MLB Bullets Meets The New Boss

Same as the old boss?

• For the first time in 22 years, Major League Baseball has a new commissioner. Rob Manfred wrote you fans a letter on his first day as commissioner.
• Jerry Crasnick looks at Manfred's rise to the commissioner's office.
• Crasnick also lists Manfred's top five priorities as he takes office.
• Tim Brown has a profile of Manfred and says at heart, he's just a fan like the rest of us.
• ESPN's Karl Ravech has the first sit-down interview with Manfred. (Video)
• Ken Rosenthal watched the video and wrote that Manfred is "a needed breath of fresh air." Admittedly, the coffin that Bud Selig came out of every morning was starting to reek.
• So Rob Manfred is not going to shy away from controversy, apparently. If you watched that video, you know that he talked about possibly adding pitch clocks and banning defensive shifts.
• The Twitterverse did not respond kindly to Manfred's suggestion of banning defensive shifts. I agree. Monumentally stupid. Or maybe brilliant. We were all so outraged by banning defensive shifts that no one mentioned pitch clocks.
• Bill Baer has some suggestions for Manfred to make the game more appealing.
• He did meet with Alex Rodriguez to clear the air between the two of them.
• Rodriguez reportedly also tried to clear the air with the Yankees front office and they told him "no thanks."
• One of the perks of being commissioner. Manfred now has his signature on all official MLB baseballs.
• Looking back at the "commissioner emeritus," Paul White and Jorge L. Ortiz has a look back at how the game has changed since Bud Selig took office.
• Jon Heyman calls Selig "Baseball's Great Reformer," focusing on how much Selig has modernized baseball's business model.
• David Schoenfield ranks all of baseball's commissioners. Bud tops the list at number one.
• Grant Brisbee can't remember why we all hated Selig.
• Rob Neyer remembers the time that Selig called him up to yell at him.
• The Blue Jays are no longer talking with the Orioles about hiring GM Dan Duquette. Baltimore's compensation demands were too high.
• Jeff Long tries to estimate how much Baltimore losing the All-Star Game will cost the team and the city.
• A Korean group is trying to buy a minority interest in the Dodgers.
• The LA Times' Steve Dilbeck asks "Why would they want to do that?" For the cost of 20% of the Dodgers, they could buy the Diamondbacks or Rockies outright, for example.
• The trade talks that would send Jonathan Papelbon to the Brewers are reportedly nearly dead.
• Jon Heyman reports the deal is in trouble over how much money the Phillies would have to send to Milwaukee.
• Rob Neyer writes trading for Papelbon is fine, but paying his contract is not. He thinks the Brewers should insist that the Phillies eat almost all the contract.
• Ken Rosenthal thinks that we're going to find out how badly the Phillies want to get rid of Papelbon by how much money they're willing to pay for him to go away. You could substitute "Ryan Howard" in that sentence as well.
• With Papelbon reportedly off the table, the Brewers are considering bringing back Francisco Rodriguez.
• Rosenthal also reports that while James Shields is going to sign somewhere, the Marlins are a longshot.
• Ryan Vogelsong reversed himself and signed with the Giants instead of the Astros. Vogelsong explained that he just wasn't comfortable with the Astros.
• Athletics closer Sean Doolittle won't be ready for Opening Day with a slight rotator cuff tear.
• Mike Napoli details the "brutal" surgery he had to cure his sleep disorder.
• Ted Lilly has been charged with felony insurance fraud.
• Paul Casella ranks all six last place teams from 2014 on their chances to finish first in 2015. Click to see where the Cubs rank.
• Tanner Griggs was the Cubs 12th round pick last year and he pitched well in rookie ball last year, although he didn't record any saves. That is, until the offseason when his calm under pressure saved the life of a neighbor who had a heart attack. That's a closer's mentality and the biggest save he'll ever record.
• Giancarlo Stanton was a judge for the Miss Universe pageant.
• Craig Calcaterra thinks that we've hit the nadir of the offseason with penguin stories. It's all going to get better from here.
• Another example: I think the reaction of most kids to the new Brewers mascot will be to scream in terror and run for their lives. He's also not wearing pants.
• And finally, to put a little smile on your face, Michael Cuddyer does some card tricks for elementary school kids.

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