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DALLAS — Early Friday morning, SMU received a phone call decades in the making, a lifeline from the ACC offering them a return to the upper echelons of college football.

It was a proud day for the Mustangs, with an afternoon celebration in the school’s indoor practice facility. Confetti fell from the sky. The pep band played “Great Balls of Fire” as boosters mingled, shared hugs and high-fives nearly 40 years after becoming one of the most vilified college football programs in college football history.

“We’re finally back where we belong,” said David Miller, the chairman of SMU’s board of trustees, receiving a standing ovation.

The NCAA’s 1987 “death penalty” for repeated recruiting violations wrecked the football program, as the strings holding together the Southwest Conference started to fray. After football returned to SMU in 1989, the Mustangs won just 13 games over the final seven years of the SWC. In 1995, when the new Big 12 merged four teams from the SWC — Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor — with the Big 8, SMU was left to start over again. And again (in the WAC) and again (in Conference USA) and again (in the Big East, which didn’t materialize and turned into the American).

A proud program that finished in the top 10 three times between 1981 and 1984, including a No. 2 finish in 1982, hasn’t finished a single season in the AP rankings since then.

And yet, the Mustangs willed themselves into the ACC. Despite its modest enrollment (7,056 undergrads in fall 2022), a decades-long lack of high-level football success, and a frustrating lack of fan support, SMU’s athletics ambition is still bigger’n Dallas, as the Texas saying goes.

They did it by making the ACC a deal it couldn’t resist: They’d join the conference without taking any money from the league’s television deal for up to nine years, according to sources. But why? And how?

“I’m gonna leave some mystery around all that. I don’t think it’s as simple as people want to make it out to be,” athletic director Rick Hart said Friday of the revenue concessions. “You can’t forgo something you don’t have. We’re not going to take a step back resource-wise, even from a conference perspective. So this is all positive. … We’ve got an underdog mentality. We’ve got a chip on our shoulder. We’ve had to do more with less for a long time.”

Cal and Stanford, joining along with SMU, will each receive a 30% share of ACC payouts. The three schools’ withholdings will create an annual allotment of revenue between $50 million and $60 million. Some will be divided proportionally among the 14 full-time members plus Notre Dame (a league member in everything but football), and there will also be money set aside for performance incentives. Officials said there is also conference distribution of other leaguewide splits such as College Football Playoff or NCAA tournament revenue. In short, the Mustangs believe that there is money to be had if they win.

And they think they will. SMU’s Boulevard Collective is one of the most generous NIL programs in the country, reportedly paying all football and men’s basketball athletes $36,000 a year, according to On3. Gerald J. Ford Stadium is currently undergoing a $100 million expansion, part of a $300 million investment in new athletic facilities in the past decade.

“You already do everything like a Power 5 school,” Miller said he was told in realignment discussions.

So school officials believe there’s no risk in taking a big swing. The Mustangs have been left behind for 30 years. They knew this was a last shot before conferences continued to unravel. With a possible superconference era on the horizon, the Mustangs are locked into a conference that has 13 years left on its television contract and will have a chance to get up to speed before whatever happens next.

The challenge is that they’ll come in as one of the smaller athletic departments in the country. SMU will become just the fifth Power 5 school — joining new conference-mate Syracuse, along with Wisconsin, Iowa State and Colorado — not to field a baseball program. It will join Miami and Wake Forest as ACC schools without softball. SMU’s stadium seats 32,000, just 500 more than Wake Forest’s Truist Field, the smallest venue in the league, but has the capability to expand to 45,000.

The ACC as a whole wouldn’t mind if SMU becomes another small private school that is a football doormat. The league will get the money, and its College Football Playoff contenders have one more team to beat. It’s on SMU to prove them wrong.

The school’s NIL program likely benefits from SMU’s former reputation as the original NIL school. Now it’s all wide open.

Hence, Miller told ESPN that he thinks the Mustangs have a lot to sell with a program on the rise.

“I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that there’s some people out there that weren’t excited about the notion that SMU was going to be uplifted back to Power 5 status,” Miller said, hinting at a few Texas universities. “Think about what it’s going to do for our recruiting. We already recruit extremely well. The only thing that anybody could ever use against us in a recruiting battle is the fact that we’re not Power 5.”

Paul Loyd Jr., one of the Mustangs’ biggest football benefactors — the Paul B. Loyd Jr. All Sports Center is SMU athletics’ office hub — was a member of SMU’s 1966 SWC championship team and a team captain in ’67, and thinks their new status will help them become more competitive.

“I feel pretty good about us getting up to speed pretty fast. It’s really a lot easier to build a team now than it used to be,” he said. “Obviously we’ve gotten some really good players. You look at the players starting for us now, a lot of them weren’t here a year ago. You have the more established football powers like Clemson and Florida State that we have to compete with, but other than that, I think it’s a pretty wide open contest. Everybody’s gonna believe they have a good shot at it.”

He noted that it will make it easier to retain coaches as well. The Mustangs’ two previous coaches, Chad Morris and Sonny Dykes, both were lured away by Power 5 jobs.

Realignment has been a difficult road for many teams. Only TCU and Utah have won consistently since moving up the ladder.

The Frogs’ ascent was painful to watch from Dallas. Just 40 miles away, TCU climbed from the same abyss, with Dennis Franchione turning the program around before Gary Patterson elevated it, claiming six top-10, finishes in a 10-year span including winning a Rose Bowl, one of the greatest achievements by a Group of 5 team in the sport’s history. Since they were called up to the Big 12 in 2012, TCU has made $500 million in donor-funded athletics facilities upgrades.

When Patterson and TCU decided to part ways, they lured Dykes, who guided TCU to a Fiesta Bowl win and an appearance in the College Football Playoff national championship game in Year 1.

SMU says its major projects were in the works before Dykes’ departure. But it surely galvanized Mustangs boosters, seeing a coach who embraced Dallas, brought D/FW players home via the transfer portal, and won 10 games for the first time in 40 years, only to lose him to their rivals. Coincidentally or not, alumnus Garry Weber’s $50 million donation for the new end zone project — the largest athletic gift in SMU’s history — was announced 21 days after Dykes left for TCU.

Now SMU will become the state’s sixth Power 5 program — there’s been a concerted effort to call it “the only D/FW school in a top-three conference,” which makes for extra spice in its century-old Iron Skillet rivalry with TCU — and the pressure will be on to capitalize in the same way.

SMU has long struggled to get fans to games, something that has plagued the school for decades since the Dallas Cowboys arrived and due to its small enrollment and alumni base and location in a major city with lots of competition.

“If we can’t ultimately fill our own stadium, we’re out of business,” SMU president Jim Zumberg said in 1978, after Rice-SMU drew 6,918 to the Cotton Bowl.

Zumberg hired Russ Potts as athletic director to fix lagging attendance. Potts’ strategy, called “Mustang Mania,” was to basically give tickets away. In 1979, Rice-SMU drew 60,217 at Texas Stadium.

“We discounted the discounts,” Brad Thomas, who ran the school’s promotions department, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1982. “Then we’d discount the discounted discount tickets.”

Last year, including a record 35,569 fans for Dykes’ return with TCU, SMU’s average attendance was 24,971 — which would rank 13th in the current ACC, about 500 fans ahead of last-place Duke. On Saturday, the day after the ACC announcement, the Mustangs drew 21,490 for the season opener against Louisiana Tech.

But in the best of times, like when Eric Dickerson was setting SWC rushing records, No. 2 SMU vs. No. 9 Arkansas drew 65,000 to Texas Stadium.

For Loyd, that’s another reason to go big. He believes SMU needs to be back at the top of the football world to get Dallas fans re-energized, and believes when marquee teams like Clemson or Florida State come to town, it will attract more than just SMU fans. He compared trading games against Texas and Arkansas and A&M for East Carolina and Charlotte to Major League Baseball, playing the Yankees and Red Sox, then becoming a minor-league team.

“A Triple-A team might be great for Wichita Falls, but it isn’t for Dallas, Texas,” Loyd said. “I don’t think getting that back will be difficult. Now if we go out there and lose every game, it’s gonna be difficult. But I think we’re able to compete and win and be in the championship race every year.”

The Big 12 didn’t want the Ponies. The Pac-12 evaporated just as it started getting interested in the discussion. Now the Mustangs landed a dream spot in the ACC, Miller’s desired location. The 6-foot-8 former SMU basketball player who helped lead the Mustangs to a 1972 Southwest Conference championship will get to sit courtside at Moody Coliseum and watch Duke and North Carolina play on David B. Miller Court.

At the celebration Friday, the front rows were filled with several older boosters who had lived the entire cycle of despair and hope on the Hilltop. They’ve made it their mission to restore the Mustangs to the top before their time is up. Miller and his wife Carolyn have donated more than $100 million to SMU over the years, according to The Dallas Morning News, including a $50 million donation to the business school. This is a personal mission for many of them.

“There were a bunch of guys in that room that not only played football and basketball, but that won championships in the ’50s and ’60s and ’70s,” Miller said. “It’s a proud part of your personal history. Then we had to go through such a difficult time period where not only did we not really have success on the playing field or the basketball arena, but we were stuck at any level that we just didn’t feel like we belonged in.”

So the Mustangs did it by telling the ACC they didn’t need their money. But Loyd said this wasn’t the kind of Texas bravado you might expect from a Texas oilman (he and Miller both made their millions in the energy sector). Instead, he said, it was the opposite.

“We’re coming in as humble pie as one can get,” Loyd said. “We’re the beggars, not the choosers. … A lot of people did a lot of hard work, but this is a good stroke of luck for SMU and this would be the quintessential case of looking a gift horse in the mouth.”

Miller spent time flying all over the country to try to meet with his counterparts at other schools to sell the Mustangs. He admits SMU was slow to recover from the NCAA scandal, when the president and 90% of the board of trustees resigned, calling the university a “rudderless ship” that was “brought to its knees” by the humiliation.

“I think it’s a very healing moment,” Turner, SMU’s president who arrived in 1995 in the final year of the SWC, said of the ACC invitation. “There’s still a lot of resentment about that as well as hurt feelings. This is sort of like a new beginning. It’s a fresh start. It’s an affirmation that the university’s athletic programs have come back.”

Hart said at the celebration ceremony that the Mustangs have a lot of work to do. The stadium is still under construction. There will be a lot more money to raise, tickets to sell and a lot of infrastructure work to do. It’s time to Pony Up.

But Miller is confident that the glory days will return to Dallas again.

“The beast is about to emerge,” Miller said. “Just wait.”

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Building the perfect trade deadline for the Mets and Phillies

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Building the perfect trade deadline for the Mets and Phillies

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:

  • 1986: Mets finished 21.5 games ahead

  • 2001: Both finished within six games of the Braves

  • 2006: Mets finished 12 games ahead

  • 2007: Phillies finished one game ahead

  • 2008: Phillies finished three games ahead

  • 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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Olney: The 8 teams most desperate to make a deadline deal

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Olney: The 8 teams most desperate to make a deadline deal

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?

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Schwarber reaches 1,000-hit milestone with HR

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Schwarber reaches 1,000-hit milestone with HR

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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