MLB Bullets Expects To Get Booed

I cannot tell you how happy I am that Donald Sterling doesn't own an MLB franchise.

• Robinson Cano made his triumphant return to Yankee Stadium last night. Triumphant at least in the sense that the Mariners won. Yankees fans made their opinion of Cano clear by loudly booing him the entire game.
• Howard Megdal says that Yankees fans should be mad at the Yankees, not Cano, and that the team clearly did not make him a fair market offer when you consider what other players got this off-season.
• Grant Brisbee seizes on the chant of Yankees fans to Cano of "You sold out!" and says . . . well, he's about as speechless from the irony as the rest of us.
• Wallace Matthews doesn't blame either side for the "divorce," but says that it's clear that both the Yankees and Cano would be better off if they had stayed "married."
• You've probably seen this, but Jimmy Fallon and the Tonight Show had Yankees fans boo a picture of Cano, and then had Cano himself step out to meet the fans. Honestly, the reaction of the Yankees fans is priceless.
• The fallout from Bryce Harper's thumb injury continues, as Harper had surgery on his left thumb that will keep him off the baseball diamond until July.
• Mike Bauman says that the hustle that caused this injury is an intrinsic part of who Harper is.
• Michael Baumann (two Ns) says that we need to resist to urge to blame someone for this and that Harper is still likely to have a long and excellent career.
• Keith Law isn't listening to the Baumann with two Ns. Law blasts Nationals manager Matt Williams.(ESPN Insider Only) Law claims that the rookie skipper is "in way over his head" and is treating his best player differently from the rest of the team. To be specific, he cites a similar lack of hustle on a ball hit by Jayson Werth that went unpunished, and Williams calling Harper out in his post-game press conference when he refuses to discuss mistakes by other players in the same forum. He's also critical of the Nationals organization as a whole for rushing him to the majors after moving him to the outfield, a position he had never played before. While this injury was a baserunning mistake, other Harper injuries can be credited to Harper's unfamiliarity with playing right field.
• I guess now is as good a time as any to pay the Butcher's Bill. Athletics pitcher A.J. Griffin will have a season-ending surgery, probably Tommy John surgery but the team won't confirm that yet.
• Griffin's surgery, if it is Tommy John surgery, will make 16 major league pitchers that will have had the surgery since February and 31st in all of baseball. (That counts two minor league position players as well.)
• Diamondbacks top prospect Archie Bradley doesn't need Tommy John surgery after his MRI came back with a mild flexor strain. However, he is going to spend the next month or so on the DL.
• Michael Pineda will come back from his suspension and go right onto the disabled list for the next 3 to 4 weeks with strained back muscle.
• Kevin Kouzmanoff will miss the next two to three months after back surgery.
• Hardly a serious injury, but Matt Cain missed last night's start after he cut his finger in the clubhouse kitchen.
• Mat Latos is hoping to return to the Reds in mid-May. That's probably a bit too optimistic.
• Josh Hamilton may be ahead of schedule in his rehab.
• Manny Machado is about ready to rejoin the Orioles.
• Francisco Rodriguez just tied Kaz Sasaki's MLB record for most saves before May 1 with 13. And he's still got tonight to break it. Matt Snyder says that it looks like the old K-Rod is back.
• Jon Paul Morosi thinks that because of the Brewers excellent pitching, the team is not an April fluke and will contend all season.
• Dave Cameron says "Not so fast." The Brewers bullpen has been truly amazing, but they're likely looking at some regression the rest of this season. And that's going to hurt their ability to contend.
• The Braves have suffered a ton of injuries to their pitching staff, yet their starting pitching has been historically good so far this season. I think you have to give a lot of credit for that to Andrelton Simmons and the rest of of the Braves fielders.
• Rob Neyer goes through a list of pitchers who have gotten off to poor starts so far this season and decides who will get better and who will just stink all year.
• Yu Darvish is one of the best pitchers in baseball--except when he faces the Oakland Athletics.
• The Rockies have gotten off to a good start this year because Troy Tulowitzki and Justin Morneau are healthy.
• The Cardinals have struggled to score runs this year. Dave Cameron says it's Allen Craig's fault.
• The Diamondbacks acquired Lucas Harrell from the Astros.
• Pat Jordan has a nice profile of Orioles manager Buck Showalter.
• Peter Gammons looks at the long and winding road that Chris Colabello took to the major leagues.
• Cliff Corcoran puts together an all-time Dominican Republic All-Star team. Hey, he snubbed Sammy Sosa too!
• MLBPA chief Tony Clark agrees with Carlos Beltran that there should be more Spanish translators in the clubhouse.
• John Manuel takes a look at "draftitis," the only disease in baseball that someone isn't selling a pill for during every pitching change.
• Roger Clemens is having a difficult time in the Brian McNamee lawsuit.
• Former Cy Young Award winner Frank Viola is on the comeback trail from open heart surgery.
• Marty Appel wonders why the reputations of Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra have gone in opposite directions over the past 30 years.
• Felix Pie is playing in Korea! He doesn't seem happy about it. He called time in a game and came in from center field to yell at his pitcher to start throwing strikes.
• Finally, after an eight-year minor league career, White Sox pitcher Scott Carroll finally made the majors at age 29 and was excellent as he pitched the Sox to a 9-2 win over the Rays.
• OK. That's not actually finally. Finally, Carroll had over 30 friends and family at the game to watch him pitch. So he asked teammate Adam Dunn where would be a good place to take them all to dinner. Dunn made some phone calls and recommended a place. When Carroll's party got to the restaurant, they found out that Dunn was going to pick up the whole tab. Sometimes, you just have to say nice things about the White Sox. Nice going, Adam.

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