MLB Rumors: Cardinals prospect Tekoah Roby getting late-season buzz

When the St. Louis Cardinals made the decision to sell at the MLB Trade Deadline -- the right call, for what it's worth -- the big key was getting returns that could help the club retool for 2023 and beyond. In the immediate aftermath, Drew Rom, who came from Baltimore on the Jack Flaherty deal, seemed to get a lot of buzz. That made complete sense given the club's need for pitching moving forward.

But it's another pitching prospect acquired at the deadline who's starting to get some real buzz -- and could be a factor for the 2024 rotation as well.

Tekoah Roby, who was acquired in the three-prospect package from the Rangers in the Jordan Montgomery/Chris Stratton deal, was injured at the time of the trade. He has since taken the mound for the Double-A Springfield Cardinals. To say he's been dominant while the 21-year-old has been making a jump from High-A to Double-A would be an understatement.

As noted by Inside the Cardinals, Roby has made four starts that have spanned 12 innings in total while posting a 3.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 19-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a .146 batting average against. He's been missing bats at an extremely high level and doing so consistently to this point.

At just 21 years old, there is still a ton of upside with Roby as a prospect. But when you then consider the Cardinals' need to fill the rotation for the 2024 season and beyond, he becomes even more intriguing. If Roby continues his dominance in Double-A for the rest of this season, he has to come into spring training next preseason as one of the top options to crack into the rotation, perhaps even independent of the moves John Mozeliak and the front office make in trades or in free agency.

MLB Rumors: Alex Anthopoulos lightly teases Braves throwback jerseys

Understatement of the century, but things have been going well for the Atlanta Braves this season. They have clinched a playoff spot and just clinched the NL East as well with a win over the rival Phillies. And they are currently 7.5 games ahead of the Dodgers for home-field advantage throughout the NL Postseason.

But if there's any truth to "look good, play good", then the Braves might be getting even better in the near future.

This week, Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos appeared on Atlanta radio's 680 The Fan. Amid a myriad of topics involved in that conversation, AA mentioned that he and the front office have discussed bringing the Braves light blue jerseys back as a throwback option for the club "for a long time".

For those who are visual learners, here are the throwback jerseys and what they would look like on Ronald Acuña Jr. thanks to a handy-dandy social media edit.

The original Braves uniforms were introduced first by Ted Turner back in 1980. In 1982, the "A" was made lower-case on the front of these road jerseys for the club. But they essentially went away when the Braves then introduced what we know as the organization's standard jerseys nowadays in 1987.

Nike and MLB have been aggressive in recent years in expanding the jersey repertoires for teams, most notably with the City Connect jerseys, which Atlanta has in throwback style as well. However, getting the baby blues back into the fold would be another terrific homage to the franchise and the city. And if Anthopoulos and the front office have already long been discussing the possibility, it might just be a matter of time before we see them again.

MLB Rumors: Shohei Ohtani interested in signing with Red Sox

Though Shohei Ohtani's UCL injury and a potential second Tommy John surgery looming throws a wrench into his free agency in the 2023-24 offseason, there is no shortage of suitors still. Even if it's only with mere hope that he might pitch again in 2025, Ohtani as a DH is still arguably the best bat set to hit the open market in the MLB offseason.

And one possible landing spot that has been garnering more buzz of late has been the Boston Red Sox. Now one day after the franchise fired Chaim Bloom, there is even more smoke coming from Fenway Park in that regard.

Longtime MLB insider Peter Gammons reported on Friday morning that an NL executive "familiar with Ohtani" is confident that the Japanese superstar "is interested in Boston, partly because of his relationship with New Balance CEO Jim Davis, a Massachusetts native who built up the shoe and athletics company in Boston.

Gammons did note a possible problem for the Red Sox in a pursuit of Ohtani. Masataka Yoshida, who played with Ohtani on Team Japan, has been viewed as a DH option once Justin Turner likely leaves in free agency. A post-injury/surgery Ohtani would need to fill that DH role, putting Yoshida in left field.

If it means getting Ohtani, though, is that actually a concern? Most teams, including Boston, would move mountains to get Ohtani on the roster -- much less move a sub-par defender to the outfield.

The other consideration that Gammons noted was the Red Sox allotting the majority of their money to pitching this offseason. That surely makes sense, especially given the overall market. Having said that, Ohtani can possibly fill that role in 2025 while being one of the best hitters in baseball in 2024 and beyond.

There seems to be some real juice to Ohtani and the Red Sox being a match. That gives us one more player in what should still be an absolute frenzy in free agency this offseason.