Saturdays | MLB Trade Deadline | AFC West | YouTube Rabbithole
Okay @YouTheReader,
Saturdays by Twin Shadow I remember hearing it for the first time around ‘19 and immediately looked up what year in the ‘80s it came out. It turns out this song came out in February of ‘18, but it of course has some ‘80s pop-rock influence. I’m a fan of songs & bands that use sounds from previous eras with a modern twist. I specifically remember trying to play this on a Saturday while in an Uber heading to a bar and the Fellas were like, “What is this on the Aux?” Long story short that moment didn’t lead to a revival of 80s-style pop by modern bands but at least I can say I tried. Moving forward anytime Week to Week Notes has Friday on in the background during the summer, expect Saturdays to follow it.
A little bit on Twin Shadow… That is the stage name of George William Lewis Jr. who was born in the Dominican Republic, grew up in Florida, moved to Brooklyn where he started his Twin Shadow project, and now presides in Los Angeles. He is multi-talented as a singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor.
Twin Shadow told @RapGenius that the opening line is about, “This came from my overwhelming feeling that humanity is on a bit of a downward spiral – and that perhaps finding truth in the words that we share with one another is more important than ever.” The last line in the first verse is about how “Los Angeles is always on the verge of a massive earthquake. It is also the place I now call home.”
Saturdays for Twin Shadow always represent, “an escape that I seek from the horrors of modern life.” (Source: RapGenius)
According to Twin Shadow, "It's a love song. 'Saturdays' is the heaven place you go to when you're in love or even with friends, feeling your youth. But it's also about my feeling that the world is starting to tear itself apart and maybe we're falling through the cracks. But when you're lying in bed next to someone you care about, none of that seems real.”
This verse is about how as Twin Shadow, George William Lewis Jr. has been on the road for quite a bit. He started his musical career back in ‘00 when he started a band called Mad Man Films. They specialized in recording music for theatre and films but he wasn’t satisfied so embarked on his own career path using his own unique pop sound.
Of course, I had to have the chorus on in the background of the Cover, Story, & Reel. Twin Shadow hopes, “everyone listening can relate to dancing in the dark on a Saturday night.”
HAIM was a late addition to this track and her excellent verse technically makes this a duet.
Great tune, one of my favorites to listen to on Saturday in the summer.
On to the sports…
The MLB Trade Deadline is this Tuesday, August 1st. Week to Week Notes will recap what is about to go down over the weekend and into Tuesday. There have already been a few trades and some rumors such as…
Dodgers Trades
The Dodgers made a deal with the White Sox for some pitching Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly from White Sox for a duo of pitching prospects and Klay Thompson’s brother Trayce. Lance Lynn has been terrible this season but is only 2 years removed from being a top 3 CY Young candidate in ‘21. With Joe Kelly, LA hopes they can find the guy who pitched to a 2.86 ERA with them in ‘21 before he left for Chicago and pitched poorly ever since.
The Dodgers also made deals for SS Amed Rosario and IF Kiké Hernández. They gave up Noah Syndergaard & his 7.16 ERA, some prospects, and some cash. Thor blames his struggles in LA on there being “A lot of cooks in the kitchen” who all thought they could fix him. The Dodgers haven’t gotten virtually anything offensively out of their middle infield so their hope is Rosario can bring some life and Kiké can revive his career in his 2nd stint in Cali.
Angels Trade
The Angels decided not only were they not going to sell off AL MVP Shoehei Ohtani but that they would be buyers at the trade deadline. Anaheim traded for pitchers Lucas Giolito & Reynaldo López from White Sox in exchange for LHP Ky Bush & C Edgar Quero. Giolito and López have now been traded 2 times together. They were originally dealt together from Washington to the midwest in Chicago and now they’ve gone from sea to shining sea in LA. Giolito will be the club’s #2 starter behind Ohtani while López will come out of their pen. López hasn't allowed a run since June 26 and has a 1.75 ERA in 24 appearances dating back to May 14. (Source: @JamieGatlin17) The Angels set the pitching trade market giving up their #2 and #3 prospects. Ky Bush is a 6’6” lefty, while Edgar Quero is a 20-year-old backstop who is considered one of the best catching prospects in baseball.
Trends Change, Rumors Fly
Sox Not Trading Justin Turner
After signing a 2-year deal with the Red Sox with a player option for next season, it appears Justin Turner will be staying put in Boston for the rest of the year. The Sox’s primary DH has hit .289 with 16 homers and 66 RBIs this season. Since he is putting up great numbers for any MLB player, let alone a 38-year-old, Turner will likely decline the player option and hit free agency again this upcoming offseason. I think it is very wise of the Red Sox management to keep Turner as a rental so that they can hang around the playoff mix rather than sell the asset for some future pieces. Matter of fact, I think the Sox should just extend Turner another 3 or 4 years because he is clearly the team’s future, and of course, selfishly I want Pints on him next time at our annual top-secret underground ginger festival.
Mad Max & Kate Upton’s Husband
Looks like Uncle Stevie Cohen isn’t moving on from the aging right-handed starters. If Cohen were to eat some of the money on both or either of these guys’ contracts in a deal, the Mets could really get some decent future assets. Neither of them has pitched to their potential this year, but that said I wouldn’t want to face them in October as hired guns either. According to SNY, Kate Upton’s husband has received a bit more interest than Mad Max, drawing interest from the likes of the Rangers and Astros.
Yankees Activated Aaron Judge
Looking forward to Brian Cashman coming out and saying that the Yankees activating Aaron Judge from the disabled list or injured list, whatever baseball wants it to be called, is like trading for an MVP at the deadline. In real news, this is my last plea that the Yanks should be selling Gleyber Torres. The 2B has been playing well of late and still has another year of control meaning they might be able to get a future piece or two back, which is better than nothing. A team like the Marlins, who’ve had interest in him in the past and are loaded with pitching depth in their minors would be ideal. When they don’t end up trading him, I’m hoping he makes me look like a fool but we already know what Torres brings. While it would for sure be a bit of a gamble to go with the kids, Gleyber is a subpar defender who hits .265 with some pop and I’m not sure we’ll really notice too much of a difference in the lineup if you gave his spot to Oswald Peraza & brought up Trey Sweeney.
Last Saturday, Week to Week Notes declared it officially okay to seriously start talking about football. We’ll be providing some division-by-division previews of the ‘23 NFL Season. Everyone I polled picked the Chiefs to win the AFC West, including the Chargers Fan Insider - what an absolute fraud.
1. Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl Champions. With one more Super Bowl, we could start having dynastic conversations. Patrick Mahomes is now not only an NFL superstar QB but a Netflix star as well as he is featured in Season 1 of their Show called “Quarterback.” Mahomes will enter the season with his old teammate, Travis Kelce as their star TE. This offseason Kelce has turned into a complete distraction as he reportedly tried to ask Taylor Swift out while she was busy performing at a concert. Very rude of him to be butt-hurt about getting rejected.
Somebody tell Travis to kick rocks, get in line bruv. The Chiefs lost some WRs this offseason in Juju Smith-Schuster & Mecole Hardman as well as most importantly their starting LT in Orlando Brown. To replace Brown, Reid & the Chiefs signed Jawaan Taylor from the Jags. As for Mahomes’ weapons, I expect more out of Kadarius Toney now that he has had a full offseason in Reid’s playbook. The Chiefs also have two newcomers in Justyn Ross (formerly of Clemson) and Rashee Rice, their 2nd Rounder of SMU. There is really no reason to think the Chiefs won’t once again be in the Super Bowl contention as they enter the season as the clear favorites.
2. San Diego Chargers
The ‘22 LA Chargers were the winners of the ‘22 offseason. They had acquired a pass rusher opposite of Joey Bosa in Khalil Mack and signed JC Jackson from the Patriots. Mack had a very solid season with the Chargers as he racked up 8 sacks but the team only got to see 5 games out of JC. This forced Asaante Samuel Jr. into their CB1 role. Joey Bosa missed most of the ‘22 season but was back just in time for the playoffs. Derwin James put up another very good season as he was 2nd Team All-Pro. Offensively, Justin Herbert had another nice season but for the most part, was without Keenan Allen so he had to target Austin Ekeler 127 times on dump-off passes. All in all, the Chargers made the playoffs and even had a 27-point lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars before blowing it. If this paragraph about the Chargers seems a bit chaotic, good it represents what the Chargers were in ‘22.
The Chargers this offseason stayed away from the offseason splashes. They got Hebert a new WR weapon in the 1st Round with Quentin Johnston. If their WR room can stay healthy, it might be the deepest one in the NFL. While Keenan Allen isn’t getting any younger, he should still be a reliable possession WR, Mike Williams will offer Herbert a guy who can go up over any DB on a jump ball, and Johnston should provide the Chargers offense some YAC. While Austin Ekeler may have been a stud as a pass catcher in fantasy, there is no way the plan for the Chargers is to force-feed him the ball through the air as they did for necessity last season. Justin Herbert, who just signed a new 5-year deal, said as much, “One of the goals is just making sure we’re throwing the ball down the field and making sure we’re taking those shots.”
3. Denver Broncos
After just 15 games into his tenure, the Broncos fired their head coach Nathaniel Hackett. The ‘22 Denver Broncos were abysmal. Russell Wilson became a walking meme. You never want your new franchise QB to go full-walking meme. Mr. Unlimited had the worst season of his career, throwing 16 TDs with 11 INTs. They lost their up-and-coming RB Javonte Williams to an ACL a month into the season. The only consistent source of positivity for Denver last season was their star CB Patrick Surtain II. The ‘Bama alum defensive back enters ‘22 as a consensus top 5 Corner with 6 INTs and 24 passes defended in only 2 seasons in the pros.
The Broncos replaced Hackett with a Super Bowl-winning head coach Sean Payton. The new Broncos head coach made news this week by blasting Hackett who is now the Jets’ offensive coordinator and a major reason why Aaron Rodgers chose to play in New York. Payton has since walked back his comments which make him look like an absolute fool, but we have more on him Thursday. Besides the outspoken head coach, the Broncos didn’t make a ton of off-season moves this year and had to watch the Seattle Seahawks take Devon Witherspoon with the 5th Overall Pick in the ‘23 NFL Draft because of the acquisition of Mr. Unlimited from a year ago. I can’t see Wilson being any worse with Payton as HC, but I’m also just not quite sure it’ll make much of a difference with how stacked the Chiefs and Chargers are above them.
4. Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders after having a surprisingly fun ‘21 season with their interim head coach Rich Bisaccia regressed under Josh McDaniels in ‘22. McDaniels was effective at running Derek Carr out of town. While I might not be the biggest Carr fan, bashing the Raiders’ all-time statistical leader in every category as soon as you walk into the door doesn’t help disprove that McDaniels learned much since his first head coaching job in Denver. In his contract year, RB Josh Jacobs put up a career year, leading the NFL in rushing yards with 1,653. WR Davante Adams away from Rodgers in Green Bay proved he was still a star putting up 100 catches for 1,516 receiving yards and 14 TDs, but force-feeding Adams saw Hunter Renfrow’s production completely fall off.
Enter Jimmy Garoppolo with Jakobi Meyers and this team just reeks of last place. There is already a rumor that Davante Adams wants out of Vegas and that Rodgers took his $35 million pay cut so that the Jets could acquire him - Week to Week Notes could only hope that rumor further spreads. The Raiders have placed the franchise tag on Josh Jacobs and he plans to hold out through the ‘23 preseason. Their new rookies Tyree Wilson and Michael Mayer should provide some hope, but Jimmy G away from Kyle Shanahan’s running scheme won’t be anything more than adequate which isn’t good enough in a division of Mahomes, Herbert, & Mr. Unlimited.