Mayer, who’s still only 23 years old and was viewed as a future star for the franchise not too long ago.

2) Arraez to Philly … and Bryce to the outfield? 

The Deadline day action started early. One of the first moves of the morning was the Giants sending three-time batting champion (and potentially four-time, since he’s leading the league again this year) Luis Arraez to the Phillies. Arraez was one of the marquee hitters on the market. But the big surprise here is what’s going to happen with the Phillies’ defense. Arraez will play second base. Bryson Stott will shift to third base. Alec Bohm will go to first. And Bryce Harper will return to the outfield for the first time in five years. 

3) The Mets complete their retool 

After sending Freddy Peralta to the Rays over the weekend, the Mets stayed busy on Deadline day, making a series of trades to hit the reset button with a new core. That included sending Clay Holmes to the Cubs in a deal for Top 100 prospect Jefferson Rojas, and sending Luke Weaver to the Pirates for a young shortstop who’s a hometown kid and lifelong Mets fan. By the time the Deadline hit, the Mets had traded nearly a third of their active roster. The one potential trade chip they didn’t move was Luis Robert Jr.

4) The Yankees add more offense 

The Yankees didn’t get a catcher at the Trade Deadline, but they did add a pair of bats that will help carry the load in the absence of Aaron Judge and others. On Deadline day, the Yanks checked off their need for a right-handed-hitting outfielder by trading for Heliot Ramos from the Giants. That move came a day after their trade for lefty slugger Luis García Jr., who made his Yankees debut on Deadline day and wasted no time bopping his first home run in pinstripes.

5) Blue Jays surprise with Sori 

We thought the Blue Jays were going to be sellers after they traded Kevin Gausman to the Cubs over the weekend. But then they went out and traded for Angels breakout starter José Soriano yesterday. The move does make sense if you think about it, since Soriano will be in Toronto through 2028, giving the Jays plenty of time to rebound with him in the rotation over the next two seasons. But it was still one of the biggest surprise moves at the Deadline — especially when you consider that, as the day went on, the Jays kept trading away other pieces, sending Gold Glove outfielder Daulton Varsho to the Astros and closer Jeff Hoffman to the Twins.

6) Padres beat the buzzer 

For all the Mason Miller buzz out there, the Padres held onto their superstar closer. Instead, as the Deadline approached, the Padres went into buyer mode, swinging not one but two trades for starting pitchers. First they got 2021 AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray from the Giants, and then, in a buzzer beater, they got the other (non-Skubal) Tigers pitcher on the market, Casey Mize, who’s having a career year. A.J. Preller might not have pulled off one of his signature Deadline blockbusters, but he did make much-needed upgrades to the rotation for a team trying to win.

7) Rays keep pushing with Hicks 

Tampa Bay was one of the odd teams out of the Skubal sweepstakes, but the AL East leaders definitely didn’t have a quiet Trade Deadline. The Rays made a series of savvy moves: After they got Peralta from the Mets to satisfy their starting pitching need, they gave him a batterymate on Deadline day with their trade for slugging catcher Liam Hicks from the Marlins. 

 

WATCH SKUBAL AND MORE DEBUT TONIGHT

Now that the Trade Deadline has come and gone, we’re about to get our first look at a bunch of star players with their new teams. Here are three debuts to watch tonight: 

Tarik Skubal — Dodgers at Cubs (8:05 p.m. ET, TBS / MLB.TV) 

Obviously the most-hyped debut is Skubal’s first start as a Dodger. And it should be a good one, too, as the back-to-back Cy Young winner takes on a fellow NL playoff contender in the Cubs, led by MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong. (Fun fact: This will also be Skubal’s first time pitching at Wrigley Field.) The ace lefty might say he just wants to be a “chameleon” for the reigning World Series champs, but make no mistake: Skubal is a huge difference-maker for L.A.’s quest to three-peat. 

Freddy Peralta — Rays at Rockies (8:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV) 

Peralta isn’t having his best season, but a change of scenery might be just what he needs. He’s feeling confident as he prepares to make his Rays debut tonight, saying: “I’m very comfortable … because I know who I really am. I trust myself. I said before that I feel that I am born to be a winner, not a loser.” That said, Coors Field isn’t exactly the easiest place to pitch.

Luis Arraez — Nationals at Phillies (6:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV) 

Arraez is leading the National League batting race with a .324 average. Now he’ll try to finish off his fourth batting title with a new team. The Phillies already had the sluggers in Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. Now they have the king of making contact in Arraez, who has the lowest strikeout rate in the Majors (4.5%). That’s a nice add for a Phillies lineup that has the seventh-highest strikeout rate in the Majors (23.6%). Arraez is batting cleanup tonight in his Phillies debut. 

YANKS’ TOP PROSPECT ARRIVES

Not only was George Lombard Jr. untouchable in trade talks — he’s coming to the Major Leagues. 

When teams came calling about the Yankees’ top prospect ahead of the Trade Deadline, New York shut down every request. Now Lombard is being called up for the first time ahead of tonight’s game against the Cardinals at Yankee Stadium (7:05 p.m. ET, MLB.TV).

The 21-year-old, who’s ranked as the No. 20 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, is batting eighth and playing shortstop for the Yanks in his MLB debut.

Lombard was batting .268 with six home runs, 10 stolen bases and an .845 OPS in 56 games at Triple-A this season.

With Lombard arriving for his big league debut, Anthony Volpe was optioned to Triple-A. Volpe, who won the Yankees’ starting shortstop job during Spring Training in 2023, has been impacted by injury and underperformance ever since.

Who knows — maybe Lombard will be just as big a boost to the Bronx Bombers as trade acquisitions Luis García Jr. and Heliot Ramos. 

ICYMI: OUR BEST TRADE DEADLINE COVERAGE

Miss any of our Trade Deadline coverage yesterday? We’ve got you.

• We rank the top 25 trades of Deadline season — and track every move made by every team — here.

• We break down the six biggest winners of the Trade Deadline here.

• Revisit the eight biggest surprises of the 2026 Deadline here.

• Check out five trades that might be more impactful than you think here.

• We rank the best prospects on the move at the Deadline here.

• The seven teams who made out with the biggest prospect hauls are here.

• And if you want to know the top trade candidates who weren’t traded? Those are here. 

PLAY KONAMI LEAGUE LEADERS PICK ‘EM

Think you know which team will hit the most home runs this weekend? You could win $5,000.

Konami League Leaders Pick ‘Em asks you to select the teams whose hitters will record the most home runs from Aug. 7-9. Enter your picks of the top five teams HERE before 1 p.m. ET on Aug. 6 and you could win.

Submit your predictions for the five clubs that will tally the most home runs in the games taking place from Friday through Sunday and you could win a $5,000 grand prize. 

 

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