MLB Bullets Is Looking To End A Losing Streak

Here's a fun fact. I thought that Barry Bonds would have been the last active player who played for a Pirates team that had a winning record, but then I remembered that Tim Wakefield was on that team and he pitched until 2011. But even he wasn't the last active player to have played on a winning Pirates team. Miguel Batista was a Rule 5 pick of that team and he actually pitched two innings before getting returned to the Expos. Batista played last season and was even pitching for the Blue Jays Triple-A team this year until he was released in May.

• Just three days after acquiring Marlon Byrd and John Buck, the Pirates acquired Justin Morneau from the Twins for Alex Presley and Duke Welker.
• Ken Rosenthal says he had been critical of the Pirates for not moving to improve their team earlier, but these moves shows a commitment by the Pirates to win this season.
• The Pirates are happy that they are going to break the longest streak of consecutive losing seasons in North American sports history, but their goal is to make the playoffs and win the World Series, not just have a winning season. They have higher standards in Pittsburgh these days, writes John Perrotto.
• Jerry Crasnick reminisces with some of the members of that last winning Pirates team and reminds us of what has happened since 1992.
• In what now has a become a ritual when a prominent player gets traded, Justin Morneau took out an ad thanking Twins fans.
• Garrett Jones had been a minor leaguer in the Twins system blocked by Justin Morneau, and now he's lost his job to Morneau again.
• The Pirates weren't the only team adding for the playoffs. The Dodgers acquired Michael Young from the Phillies.
• Christina Kahrl thinks that acquiring Young was a no-risk move for the Dodgers.
• Cliff Corcoran, on the other hand, thinks it was a no-benefit move for the Dodgers, since Juan Uribe has been a better player than Young this season.
• It's not going to make a difference for the Dodgers either way, in part because Zack Greinke is having a better season this year than in his Cy Young Award winning year of 2009.
• The guy who wrote that article for Forbes saying that the Astros are going to make $99 million this season wrote another article saying that the Astros are going to lose $13 million this season. So he was only off by $112 million. He does say some of that is accounting maneuvers, though.
• Wendy Thurm wonders when will the Astros will start spending money. She looks at the history of other teams that have slashed payroll in the past.
• We haven't talked about the Biogenesis suspensions lately. Nelson Cruz was back in Arlington and publicly apologized for his "mistake." He didn't go into any details however. (Video here) The Rangers have indicated that Cruz will be added to their playoff roster.
• The Tigers, on the other hand, are refusing to say whether or not they'll add Jhonny Peralta for the postseason.
• David Schoenfield thinks the Tigers need to put Miguel Cabrera on the disabled list, triple crown be damned.
• Chris Iott of mlive.com doesn't go so far as to say Cabrera has to go on the DL, but he does say that his abdominal injury likely ends his chance at consecutive triple crowns and that the playoffs need to come first.
• The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are in negotiations to stay in Anaheim until 2057 and, at the same time, drop the "of Anaheim" from their name.
• Jayson Stark goes through several theories on what happened to Josh Hamilton. Some scouts think he'll bounce back and others don't.
• Speaking of disappointments, Grant Brisbee looks at the most disappointing teams of 2013. The Nationals are number one.
• As those disappointing Nationals make a desperate September push for the playoffs, Danny Espinosa, who was their opening day starting second baseman, will not be joining them after a disappointing season in Triple-A.
• After Bryce Harper didn't run out a groundball in Friday night's loss, Nationals bench coach Randy Knorr says Harper had better change if he wants to stay in the lineup.
• Nats beat writer Adam Kilgore thinks that Harper's occasional lack of hustle is frustrating, but let's not make a federal case out of it, OK?
• With the Bay Bridge closed this weekend, David Price foolishly decided to take a taxi to the Oakland Coliseum on Friday. It only took well over an hour and only cost him $202.
• Evan Longoria just took the BART and got there in 20 minutes. Also, and maybe this is burying the lede, Fernando Rodney got locked in the dugout bathroom in Oakland.
• Ivan Nova pitched the Yankees temporarily into third place in the Wild Card race. In any case, his pitching this season has kept the Yankees in the race.
• The Orioles are just hanging on in the wild card chase.
• Did you hear that Ryne Sandberg returned to Wrigley Field? Jon Greenberg calls it a "vindication" for Ryno.
• Barring some sort of blow up this month, Terry Collins will return to manage the Mets in 2014.
• Yankees switch-pitching farmhand Pat Venditte is waiting for his chance to pitch in the majors. It could come in 2014 as he's Rule 5 eligible.
• There isn't much power on the free agent market this offseason, so Cuban defector Jose Abreu could be very much in demand.
• Ben Badler points out that unlike a lot of Cubans, scouts have had more than enough opportunity to get a look at Abreu.
• Twenty-five years ago on Friday, Orel Hershiser began his record 59 inning scoreless streak.
• A local woman who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during World War II has died.
• Finally, a Toronto police report on a fan that ran onto the field at the Rogers Centre shows that even the cops are disgusted with the Blue Jays this season.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.