It’s that time again.  That’s right!  It’s time for a brand spanking new edition of my world famous This and That column!!  This time we will be digging into a little football, a little baseball, and a little basketball.  Sadly, there’s no hockey to talk about.  Well, without further ado or gilding the lily, lets jump right in. 

Same Old Same Old—The New York Yankees came out of the All-Star break looking good in a nice victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.  Cole looked like his old self (two starts in a row now) and they scored 6 runs.  It looked like the week off really did the team some good.  But then they kept playing games.  The next two games were more of the same as the pitching was not good enough and the team failed to score runs in a 9-1 and a 6-4 set of losses.  The worst part being the 9-1 game saw Nester Cortez, who had been great pitching at home, get lit up for 6 runs in 4.1 innings. If he can’t pitch at home or on the road, he is going to have to come out of the rotation. It will be interesting to see what will happen if/when Schmidt or Poteet gets healthy. Aside from Cole looking good again, the only other good thing to come out of these first three games in the second half is that Volpe has hit.  Hopefully this means he figured things out and will hit like he did earlier in the season.  Aside from that, everyone looks the same.   The Yankees remain 3 games behind the Orioles for first place but they are now just 3 games up in the wild card standings.  They need to turn things around in a hurry.  I keep saying, waiting for the trade dead line, a week from tomorrow, is going to be too late. 

Some more good news is that the Yankees should be getting healthy soon.  I was hoping Stanton would be in today’s line up but he is not.  He should be back soon and that will be such a boost to the lineup.  Just as importantly, Jon Berti is due back any day now.  I said before the season that he should be the everyday third baseman and DJ LeMahieu has done nothing but prove me right.  He would also be a great guy to bat leadoff.  That solves two problems with one guy.  Hopefully he will be back by the start of the road trip and he will hit as well as he usually does. 

If It Ain’t Broke—The Boston Celtics have signed Sam Houser to a 4-year, $45 mil contract extension.  Well deserved for the sharp shooter.  This means the Celtics have Tatum, Brown, White, Houser, Pritchard, and Holiday locked up for at least 4 more years.  Horford is on the last year of his deal and Porzingis has 2 years left.  Next year will not be a problem financially as most of the extensions do not kick in until the following year.  After that, things get interesting.  If the Celtics do decide to cut some payroll, Houser will be very tradable under that contract if a cheaper option (Sheierman?) presents itself. 

Oh, as far as that last Summer League game went, the only things that stuck out were Anton Watson started attacking the rim off the dribble.  This is something he hadn’t shown yet.  I really like this kid. And Jordan Walsh actually hit a three pointer after going 0-21 in the first 4 games.  So good for him.   

Deal, or No Deal—The San Francisco 49ers have still not come to a contract extension with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.  He and the rest of the Niners’ vets are scheduled to start training camp tomorrow so this could all change in a hurry.  Trade rumors have been flying around the outstanding wide out as of late but I do not think he will be moved.  If they were going to trade him it would have happened before this year’s draft.  If they were to move him, they need to get something back in return that can help them win a Super Bowl this year.  Future draft picks do not help this cause.  If he gets traded now it has to be for a player who can start for the Niners.  At this point in the year, I do not see a team giving up a starter for him when it would be hard to find a replacement.  Maybe there is a team out there who has a rookie coming in they think can replace a vet the Niners would be interested in.  That’s the only scenario I see where the niners would trade Aiyuk.  It makes more sense for them to let him play out the final year of his contract and try to win the ring then let him walk than it does to lose him for future assets.  Usually, I am against letting assets just walk but when you are a true championship contender, it’s a reasonable path to take. 

I was never expecting anything different from what has happened to take place.  I don’t know why but this is how all 49ers’ negotiations go. My guess is he will sign at some point today or tomorrow and not miss a day of camp.  To me the best move is to sign him to an extension and then next off-season, when the extension will kick in, trade Deebo Samuel.  I love Deebo and would rather keep them both but the NFL has a salary cap so you can’t keep everyone.  Aiyuk is the better receiver and should be healthier (I just jinxed him) because of the way Deebo plays.  Hopefully by next year Pearsall will be ready to step in as the number two guy.            

The Price is Right—There have been reports lately that the Yankees are now willing to move their number 2 prospect, Spencer Jones, at the deadline.  I am OK with this to an extent.  I have said before I would be OK with them moving on from Jones but they can’t just give him away.  The really can’t trade him for a rental.  Trading Jones for an over 30 guy who will only be on the team for 2 months would be a big mistake.  However, if they can get a young guy who is under contract for more than just this season, then I am all for it.  If you are going to move top prospects, that’s who you move them for.  It’s when teams get rentals for top guys that they regret it. Trading Jones for a rental is a desperate move.  This is why the Yankees really should have found a way to sign Soto during the break.  If they don’t have him locked up long term they will be desperate to win this season and make bad moves at the deadline in an attempt to not waste their one season with Soto.  

Word is they are looking at a couple of starters in trades for Jones.  I do not like this idea as I feel that their rotation isn’t the biggest problem and if they want to upgrade, they can do it in house when Clarke Schmidt and Cody Poteet get healthy.  Why give up prospects when you don’t have to?  Unless the trade would include Rodon and his awful contract heading out.  Then I would be OK with it.  As usual, it’s not who you trade, it’s who do you get back.  If the Yankees can move Jones for a really good young player with term (Mason Miller??), I am all for it.  If they trade him for a rental, it will just be another big mistake by Brian Cashman.