MLB Bullets Looks To Spend Some Time With The Family

After spending the weekend on my couch watching nine World Baseball Classic games, I'm way too beat to come up with anything smart, interesting or witty to write up here.

• Puerto Rico baseball players and officials are hoping that the excitement surrounding the WBC will revive the popularity of the sport on the island, which is at its lowest point since the fifties. If this year helps, wait until 2017 when Javier Baez, Carlos Correa and Francisco Lindor could all be on the team.
• Bud Selig says his goal is to eventually have a "true" World Series. A great idea, but are we really ready for the season to end on Christmas Eve?
• Rawlings announced that future Gold Glove Awards will have a "sabermetric" component to the vote.The majority of votes will still come from the players and coaches, but a new defensive metric will play an as yet undetermined role in choosing the winner. In addition, the metric will be included in the ballots sent out to the players.
• Nolan Ryan announced that he's still in negotiations with the Rangers as to what his future role with the club will be, if any, Ken Rosenthal says don't expect him to end up with the Astros. The new owner and management team just fired most of the long-time friends he had with the club
• Following up on a bullet from last week, NJ.com asks if the Mets are still the Phillies biggest rival? I guess the Nationals really are rubbing the Phillies the wrong way.
• Mark DeRosa has some advice for Mark Teixeira: Don't come back too soon from a wrist injury.
• Rays owner Stuart Steinberg says the Rays have enough money to lock up David Price long term. He doesn't commit to saying they will try to, however.
• One of my favorite minor leaguers when he was in the Cubs organization, Robinson Chirinos, is back and healthy with the Rays.
• Christian Yelich's spring training has the Marlins thinking he'll be in the majors sooner rather than later.
• Indians owner Paul Dolan says that their off-season moves "unequivocally" made them a better team.
• The Los Angeles Daily News examines the state of baseball in Los Angeles. The hope is that the Dodgers-Angels rivalry develops an intensity similar to those rivalries on the East Coast or the Midwest.
• The Dodgers traded for Adrian Gonzalez because they needed a good first baseman. But as an added bonus, he could also be the Mexican star that the team has lacked for a long time. Gonzalez is being heavily marketed in Mexican-American communities, and Adrian himself is happy to connect with and be a role-model for those communities.
• Saturday was a happy day for Yoenis Cespedes, who left the team to see his family in Miami. They escaped from Cuba with him, but they were stuck in the Dominican Republic until then.
• The Cardinals signed Allen Craig to a five-year extension, with a team option on a sixth season.
• J.J. Putz is planning on reincorporating his slider into his repertoire this season.

The Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling team had a disappointing Big Ten tournament.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Maybe I'll get some sleep.