The Orioles haven’t ruled out a call-up for 19-year-old shortstop phenom Jackson Holliday, the No. 1 pick in 2022. Matt Holliday’s son is hitting .337, including .356 at Double-A Bowie.
Matt Holliday, who said on The Post podcast “The Show” he had no inside knowledge about a potential call-up, recalled Jackson had great hand-eye coordination at age 2. The one issue working against a call-up is the Orioles have so many good young infielders.
The Orioles bid on Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, and were competitive on at least Verlander. However, it isn’t known whether Verlander might have considered Baltimore, especially once he knew his old Astros were involved. Though someone close to Verlander thought he may have only accepted the Dodgers in addition to Houston, the Mets had the impression he would have accepted more than just those two.
Eduardo Rodriguez declining LA at the last minute (as is his right) surprised the teams. The amazing Dodgers are better than fine with Julio Urias back on his game, the great Clayton Kershaw back and their 10-game winning streak.
Though E-Rod is talented (and having a fine season), the timing of his opt-out with three years to go was seen as a poison pill by many, since he could opt in if he got hurt again. So the Tigers had few options.
The Tigers look like they may have a nice nucleus, led by Riley Greene. And Spencer Torkelson is showing now why he was a No. 1-overall pick.
But they need more help from uber-talented Javier Baez, who’s not opting out (no surprise). Baez did well to get that $140M deal, as once the Mets signed Eduardo Escobar and others, the Tigers were left as the other main option (the Red Sox were the only other possibility but not at that level).
The Reds, who were most interested in pitchers with multiple years of control (Brady Singer was a target) were at a disadvantage since the Cardinals and Pirates probably weren’t anxious to help a division rival, and they knew Scherzer and Verlander were unlikely to OK Cincinnati. …
Great job by Philadelphia to land Michael Lorenzen for infield prospect Hao-Yu Lee, their well-regarded No. 8 prospect. One rival: “That’s why Dave Dombrowski is in the Hall of Fame.” …
The White Sox did well with their trades, and folks get why they ultimately held ace Dylan Cease. No one ever got close. …
MLB’s 9.3 percent jump in attendance is the biggest jump in total attendance since 1998, when MLB went from 28 teams to 30 (and also enjoyed the great Home Run Race). It’s also the biggest percentage increase since 1993, another expansion year, when the average attendance rose by 17 percent.