MLB trade rumors and news: Minor League Baseball president Pat O’Conner retires

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• Despite the fact that he was elected to a new four-year term last year, Minor League Baseball president Pat O’Conner announced Tuesday that he’ll be retiring after the season. This seems like bad news for the future of MiLB as we know it, as there’s a strong possibility that his position will be eliminated upon his departure as part of Rob Manfred’s “One Baseball” plan — one that would give the commissioner’s office much more authority over MiLB and calls for massive contraction in the minors. While O’Conner played a major role in the growth and development of Minor League Baseball, his legacy is tainted by the fact that he very publicly advocated against minor leaguers having a right to a living wage.
• Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman has been diagnosed with right hip tendinitis but is expected to avoid a trip to the injured list. For a team that’s currently duking it out for first place, let’s hope that Chapman’s injury isn’t too serious, but also would explain the 0-11 slump that the Gold Glove winner has fallen in to recently.
• The baseball world got sad news last week as Tom Seaver, who had been battling Lyme Disease, dementia, and COVID-19, passed away at the age of 75. The tributes to Seaver, who was one of the best pitchers to ever play the game and is best known for his time with the Mets, came fast and thick yesterday with MLB luminaries of the past and present honored Seaver’s life and career. He will be missed.
• We lost both a baseball and Cardinals legend over the weekend, as Lou Brock passed away at the age of 81. Brock was battling a slew of medical issues. The National League’s all-time stolen base leader, he recorded 938 stolen bases over 19 seasons in the show. He also holds the record for highest single season number of bags stolen with 118 in 1974. He will be dearly missed.
• Everyone thought that Aroldis Chapman was going to be punished after he seemingly threw a 101 mph fastball at Rays utilityman Mike Brosseau’s head the other night...and those people were right, although the severity of the punishment left something to be desired in the eyes of some. Chapman received a three game suspension while Yankees manager Aaron Boone and Rays manager Kevin Cash each received one game timeouts. All three men also received undisclosed fines.
• The trade deadline came and went last Monday, and the biggest move of the day was without question the Padres’ trade for Mike Clevinger. San Diego has very clearly made a huge play for a deep playoff run this year as they sent six players, a mix of MLB talent and prospects, to Cleveland for the talented young starter’s services.
• The Athletics find themselves in a strong position of their own in the race for the playoffs. In a move that seems like a peak Billy Beane move, they pulled the trigger on a buy-low opportunity when they added starter Mike Minor from the Rangers.
• Not many people would have pegged the Marlins as buyers at the trade deadline when the season started, but 2020 is a weird year and that is exactly what happened. They went and snagged Starling Marte from the Diamondbacks for a trio of prospects.
• The Mariners and Padres swapped breakout star Austin Nola and prospect Taylor Trammell as a part of a massive seven-player deal.
• The Cubs have acquired José Martínez from the Rays for two players to be named later, which is significantly more interesting and elusive than just one PTBNL. We love a good risk.
• San Diego did not come to play for this year’s trade deadline. The Padres have acquired Mitch Moreland from Red Sox for two of their higher level prospects.
• The Blue Jays acquired Taijuan Walker from the Mariners to kick off some of that sweet, sweet Trade Deadline excitement.
• There are some very real and serious discussions happening in this country right now, and one of those conversations is in regards to police conduct towards people of color. The recent shooting of Jacob Blake has brought this discussion back to the forefront and players across multiple sports took action recently, with multiple MLB teams postponing their games.
• Aaron Judge finally returned to the Yankees lineup against the Braves after dealing with a calf injury, but he quickly headed back. While running the bases, Judge aggravated his calf injury and was sent right back to the injured list.