By Thursday, it was easy to find exclamation points and chest-thumping from the contenders who were feeling the high of significant trade-deadline assistance.
“I think everyone knows this team has a chance to win this thing,” Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman told reporters after Atlanta’s front office bolstered the bullpen. “So when you play good and you get rewarded by your front office, it just fires everyone up in this clubhouse.”
“Game time,” Astros infielder Alex Bregman told reporters after Houston stunned baseball by parting with four prized prospects (plus big money) to add Zack Greinke to a starting staff that was feared before the trade.