[外電]Tucker和Williams交易案後的7個關注焦點

最近兩天無消無息，太無聊來翻譯一下官網的文章，給版友增添一點討論話題（？

原文網址：

https://reurl.cc/Q5XA7M

1. The Cubs are finally going for it.
小熊終於要梭哈衝擊總冠軍（了嗎？

You can forgive Cubs fans if they were starting to lose a little patience. Since they traded away the last remnants of their 2016 World Series team in 2021, the Cubs have played in exactly zero postseason games. They haven’t actually won a playoff game since 2017, if you can believe that. They certainly made some moves since then, acquiring the likes of Cody Bellinger, Dansby Swanson, Seiya Suzuki, Shota Imanaga and Jameson Taillon. A rebuilt farm system looks ready to bear fruit. Yet they still looked like a team of supporting parts without a centerpiece -- and seemingly no real plan to get one. (They were never afactor on Juan Soto.)

如果你是熊迷的話，最近幾年你熊的表現應該會讓你變得很沒耐心。自從2021年小熊交易掉最後一位2016的奪冠班底之後，小熊就沒有進入過季後賽。嚴格來說，小熊在2017之後就沒有贏過任何一場季後賽了。當然，小熊也不是沒有努力過。他們網羅了包含809、Swanson、鈴木誠野、今永昇太、Taillon。他們的農場也差不多到了可以收成驗收成果的階段。但小熊仍然看起來像是一個缺乏核心，並且也沒有計劃要找到這樣一位建隊核心的打算。（他們從來沒有加入Soto爭奪戰之中。）

Well, now they have one. Tucker instantly becomes the best player on the team-- the best player the Cubs have had since peak Kris Bryant? -- and exactly the sort of player Cubs fans will love. We’ve continued to hear about an increased sense of urgency at Wrigley Field, but there hasn’t been much evidence of it. With Tucker in the fold but having just one year of club control remaining, we sure have some now. The biggest question now: Will they flex their financial muscle to keep him past 2025?

現在他們總算迎來一位核心。Tucker的到來也讓他成為小熊打線中最強悍的一位。可能是繼巔峰老大之後的另一支有影響力的棒子（？現在唯一的問題點就在於，小熊老闆在2025年願不願意打開錢包留著這位強打了。

2. The Yankees didn’t spend much time licking their wounds.
洋基沒有花太多時間沈浸在Soto爭奪戰的落敗之中。

There is no question about it: Losing Juan Soto, to their crosstown rivals noless, was a brutal blow to the Yankees, one we’ll be unpacking for years to come. But you have to credit the Yankees for not sitting around, feeling sorryfor themselves. In the days since losing Soto, they have been incredibly aggressive, agreeing to an eight-year contract with left-hander Max Fried and now trading for Williams, one of the best closers in baseball.

不可否認的是，在Soto爭奪戰中輸給同城的梅子對洋基來說確實蠻傷。但不得不給予肯定的是，洋基這次在plan B的部分表現的可圈可點。先是用8y/218M的合約網羅了阿炸，然後有交易來聯盟中最強終結者之一的Devin Williams。

While Tucker would have been a nice short-term replacement for Soto, that “short-term” part of it might have scared them away; they did, after all, just trade for a lefty-hitting outfielder only to wave goodbye to him a year later.(And remember: They’ll be among the top suitors for Tucker next offseason, too.) The Yankees still seem a bat or two short, and it’ll be fascinating to see how they address that (Alex Bregman? Cody Bellinger? Nolan Arenado? Pete Alonso?), but it’s obvious, with how quickly they’ve worked post-Soto, that the
y will address it: They’re not sitting around idly, even for a second.

雖然Tucker可能會是替代Soto的一個不錯的短期方案，但是也正是因為這所謂的短期，可能讓洋基在Tucker交易案中比較卻步的地方。畢竟去年換來Soto也就真的只讓他在這邊打工一年。但可以預期的是，如果Tucker沒有被綁長約，明年冬天洋基依然會是Tucker的主要競爭者之一。攤開洋基打線來看，他們還缺少了一兩隻有影響力的打者。大家可以期待看看洋基會怎樣把這個洞補起來。（Bangman？809？納豆？北極熊？）

3. Are the Astros punting, or shifting?
太空人的下一步會是什麼？

This is not the first World Series hero the Astros have said farewell to, as George Springer, Carlos Correa and Charlie Morton can tell you. But this is the first one the Astros have traded away before (potentially) losing him to free agency, and, all told, Tucker might be the best of any of those guys. While it does seem likely that the Astros would be outbid for Tucker after next season, it’s still something quite different to actively trade him away when you’
re ostensibly trying to compete (and keep an eight-season playoff streak alive).

這不是太鼓第一次跟他們的世界大賽英雄說掰掰了。之前的Springer、Correa、Morton都是如此。但Tucker是唯一一位在成為FA前就被太鼓賣掉的人。雖然可以預期的是要是明年讓Tucker成為FA，太鼓高機率會搶輸人家，但對於想要保持競爭力的太鼓來說還是不是尋常的一件事情。（目前太鼓已經連續八年進入季後賽。）

Are the Astros actively taking a step back or just realigning their roster? The answer may come with what happens over the rest of this winter. Houston landed a third baseman (Isaac Paredes) and a third-base prospect (Cam Smith) in this trade, perhaps spelling the end for another World Series-winning franchisestalwart, free agent Bregman. Assuming he leaves, do the Astros have any other big moves planned to help this incredible run of success going?

究竟太鼓是確定要打掉重建，還是他們只是想要進行所謂的retool，可能要等到今年休賽期結束之後才會知道答案了。太鼓在Tucker交易案中獲得的Paredes以及新秀Smith都被視作是Bangman離開後的潛在替代人選。不曉得太鼓在Bangman真的確定離開的情況下，下一步將會何去何從？

4. Who in the AL West will step up?
誰將會是美西下賽季的霸主？

Even if the Astros bring back Bregman -- which, again, is far from assured --losing Tucker clearly brings the club back toward the pack in this division. So, who will take advantage? The Rangers have already made some moves this offseason, re-signing Nathan Eovaldi and bringing in Jake Burger and Kyle Higashioka, and they’re expecting some more progression from their young players. The Mariners always seem just about to break through: Maybe this pushes them to go get some more much-needed hitting?

即使太鼓最終成功簽回Bangman，失去Tucker對他們來說還是在美西的競爭力排名掉了一個檔次。那麼剩下的四支球隊中，誰會取而代之登頂呢？遊騎兵已經在今年休賽期有了幾個動作，包括簽回Eovaldi，盤來Burger以及東崗。同時遊騎兵的新秀也預期會持續有所成長。一直以來水手都被認為差了那麼臨門一角，或許太鼓的競爭力流失會讓他們更願意去提升自己的打線（？

And don’t forget how active the other two teams have been already, with the A’s signing Luis Severino and the Angels bringing in Yusei Kikuchi, Kyle Hendricks, Travis d’Arnaud, Jorge Soler, Kevin Newman and Scott Kingery. All this
activity confirms what the Tucker trade made clear: The AL West smells blood in the water. Finally.

也別忘了剩下的天使以及綠帽在今年休賽期同樣積極。這些都讓明年的美西戰場變得更加撲朔迷離。（美西總算等到一些drama可看了？

5. Bellinger and Arenado are probably about to be traded.
809和納豆極有可能是接下來被交易掉的對象。

The Cubs have been trying to offload Bellinger since he declined to exercise his opt-out clause after the season, and now that they have Tucker, that may happen sooner rather than later. (Particularly now that they have so many left-handed hitters in the lineup.)

自從今年冬天809拒絕跳出他的PO之後，小熊就一直希望處理掉他的合約。而現在小熊盤來Tucker之後，可能會加速小熊賣掉809的進度。

Meanwhile, the Cardinals -- who have promised a bunch of moves this offseasonbut so far haven’t made any -- may now see the perfect opportunity to find a
market for Arenado among the teams who missed out on Tucker. One wonders if they might try to talk Arenado into including the Yankees on the list of teams he’d waive his no-trade clause for, because if New York doesn’t get Bregman,
Arenado would fit in nicely there. The point is: Friday was hardly the end oftrade season. It was just the start.

與此同時，向外界放話今年會有很多大動作的紅鳥，到現在依然靜悄悄。Tucker交易案結束以後或許會讓紅鳥給沒有得標Tucker的球隊更多機會。市場上有傳言稱紅鳥正在遊說納豆把洋基也加進願意讓他放棄NTC的候選之一。因為要是洋基沒有搶到Bangman，納豆也會是個不錯的替代人選。休賽期還長呢，可以繼續等著看。

6. This will probably work out in some way for the Brewers.
酒鬼或許會開始有不一樣的發展方向。

Does veteran starter Nestor Cortes and prospect Caleb Durbin feel like a big enough return for Devin Williams? It doesn’t, right? Well, if that makes you think the Brewers, who did just win the NL Central after all, are somehow out of the picture now, you don’t know the Brewers. They have other options in their ’pen, and Cortes is actually a nice fit for a rotation that had gotten too right-handed.

小鬍子以及新秀Durbin對於交易掉Williams的回報來說，會不會有點少了？如果交易掉Williams會讓你對酒鬼下賽季失去信心的話，那就太不了解酒鬼了。酒鬼的牛棚會有其他的替代人選，而小鬍子的到來也解決了酒鬼先發太多右投的問題。

But more to the point: It was just a year ago that the Brewers lost Corbin Burnes and manager Craig Counsell, and we all assumed we could thus count them out of the NL Central race. And then they went out and won it, fairly easily. Discount them very much at your peril.

話說回來，去年酒鬼也失去了Burnes和Counsell（總教練），大家都以為酒鬼要失去競爭力了。然而今年他們就是做到在國中出線了。不要失去對酒鬼的期望。

7. Tucker is “The Most Underrated Player in Baseball” no more
Tucker不再是聯盟中最被低估的球員了

To watch a telecast, you’d think “Underappreciated” and “Underrated” were
somehow parts of Tucker’s given name. But he’s about to play right field at
Wrigley Field for a whole season, for one of the most beloved and famous sports teams on the planet, in his walk year as everyone salivates over his pending free agency. Kyle Tucker will go unnoticed no longer, and never again.

如果你一直都有在follow棒球，可能會發現Tucker一直以來都被認為是最被忽視，被低估的球員。但下賽季他將在Wrigley Field打滿一整季（除非小熊沒有競爭力在季中交易掉他）。而小熊一直以來都是地球上最挺自家球員，擁有最熱情球迷的球隊之一，Tucker將不再被忽視了。

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以上純屬翻譯，不代表個人立場。
官網的報導文章有些看看就好，只是提供對方觀點以及可能性，並非引戰。

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