MLB Trade Rumors and News: Pete Alonso repeats as Home Run Derby Champion

The All-Star festivities got rolling on Monday evening with the Home Run Derby. A familiar face took the crown.

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• It what turned out to be a really great Home Run Derby with multiple mini-storylines, the final came down to Trey Mancini vs. reigning champ Pete Alonso. When Mancini put up an astonishing 22 home runs in the final round, it looked like it very possible that the cancer survivor would take home the hardware in an upset. However, Alonso flipped a switch and took home the win with 23 home runs (despite his BP pitcher hitting him with a pitch).
• Amidst the draft still going on and the All-Star festivities, MLB announced that over the course of the next decade, they are going to donate up to $150 million to the Players’ Alliance. The Players’ Alliance is an organization that seeks to increase the amount of representation and access for Black people to the sport of baseball. Count us among those that say well done, MLB...but there is a lot of work to do.
• The 2021 MLB Draft started up on Sunday and to say that it was a wild round one may be a bit of any understatement as mock drafts were blown up within the first five picks. That started with the number one overall pick as Henry Davis was chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates in a bit of an upset.
• In devastating news for Braves fans, Ronald Acuna Jr. was injured when trying to make a play on a fly ball. None of the aftermath looked good as Acuna was unable to finish leaving the field and had to be carted off with an apparent knee injury. Sadly, he did not escape major injury this time as it was confirmed that he completely tore his ACL and will miss the remainder of the season.
• For the most part, no one likes watching pitchers hit, especially these days (blame Manfred for it continuing to be a thing. What is USUALLY worse is when relief pitchers are forced to hit because they are trying to give their team some innings in a blowout. USUALLY it goes very poorly. Well, Daniel Camarena’s at-bat against Max Scherzer was very unusual as not only did he get a hit, but he connected for the first grand slam hit by a reliever in the league since 1985.
• Trevor Bauer remains under investigation after being accused of sexual assault and to allow time for that investigation to complete, his administrative leave was extended by another seven days. If the investigation is not completed by then, the notion of an indefinite suspension is most definitely on the table.
• White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a torn tendon in his left knee. That’s rough news for a team that is already missing Nick Madrigal, Eloy Jiménez, and Luis Robert, though Chicago still has a lot of breathing room in a bad AL Central.
• Whether it’s Prince Fielder, Jesús Aguilar, and Daniel Vogelbach, the Brewers love themselves a hefty slugging first baseman, and they added another one on Tuesday, acquiring Rowdy Tellez from the Blue Jays in exchange for reliever Trevor Richards. The 26-year-old Tellez had an up-and-down four-year tenure with Toronto but proved he could succeed at the major league level, hitting 21 homers in 2019 and posting a 140 OPS+ last year. Tellez struggled to a .610 OPS this season and had twice been demoted to Triple-A, but it appears he’ll initially join Milwaukee’s major league club.
• If you have been hiding under a rock this season, one of the biggest storylines has been Shohei Ohtani’s resurgence as a two-way monster on the field. His dominance on both sides of the ball was rewarded as he was named as an All-Star as a pitcher AND as a DH and it was confirmed that he will play in both capacities at the All-Star Game.
• Sixto Sanchez came into the 2021 season as a guy who was on most people’s shortlists of guys that could win National League Rookie of the Year. Unfortunately, the injury bug bit him and instead of trying to help the Marlins climb out of the cellar of the NL East, he is going to miss the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
• The Nationals are having a rough past couple of days, as both Kyle Schwarber and Alex Avila have been placed on the 10-day IL. Schwarber, who thankfully won’t need surgery, will sit after suffering a right calf strain running to first last Friday. The timetable for his return has yet to be set, and the first-time All-Star will almost absolutely miss the game. Gerardo Parra will play left field in his absence. Avila will miss time because of bilateral calf strains.
• The Brewers have acquired Kevin Kramer from the Pirates. In return for the utilityman, Pittsburgh will receive left-hander Nathan Kirby. Kramer has seen 43 MLB games, with .387 OPS over 90 plate appearances. Kirby, 27, has seen his very short career ravaged by injuries. However, while in Double-A Biloxi, he’s recorded a 1.93 ERA with a 23.17% strikeout rate.
• The Yankees added some speed to their roster on Thursday as they traded for Tim Locastro from the Diamondbacks in exchange for a pitching prospect. Sure, Locastro isn’t exactly a household name and he isn’t having a banner year at the plate, but the guy can RUN and he is more than willing to lean into a pitch to get on base, so the Yankees have that going for them.
• Dellin Betances just can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to injury. The Mets signed Betances in free agency after the 2019 season in the hopes that he could put his injury issues behind him and return to his previously dominant form. Instead, he has pitched a total of 12.2 innings in a Mets uniform and now has to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery.
• Mariners lefty Héctor Santiago is the first pitcher to be disciplined as part of MLB’s foreign substance crackdown after being ejected when umpires believed they found a foreign substance on his glove. Santiago admitted to having rosin on his glove, and while it wasn’t a highly-publicized element of the new policy, pitchers are now strictly prohibited from having rosin on their person, even though they are allowed to obtain it from the bag on the mound. MLB confiscated Santiago’s glove but never examined it, and now they’ve hit him with a 10-game suspension and undisclosed fine.
• MLB is investigating Dodgers right-hander Trevor Bauer after a woman was granted a temporary domestic violence restraining order against him in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Bauer’s attorney claims the actions took place as part of a consensual sexual relationship.
• The Blue Jays are determined to reach the playoffs for a second straight season, and they boosted their roster on Tuesday morning by acquiring sidearming reliever Adam Cimber and currently injured outfielder Corey Dickerson from the Marlins in exchange for veteran utility player Joe Panik and relief prospect Andrew McInvale.
• Braves starter Mike Soroka has re-ruptured his Achilles and will not pitch again in 2021. After making three starts in 2020, he tore his Achilles. He hadn’t pitched since then. Soroka looked like he’d be the Braves’ ace for years to come after going 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and .236 OBA in 2019, but now his future is extremely uncertain.
• The Rays promoted top prospect Wander Franco, and he immediately made his presence known in his debut, hitting a game-tying homer for his first major league hit while also collecting a double and a walk. At Triple-A Durham, the 20-year-old was slashing .323/.376/.601 with seven home runs in 173 plate appearances.
• The Blue Jays have signed veteran reliever John Axford, reports Jamie Campbell of Sportsnet. The 38-year-old hasn’t seen a major league mound since 2018 and had been working as an analyst on the Jays’ pre and postgame shows before being asked to pitch for them again. The bulk of his career came with the Brewers, as he played in Milwaukee from 2009-13, but now the Ontario native will embark on his third stint with Toronto.
• Rays ace Tyler Glasnow’s season is in jeopardy after he suffered a partially torn UCL and flexor strain in his right arm. He’ll initially try to rehab the injuries rather than immediately opting for Tommy John surgery. In an interesting crossover with the biggest story being discussed around baseball right now, Glasnow said MLB’s crackdown on foreign substances contributed to his injury, as he stopped using a mixture of sunscreen and rosin, and as a result he began gripping the baseball so hard that he injured his elbow.
• A lot has been made in recent weeks about the proliferation of foreign substances used primarily (but certainly not exclusively) by pitchers to get better grip on balls to have better command as well as to generate greater spin. It has been clear that MLB was going to crack down on the practice and now it looks like it has landed on its chosen punishment, as it was announced that players found to be using such substances will receive a 10-game paid suspension.
• It is fair to say that the 2021 season has been a particularly weird one. Teams that we all thought would be good haven’t been and teams that were thought to be afterthoughts have been anything but. Our own Andersen Pickard broke down the five most surprising teams from the 2021 season so far.
• The Twins are dragging their feet for extension talks with Jose Berrios, SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson reports. Berrios has one last year of arbitration eligibility before he’s free to sow his wild oats and hit the market in the 2022-23 offseason. And as of now, the Twins have done little to nothing to stop him. Could that be because the NL Central 4th place team is looking to use him as a lucrative trade chip come this year’s deadline? The 27-year old could bring a significant return for Minnesota, but is it enough to risk for them losing him? He’s having another strong season this year, with a 3.49 ERA and a 26% strikeout rate. Either way, as the trade deadline gets closer, we’ll see what moves the Twins are thinking of making.
• Outfielder Jarred Kelenic, widely regarded as one of baseball’s top prospects and the potential savior of the Mariners organization, was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma after getting into an 0-for-39 slump. Kelenic, who played just 28 games in the upper minors (21 at Double-A in 2019 and seven at Triple-A this year) before reaching the majors, has an .096 batting average and .378 OPS in 23 major league games.
• The Mets had been hopeful to get Noah Syndergaard back in their rotation soonish to try and hold off their division rivals in what has been a surprisingly bad National League East. Unfortunately, they will have to wait a good bit longer, as Syndergaard’s rehab hit a setback, and elbow inflammation will keep him out until at least August.