Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning during the regular season you’ll get a fresh, topical story to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
We are less than a week away from the trade deadline, but we’ve hardly seen any activity on the transaction wire (the Mets’ acquisition of Daniel Vogelbach is notable but hardly the stuff of fever dreams). That’s partially because the amateur draft was later than usual this year, not occurring until last week, which commanded attention from front office executives that would otherwise be spent on preparing for trades. The expanded playoff field may also be contributing to the standstill, giving hope to teams who may otherwise have started looking toward next year and beyond—at the beginning of play Wednesday, 18 of 30 teams were within 3.5 games of a division lead or wild-card spot. With only 12 playoff teams, that number would’ve been 15.
Enough with the excuses, though. It’s high time for everyone to commit to a strategy and give us some action. So let’s sort through the decisions these fringe contenders face about whether to buy or sell. For the second straight year, I’ve laid out the arguments in a conversational format. On one side, there’s the optimistic buyer. On the other is the cold, calculating seller. I like to think about it as the trope with an angel and devil on either shoulder of the protagonist. It’s impossible to tell now whether the buyer or seller is the angel who will lead to salvation. But let’s do our best to distinguish the best way forward.
