How the influence of his father helped Josh Morrissey’s journey to stardom
“The Three Morrissey Boys.”
R. Thomas Morrissey would say this whenever he was with his two sons, Jake and Josh. Suggesting this was a rallying cry or even an allegory that it was “them against the world” would cheapen the sentiment. For Tom, this was a way to express how much he loved his sons and the time they spent together.
Just saying “the Three Morrissey Boys” brings back so many memories for Jake and Josh. Like those times they would spend hours together on the ice. Those days and nights shared shooting pucks in the garage. Especially that one day back in 2013 when the Winnipeg Jets made Josh a first-round draft pick, one who would eventually become one of the NHL’s top defensemen.
Here they were. The Three Morrissey Boys. Tom didn’t need to say it. He couldn’t say it. By this point, the cancer that ravaged Tom’s body took away his ability to speak. So the sons sat next to their dad in the hospice bed at Tom’s house. Jake held one hand while Josh held the other.
You can talk about loss and how to prepare for losing one of the most important people in your life, one who has shaped you. But nothing can actually prepare you for when it happens. On that summer day in August 2021, Jake and Josh went to their dad’s house in suburban Calgary. There was no script. There was just raw emotion. They were sad. They were scared. They were concerned.
Jake and Josh found the words. They thanked their father for everything he did for them. All Tom, who already had a previous bout with cancer, could do in that moment was squeeze their hands with all the strength he could muster while giving them a half smile.
That was the last time the Three Morrissey Boys were physically together. Tom died Aug. 8, 2021, the day before what would have been his 70th birthday, from glioblastoma.
“I think about him every day in one way or another,” Josh said. “There are days when you think about him more. This year, certainly, when it comes to hockey, that is probably what we talked about most. Whether it was calling him after games or talking to him about something cool going on or a play we saw another guy make in the league. Those are the times we would chat and I think about that. I miss having those conversations.”
But they are never apart.
“Getting named to the All-Star Game was amazing and emotional for me,” Josh said. “The first person I would have called to tell was my dad. He would have been very proud. Those kinds of situations are when I think about him the most for sure.”
People back home in Calgary will tell you. So will anyone who follows the Jets. Morrissey has always been this good of a player. He may not have had the bombastic offensive numbers of other defensemen until this season, but the talent has always been there.
The 28-year-old has been central to the Jets going from missing the playoffs last season to being in the fight for the postseason this year. He is on pace to finish with a career-high 76 points in 79 games. He can do everything that’s required to be a legitimate top-four defenseman in the contemporary game, which is why he is a serious contender for the Norris Trophy, the award for the NHL’s best defenseman.
While Morrissey is having the best season of his career, there is still a feeling that he is something of an unknown. He’s not Erik Karlsson, who has had more than a decade and two Norris Trophies to make his mark. He’s not Adam Fox or Cale Makar, both of whom left college early and won a Norris within their first three seasons in the league.
Exactly who is Josh Morrissey, beyond being a Norris challenger? He’s someone who cares about every detail, thinks about every decision and has a magnetism that makes people feel attached to him whether they have known him for months or years.
Maybe the most important thing to know about him? He’s his father’s child.
“People tell us now that we are both getting older, they look at Josh and I, and say, ‘You are mirror images of your dad,'” said Jake, who is currently seeking a master’s degree. “The way you move. The way you act.
“He instilled so many lessons in us that we were both molded in his image. Whether that was putting everyone else before yourself or dedicating yourself to any endeavor. Without doing that, neither of us would have turned into what we are today. Even though our dad is physically gone from this earth, his spirit lives through us.”
SHANE MARCHAND ENROLLED both of his sons in D-Rules, a hockey camp in Calgary that was created for defensemen. Marchand said the camp taught young defensemen the importance of footwork while providing tutelage on when they should lead the rush, how they should lead it, the intimate details of quarterbacking at even strength and on the power play.
These are all things one would expect a young defenseman to know given the way hockey has evolved. But this was more than a decade ago, when the premium on puck movers was quite different.
Tom Morrissey founded that camp with the belief that skilled puck-moving defensemen would be the future of the game. He loved coaching and teaching, and wanted to share what he taught his sons with other youths who wanted the same thing.
Marchand sees those skills every time he watches Josh Morrissey play and recalls the camp, which helped the development of Marchand’s son, Charlie, who played four seasons of Division I hockey at Bentley University. Josh said other campers went on to reach the NHL, such as Brendan and Kaiden Guhle.
“[Tom] thought there was a gap in hockey training with defensemen because a lot of it was focused on forwards and goalies,” Marchand said. “Josh was the focal point to start with, but it turned into a program that in the early years, it was an elite group he took and worked with. … Tom was so against [the old way defensemen were taught to play in the offensive zone] that he would tell them, ‘Come on. You are good, smart, young, have good feet and have good vision. Why not use it?'”
Parents play numerous roles beyond simply being mom and dad to their children. That applied to Tom too. He was a junior high and high school teacher. He was a coach who guided his high school basketball team to a provincial championship. Later on, he was a small business owner who became a financial planner.
All these professions reflected Tom’s love for being around people and helping them however he could. Jake and Josh still meet random people who tell them their dad was an important part of their lives.
“There were students who he taught 35 years earlier that came to the funeral that told us how much they loved him as a teacher,” Jake said. “There were hundreds of families that if even their kid was not the greatest player or had a chance to make it pro, our dad had the same amount of care with them. Not because he wanted to see them make it to the NHL, but he wanted them to be the best versions of themselves and to feel like they matter.”
Josh continues to hold dear the many lessons Tom taught the boys. Being a coach’s son showed him the value of always putting the team first. As the son of a teacher, Josh always tries to show a sense of gratitude for those willing to make him better. And when your dad is a financial planner and a small business owner, it means projecting a certain image. That’s why Josh tries to project himself in a way that balances being authentic and presentable.
The relationships he has fostered with Jets coach Rick Bowness and longtime winger Blake Wheeler are examples. Bowness is in his first year with the Jets, while Wheeler has been with the franchise for more than a decade, going back to when they were the Atlanta Thrashers.
Bowness knew quite a bit about Morrissey as a player, but admits he didn’t know Morrissey was this good until he saw him up close. Since then, Bowness has been adamant about what he wants for Morrissey.
Bowness began building a relationship with Morrissey this past summer, right after he was hired by the Jets. Bowness said he speaks with every player as much as he can to get to know them. That way, they can build a sense of trust.
From that trust, Bowness challenged Morrissey to be the sort of defenseman who can not only enter the Norris discussion, but win the award. Bowness believes Morrissey has that type of ability.
“What’s fun about the whole thing is he’s starting to realize how good he is,” Bowness said. “I don’t think that was there at the start of the year and that has grown over the course of the season. … With a player like Josh, you keep challenging him. When he has a tough night or a bad shift or a bad game, you challenge him. He’s a very proud individual and wants to be as good as he can be.”
That drive to be great goes beyond creating goals or stopping them. Bowness said Morrissey, who is an alternate captain, was part of a group of players who told their new coach they wanted to have more of a voice in the Jets’ dressing room.
Bowness recalled a 4-2 win the Jets had in late January against the St. Louis Blues. They were down 2-0 before Morrissey scored the first of his two goals in a run of four unanswered goals by Winnipeg. Morrissey also led all skaters with more than 27 minutes of ice time.
“He went out and won the game for us,” Bowness said. “He is doing his talking on the ice. He’s a very intelligent, articulate man and has a ton of respect and has his teammates’ attention.”
Bowness speaks about Morrissey in an emphatic tone. He doesn’t just say Morrissey is a good kid; he says it in a way that almost dares anyone to say something to the contrary.
Wheeler has the same passion. The difference is Bowness has known Morrissey for only about nine months, whereas Wheeler has been around Morrissey for several years. The way Wheeler speaks about Morrissey is similar to that of an older brother who has watched his younger sibling grow into an adult.
Wheeler said Morrissey initially made his mark with the Jets by being an extremely quiet rookie who always was very respectful of the veterans. What stood out to those older players was how Morrissey found a balance between wanting to learn from his teammates while figuring out how he needed to improve in order to help the team.
As for Morrissey’s ability? Wheeler said flashes of what Morrissey could become had always been there, which is what makes this season so rewarding.
“His skating is really elite,” Wheeler said. “There aren’t many guys who look like they are moseying along and are actually skating faster than everyone on the ice. He makes everything look so easy. I think that is the sign of an elite player, when you make the extraordinary look so ordinary.”
Over the course of a 15-minute interview, Wheeler repeatedly mentioned his eight-year age gap with Morrissey. Not in a way that’s negative, but in reflecting how he has seen Morrissey grow over time.
Even then, Morrissey and Wheeler still have so much in common. Their bond was built over Wheeler’s love of wine, and in short order, he got Morrissey to join the club. They go to nice dinners and talk about anything and everything over a few glasses of wine.
They confide in each other about what is going on in their lives. Wheeler says he’s confident he will remain close with Morrissey even after he retires. That’s what makes watching the rest of the world take notice of Morrissey feel so special for Wheeler.
That’s also what made it so hard to watch one of his best friends endure the loss of his father.
“You can tell when you meet someone, whenever you have these dads trips and parents come on the road, you get a sneak peak at where it all comes from,” Wheeler said. “Tom was certainly a great guy to have around. You could tell that they shared a pretty strong bond.”
WHEELER SAID IT is natural for fans to expect a player to perform at his best once it’s game time. He admitted everyone is that way, and he can be guilty of it himself whenever he watches the NFL.
But he added that it’s important for fans to consider the bigger picture too, that they don’t know what a player might be dealing with in their personal lives. Such as a parent who is dying.
“I don’t think words can describe what [Josh] went through,” Wheeler said. “As a friend and as someone who tries to look out for Josh’s best interests over the years, it was hard to watch him go through that. That’s something someone in their mid-20s should not have to go through, but he handled himself incredibly well and tried to not let it show.”
Glioblastoma, as defined by Mayo Clinic, is a form of cancer that starts as a growth of cells in the brain or spinal cord. The National Brain Tumor Society states the five-year survival rate for glioblastoma is less than 7%, while the average survival length is estimated to be eight months.
This was what Tom Morrissey, who everyone says was the “eternal optimist,” had developed.
Tom was three months into his treatment when the truncated 2020-21 season started. But with COVID-19 restrictions and the nature of a hectic NHL schedule, it was difficult for Josh to spend time in Calgary with his father and stay with the team. The NHL placing all the Canadian teams in one division at least made it easier for Morrissey to go back to Calgary, but hospital restrictions meant he could not really see his dad that much.
Josh got to see Tom on one of those trips back to Calgary. There was an understanding that his dad’s health was not going to get better.
That made the phone calls after Josh’s games that season even more valuable. It was more than just a way for father and son to connect. It was a way for Josh to be there for Tom on days when he could not physically be with him.
“Probably the most difficult game I had was the last game against Montreal, when we lost in the second round of the playoffs, because I knew we were facing elimination,” Josh said. “I basically knew there was a very high chance that if we lost that game, it would be the last game he could see me play.”
The Jets lost in overtime. Josh said he sat in his locker room stall after the game and just cried because he knew his father would never get a chance to see him play hockey again.
Before Tom died, he told Jake and Josh that he did not want them to dwell on his passing or to feel sorry for themselves. Tom wanted his sons to remember him and the fun times they had while living their lives without any regrets.
Hearing those words brought a renewed sense of optimism that continues to impact Josh to this day. It’s not that he didn’t enjoy playing in the NHL. He did, but to hear the person who was instrumental in his path tell him to concentrate on having fun made a difference.
Josh talks about Tom with reverence, even when he’s asked what might be a rather difficult question: Who is Josh Morrissey beyond being a hockey player?
Josh loves fashion. He has always enjoyed dressing well, and there is something he particularly appreciates about finding a great suit. He gets that from Tom, the financial planner who always wore a suit to work, which made Josh understand the value of looking the part.
Lately, Josh has been watching the TV series “Yellowstone.” OK, more accurately, he’s obsessed with it. He has watched the first series along with its prequels, “1883” and “1923.” He loves the shows because the scenery reminds him of those days in Alberta when he and Jake would go horseback riding with their dad.
The love he has for wine leads him to talk about how much he has learned and how he has no issue admitting he’s a bit of a nerd on the topic. He can talk about the process of making wine, the different soil conditions, sunlight, irrigation, the age of the wine, you name it.
Could this lead to Josh opening a winery and being a small business owner, like his dad?
Maybe, someday. But for now, the aim for Josh is simple. He wants to be the best player he can be, for himself, the Jets and those who have helped him arrive at this stage in his life. He wants to be a father someday, which is one reason he told Tom how much he appreciated everything he did for him.
“When I am a father one day, I will do the same for my kids,” Josh said. “That will be the thing I will take with me the most. I am my own person and I am a different personality, as is everyone else. But at the end of the day, his care and love for his sons and wanting them to have the best possible lives is what I admire most. I would like to definitely hope I can be that way for my kids one day.”
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David Schoenfield
There’s plenty of history in the rivalry between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. It’s about 116 miles from Citi Field to Citizens Bank Park. The two teams been competing for the NL East since 1969. Star players from Tug McGraw to Jerry Koosman to Lenny Dykstra to Pedro Martinez to Zack Wheeler have played for both franchises. Mets fans loathe the Phanatic, and Phillies fans laugh derisively at Mr. Met.
Despite this longevity, the two teams have rarely battled for a division title in the same season. The only years they finished No. 1 and 2 or were battling for a division lead late in the season:
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1986: Mets finished 21.5 games ahead
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2001: Both finished within six games of the Braves
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2006: Mets finished 12 games ahead
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2007: Phillies finished one game ahead
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2008: Phillies finished three games ahead
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2024: Phillies finished six games ahead of Mets and Braves
So it’s a rare treat to see the Mets and Phillies battling for the NL East lead in as New York faces the San Francisco Giants on “Sunday Night Baseball” this week. This season has also been a bit of bumpy ride for both teams, so there is pressure on both front offices to make trade deadline additions in hopes of winning the World Series that has eluded both franchises in recent years despite high payrolls and star-laden rosters. Let’s dig into what both teams need to do before Thursday.
The perfect trade deadline for the Mets
1. Bullpen help
The Mets already acquired hard-throwing lefty Gregory Soto from the Orioles, but David Stearns will likely look for another reliever, given that the Mets’ bullpen has struggled since the beginning of June with a 5.02 ERA. In my grade of the trade, I pointed out the importance for the Mets to add left-handed relief. Think of potential playoff opponents and all the key left-handed batters: Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper on the Phillies; Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy on the Dodgers; Kyle Tucker, Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong on the Cubs.
Soto has held lefties to a .138 average this season, and it does help that the Mets have two lefty starters in David Peterson and Sean Manaea. They also just activated Brooks Raley after he had been out since early 2024. If he is back to his 2022-23 form, when he had a 2.74 ERA and held lefties to a .209 average, maybe the Mets will feel good enough about their southpaw relief.
They could still use another dependable righty reliever. Mets starters were hot early on, but they weren’t going deep into games, and outside of Peterson, the lack of longer outings is a big reason the bullpen ERA has skyrocketed. Carlos Mendoza has overworked his setup guys, including Huascar Brazoban and Reed Garrett. Brazoban has never been much of a strike thrower anyway, and Garrett similarly faded in the second half last season. Adding a high-leverage righty to set up Edwin Diaz makes sense. Candidates there include David Bednar of the Pirates, Ryan Helsley of the Cardinals, Griffin Jax or Jhoan Duran of the Twins, or maybe a longer shot such as Emmanuel Clase or Cade Smith of the Guardians.
2. Think big, as in Eugenio Suarez
Mark Vientos was a huge key to last season’s playoff appearance and trip to the NLCS, hitting .266/.322/.516 with 27 home runs after beginning the season in Triple-A. He hasn’t been able to replicate that performance, though, hitting .224/.279/.354. That has led to a revolving door at third base, with Vientos, Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio starting games there in July. Overall, Mets third basemen ranked 24th in the majors in OPS entering Friday.
Lack of production at third is one reason the Mets’ offense has been mediocre rather than very good — they’re averaging 4.38 runs per game, just below the NL average of 4.43. They could use another premium bat, given the lack of production they’ve received from center field and catcher (not to mention Francisco Lindor‘s slump since the middle of June). Maybe Francisco Alvarez‘s short stint back in Triple-A will get his bat going now that he’s back in the majors, but going after Suarez to hit behind Juan Soto and Pete Alonso would lengthen the lineup.
3. Reacquire Harrison Bader to play CF
Tyrone Taylor is a plus defender in center and has made several incredible catches, but he’s hitting .209/.264/.306 for a lowly OPS+ of 65. Old friend Bader is having a nice season with the Twins, hitting .251/.330/.435. Maybe that’s a little over his head, given that he had a .657 OPS with the Mets last season, but he would still be an offensive upgrade over Taylor without losing anything on defense — and he wouldn’t cost a top-tier prospect. The Mets could still mix in Jeff McNeil against the really tough righties, but adding Suarez and Bader would give this lineup more of a championship feel.
The perfect deadline for the Phillies
1. Acquire Jhoan Duran
Like the Mets, the Phillies already made a move here, signing free agent David Robertson, who had a 3.00 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 72 innings last season with the Rangers. On paper, he should help, but he’s also 40 and will need a few games in the minors to get ready. Even with Robertson, the Phillies could use some more help here. They’ll eventually get Jose Alvarado back from his 60-game PED suspension, but Alvarado is ineligible for the postseason. At least the Mets have an elite closer in Edwin Diaz. Jordan Romano leads the Phillies with eight saves and has a 6.69 ERA. Matt Strahm is solid, but more useful as a lefty setup guy than a closer (think of all those left-handed batters we listed for the Mets, then sub out Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo for Harper and Schwarber).
And the Phillies’ bullpen has consistently come up short in big games. Think back to last year’s NLDS, when Jeff Hoffman lost twice to the Mets. Or 2023, when Craig Kimbrel lost two games in the NLCS against the Diamondbacks. Or the 2022 World Series, when Yordan Alvarez hit the huge home run off Alvarado in the clinching Game 6.
So, yes, a shutdown closer is a must. Maybe that’s Bednar, maybe Clase if he’s available (although he struggled in last year’s postseason), maybe Helsley. But the guy Dave Dombrowski should go all-in to get: Duran. The window for the Phillies is slowly closing as the core players get older. Duran is under control through 2027, so he’s a fit for now and the immediate future. The trade cost might be painful, but with his 100 mph fastball and splitter, he has the elite stuff you need in October.
2. Add Ryan O’Hearn
The Phillies have received below-average production from both left field (mostly Max Kepler) and center field (Brandon Marsh/Johan Rojas platoon). The center-field market is pretty thin except for Bader or maybe a gamble on Luis Robert Jr. I’d pass on Robert, stick with the Marsh/Rojas platoon and upgrade left field with O’Hearn, who is hitting .281/.375/.452 for the Orioles. He isn’t the perfect fit since, like Kepler, he hits left-handed and struggles against lefties, but he’s a patient hitter with a much better OBP, and he’s passable in the outfield.
3. Acquire Willi Castro
Here’s the bottom line: The Phillies have to admit that some of their long-term position players aren’t getting the job done — such as second baseman Bryson Stott, who has a 77 OPS+. Third baseman Alec Bohm has been better but also has a below-average OPS.
That makes Castro a nice fit. He’s not a star, but he’s an above-average hitter, a switch-hitter who plays all over the field for the Twins, having started games at five different positions. He could play second or third or start in left field against a lefty. Philadelphia could even start him in center instead of Rojas, although that would be a defensive hit. Bottom line: Castro would give the Phillies a lot more versatility — or a significant offensive upgrade over Stott if they start him every day at second.
Note as well: Stott has hit .188 in 33 career postseason games. Bohm has hit .214 with two home runs in 34 postseason games. The Phillies need a different offensive look for October.
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Buster Olney
It would be ideal if every MLB team were so desperate to win that they would do whatever it takes. But in an industry with so many variables from team to team — roster composition, payroll commitment, market size, owner ambition, fan rabidity and history — some organizations are willing to go further and do more than others.
The New York Mets paid more in luxury taxes last season ($97 million) than the Pittsburgh Pirates have dedicated to payroll this season, and Pittsburgh could attempt to reduce salary commitments even further at this year’s trade deadline.
Some teams are more desperate than others. As we near the July 31 deadline, we present the teams most desperate to make a deal.
New York played in the World Series last year, and in a lot of markets, that might be enough to satisfy a fan base. But not with the Yankees, whose most faithful fans judge them under the George Steinbrenner Doctrine: If you don’t win the World Series, you’ve had a bad year. This is a constant.
The Yankees could return to where they were last October. The 33-year-old Aaron Judge, one of the most dynamic hitters ever, is having another historic season. New York wants to take advantage of that — particularly because the American League is wide open with as many as seven or eight AL teams having reasonable paths to the World Series.
But the Yankees still have distinct holes. They badly need an upgrade at third base, which someone like Eugenio Suarez could fill. Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt suffered season-ending elbow injuries, leaving a need for another experienced starting pitcher. Their bullpen also needs help in the sixth and seventh innings.
After the departure of Juan Soto, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner and general manager Brian Cashman are probably under more pressure to do something this season than any of their peers. What else is new?
It’s remarkable how similar this version of the Phillies is to the teams that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski constructed in Detroit, with Philadelphia’s strong starting pitching (Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sanchez playing the roles of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer) and a lineup of sluggers (Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper as Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder).
The major question that hangs over this Philadelphia team, as was the case with those Tigers teams, is about the bullpen: Is there enough depth and power? For the Phillies, that is complicated by the situation with lefty Jose Alvarado, who will return in August from his 80-game suspension under the PED policy but not be eligible for the postseason.
The Phillies paid heavily for free agent reliever David Robertson, giving him the equivalent of a $16 million salary for the rest of the regular season, but they could use another reliever who is adept at shutting down high-end right-handed hitters in the postseason.
On the days Tarik Skubal pitches, the Tigers could be the best team in baseball; it’s possible that in the postseason, he could be his generation’s version of Orel Hershiser or Madison Bumgarner, propelling his team through round after round of playoffs to the World Series.
But the Tigers might have Skubal for only the rest of this year and next season, before he, advised by his agent Scott Boras, heads into free agency and becomes maybe the first $400 million pitcher in history.
Now is the time for Detroit to make a push for its first championship in more than four decades. And for Scott Harris, the team’s president of baseball operations, that means adding a couple of high-impact relievers capable of generating a lot of swing-and-misses.
The Mariners showed they are serious about making moves before this deadline with Thursday’s trade for first baseman Josh Naylor.
The last time the Mariners reached the league championship series, Ichiro Suzuki — who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this weekend — was a rookie. Edgar Martinez was a 38-year-old designated hitter, and Jamie Moyer and Freddy Garcia were the staff aces. You get the point: It has been a really long time since the Mariners have had postseason success, and the team has never reached the World Series.
An opportunity seems to be developing for Seattle. The talented rotation, hammered by injuries in the first months of this season, could be whole for the stretch run. Cal Raleigh is having the greatest season by a catcher, contending with Judge for the AL MVP Award. Julio Rodriguez has generally been a strong second-half player.
Even ownership seems inspired: After a winter in which the Mariners spent almost nothing to upgrade the roster, other teams report that Seattle could absorb money in trades before the deadline.
5. New York Mets
Owner Steve Cohen doesn’t sport the highest payroll this year — the Dodgers’ Mark Walter is wearing that distinction — but the Mets are well over the luxury tax threshold again, in the first season after signing Juan Soto. Cohen has made it clear that generally, he will do what it takes to land the club’s first championship trophy since 1986.
But that does not include preventing David Stearns, the Mets’ respected president of baseball operations, from doing what he does best — making subtle and effective deals at the trade deadline. Rival execs expect that Stearns will work along the same lines he did last year — finding trades that improve the team’s depth without pillaging its growing farm system. That could mean adding a starting pitcher capable of starting Game 1, 2 or 3 of a postseason series, as well as bullpen depth.
Cohen is experiencing the impact of overseeing a front office that made an impetuous win-now trade at the 2021 deadline, when the Mets swapped a minor leaguer named Pete Crow-Armstrong for two months of Javier Baez. That clearly didn’t pan out for them. Cohen is desperate to win, but within the prescribed guardrails.
Last winter, the Padres had to live with the knowledge that they were probably the best team other than the Dodgers and that they came within a win of knocking out L.A. There is a lot about San Diego’s 2025 roster to like: Manny Machado clearly responds to a big stage, and the bullpen could be the most dominant at a time of year when relief corps often decide championships.
However, as Padres general manager A.J. Preller navigates this trade deadline in the hopes of living out late owner Peter Seidler’s dream of winning San Diego’s first World Series title, he has a relatively thin, aging, top-heavy roster with a lot of significant payroll obligations. This is why the Padres are considering trading Dylan Cease, who is potentially the highest-impact starter available on the market. Preller could move Cease to fill other roster needs, current and future ones, and then deal for a cheaper veteran starter to replace him.
“He’ll have to rob Peter to pay Paul,” one of Preller’s peers said.
Hope has emerged after the team’s all-in, $500 million signing of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., with the Blue Jays taking the lead in the AL East.
Toronto’s rotation is comprised of an older group — 34-year-old Kevin Gausman, 36-year-old Chris Bassitt, 40-year-old Max Scherzer and 31-year-old Jose Berrios. Without a clear favorite in the AL, Toronto could break through for its first title since the Jays went back-to-back in 1992-93 — and in just the second season since the club’s expensive renovations of Rogers Centre were completed. When Alex Anthopoulos led the front office a decade ago, he made an all-in push to get the Jays back into the playoffs, adding players like David Price because he believed this was the right time for them to take their shot — and they came very close to getting back to the World Series.
Reportedly, Mark Shapiro — the team’s incoming president at the time — did not approve of Anthopoulos’ strategy. Now, Shapiro’s Blue Jays are in a similar situation in 2025 to where they were under Anthopoulos: Will they wheel and deal aggressively before the deadline, or will they be conservative?
The Dodgers won the World Series in 2024, after taking the title in the shortened season of 2020. So, if they don’t win a championship this year, it’s not as if a bunch of people are getting fired and the roster will be jettisoned. But winning can be intoxicating, especially when the lineup and rotation are loaded with stars: The Dodgers can envision a postseason in which a starting staff of Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto could propel the team to a second consecutive title.
But the Dodgers’ bullpen — heavily worked in the first months of this season because of injuries to the rotation — is in tatters due to injuries. Will the Dodgers’ push to become the first team to repeat as champions since the 1998-2000 Yankees drive them to swap valuable prospects for needed bullpen help before the deadline? We’re about to find out.
This is a team very well-suited for the postseason: The Cubs are a strong defensive team; they have a deep lineup around Kyle Tucker, in what might be Tucker’s only season in Chicago; and they put the ball in play.
They’ve got a good farm system, as well as an experienced president of baseball operations in Jed Hoyer. He was part of championships in Boston in 2004 and 2007 and was the Cubs’ general manager for their 2016 title. He and Theo Epstein made the Nomar Garciaparra deal at the trade deadline in 2004, in advance of Boston’s breakthrough title in 2004, and the all-in trade for Aroldis Chapman on the way to the Cubs’ first World Series win in 108 years in 2016.
But the X factor for Chicago in recent years is whether ownership operates with the same desperation — in the way that Astros owner Jim Crane did when he pushed through a Justin Verlander trade for Houston in August 2017.
This seems to be a good time for the Cubs to be desperate, to do anything to win another championship. Will a title be a priority for owner Tom Ricketts?
NEW YORK — Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber topped Mark McGwire for most home runs among a player’s first 1,000 hits, hitting long ball No. 319 during Friday night’s 12-5 victory over the New York Yankees.
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not,” Schwarber said.
Ten days after lifting the National League to victory in the first All-Star Game swing-off, Schwarber keeps going deep. He hit a pair of two-run homers Friday night, with the first drive, his milestone hit, starting the comeback from a 2-0 deficit. He got the ball back after it was grabbed by a Phillies fan attending with his friends in Yankee Stadium’s right-center-field seats.
“I saw it on the video and then I see the dude tugging,” Schwarber said. “I’m like: ‘Oh, they all got Philly stuff on.’ That was cool.”
He met the trio after the game, gave an autographed ball to each and exchanged hugs. When he went to get a third ball to autograph, one of the three said he just wanted the potential free agent to re-sign with the Phillies.
“You show up to the field every single day trying to get a win at the end of the day, and I think our fans kind of latch on to that, right?” Schwarber said. “It’s been fantastic these last 3½ years, four years now. The support that we get from our fans and it means a lot to me that, you know, that they attach themselves to our team.”
Schwarber tied it at 2-2 in the fifth against Will Warren when he hit a 413-foot drive on a first-pitch fastball.
After J.T. Realmuto‘s three-run homer off Luke Weaver built a 6-3 lead in a four-run seventh and the Yankees closed within a run in the bottom half, Schwarber sent an Ian Hamilton fastball 380 feet into the right-field seats.
Schwarber reached 1,000 hits with eight more homers than McGwire. Schwarber has 36 homers this year, three shy of major league leader Cal Raleigh, and six homers in seven games since he was voted All-Star MVP. He has 33 multihomer games.
“I don’t know where we’d be without him,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “Comes up with big hit after big hit after big hit. It’s just — it’s amazing.”
Schwarber, 32, is eligible for free agency this fall after completing a four-year, $79 million contract. He homered on all three of his swings in the All-Star Game tiebreaker, and when the second half began, Phillies managing partner John Middleton proclaimed: “We love him. We want to keep him.”
“He’s been an incredible force all season long,” Realmuto said. “What he’s meant to his team, his offense, it’s hard to put in words.”
A World Series champion for the 2016 Chicago Cubs, Schwarber has reached 35 homers in all four seasons with the Phillies. He’s batting .255 with 82 RBIs and a .960 OPS.
He also has almost as many home runs as singles (46).
Schwarber had not been aware he topped McGwire for most homers among 1,000 hits.
“I had no clue. I didn’t even know it was my 1,000th, to be honest with you,” he said.
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