Stock Up, Stock Down: Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers

The first two series after the All-Star break were pretty telling for some front offices. Leading into the end of the first half, the Boston Red Sox were one of the hottest teams and had a schedule in front of them to begin the second half to make a move in the Wild Card standings. However, splitting a six-game road trip with the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics is not what you want to be doing in July.

What makes the trip more frustrating for manager Alex Cora and Boston is that they were playing themselves into a position that would force GM Chaim Bloom to become a buyer at the deadline, but dropping the final two games against Oakland in two uninspiring performances is not going to do it. To compound matters, they lost the final game, 6-5, despite the Athletics committing four errors.

The best team in the majors, the Atlanta Braves, has had a tough time coming out of the break as well. They dropped two out of three at home to the Chicago White Sox, then dropped two out of three to the Arizona Diamondbacks, who were coming off being swept in Canada by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Things are slowly falling into place with the trade deadline just 10 days away and some front offices are realizing that they are going to be buyers, sellers or, in some cases, just standing pat. As time begins to inch closer to August 1, let’s fire up the latest Stock Up, Stock Down.

Stock Down: Miami Marlins’ disastrous second-half start

One of the better stories in the first half was the season the Miami Marlins were having. If it was not for the Braves, they would have been closer to the top of the National League East Division. In fact, they spent most of the first half with the second-best record in the NL.

Young star Luis Arraez was flirting with .400 in the first half and was a big reason for Miami’s start. He had multiple games with five hits, which is unheard of anymore. All of the good vibes the Marlins had in the first half disappeared quickly in the first six games after the break.

The second-half start could not be any worse as they were swept by the Baltimore Orioles, then were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals, who were sitting in the basement of the National League Central before the Marlins arrived in town. Arraez is getting a sign of what might come in the second half with teams pitching the lefty more cautiously.

Arraez has just eight hits after the break and Miami’s pitching has not been as good as it was before the break. They have gone from holding down the first Wild Card spot in the NL to being passed by the Philadelphia Phillies for the final spot just ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants. It’s safe to say that their upcoming three-game series at home against the Colorado Rockies is a must-sweep or getting two out of three at worst.

Stock Up: Texas Rangers get some separation from Houston Astros

Just how good are the Texas Rangers this season? In their first game after the break, they quickly fell behind the Cleveland Guardians, 4-0, but responded with 12 straight runs on their way to a win. That was just the beginning of an impressive first two series following the break.

Texas won the final two games, then swept the Tampa Bay Rays out of first place in the American League East. They won all three games of the series by a combined score of 13-6 and in the process, were able to increase their lead over the Houston Astros to 4.5 games in the division.

The key for Texas in the second half of the season will be keeping the Astros at bay to win the division. By winning the division, they will secure the second AL bye for the Wild Card series, which is huge. Forcing the Astros to play more games than they need to could benefit the Rangers, should the teams meet in October.

Expect Texas to be active at the trade deadline, despite already picking up Aroldis Chapman in June from the Kansas City Royals. Another arm and bat could be added to a roster that has been pitching well and hitting the baseball with the best teams in the league.

Stock Down: Aaron Boone and the New York Yankees

Things have gone from bad to worse for the New York Yankees in the six games since the break. In fact, the blame is being spread around from manager Aaron Boone to the players on the field. Things are quickly turning into a lost season in the Bronx.

A six-game road trip against the Rockies and Los Angeles Angels went from turning around the Yankees’ place in the standings to sliding into the AL East basement and fading quickly in the wild-card standings. They are not out of it, but they are 3.5 games behind the Houston Astros for the final Wild Card spot and they need to also jump the Boston Red Sox.

The loss of Aaron Judge has led to the Yankees’ offense struggling, but against the Rockies and Angels, it was decisions by Boone and the bullpen that fell apart. In Sunday’s 8-7, 11-inning loss in Colorado, they took a 7-5 lead into the bottom of the 11th. Instead of calling on Michael King to close the door after using closer Clay Holmes, Boone brought in Nick Ramirez and he gave up a two-run home run to Nolan Jones. Later in the inning, Boone summoned Ron Marinaccio and he surrendered a game-winning home run to Alan Trejo.

What followed the Colorado series was not any better. The Yankees were swept by the struggling Angels and once again, decisions by Boone played a part. Leading 3-1 in the first game with two outs and a runner on base, Boone decided to pitch to Shohei Ohtani and MLB’s home run leader launched a two-run shot to tie the game and allow L.A. to steal a 4-3 extra-inning win. In the three games, New York batters struck out 42 times, which is a franchise record for the Angels in a three-game series.

If things don’t turn around quickly for Boone and the Yankees, they might be sellers at the deadline, but what they have to sell remains to be seen.