Yes, the Red Sox would love to do better, and perhaps they will. But the starting pitching market is thin and Sox manager Alex Cora is familiar with Morton from the 2017 Houston Astros. With Bryan Bello and Lucas Giolito both on a roll, perhaps the Sox would be OK with someone like Morton rather than a pure (and possibly unattainable) No. 2 starter.<\/p>\n
Rogers, 27, also has bounced back. His debut with the Orioles last August was so rough, the team sent him to the minors. At that point, his acquisition from the Miami Marlins looked like a bust. And when Rogers began this season on the injured list, it didn\u2019t appear much better.<\/p>\n
Outfielder Kyle Stowers became an All-Star with the Marlins. The other player the Orioles sent to Miami, infielder Connor Norby, also seems capable of haunting Baltimore. But since joining the Orioles on May 24, Rogers\u2019 ERA is 1.53, and it isn\u2019t just luck. His expected ERA is 2.94.<\/p>\n
The difference between Morton and Rogers is that Rogers is under club control for one more season. The Orioles plan to contend in 2026. Their current projected rotation would include Grayson Rodr\u00edguez and Kyle Bradish, both of whom could be hard-pressed to carry significant workloads coming off major injuries.<\/p>\n
The Orioles are listening on Rogers, just as they are listening on closer F\u00e9lix Bautista, who is under club control for two additional seasons. A source briefed on the team\u2019s plans, however, said it was unlikely either would be traded. The Orioles have nearly a dozen potential free agents to work through, including All-Star designated hitter Ryan O\u2019Hearn. Trades involving some or most of those players will be the priority.<\/p>\n
What will be next for the LVP?<\/p>\n
In his recent midseason awards column<\/a>, The Athletic\u2019s Jayson Stark named Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert his Least Valuable Player (LVP).<\/p>\n \u201cHe has one job \u2013 to get himself traded,\u201d Stark quoted a friend as saying. \u201cAnd he\u2019s failing!\u201d<\/p>\n Luis Robert currently has a .599 OPS and 67 OPS+, the lowest totals of his career. (Matt Marton \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n The problem for the White Sox is they might face little choice but to move Robert anyway. There seems virtually no chance of the team exercising Robert\u2019s $20 million option for 2026. A trade would be the only way to get something back, however meager.<\/p>\n Robert\u2019s .190 batting average is the second lowest among qualifiers after Michael Conforto\u2019s .184. He has struck out nearly twice as many times (93) as he has hits (51). His offense is so bad, his bWAR is at replacement level and his fWAR is just slightly above, even though he has stolen 22 bases in 28 attempts and rates above-average in center.<\/p>\n Perhaps a team such as the San Diego Padres would take Robert if the White Sox included a portion of his remaining salary, something the team has indicated a willingness to do<\/a>. But even then, the White Sox could not count on getting much of a return. Robert\u2019s value keeps sinking, and time is running out.<\/p>\n AL Central: Land of the relievers<\/p>\n The AL Central is the division to call for controllable relievers. The Cleveland Guardians\u2019 Emmanuel Clase and Cade Smith are two trade candidates. The Minnesota Twins\u2019 Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran are two others. But prying any of those pitchers loose might be difficult.<\/p>\n Both the Twins and Guardians are below .500, but the Twins are only four games back in the wild-card race and the Guardians only 4 1\/2, making it still too early to concede. The Twins\u2019 schedule leading to the deadline (COL, LAD on road, WAS, BOS at home) is mixed.<\/p>\n The Guardians\u2019 schedule (home against Athletics, BAL; road against KC, home against COL) appears somewhat easier. But how much any of that will help remains to be seen.<\/p>\n The other element is that the Guardians are extremely disciplined in trade talks, often frustrating potential partners. And where did Twins chief of baseball operations Derek Falvey begin his front-office career? Cleveland.<\/p>\n Tampa Bay in wait-and-see mode<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve heard one bubble team say it, you\u2019ve heard \u2019em all: \u201cOur play leading to the deadline likely will determine our course.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rays, after stumbling to the break, suddenly are one of those teetering clubs. Following a six-game homestand against the Orioles and White Sox, they will have only 22 home games remaining, 37 on the road.<\/p>\n However they fare, the Rays\u2019 reluctance to trade players who signed team-friendly extensions almost certainly will lead to first baseman Yandy D\u00edaz remaining with the club. D\u00edaz actually agreed to two such deals, the second coming in March when the Rays exercised his $12 million option for 2026 and added a $10 million club option for \u201927.<\/p>\n Second baseman Brandon Lowe also signed a below-market extension for six years and $24 million in March 2019. But all that remains on Lowe\u2019s deal is an $11.5 million option for next season. Closer Pete Fairbanks is in the same position, with only a $7 million club option remaining. If the Rays fail to snap out of their 3-11 slide, the shorter commitments might put both in play.<\/p>\n A wild and crazy idea: Tucker in Tampa Bay<\/p>\n Speaking of the Rays, here\u2019s an intriguing thought if Jacksonville developer Patrick Zalupski is confirmed<\/a> as the team\u2019s new owner in time for the offseason:<\/p>\n Kyle Tucker.<\/p>\n The thought might not be as preposterous as it sounds, depending upon how much Zalupski is willing to spend on players after plunking $1.7 billion or so for the team.<\/p>\n Tucker, 28, is a native of Tampa. The Rays are a good bet to escape the final eight years of Wander Franco\u2019s 11-year, $181 million contract if Franco is unable to leave the Dominican Republic after being found guilty<\/a> in that country of sexual abuse of a minor. And even under owner Stuart Sternberg, they\u2019ve occasionally tried to go big in free agency, most notably during the 2021-22 offseason when they reportedly offered Freddie Freeman<\/a> six- and seven-year deals in the $140 million to $150 million range.<\/p>\n As a free agent, Tucker figures to command at least three times that much, maybe more. The range might be far out of Zalupski\u2019s comfort zone. But what better way for a new owner to announce his intentions than by signing the best free agent available?<\/p>\n And finally\u2026<\/p>\n We present further evidence that this is the Year of the Big Dumper:<\/p>\n In addition to hitting 38 homers before the break, winning the Home Run Derby and being named to Team USA for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Cal Raleigh recently won the Seattle Mariners\u2019 \u201cGolden Locker\u201d award for keeping his space the cleanest and most organized.<\/p>\n The award, bestowed by the Mariners\u2019 clubhouse attendants every homestand, comes with a free car wash or haircut \u2014 just slightly less of a prize than the $1 million Raleigh earned for winning the Derby.<\/p>\n (Top photo of Charlie Morton: Edward M. Pio Roda \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So much for the Los Angeles Dodgers building enough depth to make their team deadline-proof. After investing a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":69980,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1276,1274,1282,2502,1287,1266,1288,62,1289,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-69979","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-baltimore-orioles","9":"tag-chicago-white-sox","10":"tag-cleveland-guardians","11":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","12":"tag-minnesota-twins","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-seattle-mariners","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114868794528764203","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26403012-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n