whosafraidofluigirussolo

Is there a reason to activate Mahle a day early if it means losing a reliever who could pitch tomorrow? Does he need to be activated to work out with the team or something?

I think there's one more game to go before Mahle starts - Gray pitching tomorrow. So it actually lines up: any of those relievers will be fresh tomorrow, and one of them could give some length and then be replaced on the roster. I don't think Pagan or Duffey is in real danger of losing his spot - like it or not, veteran-ness will play a role.

I know every player is a pro and a competitor and able to focus on the present and all that, but it must be a little weird for a player to get traded to the team he was playing against yesterday, no?

You could argue that it allocates space on the roster better - but yeah, it's a 40-man-neutral move. Per Dan Hayes earlier today: "Reds were there to see Simeon Woods Richardson pitch Sunday at Wichita." (link) If indeed the Reds were scouting SWR, I'm glad they made the deal happen without including him.

Relatively uninformed though I am, I feel kind of the opposite—Steer has less power but a better plate approach and probably more defensive value, no? With that said, if Miranda's work is sustainable and they believe Austin Martin will bounce back from this bad year, trading Steer is still a good gamble to make.

Had not seen the Heyman tweets when I wrote that! Oh well!

If there ends up being only one deal I'd rather see them get Rodon and pay only "rental" price, assuming that SF is reasonable about asking such a price.

It's Dozier for De Leon, isn't it?

Exactly - was just thinking, this is a nice deal to see, but only the second-most-desirable López

4 players seems like kind of a lot to give up for a reliever, although Canó may be in the deal more for an immediate fill-in for López' spot than for expected future value. But the quantity of players given up isn't a reason to knock the move. Acquiring López clearly fills a need and I'm glad to see it.

Jake Odorizzi and Will Smith swap between Houston and Atlanta: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/08/braves-astros-to-swap-will-smith-for-jake-odorizzi.html

I thought Contreras was already up? Do the rules around the paternity list require the team to demote him (nominally) for Urshela's return and then recall him immediately to take Celestino's place?

I expect at least one move. If there's only one move, I would guess it'll be for a reliever. If 2 moves, maybe one for a reliever and one for a starter. I'm curious whether the Twins FO is in on "rental" starting pitching—it would seem to make a lot of sense, with their pitching staff needing serious patches and seemingly fewer available, healthy young players as trade assets than they had at the beginning of the year. But trading for rentals has not seemed to be this front office's MO. If they were amenable to this, it seems like Rodón could be a big splash (who would still cost less than Castillo and other guys under contract past '22) and Eovaldi could be the modest, incremental alternative. But hard to predict whether they're open to that kind of trade.

Damn, I would have let San Diego have Pagán for that

If a one-for-one swap were on the table, they should do it. How much it would set the team back this year depends a bit on Larnach's injury recovery—if they realistically expect him to be healthy for the stretch run, he kind of replaces Kirilloff's lefty bat, and if not, maybe they need to look for a rental bat elsewhere. But even if Kirilloff has loads of potential and a number of years under contractual control, a corner bat for 2+ years of a #2-ish starter is a good deal IMO.