MLB Bullets Made Milwaukee Famous

It's Monday morning. Time to wake up and read the bullets.

• Instead of coffee, you might want a bloody mary for this one. The hottest team in baseball is the Brewers, of all teams, who have won nine straight. It's their best start since 1987, when they won their first 13 games. If it makes you feel better, the Brewers lost 12 straight in May that year, so maybe you have that to look forward to.
• Mike Axisa breaks down the Brewers and identifies three big reasons the Brewers are 10-2.
• Richard Justice thinks the Brewers pitching makes them serious contenders this season.
• Maybe it's just hometown optimism, but Michael Hunt says the Brewers are very good . . .and very superstitious.
• In other Brewers-related news, both MLB and the MLBPA banned any mention of Ryan Braun's suspension on the back of a Jewish-themed baseball card. MLB has not allowed any mention of suspensions on the back of baseball cards, actually.
• First it was Buster Olney quoting an unnamed executive about seven-inning games that caused an uproar. Then he wrote this article (ESPN Insider Only) in which he asks executives about the market value of Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales.
• MLBPA head Tony Clark denounced the quotes from executives as a violation of the CBA and calling for an investigation by the Commissioner's Office.
• Scott Boras says that the market value of his clients has been damaged by these quotes. MLB says it will investigate, although MLB COO Rob Manfred said it was "ludicrous" and "absurd" that these comments hurt the market value of the two free agents. I can imagine how that investigation will go. "Buster, who did you talk to?" "I can't tell you." Investigation over.
• However, the Commissioner is considering fining Yankees president Randy Levine over a comment he made about Mike Trout's market value over the winter.
• In other negotiations, the Red Sox and Jon Lester have broken off talks over what Ken Rosenthal describes as a "low-ball offer" by the team. The two parties will not negotiate the rest of the season. Lester was willing to give the Red Sox a "hometown discount," but apparently not that much.
• Mike Axisa looks at the offer, reportedly for four years and $70 million. He compares it to the contracts recently signed by comparable pitchers and writes, yeah, that offer is "ridiculously low." He also speculates that a certain former Red Sox executive might be interested in signing Jon Lester this offseason, and he's not referring to Dan Duquette.
• The Red Sox are having a tough time with instant replay. On Saturday, the Red Sox challenged a play at second base that was not overturned. After the game, MLB admitted that letting the call stand was a mistake.
• Then on Sunday night, Red Sox manager John Farrell became the first manager ejected for arguing a reviewed call on a play at first base was overturned. Farrell felt the video replay was inconclusive and that the out should have stood. The Yankees scored a run on the play and would go on to win the game, 3-2.
• Derek Jeter didn't play in last night's game, doubtlessly disappointing fans who wanted to see him play. Joe Girardi explained that "I wasn't hired to manage a farewell tour."
• Jacoby Ellsbury has been playing for the Yankees and he's been batting third. Benjamin Hoffman says that this arrangement is working despite Ellsbury not fitting the traditional mold of a no. 3 hitter.
• Chase Headley knows this is probably his last season playing for the Padres. Most people would be happy about that, but it doesn't sound like Headley is.
• Butcher's Bill time. No new Tommy John surgeries this weekend, but lots of broken fingers and strained muscles. Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is going to miss 4-6 weeks with a broken thumb.
• Rockies pitcher Brett Anderson will miss the same amount of time with a broken index finger.
• Jonathan Bernhardt bemoans Josh Hamilton's broken thumb, noting he was off to a great start this season. Bernhardt says that while the Angels contract with Hamilton has been a disaster so far, at least all of Hamilton's problems have been on the field and not off of it.
• Adrian Beltre hits the DL with a strained quadriceps muscle.
• Nat's outfielder Denard Span went on the 7-day concussion DL.
• When Mat Latos had a setback in his rehab last week, Reds fans feared the worse and I imagine the Reds front office did as well. But an MRI showed that Latos had a flexor mass strain and that his elbow ligament is strong. He will not need surgery. It does look like he will miss at minimum another month, however,
• Rays pitcher Alex Cobb hits the DL with a strained oblique. Former Cub Jeff Beliveau took Cobb's spot on the roster.
• Cobb's teammate Matt Moore is not so lucky, however, and as I've noted before, he's likely to have TJ surgery. Jay Jaffe notes that the Rays have had relatively few pitchers who have needed the surgery. He also surveys the Rays organization and tries to figure out how the Rays can replace Moore.
• This is one article you should all read. Jonah Keri says it's not our imagination: injuries to pitchers are indeed increasing. More importantly, he goes over the literature and talks to people in the game to try to determine why this is happening. Mostly, pitchers are throwing younger and faster and more often.
• Joe Blanton has retired.
• Will Leitch says the Michael Pineda "controversy" was all a media creation.
• Ubaldo Jimenez has struggled badly pitching for the Orioles so far this year. Who was that moron who suggested that the Cubs sign him?
• Watch a ball girl in Baltimore make a great play on a hard hit ball down the line. Only problem? It was a fair ball. Still, with Machado still out of the lineup . . .
• Billy Hamilton is fast. How fast? When he was in the minors, I said he was the fastest player I'd ever seen. Someone on this board asked me "Faster than Deion Sanders?" and I believe I said "I think so, but I don't know for sure." Well, thanks to the MLB Network, now we know. Billy Hamilton is faster than Deion Sanders was.
• Cliff Corcoran thinks that now that the American and National Leagues are for all intents and purposes one single league, it's time to get rid of separate end-of-the-season awards for the two leagues.
• Rany Jazayerli has a profile of Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski and says he doesn't get the accolades he deserves.
• Mets fan Tomas Rios writes that the Mets are "bad but fun." I suppose that's better than being bad but no fun like the Cubs often are lately.
• Finally, for a few weeks, the El Paso Chihuahuas managed to convince Jeff Francoeur that teammate Jorge Reyes was deaf. Even better, they made a short film about it, even taping Francouer's reaction to watching said film. Anyway, watch the film to see one of the great clubhouse pranks, if only for the incredible amount of work the team put into this con job.

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