Otto von Ballpark

Traded for Mahle, perhaps?

Heyman doesn't think Mahle is a done deal yet:

Not fake, but also not confirmation of anything:

I do agree that the return feels light from Baltimore's perspective, although single relievers typically don't fetch a lot. I wonder, how does Povich compare to Antoine Kelly (just traded by MIL to TEX for Matt Bush)? They look like the two best prospects traded for single relievers so far. They're both 22 year old lefties in high-A with good K rates; Povich has the better walk rate, while Kelly has been better a limiting hits and HR. Another factor is Kelly was a high school draftee, so he will require a 40-man spot after the season even though he is still some distance from MLB. Povich won't require a 40-man spot until after 2024, which may help BAL protect some another prospect in the near future. Could BAL have declined Kelly from MIL, preferring Povich from MIN? I like Lopez better than Bush due to age (and 2022 numbers), although both are controlled through 2024.

Maybe he could borrow the mustache of new teammate Mark Contreras.

Wikipedia's article on this is out-of-date, but it says you need permission from the commissioner's office to trade an injured player. To the extent that is/was true, I wonder if it's just a formality to limit post-trade grievances related to the injury.

Needs more mustache?

Not sure. You might be thinking of the old August waiver trade system -- there, a player had to be healthy to be placed on revocable trade waivers, before they could be dealt in August. Might be one of the reasons that system was scrapped.

See my post above -- Baltimore leads MLB in reliever fWAR and bWAR this year, so they probably view it as a position of strength, enough that they don't need to rely on Lopez so much to continue improving and hopefully compete in 2023-2024. And if you're going to take a chance dealing someone with team control, it's best to be a reliever. Doesn't seem uncommon either -- Pressly, etc.

Fangraphs had Baltimore with just a 2.7% chance at a postseason berth, even before trading Lopez and Mancini. Despite the playoff expansion to 6 teams, Baltimore only had the 8th best record in the AL, closer to 10th than 7th, with no chance at winning their division and the second most difficult remaining schedule in the league.

By both bWAR and fWAR, Baltimore has the best relievers in MLB this season, so they may view this as dealing from a strength, even if Lopez is controllable for 2023-2024.

Addition by subtraction for the White Sox?

If anyone wants to learn or talk more about this deal from the Brewers perspective, it’s a perfect opportunity to visit the Twins Daily sister site, Brewer Fanatic: https://brewerfanatic.com/news-rumors/milwaukee-brewers/josh-hader-traded-to-san-diego-padres-r408/

Only two prospects. Dinelson Lamet is a veteran, he is making $4.78 mil in his second-to-last arbitration season this year, so he will be a FA after 2023 unless the Brewers cut him loose earlier.

I suspect that may have been true of most MLB ballparks during that time (well, except for the weather ) -- it was just at the very beginning of the modern stadium/attendance boom, so demand was still low enough to keep prices low and availability high. Oakland actually did pretty well in attendance those years. The only AL teams that finished ahead of the A's attendance from 1989-1992 all had new ballparks (first Toronto, then Chicago and finally Baltimore). The A's averaged 33,256 fans per game during that stretch, with a seating capacity of ~48,000. The A's lowest season attendance over those 4 years was higher than the Twins' highest, and the Twins were still drawing respectably.

Also, here's a first-hand account of the Eric Fox game from @weinshie: The two worst losses in recent Twins history

I think Wes Johnson's last game was June 30. Our ERA since then is 5.45, worst in MLB. FanGraphs team ERA since July 1

I've seen Stranger Things than a starting pitcher allowing 10 runs in a game...

Fun fact: A.J. Pierzynski used "Sharp Dressed Man" as his walk-up song. In 2004, the Wall Street Journal called the choice "amusing and annoying, just like he is."

Would we know how to use them?

If that question isn't entirely rhetorical... WPA is context-dependent, and we've eased up on Pagan's leverage a bit lately (more than the Padres and Rogers so far, anyway). gmLI (average game-entering leverage index) per Fangraphs Rogers: 1.90 Pagán: 1.58 By the context-neutral WPA/LI, Rogers is still an above-average contributor.

At least Brent Rooker is enjoying the Pacific Coast League!

I could have tried to make a reference to that song in the article, but doing so would have made me El Loco.

The Twins franchise has lost key games to many legends over time: Koufax, Yastrzemski, most of the 21st century Yankees, and... Eric Fox? That name may not be familiar, but if you followed the 1992 season with hopes of a repeat championship, Eric Fox played a large role in crushing those hopes. As they did in 1991, the 1992 Twins started slow in April, but warmed up in May and June, and finally took sole possession of first place after a marathon 15-inning win vs. Baltimore on Independence Day, July 4th. Entering a 3-game showdown with the second-place Oakland Athletics from July 27-29, the Twins held first place by 3 games, as well as the best record in MLB. The series should have favored the Twins: it was held in the Metrodome, packed with friendly fans off the excitement of 1991, and two of Oakland's stars, Rickey Henderson and Jose Canseco, were hobbled by injury. In their absence, the 28-year-old rookie non-prospect Fox was thrust into the A's outfield and leadoff spot, just 3 weeks after his major league debut. But Oakland won the first two games, prompting Twins GM Andy MacPhail to say "It looks like God wants a pennant race." Fox contributed 4 hits in 10 at-bats over those two games, which kept him in the leadoff spot for the third and final game of the series despite the returns of Canseco and Henderson. In that third game, 30 years ago today (July 29, 1992), Bill Krueger out-dueled Dave Stewart for 8 innings before Rick Aguilera came on in the 9th to protect both a 4-2 lead in the game and a 1-game lead in the division. Back-to-back singles brought up the potential go-ahead in Henderson, who would have been a logical hero, but baseball heroes aren't always logical: Henderson flew out for the first out of the inning. The next batter was Eric Fox. The switch-hitting Fox hit a 1-1 pitch off the facing of the Metrodome's upper deck in right field for a 3-run home run, giving the A's a 5-4 lead. After the game, Fox said, "Definitely the biggest hit in my life. Twenty-eight years worth. He came inside on me, and I just turned on it. The first thing I thought was that I might have turned on it too much. But I had that certain feeling." Dennis Eckersley, on his way to a Cy Young Award, retired the Twins in order in the bottom of the 9th to secure the victory, the sweep, and his 33rd save in as many chances that season. The 1992 Twins quickly faded into second place, as God's interest in a pennant race must have waned. But the hero Fox quickly faded too, finishing his major league career with a .198 batting average and 5 home runs in 290 plate appearances spread across four seasons. He'd show at least one more flair for the dramatic, though: on Opening Day in 1993, with Oakland clinging to a late 1-run lead against Detroit, Fox would hit a pinch-hit grand slam for insurance. Does God want a pennant race in 2022? The Twins' most recent games against Chicago and Cleveland might suggest that, and the Twins are scheduled to play them a combined 17 times over their final 33 games. If there is a 2022 version of Eric Fox, we can only hope God places him on the Twins this time.