MLB Bullets Is Crawling To The Finish Line

And now, page two.

• As predicted last time, the Braves fired GM Frank Wren.
• They also fired his brother, who was a scout and a special assistant to Wren. His son Kyle, a minor leaguer in the system, was not released. He was the one Wren having a good year for Atlanta.
• Marc Normandin says that while Wren had some success and that the Braves were overall good under his tenure, he gave out several big contracts that turned out to be a disaster.
• Jerry Crasnick expands further on Wren's free agency mistakes and the Braves late-season collapse. He then asks where the Braves go from here.
• Rob Neyer says that the Dan Uggla and B.J. Upton contracts hurt, but Wren probably would have survived if the Braves had just won some playoff series.
• Special Assistant John Hart has takes over on an interim basis in Atlanta. But Jeff Passan reports that Hart has been offered the job on a permanent basis.
• Jon Heyman explains why Hart may be reluctant to take the job in an organization that Hart has called the "golf standard." (Seriously, that's what it says. I don't know if that's a pun or a typo.)
• If Hart doesn't take the job, Royals owner David Glass "can't imagine" that Royals GM Dayton Moore would take the job.
• In the press conference announcing Wren's departure, team president John Schuerholz announced that the Braves need to return to winning "The Braves Way." Craig Calcaterra thinks Schuerholz's description of "The Braves Way" is a pile of revisionist hooey.
• No decision was made on manager Fredi Gonzalez. Bobby Cox wants the Braves to keep Gonzalez.
• Al already did a story on the "pace of the game" committee. Buster Olney (ESPN Insider Only) thinks the committee lacks voices other than baseball executives. He thinks current managers, players and umpires should be represented.
• David Schoenfield adds why not someone to represent the fans, too?
• Eno Sarris adds another reason to shorten games. Longer games mean more injuries.
• Here's something that is going to make the blood boil for some of you. Heck, probably most of you. Giants CEO Larry Baer thinks advertising may be coming to MLB uniforms soon. Craig Calcaterra is outraged, not only by the move but by Baer's suggestion that it would help keep ticket prices down, which he thinks is a flat-out lie. Aren't all Giants tickets sold by "dynamic pricing" already?
• Rob Neyer echoes Calcaterra, but also focuses on Baer's comment that MLB hasn't done this already because Bud Selig opposes it. Neyer thinks he misses Selig already.
• A GM who isn't getting fired is Mets GM Sandy Alderson. In fact, he got a three-year extension.
• Blue Jays manager John Gibbons will be back in 2015.
• Rob Neyer takes a way-too-early at the AL East in 2015 and writes the Orioles should be the favorites again.
• Here's something I've been saying for a while too. There is absolutely no evidence that installing metal detectors at stadiums makes anyone safer. In fact, one expert in this Vice Sports article is quoted as saying "This kind of crap is what terrorists winning looks like." (h/t Hardball Talk)
• Apparently Sergio Romo and Shawon Dunston Sr. got into a shouting match on Monday.
• And now the Giants won't speak to the beat writer who reported the story.
• Gabe Kapler writes that this kind of stuff happens all the time in clubhouses and is to be expected when you stick 25+ men in a room together for six months a year.
• The Royals had their highest attendance in 23 years. And only a handful were confused Lorde fans.
• Michael Baumann has an appreciation of the overall wonderfulness of Jose Altuve.
• Jim Callis thinks Mark Appel will be the prospect with the most to prove in 2015. (By the way, if you want to see an Astros fan roll his eyes and sigh, just say "Kris Bryant" in his or her presence.)
• Jonathan Mayo thinks it's Archie Bradley who has the most to prove.
• Andrew Simon thinks we overlook the fact that Stephen Strasburg is a great pitcher because he was supposed to be the greatest pitcher. There's a Stephen Colbert joke in there somewhere.
• Ken Rosenthal thinks the decision of who the Nationals are going to start in game one of the NLDS is not an easy one between Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann.
• After 13 years in the minors, Texas Ranger Guilder Rodriguez got his first major league hit.
• Has Corey Kluber passed Felix Hernandez in the race for the AL Cy Young?
• Indians starter Carlos Carrasco criticized the Indians defense after a game and then apologized for his outburst. But Carrasco does have a point (the Indians defense is awful) which may be another reason why Kluber should be the Cy Young winner.
• Richard Justice says the Pirates have momentum going into October.
• Another thing the Pirates have going for them is a sabermetrician who travels with the team. Jonah Hill is the only other sabermetrician known to have traveled with his team.
• Mariners catcher Jesus Sucre shows the proper way to field the ball and apply the tag under Rule 7.13 in this play on Jose Bautista.
• The Cuban domestic baseball season started this week. The quality in play in the Cuban League has been severely hurt by all the players who have left the island.
• The Boise Hawks have affiliated with the Colorado Rockies. Good for them. Thanks for all the memories.
• A baby Royals fan expressed his displeasure about sitting in front of a Tigers fan.
• A puppy tried to eat some Orioles playoff tickets.
• With the Jewish holidays upon us, a look at Hank Greenberg and his lasting legacy in the game.
• This may be my favorite conceit for a baseball article in a long time. Grant Brisbee looks at Adam Wainwright and the other Jan Bradys of baseball.
• Now we finish with Derek Jeter. When Jeter retires, Yankees PA announcer Bob Sheppard will finally be allowed to retire, only four years after he died.
• If you want some memorabilia of Jeter's final days in baseball, like his smelly sock, it's going to cost you a lot of money. Four hundred dollars for a sock and you don't even get the matching pair?
• And finally, if you want to see something really cool about Derek Jeter's final week, here are ten highlights of Jeter's career acted out by Lego-like toys.

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