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The trade deadline is a week from today, and the trades are beginning. Plus: Jayson Stark was in Cooperstown for HOF weekend, we saw a trio of impactful injuries and we revisit those matchup rankings from Friday. I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!

Trade Deadline: It’s (nearly) time

None of these qualify as blockbusters, but with the trade deadline next Monday, the first cracks in the dam have sprung leaks. Here’s who changed uniforms since last we spoke:

• Red Sox send LHP Connelly Early to Nats for INF Curtis Mead: The Nationals needed — still need, actually — pitching for now and the future. The Red Sox needed a right-handed bat with some pop. This checks those boxes, but there’s risk on each side: Early is currently on the IL with elbow inflammation, and Mead was DFA’d by the White Sox earlier this year before breaking out in D.C.Keith Law called the trade a “no-brainer” for Washington, and Nats beat writer Spencer Nusbaum gave Washington an “A.” Plus we have our trade grades. For the Nats, the big questions remain: Will CJ Abrams be traded? What about Foster Griffin?
• Pirates sent RHP José Urquidy to White Sox for RHP Felix Doroteo: Doroteo is a 21-year-old with 18 innings of experience in Arizona Complex League action. Urquidy — once an unheralded prospect who made a name in Houston — was recently DFA’d by Pittsburgh.
• Royals trade OF Kameron Misner to Phillies for cash, and A’s acquire RHP Scott Blewett from the Cardinals for cash: If it wasn’t late July, I’m not sure either would warrant a mention here.
• Lance McCullers Jr. DFA’d: OK, this isn’t a trade, but Milwaukee just traded for McCullers on July 15. This can’t make Jadyn Fielder (yes, Prince’s kid) feel great: The Brewers traded him for 4 2/3 innings of relief pitching.

More trade deadline: 

Middle Relief: Long wait for Cooperstown was worth it

Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent were inducted into the Hall of Fame yesterday. Jayson Stark was in Cooperstown, N.Y., for the ceremony. Here’s an excerpt from what he observed:

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — They stood at the podium in baseball’s Magic Kingdom, their long Hall of Fame journeys finally complete. Some men zoom into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first try. Not Carlos Beltrán. Not Andruw Jones. Not Jeff Kent.

Induction Day finally arrived for those men. But to get there, they had to agonize through a combined 24 elections — four for Beltrán, nine for Jones, 11 for Kent. So as they gazed from that stage at the crowded hillside yesterday afternoon, how could they not be thinking about all the years they wondered if this day would ever arrive?

“As I stand here today, I realize something,” Beltrán said from that stage yesterday. “I dreamed about being a Major League Baseball player, and also I dreamed about being a good player. But never — not even once — did I dream about standing here today.”

Beltrán and Jones also reminded us that center fielders have long been the most glamorous Hall of Famers of them all, from Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle to Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr. But never have two center fielders been elected by the baseball writers and experienced their Induction Day on the same day — until yesterday.

So how fitting is it that these two men were born just one day apart in April 1977? Now they will share this day, and this honor, for a lifetime.

Kent is the first second baseman to enter Cooperstown since the arrival of Craig Biggio in 2015. Second base has long been one of the least represented positions in the Hall. So someday, visitors may stare at Kent’s prodigious offensive numbers and wonder why it took him so long to earn this plaque.

For the rest, including each player’s path to the Hall of Fame, click here.

More Hall of Fame: Tyler Kepner tells us about the various stops each player in this year’s class made along the way, and how their journeys ended in Cooperstown.

Injury Updates … and deadline ramifications

We have three important injury updates from the weekend. Here’s who got hurt, and how it potentially impacts the trade deadline:

• Cody Bellinger (left hamstring strain): Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge have already been on the IL for long stints. Add Bellinger, and that’s 1,077 career home runs the Yankees are now missing. Bellinger has been the team’s second-best hitter this year (after Ben Rice), and maybe their best player, when you factor in defense. This injury could alter the Yankees’ deadline plans.
• Juan Soto (left calf strain): This one isn’t as impactful right now — Soto isn’t going to be traded, and the last-place Mets certainly aren’t in contention — but as star power goes, few in the game measure up to Soto. His earlier calf injury was to the other leg, but this one might cost him more time.
• Shea Langeliers (torn meniscus): Yet another injury for the A’s. Langeliers was one of the best potentially available catchers at this year’s trade deadline. That’s off the table now. Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman’s defense might ding his value a bit, but scarcity isn’t nothing.

More injuries: Addison Barger hasn’t played for the Blue Jays since May 9. He’ll miss the rest of the season after elbow surgery.

Before and After: The weekend that was

In Friday’s Windup, I listed all 15 matchups slotted for this past weekend in order of trade-deadline/playoff intrigue and watchability. Let’s check back in and see how my predictions unfolded:

1. Yankees at Phillies: The Phillies (57-49) offense flailed for two games, but broke out big to win 11-4 yesterday.
2. Cubs at Pirates: The Cubs took two of three, and the vibes are high. The Pirates (54-52) are still just a game out of a playoff spot, though.
3. Royals at Tigers: Salvador Perez passed George Brett for the Royals’ franchise home run record, at 318. Tarik Skubal did his best to stay in Detroit with a dominant Friday win, but his teammates couldn’t help much in the next two games. (Skubal isn’t the only trade deadline question in Detroit, by the way.)
4. Guardians at Rays: The Rays swept the Guardians, who are now 2 1/2 games down in the AL Central (but are still up one game on Minnesota for the last wild-card spot).
5. Mariners at Rangers: Texas won the first two and led late yesterday before losing. The series concludes this afternoon, and a split would be … honestly, pretty apropos. Texas is up 1 1/2 games on Seattle in the AL West.
6. Astros at White Sox: Meanwhile, the Astros took two of three from the White Sox and are now just a half-game behind Seattle. The good news: Hunter Brown pitched like an ace. The bad: Spencer Arrighetti left with a trainer and is now on the 15-day IL.
7. Diamondbacks at Nationals: The Nats (54-52) gained ground on Arizona, winning two of three, including yesterday’s 10-7 win that featured two home runs each from CJ Abrams and James Wood. Arizona (55-51) still has the last NL wild-card spot, but only by a game over Washington and Pittsburgh.
8. Braves at Orioles: I ranked this too low. All three games were one-run affairs, with Atlanta winning two of them in extra innings. Baltimore is 2 1/2 games — and four teams — out in the wild-card race.
9. Padres at Marlins: San Diego, resorting to “pitching chaos,” kept its hopes alive by sweeping Miami. The Padres are two games out of a wild-card position, while Miami’s losing streak is now at a franchise-worst 12 games.
10. Blue Jays at Red Sox: Dylan Cease’s one-hitter on Saturday accounted for Toronto’s only win, with Boston (54-50) staying hot with two wins. At 48-58, Blue Jays players appear braced for a sell.
11. Reds at Cardinals: St. Louis (53-52) blew an opportunity to gain ground, losing two of three to the Reds.
12. Athletics at Twins: Minnesota (53-54) won two of three, and is somehow just a game out of a playoff spot.
13. Dodgers at Mets: Kyle Tucker awoke from his season-long slumber, and the Dodgers took two of three from the Mets.
14. Rockies at Brewers: Jacob Misiorowski’s performance yesterday was can’t miss … unless you were a Rockies hitter, in which case there was a lot of missing. The Miz threw 66 fastballs — all of them over 100 mph — in a historic outing. Milwaukee won two of three, and Misiorowski now boasts a 1.58 ERA.
15. Angels at Giants: In keeping with the norms of this season, these teams did not, in fact, fight. The Angels won 4-3 yesterday to avoid a sweep; Mike Trout had his first four-hit game since 2020.

Handshakes and High Fives

In the Giants org, there is some belief that first-year manager Tony Vitello has been getting a bit of disrespect from veteran umpires. The advice from baseball lifer Ron Washington? “Get your money’s worth.”

Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto broke Shohei Ohtani’s record for home runs by Japanese rookies, with 23. It may not stand for long — White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami hit two home runs on his bobblehead day, and now has 22.

An era has ended: After being DFA’d (and subsequently re-added to the roster) six times by the Braves, Carlos Carrasco has signed with the LG Twins in Korea.

Streak Watch: OK sure, we’ll keep tabs on that Marlins losing streak. They’re at 12.

Most-clicked in our last Windup: Jim Bowden’s best fits for each contending team.

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After treading water atop the National League East for the past six weeks without Ronald Acuña Jr., the Atlanta Braves activated their star outfielder from the injured list before Monday’s game against the New York Mets.

Acuña is returning from a left hamstring strain that has sidelined him since June 9. A similar injury put him on the shelf for 15 games in May. Acuña was inserted at leadoff for the Braves in Monday’s series-opener and hit a 107.8 mph single to center field in his first at-bat.

“I think (the) better version is coming out,” Acuña said. “I’m here to help my team the most I can. I do my best, so I can control what I can control. I’m here to make the playoffs and bring another championship to our city.”

The time without Acuña, the 2023 National League MVP, tested the mettle of Atlanta’s roster. The club went 17-21 and saw its once-formidable division lead shrink to two games in mid-July as the Philadelphia Phillies clawed back from a slow start. But the Braves have played better baseball during the past fortnight, going 7-3 in the second half to restore the division lead to 5 1/2 games.

Acuña has been a productive, if less-than-dynamic, performer this season. When he went on the injured list, he was toting a .793 OPS, with seven home runs and 15 stolen bases in 53 games. He has been less explosive on the bases in recent years after undergoing a second major knee surgery in 2024. Yet his presence in the Braves lineup is still formidable.

“Just his presence alone,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “I think there’s a trickle-down effect when you have to go through him and then the guys behind him, it just wears on a pitcher.”

During both of Acuña’s stints on the injured list this season, catcher Drake Baldwin has been the understudy at leadoff, and has hit .307 /.423/.584 with nine home runs in 27 games. Meanwhile,  Acuña is slashing .251/.373/.421 with seven home runs in 53 games.

Weiss didn’t rule out seeing Baldwin return to leadoff while being in the same lineup as Acuña.

“The top half of our lineup is very left-handed,” Weiss said. “So there’s some things you could do to try to split that up a little bit. It’s something I’ve thought about, and maybe we can move some things around tomorrow.”

Outfielder Brewer Hicklen, who went 7-for-19 after being added to the roster a couple of weeks ago, was optioned to Triple A to make room for Acuña’s return.