The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic’s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.
The MLB Draft and the Futures Game have come and gone. I think we can make them better. Plus: Ken Rosenthal has an update on the Marlins’ deadline plans, and we preview tonight’s Home Run Derby. I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!
All-Star Week: The future is bright
Let’s start with the positive: The MLB Draft and Futures Game gave fans some new names to trust in this weekend.
Here were the top three picks during the draft’s first round on Saturday:
- White Sox — UCLA SS Roch Cholowsky
- Rays — Fort Worth Christian HS SS Grady Emerson
- Twins — Georgia Tech C Vahn Lackey
There were also quite a few recognizable names selected over the two days, even if you haven’t been paying attention to this year’s draft class: Do Thome (White Sox, 34th pick), Pettitte (Yankees, eighth round) or Bonds (Giants, third round) mean anything to you?
Here’s a list of all 135 Day 1 picks, with analysis and scouting reports from Keith Law, who also has a bigger-picture Day 1 recap.
Moving on to the Futures Game, which took place yesterday, the American League prospects won 6-1. Law has a write-up here, pointing out that the pitching was pretty dominant, and the Pirates might have yet another top-of-the-rotation pitcher in the big leagues before long.
More Futures Game: Phillies prospect Gage Wood showed why he could be pitching in Philadelphia again soon.
Middle Relief: Marlins plan to keep Alcantara (and add)
Today, we have an excerpt from Ken Rosenthal’s latest from Friday, an update on where the Marlins stand as the trade deadline nears. Miami (now 52-45) was swept by Cleveland (51-46) over the weekend, but unless catastrophe hits, Ken’s reporting stands.
The Marlins have not been buyers at the trade deadline since Peter Bendix took over as president of baseball operations in November 2023.
That likely is about to change.
Barring an utter collapse, the hottest team in baseball not only intends to keep staff ace Sandy Alcantara, but also add strategically to its roster, according to people briefed on the club’s plans who were granted anonymity to speak freely.
The Marlins’ potential needs include a third baseman, a back-end starting pitcher and a high-leverage reliever. They could trade off their major-league roster to protect their farm system, people briefed on the club’s plans said.
Bendix and his staff will sort out the details after the amateur draft. Much can change with the deadline still three and a half weeks away. But Miami appears to be taking another step forward, having improved from 62 wins in 2024 to 79 last season, its first under manager Clayton McCullough.
The Marlins, before this weekend’s sweep to the Guardians, won 16 of their last 20 games, matching the best single-season span in their 34-year history. Also before Friday, the Marlins were tied with the Phillies for second place in the NL East, three games behind the Braves, and held a three-game lead for the third National League wild card. (After this weekend’s sweep, they’re now in third place in the division, but still hold a wild card.)
Miami owner Bruce Sherman recently signaled the team would hold Alcantara, telling Marlins Radio, “He’s our franchise icon, and for us, I look forward to many years in the future and what this all becomes.”
Some with the club, however, were concerned that the team’s 26-8 run, following a disappointing 26-34 start, came mostly against mediocre opponents. A three-game sweep against the Mariners, in which the Marlins won games started by Seattle’s Bryan Woo, George Kirby and Bryce Miller, seemed to settle that question.
Bendix, who wants to build a perennial contender, isn’t about to mount an all-in push to help the Marlins to only their third postseason appearance since they upset the Yankees in the 2003 World Series. His farm system, even after trades of Luis Arraez, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jesús Luzardo and others, still isn’t strong enough to support such a position.
In January, The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked the Marlins’ system only 22nd in the majors. The team has since lost its top two pitching prospects, Thomas White and Robby Snelling, to season-ending injuries.
Adding salary is one way for teams acquiring players to diminish the cost in young talent. The Marlins might resist that notion — their average home attendance of 12,502 is the second lowest in the majors, ahead of only the Athletics, who play in a minor-league park. But the Marlins’ estimated $75 million payroll is the league’s lowest.
Rearranging: How I’d fix the draft and Futures Game
So we can move the draft back to June, right?
The gambit of moving it to the All-Star break — ostensibly to make it a Big TV Event like the NBA and NFL — hasn’t worked, for many reasons that amount to “baseball isn’t those sports.”
This year, it was moved to the weekend before the All-Star break, meaning it was broadcast in direct competition with MLB games and split across a confusing broadcast schedule. Plus, broadcasters had to contend with construction crews loudly tearing down the stage in the background.
Riveting stuff.
Baseball’s draft-to-star pipeline is faster than it used to be, but even this year’s rookie fWAR leaders were drafted in 2024 (JJ Wetherholt) and 2023 (Kevin McGonigle). NBA and NFL drafts happen in the offseason, and the players are expected to make immediate impacts on the teams that draft them. (At very least, many of those leagues’ top picks attend the event, unlike MLB’s.)
MLB does have a different offseason attention-getter: the Winter Meetings (which the league will most likely be cancelling this year due to a lockout. I digress).
I think it’s time to admit it: Turning the draft into must-watch TV for the average MLB fan is about as likely as the NFL figuring out a watchable Pro Bowl.
But do you know what could serve that purpose?
The Futures Game.
Airing it on NBC was a big step in the right direction. Unfortunately, it was played on Sunday afternoon, when most baseball fans were already busy watching … baseball.
Fans care (or are at least curious) about their team’s top prospects. There’s a whole Wednesday night during the break with nothing else going on, and you could use the derby and All-Star Game to promote it.
It seems obvious to me, but I’m just a guy.
More on this: The folks at Baseball America have more on how this year’s logistics fell short.
Wetherholt extended: The 23-year-old Cardinals rookie became the latest young star to sign an extension, inking an eight-year deal worth $112.5 million.
Slugger Central: Home Run Derby is tonight!
So now we turn our attention to Philadelphia. Tonight at 8 p.m. ET, Netflix will air this year’s Home Run Derby. Let’s run through the full lineup:
- Jac Caglianone (Royals)
- Junior Caminero (Rays)
- Willson Contreras (Red Sox)
- Bryce Harper (Phillies)
- Munetaka Murakami (White Sox)
- Ben Rice (Yankees)
- Kyle Schwarber (Phillies)
- Jordan Walker (Cardinals)
This year’s derby has gone back to an older format, ditching the clock for the swing-based system — 20 swings in the first round and 15 in subsequent rounds.
One tweak I love: If a player hits a home run on his last swing, he can keep going. There’s technically always a chance to come back, right up until it’s over, which feels very baseball.
It’s always a fun event, but I’m especially looking forward to seeing two hometown favorites — Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber — compete against Munetaka Murakami’s prodigious power. Also, Junior Caminero hasn’t been able to stop hitting home runs over the last couple of weeks, so if you want my pick, I think it’s him.
Of note: I have never correctly predicted a derby winner. So maybe you’re better off reading Eno Sarris, who uses the power of math to tell us who has the advantage.
Here’s a full preview, with broadcast info, swing data and info on all the participants.
More All-Star Week:
Handshakes and High Fives
They’re still a game under .500, but the Twins hit the break tied with the Mariners for the third wild-card spot in the AL.
Speaking of strong finishes, the Red Sox finished the first half on a nine-game winning streak. After a bleak start, they’re just a half-game behind Minnesota and Seattle. Making the streak more remarkable: They swept the Mets after a delayed flight meant they landed less than three hours before the scheduled first pitch in Queens on Friday night.
Meanwhile, the Yankees finished their first half with three consecutive late-innings comebacks to sweep the Nationals. That’s great news for the Yankees. Not so much for the Nats and their continued bullpen issues.
A rough finish to the first half: The Dodgers were swept by the D-Backs for the first time in the regular season since 2017. “We didn’t play well the last five or six days, and you’re facing a team that’s fighting for their lives,” manager Dave Roberts said, “and it showed this series.”
Most-clicked in our last Windup: Jayson Stark’s midseason awards.
📫 Love The Windup? Check out The Athletic’s other newsletters.
