Top News:
Kurt Badenhausen / Sportico:
MLB Draft 2025: Signing Bonus Slot Values for First Round Picks — The Washington Nationals selected high school shortstop Eli Willits with the No. 1 overall pick in Sunday's MLB Draft. Willits, who doesn't turn 18 until December, is the youngest player selected first since the Seattle Mariners took Ken Griffey Jr. in 1987.
Discussion:
MLB Trade Rumors
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Associated Press:
Nationals take high school shortstop Eli Willits, son of ex-MLBer Reggie, with No. 1 pick in draft
Discussion:
ESPN, MLB.com, Federal Baseball, Yahoo Sports, New York Times and Baseball America
Kiley McDaniel / ESPN:
2025 MLB mock draft 3.1: Kiley McDaniel's final predictions
Discussion:
New York Times, Pinstripe Alley, Yahoo Sports, Camden Chat and Baseball America
MLB.com:
Mock draft: MLB Pipeline's final predictions
Discussion:
Lookout Landing, New Jersey Online, Dallas Morning News and Prospects Live
Carlos Collazo / Baseball America:
2025 MLB Mock Draft 7.0: First-Round Predictions For Every Team On Draft Day
Discussion:
Amazin' Avenue, Bless You Boys and Battery Power
Associated Press:
Aaron Judge is barreling toward the hallowed 500-homer club. He might be joined by several peers — Aaron Judge became the fastest player in MLB history to reach 350 career homers and it feels inevitable that the Bronx slugger will join the hallowed 500-homer club sometime in the next several years.
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Barry M. Bloom / Sportico:
Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani Carry MLB Into the All-Star Break — ATLANTA — As Major League Baseball breaks for Tuesday night's annual All-Star Game, it's already been a tumultuous season for a number of teams facing high expectations. — One thing that hasn't changed coming into the break …
Discussion:
Associated Press
Vaughn Dalzell / NBCSports.com:
MLB 2025 Home Run Derby Predictions: Odds, Expert Picks on Cal Raleigh, Oneil Cruz, James Wood, Matt Olson — The 2025 MLB Home Run Derby takes place Monday night and it's going to be one for the memory books as a catcher is the headliner and odds on favorite.
Discussion:
Battery Power, New York Post, MLB Trade Rumors and Yahoo Sports
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Jacob Feldman / Sportico:
Home Run Derby Prize Would Double These Sluggers' 2025 Salaries — Pirates slugger Oneil Cruz has 1 million reasons to swing for the fences during Monday night's Home Run Derby in Atlanta. — Three of the eight contestants, including Cruz, are making less this year in salary than the prize purse of $1 million for the Derby winner.
Discussion:
Yahoo Sports, New York Times and Just Baseball
D.J. Short / NBCSports.com:
MLB Power Rankings: Red Sox crash top 10 going into All-Star break — Featured in the All-Star break edition of MLB Power Rankings, Jacob Misiorowski and Aaron Judge make history for different reasons, the Phillies do Cristopher Sánchez a solid, the Red Sox are suddenly the hottest team in the majors …
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Associated Press:
A mix of youth and chemistry has Red Sox rolling into All-Star break on 10-game winning streak — BOSTON — Many of the Boston Red Sox players started wearing T-shirts during batting practice and in the clubhouse the past week with a quote from teammate Romy Gonzalez written across the front.
Discussion:
NBC Sports Boston, Yahoo Sports and masslive.com
Bob Nightengale / USA Today:
MLB draft twins Kyson and Malachi Witherspoon owe it all to their supermom — PHOENIX - The Witherspoon twins, with their older sister and younger brother, moved all across Jacksonville, Florida, from apartments to townhouses to rental homes back to apartments, changing addresses 10 times in all …
Associated Press:
Shohei Ohtani to hit leadoff for NL in All-Star Game, followed by Ronald Acuña Jr. of host Braves — ATLANTA — Shohei Ohtani will bat leadoff as the designated hitter for the National League in Tuesday night's All-Star Game at Truist Park, and the Los Angeles Dodgers star will be followed …
Discussion:
Yahoo Sports and True Blue LA
Jon Heyman / New York Post:
White Sox receiving interest in Luis Robert Jr. from eight teams ahead of trade deadline — Eight teams have checked in on talented but struggling CF Luis Robert Jr., and if the White Sox can trade him before confronting that $20M option decision, they need to do it.
Discussion:
Yahoo Sports, Last Word On Baseball, MLB Trade Rumors and True Blue LA
Associated Press:
Curveballs are disappearing in MLB as velocity obsession reshapes pitching landscape — ATLANTA — Curveballs have been thrown a curve by a modern game valuing velocity over variety, disappearing from the major leagues by more than 20,000 annually. — The Athletics have thrown curves on just 2.5% of pitches this season.
Dennis Lin / New York Times:
Padres enter All-Star break with all signs pointing to an aggressive trade deadline — SAN DIEGO — One day last month, after another tight game in a season filled with them, San Diego Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller spoke about the not-so-distant past and the near future.
Discussion:
San Diego Union-Tribune, Yahoo Sports and MLB Trade Rumors
