NL Central

Whether Juan Soto is moved figures to remain the biggest storyline around Major League Baseball until the Aug. 2 trade deadline, and the St. Louis Cardinals are reportedly a team to watch.

Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported the National League Central team is "viewed by rivals as a potential front-runner to land" the Washington Nationals star.

"The Cardinals line up for what the Nationals want—not just prospects, but young, controllable players already in the majors," according to the report.

Heyman and Sherman highlighted young major leaguers such as Dylan Carlson, Harrison Bader, Tyler O'Neill, Nolan Gorman and Brendan Donovan, as well as prospects such as Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn and Matt Liberatore as potential trade targets in the St. Louis organization if the Nationals do entertain a trade.

It figures to be far from a one-team race, though, as the report pointed to the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants as possible teams that could pursue Soto.

While Washington is under no immediate pressure to trade the 23-year-old considering he is under team control through the 2024 season, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported last Saturday that it was open to talks after he rejected a 15-year, $440 million contract offer.

That gives teams around the league the chance to acquire a generational talent who has already won a World Series, batting title and two Silver Sluggers to go with two All-Star selections.

St. Louis is 2.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central race, and adding someone of Soto's caliber could make the difference down the stretch. It would also provide stability in the long run, since third baseman Nolan Arenado has an opt-out in his contract at year's end.

A lineup with Soto, Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt would be daunting for the rest of the National League, especially if the Cardinals were able to reach the playoffs and unleash it in multiple short series.

It would require parting with some of the young talent throughout the organization, but Soto could be a franchise cornerstone for the foreseeable future.

St. Louis Cardinals stars Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado will not travel with the team to Toronto this week for a series against the Blue Jays as unvaccinated players, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Canada requires that all visitors to the country be vaccinated against COVID-19.

A number of teams have joined the Cardinals in leaving players behind for a road trip to Toronto. The Kansas City Royals had a whopping 10 unvaccinated players who couldn't face the Blue Jays, while four teams—the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins—had to leave behind four players.

"When it came time to decide whether I needed the vaccine or not, talked with a couple doctors I knew, told them my story, and really decided I didn't need it," Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto told reporters on July 12 about his unvaccinated status. "I wasn't going to take it basically because I was told to. I'm not going to let Canada tell me what I do and don't put in my body for a little bit of money. It's just not worth it."

That little bit of money was actually $260,000 of Realmuto's $24 million salary that he was docked for missing the Toronto series. He later told reporters he regretted his choice of words.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, will be without their two best players for games on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Goldschmidt, 34, is hitting .333 with 22 homers, 74 RBI and a 1.019 OPS this season. He's a legitimate MVP candidate.

The 31-year-old Arenado has been nearly as terrifying for opposing pitchers, hitting .299 with 18 homers, 59 RBI and a .897 OPS.

For a Cardinals team battling for a postseason berth—they currently sit 1.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central and just one game ahead of the Phillies for the final Wild Card berth—every game is important. Being without their two best players, who chose to remain unvaccinated, is a major blow.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Friday a pair of legendary first basemen, the St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols and Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera, will take part in the 2022 All-Star Game as legacy selections.

The league will celebrate their career accomplishments as part of the 92nd Midsummer Classic, which will take place July 19 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Manfred said in a statement:

I am delighted that Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera have agreed to participate in the All-Star Game. Albert and Miguel are two of the most accomplished players of their generation. They have also represented the baseball traditions of the Dominican Republic and Venezuela with excellence for the last two decades. Albert and Miguel are two all-time greats whose achievements warrant this special recognition.

Pujols announced in March he will retire following the 2022 season. Cabrera told ESPN's Sage Steele last year that he plans to play out his contract (via Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press). His eight-year, $248 million deal is guaranteed through 2023.

They are two of the best pure hitters of their generation.

Pujols has compiled a .296/.374/.541 slash line across 3,016 games with the Cardinals, Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers. He debuted with St. Louis in 2001 and returned to the Cards for the 2022 season to put the final touches on his Hall of Fame career.

Cabrera, 39, reached the 3,000-hit plateau this season after surpassing the 500-homer mark in 2021. His career slash line stands at .310/.386/.528 after 2,657 appearances.

He's no longer the Triple Crown threat he was during his peak seasons, hitting just three long balls in 70 games this season, but he's still put up a .347 on-base percentage in 2022.

Cabrera started his career with the Florida Marlins in 2003 before arriving in Detroit in 2008. He and Pujols have combined for 23 All-Star selections, 13 Silver Slugger Awards, five MVP Awards and three World Series titles.

Starters for the 2022 MLB All-Star Game will be announced Friday night followed by the full roster reveal Sunday.

With no room available on the New York Yankees pitching staff, Manny Banuelos will attempt to carve out a role for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Yankees announced Sunday they have traded Banuelos to the Pirates for cash considerations.

The Yankees designated Banuelos for assignment Tuesday. They had 10 days to put the left-hander on waivers, trade him or release him. He recorded a 2.16 ERA and eight strikeouts in 8.1 innings in four appearances for New York.

A former top prospect, the 31-year-old Banuelos has struggled to find an MLB role. He signed with the Yankees in 2008 out of Mexico as an international free agent.

After the 2010 season, John Manuel of Baseball America ranked Banuelos as the fourth-best prospect in New York's system behind Jesus Montero, Gary Sanchez and Dellin Betances.

Injuries became a problem for Banuelos during the 2012 season. He only made six starts at Triple-A and had Tommy John surgery that kept him out for all of 2013.

The Yankees traded Banuelos to Atlanta in 2015. He made his big league debut with the club that season, posting a 5.13 ERA in seven appearances.

Elbow injuries continued to plague Banuelos in 2015 and 2016. Atlanta designated him for assignment late in the 2016 season, and he signed with the Los Angeles Angels.

After spending one season apiece with the Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations, Banuelos was traded to the Chicago White Sox after the 2018 season. He made a career-high 16 appearances in MLB with the White Sox in 2019 but struggled with a 6.93 ERA over 50.2 innings.

Banuelos spent 2020 and part of 2021 playing with the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League. He signed with Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican League in July 2021.

The Yankees brought Banuelos back as a free agent in January. He had a 2.35 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 30.2 innings with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before getting called up May 26.

The Pirates can offer Banuelos the opportunity to pitch on a consistent basis for the rest of the season. They aren't trying to compete for a playoff spot and can use the final three months to evaluate players who could contribute in 2023.

The New York Yankees reportedly "have talked" about a trade for Cincinnati Reds starter Luis Castillo, according to Peter Gammons of The Athletic.

The Yankees seemingly need little help with an MLB-best 52-20 record entering Sunday, but they still plan to target starting pitching ahead of the Aug. 2 trade deadline. Gammons predicted general manager Brian Cashman will "make a run at" Castillo and Oakland Athletics pitcher Frankie Montas.

The Reds, Athletics, Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs have reportedly been scouting the Yankees organization, looking for potential matches in trades. Cincinnati has specifically looked at right-hander Will Warren, per Gammons, while Luis Gil is also on "ask lists."

Castillo would especially be an interesting addition for the Yankees as one of the top players on the trade market.

The one-time All-Star has a 3.71 ERA and 1.137 WHIP through nine starts, adding 49 strikeouts with 18 walks. He's on pace for a fourth straight year with an ERA under four.

Despite his production, the Reds are in last place with a 24-47 record, making them likely sellers at the deadline. Even though Castillo is under team control through the 2023 season, a trade now would give Cincinnati a chance to add better prospects and hasten the rebuild.

The Yankees don't necessarily need a starting pitcher with arguably the deepest rotation in the league already.

New York is tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best ERA in the majors at 2.94, producing 31 quality starts in 72 games. Of the five regular starters, Luis Severino has the worst ERA at 3.38 while pitchers like Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes have simply dominated on the mount.

The Yankees are still ready to strengthen the roster even more as they hope to get over the top toward a title. The organization has reached the playoffs in each of the last five years, but it hasn't gotten to the World Series since 2009.

It's clear the team is prepared to go all in for a championship in 2022.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Graham Ashcraft was forced to take his wedding ring off of his glove hand after a check from an umpire in Saturday's game.

Ashcraft discussed the situation after the 7-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers (1:30 in video):

"He goes, 'You have to take your ring off,'" Ashcraft said of the first base umpire. "I was like, 'No, why do I have to take my ring off? I shouldn't have to.' Apparently, it's some new rule that they came up with yesterday."

The rookie said the next inning he asked the home plate umpire, who also said it was a new rule from the day before.

According to Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer, it's actually an old rule that states players "may not attach anything to either hand, any finger or either wrist," but umpires are now enforcing it.

Manager David Bell acknowledged the team received a memo about new enforcement of the rule.

Ashcraft ended up having the worst game of his young career, allowing six runs and eight hits in five innings.

In his first extended interview about slapping San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson, Tommy Pham said he has no regrets about his actions even though he could have faced legal repercussions.

Speaking to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, Pham said the Giants "were talking about pressing charges" as a result of the incident.

"I’m like, 'Go ahead. Assault for a slap? OK. People do way worse," he added.

Pham also noted Major League Baseball threatened him with a suspension of eight to 10 games if he didn't accept an immediate three-game ban that kept him out for the entire series between the Giants and Cincinnati Reds.

The slap has become one of the biggest stories of the 2022 MLB season. It occurred during pregame warm-ups on May 27 when Pham and Pederson appeared to be talking in the outfield, during which Pham struck the Giants outfielder in the face.

Pederson told reporters after the game the altercation stemmed from a dispute over injured-reserve rules in a 2021 fantasy football league they played in:

In response to those comments, Pham told reporters the next day that Pederson also "said some disrespectful s--t in a text message" about the San Diego Padres when Pham was on their roster last season.

After the second game of the Giants-Reds series on May 28, Pederson pulled out his phone to show reporters old texts he exchanged with Pham in a group chat and the GIF he used that apparently set off the 34-year-old.

In his interview with Nightengale, Pham noted he has been waiting a long time to get a chance to slap Pederson.

"I would have slapped him last year if I saw him," Pham said. "He knew that. Everyone knew that."

Pham added: "There were about 100 people that thanked me after I slapped him."

Despite his anger at Pederson over the situation, Pham did have a sense of humor about other aspects of the fantasy league. He told reporters that Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout, who was the league's commissioner, "did a terrible job" because he "allowed a lot of (stuff) to go on, and he could’ve solved it all."

Trout, while wearing a microphone during Sunday's game against the New York Mets, said on the ESPN broadcast (h/t Dave Clark of the Cincinnati Enquirer) that Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman won the league.

MLB issued Pham a three-game suspension retroactive to May 27, keeping him out for the entire series against Pederson and the Giants.

Pham, who spent two seasons with the Padres from 2020 to 2021, signed a one-year deal with the Reds in March.

The Padres collapsed in the second half last season because of a number of injuries and poor performances. They went 26-43 after the All-Star break and finished third in the NL West. The Giants (107-55) beat out the Dodgers (106-56) by one game to win the division title.

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas was one pitch away from throwing a no-hitter on Tuesday, but it wasn't meant to be.

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Cal Mitchell spoiled the party with a two-out double in the ninth inning off a two-strike pitch from Mikolas. St. Louis then turned to reliever Packy Naughton to get the final out in the 9-1 victory.

Mikolas settled for a final line of 129 pitches in 8.2 innings, with one hit, one walk and six strikeouts. After the game, he was honest about how he felt after losing a no-hitter in such devastating fashion:

"I can't say enough about our defense tonight. We were everywhere we had to be and making fantastic plays all game," Mikolas continued. "I kind of feel like I let them down after all the great defense that I got today."

Mikolas also assessed the mistake he made on the pitch to Mitchell, but he handled it in stride.

"Curveball's been pretty good all day, and maybe tried to overthrow it just a little bit, left it a little bit up. ... They put some really good swings on some good pitches today. And like I said, a couple deep fly balls to the track, that one kind of just kept going," Mikolas said.

Despite not getting a hit in the first eight-and-two-third innings, the Pirates recorded a run in the fourth when Daniel Vogelbach brought Bryan Reynolds home with a ground out to third. Reynolds had reached on a fielding error by St. Louis left fielder Juan Yepez.

Had Mikolas completed the no-hitter, it would've been the first one in which the opposing team scored a run since Ervin Santana's no-hitter in 2011.