MLB Bullets Has A Job Opening

The Cubs are now just 3.5 games away from not having a protected first round draft pick.

• The Astros fired manager Bo Porter. That's bad for Porter in that he's out of a job. It's good for him in that he no longer has to manage the Astros.
• David Schoenfield thinks Porter's fate was sealed a long time ago. Like when he got hired.
• Paul White says the move demonstrates that GM Jeff Luhnow and his radical rebuilding plan still has the support of ownership.
• Anthony Castrovince writes that the firing of Porter is just another sign that power in the game is moving away from the manager in the dugout and towards the GM in the front office.
• C.J. Nitkowski says that no competent baseball man would take the Astros job with the amount of micromanaging going on in the front office.
• In an online video, Ben Reiter and Jay Jaffe discuss who the ideal candidate would be for the Astros and conclude that such a person does not exist. (VIDEO)
• In an ESPN Insider piece, Buster Olney blasts the Astros and says that the way Luhnow is treating the players, coaches and staff doesn't make people want to work there.
• Craig Calcaterra says that we shouldn't feel sorry for Porter because he knew what he was getting into when he accepted the job.
• Gabe Kapler gives some insight into what it's like in the clubhouse when a manager gets fired.
• Phillies interim president Pat Gillick says that GM Ruben Amaro and manager Ryne Sandberg will be back in their same positions next season. That is, they're not getting fired this offseason.
• Dayn Perry wonders how much autonomy Sandberg has in making out the lineups.
• Four Phillies pitchers combined the throw a no-hitter on Monday.
• Jay Jaffe has an in-depth look at the Phillies no-no.
• Michael Baumann thinks that while it doesn't make up for the terrible season, for one day, the Phillies were fun again.
• The Yankees are going to wear a commemorative Derek Jeter patch. Dear Steinbrenners: Jeter didn't die. Just his bat, glove and legs are dead.
• Jon Heyman writes that you can add the Yankees season to the things that are dead.
• Howard Megdal writes that Derek Jeter is essentially being selfish by not telling manager Joe Girardi to bench him, or at least move him off of shortstop and the two-hole in the lineup. He points out that other superstars changed positions and that Jeter may be costing the Yankees a spot in the playoffs. You can imagine this article is engendering some strong feelings.
• Baseball may not miss Alex Rodriguez, but the media certainly does.
• Christina Kahrl warns us not to write off the Indians' postseason chances yet.
• Rob Neyer thinks Royals fans should not despair and that they are still more likely than not to make the playoffs.
• A quick graphic about Adam Dunn and other players who have never played in a playoff game.
• A look at some of the top prospects called up September 1.
• The slumping Yasiel Puig (PUIG!) got benched in favor of new callup Joc Pederson.
• Mike Petrillo says that the expanded rosters are making games even longer. He thinks the rule of September rosters has to change.
• There was one rule change relating to rosters. Now any player on a team's 40-man roster on August 31 is eligible for the postseason rather than the 25 man roster. This gets rid of the "Francisco Rodriguez loophole" where teams would name a disabled player to the postseason roster just to replace him with someone else who didn't join the major league team until September. That loophole is now obsolete.
• The Cardinals are in first place, but Adam Wainwright's struggles are still a concern.
• Here's news that the Angels like to hear: Albert Pujols says he'll retire when he's no longer having fun playing baseball, no matter how many years are left on his contract.
• Homer Bailey is officially out for the year and may need offseason surgery.
• Carlos Gomez has a sprained wrist and will miss a week.
• Jon Paul Morosi thinks that it's fine that Giancarlo Stanton and Mike Trout strike out a lot. He sees both as their respective league's MVP.
• Steven Goldman has a Labor Day profile of the MLBPA.
• The Giants' Andrew Susac got his "first major league hit" on Monday, even though he got a hit on July 30. How did that happen?
• A look at the 59 year baseball career of former Cubs manager (for one day) Joe Altobelli and his long relationship with the Rochester Red Hawks.
• Erik Malinowski looks at the lost treasures of baseball.
• And finally, it looks like many major league ballplayers learned to play the game from Goofy.

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