Happy Tuesday everyone, and happy MLB trade deadline day. It could be a wild one.
Let's get right to it.
Good morning to everyone but especially to...
THE NEW YORK YANKEES, THE HOUSTON ASTROS AND THE SAN DIEGO PADRES
The title contenders are making their moves as the trade deadline approaches.
Let's start in the Bronx: The Yankees made another much-needed move, acquiring starter Frankie Montas and reliever Lou Trivino from the Athletics for left-handed pitchers JP Sears and Ken Waldichuk, right-hander Luis Medina and second baseman Cooper Bowman.
Montas finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting last year and carries a 3.18 ERA this season, the second-best of his career. The Yankees have World Series aspirations, and Montas gives the rotation a much-needed boost. The Yankees earned an "A" grade from our MLB reporter R.J. Anderson.
- Anderson: "The Yankees have thus far been able to avoid dealing away any of their top position player prospects. It's anyone's guess as to what the Yankees will do the rest of the deadline, if anything, but Cashman has to be pleased that he was able to add these three arms, plus Andrew Benintendi, without parting with Anthony Volpe, Oswald Peraza, or Everson Pereira in the process."
The Yankees are .500 or better against every AL team they've faced this year except one: The Astros. And Houston isn't resting on those laurels, either, acquiring 1B/OF Trey Mancini from the Orioles as part of a three-team trade and later adding C Christian Vázquez from the Red Sox.
- Mancini is slashing .268/.347/.404 with 10 home runs this season. He should see most of his time in the outfield given Michael Brantley's injury but could also play first with Yuli Gurriel struggling.
- Vázquez has a .282/.327/.432 slash line this season with eight home runs. He's very solid defensively, too.
Over in the NL, the Padres got good news in three forms.
- Starter Joe Musgrove signed a 5-year extension.
- Fernando Tatis Jr. is nearing a return.
- Those two have a new All-Star teammate: San Diego acquired Brewers star reliever Josh Hader in a blockbuster trade that sends reliever Taylor Rogers, right-hander Dinelson Lamet and prospects LHP Robert Gasser and OF Esteury Ruiz to Milwaukee.
It's a huge move for San Diego, writes Anderson. Oh, and this trade doesn't take them out of the running for Juan Soto. More on that in a bit.
Honorable mentions
- Austin Riley got a 10-year, $212-million extension from the Braves.
And not such a good morning for...
JAMES WASHINGTON AND THE DALLAS COWBOYS
It's been a relatively quiet offseason for the Dallas Cowboys, given their standards. The biggest stories have been who isn't suiting up for the team, especially at wide receiver: Amari Cooper went to Cleveland, Ced Wilson is in Miami, and Michael Gallup signed an extension with Dallas but is still recovering from a torn ACL.
The news for that group got worse at yesterday's practice as James Washington suffered a foot injury and was carted off. He's expected to miss six to 10 weeks.
- Washington, a second-round pick in 2018, spent the first four seasons of his career with Pittsburgh before signing with Dallas this offseason.
- While he's never caught more than 44 passes in a season, Washington owns an impressive 14.3 yards per catch career mark.
If you take away Gallup and Washington, only two current Cowboys wide receivers have caught an NFL pass: CeeDee Lamb and Noah Brown.
Not so honorable mention
- Louisville and former coach Rick Pitino are under NCAA scrutiny again.
Everything you need to know for the trade deadline, including the latest on Juan Soto ⚾
There's so much baseball news to get caught up on. Let's run through all the other significant trades we didn't mention above.
- OF Tommy Pham is headed to Boston, as is C Reese McGuire, while reliever Jake Diekman is joining the White Sox. Here's the breakdown.
- The Yankees' smaller move was adding reliever Scott Effross from the Cubs.
- LHP Jose Quintana is going to the Cardinals.
- RHP Jake Odorizzi and OF Robbie Grossman are headed to Atlanta.
You can track all the major moves here.
Of course, there's one gigantic name we're anxiously awaiting: Juan Soto.
- The Padres, Dodgers and Cardinals are the three contenders in the race, according to reports.
- Soto wasn't the only superstar in the news, as the Angels listened to offers for Shohei Ohtani -- including strong bids from the Padres and Yankees -- but ultimately decided he won't be going anywhere.
Be sure you know everything you need to -- and stay glued to our live coverage -- as today's 6 p.m. deadline ticks closer.
What Deshaun Watson's suspension means for Browns 🏈
Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson received a six-game suspension yesterday, as former federal judge Sue Robinson determined he violated the league's personal conduct policy. This offseason, Watson faced civil lawsuits from 24 women accusing him of sexual assault or misconduct. He has settled 23 of the 24 cases.
- Watson will miss the following games: at Panthers, vs. Jets, vs. Steelers, at Falcons, vs. Chargers, vs. Patriots. He'll return to face the Ravens in Week 7.
- The NFL reportedly pushed for an indefinite suspension of at least one year, and the league can appeal this decision; commissioner Roger Goodell would then deliver a final ruling. An appeal is due by Thursday.
If six games is indeed the final suspension, it will likely be up to Jacoby Brissett to get Cleveland off to a good start. He went 2-3 filling in as Miami's starter last year, and his 78.1 passer rating was 28th out of 33 quarterbacks who threw at least 200 passes. Also on the roster are Josh Rosen and Joshua Dobbs.
NFL expert Jordan Dajani took a look at how this impacts the Browns' season outlook while Cody Benjamin examined how Watson's punishment compares to others over the last 15 years.
The most impressive sports records still being chased 🏆
Over the last few weeks, I've been looking at the most impressive/unbreakable sports records of all time that people are still trying to break. It's important that there are two parts here. There are plenty of amazing records that no one is trying to break anymore. like Cal Ripken Jr.'s 2,632 straight games played. It is incredible, but no one is trying to break it anymore. Guys get days off, and for good reason. So that record isn't on this list.
What is on this list, though, is Jerry Rice. His 22,895 receiving yards and 197 receiving touchdowns are two of the most impressive marks in league history. Let me put it in perspective for you:
- "Cooper Kupp would have to replicate his 2021 season -- arguably the greatest receiving season ever -- nine more times to pass Rice in yards and 10 more times to pass him in touchdowns. What about a younger player, you ask? Justin Jefferson's 3,016 career receiving yards are most ever by a player through two seasons. He'll only have to keep this pace up 14 more seasons to pass Rice in yards."
So, yeah, Rice is pretty darn good. But that wasn't my favorite. Let's flip on over to hockey, where Wayne Gretzky has my favorite stat of all time.
- "If Gretzky had never scored a single goal, he'd still have the most points in NHL history. That's right: Gretzky's 1,963 career assists are more than anyone else's career goals plus assists (Jaromir Jagr had 1,921 career points, second all-time). Add in 894 goals and Gretzky's points record of 2,857 is absurd."
And yes, it is weird quoting myself in my own newsletter. Thanks for asking. Anyway, you can check out my entire list here. And be sure to let me know your favorite from the article, or any I didn't include!
What we're watching Tuesday 📺
🏀 Sparks at Liberty, 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
🏀 Aces at Mystics, 7 p.m. on Facebook
⚽ Racing Louisville FC vs OL Reign, 8 p.m. on Paramount+
🏀 Wings at Sky, 9 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
⚾ Dodgers at Giants, 9:45 p.m. on TBS