👋 Good morning!
It’s finally here!
Trade Deadline Day: one of my favorites on the entire sports calendar.
I know Rank Week ended two weeks ago, but if I had to pick my favorite days in sports every year:
Super Bowl Sunday
MLB Trade Deadline Day
MLB Opening Day
First Saturday of College Football
Thanksgiving Day in the NFL
Maybe not that last one as much anymore…
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ICYMI: Deadline Edition
The deadline is already in full swing!
In case you missed any of yesterday’s action, here’s a quick rundown of the Cubs and Sox’s deadline start:
Breaking The Seal: The White Sox traded OF Austin Slater to the New York Yankees for RHP Gage Ziehl.
Slater, 32, appeared in 51 games for the Sox this season, slashing .236/.299/.423 with five home runs. He’ll likely serve as a bench option, defensive replacement for the Yankees as they endure life without Aaron Judge (elbow) for the next few weeks.
Ziehl, 22, is in his first season of Minor League Baseball and sports a 4.15 ERA over 15 starts (16 appearances) between Single-A, High-A, and Double-A. He’s a cutter-first arm and won’t overwhelm a batter with velocity. He’ll report High-A Winston-Salem.
Flexen 2.0: The Cubs acquired RHP Michael Soroka from the Washington Nationals in exchange for two prospects.
Soroka, 27, has an abysmal 4.87 ERA as a starter this season, but his peripherals and his past tell a different story. A pitcher with a 25.4 K%, 7.0 BB%, and 3.32 xERA should be producing better results. In fact, he did with the White Sox as a reliever last season. In 36.0 IP out of the bullpen in 2024, Soroka sported a 2.75 ERA with a whopping 39.0%.
The Cubs sent SS Ronny Cruz (club’s No. 13 prospect) and Triple-A OF Christian Franklin (club’s No. 14) back to the Nationals.
Bye Bye Pressly? The Cubs capped off their night with another reliever acquisition, per Jon Heyman: RHP Andrew Kittredge from the Baltimore Orioles. No word yet on who the Cubs will send back.
Kittredge, 35, is a slider-heavy middle-relief arm capable of high-leverage outs. Right-handed batters are slashing just .179/.246/.357 against him this season, and as the potential cherry on top, Kittredge comes with a 2026 club option worth $9 million.
Soroka slots in as an obvious replacement in the bullpen for Chris Flexen, who was designated for assignment on Tuesday.
Adding Kittredge takes the last available 40-man spot for the Cubs, which opened after they DFA’d utilityman Vidal Brujan on Wednesday morning.
Relievers Gavin Hollowell or Brooks Kriske could be optioned back to Triple-A, but it feels like Ryan Pressly’s time with the Cubs could be coming to an end in the next few hours, especially if the club makes a move for a higher-leverage relief arm.
So, where does this leave us coming into today?
For the White Sox: They still have both of their big trade chips on the table. Luis Robert Jr. raised his stock and his batting average to .213 with a three-hit performance on Wednesday afternoon. Speaking of yesterday’s game, Adrian Houser was scratched prior to his scheduled start out of an abundance of caution.
For the Cubs: They lost out on Eugenio Suárez — he’s headed to the Mariners. The Phillies scooped up Jhoan Duran. The Astros have emerged as the team to beat on Sandy Alcantara, and the Pirates are likely holding onto Mitch Keller. So, how will Jed Hoyer push his team into that next level?
To quote Ted Knight in Caddyshack, “Well, we’re waiting.”
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RIGHT DIRECTION: Caleb Williams and the Bears’ offense took a big step on Wednesday. A cleaner and tighter pre-snap process goes a long way in making the entire operation look successful.
The results weren’t always there on the seventh day of camp, but you’ll take what you can get against Dennis Allen’s defense.
I also forgot this nugget in my post-practice wrap-up, but Olamide Zaccheaus, Devin Duvernay, Josh Blackwell, and Rome Odunze had a couple of new faces taking reps with them during punt return drills: UDFA JP Richardson and rookie second-rounder Luther Burden III.
JERSEY UPDATE: To honor the life of former principal owner Virginia McCaskey, who passed away in February, the Bears will wear a special jersey patch with her monogram. They’ll also forego wearing alternate uniforms this season, per the Sun-Times.
Additionally, the Bears will wear a No. 76 patch to honor Steve McMichael, who lost his battle against ALS in April.
DEVELOPMENT: Kyle Teel and Colson Montgomery homered again for the White Sox, who rebounded to pick up the series win against the Phillies after first pitch was delayed for three hours last night.
Miguel Vargas broke things open with a three-run blast in the seventh inning before Edgar Quero followed suit with a three-run homer of his own later in the inning.
The youth movement isn’t just here — it’s crushing. The Sox are playing extremely fun baseball right now.
BACK ON TRACK: The Cubs needed that one. Michael Busch went yard on the first pitch of the game (called in the Halas Hall media room by Kevin Fishbain — it was awesome), Pete Crow-Armstrong doubled twice, and Kyle Tucker reached four times.
At 63-45, the Cubs enter the final third of the schedule one game behind the Brewers, not just for the division lead, but for the best record in baseball.
ERRORS & OMISSIONS: I included the reporting from ESPN and Marquee Sports Network in yesterday’s newsletter that said Ian Happ was headed to the 10-day IL after fouling a ball off his leg on Tuesday night.
Those reports were retracted and deleted yesterday morning, and Happ was available off the bench in the series finale in Milwaukee. And of course, he homered, too.
Hey Eugenio, we’re good bro. Matt Shaw is here.
— #Patrick Norton (#@patdnorton)
4:02 AM • Jul 31, 2025
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