glory

Rosenthal mentioned the Jays interest in Upton last week, and said the deal was close last night. This ain't the AA era anymore. We might hear about trades before they are announced more often now.

Padres are paying all EXCEPT $5m, which means they are paying $17m while the Jays are paying Upton $5m.

Heyman said SD are paying "a lot" of the $22m left on Upton's contract. That seems like more than half of it, at least by the way he phrased it.

Prospect is Hansel Rodriguez, per Heyman.

His defence in left grades out pretty well this season. Could be valuable in the corners defensively.

They'll probably give both of them time at DH while Upton covers LF and RF. I don't think this means the end of Zeke. He's prob going to be the 4th OF with Upton starting. It will be Smoak who sees his role diminish, if anything.

Lineup: Bautista, Donaldson, EE, Saunders, Tulo, Martin, Travis, Pillar, Upton Bench: Zeke, Smoak, Barney, Thole

He had a 110 wRC+ in 2015 (228 Pa) and 100 so far this season, and he brings at least some value on defence and on the bases. Smoak was at 107 last season and 101 this year, and he's a slug at 1b and the bases. We are looking at two average hitters at absolute best, but one of them brings defensive value and speed, and he's been much better in LF this season than he has been in center (and he's not playing center over Pillar on this team). Like I said, if the Pads are picking up most of the tab and the Jays are giving up very little, then it is an upgrade in 2016 and gives them depth in 2017 with two OF's leaving. Even a Carrera/Upton platoon is probably better than Smoak playing everyday.

I'd rather go with Pompey too, but for whatever reason that's not happening. Upton wouldn't be my first choice but I don't want to see Bautista and Saunders play the OF together. That's two pylons beside Pillar. Upton is better than Smoak, and that's really the way I'm looking at it. But if they give up anything of value, I'd be disappointed.

Smoak is replacement level, and Bautista and Saunders are s*** fielders. Upton is probably just as good a hitter as Smoak but plays a solid OF, which means they can move Bats and MS to DH. Improves the defense tremendously and does nothing to the offense, maybe even improves it since at least Upton can run a bit. This would be an upgrade for 2016, no question. Depends what is given up though. Better not be a good prospect, and I suspect it won't be.

A 2 WAR OF has value, and that's pretty much what he is now. Not someone I'd pay $16M to, so depends how much SD is covering. Upgrade over Smoak in 2016, and OF depth for 2017 if/when JB and MS leave.

Upton in OF > Smoak at 1B. Depends on the cost and how much SD eats up. Better not be a real prospect. Maybe they are keeping Barnes in the minors for a reason.

His FB velocity is down 2 mph and he's getting hit harder than he ever has before. He might be able to turn things around but it's not like the Jays gave up on him because of his ERA. He's been pretty damn bad with some red flags around him. With that said, getting rid of him just to bring up Tepera is pointless. I'd rather have Storen with a velocity drop than Tepera fully healthy.

They took 2 over the weekend. Can't hate on them too much.

Cecil looking good today. Finally.

If they wanted to DFA Storen, that's one thing, but calling up someone who is even worse than present-day Storen isn't helping anyone.

He's getting hit harder than ever and his velocity is down. This is not all bad luck.

Heyman tweeted that the Jays and O's are the favorites to land Upton. Does this mean JB or Saunders will be at DH for the rest of the season while the new OF plays RF or LF? I'm down with that. Sorry Smoak.

Hey guys, did you hear? Baseball will be so much better with a shorter season, less time between pitches, etc. The s***** umps will remain, though.

Was Thole stopping on his own or did Rivera tell him to? Can't really blame him if the 3rd base coach put his hands up. Either way, yes, Thole does suck and Dickey ain't worth this hassle. Trade Dickey for a RP, move Chavez to the rotation, and get a real back-up catcher.

Man, just stretch out Jesse Chavez instead of trading for Cashner or really anyone rumored to be on the move. Mediocrity at its finest with some of the names rumored to be available.

Baseball just has to accept what it is. It's not a mainstream game (anymore). It's a regional game. Fans of baseball will watch their team's games, but "casual fans" will not regardless of arbitrary changes. MLB is better off trying to better market their stars, and even then, it probably won't mean much. It's f***ing stupid to think that shaving 8 games from the schedule, shortening each game by 20 minutes, limiting bullpen changes, etc, is going to mean a damn thing as far as getting more fans to watch. It's stupid and naive. How about replacing home plate umpires so that balls and strikes are called more accurately? How about putting the DH in the NL so we don't have to see .100 hitters batting in the 9th spot every game in one league, while the other league has an actual hitter in place of that? There are things that can make the quality of play better. That's what they should be focusing on. Not trying to make a intrinsically long/boring game shorter by a meaningless amount of minutes. Baseball makes money the way they are now. TV ratings are down for everything. Just embrace what you are. It will be a concern many years from now when the older demo dies out and they'll need to get new fans, but I think that will happen regardless. It won't lead to monster TV ratings, but it doesn't have to.

Manfred is a moron. Baseball is what it is. Cutting the time of games is not going to suddenly increase ratings or fan interest. Baseball is making money and fans are going to games. Stop f***ing the game up to get TV ratings when ratings across the board are down.

If the Twins win one game this weekend, it would be a success.