HumpLinks: Bays’ Rays Snag Skaggs

Kole Calhoun remains blistering hot. 0.3 fWAR for last night alone. And Mike Trout is cruising along in a more traditional Mike fashion. Even Albert flashed a good bat in the Florida evening. And the bullpen? Wowzers. 4.2 innings and 0 runs surrendered. 4 strikeouts and no walks. The Angels scored 6 runs for our side, committed zero errors on defense, and had a bullpen lock down Tampa Bay like a Brinks truck. And the Tampa Bay starter lasted only the first inning. Which is amazing, since Tampa Bay doesn’t actually have any starters left. That should all add up to an easy and happy victory. But then, um, there was Tyler Skaggs. Skaggs had given up 8 total earned runs over his last 8 starts going back to the start of June. And then he gave up 10 earned runs last night. 7 in the 4th inning alone. And that was ballgame, 10-6.

Nobody cools off the hot bat as effectively as Mike Scioscia. Francisco Arcia, with a line of .625/.667/1.625 and an OPS of 2.292 across his first 9 Plate Appearances in his first 2 games as a Major Leaguer, was rested for his 3rd game and limited to a late-inning defensive sub. Then he got another day of rest on travel day to Florida. So Mike gave him still another day off last night. And it wasn’t even the old righty-lefty matchup thing. The Rays opened with Ryne Stanek, RHP. And Sosh ran Arcia off the bench out to take a pinch-hit chance against the righty Diego Castillo. So Sosh should wait until Wednesday and use Arcia as a late-inning pinch-hitter again. Or maybe Thursday. That’s a solid way to put your players in a position to succeed.

Andrelton Simmons didn’t start either. That realization, coming just before the trade deadline, spooked more than one person. But it was just his back reacting poorly, probably to the long flight.

The Non-Waiver Trade Season is now closed. One of the biggest stories was about what did NOT happen. So now we can all settle back down and live with the results.

It’s Florida time. Orange-You-Glad-You-Got-A-Lotta-HaloLinks:

A Little Bit Of Mike Trout News

Not a lot of Trout news worthy of mentioning (except for the cyclical flurry of trade talk click bait), but with his 30th home run last night, and his 20 stolen bases, Mike has his third 30/20 season of his career. Only Willie Mays did that at his age.............

A Little Bit Of Angels News

Here is the part to which we fans fail to pay enough attention. Baseball may be a business, but it’s a personal one. It takes its toll. Just ask Blake Parker..........

Jo Adell got bumped up to AA Mobile, and you already know that. And I already linked to that. So why bring it up again? Well, because of this person’s recognition of Adell’s promotion. Jason McIntyre is a USA Today & Fox Sports journalist who composed TheBigLead roundup yesterday. And he went out of his way to take notice of the Adell move, with the following observation for his national audience: “Baseball prospect to keep an eye on: 19-year old Jo Adell. They say he’s Anaheim’s best prospect since Mike Trout.”............

The Angels (barely) do better than the Red Sox in the Kinsler deal. I think the author is underselling the Red Sox improvements by not having to play Eduardo Nunez at 2B any more...........And they are otherwise so quiet they are neither a trade season winner nor loser..........

Everywhere In Baseball

Yes, Houston, you went out of your way to acquire Roberto Osuna. If judicial actions against him prove out the allegations then all his baggage you own, up front and proudly..........

I should have just shut up and grabbed my popcorn yesterday. Yu Darvish’s agent is going off on Alex Rodriguez all by himself. he don’t need any help from me............

If I didn’t already have this daily gig, and could rededicate my HH time to other forms of entertainment, I think I would create an animated GIF showing all the player movement the past few days as they get sucked up into the existing vortexes of power. I think the visual on how the better MLB level talent migrated mostly towards the certain centers of power. Within all the action yesterday, there are certainly some gems of knowledge to be mined that are being missed because of all the razzle-dazzle of names. For example, have the Rays finished selling off their entire MLB-level of their franchise? ..........

The Big Name yesterday was Chris Archer. Archer goes to Pittsburgh. And what is the verdict? Is it that the Pirates are being gutsy with a great move?.....Or is it the Pirates making the bad Gerrit Cole trade look even worse, with “players whose reputations outstrip their current production”?.......

The most fun name yesterday was Cameron Maybin. Maybin returns to the AL West, joining Seattle. This means that Maybin will be back in Anaheim on September 13th for a 4-game set. We can all buy outfield seats and say hello..........

And somewhere in between Archers and the Maybins was Jonathan Schoop. It was only yesterday that Shoop was a subject here as I mocked the MLB process yet again for figuring out how to name the AL Player Of The Week. Schoop won it for the second time this season, and is the current title holder. And now he plays in the National League. So it would be pretty funny if Schoop wins NL Player Of The Week next Monday...........As a Schoop bonus, it was a major surprise for Schoop, who practically trolled himself on the trade............

And The Messiest Trade Transaction Discussion of the Day belongs to Tommy Pham moving from STL to TB. We got supposed insider dirt popping up all over the place once Pham made his exit out of the Cardinals’ clubhouse. Some random dude posts curious shit about Pham, which would normally be completely overlooked. But Randum Dude is making ti appear as if he has some inside source within the Cards’ org, so we got a leak. And then Jerry Crasnick shows up with a more formal MSM bag of shit. Mark Saxon is not to be left behind, and shows up at the shit party, too......Pham finally gets to the airport and checks in for his flight south or something, catches up with social media, and reacts accordingly..........

Uh, Dave Dombrowski? You ain’t foolin’ me. The REAL reason that you didn’t acquire a reliever at the trade deadline is because you had long ago traded away all the farm system talent that Billy Eppler would have valued. Eppler was just laughing at you, and your interview was just to save some dignity..........

And, most importantly (certainly worth remembering as a talking point this winter), the headline alone speaks volumes. How MLB’s Tankathon Is Skewing The Trade Market..........

Sports Betting TV: coming to EVERY POSSIBLE DAMNED OUTLET near you..........

Moe Berg. MLB catcher. WWII master spy...and action movie hero...........

Adam Jones is talking about me. And he is telling me to shut up...........

For the record, I ain’t seeing any of these weird SBN contracts. I don’t attend any SBN management phone parties, either.........

R.I.P. Tony Cloninger.

The Duffle Bag

Kenley Jensen with the insane man cave. Kenley clearly wants to be like Mike............Petco Park Family allows for a wide variety of interpretations concerning the family relationships there...........Words of wisdom from Wrigley Field Bucket Guy: always wear your Double-Bubble helmet, people..........It turns out that Major League Baseball in Dodger Stadium can be taken down by nothing more than a toy balloon........(h/t UniWatch) Foul ball breaks Fenway seat..........Trea Turner begins his life-long journey to rebuild his image. People won’t forget. Many will never forgive. They will simple tire of talking about it..........Wake me up, before you go go.........