MLB Bullets Is A Total Sleazeball

Something clever this way comes.

• Robert Sanchez of ESPN the Magazine did a profile of Ian Kinsler adjusting to life with his new team, the Detroit Tigers. But what is making headlines around the game is the shots that Kinsler took at his old team, the Texas Rangers. He called Rangers GM Jon Daniels a "sleazeball" and hopes the Rangers went 0-162 in 2014. Young was upset about the way Daniels traded Michael Young, that they asked him to move to first base and he blames Daniels for forcing Nolan Ryan out of the organization.
• Jon Daniels declined to return fire. Josh Hamilton asked Kinsler on Twitter

Not any fun being in the Texas doghouse, is it @IKinsler3?

— Josh Hamilton (@thejoshhamilton) March 4, 2014

• Jeff Wilson tells Hamilton not to worry. No matter what Kinsler said, Hamilton is still Public Enemy Number One in Texas.
• Kinsler claimed that the comments were taken out of context, although he declined to take any of it back. He's not happy the quotes were printed, but he said he would not call Daniels to explain or apologize. Doesn't sound like they were taken too out of context, then.
• Evan Grant decodes Kinsler's comments and provides some background on why he was so upset.
• Ken Rosenthal says Daniels doesn't need to care what anyone thinks of him . . .as long as the Rangers are winning. If the team starts losing, then that's a different story.
• Steven Goldman thinks that Kinsler's defense of Michael Young is misplaced.
• Christina Kahrl pities Kinsler, who is an aging ballplayer whose declining skills will no longer be masked by an extreme hitter's park.
• For the first time in an actual game, the new instant replay rules were used in a Twins/Blue Jays game by Jays manager John Gibbons. Two minutes and thirty-four seconds later, the umpires original call of "safe" was upheld.
• Jayson Stark compares this moment to the moon landing and V-J Day. OK, not really, but he does say that history was made. He also wrote that this is all still a work in progress. He, and everyone else, is happy that no one said "Upon further review . . ."
• Tom Verducci is happy that replay is here, but doesn't think it's going to be used very much. He points out that umpires missed exactly seven "catch/no catch" calls in all of 2013.
• The video of the play in question is here. Everyone does note that this spring training game only had three cameras instead of the usual twelve and that there is no centralized replay center in New York yet.
• Gabe Kapler looks at the new tracking technology coming out from MLBAM this season and thinks it could revolutionize the game.
• The real games are coming soon, with the regular season starting March 22 in Australia. (And thanks to the miracle of time zones, both game will be played on that day, at least on California time.) Zack Greinke was pretty vocal about not being excited about going to Australia and now, thanks to a strained right calf, he won't have to.
• Clayton Kershaw is off to a rough start in spring training, but it is called spring training for a reason. But I've got to say that everyone trying to come up with a new curse in baseball has completely gotten out of hand. Is there seriously a Zooey Deschanel curse? Next time, pretend to hit on Alyssa Milano. She's a hardcore Dodgers fan. She'll pretend to say yes.
• Jon Heyman looks at the real issues the Dodgers have and says they're all pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.
• Is one of those problems that Brian Wilson now apparently throws a knuckleball? That was actually a pretty impressive knuckler.
• Justin Verlander doesn't need to pretend to hit on Zooey Deschanel. He's got Kate Upton for real. But who's that special someone in Torii Hunter's life? Verlander manages to set up Hunter with an alligator. It's in his kiss, that's where it is.
• The Orioles have inked Johan Santana to a minor league deal.
• Grant Brisbee says that even if the Santana signing works out, it's not going to work out. But the Orioles were smart to try it anyway because what else were they going to do?
• Former Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts says that it's weird to now be a member of the Orioles great nemesis, the Yankees.
• Another guy for whom it's weird to see wearing a Yankees uniform, Ichiro Suzuki, wants to keep playing for "many" more years. Ichiro is 258 hits away from 3000 in MLB. Two seasons would probably get him there, if he can find a team willing to give him regular playing time. That team likely isn't the Yankees.
• The Rangers signed Joe Saunders to a one-year deal.
• Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson still wants to play major league baseball one day. He does admit that possibility is pretty remote, however.
• Those Russell Wilson Rangers jerseys are flying off the shelves. Are retro John Elway Yankees jerseys next?
• Cameron Maybin is going to miss two to three months with a ruptured biceps tendon.
• Christina Kahrl reminds us that this isn't the way Maybin's career is supposed to go. And it's a reminder to us that not every elite prospect goes on to have a productive major league career. Even those that never played for the Cubs.
• And Tigers outfielder Andy Dirks is also going to miss three months after back surgery.
• Astros prospect Jon Singleton discusses his addiction to marijuana.
• Baseball Prospectus has a new way of evaluating how many runs a catcher can save through proper "pitch framing" technique.
• Rob Neyer applauds the research and explains how important it is. If these numbers are correct, Jose Molina got the Rays into the post-season last year just by pitch framing.
• Peter Gammons says that the Rays chemistry will make them contenders again. Maybe. But I think Molina's pitch framing ability might play a bigger role.
• The MLBPA is keeping an eye on the Mets payroll this season.
• Dayn Perry points out that many, maybe even most, of baseball's top hitters struggled as rookies. Keep that in mind when Javier Baez gets to Wrigley.
• Richard Justice thinks Tyler Skaggs could be the key to the Angels season.
• Yu Darvish has a goal for 2014: Get Mike Trout out. Good luck with that one.
• Mark Mizicozzi went to a Giants Double-A game in 2012. The manager saw him in the stands, offered him a tryout and signed him the next day. Now the 31 year-old infielder will be playing for the Fresno Grizzlies this upcoming season and waiting for the opportunity to play in the majors. Andrew Baggarly has Mizicozzi's whole story.
• John Shea thinks the Athletics should start bragging a little more, especially when it comes to their cross-bay rivals.
• Stephen Strasburg developed a slider in the off-season, which he is trying out in spring training.
• I think the conclusions (heck, the very premise) of this Alex Remington article in the Hardball Times are completely off-base, but he does have some interesting information about how and why baseball has a commissioner. Hint: gambling has a lot less to do with it than you might think.
• Anthony Castrovince says that the new defensive shift strategy is effective and here to stay.
• The Royals have said publicly that they would like to sign James Shields to a long-term extension. But they haven't even started negotiations and Shields says he won't negotiate during the season.
• The Brewers have now adopted that adorable stray dog, whom they've named "Hank" after Hank Aaron. (Warning: Do not click if you don't want to see adorable chewing on a Cubs toy.)
• Stan Grossfeld asks the Boston Red Sox "Is there really no crying in baseball?"
• A baseball fan in New York had his entire memorabilia collection accidentally thrown out by a cleaning crew.
• Grant Brisbee is right: These are the worst baseball hats and shirts in the world.
• Finally, Craig Calcaterra went to the Orioles spring training complex in Sarasota and saw this sign. (Scroll to the bottom.) Really? Is drinking out of the toilet really a problem in Sarasota? Or is it just the Orioles? Maybe they've got dogs that can read down there? But really, this is a problem?

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