August 2025

There were 1,614 posts published in August 2025 (this is page 159 of 162).

Wrigley Field to host 2027 MLB All-Star Game

The 2027 MLB All-Star Game will be played at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
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The MLB All-Star Game is heading to Wrigley Field on July 13, 2027, the league announced Friday during a ceremony at Wrigley Field.

“The hard work put in to transform all of Wrigleyville into an outstanding destination deserves to be celebrated and shared on a national stage,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We look forward to bringing the Midsummer Classic back to historic Wrigley Field and working alongside the Cubs, city and state officials, and the local organizing group to bring an extraordinary experience to the baseball fans of Chicago.

“Most importantly, Major League Baseball and its partners will leave behind a lasting impact on the communities across Chicago through the meaningful initiatives of the All-Star Legacy program.”

It will be the fourth time Wrigley Field has hosted the Midsummer Classic and the first since 1990, which saw Ryne Sandberg of the Cubs win the Home Run Derby and the American League beat the National League 2-0.

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“This is an honor for our team, our city and our state,” Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said. “We can’t wait to showcase how we have preserved this iconic ballpark. Wrigley Field means so much to Cubs fans and millions of people who have visited what we believe is a baseball cathedral and one of Illinois’ top tourist destinations. We play in a world-class city that is especially beautiful in the summer, and we’re looking forward to hosting the best players in our great game and fans from around the world.”

The Cubs spent more than half a billion dollars on a multi-phase renovation of the ballpark that was completed in 2019 to help their case to host the game. In June, the Chicago City Council approved a $32.1 million plan to upgrade security around the stadium.

The Atlanta Braves hosted the 2025 All-Star festivities at Truist Park, and the 2026 All-Star Game will take place at the Philadelphia Phillies’ Citizens Bank Park. 

Brewers star Jackson Chourio placed on IL with strained right hamstring

Jackson Chourio has been placed on the 10-day injured list after the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder strained his right hamstring while running out a triple on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old Chourio went 2-for-3 during the 9-3 win over the Chicago Cubs and was seen slowing down after rounding second base to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning.

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Afterward, Chourio told reporters that his hamstring was “tight” and he felt “a little tickle” as he accelerated once he realized he could get to third base. As he reached the base, he thought it might’ve just been a cramp.

But the Brewers aren’t taking any chances with their young star, and he’ll now get some time off. Chourio sat out Wednesday’s series finale loss to the Cubs.

“With a hamstring [injury], we’re going to be cautious there, so it’s probably going to be a little bit longer than we had initially anticipated,” Brewers general manager Matt Arnold said via MLB.com. “We’re not expecting anything excessive, but we just want to be super patient with a player the caliber of Jackson Chourio.”

Chourio has followed a rookie season in which he finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting with numbers that are on pace to top what he did in 2024. Through 106 games, he is slashing .276/.474/.786 with 17 home runs, 67 RBI and 18 stolen bases.

Brandon Lockridge, whom the Brewers acquired Thursday from the San Diego Padres in the Nestor Cortes deal, has been added to the roster to take Chourio’s place.

“Adding somebody like Lockridge and his athleticism should definitely help us there,” Arnold said. “Obviously, we’ll miss Chourio, [but] for hopefully a short amount of time here.”

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: 8 players to target if you need to make a splash

After the flurry of trades this week, most fantasy baseball managers are focused on adding players who received a bump in value via a real-life trade. But there are still plenty of players who are worth consideration for other reasons, such as their recent performance or a return from injury. Those players are covered below, but I also wrote a full recap of the fantasy impact of the trade deadline.

The league’s decision to place Emmanuel Clase on paid leave until at least August 31 makes Smith an exciting saves source. The right-hander has been one of baseball’s best relievers since debuting last year, posting a 2.37 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 24.2% K:BB ratio. Smith also excels at keeping the ball in the yard, having allowed just three homers in 121.1 career innings. He’s a top-15 reliever for the month of August and possibly for the remainder of the season.

I mentioned Cecconi in this space last week, as he was expected to be a two-start pitcher during this seven-day stretch. Unfortunately, a rainout pushed him back a day, and he will now enjoy a two-start week starting next Monday. Cecconi has become a reliable starter, posting a 3.39 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in his past 10 starts. And his two road starts next week against the Mets and White Sox are reasonable matchups.

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Cortes was slated to appear in this article before he was traded on Thursday and nothing has changed now that he is a member of the Padres. The left-hander has been a useful fantasy asset throughout his career, producing a 3.88 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 9.1 K/9 rate. The start of his season was wiped out by a shoulder injury, but he should return any day and will enjoy being part of one of baseball’s best teams during the stretch run.

Vaughn has caught fire as a member of the Brewers, which convinced management that they did not need to address the first base position at the trade deadline. The former elite prospect could never put things together with the White Sox, but his 1.157 OPS with Milwaukee is enough of a reason to give Vaughn a chance in standard leagues. It’s also worth noting that after having mediocre plate discipline throughout his career, Vaughn has logged a 7:8 BB:K ratio with the Brewers.

Since being recalled on July 21, Jung has hit .367 with two homers and a .991 OPS. The third baseman was having a dismal season when optioned on July 2, and last year he dealt with injuries that limited him to just 46 games. But in 2023, Jung hit .266 with 23 homers, and he is still just 27 years old. It helps that the slugger is part of a Rangers offense that has recently gotten hot after a slow start to the season. Jung is day-to-day right now with calf soreness but should return by the end of the weekend.

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Chicago’s first-round pick in the 2021 MLB draft, Montgomery debuted on July 4 and has started to heat up in recent games. The youngster has gone deep five times in his past eight contests, which is not surprising when noticing that he hit 11 homers and 55 Triple-A games this season.

Starting Friday, the Rockies will play 14 of their next 20 games at their hitter-friendly home park. And of the six road contests, three will be played against an Arizona team that unloaded some of their pitchers at the trade deadline. Moniak has logged a 1.013 OPS at home this season and an .848 mark overall, making him an excellent addition in shallow leagues for the next three weeks.

O’Neill is one of the most injury prone and streakiest players in baseball. We have already endured a long-term absence and a cold streak. Lately, we have seen O’Neill heat up at the dish, as he has logged a 1.548 OPS since July 24. Managers in five-outfielder leagues can enjoy the power surge while it lasts.

Three Crucial Facts You Need to Know About an Insurer Before Buying a Policy

People in the U.S. pay more than $1 trillion in insurance premiums each year. Most of us have more than one insurance policy at any given time, including health, auto, homeowners, and life insurance policies. And when the time comes to shop around for a new one, you probably do some due diligence, researching the premiums you’ll have to pay for the amount of coverage that you want.

But that it offered a good premium isn’t the only thing you should know about a potential insurer. Fair premiums, low deductibles, and expansive coverage are important, but none of that means much if you choose an insurer that’s struggling financially, has very low customer satisfaction rates, or which routinely denies even legitimate claims. If you’re in the market for insurance, there are three facts you need to know about any company you’re considering buying a policy from.

The insurer’s financial stability

The most crucial thing to know about an insurance company is whether it has the cash on hand to cover claims made on its policies. The best-written policy in the universe won’t do you much good if the company selling it to you goes bankrupt when too many people actually try to actually use the insurance it sold them.

States set minimum reserves insurers are required to keep on hand to cover claims, but as the name implies, these are minimums—sometimes calculated as a percentage of potential claims, sometimes based on other financial factors. Insurance companies can’t legally fall below those reserves, but the reserves are only intended to prevent a total market collapse. In reality, insurers should have a lot more on hand, especially if there’s a possibility of a large number of claims being filed simultaneously (e.g., homeowners insurance claims in the wake of a disaster like a flood or wildfire). It might sound impressive that a small, regional insurance company has $100 million on hand to cover claims—but that looks like small potatoes if they have $1 billion in potential claims at any given time.

You can find a financial stability rating for most insurers over at AM Best. You’ll need to create a free account to search the database, but once you do, you’ll be able to see at a glance the “Financial Strength” rating of an insurer, which can range from a “superior” A++ to a “Poor” D. The website also offers a “Financial Size Category (FSC)” that offers an approximation of how much money the insurer has on hand, ranging from I (less than $1 million) to XV (at least $2 billion). A small, regional insurer might only have a few million bucks in the bank, but if its overall rating is A++, it’s still considered financially sound.

The insurer’s claims record

Getting a good deal on an insurance policy is only useful if the insurer actually approves and pays out for legitimate claims. I once had a homeowners insurance policy that seemed worse than useless—though it satisfied my mortgage provider’s insurance requirement, it never once paid out on a claim. Sure, it always had a reason my claims weren’t technically covered, but that didn’t help me in the moment. This is why it’s crucial that you research a company’s track record of denying or paying out claims before buying the policy.

Unfortunately, doing so can be difficult, because claim approval data isn’t easy to find. Insurers aren’t required to make it available to the public, so they simply don’t.

There are some resources, however, that can at least give you an idea about a company’s history of claim approvals and denials. Plans sold through Affordable Care Act marketplaces are a bit more transparent, and you can find past denial rates at the Kaiser Family Foundation site, which offer some clues. You can find studies online that offer up some details about which companies deny the most claims, like this one from ValuePenguin, showing that UnitedHealthcare rejects a third of claims from its customers. It might take some muscular Googling, but information about denial rates can potentially be pieced together this way—and if you see denials from a potential insurer noted over and over again in these studies, you might want to reconsider buying from it.

The insurer’s customer satisfactions scores

Finally, even a company that has a reasonable claims approval rate and is financially stable can be a poor choice if working with it is a miserable experience. Before you buy insurance, you should know one more thing: The satisfaction level of current and past customers. It’s not so much a hard number as it is a vibe, but it’s an important piece of data nonetheless.

There are three sources where you can get a sense of customer satisfaction about an insurer before you buy a policy:

  • State insurance departments. Each state has an insurance department that regulates insurers writing policies in that state. These departments often publicly list complaints made against insurers on their sites. You can find your state’s insurance department through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) website.

  • NAIC. Speaking of the NAIC, it also maintains a database of insurers that includes complaint reports. Search for your prospective insurer and see how many complaints are lodged against it, what the trends suggest, and how they compare to competitors.

  • An online search. Finally, people tend to complain publicly when large companies treat them poorly, so checking social media and other websites for mentions of an insurer can yield some real-world insights into what it’s like to own a policy from it. Keep in mind that almost every insurer will have some complaints against it—people who have had bad experiences tend to be more vocal than those who are completely or even mostly satisfied— so you’re looking for volume and trendlines (i.e. a lot of complaints over a long period of time).

MLB Trade Deadline: Fantasy Baseball winners and losers after wave of deals

The 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline has come and gone, leaving many changes in fantasy values in its wake. This article will focus purely on the players whose fantasy values have taken a major turn in one direction or another.

If there is one player to add right now, especially in roto leagues, it’s Rodríguez. With a 1.20 ERA, a 0.84 WHIP and a 62:9 K:BB ratio, the right-hander has been arguably the best reliever in baseball this year. The trade of Camilo Doval to the Yankees opens the closer’s role in San Francisco, and even though Ryan Walker is still part of the relief corps, he has already lost the job once this year and can’t match Rodríguez in terms of 2025 skills. Rodríguez could be a top-5 reliever down the stretch.

Bieber may be the best pitcher to stash right now. The right-hander has looked great in four rehab outings, posting a 21:1 K:BB ratio. His long-awaited return from Tommy John surgery should occur in the next two weeks, at which point he will join a team that leads the AL East division with a 62-46 record. He will also benefit from working in front of a Toronto defensive group that ranks first in baseball in Fielding Run Value, per Statcast.

The departure of Carlos Correa should cause Brooks Lee to slide to shortstop, which opens up second base for Keaschall, who will soon come of the 60-day injured list. The prospect has flashed solid plate skills and plus-speed, and in this writer’s opinion he is a more appealing option than the other young hitters in this article.

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Locklear has mashed in Triple-A this year, hitting .316 with 19 homers and a .943 OPS in 98 games. And with 18 steals, the slugger has shown a speed component to his game that fantasy managers will appreciate. Pavin Smith will soon return from the IL, but shouldn’t impact the playing time of Locklear, who is five years younger and much more likely to be part of the team’s future. I would add Lockler in 15-team leagues now and keep an eye on him in 12-team formats.

Lawlar is working his way back from a hamstring injury and will likely be Arizona’s starting third baseman as soon as he is ready. The 23-year-old had struggled to find a spot within the D-backs effective infield group, but there is now a clear vacancy at third base. Hitting .319 with a .993 OPS in Triple-A this year, the speedy prospect has clearly shown that he’s wasting his time in the minors. Lawlar is a great stash for those fantasy managers who have IL space.

Is it finally time for Mayo to emerge as a fantasy asset? He will certainly get an opportunity to make it happen now that Ryan O’Hearn has been traded to the Padres. I wouldn’t add Mayo in standard leagues right now, but he’s someone to keep an eye on.

Soroka could be an interesting starter to add in deeper formats if he gets a spot in the Cubs rotation. The right-hander has an ugly 4.87 ERA that has been impacted by one of the lowest strand rates in baseball (68.4%). His 3.32 xERA paints an optimistic picture that Soroka has been victimized by the Nats’ poor defense group. He joins a Cubs team that plays great defense and scores plenty of runs, which will at least make him a streamer in standard formats.

By trading Shelby Miller to the Brewers, the D-backs cemented Ginkel as their stretch run closer. And even though Arizona stripped their roster of a few key players, they still have enough talent to be a respectable team and provide Ginkel with a handful of save chances.

Sands is the last man standing after the Twins dealt most of their key relievers. The right-hander hasn’t been special this year (4.11 ERA, 1.22 WHIP), but is the only obvious fit for ninth-inning opportunities.

In deep leagues, Ferrer is worth a shot for those who need saves. The lefty has 19 holds this year, which is 12 more than any other Washington reliever. Based on his high-leverage usage, Ferrer is the most likely candidate to take over the closer’s role from Kyle Finnegan.

Santana has been great this year (1.36 ERA, 0.82 WHIP) and leads the Pirates in holds. He should take over the closer’s role from David Bednar, and I would add him over the three relievers who precede him on this list.

Helsley will likely help the Mets in the postseason, but his chances of getting more than a couple stretch run saves are slim now that he is the setup man for established closer Edwin Díaz. Helsley hasn’t helped fantasy teams with their ratios this year (3.00 ERA, 1.39 WHIP) and his 10.3 K/9 rate is not special for a reliever. He can be dropped in virtually all mixed leagues.

Although he may get some ninth-inning opportunities, Finnegan is unlikely to be a full-time closer in a Detroit bullpen that has better relievers. Managers can find a better potential saves source than Finnegan, who has poor ratios (4.38 ERA, 1.28 WHIP) this year.

Doval is yet another closer who lost his ninth-inning role by being traded to a contending team. The right-hander has not shown special skills this year (3.09 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 50:24 K:BB ratio) and could be as low as fourth on the Yankees’ relief depth chart.

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Bednar may get save chances before Doval, but he’s still waiver-wire fodder in most leagues now that he is the setup man for Devin Williams. It’s worth noting that Williams blew his last save chance and allowed runs in four of his past six appearances, but he was given a vote of support by manager Aaron Boone. Even if Williams falters, Boone could turn to Luke Weaver or Doval before Bednar.

The arrival of Mason Miller to the Padres should push Suárez to a setup role, which takes away most of his fantasy value. It wouldn’t be shocking for the Padres to sometimes use Miller in a high-leverage eighth inning role against the heart of a lineup, but the odds are high that Suárez will get fewer than five more saves this season.

Any uptick for Duran will be a small one, but it’s worth noting that he switched to a superior team when traded from the Twins to the Phillies. The hard-throwing righty could pick up more stretch run saves thanks to being involved in yesterday’s trade, which cements his status as a top-10 reliever.

Miller is in a similar situation as Duran, as he was already an elite closer but should have more games to save down the stretch now that he is part of a contending team.

Being traded to Houston isn’t a big upgrade for Correa, as the Astros have outscored the Twins by just 22 runs this year. But it’s always better for a player to spend the stretch run on a team that is heading to the postseason rather than one that’s rebuilding.

I don’t want to get carried away with this one, as Suárez will likely be fine at T-Mobile Park. But we know that the venue doesn’t always play well for power hitters and didn’t bring out the best in Suárez when he was a member of the Mariners in 2023. Still, the Mariners have amassed a potentially excellent lineup with Julio Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh, Suárez and Josh Naylor. I wouldn’t panic on Suárez, even though I wish he had been traded to a team that plays their home games in a bandbox.

I wouldn’t drop Littell right away, but I’m worried about the combination of his propensity for allowing homers and the hitter-friendly nature of Great American Ball Park. The righty has allowed more long balls (26) than any other pitcher, and just eight of those round-trippers were hit when he was working at home. He has made one career start in Cincinnati and the Reds took him deep three times in that game. It’s not a great fit for someone who was already a fringe option in standard leagues.

I wouldn’t drop Vest just yet, as he could maintain a primary saves role over Finnegan. Still, the arrival of someone with ninth-inning experience is bad news for Vest, who was already sharing some save chances with Tommy Kahnle. I would keep Vest for now with an eye toward sending him to waivers in 12-team leagues if Finnegan receives save chances.

Mullins will likely still matter in leagues where he already mattered. But the Mets have more outfield options than the Orioles, which could reduce Mullins’ playing time down the stretch. Even if Mullins plays regularly, there is no advantage of this trade for him, as the Mets have been outscored by the Orioles this year and call home to a pitcher-friendly venue.