The Cubs Reportedly Interested in Nathan Eovaldi

Source says one of the pitchers the #Cubs are focusing on for possible deal is #Yankees SP Nathan Eovaldi. Nothing imminent.

— Julie DiCaro (@JulieDiCaro) May 29, 2016

The MLB trading deadline has been pushed back from July 31st to August 1st which on paper means very little but in the general aspect of the game a day could make all the difference. It could mean all the difference not to a team like the Chicago Cubs whose ticket may already be unofficially punched to the postseason in 2016 but it may make a huge difference for a fringe team like the New York Yankees. Just one day, and we've seen ti in years past with other teams, could make the difference between buying at the August 1st trade deadline and selling and if the Yankees are doing the latter the Chicago Cubs may be listening. According to Julie DiCaro who is a writer and anchor for the Cubs in various media outlets and forms the Chicago Cubs have already begun calling around looking for pitching and especially have their eye on Yankees stud Nathan Eovaldi.

Now while I usually ignore "sources" tweets unless it's from someone like a Jon Heyman or a Buster Olney I figured the blue check on Julie's Twitter account counted enough to post this. While I post this it does not mean I believe that the rumors are true, I know no more than you, so I leave it with you with a grain of salt. Believe it or don't believe it, I'm not doing that I am merely reporting the news.

I don't know the state of the Cubs farm system or their strengths and needs but everyone needs more pitching, especially pitching that is young and under team control for one more season. Would the Cubs give up a lot for Eovaldi? Would New York receive any Major League caliber talent like Jorge Soler, which yes I understand does not help the team but could preface another trade like one involving Carlos Beltran or Brett Gardner, in return for Soler? I honestly don't know.

I'm not even sure if the Yankees and Cubs will hook up with a deal or whether the rumor is true or not. I'm trying to be responsible and I'm simply reporting the news. What say you? Leave your thoughts below in the comments section.

Irresponsible Journalism & the 1927 Yankees

So imagine me sifting through my folder of bookmarks to read when I run across an article on the USA Today labeled “The Los Angeles Dodgers are hitting like the 1927 Yankees.” Obviously my interest was piqued because the 1927 is arguably the best team ever assembled including the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and plenty of other Yankees legends. Are the 2015 version of the Los Angeles Dodgers really as good, even in a small sample size, hitting as well as the 1927 Yankees? I didn’t think so but the point of the article title was to get me to click so I did and I have to say I was pretty disappointed with what I read when I did.

The author points out that at the time of the writing the Dodgers had a team OPS of .830 leading the major league by more than 50 points. Then the author contradicts himself stating that the New York Mets Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas has a higher team OPS down on the farm. Would a minor league team be able to out-hit and out-slug the 1927 Yankees? I think not, but I kept on reading anyway and fell upon the part where the author stated that the small sample size performances were likely unsustainable. Even if the marks were unsustainable the team leads the major leagues in home runs and walks in Dodgers Stadium, traditionally a pitcher’s park, and could be compared with some of the great teams of recent memories like the 2011 Boston Red Sox and the 2009 Yankees, not the 1927 Yankees.

In fact the only mention of the 1927 Yankees in the article was that if the team could sustain their current team OPS+ of 128 they would beat out the 1927 Yankees major league record of 127 OPS+ for a team in a season. When did 30 games warrant comparisons to the greatest Yankees team and possibly greatest team of all-time in Major League Baseball history? Oh yeah you can do that when you sell your soul for a few clicks and a few newspapers sold. You got me this time but I think I’ll win in the end so I’m totally okay with that.  Here’s the link if you want to waste your time.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/05/los-angeles-dodgers-offense-mlb