Opinion

If the upcoming MLB offseason were a movie directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, it would be titled There Will Be Trades.

Don't worry, Daniel Day Lewis isn't coming for your milkshake. But general managers across baseball will be extending their straws, looking to make deals and siphon up talent.

Jonathan Lucroy hit his seventh home run for the Texas Rangers on Wednesday in a 6-2 win over the Oakland A's.

That becomes more impressive when you stack it next to another number: 15.

CHICAGO — In sports, we're used to losses prompting overly emotional and one-word reactions. Not so for the Chicago Cubs under manager Joe Maddon.

Sure, a baseball season is 162 games, but the sport still has its share of teams that allow a loss to linger. Maddon said he has been part of teams like that, so his objective when he joined Chicago in October 2014 was to keep emotions on an even keel.

For some teams, questing for a World Series trophy requires sticking with whatever's working.

The Toronto Blue Jays don't have that luxury.

On Tuesday, shortstop Dansby Swanson got word that he's headed to the big leagues and will debut Wednesday with the Atlanta Braves, per the team's official Twitter feed.

On Monday, right-hander Shelby Miller made a start for the Reno Aces—the Arizona Diamondbacks' Triple-A affiliate.

A little after 1 p.m. Sunday, a Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher not named Clayton Kershaw took the mound.

Fifteen minutes later, the Dodgers were down 5-0, and the pitcher not named Clayton Kershaw was done for the day.

Someone is going to win the 2016 American League Cy Young Award. That much we know.

After that, things get messy.

The Junior Circuit is flush with very good starting pitchers, solid starting pitchers and serviceable starting pitchers. But there isn't that guy—the one with consistently dominant results and eye-popping stats across the board.

Notice we said "starting pitcher." Paging Zach Britton.

In the American League MVP race, one undersized dynamo is now being hotly pursued by another undersized dynamo.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Birmingham Barons shortstop Eddy Alvarez has a "hidden secret."

Alvarez is a Miami native and son of Cuban immigrants who won a silver medal in the Winter Olympics as part of the USA's 5,000-meter relay speedskating team in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.

You read that right. Miami. Winter Olympics. Silver medal. Speedskating.

But there's nothing secretive about that. After all, the whole world was watching "Eddy the Jet" two years ago.

With Giancarlo Stanton having suffered yet another significant injury, now's a good time to repurpose the catchphrase for Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.

This time, it counts.