White Sox trade Erick Fedde, Michael Kopech, Tommy Pham in 3-team deal

Over the weekend, there was a lot of angst among White Sox fans because GM Chris Getz had not yet pulled the trigger on a trade deadline deal.

Be careful what you wish for. Getz made a three-team, eight-player trade Monday afternoon, and it was one that DID NOT energize the fan base in any way.

Here's what went down:

• The White Sox receive three prospects from the Los Angeles Dodgers: all-purpose player Miguel Vargas, infielder Alexander Albertus and infielder Jeral Perez.
• The St. Louis Cardinals receive pitcher Erick Fedde and outfielder Tommy Pham from the Sox. 
• The Dodgers receive relief pitcher Michael Kopech from the Sox, and utility player Tommy Edman and pitcher Oliver Gonzalez from the Cardinals.

Anyone else think the Cardinals made out very well here? Fedde, despite pitching for a team that was 54 games below .500 entering Monday's play, has a 7-4 record with a 3.11 ERA. Frankly, he deserved to make the American League All-Star team this season, but he had to get in line behind Garrett Crochet, and was left off the roster because it's hard to justify a team as bad as the Sox getting two All-Star representatives.

Pham played 70 games with the Sox this season and batted .266/.330/.380 with five home runs, 14 doubles and 19 RBIs. In his age-36 season, he's basically a league-average hitter and can probably still make contributions to a contending team when used in the right role.

For those two players, St. Louis gave up Edman, who has been hurt all season, and Gonzalez, a 17-year-old who is pitching in the Dominican Summer League.

Despite Kopech's pedestrian numbers -- 2-8 with a 4.74 ERA -- the Dodgers are looking at his strikeout rate, which has been above 30% all season, and thinking they can turn him into a viable bullpen piece. Good luck. Maybe Kopech thrives with a change of scenery.

What are the Sox getting here? Salary relief, of course. That's Jerry Reinsdorf's favorite type of deal. Fedde, Pham and Kopech are all off the books, while Albertus and Perez are both 19-year-olds who will report to Class-A Kannapolis.

Perez has an .800 OPS this season at Low-A Rancho Cucamonga. He's hitting .264/.380/.420 with 10 homers and 42 RBIs. OK, that's not bad.

Albertus, also at Rancho Cucamonga, has batted .229/.317/.329 with a homer and 16 RBIs in a limited sample of 82 plate appearances.

But, even in the best of circumstances, these players are years away from having a chance to contribute in the major leagues. And after the past five or so seasons as a Sox fan, you won't catch me "dreaming on" prospects, ever.

Vargas, meanwhile, will be in the big leagues immediately, although I will keep my expectations modest. The 24-year-old has appeared in 30 games with the Dodgers this season, batting .239/.313/.423 with three homers and nine RBIs.

Looking a little deeper, it looks like Vargas might be a platoon partner for somebody. As a right-handed hitter, he hits lefties -- an .864 OPS. His OPS against right-handers is .599. Look for him to get playing time at either corner outfield spot and first base.

So, in summary, the Sox traded a pretty good mid-rotation starter in Fedde for a platoon bat and two lottery tickets. And some salary relief! Forgive me for not being excited.

White Sox call up 3B prospect Bryan Ramos, win series at St. Louis

In a surprise move, the White Sox called up the No. 4-ranked prospect in their farm system, Bryan Ramos, before the start of Saturday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Danny Mendick went on the 10-day injured list with a back strain, and with Yoan Moncada (adductor strain) still months away from a potential return, the Sox found themselves with a hole at third base.

Both Lenyn Sosa and Ramos were already on the 40-man roster, and with Sosa having fumbled his previous opportunities in the majors, the Sox decided the time was right to give the 22-year-old Ramos a shot. 

This was unexpected because Ramos was off to a slow start in Double-A Birmingham this season. He was batting .182/.265/.307 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 24 games at the time of his recall. But, he was on a eight-game hitting streak.

Ramos got his first start with the Sox on Sunday, and he showed well. He went 1 for 3 with a single, a sacrifice fly, an RBI and a run scored in a 5-1 victory over the Cardinals.

The Sox won two out of three in the series. Here's a look back at the weekend:

Friday, May 3

Cardinals 3, White Sox 0. The problems in the first game of a series continued for the Sox. In those situations, they are 1-10 and have been outscored 61-13.

The Sox managed only three hits in this game off St. Louis starter Sonny Gray (4-1) and two Cardinals relievers. 

Brad Keller (0-1) made his first start since joining the Sox, allowing three earned runs over 4.2 innings pitched. 

Saturday, May 4

White Sox 6, Cardinals 5 (10 inn.). Tommy Pham's RBI single with one out in the top of the 10th put the Sox ahead to stay, but this win didn't come without some drama.

The Cardinals loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 10th inning before Sox reliever John Brebbia rallied to strike out Lars Nootbaar and Masyn Winn. Sometime during Winn's at-bat, it started pouring rain. 

Brebbia fired strike one to Nolan Gorman with the bases loaded and two outs, but with the field quickly becoming a muddy mess, umpires called for the tarp. The rain delay lasted three hours, three minutes.

After that delay, Brebbia had to be pulled from the game. Lefty Tanner Banks relieved him when play resumed, and St. Louis countered by sending right-handed-hitting Ivan Herrera to the plate to pinch hit for Gorman. 

Five pitches later, the game was over. Banks struck out Herrera looking on questionable call to pick up his first save of the season.

Catcher Korey Lee lead the Sox offense, going 2 for 4 with a two-run single in the sixth inning that tied the game at 5. Michael Kopech (1-3) pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth for his first win of the season.

Sunday, May 5

White Sox 5, Cardinals 1. A four-run top of the seventh broke open a 1-all tie and propelled the Sox to one of their cleaner victories of 2024.

Eloy Jimenez started the seventh-inning rally with his fourth home run of the year. Gavin Sheets doubled and scored on another double by Paul DeJong. Ramos singled to put runners on first and third, then Braden Shewmake's RBI single made it 4-1. A sacrifice fly by Robbie Grossman scored Ramos to cap the scoring.

That made a winner out of Garrett Crochet (2-4), who tossed six innings of one-run ball. He struck out six, walked nobody and allowed only three hits. Steven Wilson, Jordan Leasure and Brebbia each worked a scoreless inning out of the bullpen to close the series.

The Sox are 8-26. They next head to Tampa Bay for a three-game series that begins Monday night.

Minnesota Twins lose 40% of their starting rotation to free agency

The Minnesota Twins were not the strongest division champion in 2023. They won the American League Central with an 87-75 record. That's nothing special, but nobody else in the division managed to finish above .500.

Well, the Twins might not even be that strong in 2024, with their ownership deciding a cut in payroll is in order.

And now Minnesota has lost 40% of its starting rotation in free agency within a period of about 36 hours.

Kenta Maeda on Sunday agreed to terms with the Detroit Tigers on a two-year, $24 million contract. On Monday, Sonny Gray joined the St. Louis Cardinals on a three-year, $75 million deal.

The Cardinals' projected rotation of Gray, Lance Lynn, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz and Kyle Gibson probably averages about 35 years old, which is weird, but we're not too worried about St. Louis here.

We're looking at the Twins, who still have Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober in their rotation. The other two spots, who knows right now? Is that good enough to repeat as division winners? Possibly.

The Tigers added Maeda to a rotation that likely includes Tarik Skubal, Matt Manning and Reese Olson. Will Detroit be able to keep free agent lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, who was their team leader in starts (26), wins (13), strikeouts (143) and ERA (3.30) last season?

If yes, maybe Detroit, which was 78-84 a year ago, is positioned to take control of the AL Central.

And isn't it pathetic the White Sox aren't in this conversation? There is still a lot of offseason left, but you're again looking at a division that could be won with a mid-80s win total. Yet 85 wins feels like the unreachable star for the Sox.

Reynaldo Lopez, Lance Lynn headed to new teams

Lance Lynn is going back where he started.

Two former White Sox pitchers agreed to terms on new contracts with new teams Monday.

Reynaldo Lopez is headed to the Atlanta Braves on a three-year, $30 million contract. Meanwhile, Lance Lynn is going to the St. Louis Cardinals. He's got a one-year deal worth $11 million, with incentives that could earn him as much as $14 million. The contract also includes an option for 2025 that could increase the value to $25 million.

Lopez, who turns 30 in January, bounced from the White Sox to the Los Angeles Angels to the Cleveland Guardians last season. After a rough start with the Sox, his final season numbers don't look too bad -- 3-7 with a 3.27 ERA in 68 games, with six saves. Lopez fanned 83 batters in 66 innings.

Feel free to insert the joke here about the Braves wishing to re-create the Sox bullpen. Lopez rejoins his former teammate Aaron Bummer, whom the Sox traded to Atlanta late last week.

But in a different twist, it appears the Braves are interested in possibly making Lopez a starter. According to a tweet sent Monday by Ken Rosenthal, Lopez will prepare this offseason as if he will be a member of the rotation, and Atlanta will explore the option in spring training.

Lopez hasn't been a full-time starting pitcher since 2019. That didn't work out for him in Chicago, but if he makes it work in Atlanta, that would justify the investment the Braves have made here. If Lopez is just going to be a seventh-inning reliever or something similar, you can find guys to do that role for less than $10 million AAV.

Lynn, 36, made 32 starts last season -- 21 with the Sox and 11 with the Los Angeles Dodgers -- but that's one of the few positives he can take from his 2023 campaign. He went 13-11, but had an unsightly 5.73 ERA. He had a -0.8 WAR and gave up a league-high 44(!) homers over 183.2 innings. 

The Cardinals know Lynn well. He pitched in St. Louis from 2011-17 and won a World Series there in 2011. No doubt, the club is hoping the veteran has at least one decent year left in his arm.

In other starting pitching news, a major name agreed to a contract over the weekend. Aaron Nola is staying with the Philadelphia Phillies for seven years and $172 million.

What might this mean for White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease, whose name has been mentioned in trade rumors? 

There are still some good free agent pitchers out there, including NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, World Series champion Jordan Montgomery and Japanese import Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Nola has set the market for those guys by agreeing on a contract worth $24.5 million AAV.

Meanwhile, Cease is not a free agent. He's arbitration eligible with a suggested salary of $8.8 million. He has two years of team control remaining.

If Lynn can pull in $11 million in free agency coming of a rough year, then Cease is a tremendous value in this marketplace. Sox general manager Chris Getz should keep that in mind, if he is indeed entertaining trade offers for Cease.

White Sox waste a brilliant Carlos Rodon start for the second time in a week

Carlos Rodon

In his past two starts, White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon has pitched 12 innings. He's allowed only one run on three hits in those 12 innings, while striking out 23 and walking nobody.

And he didn't win either of those two games because his teammates stink.

On Wednesday, Rodon worked six innings of one-run ball against the St. Louis Cardinals. He struck out 10 and allowed only one hit.

Unfortunately, that hit was a solo home run by Tommy Edman, who hit a poorly located Rodon changeup into the left-field seats. That gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. St. Louis tacked on three runs late against the Sox bullpen and went on to salvage the finale of the three-game series, 4-0.

The Sox left 13 runners on base and went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. In particular, it was a bad day for Yermin Mercedes, who went 0 for 4. His first two times, he came to the plate with the bases loaded. His second two times, he came to the plate with runners at first and second.

You already know the Sox didn't score in this game, so it's plainly obvious how poorly Mercedes did in those RBI situations. The designated hitter is mired in a 2-for-25 slump.

Shortstop Tim Anderson didn't play Wednesday. He's in a 3-for-30 slump. Adam Eaton left Wednesday's game with a sore hamstring. He is batting .125 since April 27.

Also injured Wednesday ... Michael Kopech. He took a weird fall on the mound as he delivered his final pitch of a scoreless seventh inning. He is day-to-day with hamstring soreness, although honestly, it looked like Kopech wrenched his knee. Regardless, he's the best reliever the Sox have this year, so it would be a huge loss if he were to miss much time.

So, yeah, no good news at the old ballpark today. The only blessing is the Cleveland Indians also lost Wednesday, so the Sox maintain their 1.5-game lead in the AL Central for at least another day.

The Baltimore Orioles come to town next for a four-game series starting Thursday night. Good news: The Orioles are a lowly 17-32 this season. Bad news: They've lost nine in a row, which means they are due to win a couple. The odds of baseball say you can't win 'em all, but you also can't lose 'em all.

Lucas Giolito beats former high school teammate Jack Flaherty in high-profile pitching matchup

Lucas Giolito

Sometimes marquee pitching matchups don't live up to the hype, do they? Tuesday's game between the White Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals featured a pair of aces who are former high school teammates -- Lucas Giolito for the Sox and Jack Flaherty for the Cardinals.

Flaherty entered the game with an 8-0 record, but he didn't make it out of the fourth inning in this one, as the Sox secured a series victory with an 8-3 win.

Giolito (4-4), who has been off to a slow start this season, got back to .500 by pitching six innings of two-run ball. Only one of the runs was earned. He struck out five and walked none, while allowing six hits.

The St. Louis defense committed three errors behind Flaherty, and in fact, the Sox scored two runs in the first inning without the benefit of a hit. They added three more runs in the second inning on just two hits.

Jose Abreu hit his 10th home run of the season off Flaherty in the bottom of the fourth. It was a two-run shot to make the score 7-2, and it was part of a four-RBI night for the Sox first baseman.

Final line on Flaherty: 3.2 IP, seven runs, only three earned, on six hits. He struck out three and walked two.

The Sox took their 8-3 lead into the ninth inning, but of course, the leaky bullpen made it interesting. Garrett Crochet gave up a leadoff double to Yadier Molina and walked two batters to load the bases with nobody out.

That forced Tony La Russa to bring Liam Hendriks into a save situation. The Sox closer struck out all three batters he faced to strand the three runners and earn his 10th save of the season.

The Sox go for the sweep Wednesday afternoon with Carlos Rodon on the mount. John Gant will pitch for St. Louis.

White Sox lineup construction idea: Try Andrew Vaughn in the No. 2 spot

Andrew Vaughn

Arguing about lineup construction gets old fast, so I try not to jump down that hole too often. But an idea occurred to me while watching the White Sox snap a three-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.

Try rookie Andrew Vaughn in the No. 2 spot -- at least against left-handed pitchers.

Vaughn hit the longest home run Aroldis Chapman has ever given up Sunday, and that boosted his season slash line against left-handed pitchers to .290/.436/.645.

On Monday night, St. Louis started left-hander Kwang Hyun Kim. Vaughn, batting seventh in the order, got two hits in three plate appearances against Kim -- a double in the second inning and a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth that turned the game in the Sox's favor.

The Sox were trailing 1-0 at that point, but Vaughn put them up 2-1 by pulling a Kim changeup over the left-field wall. Tim Anderson added a two-run double later than inning to make it 4-1, and the Sox cruised from there. 

Lance Lynn (5-1) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and pitched seven innings of one-run ball to earn the win. Michael Kopech struck out three over two innings of scoreless relief.

But back to the No. 2 spot in the batting order. On Monday, it was occupied by Adam Eaton, who has been in a slump for the past month. He's batting .198/.305/.351 for the season. Not good, and the picture is even worse against lefties. Eaton is 2 for 22 against left-handed pitchers. He hasn't been playing much against them, nor should he be.

Other players who have been tried in the No. 2 spot include Nick Madrigal and Leury Garcia. Let's just say those two extremely aggressive hitters are more suited to the bottom of the lineup.

After Monday's game, Vaughn overall season slash line is .230/.326/.416, so that means he does struggle against right-handers. But, he's mashing lefties, and he sees pitches and takes walks. Why not move him up in the lineup when a favorable matchup for him presents itself?

Miguel Cairo expected to be hired as White Sox bench coach

Miguel Cairo

Slowly, the White Sox are assembling a coaching staff around new manager Tony La Russa. Last week, we learned that Ethan Katz will replace Don Cooper as pitching coach. Now comes news that Miguel Cairo is expected to be named bench coach.

The hiring was first reported in an article by James Fegan of The Athletic.

Cairo was a utility player during his 17-year career in the major leagues. He played for La Russa in St. Louis on two separate occasions -- from 2001 to 2003, and again in 2007. In total, Cairo played for nine different teams.

He finished his career with Cincinnati in 2012, and he stayed with the Reds as a special assistant to the GM from 2013 to 2017. His most recent role was that of minor league infield coordinator for the New York Yankees.

So, when Cairo joins the Sox, this will be his first time in a uniformed role at the big-league level since he retired as a player. Everybody's got to start somewhere, so we'll see what he can do.

More details are expected on the rest of the Sox coaching staff next week, but we've heard that one before -- they said that just last week, in fact.

The latest report from Scott Merkin on MLB.com says that hitting coach Frank Menechino, first-base coach Daryl Boston and assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler are expected to be retained.

It already has been announced that third-base coach Nick Capra will not be returning. The fate of former bench coach Joe McEwing is unknown. Obviously, Cairo is taking his role, but it's possible McEwing will get the third-base coaching job -- a role he served in previously with the Sox during the Robin Ventura era from 2012 to 2016.

McEwing does have ties to La Russa. He played for him as a member of the Cardinals in 1998 and 1999.

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu named American League Player of the Week

Jose Abreu

What a difference eight or nine days can make in a shortened, 60-game season.

When play concluded on Aug. 15, the White Sox were down in the dumps. They looked terrible against the COVID-19-ravaged St. Louis Cardinals, getting swept in a doubleheader to drop to 10-11 on the season.

At that time, first baseman Jose Abreu was hitting .247/.289/.412 with three home runs and 12 RBIs. He looked like a 33-year-old slugger in decline.

But then Abreu homered on Aug. 16 as part of a back-to-back-to-back-to-back assault on St. Louis pitching in the fifth inning of a 7-2 victory over the Cardinals.

The Detroit Tigers then came to Guaranteed Rate Field for four games. The Sox won them all, with Abreu going 9 for 18 with a homer -- it was a game-winner on Aug. 19 -- and six RBIs in the four-game sweep.

Pretty good, huh?

Well, we hadn't seen anything yet. In a three-game weekend series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, Abreu went 7 for 12 with six home runs and nine RBIs. Four of the six home runs came in consecutive plate appearances. Abreu homered in the sixth, eighth and ninth innings of Saturday's 7-4 victory, and again in the second inning of a 2-1 loss -- that defeat snapped a season-high seven-game winning streak for the Sox.

This was historic greatness for Abreu. Homering in four consecutive at-bats ties a Major League record, and six home runs in a three-game series? That's never happened in Sox history, and the Sox have been a team since 1901.

Abreu's season slash now stands at .322/.365/.669 with a league-leading 11 home runs and a league-leading 28 RBIs. His batting average ranks sixth in the AL, so all of a sudden, Abreu is in the hunt for a Triple Crown, and he's an MVP candidate.

After batting .533 this week, Abreu was a no-brainer choice for American League Player of the Week.

And the Sox? They are 17-12, tied with the Cleveland Indians for second place in the AL Central -- only 2.5 games back of first-place Minnesota. According to baseballreference.com, the Sox had a 93.7% chance of making the playoffs as of Monday morning.

That goes to show you how quickly things can change this season.

My trip to the Field of Dreams movie site

Has there ever been a better year than 2020 to take a vacation to the middle of nowhere? That's what I decided to do last week. I went to Dyersville, Iowa, to visit the Field of Dreams movie site.

The White Sox are scheduled to play the St. Louis Cardinals on Aug. 13 at the site, on a field that is under construction near the field where the movie was filmed.

The photo above was taken from inside the farmhouse. The Field of Dreams is in the foreground, but if you look out past the corn in left field, you can see the light towers for the field that is being built for Major League Baseball. In case you were wondering, the Field of Dreams is not regulation size, so that is why the Sox and Cardinals cannot play there.

The Field of Dreams is about a three-hour drive from my home in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. It's not an all-day kind of thing by any stretch -- we spent about two hours there. There's a guided tour of the farmhouse, which takes about 45 minutes. That's the one thing that costs money; it's $20 per adult.

However, access to the field is free. You can play catch, run the bases, take pictures, throw your kid batting practice, whatever you want. Just be forewarned -- there is no running water on the farm, so don't go if you're squeamish about using a portable toilet in this time of COVID-19.

There's also a gift shop with "Baseballism" T-shirts, at which I overpaid for two shirts that I didn't really need.

The tour is a good thing to do if you're a fan of the movie. There's some baseball memorabilia in the house, which is cool, but our tour guide focused on describing scenes from the movie that were shot in certain places in the house. She also offered some anecdotes on behind-the-scenes things that happened during filming. In case you were wondering, Dubuque, Iowa, and Galena, Ill., are featured in the movie, because there isn't much to Dyersville.

In fact, I never saw the town of Dyersville on my drive to the site. I was in the middle of cornfields, wondering if I was going the right direction, when suddenly the field and farmhouse appeared in my line of sight.

Not that anyone is interested, but here's some other photos I took during my visit:

I took this picture of the farmhouse while standing on the ballfield.

There's me sitting at the entrance. Yes, I am a real person, not a bot.

I did not know that there was "Team of Dreams" celebrity game that is played at the Field of Dreams. This picture in the farmhouse shows some of the players who have appeared through the years: Jim Rice, Reggie Jackson, Rickey Henderson, Pete Rose, Paul Molitor, Wade Boggs, Ozzie Smith, Rod Carew, Frank Thomas, Carlton Fisk, Jim Palmer, Bruce Sutter, Dwight Gooden and Johnny Bench. How's that for a lineup?

Yep, there's me on the pitcher's mound.

There's a curio cabinet on the first floor of the farmhouse that has some cool stuff, such as ...

... a bobblehead of Roger Bossard (second from left)! Other bobbleheads in this picture include Kirby Puckett, 1919 Cincinnati Reds manager Pat Moran and Robin Yount.

And there's me again. More shameless self-promotion.

Apparently, former commissioner Bud Selig is a big supporter of the Field of Dreams. I couldn't stand Selig as a commissioner, but at least he is a baseball man. His tenure looks like the "good ole days" when compared to current commissioner Rob Manfred.

And here's a picture of the actors who portrayed the 1919 White Sox walking out of the corn.

It's too bad I didn't get to the Field of Dreams a couple of hours earlier than I did. The day I was there, a TV crew was there to interview fans about the upcoming game between the Sox and the Cardinals. The reporters apparently found some St. Louis fans to talk with, but they were saddened that no Sox fans were around at the time they were working on the story. If I had showed up then, I probably would have been interviewed for the local news.

Oh well. If you're a baseball fan, or a fan of the movie "Field of Dreams," this place in Iowa is a nice little day trip. I recommend it, especially if you're passing through northeast Iowa for whatever reason.

Remembering 1981: If you think 2020 will be an illegitimate season ...

Dodgers third baseman Ron Cey in 1981

The 1981 Cincinnati Reds had the best record in the National League. They had a .611 winning percentage. They did not make the playoffs.

As a matter of fact, the two best teams in the NL did not make the playoffs in 1981. That's how stupid that season was.

I can barely remember that summer. I was only 5 years old. Some people reading this post may not have been born yet, so let me explain.

There was a strike in the middle of the season that lasted two months. Teams stopped playing after the games of June 11, and play did not resume until Aug. 10.

You would think they would have just picked up where they left off, with the standings as they were on June 11, right?

Well, you would be wrong. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn decided that the teams in first place on June 11 would be declared champions of the first half. Each of those four division leaders -- the New York Yankees, the Oakland Athletics, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers were awarded playoff berths.

Teams reset at 0-0 for the "second half" of the season on Aug. 10, and the teams that won the second half also were awarded playoff berths. Those clubs turned out to be the Milwaukee Brewers, the Kansas City Royals, the Montreal Expos and the Houston Astros.

Here's the problem with that. If you added up the standings for the ENTIRE season, here's how the standings would have looked in the NL East and NL West, respectively:

NL East
1. St. Louis 59-43
2. Montreal 60-48
3. Philadelphia 59-48

NL West
1. Cincinnati 66-42
2. Los Angeles 63-47
3. Houston 61-49

In a strange quirk, both St. Louis and Cincinnati finished second in BOTH the first half and the second half. So, even though those two clubs were the top teams in their divisions for the entire year, neither made the playoffs.

The two Division Series in the National League both featured, in effect, a second-place team against a third-place team. The Dodgers beat the Astros. The Expos beat the Phillies. In the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers beat the Expos, and they went on to beat the Yankees in the World Series.

So, a team that normally wouldn't have made the playoffs under the standard format at the time won the World Series. Hmm.

Over in the American League, the Yankees won the East Division in the first half with a 34-22 record. But in the second half, New York finished SIXTH out of seven teams with a 25-26 record.

Here's how the AL East would have stacked up if you had combined records for the entire season:

1. Milwaukee 62-47
2. Baltimore 59-46
3. Detroit 60-49
4. New York 59-48

But the Yankees got hot in the playoffs. They beat the Brewers in five in the ALDS and swept Oakland in the ALCS to get to the World Series.

So, in effect, you had the fourth-place team in the AL East playing the second-place team in the NL West in the World Series.

The Dodgers won it. Now, ask yourself this: Do you ever hear anyone say there should be an asterisk next to that championship?

No? Me neither.

You see, the machinations of the 1981 season have been forgotten through time. All that matters is that there was a World Series, and somebody won it.

Something to keep in mind as we embark on this strangest of seasons here in 2020, with only 60 games to determine the 10 playoff teams.

Assuming the coronavirus doesn't shut down the season, someone will win a championship under these rules. And decades from now, how it was won will be mostly forgotten, but flags fly forever.

Andy Masur joins White Sox radio booth; latest on Field of Dreams game

A couple of White Sox notes from Tuesday:

First, Andy Masur will be the radio play-by-play voice of the Sox on WGN 720-AM this season. Masur will replace the late Ed Farmer and work with longtime analyst Darrin Jackson.

Farmer, who battled kidney disease throughout his life, died of an undisclosed illness April 1 at age 70.

Masur has filled in for Farmer on numerous occasions, including during some spring training games in March. Masur grew up in the Chicago area and has spent the past two seasons as a pregame host on Sox games.

The veteran broadcaster also worked in the Cubs' radio booth as an occasional fill-in for Pat Hughes when the North Siders were on WGN radio. He also spent eight years in San Diego as part of the Padres' radio broadcast team.

Reports indicate Masur has been given no guarantees past 2020, and replacing Farmer will be no easy task.

“Ed was a legend in his own right, and it was a well-deserved legendary status,” Masur told MLB.com on Tuesday. “The guy bled White Sox baseball. He pitched for them. He got a chance to grow up watching them and got a chance to be around them when they won a World Series. He had been around them as they’ve been rebuilding to what they hope to be here in the next couple of years.

“From my perspective, I go in and just kind of do what I do and hope that I make Ed proud and hope I make D.J. proud. I hope I give White Sox fans what they are looking for, as far as a game broadcast with information and making sure you know where the ball is and what the inning is and what the score is.”

Sox might play NL Central opponent in Iowa

Remember when the Sox were supposed to play the New York Yankees in the Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 13?

Well, the Sox definitely won't be playing the Yankees. With this shortened season and a geographically based schedule, there will be no games against New York -- just games against clubs from the AL Central and NL Central.

The latest reporting says that Field of Dreams game could go on, but the opponent will be a National League team -- either the Cardinals, the Cubs or the Brewers.

Let me cast my vote: Bring on the Cardinals!

I'm pretty sure the eyes of Chicago will be on the six games between the Sox and the Cubs, no matter where they are played. Those games do not need an unusual venue to get extra attention.

So why not play St. Louis instead? Let's add a little juice -- and a national TV audience -- to a matchup between the Sox and Cardinals.

Nationals, Astros making starting pitching popular again

Stephen Strasburg

There are only two teams in baseball that have never made the World Series -- one in each league. One is the Seattle Mariners in the American League.

The other, the National League's Washington Nationals -- who were once the Montreal Expos -- are on the verge of advancing to the Fall Classic for the first time in the franchise's 51-year history.

Washington beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-1, on Monday night to take a 3-0 lead in the National League Championship Series.

How are the Nationals doing it? With starting pitching. Stephen Strasburg on Monday struck out 12 and walked nobody over seven innings of one-run ball.

In fact, the Cardinals have scored a grand total of two runs in the first three games of the series -- that's a good way to dig an 0-3 hole.

In Game 1, Anibal Sanchez, who is Washington's No. 4 starter, had a no-hitter through 7.2 innings. He ended up combining with Sean Doolittle on a one-hit shutout in the Nationals' 2-0 victory.

Washington ace Max Scherzer had a no-hitter through six innings in Game 2. He ended up pitching seven shutout innings with 11 strikeouts in a 3-1 Nationals' victory.

The run the Cardinals scored Monday against Strasburg was unearned, which means Washington starters have not allowed an earned run in 21.2 innings going into Tuesday's Game 4.

That is domination. The Nationals are bucking the bullpen trend we've seen over the past few years. Washington's bullpen is pretty thin -- there isn't much there beyond Doolittle and Daniel Hudson.

But the Nationals have Scherzer, Strasburg, Patrick Corbin and Sanchez. That's a deep, strong rotation that just may carry them into the World Series.

Meanwhile, in the American League, Gerrit Cole struck out seven over seven shutout innings Tuesday as the Houston Astros defeated the New York Yankees, 4-1, in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.

The Astros took a 2-1 in the series, and they regained home-field advantage in the best-of-seven.

Houston is seeking to win its second World Series in three years, and the strength of their team is, well, starting pitching. Cole and Justin Verlander, you can flip a coin in the AL Cy Young race this year. Zach Greinke is their No. 3 pitcher, and while he hasn't been great in these playoffs, he's an ace on most teams around the league.

If the Nationals and Astros both make the World Series, we'll be looking at a matchup of the two deepest starting rotations in the game. So much for bullpen usage ruling the day.

Two Game 5s coming in the National League on Wednesday

Jack Flaherty

Both National League Division Series will conclude Wednesday, with the Atlanta Braves hosting the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers hosting the Washington Nationals in a pair of winner-take-all Game 5s.

Who do you have winning?

Before the playoffs started, I picked the Cardinals and the Dodgers to win these series, so I guess there's no reason to backtrack now.

The series between Atlanta and St. Louis has been incredible. I really had no idea which team was going to win coming into the series, and I still don't have much of a clue.

Both clubs have one significant weakness. For the Cardinals, they have the weakest lineup of any team in the playoffs. Strong pitching staff, yes, but the offense is suspect. And that lack of offensive punch has hurt them in a 3-0 loss in Game 2 and a 3-1 loss in Game 3.

For the Braves, the significant weakness is in the bullpen, and that weakness has hurt them twice in this series. In Game 1, Atlanta led 3-1 after seven innings. The Braves lost, 7-6. In Game 4, Atlanta led 4-3 after seven innings. The Braves lost, 5-4, in 10 innings.

Game 5 will feature a matchup of perhaps the two best pitchers in the National League since the All-Star break. For St. Louis, Jack Flaherty went 7-2 with a 0.91 ERA in 14 second-half starts. His mound opponent, Atlanta's Mike Foltynewicz, went 6-1 with a 2.65 ERA in 10 second-half starts.

This is also a rematch of Game 2, which was won by Atlanta and Foltynewicz, as cited above. Should be a great one.

Meanwhile, the Nationals will try to do the unthinkable and slay the heavily favored Dodgers, who have won the NL pennant in each of the past two seasons.

Los Angeles won 106 games this season and was an absurd +273 in run differential. The second-best team in the NL in that area was, well, the Nationals at +149.

When you think about it, Washington probably is the second-best team in the NL right at this moment. Sure, the Braves won the NL East fair and square, but when you look at the Nationals, they lost the division because of their pathetic 19-31 start. However, Washington went 74-38 over the last 112 games of the regular season -- that's not a small sample size, and perhaps we should have known they were the biggest threat to the Dodgers.

And, the Nationals will send Stephen Strasburg to the mound. So far in these playoffs, Strasburg has worked nine innings, allowing only one run on five hits. He has struck out 14 and walked nobody. He was the winning pitcher in Game 2 of this series against the Dodgers. Could he win this game Wednesday and help Washington shock the baseball world? You bet.

But he'll have to beat Walker Buehler, who is the Dodgers' ace, with all due respect to Clayton Kershaw. Buehler was the Game 1 winner in this series, when he tossed six innings of no-run, one-hit ball with eight strikeouts and three walks. It should be a great pitching matchup.

These days, they say fans love the long ball, and there are plenty of those in the modern game. Me personally, I like to see the top pitchers go head to head. I'm hoping to see that kind of baseball Wednesday.

Some photos from my recent trip to PNC Park in Pittsburgh

Hadn't had the chance to write about it until now, but we stopped in Pittsburgh on our way back from Cooperstown in July, and we took in a Pirates game at PNC Park on July 25.

The Cardinals beat the Pirates, 6-3, and we came away impressed with the ballpark experience there. They did it right when they built that place, and it was a good value too.

I got pretty good seats for $20 a ticket, and each ticket came with $10 "loaded" onto it for concessions. When I bought my lunch, the price was $13.50. I presented my ticket, and they took $10 off and charged me $3.50.

Good deal, huh?

We went to a game on a Thursday afternoon, but we got there the Wednesday night before. There was a night game going on, and it's awesome that you can see into the ballpark from the other side of the river.

Just for proof that I was actually there, here I am.

They have a really large statue of Willie Stargell outside one of the gates.

And, of course, the great Roberto Clemente also is honored with a statue.

Here's the view from behind home plate, with the skyline of Pittsburgh out beyond the right-field wall.

As I said, pretty good seats for $20.

One more shot that I took from my seat at the game. Nice view of the city, great sightlines, friendly people, reasonable prices ... if you have a chance to take in a game in Pittsburgh, I would recommend it.

Taking a baseball road trip that doesn't involve the crummy White Sox

The White Sox are 0-7 since the All-Star break after being swept in a four-game series at Kansas City this week.

Yes, the 36-62 Royals won four straight games against the Sox (42-51), who continue to find new lows in this interminable, hard-on-the-eyes rebuilding process.

But there is good news: I'm leaving town for a week, which means I won't have to watch or hear about this crappy baseball team for seven days. I'm taking a baseball trip that doesn't involve the Sox, and I'm very much looking forward to it.

My itinerary:

Sunday, July 20: Drive to Cleveland
Sunday, July 21: Royals vs. Indians at Progressive Field
Monday, July 22: Drive to Cooperstown, N.Y.
Tuesday, July 23: Visit National Baseball Hall of Fame
Wednesday, July 24: Drive to Pittsburgh
Thursday, July 25: Cardinals vs. Pirates at PNC Park
Friday, July 26: Drive home

I'm going to see a part of the country I haven't seen before, and visiting the Hall of Fame is a bucket list item. Can't wait.

Blogging will resume when I return home. Maybe the Sox will have won a game in the second half by then.

St. Louis Cardinals acquire Paul Goldschmidt from Arizona Diamondbacks in four-player trade

Paul Goldschmidt

The St. Louis Cardinals finished three games out of a wild-card spot and seven games back of the National League Central Division lead in 2018.

How should they make up that difference? Trading for the most complete first baseman in baseball is one way to start.

The Cardinals on Wednesday acquired Paul Goldschmidt from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for pitcher Luke Weaver, catcher Carson Kelly and infielder Andy Young.

I like this move for St. Louis, especially because they did not give up any of their elite prospects, and none of the players they sent to the Diamondbacks figured prominently in their 2019 plans.

Now, Goldschmidt only has one year remaining on his contract, so it's possible this is a one-year rental. But, what a rental it is. Goldschmidt has hit 33 or more home runs in three of the past four seasons, and he has driven in 110 or more runs in three of the past six seasons. His OPS has been .900 or better in five of his six full seasons in MLB, and it was .899 in the one season that it wasn't.

Since his first full season in 2012, Goldschmidt has posted a .400 on-base percentage and .534 slugging percentage, good for a .934 OPS. This is a topnotch middle-of-the-order run producer.

And, oh yeah, he's a three-time Gold Glove winner at first base. The Cardinals now have a much stronger defensive infield with Goldschmidt and second baseman Kolten Wong on the right side. This trade will move Matt Carpenter back to third base, and while I'm not a huge fan of Carpenter at third and Paul DeJong at shortstop -- at least from a defensive perspective --  St. Louis already is better than it was last season.

Can the Cardinals sign Goldschmidt, 32, beyond this year? It won't be easy, although they've traded for and then signed players to long-term deals in the past -- think Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds and Matt Holliday. St. Louis tried a similar strategy with Jason Heyward, although it didn't work. Heyward entered free agency and eventually signed with the Cubs. Although Heyward now wears a Cubs World Series ring, perhaps the Cardinals don't regret seeing Heyward walk -- he's mostly struggled with the bat in three years in Chicago.

But I digress. I'm a little bit surprised the Diamondbacks didn't get any star power for Goldschmidt. What they did get is, well, guys who are potential pieces to the puzzle.

Weaver, 25, struggled to a 7-11 record and a 4.95 ERA in his first full season with the Cardinals. He likely wouldn't have a spot in the St. Louis rotation for 2019, but he will have an opportunity in Arizona -- especially with Patrick Corbin now in Washington.

Kelly, 24, hasn't had much playing time in St. Louis -- 63 games over three seasons -- and his .154 career average in the major leagues fails to impress in a small sample size. He wasn't going to take Yadier Molina's job with the Cardinals, but should get a longer look in Arizona.

Young, 24, projects as a utility guy, although second base is his best position. He hit .289 at two levels in 2018, finishing the year at Double-A Springfield, where he hit .319 in 35 games.

It's possible that a couple of these guys will help Arizona, but I don't see a future All-Star in the group. St. Louis did well in this trade.

Now, can the Cardinals add the bullpen piece they need to become serious challengers to the Milwaukee Brewers and Cubs? How about Zach Britton or Andrew Miller?