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You can find all of last night's scores here (in case you can't watch the game on TV). Also, as it turns out, Mike Trout could be an Angel for life, and we've seen some of the best players around. I'm Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to Windup!
Network TV woes: Comcast/Xfinity pulls out of Bally Sports
After Diamond/Bally Sports dodged a last-minute bullet this offseason, we always knew the other shoe would drop. I didn't know when. Can Bally, the television home of 12 MLB teams and 26 NBA/NHL teams, avoid bankruptcy, or will his RSN world descend into turmoil?
What was unexpected was such a major development on May 1st.
Comcast, one of the three major cable providers that hosts Bally, removed the channel from its service due to a dispute between the two companies. Comcast wanted to move Bally into a higher (“premium”) tier, and issued a statement denouncing Bally and making reasonable efforts to negotiate with Comcast for an amount comparable to its contracts with Charter and DirecTV. claimed to have done so.
Seven teams, including the Twins, do not have the option of Bally's direct-to-consumer streaming service, meaning a large portion of the team's regional fan base has no way to legally watch games.
Evan Drellich has all the details here, as well as a separate article on how this legal proceeding could impact the league's plans for an uninterrupted streaming service. We asked Evan a few questions for Windup readers. I'll ask the question right after Ken's note.
Ken's notes: Mike Trout, a lifelong angel?
From my latest column:
There are no players that can't be traded, not even Mike Trout, who is old and injured and is signed through 2030. However, with Trout's recent injuries, the scary idea of him spending the rest of his career with the Los Angeles Angels is moving closer to reality.
Trout, who turns 33 on Aug. 7, is expected to miss at least eight to 12 weeks as he recovers from surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. He is guaranteed $35.45 million this season and each of the next six seasons.
Even if he returns by, say, August 1st and finishes well, what team is going to trust him this offseason and take on most or all of the remaining $212.7 million? Or? From 2021 to 2023, Trout missed more games than he played in. And given that he's historically been slow to heal, he's not on track to reverse that trend in 2024.
Of course, the Trout trade was far from happening. To the dismay of many opposing fans, the three-time MVP and 11-time All-Star adamantly rejected calls to leave Anaheim, spending his entire career with one team like his childhood idol Derek Jeter. He claims he wants to spend time. The Angels will win.
At the start of spring training, Trout said he was “pushing, pushing, pushing” the top brass to add free agents, perhaps a sign of his growing impatience. Well, the fuse needed to be shorter. He waited too long.
To make the trade scenario realistic, it was necessary to:
It was no surprise that the Angels would stink again.
Trout is a) back to near-MVP form, at least he had the potential to be before his knee injury; b) Request a trade, which even Angels fans would have understood, considering they haven't won a postseason game or been to the playoffs since 2014.
Angels owner Arte Moreno expressed an intention to not only grant Trout's wishes but also include a significant amount of cash in the trade, but that never materialized.
Q&A with Evan Drelich
Evan Drellich has been at the top of the RSN debacle since the beginning (here are some links if you need some background). He kindly agreed to answer some questions for us.
We read quotes from both sides and think about who is to blame. Have an opinion?
For now, the almighty dollar is to blame. Shipping disputes are not uncommon. Disney and Charter worked on this effort for some time last year. Of course, the real losers are the fans, viewers, and grandmas who just want to watch the game.
But as far as these things go, it's an interesting note. Comcast certainly knows that if Diamond wants to emerge from bankruptcy, it needs to get a deal done. Diamond certainly knows that it may try to make Comcast look like an outlier. That's because Diamond already has agreements with two other distributors. One company is DirecTV and the other is Charter. Take advantage of plays in every situation.
How big of a blow will this be to Barry's plans to avoid bankruptcy?
That's not great. Typically, when a major case like this reaches this stage, the company is in a pretty good position to emerge, with only a month and a half left before approval hearings for its exit plan from bankruptcy. That doesn't mean it's a guarantee. Diamond's plans included lofty predictions about the growth of the business as it emerged from bankruptcy, and MLB was very skeptical in court that Diamond could actually do what it said it would do.
But there's no question that Diamond, which locks in distribution deals with all major providers like Comcast, is key. Another key is that the Diamonds can make enough money from these deals to make money while paying rights fees to all teams. Therefore, overall, the outcome of the Comcast deal will be significant, particularly in relation to Diamond's other agreements with Charter and DirecTV. (Substantial details of these transactions are not being disclosed at this time.)
Taken together, are these numbers enough to force a court to confirm Diamond's plan to escape bankruptcy? We'll probably find out as early as June. An approval hearing will be held at that time. (But the delay shouldn't be too surprising.)
How long will MLB let this go before stepping in for the health of the sport?
MLB could theoretically try to pressure either party, but publicly it would try to remain neutral. The league will likely tread especially carefully given the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings with Diamond. Of the two groups, MLB has been doing better lately with Comcast, its Peacock broadcast partner in recent years, than with the Diamonds.
Leaderboard runner-up
Alec Bohm's batting average is just behind Mookie Betts. (Orlando Ramirez/USA Today)
We love statistical leaders, but it's always interesting to see who comes in second place. How close is he? Is he an unexpected person? Here are some statistical leaders and their closest competitors.
Batting average: Mookie Betts, Dodgers — .377
Right behind Betts is the Phillies' Alec Bohm, who is batting .362 with 12 doubles in 128 at-bats (after hitting 31 in 611 innings last year).
OPS: Betts — 1.104
Not really surprising. Marcell Ozuna of the Braves is second with a 1.027. Ozuna hasn't slowed down since last season, when he hit 40 home runs and had 100 RBIs.
Home runs: Gunnar Henderson, Orioles / Mike Trout, Angels — 10
Ozuna is tied for second here as well, with nine home runs matching the Red Sox' Tyler O'Neal. Remember last year when O'Neal was benched in St. Louis for “unacceptable” base running? Regardless, the Cardinals' 21 home runs this year rank last in baseball.
ERA: Shota Imanaga, Cubs — 0.78
Imanaga cannot be overlooked. Last night's seven scoreless innings tied him with Fernando Valenzuela (1981) for the lowest ERA after starting in just the sixth game of his career. In comparison, second-place Ranger Suarez looks almost mediocre with a 1.32 mark, leading a strong Phillies rotation.
Strikeouts: Tyler Glasnow, Dodgers – 53
2nd place: Phillies' Zach Wheeler, 52 years old. Did I mention their rotation is having a great year?
WAR*: Bet — 2.8
Henderson was the second most valuable player in baseball this year, leading the Orioles to the top of the AL East with 2.2 fWAR.
(*We use the FanGraphs version of WAR and totals are through Tuesday night's game)
No-strikeout record updated
Steven Kwan went 3-for-5 with no strikeouts in a 3-2 win against Houston last night! His record is now 62 Appearance of the plate. Kwan scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning, then made the catch to start the game-ending double play.
handshake and high five
Amid injuries, trades and roster changes, the Red Sox have been operating at the center of baseball's hurricane this year. They have won eight of their past 11 games.
He was suspended for Tuesday's brawl between the Brewers and Rays.
Good news for Minnesota. Their winning streak reached 10 games. Bad news: Byron Buxton left Wednesday's game with an apparent knee injury.
Grant Brisby compares the odds of a poker hand to the odds of a special play in baseball. Hearing the whole thing gave me a headache, but when he explained the probability that his two shuffled decks would end up in the same order, I had to go for a walk. Grant, please don't do something like this again.
Let's talk about Sonny Gray's fastball. No, he's one now.No, that other Another one. No…you know, he also has multiple sliders.
After losing again to the Marlins, the Rockies trailed in each of their 29 games.
Walker Buehler is scheduled to return to the Dodgers after recovering from Tommy John injury on Monday.
An Arizona beekeeper has his own baseball card.
You can purchase tickets for every MLB game here.
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(Top photo of Kyle Farmer being interviewed by Barrie Sports North: Steven Maturen/Getty Images)
