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Hacksaw’s Monday Trading Deadline PODCAST..1pm
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
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“A BASEBALL WEEKEND”
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Baseball fans-do you have enough hours to follow everything going on right now?  Spraying opinions to all fields.

PADRES…What a road trip, this (7-2) junket against 1st place Cleveland and 1st place Baltimore.  Tells me a couple of things.  Padres starting pitching can dominate against singles hitting teams live the Guardians and Orioles.  Also tells me Cleveland and Baltimore are not deep enough nor complete teams right now in any pennant race.

PADRES ON THE ROAD..How impressive is this.  They go (7-2) on the roadie, are now (31-23) away from home and are doing all this without Fernando Tatis, Yu Darvish, Jos Musgrove.

JUST ASKING…Don’t the Padres owe the fans and the media full explanation as to why Yu Darvish has left the club.  It is not a physical-health issue, but even if it is a private-family issue, shouldn’t there be an explanation.  This absence could cost the Padres a playoff position.  Transparency answers alot of questions, ends speculation.  They want to be fair to the player.  About fairness to the fans buying the tickets?

TRADE DEADLINE..AJ Preller fills a weakness by trading 3-more prospects including last year’s #1 pick Dylan Lesko and OF-Homer Bush in the Tampa trade  for setup reliever Jason Adam, a struggling journeyman who reinvented himself once he got to Tropicana Field.

LOOKING GLASS…Better appreciate this year and next, for there won’t be much of a Padres future.  Preller has dealt 9-prospects this year in the trades that brought him Dylan Cease, Luis Arraez and now Adam.  The farm system is virtually devoid of depth and bluechip talent.  Preller wants to win-better win, because there won’t be much in the future, and he won’t be here if they don’t make the grade this summer and next.

STILL TO COME…That trade deadline is Tuesday at 3pm and the Padres are still rumored to be trying to rent a starting pitcher.  Jack Flaherty-Detroit and Nathan Eovaldi-Texas are out there as short term rentals, but what does Preller have left unless he moves a veteran off his roster now.  Does he really want to trade Ha Seong-Kim or Luis Campusano?

X MARKS THE SPOT…Some two week stretch for Xander Bogaerts coming off the DL.  Goes (22-45) with big hits virtually every game, and pushes his average, that was (.219) when he got hurt, to (.272) and now the Friars are coming home.

THE SCHEDULE…Big couple of nights at Petco Park.  It’s ringing in my ear right now ‘Beat LA-Beat LA’.  This Tuesday-Wednesday series will be huge because the Dodgers still hold a 6-and-a half game lead over the Friars in the NL-West, and while the Padres were winning on the road, the Dodgers still posted wins.

NEXT UP…Here’s the real storyline.  Once the Padres-Dodgers series is over, the Padres get 15-straight games against the struggling teams in baseball, Colorado-Miami-Pittsburgh.  15-in a row and a chance to grab a playoff position.

DODGERS DEVASTATION…We are seeing something this year, probably never seen before.  No, not the Ohtani 700M-deferred contract.  But rather a war ravaged roster.  The Dodgers have had 17-pitchers on the disabled list this season, and then you add on the extended time on the DL for Max Muncy and Mookie Betts, and they are still in first place.

CALVARY COMING…Clayton Kershaw is a start to start situation, coming off the year long battles with his shoulder.  Walker Buehler is back on his rehab schedule in the minors.  Yosh Yamamoto could be a month away.  Bobby Miller seems to have hit a wall.  Gavin Stone is beyond his innings cap.  They traded James Paxton to Boston.  There is no Dustin May return till next spring.  Brusdar Graterol and Mike Grove are still in the minors trying to put healthy starts together.  The bullpen looks like it is eroding away.  The trade deadline is two days away.  That’s where the help may come from.

TRADE CHIPS..Andrew Friedman still has a wealth of farm system talent and the likes of James Outman, Gavin Lux, and Diego Cartaya he can use as trade bait.  The rumor he is going after  Tigers ace Tarik Skubal remains out there.  Stay tuned in the next 36-hours.

ANGELS IN HELL…They keep losing, they keep dealing away players at the trade deadline.  Relief ace Carlos Estevez goes to the Phillies for two more prospects.  Luis Rengifo, former top pick Reid Detmers, and a host of role players could be the next to be dealt by Tuesday lunchtime.  Left behind is alot of wreckage, a failing farm system, and aging superstar Mike Trout, who has a no trade clause.

WISHING LIKE HELL…’the next trade the Angels would make would be the exit of owner Arte Moreno, who has overseen this wreckage for the last decade. His team, his budget, his management people.  His failure.

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