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Red Sox RHP Dustin May pitched six innings and allowed one run in his second start with Boston after allowing four runs in 3.2 innings against the Royals in his debut. This front office took a lot of heat during the Rafael Devers saga, and they probably could’ve avoided that with better communication, but the proof is in the win-loss pudding at this point, and Boston is back in a playoff race, 1.5 games up on the Yankees and and one game behind the Mariners for the top wild card spot. 

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Note: Anyone promoted during the current season is ineligible for the stash list.

1. Orioles C Samuel Basallo (20, AAA)

I’ve given Baltimore a lot of guff in this space over the last few years for how they manage their roster, but this delayed promotion is easy to understand. Basallo turns 21 on August 13, so even though the bat was ready, and the roster had a clear need behind the plate, they had every incentive to hold Basallo back and give him a shot at rookie of the year in 2026. He’s got 23 home runs in just 72 Triple-A games and would be my pick for best fantasy rookie if selecting today. 

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Today’s a pretty big deal for Nationals RHP Cade Cavalli, who will make his first MLB appearance since his major league debut in 2022. He allowed seven earned runs in 4.1 innings that night and hasn’t been doing a whole lot better than that in Triple-A this year (6.09 ERA in 65 innings), so he’s a pretty obvious ratio-bomb waiting to happen. Probably wise to avoid unless he can string a few solid outings together. 

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Lotta fun to be had tracking the trade deadline this year, so let’s grab our Geiger counters and pick through the fallout.

AJ Preller brought his own fireworks and fuses. San Diego threw down the gauntlet early by moving SS Leo De Vries, RHP Henry Baez, RHP Braden Nett, and RHP Eduarniel Nunez in a package for closer Mason Miller and LHP JP Sears. Speculation came quickly from Buster Olney and others that the club must be looking to move Robert Suarez and Dylan Cease for outfield help. Instead, they kept Suarez to build a monster bullpen. As much as I like Mason Miller, this represents an enormous return for the Athletics. I can’t believe they got Henry Baez just tacked on for some reason. He’s a good pitcher. 

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Rockies new starting 1B Warming Bernabel is the kind of guy who should thrive in Coors. He hasn’t always hit for power as he’s climbed the system, but he’s always made contact and been difficult to strike out. I know he’s here now because Ryan McMahon is not, but I’m hopeful we’re seeing something of a sea change in Colorado. Perhaps the front office has seen the value of stacking plus contact guys in a big ballpark and will continue to acquire and play guys like Bernabel and Tyler Freeman. Coors hasn’t been a basher’s ballpark for quite some time thanks in part to the humidor, but there’s still a million base hits to be had for anyone who puts the ball in play. Man I wish I hadn’t released Mickey Moniak off a team of mine that has Byron Buxton and Ronald Acuña Jr. At least Cardinals C Ivan Herrera played outfield the other day. Maybe he’ll add eligibility in time to help. On the other end of this trade, new Yankees 3B Ryan McMahon gets a fresh lease on competitive baseball in New York. It’s hard to predict how a Rockie will roll once he’s escaped Coors, but this sure feels like an excellent fit. 

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Off the top, I want to point out how this draft and the one before it are great examples of why you should NOT tank in dynasty leagues. Last year’s class was so stacked, you could’ve landed Cam Smith with a pick at the end of round one, as happened in one of my leagues. This year, there’s not much of a difference between the top fifteen or so, and there’s no fast-moving monster among the college bats. 

1. Mariners LHP Kade Anderson

2. Rockies SS Ethan Holliday

3. Marlins SS Avia Arquette 

4. Reds SS Steele Hall

In a class without an obvious bat at the top, Kade Anderson in Seattle represents the best combination of proximity and upside. Easily the top pick in a league where quality pitching is at all hard to find. The shallower the league, the more I’d lean Holliday here. 

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Tigers RHP Troy Melton (24) made his big league debut with Detroit today after dominating Triple-A hitters for most of the season. It did not go well, but most debuts don’t these days, so I’m not dropping him off the couple rosters where I have him. I did not start him today. 

Guardians 2B OF Angel Martinez (23) graduated from prospect status a while back, but he’s only recently really found his footing at the highest level. If I had to bet whether this is just a hot steak or the start of a new level for Martinez, I’m betting he’s reaching a new level despite the total lack of patience at the plate. Over his past 13 games, he’s hitting .345 with four home runs. He has walked one time against 14 strikeouts. His walk rate on the season is 2.9 percent. He walked 8.9 percent of the time in 43 MLB games last season and has never had this issue, so I think it’s a case of a young guy stretching himself, testing his limits, swinging more than he ever has and harder than he ever has. The total swing rate is up from 48.2 percent last year to 55.8 percent this year. His bat speed is up from 69 mph to 70.1 mph, which is still below league average, but it speaks to a player in motion, and as a switch-hitter with plus contact skills and above average defense at two up-the-middle positions, Martinez has a long runway to keep improving. 

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Graduated from Stash List #7: Buy Tong In Time For Grilling Season: Adrian Del Castillo 

Note: Anyone promoted during the current season is ineligible for the stash list.

1. Cardinals SS JJ Wetherholt (22, AAA) 

2B Nolan Gorman has a 101 wRC+ despite a 30.1 percent strikeout rate, and he’s been hot since the calendar turned to June. He’s hit eight of his nine home runs since then, posting a 134 wRC+ despite still striking out an awful lot: 32.5 percent. The team already has something of an extra bat in C Yohel Pozo, but they’re in the wild card race. They’d make the playoffs if they started today, and JJ Wetherholt would be part of the Cardinals’ best playoff roster, so somebody’s going to lose some playing time sooner than later. Wetherholt went 4-for-5 with two doubles on Friday night, his fourth game in Triple-A, where he’s hitting .500 and slugging 1.000.

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Off the top, I feel compelled to say that, prospect-wise, I love SS Kayson Cunningham. It’s an unrequited, non-romantic love, just fyi, but he’s the guy I’m walking away with after draft night if I’m anywhere outside the top three or so. 

Oh hey, during the brief but effective pre-game show, Carlos Collazo says Cunningham is his favorite hitter in the draft. Fast hands. Smooth swing. Great energy. Models himself after Lindor. Was Team USA’s shortstop. Let’s get it.

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Gonna try something different with this year’s Future’s Game story and kind of live blog throughout the afternoon. I know it’s not a live blog because we’re not live, and the game happened yesterday, but I don’t know what else to call it. 

This year’s coverage of the event began with a highlight package of young stars flashing in the game over the years, beginning with Alfonso Soriano in 1999. What a time that was. 

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It’s been a long time since I’ve shared my own moves in this space. I know nobody cares about anyone else’s fantasy teams, but I figured a mid-season check in could give us a slightly fresh way to discuss the game. 

I traded Padres 2B Luis Arraez for Yankees RHP Clarke Schmidt in a 20-team league a couple weeks back, so that’s been fun. Solid starters are rare there in the Highlander Dynasty Invitational, so . . . good thing I benched two-win Wrobleski for the only Schmidt start I got: a three-inning, four-run loss. I’ve been in fifth place for quite a while. It’s a weekly league, so it’s hard to hustle your way up the categories. I had acquired Arraez along with Drew Rasmussen for Luis Robert in something of a sad, sell-low moment considering I’d drafted Robert 7th overall when the league began. Now I’ve got nothing to show for that whole sequence. Well, I’ve got Rasmussen’s couple innings a week, and I’ll be happy to have him next year, but this has been a lesson in chasing innings. Just Don’t, is the lesson. I’ve figured that out in the daily leagues, but the weeklys make me feel stuck sometimes. Plus the rosters are only 40 deep and the Injured List holds only five. The IL thing is a constant irritation for me. I lost Luis Gil before the season got going and haven’t gotten an inning from Rhett Lowder. I’ve also got Justin Martinez, Anthony Santander, Christian Moore, and Alek Manoah. so I’m down to 39 spots. Doesn’t feel like it’s gonna be my year, but my offense leads the league in At Bats and is near the top in everything, so I can’t exactly tank.

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Rosters have been set for Major League Baseball’s Futures Game. First pitch is scheduled for Saturday at 4pm EST. Earlier in the day, tastemakers gather around the batting cage to marvel at the prowess of these youngsters, which seems to generate more helium in the prospect-sphere than the game itself. Makes sense to me. It’s a seven-inning exhibition, and while it’s fun, it’s hard to take too much away from that, although if you reacted to Drake Baldwin’s easy opposite field home run in last year’s game, you played it right. 

Here’s a link to the full Futures Game rosters: https://www.mlb.com/news/2025-futures-game-rosters

A few names jump out to me as having a chance to enhance their name value with a nice batting practice session: Pirates OF Esmerlyn Valdez, Pirates SS Konnor Griffin, Phillies C Eduardo Tait, and Athletics 3B Tommy White. None of these guys are going to sneak up on the people there to see them, but they’re all going to be extremely impressive alongside the game’s best prospects. Griffin is the number one prospect in the minors right now. By no means am I unique in this belief, but it’s going to be the consensus soon, and it might happen next weekend. 

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