u/LarryLucchino

Arias I think it's safe to say is not coming up this year no matter what he does. There's simply no room in the infield for a 20 year old who doesn't need to rush.

Romy though...I don't know how much longer you can keep him down there in good faith. A 30 year old legit MLB contributor who was supposed to be our starting 2B and has now proven he's healthy in AAA.

It's fair to question how there's possibly room for him, but I don't think he's someone you can stash in AAA. Probably Jahmai Jones, I would assume.

She continued that in the report that they're all furiously reading, there is definitely a pattern with how Gillian Zucker would make introductions to companies, and how those companies felt they had to make endorsement contracts with Kawhi if they wanted to do business with the Clippers. It felt like a condition of doing business.

She noted that Steve Ballmer feels like he was within the rules and that he looks forward to an independent arbitration process. He will fight this and the story isn't over yet.

Source: https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/49807719/extremely-severe-punishments-steve-ballmer-clippers

Noted Chad has "just been steady...so steady and calm and stabilizing and has literally not changed since that first day."

From today's 310 to Left: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCmQ9aybVZg

Did add this is not a formal announcement, and he's not ready to reveal the discussions, but did say they have been "ongoing."

Other Notes:

• Said he is not happy with where they are in terms of once again being behind the Yankees and maybe having to go to the Bronx for a Wild Card series. Feels they have been good in the Bronx, but they're not where they are. Hopes they're in a position where they can really gameplan and get ready for the playoffs.
• General takeaway was it's nice they're currently in playoff position after the start they had, but not losing sight of the fact that even the second Wild Card is not good enough, that means 3rd in the division.
• Feels the MLB playoff format is "perfect" in terms of how many teams make it. He loves that there is a game on the afternoon of September 2nd that feels like a 'must win atmosphere' for both teams.
• He does think there needs to be reseeding, Lou added in that the AL playoffs often just feel like an AL East gauntlet.
• Lauded both the commissioner and the players on the competition committee that have done unbelievable things for baseball in recent years, better quality of baseball, changes that have led to better ratings and a better fan experience with MLB. (These sorts of discussions are where Sam Kennedy talks extremely eloquently, in my opinion).

On top of Kenneth Walker headed to Kansas City, Seahawks will now be without Charbonnet.

That leaves their rookie 1st round pick, Jadarian Price, who missed a good amount of time this offseason.

Still one helluva team, so anything helps! Need Cory Durden to feast.

More from his final preseason thoughts: https://www.patriots.com/news/after-further-review-37-thoughts-on-the-patriots-after-training-camp-and-the-preseason

Notable Goods:

1. "RB Rhamondre Stevenson looks poised for a huge season as an all-around back."

2. "TE Hunter Henry signed a contract extension in the middle of camp and was his steady self this summer as an underneath outlet for Maye."

3. "The long-term view is positive for the Patriots third-rounder. (Eli Raridon)"

4. "Like Maye, Will Campbell's biggest tests are ahead of him but I'll echo what others have said about his strong camp. Campbell looks like he's over the knee injury that limited him down the stretch in 2025 and he seems to have taken Vrabel's challenge to get physically stronger to heart."

5. "EDGE Dre'Mont Jones has come as advertised: a power-oriented rusher who can set the edge. It's not flashy but he gets the job done and should bring a more disciplined defender than his predecessor."

Notable Bads:

1. "I'm not sure what the Patriots do for cornerback depth after clubhouse leaders Kindle Vildor, Karon Prunty, and Charles Woods were losing reps to Gage Larvadain, Ben Patterson, Luke Floriea, and Kole Wilson"

2. "Gabe Jacas has now been involved in multiple negative plays vs. zone-reads this summer. At some point, you're the common dominator."

3. "Second-year RB TreVeyon Henderson had a disappointing camp to some but it's all relative to expectation."

From Mark Daniels' post-game article: https://www.masslive.com/patriots/2026/08/winners-and-losers-from-patriots-preseason-finale-vs-browns.html

Doug Kyed added: "The thought of Jacas being the top backup at OLB to start the season is a bit scary." & "Jacas continues to play out of control on the edge."

Mike Reiss gave him the legendary Reiss "⬇️" emoji

And the eye test is really, really bad on this guy. He runs like post-injury Harold Landry, bites on every fake, and gets stood up by every single backup tackle he runs into.

Really good training camp recap from Mark Daniels with all sorts of positives and negatives:

https://www.masslive.com/patriots/2026/08/22-thoughts-on-patriots-after-22-days-of-training-camp-mark-daniels.html

In particular, he's very high on the offense, Kevin Byard, Christian Gonzalez, etc.

What he's not so high on is Caleb Lomu & co, the offensive line depth.

"Morgan Moses is 35. If he goes down, he’d be replaced by rookie Caleb Lomu or Marcus Bryant. In camp, both players looked like downgrades to the team’s top backup tandem last year - Vederian Lowe and Thayer Munford."

Makes you wonder how hard they're working the phones for OL depth and edge rushers this week. Hopefully pretty hard!

Notably, Ranger Suarez has a record of 4-1 with an ERA of 1.48, 44 strikeouts and 1 save in 11 appearances in the postseason in his career. He's also making $130M.

Also of note, we're less than a year removed from Bello getting yanked from a Wild Card start vs. the same Yankees in 2.1 innings, having allowed only 2 runs.

Tolle is very young. Maybe you want to save Bello for him or Suarez, just in case.

Maybe, maybe Crochet is back to be an opener option for Bello. But at this point, Miller has allowed 0 ER in 10 games this month. Unless Crochet can pitch negative runs, he can't be better than Miller in that role.

Lots of things to consider.

Who are your starters for Games 1, 2 and 3 (let's assume it's vs. the Yankees).

Generally speaking, the immediate media grading of the the Patriots draft outside of Maye was "ok"

Pro Football Network gave them a B+ noting Drake Maye gives the Patriots "genuine enthusiasm" but "Caedan Wallace and Layden Robinson were a significant reach"

Sports Illustrated gave them a B, noting Drake Maye was "a home run pick" but in regards to Polk "It could be argued there were a few candidates who would be a better fit or talent (AD Mitchell, or even Ladd McConkey without a trade down)"

NFL.com gave them a B noting "The selections of Polk and Wallace addressed needs for the Patriots, but we’ll see if staying put in the second round to take Ladd McConkey — instead of trading down — would have been a better choice."

PFF gave them a B+

A composite of the top 20 evaluators grades gave the Patriots the 12th best draft at the time, though this was skewed heavily by picking a QB in the top 3. The rest of their draft was instantly viewed as underwhelming.