Today is the day.
Fans of some teams — cough, Mets, cough — may be dreading how it will deplete their rosters, while in other corners — the Yankees? — there is excitement over the potential arrival of roster upgrades.
With the MLB trade deadline clock ticking down to 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday afternoon, we have come up with five of the biggest questions to be answered today.
What happens in the second half of the baseball season and October may depend on how they’re answered.
1. Will the Yankees go for it? If so, how much?
There are a range of possibilities for the Yankees.
Although a big splash is unlikely, it’s unclear whether they will buy, sell, or both — and to what extent.
The Post’s Joel Sherman reported Monday the Yankees have communicated their willingness to talk about trading away walk-year players including Harrison Bader, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Wandy Peralta and Luis Severino.
At the same time, the Yankees are looking to acquire players who have control beyond the 2023 season.
Brian Cashman has been through a lot of trade deadlines as the team’s GM since 1998, and needs to devise a plan that provides a jolt to the scuffling, last-place club.
The Yankees lost to the Rays, 5-1, on Monday night to remain mired 3.5 games back of a wild-card spot, now needing to leapfrog three teams.
2. Will the Mets keep Justin Verlander or send him packing?
Verlander said it best after his 250th win on Sunday night against the Nationals in what may have been his last time in the blue, orange and white: “A lot of gray area.”
The Mets already have dealt one of their co-aces when they traded Max Scherzer to the Rangers along with stacks of cash to acquire Double-A infielder Luisangel Acuña.
If the Mets decide to say goodbye to Verlander, it won’t be an easy move financially. Verlander is owed another $43.3 million next season and has a $35 million vesting option for 2025.
The Astros and Dodgers have been mentioned as potential landing spots.
Verlander, 40, joined the Mets after a Cy Young and World Series-winning season with the Astros, and has seemed to find his stride, pitching to a 1.95 ERA in his past nine starts.
Even if Verlander stays, the Mets have shown a willingness to move on from any pieces they don’t see in their long-term future. On Monday afternoon, they traded Mark Canha to the Brewers for Justin Jarvis, currently pitching in Double-A.
It won’t be a surprise if Tommy Pham goes, too.
3. If Shohei Ohtani isn’t going anywhere, who will be the biggest star to be traded?
The Angels have said they will be keeping the best player in baseball — even as he careens toward free agency — and instead added Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, C.J. Cron and Randal Grichuk in two trades over the past several days. The Angels have won 10 of their past 13 games to surge past the Yankees in the wild-card race.
The Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado and the Cubs’ Cody Bellinger also appear to be staying put after being floated as traded candidates in recent weeks.
Who does that leave, after the likes of Aaron Civale, Jeimer Candelario and Paul Sewald changed teams on Monday? Is there a surprise blockbuster in store?
Or will Scherzer (or Verlander) end up being the biggest name changing teams?
4. How aggressive will MLB’s surprise young contenders be as buyers?
The Orioles are ahead of schedule, leading the American League with a 65-41 record after taking two of three from the Yankees over the weekend and rolling past the Blue Jays on Monday night.
A rental bid for Ohtani might have been a pipe dream, but what will the Orioles do — within their budget — to fortify their core around Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson?
General manager Mike Elias stated Friday that if any moves were made it would be to help their middle relief and starting pitching, and they have been reportedly interested in Tigers All-Star righty Michael Lorenzen, who also has drawn interest from the Astros and Rays.
In the National League, the Reds (59-49) and Marlins (57-50) surprisingly enter August in playoff position.
Cincinnati made a minor move to bolster its bullpen (acquiring lefty reliever Sam Moll from the A’s) — could more deals be on tap?
5. What more does the best team in baseball need?
The National League-leading Braves are in need of pitchers.
They reportedly contacted the Mets about Verlander, but a trade between the division rivals is far-fetched. Perhaps they can dangle Triple-A shortstop Vaughn Grissom to find a deal with the Tigers, who have Lorenzen and Eduardo Rodriguez.
Spencer Strider and Charlie Morton are playoff locks for the Braves, but beyond them, Bryce Elder had a rough patch around the All-Star break and Max Fried remains on the IL.
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Take a breath.
The U.S. Women’s National Team eked out a 0-0 draw against Portugal in its group-stage finale early Tuesday morning to move on to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup knockout round.
The U.S. was oh-so-close to elimination — Portugal’s Ana Capeta hit the post in the 91st minute — which would have been the first time the USWNT was ousted before the semifinals of a World Cup. As it stands, it was the first time the USWNT ever won fewer than two games in the group stage.
The Netherlands defeated Vietnam, 7-0, to finish ahead of the U.S. in Group E.
That means the Americans face the more difficult knockout-stage path, beginning in the Round of 16 early Sunday morning against the Group G winner, likely to be Sweden.
And the USWNT will be without key midfielder Rose Lavelle for that game due to yellow-card accumulation.
USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski was criticized after making only one substitution (Lavelle) during last week’s draw against the Dutch. Megan Rapinoe later voiced that she “could’ve helped” as she sat on the sidelines.
This time around, Andonovski gave Lavelle the start, replaced Trinity Rodman with Lynn Williams and made Rapinoe his first option off the bench.
It made little difference: The United States rarely threatened to score, and was lucky to advance.
The Liberty are off to the best 25-game start in franchise history, improving to 19-6 with Sunday’s 87-79 win over the Sparks, but that impressive mark will be put to the test in this Sunday’s showdown at Barclays Center against the defending champion, WNBA-best Las Vegas Aces.
The Aces won going away, 98-81, when the two superteams met June 29 in Vegas.
This time may prove to be quite different because Jonquel Jones has found her stride at what may be the perfect time.
The 6-foot-6 center, the 2021 MVP and four-time All-Star who was acquired in an offseason trade, got off to a slow start. She was working her way back into shape after suffering a left foot injury during last year’s Finals with the Sun, and averaged just 10.3 points and 6.1 rebounds through her first 18 games.
But in the past seven games, Jones has looked more like herself, averaging 15.7 points and nearly doubling her rebounds to 12.1 per game while shooting 58.6 percent from the field and 43.5 percent from 3-point range.
“I think the last few weeks you could see her getting better, more comfortable, in the system and where she can find her pockets, and getting used to her teammates as well,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said before the Liberty’s recent win over the Seattle Storm. “So, just really happy. She stayed persistent.”
If Jones, 29, continues to perform at this level and the other members of the starting five (Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Betnijah Laney, and Courtney Vandersloot) are at their full star power, it’s a good sign for the Liberty to be able to compete with the Aces next week and into the playoffs.
That’s no easy task. The Aces are 23-2, on pace to break the WNBA records for wins and winning percentage, and are outscoring opponents by 15.3 points per game.
Liberty’s upcoming schedule:
???? at Sparks, Tuesday, 10 p.m. ET, NBATV, YES App
???? at Lynx, Friday, 8 p.m. ET, ION
???? vs. Aces, Sunday, 3 p.m., ABC
With less than a month to go until the U.S. Open — the fourth and final grand slam tournament of the year — this week’s Citi Open in Washington provides a little preview of tennis players to think about before they arrive in Queens.
Many eyes will be on the American men, maybe more so than usual this year as it will be 20 years since a 21-year-old Andy Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open in 2003 — still the most recent American man to win a major.
There are several to watch in Washington. Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, both 25, are ranked No. 9 and No. 10 in the world, respectively, but are coming off disappointing early-round exits at Wimbledon.
Sebastian Korda is another hopeful to watch. The 23-year-old, who is ranked No. 26, lost in the first round of Wimbledon, but fell to eventual winner Carlos Alcaraz in the Queen’s Cup semifinals a few weeks before. Korda also beat No. 3 Daniil Medvedev to make it to the quarterfinals of the hardcourt Australian Open, and even more impressively was a point away from defeating Novak Djokovic at the Adelaide International in early January.
Other notable names in the Citi Open men’s singles tournament: Wimbledon underdog darling Christopher Eubanks, England’s No. 44 Andy Murray, Canada’s No. 12 Felix Auger-Aliassime, Bulgaria’s No. 20 Grigor Dimitrov and Poland’s No. 17 Hubert Hurkacz.
The Citi Open’s defending champion, Nick Kyrgios, and Medvedev have pulled out of the tournament with injuries. That continues to be the story for Kyrgios, who has missed every Grand Slam tournament this year due to injuries to his foot, knee, and wrist.
Jessica Pegula (No. 3 in the world) holds the top seed in the women’s singles tournament, looking to rebound from a disappointing ending at Wimbledon with another quarterfinal exit.
Coco Gauff, now 19, also is a top-three seed.
The most interesting woman to watch might be Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, who made it to the Wimbledon semifinals after a thrilling upset of No.1 Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinal.
On Monday night, the Citi Open announced Svitolina would not be shaking hands after her eventual win over Belarussian opponent Victoria Azarenka, avoiding a repeat of their boo-filled scene at Wimbledon.