Sunday hops, 6-23-24.
A weekly compendium emptying the bench, with Rangers developments, rumors, and takes — and yes, a little TROT COFFEY.
It’s been baseball season for nearly three months. But now, it’s Baseball Season.
The NBA Finals would have ended tonight, if the Mavericks had managed to do what Edmonton (right after eliminating the Stars) has done in the Stanley Cup Finals, coming back from a 3-0 series deficit to force a Game Seven with Florida. That Oilers-Panthers epicness ends tomorrow.
The NBA Draft is this Wednesday and Thursday, the NHL’s version on Friday and Saturday. But for all intents and purposes, it’s Baseball Season. Basketball, hockey, and football players will run into each other on the beach while MLB — which gave us a powerful, emotional night at Rickwood Field on Thursday — heads into a very big five weeks, with an All-Star Game here in Arlington in three weeks, not to mention the draft in Fort Worth, a trade deadline on July 30, and a run of very big baseball games for teams who will need to figure out between now and then if they want to cash assets in for a pennant race boost, or sell off to those who do. The Rangers are one of those teams eager for an inflection point.
We’re well into the middle third, and the other sports have given baseball the floor. There’s some impact around the corner.
On to this week’s Hops.