Sports

Mets trade deadline: Where things stand on Francisco Lindor, Clay Holmes and more

Published

19 hours ago

July 25, 2026

NEW YORK — With conversation active across the sport this weekend, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said Friday that he has to be “open-minded” and will “not close any paths down.”

That said, when asked specifically about the possibility of trading franchise shortstop Francisco Lindor, Stearns said: “I’m not going to rule out any specific player on anything. I don’t think that’s wise for me to do. What I will say is, we’ve got a group of young players, and we’ve got some potential future Hall of Famers that we view as our core. And we expect them to be our core.”

Lindor is the biggest name among those rumored to be available for New York at the trade deadline. A trade of the shortstop, who is owed $160 million for the five seasons after 2026, remains unlikely for several reasons.

Players slated to hit free agency this winter — starters Freddy Peralta and Clay Holmes, relievers Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter and outfielder Tyrone Taylor — are likely to be moved. The key question facing Stearns ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline is whether to trade players with team control beyond 2026.

Lindor, catchers Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens and relievers Luke Weaver and Huascar Brazobán are among the other players New York could move between now and then.

When Holmes and interim manager Andy Green spoke on Tuesday, the pitcher assessed the previous night’s rehab start for Triple-A Syracuse.

“The first thing he said to me was: ‘I feel like I could be doing that in the big leagues right now,’” Green recounted.

Holmes threw 51 pitches over 2 1/3 innings that night, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks. Before the Mets faced the Dodgers on Friday at Citi Field, the veteran right-hander continued to reflect.

“It was just good to be in a game and feel the competition,” said Holmes, who has been out since mid-May with a broken leg. “It’s been a while, so just being back and throwing all my pitches was a lot of fun.”

“He looked exactly like you wanted him to,” Green said.

“Bernie Williams is a real one in the smooth-jazz world.”

Green said the plan is to build Holmes’ pitch count back to a normal starter’s workload. While the Mets haven’t committed to another minor-league rehab start for Holmes yet, Green said that’s “typically” what a team would do for a pitcher rehabbing like this.

This situation is not typical, though. Holmes’ next day to pitch would be July 28. If he makes a rehab start that day, he could conceivably pitch in a big-league game for the Mets on Aug. 2 — the day before the trade deadline.

As The Athletic previously reported, the odds are tilted more toward Holmes being traded than signing a contract extension.

When asked about a possible extension, Holmes said Tuesday, “I don’t think there’s been a ton there.”

“It really boils down to what the team thinks is best for the organization now and long term,” he said. “I want to be pitching my best, whether that’s here or somewhere else, the next two months.”

Holmes figures to be one of the better rental starting pitchers available at the deadline. He’s 4-4 this season with a 2.39 ERA over 52 2/3 innings.

Asked if there was an area the Mets will prioritize at the deadline, Stearns said, “I don’t think it makes sense for us to zoom in on a particular skill set or a particular player profile and say that’s the type of player we need to acquire.”

“We see different types of prospects traded in different deadlines. It’s very difficult to predict the type of player that’s going to be traded or be available at any particular deadline,” he continued. “We have to stay open-minded and really see what type of players become available as we engage in these conversations.”

That said, Stearns did say later that the team will need to add major-league pitching ahead of next season.

“We have some young starters at the major-league level that are performing really well that we’re excited about,” he said. “That’s also an area we’re going to have to look to supplement as we head to ’27.”

Along with Raley, Minter can provide a contender with a veteran, established late-game lefty. Minter’s surface-level results have been very good this season: a 2.45 ERA and a WHIP just above 1.000 over 22 innings with nine strikeouts for each walk.

However, Minter’s velocity is down 2 mph from the beginning of last season, before surgery on his left lat muscle knocked him out for 13 months. Has his diminished velocity changed the way he’s pitched?

“It’s a little bit of yes and no,” Minter said just before the All-Star break. “My mentality is still the same: When I’m out there, I try to attack hitters the same whether I’m throwing 98 or 92. In my mind, I still feel like I can blow a fastball by you. That being said, yes, I do feel like I have to mix my pitches a little bit more.”

For the first time since 2019, Minter is throwing his cutter more than his four-seam fastball to both righties and lefties. But he’s used his changeup a bit less, and he said that’s a pitch he needs to work into the mix more often.

The biggest difference for Minter has been with his walk rate. He entered the year with a career walk rate above 8 percent. This season, he’s walked just two batters — a rate of 2.4 percent entering Friday.

“Getting ahead and throwing strikes is even more important,” he said. “I do feel like I have to get ahead and once I get ahead, I can expand a little more.”

He experienced the flip side of that against the Red Sox just before the break, when Anthony Seigler got him for a two-run homer.

“I got to 3-1, man on first with no outs, I was not going to give up a free pass there,” he said. “I had to come back and throw two strikes. The hitter probably knew that and made me pay.”

That Seigler homer started a run of uneven outings for Minter, who allowed another two-run homer on Friday night to Kyle Tucker. Over his last five appearances, Minter’s given up five runs on 11 hits over five innings.

Sports

With home run No. 318, Salvador Perez passes George Brett in Kansas City record books

Published

5 minutes ago

July 25, 2026

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After more than 1,800 games played in a Royals uniform, Salvador Perez now stands alone atop Kansas City’s all-time home run leaderboard, his 318th career blast breaking a tie with George Brett.

As Kansas City faced the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Saturday afternoon, Perez took an 84-mph slider deep to left for his history-making homer. The solo shot, off right-hander Kyle Finnegan, came in the seventh inning of an eventual 3-2 Royals win.

“It’s a lot of emotion right now,” Perez said in a postgame interview. “I thank God for everything, my family, my mom, my wife, my kids, all the people helped me. I didn’t know if we were going to make it to this part in my career.”

Royals’ all-time home run leaderboard

Perez, who was signed out of Venezuela when he was 16 years old, has played 15 seasons in Kansas City, going from an unheralded prospect to a franchise icon, becoming the club’s captain in 2023. His franchise-record 318th home run is just one of several accolades Perez has achieved.

A nine-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove winner, five-time Silver Slugger and one-time Roberto Clemente Award winner, Perez helped lead the Royals to their second World Series title in 2015 and first since 1985. His .846 OPS, coupled with catching all but one of every inning of the five-game series earned him World Series MVP honors. Perez is just one of seven catchers to take home MVP honors for the Fall Classic.

“The guy’s a Hall of Famer, and you’re getting to witness it,” manager Matt Quatraro told reporters after Perez tied Brett.

A backstop by trade, Perez has shifted more to a primary DH role, with some added responsibilities at first and occasional catching duties. He has one year remaining on the two-year, $25 million pact he signed with Kansas City in November 2025. That deal replaced a club option the organization had on Perez and ensures that he will be a career Royal.

Next season, Perez will turn 37.

Quatraro on Saturday lauded Perez’s commitment to both the Royals and the Kansas City community.

“It goes the other way too, the city, the fans, how much they support him,” he said. “It’s just an honor to be part of it and it’s an honor to see him perform. He just keeps coming through in big spots.”

Although he has been mired in the worst offensive season of his career, Perez has found himself a beneficiary of the introduction of the Automated Ball-Strike challenge system. Among players with at least 40 overturned calls, Perez’s win percentage ranks second.

Earlier this season, Perez helped guide his native Venezuela to its first World Baseball Classic title. The catcher received the starting nod from manager Omar Lopez, and unlike the 2015 World Series, was on hand to catch the final inning of the win.

“The World Series is one of the most important championships in the major leagues,” Perez said in Spanish, “but when you fight for your country, that goes beyond. That feeling, the country where you were born and raised, the sacrifices made by our parents, those people that helped us — that’s why this means a lot to me and to Venezuela.”

Sports

WNBA All-Star Game 2026 live updates: Caitlin Clark, Team Spoon vs. Paige Bueckers, Team Coop — rosters and latest

Published

13 minutes ago

July 25, 2026

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Hello, basketball fans! Welcome to The Athletic’s live coverage of the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game at the United Center in Chicago.

The league’s best and brightest have converged on the Windy City for the league’s showcase weekend, and tonight is the main event as Team Coop faces Team Spoon, paying homage to the WNBA’s 30th anniversary.

Headlined by big names such as Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, tonight’s intriguing contest should set the stage for a strong close to the WNBA regular season.

Stay tuned for the latest news, analysis, reaction, play-by-play and more from our team of reporters at The Athletic.

Sports

First-round pick Ty Simpson, Los Angeles Rams agree on rookie contract

Published

21 minutes ago

July 25, 2026

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LOS ANGELES — The final of this year’s first-round NFL Draft picks is under contract.

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Ty Simpson signed his rookie deal on the day players reported to training camp Saturday, a team source confirmed to The Athletic. The deal is for four years and $25.4 million, fully guaranteed. It includes a fifth-year option as well as a $14.9 million signing bonus as determined by his No. 13 draft slot.

The Rams selected Simpson out of Alabama this spring with the highest draft pick they’ve owned in a decade. In doing so, they locked in an heir to Matthew Stafford, who is entering his 18th NFL season after winning his first league MVP award.

Brock Purdy effect led to Los Angeles Rams drafting Ty Simpson?

Robert Mays

Rams coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead have made it clear that Stafford will control how much longer he has to play. Stafford began this offseason with one year left on his contract but added a second season for $55 million to keep him through the 2027 season, if he chooses to keep playing then.

The plan for Simpson is to sit and learn behind Stafford for as long as the reigning MVP continues to play. The Rams feel as if he could use that learning after starting just one season at Alabama, when he led the Crimson Tide to the second round of the College Football Playoff and finished with 28 touchdown passes and five interceptions.

Simpson was a surprising pick to some at the time, given the Rams’ stated goals to win a Super Bowl after a narrow loss in the NFC Championship Game. But that selection freed up their 2027 draft picks in trades, and they then traded that 2027 first-round pick along with Pro Bowl edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 third-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.

Simpson will see some reps this summer as Stafford manages a degenerative back issue. The Rams have broken training camp into four-day blocks where Stafford will practice on the second and third days while resting on the first and fourth days. Stafford will not participate in the team’s first practice on Sunday.

Simpson will use this training camp, as well as three preseason games, to try to beat out Stetson Bennett for the No. 2 quarterback role. Jimmy Garoppolo had held that spot for the past two seasons but is a free agent considering retirement.

“The quarterback position is obviously an incredibly important position with the way that this game is played, and you’ll see that reflected,” McVay said. “As Matthew gets a chance to take some of those days off, I think that’s when you’ll really see (the other quarterbacks) get more reps than they would otherwise. We want to create as many competitive situations so we’re good-on-good basically every period.”