Mariners Moose Tracks 7/2/22: Nelson Cruz, Korey Lee, and Megan Rapinoe

Happy Fourth of July weekend everyone! We’ve got a good batch of links for you today, so let’s get to it.

In Mariners news...

• Eno Sarris at The Athletic outlined seven hitters who have made significant improvements to their barrel rates since April. Both Julio and Jesse Winker are listed in the piece. ($)

Around the league...

• Carlos Collazo at Baseball America released the latest version of their mock draft, with the draft coming up later this month. ($)
• The San Diego Padres released their City Connect jerseys and they’re really rolling with the 90s California vibes (or is it Taco Bell vibes?)

• Ryan Fagan wonders if the Angels should bite the bullet and trade one of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani to save the franchise. This reminds me of those “trade Félix” conversations that were prevalent online in the early 2010s.
• 42 years young! Happy birthday, Nellie!

• Dylan Hernández at the Los Angeles Times wrote a harsh piece on the way Freddie Freeman is handling this situation surrounding his agent. Just a week ago there was a puff piece about how Freeman could save baseball! Oh how the tables turn.
• Robert Orr at Baseball Prospectus checked in on the top contenders for the American League Rookie of the Year. ($)
• They didn’t even remember the dude who threw a no-hitter against them a few years ago! Jason Bay but not James Paxton? Wild.

• I once had a minor league hitting coach tell me he had never heard of Juan Soto. At least he’s being honest!

• The...the what?

• The Astros have called up top catching prospect Korey Lee.

Anders’ picks...

• OL Reign star Megan Rapinoe is one of around a dozen people who will receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom next week.