How Florida State can help itself — and the ACC — with a breakthrough this year
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Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State athletic director Michael Alford picks up a thick white binder in his office, one that he keeps with him at all times for reference. He calls it a “living, breathing document,” one that has pages and pages of financial models, valuations and projections for his athletic department all the way through 2043.
When he says both Florida State and the ACC are facing an insurmountable revenue gap with the SEC and Big Ten, he can point to the spreadsheets. His concerns have been aired both privately and publicly. Florida State has been the most vocal school in the ACC about this revenue gap and also what that gap could mean for FSU’s long-term future in the league.
Florida State’s vocal approach has been strategic — and has coincided with what is expected to be its best football season in nearly a decade. Ten years removed from its last national championship, No. 8 Florida State knows there is no turning back — both from its very public demands for more money and the on-field stakes for the team and the conference when it plays No. 5 LSU on Sunday night in Orlando (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
This, of course, presents an interesting contrast. The ACC needs Florida State to be good to change its own football narrative and help close the revenue gap with the SEC and Big Ten. But a championship-contending Florida State could have the leverage to leave the ACC when another seismic shift in conference realignment arrives.
“We haven’t been shy about letting everyone know that we are looking at all of our options,” Alford said during a recent interview with ESPN. “You know that Malcolm Gladwell book, ‘The Tipping Point?’ What are our tipping points over the next 10 years, next 15 years? What contracts come to play that are going to impact us? We’re not making a decision for next month, next year. We’re looking five, 10, 20 years down the road, to make sure that we make the best decisions for Florida State.”
To say football success is critical is an understatement. Now in Year 4, coach Mike Norvell has worked to turn around a program that was in decline when he arrived. After starting 3-10 in his first 13 games, Norvell faced questions about the direction Florida State was headed, but he never wavered in his belief that he and his staff would get the Seminoles back on track.
Rebuilding the foundation of the program through hard work, discipline and culture was just the first step. Norvell has also used the transfer portal to fill holes across the roster, and those transfer additions — from defensive end Jermaine Johnson to safety Jammie Robinson to running back Trey Benson and defensive end Jared Verse — have played a huge role in getting Florida State to its current preseason top-10 ranking.
Beating eventual SEC West champion LSU to start last season helped get Florida State to its first 10-win season since 2016. But their meeting this time around comes with far loftier expectations for both programs, considering how much their respective fortunes have changed over the span of one year — from serious question marks to serious playoff contenders.
Florida State goes into the matchup having won six straight to close 2022. More importantly, the Seminoles return the bulk of their offensive and defensive production, including quarterback Jordan Travis — a Heisman contender — leading rusher Trey Benson, top receiver Johnny Wilson and projected first-round pick Jared Verse at defensive end. In all, Florida State returns 77 players from last season, but Norvell once again used the transfer portal to add several players who will start against the Tigers, including receiver Keon Coleman (Michigan State), defensive tackle Braden Fiske (Western Michigan) and cornerback Fentrell Cypress II (Virginia).
“I believed in where we were going even when nobody else maybe did,” Norvell told ESPN. “I had a group of players that believed in where we were going, maybe when nobody else did. So now that we’re at this point, there’s still that belief. I think you see a program that’s on the ascent.”
Norvell has benefitted from both a shift in priorities over the past two years and better financial standing. University president Richard McCullough was hired in August 2021, and he then hired Alford four months later to run the athletic department.
Alford had spent the previous 15 months working as CEO and president of Seminole Boosters — the primary fundraising arm of the Florida State athletic department. When he arrived in Tallahassee in 2020, Florida State was at a crossroads not only for the football program but for the entire department.
The football program was struggling to win games and sell tickets and was on its third head coach since 2017. Then COVID-19 hit and an athletic department that was already cash-strapped was forced to make cuts — 20% to its operating budget, including a nearly $1 million salary reduction for Norvell over 2020 and 2021. A project to build a standalone football facility had stalled and Florida State was stuck paying an $18 million buyout to coach Willie Taggart, fired before the 2019 season ended. More investment was needed in football.
Alford worked on fundraising through Seminole Boosters to start making football investment a priority again. During his time with the Boosters, 2,000 members were added, and he raised $15 million to go toward the football facility, which is expected to be completed in 2025.
“If you look at programs like Clemson, we were lagging behind some of the top programs and so we made all those investments in football and with the idea that we have to win,” McCullough told ESPN.
Alford and his staff have raised nearly $221 million over the past three years. A large portion has gone directly into football — including a bigger assistant coach salary pool, more staff positions, renovations to the locker room and weight room and giving Norvell a hefty pay raise. Norvell is now scheduled to make $8.05 million per year — more than double what he made during the pandemic.
Alford has plans to renovate Doak Campbell Stadium to make it more of a revenue driver and he is still finalizing details with a private equity firm that has been consulting with Alford since he became AD on a wide variety of topics, including stadium pricing, suites, hospitality, concessions and merchandising.
That firm is co-founded by Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys. Alford worked with the Cowboys from 2008 to 2012 as senior director of corporate partnerships and sales and was part of the team that helped sell AT&T Stadium, which opened in 2009.
“If you get someone who wants to work hard, and is smart, usually good things follow, and I think that is the definition of Michael,” said Jerry Jones Jr., who worked closely with Alford in Dallas. “When you think about the persistent work ethic, the salesmanship, but also the smarts to get something accomplished.”
With investment and fundraising efforts in football ramped up, Alford and McCullough also began working on where Florida State fits in the national picture. Major conference realignment had already begun, with Texas and Oklahoma announcing in July 2021 they would join the SEC — leaving schools like Florida State to evaluate its future.
Florida State has spent about $750,000 hiring media, revenue and financial consultants and a group of lawyers to help the in-house legal counsel take a look at the current ACC grant of rights — which gives the league control over broadcast rights and television dollars through 2036.
The Seminoles are not alone in parsing over the document — Clemson, North Carolina, Miami, Virginia, Virginia Tech and NC State discussed moving forward from the grant of rights with FSU — but they have been the most vocal about the long-term health of the ACC considering a looming $30 million annual revenue gap with the Big Ten and SEC.
That is a change in approach from previous athletic directors, who preferred to say little publicly and were not nearly as aggressive in positioning Florida State for long-term success.
“I let my stance be known and I let expectations be known,” Alford said. “It’s really not being shy. It’s just saying we have an issue. As a conference, we have an issue and we need to address it. I need to address it on behalf of Florida State. We need to continue to push the envelope and push the envelope with a sense of urgency.”
When the Seminoles joined the league and began playing football in 1992, they were at the height of their success under coach Bobby Bowden. Their success (national titles in 1993 and 1999, along with nine straight ACC championships) gave the basketball-first ACC much needed credibility on the football field. But the Seminoles also questioned whether the ACC would ever make football a priority.
To that end, speculation engulfed the program in 2012 during a wave of conference realignment that saw the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC make changes to their membership. Florida State was rumored to be looking at the Big 12. Comments made in May 2012 are eerily similar to those made over the past several months. Then-coach Jimbo Fisher said during ACC spring meetings, “TV revenue is big. That’s what’s changed the landscape of college athletics, in particular college football.”
In the months that followed, then-ACC commissioner John Swofford flew to Tallahassee and met individually with the university president and board members about signing a grant of rights agreement, as a way to keep the league together for the long term. The ACC had lost Maryland to the Big Ten and could not afford to lose Florida State, too.
Believing it was in the university’s best interest to sign, then-president Eric Barron did so in 2013, but a portion of the fan base was unhappy with the decision.
Three years later, that grant of rights was extended even further with the addition of the ACC Network to the ESPN television deal and would go through 2036. Florida State willingly signed both times, a point multiple ACC insiders make when discussing the angst the Seminoles have publicly shared about closing the looming revenue gap.
They also point out what has happened to Florida State since 2016 — a dip in the football program that they believe has done nothing to help enhance the value of ACC football. Between 2017 to 2021, Florida State only had one winning season.
“They just haven’t been very good,” one insider said. “That hasn’t helped us any.”
Alford likes to counter that argument with numbers. Despite being down, Florida State averaged 3.09 million viewers from 2014 to 2021, leading all ACC schools. Last year, two of Florida State’s regular-season games had more than 3 million viewers, and its bowl game against Oklahoma was the second-most viewed ACC postseason game behind the Orange Bowl between Clemson and Tennessee.
To that end, Alford wants a change to the revenue sharing model when it comes to television distribution. Currently, that money is divided up evenly among all league schools. Alford believes it should be weighted on brand, marketability and ratings. It is an argument he has not won yet, but he will keep making it in the hopes that there will be change.
That of course, leads to questions about what the next play is for Florida State. There does not appear to be another landing spot at the moment in either the Big Ten and SEC, as both conferences have made clear. There also is the matter of challenging the grant of rights in court and a $120 million exit fee. On Friday, the ACC added Stanford, Cal and SMU, a move that will provide more money to existing members. But Florida State was one of three schools to vote against the additions, believing it did not address the long-term revenue issues.
“It’s not that we’re unhappy in the ACC,” Alford said. “If that narrative’s out there, it’s not correct. It’s a great conference. It represents greatness in athletics. But when you look at the resources that are needed to continue to provide those winning edge resources for our coaches and student-athletes, that’s where the points need to be looked at, and that’s what we’re doing.”
The ACC knows it needs the Seminoles onboard for its own long-term prospects. This football season happens to come at a crucial time for both the league and Florida State.
Though the ACC is second behind the SEC in total College Football Playoff appearances, the league has not had a CFP contender since Clemson made it in 2020. Florida State has not made the CFP since 2014. Having both those schools ranked in the preseason top 10 is a huge starting point for a league fighting a narrative that football does not measure up.
“We have to get off to a really good start,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said during ACC media days in Charlotte. “It doesn’t negate having a really good season, if you don’t, but if you stumble once or twice it’s really difficult to overcome that. Florida State and Clemson getting a lot of opportunities, I think we have a bunch of others that can also get off to a good start and show that the league is a really, really good football league.”
Florida State begins that quest Sunday night, knowing full well its moves over the past year will mean more scrutiny — but an even bigger opportunity not only for this season, but down the line.
“Yes, there’s going to be a lot of eyes,” Norvell said. “You’re on a grand stage. When you come to a program that’s in the national spotlight, you come to a program like Florida State, it’s only going to be magnified. That’s what these guys have chosen to do. I like embracing it. Nothing’s guaranteed but if you’re willing to work, it makes the journey so much more enjoyable and rewarding because of all the experiences.”
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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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