Mathguy64 said:

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.500 and 1 game back of South Okie.

This was the strangest sweep I've seen in a long time. We persevered long enough each night to let the Angels self immolate.

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That damn early season road trip and early season pitching.

Astros have a winning road record (29-28) and are 30-22 against team with a record over >.500.

Beat40 said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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.500 and 1 game back of South Okie.

This was the strangest sweep I've seen in a long time. We persevered long enough each night to let the Angels self immolate.

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That damn early season road trip and early season pitching.

Astros have a winning road record (29-28) and are 30-22 against team with a record over >.500.

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That first road trip and the early games against Seattle at home. That's the hole they have been digging out of.

.500 baby!!!!

Marvin said:

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No selling at the deadline now... and you can't really argue with it. We can shift the discussion to who and what they would cost.

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CF + corner OF. Either full time LF and Cam/Trammell split time or gut out Cam in RF and a RHH for LF to split time with Trammell. That's the absolute minimum. I will wager that Crane decides he can't pass up a chance to reunite George. That's LF and Dana gets to find a find a cheap and servicable CF.

I would love a better catcher in place of Diaz but I can't see anyone taking him.

Get me springer for cheap, and a starting pitcher please

Since I've been in Germany, it seems the Astros figured out how to play and win.

So I'll need some coins from everyone to stay here to keep the streak alive.

~egon

I could see Dana/Crane trading for both Springer and Scherzer from the Jays. I wouldn't mind it, but it can't be the only move - wouldn't be near enough to be competitive in the playoffs. I honestly think we need to add at minimum 2 outfielders and 1 SP. If we could also add a catcher that would be great, too.

Wabs said:

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I could see Dana/Crane trading for both Springer and Scherzer from the Jays. I wouldn't mind it, but it can't be the only move - wouldn't be near enough to be competitive in the playoffs. I honestly think we need to add at minimum 2 outfielders and 1 SP. If we could also add a catcher that would be great, too.

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I just don't think we can pull off any "bigger" moves with what we have. A move like Springer and in your hypothetical Scherzer would be doable with what we have.

If Carlos was healthy and you could dangle a Paredes then maybe you could make a deal for a guy like Abreu at Boston or something

Still think we need to strike while the iron is hot and move Pena. That would give us plenty in return. Dana would just need to get creative on how to fill the SS position (a veteran like Adames).

Wabs said:

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Still think we need to strike while the iron is hot and move Pena. That would give us plenty in return. Dana would just need to get creative on how to fill the SS position (a veteran like Adames).

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To do that signals to the big league club that all their work to get back to contention was for nothing and we are sellers. Can't do that now.

We could have if this was a losing road trip and were still 4-5 games under .500

tjack16 said:

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Wabs said:

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Still think we need to strike while the iron is hot and move Pena. That would give us plenty in return. Dana would just need to get creative on how to fill the SS position (a veteran like Adames).

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To do that signals to the big league club that all their work to get back to contention was for nothing and we are sellers. Can't do that now.

We could have if this was a losing road trip and were still 4-5 games under .500

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Yeah it's not gonna happen whether it's shrewd or not. If it were gonna be done it should have been a few weeks ago. My only hope at this point is we don't do anything too stupid. I suspect the gut punch to this team is gonna be other teams making big moves and us doing very little.

Da Jankees…..are at it again

Yankees defense made a kid cry pic.twitter.com/tQiXQyiFk2

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 30, 2026

Because of course they are

Passan says the Dodgers are the favorites to acquire Tarik Skubal pic.twitter.com/SPXFadmks7 https://t.co/GgCL1wGP65

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 30, 2026

Smart move by them. They are acquiring him to keep someone else from getting him.

If we weren't sellers when we were 6 games below .500, Crane and Dana certainly aren't now.

ESPN is not a believer in the Astros' resurgence:

MLB Power Rankings Week 18: Each team's standing before trade deadline - ESPN

Rangers at #12
Mariners at #16
Astros at #20

Fangraphs isn't either.

Playoffs Odds:

• Rangers 62.7%
• Mariners 52.9%
• Astros 38.2%

Win Div Odds

• Rangers 46.1%
• Mariners 32.5%
• Astros 21.3%

I just don't see how the Dodgers still have enough prospects after all the big trades and call ups they made over the past few years. Are they making them in a lab? Or are they just that elite at drafting?

Farmer1906 said:

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Fangraphs isn't either.

Playoffs Odds:

• Rangers 62.7%
• Mariners 52.9%
• Astros 38.2%

Win Div Odds

• Rangers 46.1%
• Mariners 32.5%
• Astros 21.3%

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I would put us ahead of the Mariners as long as we stay healthy. Especially if we can make an addition in the outfield, and they trade away one of their starting pitchers

one issue...

the Rangers and Mariners both have 7 games remaining against the hapless Angels

Astros only have 3

that's a fairly significant scheduling advantage

This is the most annoying part of the dodgers to me. They excel at drafting, international market and trading excess depth for players that become high ranking prospects. So unfortunately, they also do have the best farm system at current moment

Meanwhile, I know we lost draft picks, but this organization hasn't signed and developed an international hitter in like over a decade. It seems like things are finally improving there, but that has added further pressure to our farm system

EABC_AG said:

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This is the most annoying part of the dodgers to me. They excel at drafting, international market and trading excess depth for players that become high ranking prospects. So unfortunately, they also do have the best farm system at current moment

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They're a great run org. The gold standard. However, they didn't win it all until they started throwing FU money at everyone.

W said:

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ESPN is not a believer in the Astros' resurgence:

MLB Power Rankings Week 18: Each team's standing before trade deadline - ESPN

Rangers at #12
Mariners at #16
Astros at #20

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They aren't the only ones.

Come August 4th, the carriage could easily turn back into a pumpkin.

If my math is correct we just need one win to take the silver boot but I am greedy and want two or three

Farmer1906 said:

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EABC_AG said:

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This is the most annoying part of the dodgers to me. They excel at drafting, international market and trading excess depth for players that become high ranking prospects. So unfortunately, they also do have the best farm system at current moment

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They're a great run org. The gold standard. However, they didn't win it all until they started throwing FU money at everyone.

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They also don't ever have to call up any AAAA players. They can trade them because they money-whipped and deferred everyone on the roster. Even counting the deferred funny-money way MLB counts contracts, they pay their top 7 players more than our entire 26-man roster. If they didn't get to play deferral funny games, it's like their top 5.5 players…

That gives you so much freedom in how you manage your system draft, and attack the international market.

tjack16 said:

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I just don't see how the Dodgers still have enough prospects after all the big trades and call ups they made over the past few years. Are they making them in a lab? Or are they just that elite at drafting?

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They are excellent at drafting but they have also done a good job of trading off ancillary pieces or depth for guys that turn into highly rated prospects. Here are a couple:

Traded lux to the Reds for Sirota, who is now their #2 prospect, and a competitive balance pick that was used to get Davalan (their #8 prospect). They had a glut of infielders, in part because of the love of Betts to SA and retaining Edman.

They traded Michael Busch to the Cubs who was blocked by Freeman to acquire Hope (their #5 prospect).

If you follow the logic, they use big spending on free agents to upgrade over existing players then trade those players for young talent. Conceptually this would be similar to what I've proposed around trading Pena and acquiring Adames (though Pena is clearly the better of the 2).

W said:

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one issue...

the Rangers and Mariners both have 7 games remaining against the hapless Angels

Astros only have 3

that's a fairly significant scheduling advantage

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True, but the Astros have 7 left against the A's, who are in a 7-25 freefall. Including the last 4 games of the year.

CharleyKerfeld said:

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W said:

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one issue...

the Rangers and Mariners both have 7 games remaining against the hapless Angels

Astros only have 3

that's a fairly significant scheduling advantage

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True, but the Astros have 7 left against the A's, who are in a 7-25 freefall. Including the last 4 games of the year.

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That last 4 will be HUGE (I hope) especially since the rangers get the Mets and twins who will be out of it by then.

Here's my all in question for the day, which is really more of a question for Crane and his actual seriousness about the "window never closes" mantra. Assuming you could find a taker for CW as basically a salary dump, would you take Devers and Adames from the Giants? You basically don't have to give up any prospects (unless you want to to get them to take on money). Put Devers at 1B, Adames at 3B, DH Isaac and put Yordan in LF. The only real cost is purely financial and you could probably get them to take on enough salary this year to stay under the threshold with us taking on the remaining years.

One may poo poo Adames but my thought is two fold. First is the Giants may need you to do that to move Devers, who does have some value. The second is in the offseason you would then trade both Pena and Paredes to reload the farm with Carlos taking over at 3B and Adames taking over at SS. I think that keeps you competitive for the next couple years. Those contracts will be sunk money by at least 2029 but if trying to stay competitive while fading the loss of some key players you just hope by then you have acquired guys in the Pena and Paredes trades who are ready to step up with some of our currently very young prospects.

MaxPower said:

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Here's my all in question for the day, which is really more of a question for Crane and his actual seriousness about the "window never closes" mantra. Assuming you could find a taker for CW as basically a salary dump, would you take Devers and Adames from the Giants? You basically don't have to give up any prospects (unless you want to to get them to take on money). Put Devers at 1B, Adames at 3B, DH Isaac and put Yordan in LF. The only real cost is purely financial and you could probably get them to take on enough salary this year to stay under the threshold with us taking on the remaining years.

One may poo poo Adames but my thought is two fold. First is the Giants may need you to do that to move Devers, who does have some value. The second is in the offseason you would then trade both Pena and Paredes to reload the farm with Carlos taking over at 3B and Adames taking over at SS. I think that keeps you competitive for the next couple years. Those contracts will be sunk money by at least 2029 but if trying to stay competitive while fading the loss of some key players you just hope by then you have acquired guys in the Pena and Paredes trades who are ready to step up with some of our currently very young prospects.

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No, that's 360 M over the next 5-7 years. Devers is more palatable since he's younger, still playing well, and has a slightly lower AAV.

The defense would be worse as well. Pena > Adames, Walker > Devers, Whoever in LF > Yordan.

I think there are probably easier ways to get better without basically sinking any chance of ever signing another FA or extending a player for the next 1/2 decade.

tjack16 said:

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CharleyKerfeld said:

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W said:

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one issue...

the Rangers and Mariners both have 7 games remaining against the hapless Angels

Astros only have 3

that's a fairly significant scheduling advantage

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True, but the Astros have 7 left against the A's, who are in a 7-25 freefall. Including the last 4 games of the year.

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That last 4 will be HUGE (I hope) especially since the rangers get the Mets and twins who will be out of it by then.

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Tankathon has us, Seattle, and Arlington all playing similar schedules. All some of the easiest in baseball.

27. Seattle - .488 win % remaining
28. Houston - .487
29. Arlington - .482

We aren't the only ones sad about our total lack of hitting. Crazy stat (as of today there's like 7 but still crazy!)

There are only 4 batters in ALL of MLB hitting above .301.

— Steve Levy (@espnSteveLevy) July 29, 2026

I see it as not a lack of hitting but a surplus of pitchers with really good stuff.

Hitting seems so incredibly hard nowadays.

I understand the trade incentive you're proposing but I really don't want to be adding any more IF. OF has been neglected and in need of immediate attention.