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Morning Coffee: Will a contender make a splash ahead of MLB trade deadline?
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It’s the final countdown to the 2024 MLB trade deadline.
While we’ve already seen several notable moves around the majors in recent days, there’s still time for the top contenders to shake things up with a bold move ahead of the 6 PM ET deadline.
As somebody who made the Philadelphia Phillies my pick to win the World Series in this column a couple of weeks ago, I’m hoping that the team with the best record in baseball can acquire at least one more piece today.
The Phillies to win the World Series is +470 at FanDuel.
Only the Los Angeles Dodgers have shorter odds to win it all.
Philly and LA have both been active in recent days.
Meanwhile in the AL East, the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles are locked in a fierce battle for first place, with a potential postseason showdown looming.
The Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros round out the list of teams with shorter than 16-to-1 odds to win it all at FanDuel.
With several big names still potentially available on the market, I’m fascinated by the prospect of one of the top contenders making a significant splash ahead of today’s MLB trade deadline.
This is the Morning Coffee for Tuesday July 30th, 2024.
Will A Contender Make A Splash Ahead Of MLB Trade Deadline?
The Orioles bolstered their rotation with the addition of Zach Eflin from the Tampa Bay Rays last week.
Baltimore had an obvious need after losing Kyle Bradish, John Means, and Tyler Wells this season.
While Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez, and Eflin make up a solid rotation, the Orioles could still benefit from one or two more pieces to their pitching staff.
As far as I can tell, the consensus among MLB reporters with a lot more knowledge than me is that the Detroit Tigers will hold on to Tarik Skubal.
Skubal is the AL Cy Young award favourite at -130 at FanDuel this morning.
Burnes is the second choice to win that award at +115.
Maybe the Tigers won’t move Skubal ahead of the deadline, but if they did then Baltimore might be at the top of the list in terms of a team with the pieces needed to acquire that type of a player.
The Orioles are currently +700 to win the World Series and a close second choice to win the AL East at +110.
The Yankees are the favourite to win the AL East at -140.
Only the Dodgers and Phillies have shorter odds to win the World Series than New York at +550.
The Yankees added Jazz Chizholm Jr. over the weekend, but their pitching depth could certainly use a boost.
New York’s starting staff has combined for a 5.97 ERA since June 15th – easily the worst mark in the majors over that span.
There have been reports that the Yankees are in the market for a rental arm so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they add another piece before the deadline.
The Phillies were my recommended play to win the World Series in this column a couple of weeks ago and I’m sticking with them as my best bet.
Philly’s starters have combined for the best ERA in the majors this season and their lineup is stacked with Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm, Kyle Schwarber, and Trea Turner leading the way on offence.
Hays is a decent depth piece for their lineup.
I’d love to see the Phillies add another arm to their bullpen.
On Monday, Philly hosted a different type of prospect.
While teams have until 6 PM ET today to make a trade, the deadline blew up our FanDuel Best Bet on Monday when the Astros traded Jake Bloss to the Toronto Blue Jays as part of their package for Yusei Kikuchi.
Bloss is considered one of the rising prospects in baseball, but he had struggled in his first few starts for Houston this season, so I looked to fade him opposite Paul Skenes on Monday.
Unfortunately, Bloss was traded prior to the scheduled start.
Turning the page this morning, I’m hoping that today’s FanDuel Best Bet doesn’t get blown up by another trade.
I’ll take the New York Mets to beat the Minnesota Twins at -126 on the moneyline.
The Mets have been on fire since June and have the potential to stay hot with a very manageable schedule for the month of July.
Coming off back-to-back losses to the Braves, New York responded with a dominant performance in a 15-2 win over the Twins in the series opener on Monday.
Sean Manaea has posted a 3.34 ERA this month and the Mets have won five of his previous six starts.
Minnesota will counter with 24-year-old David Festa, who owns an 8.16 ERA after getting roughed up in two of his first three starts in the majors.
I’ll take Manaea and the Mets to win at -126 as my FanDuel Best Bet for Tuesday’s MLB slate.
Enjoy the MLB trade deadline, everybody!