The adage in baseball is that the pennant season doesn’t really begin until Memorial Day weekend. With that holiday behind us, teams will begin their post-season push in earnest and as of right now, every team in baseball is within seven games of a playoff spot except the Royals and Athletics.
With the Royals already far back in the standings, they should focus on what they might do before the August 1 trade deadline. The most likely player to be traded is reliever Aroldis Chapman, who has resurrected his value with a 3.10 ERA and a 100 mph fastball that has generated 33 strikeouts in 20 1⁄3 innings.