The knuckleball’s return? Plus: Sorry for the jinx, Aaron Judge

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The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic’s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.

How much does a “small market” team go for these days? We’re about to find out.

Plus: New hope for knuckleballers in the Tigers system, a reminder on something catchers can’t do, and Ken (… sigh …) Ken jinxed Aaron Judge, you guys. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to the Windup!

Business: Rays for sale, Dodgers empire expanding?

Yesterday was a big day for buying sports teams.

First, the Rays announced that ownership was in “exclusive negotiations” with a group headed by Jacksonville-based real estate developer Patrick Zalupski, likely signaling the end of a somewhat tumultuous last year for current owner Stu Sternberg.

Last summer, things were looking up, with the team and the city of St. Petersburg in agreement on a $1.3 billion stadium deal. But that was before Hurricane Milton tore the roof off Tropicana Field, forcing the team to temporarily move to George Steinbrenner Field — the Yankees’ spring training facility — for 2025.

It also set back the funding process; the city was, understandably, preoccupied with more urgent matters. But the Rays contended that the delays would increase the cost (since the timeline would be shorter) and the city should pay for the overage.

No go. Ultimately, the Rays scuttled the agreement, city officials called for Sternberg to sell, and other owners and commissioner Rob Manfred also pressured him to sell. By then, it was not exactly a surprise.

The reported value of the team is $1.7 billion.

Meanwhile … if you think Dodgers owner Mark Walter has spent a ton on free agency recently, get a load of this: He just went out and got LeBron James and Luka Dončić, too.

Well, sorta. He has agreed in principle to purchase the Los Angeles Lakers for somewhere between $10 billion and $12 billion. Either would be a global record for a sports franchise.

And lastly: BIG NEWS! John Fisher is selling the team!! … The soccer team. Not the A’s. Nuts.

Ken’s Notebook: My bad, Aaron Judge

Two Saturdays ago, while covering Red Sox-Yankees for Fox, I learned something interesting about Aaron Judge’s offensive approach. Nothing earth-shattering, nothing that would earn me my long-awaited Pulitzer, but a decent angle I felt was worth pursuing.

I couldn’t talk to Judge that day, but I did some other interviews for the story during the week. We had Red Sox-Yankees again last Saturday, so I knew I would get another crack at Judge. I was on a mission. And I spoke with him before the game, completing my reporting.

What could go wrong? At the time, Judge was the hottest hitter on the planet, batting .390 with 26 home runs. Any angle on him was a good angle, right? I wrote the story Sunday and planned to publish it Monday, excited to get it out there. Faithful readers will notice the story still has not appeared.

After the Yankees were swept by the Red Sox last weekend, we decided to hold off, thinking the timing was not appropriate. If we had published, our readers would have lit me up in the comments, saying, “Not now, idiot!” and other such niceties.

Mind you, I’m quite accustomed to readers lighting me up in the comments. But publishing the Judge story after the Yankees were swept would have been the journalistic equivalent of robbing a grocery store with two dozen cops standing outside.

We figured we’d delay the story a day or two, then publish as soon as Judge got hot again. Well, we’ve waited. And waited. And waited some more. And now, I’m starting to wonder whether this sucker will ever see the light of day.

Since I interviewed Judge, the day after he hit a dramatic, game-tying shot off Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet, he is 1-for-19 with 11 strikeouts. His batting average has dropped from .390 to .366. And the Yankees have lost six straight games, getting swept by the Red Sox and dropping the first three games of four against the Los Angeles Angels. Their lead in the AL East is down to 1 1/2 games.

I know what you’re thinking: I jinxed Judge. Fair analysis. I also jinxed the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers, whom I predicted would meet in the World Series. Both will be lucky to make the playoffs. Jinxing, I guess, is what I do.

But enough about my victims. What about me? I’ve got 1,700 glorious words waiting to be filed. What you eventually will read, if Judge ever snaps out of it, will be a different version. Revisions will be necessary. Words like “historic” and “Superman” and “godlike” will need to be deleted.

At this point, I’m just hoping the story appears before the All-Star break. Or before the decade is over. All you Yankee fans in a tizzy over the team’s slump, I feel your pain.

Intrigue: Long live the knuckleball

Maybe it’s just me — after all, I once suggested a 621-foot “crevasse” for a stadium — but I adore the weird and esoteric parts of this great sport. So of course I love the knuckleball. The pitch is — pardon a reference I’m not proud of — too weird to live, too rare to die.

Except, in recent years, it has seemed rather dead. Adrian Morejon throws one once in a while. Matt Waldron threw it regularly last year, but he’s back in the minors. The last knuckleballer to stick around? R.A. Dickey, who last pitched in 2017.

I know the game has changed, but c’mon — Dickey won 20 games and a Cy Young award in 2012. Charlie Hough, Tim Wakefield, Phil Niekro and Hoyt Wilhelm pitched an average of 22.5 seasons throwing it. Surely baseball hasn’t completely tossed it aside, right?

Take heart. Cody Stavenhagen has a great story today about Kenny Serwa, a 27-year-old who was recently called up to Double A in the Tigers organization. Serwa throws two versions of the pitch: one is slower. The other? It’s the hardest knuckleball in Statcast history, at 88.5 mph. Throw in a sinker, cutter, curveball and mid-90s fastball, and … I’m intrigued.

Stavenhagen does a brilliant job not only of telling Serwa’s story, but also explaining why the pitch has fallen out of favor in big-league front offices. It’s for the same reason it can be such an effective weapon: It’s unpredictable.

Citing physics professors, former big-leaguers and the folks at Tread Athletics, Stavenhagen fills us in on the kid who was playing indie ball and delivering pizzas in Chicago last year.

Here’s hoping he makes it. The baseball world is a little weirder when there’s a successful knuckleballer hanging around.

Whoops: Catchers, you can’t do this

I see this same play crop up once in a while online, and the comments are always similar: “I didn’t know you couldn’t do that!” “First time I’ve ever seen that” or “What a stupid rule.”

I have no opinion on the stupidity of the rule, but it is a rule! Here, watch this GIF and see if you can tell what Luis Torrens does wrong:

The Braves take a 2-0 lead when Luis Torrens uses his mask to scoop the baseball and the runners on 2nd and 3rd are both awarded a base

[image or embed]

— Baseball GIFs (@baseballgifs.bsky.social) June 18, 2025 at 4:42 PM

That’s right: Torrens attempted to corral the ball with his mask. You can’t do that. He knew it, too — if you watch again, you can see him attempt to drop the mask quickly, hoping the umpire missed the infraction.

Home plate umpire Edwin Jimenez was on it, though. And unfortunately for the Mets, there were runners on second and third when it happened. Each was awarded one base, increasing the Braves’ lead to 2-0.

It was but the latest Mets catching scenario to give fans a bit of agita. Francisco Alvarez made some miscues the night before, and his power has been nonexistent this year. The Mets say they’re not yet inclined to send him to the minor leagues to sort it out, though — as Tim Britton reports — that’s … yet.

And of course, it’s all magnified by the fact that last night’s 5-0 loss gives the Mets a five-game losing streak. NL East lead down to one game.

Handshakes and High Fives

Thought we were done with the All-Quarter Century Team? Not quite! Jayson Stark and Tyler Kepner — along with help from fan voting — have now assembled a full 40-man roster.

The Dodgers are expected to announce plans to assist the immigrant community in Los Angeles. This comes on the heels of some controversy earlier this week, when singer Nezza said a team official told her not to sing the national anthem in Spanish.

After comments over the weekend about how the Nats’ losing streak — now 11 games — is “never on the coaches” … is manager Davey Martinez on the hot seat?

Pete Crow-Armstrong’s great season with the bat might be overshadowing it, but his defense has been special this year in Chicago.

Tragedy in Florida: Orioles minor leaguer Luis Guevara was killed in a jet ski accident.

Keith Law has his list of the biggest draft misses from 2015, and Melissa Lockard has notes from this year’s MLB Draft Combine.

After a stunning three-run, two-out ninth-inning rally to walk off Arkansas, LSU is advancing to the College World Series final. They’ll face Coastal Carolina.

On the pods: The “Rates & Barrels” crew talks about Cal Raleigh’s MVP case and the importance of good communication.

Programming note: No newsletter tomorrow — we’re taking today off from writing in observance of Juneteenth.

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(Photo: Greg Wohlford / Erie Time-News / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

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