Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below the main deck of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. We’ll get to the news in a moment, but first, this word from Sammy the Shark (Karl the Kraken is on assignment):

We all do, Sammy. We all do.

Given that we are not quite at the dog days of August, the major sports stories are baseball and the start of NFL training camp, with the NFL Jr., otherwise known as college football, not far behind. Let’s look at baseball first.

Entering play as I write this (July 26, 2025 — which is also only three days after my birthday, so it’s not too late to send those belated wishes and presents), one wonders if anyone in Major League Baseball, aside from the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers, has a desire to play in the offseason. The prime example of this is the Detroit Tigers, who, fortunately for them, play in a division of underachievers and lesser lights. The Tigers hold an eight game lead over the Cleveland Indians Guardians despite having lost five in a row and ten of their last eleven. Yikes. On the senior circuit, otherwise known as the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers are still holding serve, six games ahead of the San Diego Padres and seven ahead of the San Francisco Giants, despite playing sub-.500 and very subpar baseball lately, considering their loaded roster. The injury bug has been buzzing the Dodgers’ pitching staff big time, so expect more than a few deals on or before July 31 at 6 PM EDT.

The conundrum facing teams wishing to rob themselves of Peter Prospect in order to pay Paul Playoffpush is that there are not that many teams so far out of postseason contention that they would be willing to strip away what they already have in favor of potentially making a run down the road should the traded-for prospects pan out. There is not a single high roller without some kind of need or needs. The New York Yankees need starting and relief pitching, as is ironically the case with their crosstown rivals, the Mets. The kings of Queens have done something about said need, acquiring Gregory Soto from the Baltimore Orioles. The Philadelphia Phillies need bullpen help, as do the Tigers. It’s a seller’s market for sure … but who’s selling? Stay tuned.

On to football. The 32 NFL teams opened training camp this week, thus starting the most anticipated part of said proceedings: picking which team will be the first to have a key player, usually one just acquired via free agency or the draft, go down for the year with an injury before playing a single meaningful down for his new team. No one has quite reached this level yet, but it certainly has not been due to a lack of effort. The Arizona Cardinals, already locked in a tight struggle with the Tennessee Titans for the most invisible franchise in the league, are presently without the services of first-round draft pick Walter Nolan III, courtesy of a calf injury suffered before training camp started. Linebacker J.J. Russell took a trip to the hospital on July 24 after colliding with a teammate during practice. Still, he was back in camp the next day just in time to watch cornerback Starling Thomas V get carted off the field after an awkward landing while making a play, which incurred some kind of lower extremity injury. Since the NFL is loath to allow one team all the fun, the New York Jets’ newly acquired quarterback Justin Fields is battling a dislocated toe (ouch), and the Miami Dolphins’ already thin secondary grew even more so with cornerback Artie Burns tearing an ACL.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone.