This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Charles Curtis.
A wise man once told us: You gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.
When it came to the Los Angeles Angels, I was in the FOLD ‘EM! camp. In my take on what all 30 MLB teams should do ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline, I said they should SELL.
This is a team now seven games out of first in the AL West. It’s four games out of the Wild Card with eight (!) teams in the running at the moment. Doesn’t exactly shout CONTENDER to you, does it?
Three weeks ago, I said the Angels should trade Shohei Ohtani even if they were close to a playoff spot. Well, here we are … and the Angels have not only taken Ohtani off the trade market, but they’re BUYERS. They traded for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez (we graded it!) and gave the Chicago White Sox their Nos. 2 and 3 prospects.
ALL IN!
Maybe they make a run to a postseason berth and do something in October. Maybe just by making deals, they prove to Ohtani that they mean business and he ends up staying for, oh, a $1 billion contract. Sure!
But what if they miss the playoffs? What if they make the postseason and Ohtani leaves in free agency and the Angels get nothing in return?
Los Angeles Angels? You are quite the gambler. Good luck.
Quick Hits: USWNT tie at the World Cup … What was that, Jim Irsay? … and more.
— USWNT got a 1-1 tie against Netherlands at the World Cup. Lindsey Horan and Danielle van de Donk shared a classy moment, and you’d have to go back a while to when the United States’ women’s team last lost a World Cup game.
— Colts owner Jim Irsay tweeted an awful take on running backs not getting paid and he rightfully got roasted.
— You have to see this Joey Votto rant at Mad Dog Russo. Trust me.