Mariners Moose Tracks, 7/1/23: Aroldis Chapman, Carlos Santana, and Ketel Marte

The calendar flips to July, and hopefully better baseball times will follow. For now, here’s what you need to know.

In Mariners news...

• The Mariners tried the infamous players-only meeting heading into last night’s game against Tampa Bay. Adam Jude at The Seattle Times has the story.

Around the league...

• We’ve got our first major trade of the summer, with the Rangers acquiring reliever Aroldis Chapman for a pair of minor leaguers.
• The Rangers may soon have two twin brothers in the back end of their bullpen. Malik Wright has the story on Grant and Aidan Anderson.
• Shohei Ohtani hit his 30th homer of the year, and at 493 feet it was both the longest of his career and the longest of any player this season.
• The Angels continue pushing and challenging recent draft picks.

• At least Carlos Santana is having fun this year.

• The vibes in Cincy continue to be incredible, too.

• So you’re saying that we’ll get to see Aaron Judge, Yordan Alvarez, Mike Trout, and Shohei Ohtani in a Mariners uniform?

• Robert Orr at Baseball Prospectus discussed Ronald Acuña, Jr.’s rise to generational superstar. ($)
• Esteban Rivera at Fangraphs dove into the incredible season Ketel Marte is having in Arizona.
• Gabe Goralnick at Pitcher List wondered what is going on with four teams who had high expectations this season and are failing to meet them, in which he offers a spark of hope for Mariners fans.