MLB Bullets Just Being MLB Bullets

A shorter link dump for the Fourth of July holiday. I'm hoping that no big news breaks while I'm traveling.

• Manny Ramirez, like Chuck Berry and Linda Ronstadt, is back in the USA. He's signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers. Ramirez will report the the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock although presumably he'd be called up for the stretch run if he does well in the PCL.
• Todd Wills of ESPN Dallas thinks that the Rangers need for a right-handed bat makes Ramirez worth the risk. He believes that if it doesn't work out, Texas can just release him, so why not?
• Matthew Pouliot, on the other hand, sees very little upside and a lot of downside. Ramirez was bad when he last played in the majors in 2011. Now he's two years older. He doesn't think that gamble is worth the risk that Ramirez could be a disruptive influence on the team.
• Max Scherzer became the first pitcher to start the season 13-0 since Roger Clemens went 14-0 to start 1986.
• Scherzer, for his part, showed some sabermetric knowledge when he said that wins and losses for pitchers were "fluky." He also talks more with Jon Paul Morosi about pitching philosophy, sabermetrics, the death of his brother and the possibility of playing for the Cardinals one day.
• He's only won eight of those games, but Pirates hurler Jeff Locke hasn't lost a game in 16 consecutive starts.
• Yasiel Puig came out of the Dodgers game Wednesday night after colliding with the outfield wall at Coors Field.
• Ken Rosenthal says that Puig has saved the Dodgers' season. He looks back at his column of May 19 and adds that Puig saved Don Mattingly's job as well.
• Alex Gordon also had a violent collision with the wall in Kauffman Stadium.
• Alex Rodriguez has yet to get a hit in two rehab games and the New York press is already on him.
• Bob Nightengale, on the other hand, believes that his time in Charleston shows all the signs of a ARod renaissance. He's certainly popular with his teammates, for whom he bought dinner (a normal ritual for rehabbing major leaguers) but also spent time with them telling stories and offering advice.
• While waiting on Derek Jeter's return, the Yankees signed Luis Cruz. Really? That sounds more like a Mets kind of move.
• Michael Cuddyer's hitting streak ended at 27 games. Facing Clayton Kershaw will do that to a guy.
• Jay Jaffe says that while it looks like David Price is back to his old self in Tampa, he wonders if he'll be back with the Rays for long or whether the team will look to move him.
• Jaffe also looks at the top trade targets among players under control for longer than this season. Earlier he looked at the top trade targets of players under control for just this season.
• The Angels are hot and trying to salvage their season. Anything short of the playoffs would be a disappointment.
• Albert Pujols faced his former Cardinals teammates for the first time, but he says he doesn't look at the past. Although he did have several of his former teammates over for lunch.
• Jay-Z, who fancies himself a sports agent these days, takes a shot at Scott Boras in his new album that was released yesterday. Jay-Z, just a word of advice. You do not want to get into a rap battle with Scott Boras. He's OG, man. He and his St. Pete Cardinals teammates Leon Durham and Tommy Herr used to bring Grandmaster Flash to tears back in '77.
• Jonah Keri has a really good in-depth article on the Rise and Fall of the Milwaukee Brewers at Grantland. There's a lot more to it than just this, but Keri's big thesis is that right now the Brewers are experiencing the hangover from their shot at a title two years ago.
• Finally, for the Fourth, the New York Times looks at how various baseball teams handle the singing of the Star Spangled Banner.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. And I hope everyone is having a happy and safe holiday weekend.