The best ad blocker out there now works on Safari. You can download uBlock Origin Lite from the App Store on Mac, iPhone, and iPad right now.
The new ad blocker, from uBlock Origin developer Raymond Hill, blocks ads on YouTube without any difficulty, something that many Safari ad blockers have struggled with lately. It also runs efficiently in my testing, which I did on my iPhone SE from 2022—browsing was noticeably snappier.
To get started, simply download the application from the App Store and open it. Then you will need to enable the extension in Safari.
On the Mac, this means opening Safari, clicking Safari > Settings in the menu bar, then heading to the Extensions tab and making sure uBlock Origin Lite is enabled. I also recommend enabling it in Private Browsing.
On an iPhone or iPad, this means opening the Settings app, going to Apps > Safari > Extensions, then making sure uBlock Origin Lite is turned on. Then go back to Safari, scroll down to and tap Content Blockers, and ensure that the Other Websites option is checked on.
After doing this, you can just browse the web with fewer ads. You can click the extension icon on the Mac toolbar to configure how strictly the blocking should apply on the current website. You can also access the settings from here, allowing you to choose a default filtering mode, decide whether pages should reload after changing the filtering mode, and whether the number of blocked requests should show up in the toolbar.
Credit: Justin Pot
You can also choose which filter lists should be applied to your web browsing. Some of the best known lists for blocking ads are enabled by default—you can optionally turn on lists for things like cookie pop-ups and social media widgets.
For the most part, though, you can just install this extension and never think about it again, which is how any good ad blocker should work—giving you the power to block ads without much thought while also making it possible for power users to tweak things. If you’re a dedicated Safari user, but want the best ad blockers out there, uBlock Origin Lite is a strong choice.
This is a nice bit of work by the Boston Celtics to upgrade while saving money, and the Jazz get a little bonus for helping out.
First, the Celtics are trading veteran Georges Niang and two second-round picks as a sweetener to the Utah Jazz for RJ Luis Jr., a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN. This was a salary dump move by the Celtics that gives them more room below the second apron of the luxury tax and saves them more than $40 million in salary and tax (due to the repeater tax), and it sends Niang back to the team he played four seasons with from 2018 through 2021.
Then the Celtics used that freed-up cap space to sign veteran big man Chris Boucher for the veteran minimum, a story also broken by ESPN’s Charania. This was an upgrade for Boston — Boucher was one of the best free agents still available. He is a veteran, rotation-level stretch four who averaged 10 points and 4.5 rebounds a game last season for Toronto, while shooting 36.3% on nearly four 3-pointers a game. On a Boston team that is a little thin across the front line, Boucher becomes a valuable player for them. Also, Boucher and Payton Pritchard were teammates for a season at Oregon.
Luis Jr. is on a two-way contract and will fill the Celtics’ final open two-way slot. Last season, he played at St. John’s, where he averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
Utah gets two second-round picks and brings in Niang using the John Collins trade exception they had. Niang is an expiring $8.
Niang, who is on an expiring $8.2 million contract, averaged 9.9 points a game last season between Cleveland and Atlanta, averaging 21 minutes a night off the bench (Niang ended up in Boston as part of the Kristap Porzingis to the Hawks trade). “The Minivan” is the kind of reliable veteran stretch four a playoff team likely will want to add to the roster, so look for the Jazz to flip him somewhere before the trade deadline.
Needing an improvement at center field, New York acquired Mullins from Baltimore at the trade deadline last week. The 30-year-old is having a bit of a down year hitting, however, one thing that stands out about his numbers is his high average against left-handed pitchers.
Mullins is batting .224 on the season, but slashing an impressive .291/.382/.465 with an .847 OPS against lefties.
Mendoza was asked about the center fielder’s success against left-handers, and because of that, why he wasn’t in Tuesday’s starting lineup against Cleveland LHP Logan Allen.
“He’s been pretty good against lefties, Mullins, I’m not going to lie,” Mendoza said. “And he will play against lefties. I just thought today was a good matchup for TT [Tyrone Taylor]. I’m going to continue to play all of them. I already have three lefties in the lineup: Nimms [Brandon Nimmo], [Juan] Soto, and [Jeff] McNeil. I just thought, looking at these guys’ splits, pitch shapes, and all that, I thought today was a good day for TT.”
Despite going with Taylor against the lefty on Tuesday, Mendoza made it clear that Mullins will play against LHPs and isn’t going to be in a platoon situation going forward.
“No, no. Cedric will play against lefties, too,” Mendoza said. “I just thought today was, looking what’s ahead and where we’re at, I thought it was a good day for TT. But Cedric, he’s not going to be in a strict platoon here where if we’re facing a lefty he’s not going to play; he will play.”
In comparison, the right-handed hitting Taylor is batting just .167 against lefties, .210 vs righties, and .199 overall on the season. Mullins, oddly for a lefty, is hitting .200 vs. right-handers, but does have 12 of his 15 home runs against them.
Diaz was named NL Reliever of the Month for July on Monday after recording seven saves over 11.0 innings without allowing an earned run. In fact, he hasn’t allowed an earned run at all since June 2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Mendoza praised Diaz for his recent dominance, including Monday’s effort, calling it the best stretch he’s seen from the closer since becoming manager of the club.
“Yeah it has to be since I’ve been here,” Mendoza said. “Because last year he was pretty good towards the end, but we were pushing him really hard. Like multiple innings and things like that.
“But now, just being able to watch him day in and day out pretty much, his ability to control the situation. We saw it last night — guy gets on, gets to third base with nobody out, and his ability to continue to make pitches. That’s what, for me, is pretty impressive.”
Diaz’s ERA now sits at 1.41 on the season over 44.2 IP with 67 strikeouts and a 0.92 WHIP. He’s 23-for-25 on save opportunities and has allowed only seven earned runs on the season.
Now that the dust has settled after a wildly busy trade deadline, we have a clearer understanding of the rosters teams will be deploying for the remainder of the season. Across the league, contending teams have addressed needs with fresh faces, while non-competitive clubs have shipped off older players, yielding playing time for younger ones.
Every summer, many players’ outlooks and the lens through which they’re viewed are altered by the whirlwind of trade activity. The fallout of the deadline can impact the trajectory of a player’s career in myriad ways, whether or not a player himself is traded. With that in mind, here are 10 players I’ll be watching closely down the stretch and how the deadline has impacted their roles and expectations moving forward.
While the undisputed headline of Houston’s trade deadline was its stunning reunion with Carlos Correa, Sánchez’s addition via trade with Miami is also a critical one for the Astros in their quest to secure yet another AL West title. With Kyle Tucker no longer around and star slugger Yordan Alvarez still on the injured list, the Astros’ lineup has lacked any semblance of left-handed power this season. No team has hit fewer lefty homers than Houston’s measly total of 12: three from Alvarez, seven from switch-hitting catcher Victor Caratini, two from Taylor Trammell.
It’s quite clear that Sánchez was added to address this severe hole in the roster. The 27-year-old is virtually unplayable against southpaws, but that’s just fine; he simply needs to mash right-handers when called upon to help balance out a lineup that has become troublingly lopsided. That Sánchez ended up being the only key Marlin shipped out at the deadline is also a compelling subplot, as the outfielder was one of the longest-tenured Fish but no longer fit on a roster that features a host of up-and-coming position players. Now Sánchez is in a completely new setting tasked with filling an ultra-specific role for a team set on competing for a championship. Can he rise to the occasion? We’re about to find out.
SP Dustin May, Boston Red Sox
One of the clear themes of this year’s deadline was the lack of starting pitching on the move, with interested teams largely failing to meet the sky-high asking prices for impact arms. Boston was one of the primary contenders seeking high-end controllable starting pitching that was unable to secure a deal. Instead, the Red Sox managed to reel in two pitchers with notably less fanfare in lefty reliever Steven Matz and May.
Interestingly, May — who has missed a ton of time due to injury over the past handful of years — had been one of the Dodgers’ most durable pitchers this season, but his inconsistency and the recent return of several higher-profile arms squeezed him out of the rotation. May faces significant questions about both his effectiveness (his 4.85 ERA ranks 73rd out of 85 pitchers with at least 100 innings) and how he’ll manage his burgeoning workload (he just crossed the 100-inning threshold for the first time since 2019). But now he gets a fresh start of sorts in a Red Sox rotation that is also seeking stability.
Dissatisfaction from the fan base regarding Boston’s inability to land a higher-caliber starter such as Joe Ryan is obviously not May’s responsibility, but he might bear the brunt of that if he’s unable to deliver reliable results. And even if Boston isn’t explicitly counting on him to start a playoff game, each regular-season outing down the stretch will be pivotal, considering the elevated stakes of the AL postseason race. Add the fact that May is scheduled to hit free agency this winter, and these next few months will have an enormous impact on where his career goes from here — arguably even more so than if he had remained a Dodger.
Cade Horton of the Cubs and Dustin May of the Red Sox could be surprise contributors to the rotations of playoff hopefuls down the stretch. (Stefan Milic/Yahoo Sports)
SP Cade Horton, Chicago Cubs
The Cubs were another team that reportedly made strong attempts to acquire impact starting pitching at the deadline, only to end up with a handful of rentals in Andrew Kittredge, Taylor Rogers and Michael Soroka. Soroka could be spotlighted for similar reasons to May, but I’ll instead turn my focus to the rookie Horton, whose spot in the Cubs’ rotation appears unbothered for now.
Horton has pitched quite well of late — four of his past five starts have been scoreless outings — but the Cubs might be facing a bit of a conundrum with him in the coming weeks. He has already thrown 102 ⅔ innings this season between the minors and majors, a massive increase over the 34 ⅓ frames he completed during an injury-marred 2024. That’s a considerable jump in workload year-over-year for a young pitcher, the kind that might need to be monitored as the season progresses.
With veterans Javier Assad and Jameson Taillon expected back in the coming weeks, perhaps Horton downshifts to a relief role down the stretch in an effort to manage his innings. On the flip side, Horton has looked like one of Chicago’s best rotation options at times, so the Cubs might face some tough decisions about how to deploy him over the next couple of months, decisions that will be made only more difficult by the Cubs’ not adding more rotation help at the deadline.
SP Cam Schlittler, New York Yankees
As evidenced by their bevy of moves to address their position-player depth and bullpen, the Yankees might not have viewed upgrading their rotation as a top priority at the deadline. But New York’s starting staff is an unproven cast of characters beyond the headlining duo of southpaws Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, with Schlittler the most anonymous hurler of the bunch.
That we are even discussing the 24-year-old rookie righty as a viable rotation option is both a credit to his development and the result of a remarkable turn of events, considering the number of arms that were ahead of him on the depth chart entering the season. Yet here we are, with Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt out for the season due to elbow surgery and veteran Marcus Stroman freshly released, leaving Schlittler a place in the rotation with the Yankees in the thick of a playoff race.
Luis Gil’s recent return from injury is encouraging, but it might take a while for him to rediscover his form. Will Warren, another rookie, has consistently found whiffs but not always enough outs. That leaves Schlittler and his high-90s heater as an unlikely key character for the Yankees just a handful of starts into his major-league career, even if the restocked bullpen should ease the burden on the starting staff to some extent. How Schlittler looks with each progressive outing could play a major role in determining the club’s outlook come October.
2B Cole Young, Seattle Mariners
For the past two months, half of the Mariners’ infield has consisted of rookies, with Young at the keystone and Ben Williamson at third base. Williamson acquitted himself well, considering his relative lack of minor-league experience, but his minimal offensive production ultimately made his position one worth upgrading, which Seattle accomplished with the acquisition of Eugenio Suárez.
Young, meanwhile, arrived with much more acclaim than Williamson as a former first-round pick and top-100 prospect, but it took him some time to adjust to the highest level. He posted a .541 OPS over his first 30 games but seems to be finding his footing of late, hitting .264/.391/.491 in his past 18 games. That includes a titanic, 456-foot home run last week against Texas, a rare display of raw power for a hitter known more for his contact ability and advanced approach.
On paper, Young — the fourth-youngest position player in the big leagues, older than only Jackson Holliday, Roman Anthony and Jackson Chourio — is the most glaring weak spot in a suddenly loaded lineup with the additions of Suarez and another All-Star in first baseman Josh Naylor. But if Young can provide quality at-bats and even league-average production at the bottom of the order, it would make this offense all the more dangerous with October fast approaching. He might not be in Rookie of the Year discussions, but Young is one of the more important first-year players on any contending team right now.
SP Quinn Priester, Milwaukee Brewers
Acquired from Boston in a trade back in April, Priester might not count as a deadline acquisition but has been a tremendously valuable in-season add for the first-place Brew Crew. The addition of a cutter and the complete removal of his four-seamer in favor of his sinker have helped Priester become the mid-rotation workhorse scouts envisioned when he was a first-round pick out of high school back in 2019.
The Brewers have won Priester’s past 12 starts — a span in which he has posted a 2.45 ERA in 69 ⅔ innings — and Milwaukee’s decision to trade away Nestor Cortes Jr. signified the team’s confidence in Priester as the fifth starter. The 24-year-old right-hander might not rack up whiffs like his rotation mate, rookie sensation Jacob Misiorowski, but Priester is an elite groundball-getter and an ultra-dependable presence whenever he’s on the mound. He has suddenly become a crucial cog in Milwaukee’s push for the NL Central title and could be a mainstay in the Brewers’ rotation for years to come.
1B/3B Coby Mayo, Baltimore Orioles
With Ryan Mountcastle still on the injured list and Ryan O’Hearn dealt away, the runway is officially and finally clear for former top prospect Mayo to get regular reps at first base and DH for the Orioles. But this window will not be open forever. The next wave of heralded young Baltimore bats (Samuel Basallo, Dylan Beavers) is already knocking on the big-league door and should be arriving in search of at-bats sooner rather than later, making it imperative for Mayo to seize the opportunity at hand before he ends up in limbo like the similarly hyped Heston Kjerstad.
The 23-year-old has proven virtually all he can in Triple-A, but his dwindling defensive versatility — he has played just three games at third base and zero in the outfield with Baltimore this season — and lack of consistent production in the big leagues thus far paint an ominous picture for his future in the organization. But for a hitter as talented as Mayo, let’s not be too hasty in discarding the possibility that his breakout is just around the corner.
SS Brooks Lee, Minnesota Twins
Another player who should benefit from the deadline departures around him, Lee is primed to take over at shortstop full-time for the Twins in the wake of Correa’s trade to Houston. With the pitchers Minnesota opted not to trade (Ryan, Pablo Lopez, Bailey Ober) plus the new arms brought in (Taj Bradley, Mick Abel, Kendry Rojas), it’s reasonable to hold a favorable projection for this Twins rotation, lending optimism that contention in 2026 is not so farfetched, even after a dramatic amount of roster turnover at this year’s deadline.
However, beyond the face of the franchise Byron Buxton, it’s less clear who the foundational pieces are on the offensive side, and Lee’s seemingly stagnant development as a sophomore is a big part of that sobering reality. The switch-hitting Lee has struggled to find consistency from either side of the plate and has also rated poorly with the glove, leaving a lot to be desired from a player who was drafted eighth in 2022 and projected to be a core piece to build around in the infield. Lee still has a lot to prove in order to justify those forecasts, and now the pressure is on him to elevate his game or risk falling to the periphery of the organization’s plans moving forward.
INF Ronny Mauricio, New York Mets
There was some speculation that the Mets could deal from their surplus of young infielders (Mauricio, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, Luisangel Acuña) at the deadline to upgrade the roster elsewhere, but president of baseball operations David Stearns opted to trade away exclusively prospects, leaving this widely discussed group of players intact for at least the remainder of this season.
Since returning in June from the ACL injury that cost him all of 2024, Mauricio has been the primary third baseman against right-handers, with Baty at second base, Vientos handling the bulk of DH reps and Acuña now back in Triple-A. Vientos was a difference-maker with the bat last season but has taken a sizable, if predictable, step back this year and was never a net positive with the glove. Baty, to his credit, has become a viable role player. But Mauricio stands out as the most intriguing of this group, the one we still know the least about at the major-league level and, in turn, the one who is easiest to dream on in terms of his potential to make an impact on both sides of the ball.
At his best, Mauricio could be a game-changing force toward the bottom of the Mets’ lineup, one whose excellent arm could shine at the hot corner. Whether he projects as the Mets’ long-term answer at third alongside Francisco Lindor at shortstop is a much larger question for the winter, but for now, Mauricio has the opportunity to play a huge role for the Mets in their quest to claim their first division title in a decade.
INF JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals
Let’s finish with a player yet to make his MLB debut in Wetherholt, who has been absolutely fantastic in his first full pro season after being selected seventh overall by St. Louis in last year’s draft. A shortstop by nature who has also spent time at second base, Wetherholt played his first professional game at third over the weekend for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, a significant development when it comes to projecting his fit in the Cardinals’ infield moving forward.
As expected, the Cardinals traded away a handful of pitchers at this year’s deadline but opted to hang on to All-Star second baseman Brendan Donovan, despite inquiries from rival clubs about his availability. Donovan and the slick-gloved Masyn Winn are a terrific tandem up the middle for St. Louis to build around, but Wetherholt has raked his way into the conversation (1.179 OPS in 16 Triple-A games), necessitating an expansion of his defensive range to allow for a possible promotion to the big leagues before the end of the season. It might come amid another mediocre season for St. Louis, but Wetherholt’s call-up is one to anticipate among top prospects over the season’s final two months, and he is unquestionably a hitter to get excited about entering 2026.
Now that the dust has settled after a wildly busy trade deadline, we have a clearer understanding of the rosters teams will be deploying for the remainder of the season. Across the league, contending teams have addressed needs with fresh faces, while non-competitive clubs have shipped off older players, yielding playing time for younger ones.
Every summer, many players’ outlooks and the lens through which they’re viewed are altered by the whirlwind of trade activity. The fallout of the deadline can impact the trajectory of a player’s career in myriad ways, whether or not a player himself is traded. With that in mind, here are 10 players I’ll be watching closely down the stretch and how the deadline has impacted their roles and expectations moving forward.
While the undisputed headline of Houston’s trade deadline was its stunning reunion with Carlos Correa, Sánchez’s addition via trade with Miami is also a critical one for the Astros in their quest to secure yet another AL West title. With Kyle Tucker no longer around and star slugger Yordan Alvarez still on the injured list, the Astros’ lineup has lacked any semblance of left-handed power this season. No team has hit fewer lefty homers than Houston’s measly total of 12: three from Alvarez, seven from switch-hitting catcher Victor Caratini, two from Taylor Trammell.
It’s quite clear that Sánchez was added to address this severe hole in the roster. The 27-year-old is virtually unplayable against southpaws, but that’s just fine; he simply needs to mash right-handers when called upon to help balance out a lineup that has become troublingly lopsided. That Sánchez ended up being the only key Marlin shipped out at the deadline is also a compelling subplot, as the outfielder was one of the longest-tenured Fish but no longer fit on a roster that features a host of up-and-coming position players. Now Sánchez is in a completely new setting tasked with filling an ultra-specific role for a team set on competing for a championship. Can he rise to the occasion? We’re about to find out.
SP Dustin May, Boston Red Sox
One of the clear themes of this year’s deadline was the lack of starting pitching on the move, with interested teams largely failing to meet the sky-high asking prices for impact arms. Boston was one of the primary contenders seeking high-end controllable starting pitching that was unable to secure a deal. Instead, the Red Sox managed to reel in two pitchers with notably less fanfare in lefty reliever Steven Matz and May.
Interestingly, May — who has missed a ton of time due to injury over the past handful of years — had been one of the Dodgers’ most durable pitchers this season, but his inconsistency and the recent return of several higher-profile arms squeezed him out of the rotation. May faces significant questions about both his effectiveness (his 4.85 ERA ranks 73rd out of 85 pitchers with at least 100 innings) and how he’ll manage his burgeoning workload (he just crossed the 100-inning threshold for the first time since 2019). But now he gets a fresh start of sorts in a Red Sox rotation that is also seeking stability.
Dissatisfaction from the fan base regarding Boston’s inability to land a higher-caliber starter such as Joe Ryan is obviously not May’s responsibility, but he might bear the brunt of that if he’s unable to deliver reliable results. And even if Boston isn’t explicitly counting on him to start a playoff game, each regular-season outing down the stretch will be pivotal, considering the elevated stakes of the AL postseason race. Add the fact that May is scheduled to hit free agency this winter, and these next few months will have an enormous impact on where his career goes from here — arguably even more so than if he had remained a Dodger.
Cade Horton of the Cubs and Dustin May of the Red Sox could be surprise contributors to the rotations of playoff hopefuls down the stretch. (Stefan Milic/Yahoo Sports)
SP Cade Horton, Chicago Cubs
The Cubs were another team that reportedly made strong attempts to acquire impact starting pitching at the deadline, only to end up with a handful of rentals in Andrew Kittredge, Taylor Rogers and Michael Soroka. Soroka could be spotlighted for similar reasons to May, but I’ll instead turn my focus to the rookie Horton, whose spot in the Cubs’ rotation appears unbothered for now.
Horton has pitched quite well of late — four of his past five starts have been scoreless outings — but the Cubs might be facing a bit of a conundrum with him in the coming weeks. He has already thrown 102 ⅔ innings this season between the minors and majors, a massive increase over the 34 ⅓ frames he completed during an injury-marred 2024. That’s a considerable jump in workload year-over-year for a young pitcher, the kind that might need to be monitored as the season progresses.
With veterans Javier Assad and Jameson Taillon expected back in the coming weeks, perhaps Horton downshifts to a relief role down the stretch in an effort to manage his innings. On the flip side, Horton has looked like one of Chicago’s best rotation options at times, so the Cubs might face some tough decisions about how to deploy him over the next couple of months, decisions that will be made only more difficult by the Cubs’ not adding more rotation help at the deadline.
SP Cam Schlittler, New York Yankees
As evidenced by their bevy of moves to address their position-player depth and bullpen, the Yankees might not have viewed upgrading their rotation as a top priority at the deadline. But New York’s starting staff is an unproven cast of characters beyond the headlining duo of southpaws Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, with Schlittler the most anonymous hurler of the bunch.
That we are even discussing the 24-year-old rookie righty as a viable rotation option is both a credit to his development and the result of a remarkable turn of events, considering the number of arms that were ahead of him on the depth chart entering the season. Yet here we are, with Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt out for the season due to elbow surgery and veteran Marcus Stroman freshly released, leaving Schlittler a place in the rotation with the Yankees in the thick of a playoff race.
Luis Gil’s recent return from injury is encouraging, but it might take a while for him to rediscover his form. Will Warren, another rookie, has consistently found whiffs but not always enough outs. That leaves Schlittler and his high-90s heater as an unlikely key character for the Yankees just a handful of starts into his major-league career, even if the restocked bullpen should ease the burden on the starting staff to some extent. How Schlittler looks with each progressive outing could play a major role in determining the club’s outlook come October.
2B Cole Young, Seattle Mariners
For the past two months, half of the Mariners’ infield has consisted of rookies, with Young at the keystone and Ben Williamson at third base. Williamson acquitted himself well, considering his relative lack of minor-league experience, but his minimal offensive production ultimately made his position one worth upgrading, which Seattle accomplished with the acquisition of Eugenio Suárez.
Young, meanwhile, arrived with much more acclaim than Williamson as a former first-round pick and top-100 prospect, but it took him some time to adjust to the highest level. He posted a .541 OPS over his first 30 games but seems to be finding his footing of late, hitting .264/.391/.491 in his past 18 games. That includes a titanic, 456-foot home run last week against Texas, a rare display of raw power for a hitter known more for his contact ability and advanced approach.
On paper, Young — the fourth-youngest position player in the big leagues, older than only Jackson Holliday, Roman Anthony and Jackson Chourio — is the most glaring weak spot in a suddenly loaded lineup with the additions of Suarez and another All-Star in first baseman Josh Naylor. But if Young can provide quality at-bats and even league-average production at the bottom of the order, it would make this offense all the more dangerous with October fast approaching. He might not be in Rookie of the Year discussions, but Young is one of the more important first-year players on any contending team right now.
SP Quinn Priester, Milwaukee Brewers
Acquired from Boston in a trade back in April, Priester might not count as a deadline acquisition but has been a tremendously valuable in-season add for the first-place Brew Crew. The addition of a cutter and the complete removal of his four-seamer in favor of his sinker have helped Priester become the mid-rotation workhorse scouts envisioned when he was a first-round pick out of high school back in 2019.
The Brewers have won Priester’s past 12 starts — a span in which he has posted a 2.45 ERA in 69 ⅔ innings — and Milwaukee’s decision to trade away Nestor Cortes Jr. signified the team’s confidence in Priester as the fifth starter. The 24-year-old right-hander might not rack up whiffs like his rotation mate, rookie sensation Jacob Misiorowski, but Priester is an elite groundball-getter and an ultra-dependable presence whenever he’s on the mound. He has suddenly become a crucial cog in Milwaukee’s push for the NL Central title and could be a mainstay in the Brewers’ rotation for years to come.
1B/3B Coby Mayo, Baltimore Orioles
With Ryan Mountcastle still on the injured list and Ryan O’Hearn dealt away, the runway is officially and finally clear for former top prospect Mayo to get regular reps at first base and DH for the Orioles. But this window will not be open forever. The next wave of heralded young Baltimore bats (Samuel Basallo, Dylan Beavers) is already knocking on the big-league door and should be arriving in search of at-bats sooner rather than later, making it imperative for Mayo to seize the opportunity at hand before he ends up in limbo like the similarly hyped Heston Kjerstad.
The 23-year-old has proven virtually all he can in Triple-A, but his dwindling defensive versatility — he has played just three games at third base and zero in the outfield with Baltimore this season — and lack of consistent production in the big leagues thus far paint an ominous picture for his future in the organization. But for a hitter as talented as Mayo, let’s not be too hasty in discarding the possibility that his breakout is just around the corner.
SS Brooks Lee, Minnesota Twins
Another player who should benefit from the deadline departures around him, Lee is primed to take over at shortstop full-time for the Twins in the wake of Correa’s trade to Houston. With the pitchers Minnesota opted not to trade (Ryan, Pablo Lopez, Bailey Ober) plus the new arms brought in (Taj Bradley, Mick Abel, Kendry Rojas), it’s reasonable to hold a favorable projection for this Twins rotation, lending optimism that contention in 2026 is not so farfetched, even after a dramatic amount of roster turnover at this year’s deadline.
However, beyond the face of the franchise Byron Buxton, it’s less clear who the foundational pieces are on the offensive side, and Lee’s seemingly stagnant development as a sophomore is a big part of that sobering reality. The switch-hitting Lee has struggled to find consistency from either side of the plate and has also rated poorly with the glove, leaving a lot to be desired from a player who was drafted eighth in 2022 and projected to be a core piece to build around in the infield. Lee still has a lot to prove in order to justify those forecasts, and now the pressure is on him to elevate his game or risk falling to the periphery of the organization’s plans moving forward.
INF Ronny Mauricio, New York Mets
There was some speculation that the Mets could deal from their surplus of young infielders (Mauricio, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, Luisangel Acuña) at the deadline to upgrade the roster elsewhere, but president of baseball operations David Stearns opted to trade away exclusively prospects, leaving this widely discussed group of players intact for at least the remainder of this season.
Since returning in June from the ACL injury that cost him all of 2024, Mauricio has been the primary third baseman against right-handers, with Baty at second base, Vientos handling the bulk of DH reps and Acuña now back in Triple-A. Vientos was a difference-maker with the bat last season but has taken a sizable, if predictable, step back this year and was never a net positive with the glove. Baty, to his credit, has become a viable role player. But Mauricio stands out as the most intriguing of this group, the one we still know the least about at the major-league level and, in turn, the one who is easiest to dream on in terms of his potential to make an impact on both sides of the ball.
At his best, Mauricio could be a game-changing force toward the bottom of the Mets’ lineup, one whose excellent arm could shine at the hot corner. Whether he projects as the Mets’ long-term answer at third alongside Francisco Lindor at shortstop is a much larger question for the winter, but for now, Mauricio has the opportunity to play a huge role for the Mets in their quest to claim their first division title in a decade.
INF JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals
Let’s finish with a player yet to make his MLB debut in Wetherholt, who has been absolutely fantastic in his first full pro season after being selected seventh overall by St. Louis in last year’s draft. A shortstop by nature who has also spent time at second base, Wetherholt played his first professional game at third over the weekend for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, a significant development when it comes to projecting his fit in the Cardinals’ infield moving forward.
As expected, the Cardinals traded away a handful of pitchers at this year’s deadline but opted to hang on to All-Star second baseman Brendan Donovan, despite inquiries from rival clubs about his availability. Donovan and the slick-gloved Masyn Winn are a terrific tandem up the middle for St. Louis to build around, but Wetherholt has raked his way into the conversation (1.179 OPS in 16 Triple-A games), necessitating an expansion of his defensive range to allow for a possible promotion to the big leagues before the end of the season. It might come amid another mediocre season for St. Louis, but Wetherholt’s call-up is one to anticipate among top prospects over the season’s final two months, and he is unquestionably a hitter to get excited about entering 2026.
When ChatGPT officially launched in late 2022, it kicked off a historic AI race we’re still living through today. The following year saw most of the biggest tech companies launching their own AI products: Google released Bard (now Gemini), Microsoft debuted Copilot, and Anthropic dropped Claude, even as OpenAI only continued to iterate on ChatGPT. One of the biggest players was infamously absent from this roster, however: Apple.
Despite being among the most valuable companies in the world, Apple has had a rough go of it when it comes to AI. Its big push into the space didn’t come in 2023 at all, but in 2024. Even then, Apple Intelligence has been a bit of a disaster. The company’s ostensible show-stopping feature, an overhauled, AI-powered Siri, was supposed to debut with iOS 18, but we’re still waiting—and it won’t arrive with iOS 26 this fall.
Apple does have generative AI features you can use today, including an image generator, a writing assistant, and an image editor. But what Apple Intelligence lacks is a dedicated chatbot: Siri will not engage in a conversation with you, and ChatGPT integration with iOS 18 is skewed more towards assisting you with tasks than holding a dialogue. If you want a chatbot experience on your iPhone, you need to use one of the dedicated third-party services available on the App Store or on the web.
Apple’s new “chatbot”
That’s now changing, however—at least, as long as you only want to chat about technical issues. Apple recently updated its Apple Support app with a new “automated chat feature.” Indeed, if you tap on the “Chat” tab, you’ll be greeted by a “Chat with Support” splash screen that confirms the feature is experimental and in early preview.
MacRumors originally spotted the update, as well as a change to the company’s Terms of Use for the Support Assistant, which now reads: “Support Assistant uses generative models…You understand and agree that generative models may occasionally generate incorrect, misleading, incomplete, offensive, or harmful outputs.”
When you start a chat, you’ll see a similar warning at the top of the page: “You are chatting with Apple’s automated Support Assistant. This experimental feature may make mistakes. Verify important information.” From here, it’s like any chatbot experience you’ve probably had before—only much more limited in terms of topics. As advertised, the bot is really only concerned with helping you with your tech issues, and to that end, it actually seems to work well.
I struck up a conversation with it, pretending my iPhone was running hot, and it listed some scenarios in which that could happen, and asked whether I received a temperature warning or whether it was just warm to the touch. I went with the latter, which prompted the bot to ask if the phone was experiencing any other issues, like screen dimming or slowdowns. I reported my iPhone was running slow as well, and the bot suggested it could be an app running haywire, and offered specific instructions for force-quitting an app.
In another attempt, I acted like my MacBook Pro’s fans were running too fast. I was surprised to see the bot ask which of the two MacBook Pros attached to my Apple Account was having the issue (it noted the newer Pro was still covered under AppleCare+). I decided to say my older MacBook Pro was the one with the issue. After I told the bot the fans were not blocked, it offered detailed instructions on resetting the System Management Controller (SMC), a common piece of advice for resetting functions like fan speed on Intel Macs.
These are simple tests, but I’m honestly kind of impressed. Apple has a huge backlog of support articles to lean on, and it makes sense to be able to share these pieces of advice as customers ask relevant questions in real time, and the experience is pretty smooth. Throughout the exchange, the bot offers links out to different apps and services: If you’re asking about a broken iPad display, it’ll offer you an in-app setup experience to book a repair appointment. If you’re asking about a buying decision, it might offer a link to the Apple Store app.
I don’t have a real tech issue to test the bot’s usefulness, so I can’t really put it through its paces, but I’d definitely try it the next time I have a serious problem with one of my Apple devices.
Don’t expect more than tech support
If you try to talk to the bot about anything other than Apple tech support, you’ll be hit with the following: “I cannot help with that. I can answer questions or offer help with certain Apple products and services.” All of my attempts to chat with the bot about things you might ask ChatGPT failed. The bot doesn’t appreciate levity, either: When I told it my iPhone was running hot again, and it asked what I was doing just before I noticed it, I said “putting it in the microwave.” The bot told me to call 911 if this was an emergency, and gave me the option to talk to a human representative.
Apple seems to have implemented this bot with serious guardrails to prevent misuse, as I can’t get it to take the bait for anything outside the scope of tech support. Maybe someone out there with more experience in manipulating LLMs can engineer a prompt clever enough to bypass these restrictions, and I’d love to see how Apple’s bot would fare. But for now, the only way to experience Apple’s first generative AI chatbot is to ask it about your Apple devices. How fitting.
I was poking around on Poshmark last night like I always do, looking to see if I could make offers to interested buyers or find other ways to promote my listings, when I saw a button on my profile I had never tapped before. That isn’t the first time I’ve run across an unknown button, and the last time it happened I found a bunch of useful features that have helped me boost sales, so I hit this one right away. Simply called My sales report, the menu gave me the option to download all of my sales data into a spreadsheet. I’ve been analyzing the resulting export all morning, and I’m thrilled with how helpful it is. Here’s what you need to know.
How to download your Poshmark sales data
Exporting my sales data was simple (and reminiscent of when I did the same thing for my Peloton data). I tapped my Profile button on the bottom right of the Poshmark app, then scrolled down to My seller tools and found My sales report within. From there, you’ll have three options: Last full year, Year to date, and Custom range. After selecting one (and, if you choose to use a custom range, inputting it), all that’s left to do is hit Email report. For me, the reports I’ve generated all came in under three minutes.
Credit: Lindsey Ellefson
You can also request these using a browser. Tap your Profile picture on the top right, then Order activity. Find My sales report in the left-side menu and follow the same steps as before.
The link to download each report came to my email inbox. After downloading the CSV file, I stuck it in my Google Drive so I could open it in Google Sheets.
What the data includes
The spreadsheet this generates includes a lot of information, including:
Whether the order was made in a bundle with other listings from your storefront
Whether the order was purchased after a discount offer was made, either by you or the buyer
Whether the item was NWT, or “new with tags”
The order price
The lowest price you ever had the item listed for
Any shipping you paid (if you offered a shipping discount to the buyer, which the seller covers with their own earnings)
Your total earnings
The state the buyer lives in
Their zip code
Their username
The sales tax paid by the buyer
Why this data is valuable
I am a dedicated Poshmark user, but I’m not a full-time seller or anything resembling a professional. All I do is sell my own stuff so I can get new stuff, relying on my own version of the “one in, one out” decluttering method. I don’t go thrifting to find clothes to sell, take high-quality photos, or really do much of anything serious or special, but I still sell enough that I’m making two to four trips to the post office in an average week. This isn’t my actual job or a real money-making endeavor for me, but it is generating payment consistently, so it’s good for me to pay attention to any trends in my selling that I might not be noticing in real time. I might as well optimize my approach to the extent possible, even though I’m pretty casual as far as sellers go. Still, I’ve been on Posh for over a decade and only really got serious with my sales in 2023, so I created a custom range for two and a half years when I downloaded my data.
Right away, I identified some valuable categories in the data. The listing date and order date are pretty key because they can give you insight into how long things are sitting in your storefront without being sold. By using the spreadsheet to figure out how many days were between listing and sale for each sold product, then sorting them by lowest to highest, you can get an idea of which brands or categories you’re selling are more popular. Then, you can list more of those kinds of things.
I was also interested in the discrepancy between the final price that was paid and the lowest price the listing ever was. The majority of my sales have been made after I sent the buyer a discount offer or they sent me one and I accepted it, so seeing how big the difference really is between what I want to earn on a sale and what I actually end up earning is valuable. I do wish, however, there was a column dedicated to highest listed price to accompany the data Poshmark provides on lowest listed price. I’d be interested in knowing how big the differences between what I originally valued an item at, how low I discounted it after it didn’t sell, and what I ultimately accepted for it are.
Credit: Lindsey Ellefson
I was also interested in the details of which states my shipped sales go to most often. I made a quick bar chart to show me which states have the most buyers for me and found that I’ve sent a ton to California. I don’t really know where my sales go most of the time because I use the QR code Poshmark generates when I make a sale and just show it to the post office cashier; I never print labels myself, let alone actually look at them. Other popular destinations for my goods, unsurprisingly, included other states with high populations, like Pennsylvania, New York, and Texas—but I’ve also made eight sales to Wisconsin, which was fun to learn. There isn’t much I can do with this data, considering I have no way to target buyers in certain regions, but I did find it interesting.
I repeated that process on the column containing my most-sold brands. I knew SHEIN and other fast fashion would be well-represented because I have seen such an uptick in interest in those since tariffs went into place, and other results weren’t surprising either: Higher-end goods from Gucci and Louis Vuitton have sold more than, say, Gymshark or Salt Life, but there’s probably some selection bias in there, since I’m more likely to list the products I know will bring in higher amounts of money. Still, it was validating to see all the random and unexpected brands that have sold. It reminded me that there’s value in listing any and everything since somewhere out there, a potential buyer does want it.
I’ll spend some time making detailed graphs over the next few days so I can really pinpoint what I should be listing and promoting, but even from a high level, the data here is useful. I did notice that though I set my end point on the date range to yesterday, the last listed sale in the data set I received is from two weeks ago, so there’s a delay in reflection. I’ve made a significant number of sales since then, partly thanks to my decision to spend a little money promoting my listings, so I’m eager to see the breakdown of those sales factor into my overall stats. I’m thinking, then, I’ll need to download this every month or so to make sure I have the best and most up-to-date information on trends as they relate to my sales. Honestly, I’m kind of excited to do it.
MILWAUKEE (AP) Maybe the Home Run Derby doesn’t have to be limited to All-Star weekend.
The Milwaukee Brewers had Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and several other former players competing in an alumni home run derby that followed a game with the Miami Marlins last month. The promotion helped draw a sellout crowd of 41,944 fans, with nearly all of them sticking around to watch the postgame event.
Other clubs noticed, too.
“I thought it was a great idea and applaud them,” Arizona Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall said. “I believe all of us will be considering something similar.”
Brewers manager Pat Murphy is among those already has been conjuring up ways to expand on this idea.
“I think it just opens the door,” Murphy said. “Can you imagine the Brewers versus the Cubs home run derby – their three legends versus legends of ours. You know what I mean? Can you imagine that happening around the league?”
The Brewers’ home run derby occurred 11 days after Seattle’s Cal Raleigh won Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby and 10 days after the All-Star Game was decided on a swing-off. With the game tied 6-6 after nine innings, three batters from each league took three swings and Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber homered three times to give the NL a 4-3 victory.
Brewers president of business operations Rick Schlesinger said a half-dozen MLB teams reached out after their alumni home run derby to get information on how well it had worked.
Milwaukee’s promotion was part of a 25th-anniversary celebration of American Family Field. Keon Broxton, who played for the Brewers from 2016-18, won the event and recreated Fielder’s most famous home-run celebration by standing tall at home while the teammates surrounding him fell back like a collection of bowling pins.
“It was awesome,” Broxton said afterward.
Milwaukee wasn’t the first team to do this kind of promotion. The Houston Astros staged their own alumni home run derby events in 2018 and 2019. The Atlanta Braves had an alumni softball home run derby last year.
The format represents a different way to welcome back former players rather than having the traditional Old Timers’ Day games from yesteryear. The New York Yankees are holding their first Old Timers’ Day game since 2019 on Aug. 9, and the New York Mets are having an alumni game Sept. 13.
But the Brewers’ event last weekend generated plenty of national attention, particularly when highlights aired showing how the stands stayed packed throughout the event.
“The guys that were all here, we all said we’d be back for anything like that, whether it’s something like what Murph suggested or even keeping it in house and playing a couple-inning game … maybe guys from 2005-10 against guys from 2010-15,” said Casey McGehee, who played for the Brewers from 2009-11 and participated in the home run derby. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity for some really cool stuff to come from it.”
Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said he didn’t get a chance to watch the alumni derby that followed his team’s game in Milwaukee, but he liked Murphy’s idea about branching it out.
“A big part of the beauty of our sport is how you remember those who played before, the history of our game and had success for your organization or those who made impacts throughout the league,” McCullough said. “So anytime we get a chance to celebrate those who did meaningful things, I’m all for it.”
The trick in putting together an alumni home-run derby is finding the right participants. They must be old enough to have finished playing but remain young enough to still manage to hit batting-practice pitches out of a major league stadium.
The Brewers didn’t put up makeshift fences in the outfield for this event to make home runs easier, and the former players’ swings weren’t leaving the ballpark as often as when they were in the big leagues.
McGehee believes future home run derby promotions could feature more power than what the ex-Brewers showcased last weekend. McGehee said he tried working on his swing before last week’s event, but family obligations got in the way.
If he gets another invitation, McGehee expects to be more prepared.
“I think knowing what we know now, the product would probably even get better because we saw how cool that was,” McGehee said. “I think people would be carving out pretty significant parts of their days to get themselves ready to roll.”
The Boston Celtics are sending recently acquired forward Georges Niang and two future second-round picks to the Utah Jazz for rookie wing RJ Luis Jr., according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Niang, who previously played in Utah from 2017-2021, returns to the Jazz, and his more than $8 million salary goes into the Jazz’s massive trade exception from the John Collins deal, giving the Celtics more financial breathing room under the second apron, Charania reported Tuesday.
In other words, the Jazz had financial flexibility to take on a traded player and their salary, granting another team cap relief — in this case, the Celtics — in exchange for future draft assets as well.
In addition to dumping Niang’s salary, the Celtics received an intriguing prospect in Luis. The 6-foot-7, 215-pound wing is the reigning Big East Player of the Year and went undrafted despite an impressive final season at St. John’s, where he averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for a Red Storm team that won 31 games and was a No. 2 seed in this year’s NCAA tournament.
Luis signed a two-way deal with the Jazz but now will try to carve out a role in Boston. The Celtics are also signing free agent forward Chris Boucher to a one-year, $3.3 million guaranteed contract, Charania reported Tuesday.
Boucher was the Raptors’ last remaining member of their 2019 NBA title team. While never averaging more than 13.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in a single season of his seven-season Raptors career, he leaves Toronto as the franchise’s all-time leader in points, rebounds, blocks, minutes and games played off the bench.
Boston’s moves Tuesday continue the franchise’s offseason of payroll shedding. Last month, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens explained that his team needed to get out of the second apron, a financial threshold for front offices that limits how much a team can spend above the NBA’s soft salary cap and luxury tax line without facing the highest level of penalties.
The Celtics had been dealing with those financial and basketball-related penalties the past two seasons while going all in on their championship pursuit, which delivered the franchise’s 18th NBA title in 2024.
Getting under the second apron was the Celtics’ motive behind trading guard Jrue Holiday and center Kristaps Porziņģis. Niang ended up in Boston because of the Porziņģis deal with the Atlanta Hawks. Now he’s gone before he played a single game with the Celtics.
Boston is $7.8 million below the second apron after trading Niang and bringing aboard Boucher, per ESPN, which also reported the Celtics saved $34 million in luxury tax penalties with those transactions.
The Boston Celtics are sending recently acquired forward Georges Niang and two future second-round picks to the Utah Jazz for rookie wing RJ Luis Jr., according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Niang, who previously played in Utah from 2017-2021, returns to the Jazz, and his more than $8 million salary goes into the Jazz’s massive trade exception from the John Collins deal, giving the Celtics more financial breathing room under the second apron, Charania reported Tuesday.
In other words, the Jazz had financial flexibility to take on a traded player and their salary, granting another team cap relief — in this case, the Celtics — in exchange for future draft assets as well.
In addition to dumping Niang’s salary, the Celtics received an intriguing prospect in Luis. The 6-foot-7, 215-pound wing is the reigning Big East Player of the Year and went undrafted despite an impressive final season at St. John’s, where he averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for a Red Storm team that won 31 games and was a No. 2 seed in this year’s NCAA tournament.
Luis signed a two-way deal with the Jazz but now will try to carve out a role in Boston. The Celtics are also signing free agent forward Chris Boucher to a one-year, $3.3 million guaranteed contract, Charania reported Tuesday.
Boucher was the Raptors’ last remaining member of their 2019 NBA title team. While never averaging more than 13.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in a single season of his seven-season Raptors career, he leaves Toronto as the franchise’s all-time leader in points, rebounds, blocks, minutes and games played off the bench.
Boston’s moves Tuesday continue the franchise’s offseason of payroll shedding. Last month, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens explained that his team needed to get out of the second apron, a financial threshold for front offices that limits how much a team can spend above the NBA’s soft salary cap and luxury tax line without facing the highest level of penalties.
The Celtics had been dealing with those financial and basketball-related penalties the past two seasons while going all in on their championship pursuit, which delivered the franchise’s 18th NBA title in 2024.
Getting under the second apron was the Celtics’ motive behind trading guard Jrue Holiday and center Kristaps Porziņģis. Niang ended up in Boston because of the Porziņģis deal with the Atlanta Hawks. Now he’s gone before he played a single game with the Celtics.
Boston is $7.8 million below the second apron after trading Niang and bringing aboard Boucher, per ESPN, which also reported the Celtics saved $34 million in luxury tax penalties with those transactions.
