Previously on MLB Bullets: A former star accused a current one of chicanery. Fruit proved to be embarrassing and perhaps insulting. Dodgers and Braves were on fire. As Jack convinced Kate to return to the Island, a slugger left the Island for America.
- Today the owners will hear a presentation on expanding the use replay to every play except balls and strikes. The players want it, the managers want it and the fans want it. So it's a slam dunk, right? Maybe not. The owners still have to be convinced and it's their decision. They are the ones who have to pay for it and it won't be cheap.
- Following up on the big story from the last episode of bullets, Skip Schumaker strongly defended Albert Pujols against accusations of steroid use.
- Bill Dwyer of the LA Times thinks that Pujols should go through with his threatened lawsuit, for the good of the game. It's also the only way that he'll be able to clear his own name.
- Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez has hired a man who has been called "the most hated lawyer in New York." (Insert your own lawyer joke here. I've run out.) But on top of being hated, he's apparently also very, very good and his hiring is a sign that ARod plans to fight this to the end and into the courts, if necessary.
- Pete Rose apologized for saying "I picked the wrong vice." Yeah, that part is true. It's the comparing what he did to alcohol or drugs that got him into trouble.
- Baseball's steroid issues means that Chris Davis's performance this season is either questioned or dismissed, writes Gwen Knapp. Davis, however, says he understands the questions, but he's clean.
- The Giants apologized to Adam Jones for the banana-throwing incident. Meanwhile, a fan has come forward, claimed to be the one who threw the fruit, apologized and said the incident wasn't racially motivated. However, his story doesn't exactly add up. Still, it's probably best to put the matter behind everyone. I hope Adam Jones can do that, although I wouldn't blame him if he didn't.
- Yoenis Cespedes says his countryman Jose Abreu is a four-tool player (no speed) and pointed out that Abreu broke his record for home runs in a season. I'm hearing a lot of rumblings that the Marlins are going to break the bank for him. That would certainly make sense, but nothing about the Marlins ever makes sense.
- The Dodgers are on an historic winning run recently. Jonathan Bernhardt looks at how their season turned around.
- Al had a front page article about the Adam Rosales situation, but Cliff Corcoran argues that the waiver rules need to be changed to prevent such a thing from happening again.
- Torii Hunter tried to explain Prince Fielder's down season by saying people "don't know what's going on in his life" and that his teammates do. When asked what Hunter meant, Fielder replied "Everything's fine." So Hunter said he just meant in general and not anything specific. So this firecracker fizzled out into nothing.
- Jayson Werth and Gio Gonzalez got into a heated argument in the Nationals dugout. #Natitude.
- On defense at least, Jose Iglesias is making Tigers fans forget about Jhonny Peralta. (Warning: video of spectacular bare-handed play) Anonymous Tigers, however, tell Danny Knobler that manager Jim Leyland isn't pleased with Iglesias's "flashy" play. He'd prefer fewer spectacular plays along with fewer errors.
- Jon Paul Morosi thinks this year's AL Cy Young Award debate will mirror last year's MVP debate,with "traditionals" going for the Tigers Max Scherzer (and his 17-1 W-L record) and the "sabermetric" crowd going for Felix Hernandez or Yu Darvish.
- Colin Wyers wonders what's going to happen to the history of sabermetrics, considering that much of it was originally produced on mimeographed sheets, the usenet or long-dead websites.
- Speaking of sabermetrics, Joe Lemeire in SI.com notes that strategies long dismissed by sabermetrics, the bunt and the intentional walk, are falling out of favor in baseball.
- Tomas Rios, writing in Sports On Earth, thinks that Bryce Harper and Yasiel Puig are ruining baseball and that's a good thing. Baseball needs to be "ruined" to bring it out of the 19th Century.
- Despite their lousy 2013, White Sox executive vice-president Kenny Williams still believes the team can compete for a World Series title in 2014.
- Ken Rosenthal thinks that the contracts the Angels have with Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton will make finding the money to pay Mike Trout difficult.
- Justin Morneau is playing better in August, and that just might be his ticket out of Minnesota.
- The Pirates are becoming a hot ticket.
- David Schoenfield reminds us, as we fall all over ourselves in praise of the Pirates and Rays, that the Red Sox weren't expected to compete this year either, and they've got the best record in the American League.
- The Rangers released Manny Ramirez.
- The Diamondbacks honored Buck Showalter in his return to Arizona.
- Dan Uggla went on the DL after he had Lasik surgery. The Braves wanted him to do this back in spring training.
- People around here aren't going to like this, but it's true. Theo Epstein talked a lot about building a "Cubs Way" when he came in here, and there are some questions about what that means. It probably means almost exactly the same thing that Howard Megdal describes as "The Cardinals Way." If you want to know how the Cardinals are always so good, this is a place to start.
- Matt Snyder argues that if the Royals make the playoffs, the James Shields trade will be worth it, no matter what Wil Myers does. I'm seeing an 8.6% chance of the Royals making the playoffs according to Baseball Prospectus, and that was before last night's loss to Miami.
- Finally, Rob Neyer addresses the question "Are you still a Royals fan?" It's a tough question and it hinges on what it means to be a fan.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.