The MLB All-Star Game is right around the corner, with events such as the Home Run Derby, Futures' Game, MLB Draft and the All-Star Game all packed into a four-day period. It's almost impossible to keep up with, but FanSided's panel of experts has you covered with everything you need to know heading into the midsummer classic. MLB's best and brightest stars, headlined by top vote-getters Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, take centerstage. FanSided's Robert Murray and Adam Weinrib will be in Atlanta providing in-person analysis.
Welcome to The Moonshot, a weekly newsletter where we believe in exit velocity, bat flips, launch angles, stealing home, the hanging curveball, Big League Chew, sausage races, and that unwritten rules of any kind are self-indulgent, overrated crap. We believe Greg Maddux was an actual wizard. We believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment protecting minor league baseball and that pitch framing is both an art and a science. We believe in the sweet spot, making WARP not war, letting your closer chase a two-inning save, and we believe love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too. This week's panel includesAdam Weinrib, Eric Cole, Chris Landers, Zach Rotman and Robert Murray.
MLB Home Run Derby predictions
Adam Weinrib: Give me Cal Raleigh, who’s (correctly) owning the moment, and always seems to find another gear for his lumbering swing just when you think he might be out of gas. I’m not sure how he maintains his energy through multiple rounds, but I trust him to continue to surprise me.
Eric Cole: I’ll say Ronald Acuña Jr. because he is going to be competing in front of the home crowd and is definitely going to be pushing to put on a show. It may be more likely that he shows out early and then gasses later on, but I like picking him in this environment and he has as much easy power as anyone.
Chris Landers: I’m choosing to believe in Byron Buxton. Sure, he might get hurt again tomorrow, but so far he’s given us the sort of season we always knew he was capable of if he could just stay on the field. He hits the ball as hard as anyone, he has a swing optimized to hit dingers and he’ll have his adorable son at his side. Sign me up.
Zach Rotman: Oneil Cruz might have his flaws as a player, but one thing he can do is hit the ball incredibly hard and far. Chances are, in a BP setting coming from a right-handed pitcher, Cruz is going to put on a show. I would not be surprised at all to see him win the whole thing.
Robert Murray: I’ll go with Cal Raleigh. He leads the majors in homers, is having a monster season, and is one of the best power threats in baseball. Adam makes a good point about endurance through multiple rounds of the Derby, but I’m not betting against the Big Dumper.
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MLB first half disappointments
Adam Weinrib: I don’t know if I thought Anthony Volpe would make “the leap,” or if there was even a star-adjacent leap available to him, but after he slashed the ball effectively to all fields in October and kicked down the door to 2025 with his torpedo bat, I was hoping for above-average offense by the deadline and … here we are. The defense is now dreadful, too. Somehow, it’s become his worst campaign of the three.
Eric Cole: The Braves and it isn’t close. They were supposed to bounce back from all of the injuries last season to become top contenders again. Instead, they look like one of the worst teams in the league and the injuries are stacking up again. As a Braves fan, I can say with certainty that it is not a fun time.
Chris Landers: Adam stole my thunder, so I’ll pivot to the Cleveland Guardians. Some regression was always going to come for this team, but what’s really disappointing is the complacency with which this front office (or maybe, more accurately, this ownership group) has approached this midseason swoon. Cleveland has pieces in the Minors right now that could help its ailing offense, but it’s content to just cycle through retreads and watch a very winnable Wild Card spot slip away. The Guardians rotation and their fans deserve better.
Zach Rotman: I’m going to go with the Texas Rangers. I thought their pitching had some health and bullpen concerns, but if that held up, the team could easily win the World Series. Well, they lead the majors in ERA and have gotten 18 absurd starts from Jacob deGrom, yet, they’re sitting in fourth place in the AL West and could easily be trade deadline sellers. Their lineup has not seen a single player outside of maybe Josh Smith come close to expectations. It’s just been a disaster on that end.They might still have a run in them, but it’s July. They might just be who they are, and that’s incredibly disappointing.
Robert Murray: I’ll go with the Baltimore Orioles. They have all this talent and yet they’re in last place in the American League East, fired their manager, and are bound to sell at the deadline. It’s one of the biggest missed opportunities in recent baseball history and should also have general manager Mike Elias on the hot seat.
Which All-Stars are most likely to get traded?
Adam Weinrib: I think Marlins leader Peter Bendix’s quotes over the weekend about how hungry Miami is for a winner now were fan service, and he fully intends to trade Kyle Stowers to continue kicking the rebuild can down the line. Also, to throw out a wild card … would the mired-in-disaster Guardians consider exchanging Steven Kwan for an outfielder with more power potential? Would the Yankees kick in either Jasson Dominguez or Spencer Jones?
Eric Cole: If we are talking about this year’s All-Star roster, Adam is right that Stowers is a strong choice. If the Marlins are reasonable in their asking price, I fully expect the Astros to be in play for him. I think the starting lineups in each league are safe overall, but Eugenio Suarez is another bat that could move and I think Boston could be a good fit.
Chris Landers: I’ll go off the board here a little: How about Brandon Lowe? He’s a pending free agent, and while the Rays are smack in the middle of the AL playoff picture, that’s never stopped Tampa from staying one step ahead before. And besides: With a player with an injury history like Lowe’s, you might be better off selling high rather than pushing your luck. If Carson Williams is ready for his close-up, I could see a deal getting done.
Zach Rotman: The Baltimore Orioles have played better lately, but they’re still one of the three worst teams in the American League record-wise. The odds of them actually making a run to the postseason are incredibly slim. With that, trading Ryan O’Hearn, one of the few players on their team exceeding expectations, wouldn’t come as a surprise. As for a suitor, I’ll go with the San Francisco Giants. Yes, they got Rafael Devers, but even with him, their lineup could use another bat. Adding O’Hearn would give them another left-handed masher to stick between Heliot Ramos, Matt Chapman, and Willy Adames in their lineup and replace Dom Smith at first base.
Robert Murray: In the words of one prominent National League executive: “It’ll be active, I just don’t know how sexy it will be.” Meaning: we probably won’t see any huge names moved. Could the Marlins move Sandy Alcantara? For sure. But that’s far from a guarantee and the odds on a trade seem to move significantly with each start the right-hander makes. Stowers is someone I have stated that the Marlins will listen on and could be moved, so I can see that. The Diamondbacks are the team to watch. If they sell, every contender will call them.
Who will surprise us in the All-Star Celebrity softball game
Adam Weinrib: I like how MLB specifically announced that Ronnie DeVoe and Prince Royce will be making their Celebrity Softball debuts. Crazy, I thought they’d both done it 12+ times like Jennie Finch!
The answer here is, of course, the Capital One Bank Guy, whose father is 1983 All-Star Doug DeCinces (no he’s not).
Eric Cole: Well, I’m going to assume Jennie Finch and Natasha Watley don’t count, but they are the easy choices if they are eligible. I’ll say Terrell Owens as I am quite certain he keeps himself in really good shape. However, he is also the celebrity softball participant most likely to get called into Rob Manfred’s office.
Chris Landers: Has Big Boi ever played baseball before in his life? I have no idea. Does he have the aura of a late-90s closer? Absolutely.
Zach Rotman: It looks like Terrell Owens can still play a sport professionally at a relatively high level even at 50 years of age. He’s the easy choice.
Robert Murray: I’m a Philadelphia Eagles fan. Terrell Owens was an Eagle. So, T.O. it is.
Futures Game highlights: Who do you want to see most?
Adam Weinrib: Really hoping that electric Nationals righty Travis Sykora is merely taking a breather rather than nursing an injury; he’s been held out of competition ahead of the Futures Game. Lazaro Montes of the Mariners, Seattle’s own Yordan Álvarez, has the potential to put on by far the biggest show, much like Roman Anthony did last year.
Eric Cole: I tend to look for guys that I have seen play that much in person, so Jesus Made and Konnor Griffin are no-brainer choices for me here. There are so many talented players to see and every baseball fan should tune in to watch the game, but those two guys stand out for me as arguably two of the best position player prospects period in baseball.
Chris Landers: Give me Sebastian Walcott, the top Rangers prospect who looks a little bit like a young Elly De La Cruz if you squint hard enough. The physical tools are off the charts; he hits the ball as hard as anyone, and he’s more than held his own at Double-A this year despite just turning 19 in March. If we were taking bets on future Hall of Famers you could see in Atlanta, he’d get my money.
Zach Rotman: The Mets fan in me is excited to see Jonah Tong, but the objective MLB fan in me can’t wait to watch Trey Yesavage, who began the year in Single-A, dominated High-A, and is now in Double-A. He’s got ridiculous stuff, and has struck out the world (111 strikeouts in 67.2 IP). It wouldn’t shock me to see him debut this season for a Blue Jays team trying to compete that’s short on starting pitching depth. He might not be the best pitcher in this game, but considering where he started this season, it’ll be fun to watch him against some of the best prospects in the game.
Robert Murray: Beyond excited to see Konnor Griffin. The Pirates have one of the top prospects in baseball in Bubba Chandler, who should be up soon (he should have been in the majors a month ago). Griffin is just as tantalizing and if the Pirates can turn Mitch Keller into a bat or two at the deadline, perhaps 2026 is the year they can finally contend when Griffin is in the majors.
Robert note: I’ve said the Pirates could contend for the last few years. Prove me right for once, Pittsburgh.
How to improve the MLB Draft
Adam Weinrib: Demand that each MLB team add between 3-5 2025 draft picks to their active roster immediately!
Or, if we’re living in reality (which we are…), moving the draft off of All-Star weekend to its own showcase would be a nice start. Holding the event in the middle of the College World Series made little sense, either, but this is nearly as poorly planned. It’s bad enough the Futures Game takes place during distracting regular-season action on Saturday afternoon.
Eric Cole: Make non-lottery picks tradeable. There is little intrigue in the MLB Draft beyond who will get picked and, if we are being honest, the audience for high school and college baseball is small and niche. You need to be able to create some drama to make the draft a spectacle. You may have to put some guardrails on it to prevent big spenders from stockpiling too many picks, but trading picks is the play.
Chris Landers: Trade the picks! Granted, it’s not quite so simple, but I do think that it’s the easiest way to get casual baseball fans to care a little more about an event that usually involves waiting several years to see which players might have a chance of panning out. Allowing GMs to wheel and deal, however, would turn it into a present event as much as a future one, as well as giving us some tremendous television.
Zach Rotman: I couldn’t agree more with Chris. It might not be easy, but at least some draft picks should be tradable to add more intrigue. Plus, with the trade deadline just a couple of weeks away from when the draft is held, there’s a real chance we’d see recognizable players get dealt in the draft. That’s ultimately what adds layers of excitement to other drafts.
Robert Murray: I was just talking about this with an executive the other day. Trade the picks! It’s baffling it’s not allowed and as this executive said, if you could trade a fifth round pick for a lefty reliever at the deadline, odds are both teams will do it. It would add another layer to the draft and trade deadline, especially with both within two weeks of each other. Do it.
Inside Robert Murray's notebook
- While Joe Ryan has been mentioned in trade rumors, the Minnesota Twins have had no conversations about the right-hander in discussions with other teams.
- “It seems like we’re still feeling things out, with a few teams still not sure and hoping they can play in a way that gives them clarity over the next month,” one high-ranking team executive said.