MLB Bullets Is Out At The Ballgame

Good morning.

• James Shields signing with the Padres broke late Sunday night, so there wasn't much reaction to the story in the last bullets column. Luckily, David Schoenfield compiled a roundup of reactions to Shields from the internet.
• Jeff Passan wrote about how a series of miscalculations by Shields and his agent cost him millions of dollars and landed him in San Diego.
• Aaron Gleeman writes that while Passan has a point, we should all make so many mistakes that we end up in San Diego with $75 million.
• Ken Rosenthal says that the Cubs late pursuit of Shields (for a three-year deal) is a sign that the Cubs front office is going to be stingy with giving long-term deals to pitchers.
• Ben Lindbergh writes that Shields heavy workload does not increase his future risk of injury. If anything, it's probably a sign that he's more likely to stay healthy. He also gives an overview of the Padres busy offseason.
• In case you can't remember all the moves the Padres made this winter, Alex Skillin has a recap.
• AJ Cassavell thinks the Shields signing makes the Padres a playoff team.
• The Padres aren't done this winter either as they are going to make a big push to sign Cuban infielder Yoan Moncada.
• Rob Neyer wonders what kind of impact all of this will have on attendance in San Diego.
• Here's something I have to remind myself every time I write this column: Why you should ignore off-season winner/loser recaps.
• Alex Rodriguez met with the Yankees front office to apologize. The Yankees also told him that they will not pay the bonuses he was due for reaching certain home run milestones.
• Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said that while he is still talking to other teams about his ace, he expects Cole Hamels to be the Phillies opening day starter.
• Anthony Castrovince believes that Amaro has waited too long to trade Hamels.
• Over at The Red Reporter, they're not only not optimistic that the Reds can keep Johnny Cueto, they think Mike Leake is probably out of the Reds price range too. As always, if you go over there, be careful.
• The Tigers announced that they expect injured DH Victor Martinez to be ready for Opening Day.
• Former Cub Tony Campana has tore his ACL and is expected to miss all of 2015.
• Yasmany Tomas, who played outfield in Cuba, has been learning third base with the Diamondbacks. So far, Arizona has been happy with his progress at third.
• The Red Sox and Orioles both want to play exhibition games in Cuba.
• The Marlins will host the 2017 All-Star Game.
• August Fagerstrom thinks the Cubs have a really good bullpen. Let's hope.
• The MLB Fan Cave is no more.
• Do you want to know which major league stadiums do and do not have wi-fi? Bluebird Banter has the complete list.
• Russell Carleton looks at the pros and cons of various proposed rules changes.
• The NCAA, to combat declining offense, is introducing a new baseball with flatter seams.
• Eno Sarris examines whether or not foreign players have a different strike zone in Japan.
• Jackie Robinson West's Little League team has been found to have violated residency rules last season. They have been stripped of their US title.
• Here's a "where are they now?" story on the only high school pitcher to ever strike out Joe Mauer.
• In December, Tigers beat writer Tom Gage was awarded the J.G. Taylor Spink Award, which the Hall of Fame's equivalent of induction to Cooperstown for baseball writers. Despite that, he has been taken off the Tigers beat by the Detroit News.
• Last night, the MLB Network ran a special on the story of Billy Bean, one of only two players in history to acknowledge they were gay after he retired. (Glenn Burke was the other.) If you missed it, I'm sure the MLB Network will rerun it again. But Bean writes that going over his story was both painful and healing. He hopes that his story can help future athletes.
• Will Leitch thinks Bean's story is one we all need to hear.
• And finally, Jonah Keri looks at one of the most-unbreakable records in sports: Ron Hunt was hit by a pitch 50 times in one season. No one else has been hit more than 35 times in one year. Keri talks with Hunt about how he did it.

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