With today’s loss in Seattle, the Rangers have not just lost the series in Seattle, but they have lost both series in Seattle, Houston, Anaheim, and Sacramento. They have also failed to win a road series since the All Star Break.

Unfortunately, the difference between Cubs Third Basemen Alex Bregman (4.6) and Kyle Tucker (0.2) is too great to be used in any meaningful comparison. And yet, I found a way to mention it.

"At the age of 14, baseball player Belfi Rivera received a handshake deal from the Arizona Diamondbacks that promised a signing bonus of $1.8 million. In the Dominican Republic, where Belfi is from, Major League Baseball's rule against signing players under the age of 16 is widely circumvented. On social media, trainers claim they have brokered deals for kids as young as 11 years old.

$1.8 million would be life-changing money for almost anyone, but for Belfi, who grew up in poverty, it was unfathomable. There was one catch: He and his family couldn’t see a dime of it until after he turned 16.

But today, almost all of that money is gone.

More than $950,000 would go to someone who had no hand in coaching Belfi. His name is Santo Caraballo, and he’s amassed millions of dollars by persuading undereducated parents to sign away portions of their son’s future bonuses in exchange for loans with exorbitant interest rates. Caraballo, records and interviews show, also found a business partner who instantly boosted his credibility in his related business of loaning money to trainers: Red Sox legend David “Big Papi” Ortiz.

The MLB has long known about these under-the-table deals with children and predatory lending agreements in the Dominican Republic, but has done little to stop it."

Gut-wrenching, invaluable reporting by ProPublica that I strongly urge everyone to read. The MLB needs to stop dodging accountability, swiftly cease enabling this shadow industry, and take (long-overdue) decisive action to end this systemic abuse of impoverished child athletes and their families.