The Buzz · July 23, 2026
The Buzz — Thursday, July 23
Deadline talk owns the morning, but a few of these arguments are already settled. Under each name, the number that says whether the noise is real or just loud.
Tarik Skubal
The take Tigers may trade ace Skubal amid surge, playoff hopes
Detroit is 25-15 since the start of June, and that is the number that turned a straightforward sell-off into a genuine debate. The Tigers are 47-54 (.465), 6.5 back in the AL Central, but they have won 10 of their first 14 games in July and sit 4½ games from a wild-card spot with five teams to jump. That is not a contender's record — it is a cracked door in a weak American League.
Since returning from the IL on June 13, Skubal has a 2.97 ERA over his last seven starts with 53 strikeouts in 39.1 innings. FanGraphs puts Detroit's postseason odds at 28.3 percent even with him on the roster. He is a pending free agent, the deadline is Aug. 3, and the Tigers think they can win the division. The smart money says they hold unless the next two weeks crater.
Tarik Skubal cards on eBay →(paid link)
Chase Burns
The take Massive extension after breakout ace season
The Reds just handed a 23-year-old with one partial major-league season behind him seven years and $105 million. That is either a bet on the future or a reward for what he has already done — and the numbers say it is both.
Burns is 12-1 with a 2.42 ERA and 124 strikeouts in 107 2/3 innings across 19 starts. In his first start after signing, he threw five scoreless with six strikeouts against the Mariners. The No. 2 overall pick in 2024 has a fastball averaging 97.9 mph, hitters are batting .206 against him, and the deal runs through 2033 with no options. The Reds are paying for the pitcher he already is.
Chase Burns cards on eBay →(paid link)
Yordan Alvarez
The take Alvarez sole MLB HR lead via go-ahead blast
Alvarez hit his 34th home run last night, a two-run shot in the eighth that broke a 2-2 tie and sealed a three-game sweep of the Marlins. He sits alone atop the major-league leaderboard, one clear of Kyle Schwarber's 33, with a .328 average and 77 RBI alongside it. That is a Triple Crown case running alongside the home run lead, and the crowd is right to flag it. The only argument left is whether anyone in the American League is close.
Yordan Alvarez cards on eBay →(paid link)
Brooks Lee
The take Lee's key 3-run HR fueled Twins win over Guardians
The three-run homer Lee hit last night off Shane Cecconi left the bat at 100.4 mph, traveled 400 feet to center, and extended the Twins' lead to 7-3. In a 10-6 final that looks like a rout, that was the swing that settled it.
Lee finished 2-for-5 with four RBI, adding a run-scoring single to his 15th home run of the season. The Twins had lost four straight coming in, and José Ramírez was back in the other dugout. What the box score buries is that this was a tighter game until Lee squared up a sinker in the fourth and did not miss it. The Twins needed a win to end the streak, and Lee was the one who made it stick.
Brooks Lee cards on eBay →(paid link)
Mason Miller
The take Padres seller Miller top deadline chip in rumor packages
The Padres are 49-50, 2.5 games from a playoff spot but behind five teams for the last NL Wild Card. That gray zone is what put Mason Miller's name in the rumor mill. USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported the club is talking about unloading him. The San Diego Union-Tribune confirmed the Padres have not ruled out anything — including attaching Miller to Xander Bogaerts to shed that contract. It reached Miller himself at the All-Star Game, where he called the interest a compliment and the situation gray.
What the talk is built around: a 0.86 ERA, 25 saves, 78 strikeouts, and a 0.86 WHIP over 41.2 innings in 40 appearances. His FIP is 0.43 — best in the majors — with zero home runs allowed in 34.2 innings. He is under club control through 2029, earning $4 million, and rival executives told MLB.com the asking price starts at two Top 100 prospects.
The case against a flip is what made the Padres acquire him at last year's deadline for Leo De Vries — now MLB Pipeline's No. 2 prospect — plus three other pitchers. You do not move a 0.86 ERA arm controlled through 2029 unless someone meets a price that rebuilds the farm. The Padres have until Aug. 3 to decide who they are. The numbers say the cost of trading Miller should be so high that holding is the default.
Mason Miller cards on eBay →(paid link)
Twelve days, two clubs, one question
Detroit is 47-54 and San Diego is 49-50, and both are close enough to a playoff spot to talk themselves out of selling. The guess here is that both hold — Skubal because the Tigers believe they can win a weak division, and Miller because what it would cost another team to acquire him starts at two Top 100 prospects, which is more than any contender pays for a reliever. The deadline is Aug. 3, and the next two weeks of baseball will settle what the rumor mill cannot.