We've had a relatively busy last few days, with Shohei Ohtani finishing second in National League MVP voting and climbing up the all-time award share leaderboard, Yoshinobu Yamamoto voted fourth place for the NL Cy Young Award, and old friend Evan Phillips joining the Atlanta Braves bullpen for three years, $35 million, outpacing several contract projections. The Dodgers this week also hired Pedro Guerrero as a hitting coach, replacing the departing Aaron Bates on the major league staff. Guerrero has coached the last nine years in the majors, and before that was a minor league player and coach in the Dodgers system. Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic talked to Guerrero and others about the new hire, including Miami Marlins manager Clayton McCullough, the Dodgers former first base coach and previous minor league coordinator: "(He can) meet guys where they are," McCullough said. "He is a good listener. That's where he really does his best work. Some of those conversations, either in the cage during the day, with just trying to have a guy be in the best spot mentally that he can be for that given day. Then in the game, not letting some of the anxiety or some of the stress (pile up) for a player, he helps alleviate a lot of that." Sam Miller at his Pebble Hunting newsletter wrote about various ways the Dodgers have been beatable, and along the way detailed the various ways baseball is essentially impossible to guarantee a particular outcome.
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PHOENIX -- After a rocky start to the season, trade rumors have been swirling around Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green over the past couple of days. The noise got even louder Friday when New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray requested a trade, anddifferent reports indicated mutual interest between the Suns and Murray. However, Arizona Sports' John Gambadoro reported on X that Phoenix has not been talking with New Orleans as of right now. "The Phoenix Suns have had no conversations with the New Orleans Pelicans regarding Dejounte Murray at this time," Gambadoro said. "They have not checked in with them and are not calling around. The thought of trading for a PG had a lot to do with unlocking the best version of Devin Booker but Book has played some of his best basketball in years last 4-5 games and the Suns have won 4 of 5. Plus Collin Gillespie would likely be the starter if they ever made a change unless it was for a proven veteran. "The Suns biggest problem is defensive rebounding right now not point guard. The connection between Murray's agent Rich Paul and Mat Ishbia is the main reason this has come up. They are friends and Paul has several clients on Phoenix. This is not to say the Suns won't explore trading Jalen Green at some point but I would expect that would be down the road." The Phoenix Suns have had no conversations with the New Orleans Pelicans regarding Dejounte Murray at this time. They have not checked in with them and are not calling around The thought of trading for a PG had a lot to do with unlocking the best version of Devin Booker but Book…
The Texas Rangers face a difficult task in trading Corey Seager this offseason. The shortstop doesn't just have a massive amount of money left remaining on his 10-year, $325 million deal. He has five years remaining at more than $30 million per year. Because the Rangers didn't move him at the deadline Seager now has what MLB refers to as 10-5 rights. He now has 10 years in the Majors and five years with the same team. Per the current collective bargaining agreement that gives him the right to veto any trade. If Seager wants to stay in Texas, he can stay in Texas — no matter how much the Rangers might want to move him. Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager. Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect The Rangers need Seager to be willing to entertain the prospect of a trade. As it turns out, he's open to it, per a report by ESPN's Alden Gonzalez who covered the MLB general managers meetings this week in Las Vegas. He reported that Seager would require the right fit to be traded, but that he is open to the possibility. What that right fit would be remains to be seen. It’s likely that Seager and his agent, Scott Boras, have supplied the Rangers with some guidance on which teams he’s willing to join. Then it’s up president of baseball operations Chris Young to find a deal everyone is happy with. During a press conference with reporters this week, Boras said that Seager’s decision to waive his no-trade clause is up to him and that he has little involvement in discussions.
The Detroit Pistons have found a winning formula with MVP-level play from Cade Cunningham and an elite defense. They are, without a doubt, one of the NBA's top teams. Yet, it's hard to place them within the inner circle of championship contenders when the same issue that tripped them up last postseason—the lack of a second creator and scorer alongside Cunningham—has yet to be addressed. If the Pistons could lab-create this co-star for Cunningham, they might build something bearing a striking resemblance to Kyrie Irving: historically shifty off the dribble, wildly efficient as a scorer and even championship-experienced in this very role. An Irving trade feels like a no-brainer for Detroit, then, if it can just convince the Dallas Mavericks to play ball. That reportedly won't be easy. Not yet, anyway. Between Dallas' hot start and the smooth-as-silk on-court connection between Irving and Cooper Flagg, this situation has The Athletic's Sam Amick ready to declare "I'd lean strongly toward Irving staying put at this point." And yet, front-office folks haven't ditched the idea of an Irving deal.
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