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The MLB Daily Dish is a daily feature we're running here at MLBDD and rounds up roster-impacting news, rumors, and analysis. Have feedback or have something that should be shared? Hit us at @mlbdailydish on Twitter.
Good morning baseball fans, just one more day until the second half of the season begins!
At the midway point of the season, here are Bovada’s odds for the MVP and Cy Young awards for both divisions.
With the trade deadline drawing near, corner infielders might be hard to come by.
Could some All-Stars be on the move before August 1 rolls around?
Drew Smyly’s 2016 season is a little confusing to decode; maybe too confusing for any team to try to trade for him.
In other words, after all that, we're still left with Drew Smyly, enigma. It's possible he's just this year's Rick Porcello (which I mean in the most positive way possible): a solid pitcher who's running into some bad luck with the long ball, and that's the view the projections and Smyly's peripherals seem to suggest. I still feel some nervousness, as without an apparent explanation for the home runs he's been giving up, it's possible there's some underlying issue still out there that is driving it. Given just how many home runs he's given up in the first half of 2016, this is also a plausible view.
It's possible that Smyly and the Rays as a whole have fallen victim to the general league-wide increase in home run rate. The Rays staff generally relies on fly balls (the Rays starters as a group have the second-lowest ground ball rate in MLB), so they are particularly vulnerable to this league-wide trend. Smyly has traded even more grounders for fly balls this season compared to seasons past, but his HR/FB has hardly changed from last year. Smyly's homer woes can't entirely be due to the league-wide increase in offense.
Here is a roundup of news from around the American League Central.
The Rangers are interested in Padres starter Drew Pomeranz.
Noah Syndergaard is going to throw off of a mound on Friday and has felt no pain.
The Trade Value series over at FanGraphs continues with numbers 30-21.
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Today in Baseball History: In 1968, Hank Aaron hits career home run number 500 off of Mike MccCormick.