Welcome to Snyder’s Soapbox! Here, I pontificate about matters related to Major League Baseball on a weekly basis. Some of the topics will be pressing matters, some might seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and most will be somewhere in between. The good thing about this website is that it’s free, and you are allowed to click away. If you stay, you’ll get smarter, though. That’s a money-back guarantee. Let’s get to it.
I can’t remember a time in my life that I actively rooted against the . I’ve never disliked the . In fact, many times I have quite enjoyed the Tigers (I’ll always love me some ).
Things have changed this year on that front, though, and those two teams aren’t alone.
The Orioles were sellers at the trade deadline. On deadline day, they were 2 ½ games out of a playoff spot. That’s nothing. A deficit that could be made up in three days, and there were two months left in the season. It is totally unacceptable to deal starters from that team and yet, that’s what Mike Elias and his front office did. Sure, they got what many in the game believe was a great prospect haul for , but are we really doing this again? After hearing for years that they have one of the best farm systems of all time?
The Orioles entered Monday holding onto the third American League wild-card by their fingernails. I don’t care for this. Their deadline moves, which also included trading away Taylor Ward, Dean Kremer and Tyler Wells, were tantamount to giving up on this year. That front office does not deserve to be rewarded.
The Tigers, meanwhile, were the biggest cowards at the trade deadline, dealing away two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and another All-Star starting pitcher, Casey Mize. Not only had they been playing very good baseball for the preceding two months, but they were also just 2 ½ games out of a playoff spot. This is the same ballclub that caught fire late in the 2024 season and made a run to the ALDS. Scott Harris’ front office just threw in the proverbial towel and quit on its players.
Fortunately, the swept the Tigers over the weekend, and Detroit now sits 4 ½ games back of the AL Central lead. In the messy American League wild-card race, though, they’re in a three-way tie for the third spot with the Orioles and Rangers.
Let’s talk about those . They were a game and a half out of a playoff spot and tried to trade , who invoked his no-trade clause, and talked about moving .
Part of the problem here is that we really didn’t need to add a third wild card. The other is that the American League is terrible.
But, man, being a seller at the trade deadline, to me, is an admission that the season is over and you sure as hell should never, ever quit on a season when you’re 2 ½ games out of a playoff berth.
We could look at a few National League teams sideways, too. The are now 3 games out of a wild card and they sold. The , who traded away , are also only three games out.
I mean, what are we even doing here? You play to win the game! (, I promise I won’t use that again).
You know who has the guts and needs to be celebrated? A.J. Preller. The didn’t look like a contender in early July, but then the team started to play well. And so Preller was overly aggressive in front of the deadline and bought (and kept Mason Miller!). The Padres are now 17-6 since July 23 and hold a playoff spot. They could be dangerous in October.
Gimme that type of gumption and belief in your own ballclub over the cowardice of Elias and Harris.
Now, we need to acknowledge the work done by the front office, too. They sold several free-agents-to-be, but they also added two pitchers under team control beyond this season in José Soriano and . It was creative maneuvering by the defending AL champs to set themselves up better for 2027 without completely giving up on 2026. And now the team is starting to play well, having won 13 of their last 20 games. They are only one game out of a playoff spot.
If given the choice for the third AL wild card between the Orioles, Tigers and Blue Jays, I’m all about Toronto. It’s the principle of the situation. On the NL side, hell yes, I’d rather see the Padres make the playoffs over the likes of the Marlins and Cardinals.
I’ll also give props to the and front offices for buying. They tried to give their teams help to make a playoff run. That’s all you can ask for teams in contention or even on the fringe of contention. Just try to make your team better. The fans deserve the commitment from the front office to do whatever it can to give the team the best shot at making the playoffs.
Just look at the . was the most aggressive front office boss at the deadline, doing absolutely everything he could to give his 2026 Red Sox a chance to make some noise in the playoffs. I absolutely loved it. I’ve said this line with snark before, but it bears repeating: Ask the Orioles if you get to hang banners for having a great farm system.
The Tigers and Orioles chose to gamble on the future when the present already gave them a shot at the postseason. The Rangers, Cardinals and Marlins decided their fans didn’t need to see them try hard to win this season. For shame.
From where I sit, the league needs more Prellers and Breslows and fewer Eliases and Harrises.
