MLB Bullets Heard A Rumor

Most of the news today is about trade and free-agent rumors. I'll try to get to as many of them as I can, but I can't list them all or this site would just become MLB Trade Rumors, and that job is already taken. We do have more information on the Braves moving to the suburbs and a Marlon Byrd signing. But there's more talk than action. We'd have more to talk about if the teams would get up off the sofa and play some games. Silly off-season.

• This has already been covered on BCB, but the Braves have announced that they are moving to a new stadium in Cobb County. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the team's official announcement and explanation.
• The mayor of Atlanta said the city would not use taxpayer money to build the Braves a new stadium in Atlanta. Cobb County would, and that was the difference, according to him.
• Ken Rosenthal says the unspoken reason for this is the Braves' terrible TV contract that still has 13 years to run. The Braves were desperate for new sources of revenue to compete in the NL East and the new stadium may provide that. That article also speculates that the Marlins are far more likely to trade Giancarlo Stanton after the 2014 season than before.
• David Schoenfield says more about the terrible TV contract and notes that most of the Braves fan base is out in the suburbs.
• Jerry Crasnick remembers the Ted somewhat fondly, but says the Braves are going to be better off moving.
• It's funny that they often call stories about politics "inside baseball," because this column about the political forces involved is truly "inside baseball." But as Sam Page notes here, there's a throwaway line at the end of that first column that the scuttlebutt is that the Braves will be changing their logo when they move. Presumably banishing Chief Noc-a-homa forever. Now if they could just leave the Tomahawk chop behind.
• Some minor league baseball stadium news. The city of Richmond, Virginia, is looking to build a new stadium to keep their Double-A franchise. (They already lost their Triple-A franchise because of their poor stadium.) However, the location they've picked is right next to the former location of a notorious slave market, a slave jail and a slave cemetery. Local historical groups have been working on turning that area into a historic area/museum. A ballpark might kill their efforts and even if it didn't, a ballpark would be an inappropriate structure to sit next to a large memorial on the horrors of slavery. The local Richmond Times-Dispatch explains the feelings of the opponents in more depth.
• They did announce some awards. Jose Fernandez and Wil Myers won the Rookie of the Year awards and Clint Hurdle and Terry Francona won the Manager of the Year awards. Ironically, it was Francona's first Manager of the Year award despite having won two World Series titles in Boston.
• David Schoenfield thinks the voters picked the right rookies.
• Free agent outfielder Marlon Byrd signed a two-year contract with the Phillies.
• In potential Cubs news, Mark DeRosa retired, despite having one more season left on his contract. This is bringing immediate speculation, such as in the article I just linked to, that DeRosa is a candidate for the Cubs vacant radio gig.
• The Twins announced that Joe Mauer is moving to first base in order to protect his health.
• Rob Neyer has two thoughts on the move. The first is that Mauer easily hits enough to be a valuable first baseman, so that's not an issue. The other thought is that this move is a direct result of increased awareness of the problem of concussions.
• Matthew Kory says that baseball has to do more to protect catchers from concussions. He says they're moving in the right direction, but that more could be done.
• Joe Torre takes the first step in the right direction and says that baseball is likely to take action to help prevent collisions at the plate. He's not sure if new rules can be adopted before next season, however.
• MLB does believe that both the players and the umpires will vote to expand instant replay. Both groups need to approve any changes before they can be implemented.
• Tyler Bleszinski has some ideas for some new rules to improve baseball. None of them involve preventing collisions. All involve shortening the game in one way or another. I don't think I agree with any of his suggestions, but I pass them along.
• The Dodgers have one too many outfielders. Last Bullets we looked at the market for Matt Kemp, Andre Either and Carl Crawford. But what if they would trade Yasiel Puig? The current rumor is that they're considering it.
• Mark Saxson thinks the Dodgers should look into what they could get for Puig.
• Here's a potential blockbuster trade that is rumored to be under consideration at the moment: Jose Bautista to the Phillies for Domonic Brown.
• Here's a rumor that isn't so blockbuster. The Brewers are thinking of re-signing Corey Hart.
• The Marlins were likely never serious bidders for Robinson Cano despite what you may have read, writes Craig Calcaterra.
• The Yankees are going to be "fiscally responsible" and only sign three major free agents this off-season. That includes Cano.
• The Mariners have long been listed as a possible destination for free agent Jacoby Ellsbury, but Jerry Crasnick says the M's are much more interested in Carlos Beltran and Nelson Cruz.
• The Red Sox want to sign Carlos Ruiz.
• The Angels are trying to decide who to trade to get pitching.
• Jeff Sullivan weighs the pros and cons of the Tigers trading either Max Scherzer or Rick Porcello.
• Joe Nathan and the Detroit Tigers met through Match.com and . . . OK, not really. But they are interested in each other and it makes sense, writes Jon Paul Morosi.
• The Giants think Tim Hudson is kinda cute. Or at least they're interested in having him move to AT&T Park.
• The Reds are trying to decide if they should trade Brandon Phillips.
• Richard Durrett asks should the Rangers trade Jurickson Profar, and if so, for whom? And when?
• Shelby Miller isn't angry that he didn't pitch much in the post-season.
• Craig Calcaterra can't believe the Angels are close to hiring Rico Brogna as an assistant hitting coach. He doesn't think Brogna's career indicates that he would make a good hitting coach.
• The Diamondbacks have hired Dave Duncan as a "pitching consultant."
• Bengie Molina is the Rangers new first base coach.
• The Phillies have reportedly been rejected by three different candidates for their pitching coach job.
• The Yankees are going to play two exhibition games in Panama City, Panama.
• Finally, MTV is going to do a show about baseball. As long as there is no music involved, it will fit right in with the rest of their schedule. David Ortiz and Andrew McCutchen are getting producer credits.