They announced it as a mutual parting of ways, Ken Rosenthal and the rest of baseball announced it as a firing. Regardless, the search for a new head of baseball operations in Sacramento will begin. Forst had been the GM since October 2015. The Athletics never advanced past the ALDS in that timespan, though they did win 97 games two years in a row in 2018 and 2019 before payroll constraints tore that team apart.

Culpepper is the Twins’ second-ranked prospect and the 29th-ranked prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. He has a .271 average with 14 home runs, 46 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 74 games for Triple-A St. Paul this season, but has gone 11-for-40 (.275) in 10 games since returning from a glute injury in mid-July. Culpepper is one of the highest-ranked prospect hitters we’re likely to see called up this summer and has a power/speed combination that’s worth a gamble in most fantasy leagues.

The 28-year-old superstar got the scoring started in the ballgame with a 390-foot (103.8-mph EV) two-run shot off of Janson Junk in the third inning that fell short of the outfield wall, but the Marlins’ outfielders collided and the ball got knocked out of the glove of Esteury Ruiz and bounced into the stands for a home run. He then cleared the fence with a 337-foot (97.3-mph EV) solo shot off of Cade Gibson in the eighth that made it a 9-2 ballgame. His bat appears to be heating up, which is terrifying news for the rest of the National League. On the season, he’s now slashing .244/.358/.436 to go with 11 homers, 27 RBI and 15 stolen bases (in 22 attempts) across 279 plate appearances.

Surgery “is always a possibility,” when a player sees a specialist, said Schneider per Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. This is not a promising update for Yesavage’s chances of returning to the rotation any time soon. Given Toronto’s position in the standings, it would be surprising if they tried to push him to fight through this towards the end of the season if they had any doubt about it.

Once again, Skenes was simply not sharp here. His command was a mess as he walked four batters for the second straight start. Those woes were most apparent with his fastball. He simply could not find the zone with it and missed too many of his spots by a wide margin. In turn, he threw his second-lowest rate of fastballs in any start this season. Yet, it was only the second time over the last two months where that pitch’s average velocity stretched back above 97 mph. It was also his first time in 10 starts where he threw multiple pitches above 98 mph. Is his arm tired? Are his mechanics out of whack because he’s trying to reach back and find more velocity? We simply don’t know, but this is more than just a poor stretch now. Skenes has a 6.14 ERA over his last seven starts and the Pirates are an unthinkable 3-12 in his last 15. He’s scheduled for a two-start week coming up against the Marlins and Red Sox as he desperately tries to get back on track.

Cameron was simply masterful here. He mixed his changeup, slider, fastball, cutter, and curveball nearly evenly and all five of those pitches forced multiple swings-and-misses. His slider was especially lethal with seven whiffs of its own as he located beautifully running inside on right-handed batters. With that pitch and his cutter brushing righties back, changeups falling away from them on the outside, curveballs attacking their back foot, and elevated fastballs forcing them to respect the heat you could see how beautifully Cameron’s different pitches play off each other when everything’s clicking. And things are clicking lately as Cameron has allowed just one run over his last three starts spanning 23 innings with 24 strikeouts and six walks. He has a tall task up next though heading to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers before taking on the Angels in the second leg of a two-start week.

It’s a massive relief that Harrison isn’t dealing with anything arm-related following a one-month absence due to a forearm issue. It appears that his early departure was for precautionary reasons after he experienced cramping in both of his calves while warming up for the sixth inning. The 24-year-old southpaw was in the middle of a dominant performance during his return from the injured list, allowing just two baserunners over five shutout innings while recording his fourth double-digit strikeout effort of the season. He struck out eight consecutive batters prior to his early exit. He’s slated to take the ball against the Padres his next time out on Tuesday.

Crow-Armstrong and Shohei Ohtani, the NL MVP front-runners at the moment, had nearly identical games from the DH spot today; both went 3-for-5 with leadoff homers in the first and a two-run homers later on. They were even the 25th and 26th homers of the season for both. The difference, though, was that PCA’s third hit was an RBI double, whereas Othani’s was an RBI-less single. Crow-Armstrong is now hitting .288/.386/.552, putting him in fourth place in the majors in OPS. He has three two-homer games this season and nine for his career.

Shelton added that Ryan is headed back to Minnesota due to back and glute issues, which puts his availability for Sunday’s start against the Brewers in obvious jeopardy. The ongoing physical issues, which are impacting his ability to repeat his delivery, certainly explain his recent struggles as he’s allowed a staggering 17 runs — 16 earned — over 15 1/3 innings across three starts since the All-Star break. There should be some much-needed clarity on his status and outlook later this week.

As former Yankees manager Joe Girardi was fond of saying, it’s not what you want. Greene’s sudden departure from Cincinnati’s rotation comes with a lack of certainty regarding the severity of the issue and whether he’ll require another surgical procedure. He’s scheduled to meet with renowned surgeon Dr. Neal El Attrache in Los Angeles later this week. The hard-throwing 26-year-old has struggled to an inflated 6.83 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 33/9 K/BB ratio across 27 2/3 innings since returning from surgery to remove bone chips and loose bodies from his pitching elbow back on July 4. There should be some much-needed clarity regarding his next steps in the coming days. At this point, it’s challenging for fantasy managers to justify stashing him, especially in shallow formats.