MLB Bullets Wants To Change Baseball

Happy Mattress Sale Day! And the college baseball season started over the weekend.

• In the absence of any real breaking news over the weekend, this article written by Andrew McCutchen has gotten a lot of notice this weekend. In it, McCutchen bemoans that baseball is leaving low-income kids behind, much to the detriment of the sport. In it, he calls for US-born teenagers to sign and train with major league teams like they do internationally. (Or like they do in international soccer, I'll add.) McCutchen also relates his personal story and about how he never would have become a baseball player if he hadn't been lucky enough to find a sponsor.
• And here's something that I hope is not worse news by the time you read this. Mariners pitching prospect Victor Sanchez is "fighting for his life" after he was hit by a boat while swimming in his native Venezuela. Sanchez was ranked as the 7th best prospect in the Mariners organization by Baseball America heading into last season.
• As spring training rapidly approaches, the few remaining free agents are still looking at their options. Ken Rosenthal wonders what kinds of deals Scott Boras can get for his two remaining clients, Francisco Rodriguez and Rafael Soriano.
• And then there are some players who are going to have to settle for a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. What is that like? C.J. Nitkowski has more than a bit of experience in this area and he details what the process for signing a minor league deal is like. It's a very informative read.
• Joe Blanton signed a minor-league deal with the Royals as he attempts a comeback.
• Kiley McDaniel went down to the Dominican Republic to get scouting reports on two Cuban free agents: Hector Olivera and Yadier Alvarez.
• The Indians are interested in free agent outfielder Dayan Viciedo. Also a Cuban free agent, but not that kind of Cuban free agent.
• I guess I've put off A-Rod long enough. The past year with (mostly) no A-Rod stories was nice. The Yankees are now planning to have Alex Rodriguez meet with the media at Yankee Stadium this week to apologize.
• Ken Rosenthal thinks that rather than disputing Rodriguez's milestone bonuses and ignoring him in marketing, the Yankees ought to go full out in promoting A-Rod. Rosenthal thinks the Yankees could market him as a baseball equivalent of a "wrestling heel" and liven up an otherwise boring Yankees roster.
• But the Yankees do not want to have their name associated with PED abusers. Oh, and by the way, they're going to retire Andy Pettitte's number 46. So I guess there are steroid users and then there are steroid users.
• Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman thinks Joey Votto gets on base too much.
• C.J. Nitkowski actually does think that hitters should swing at pitches outside the zone in RBI situations, but that Votto is who he is and that the Reds knew that.
• Chris Davis said that he would look to start bunting more to beat defensive shifts.
• Greg Cote thinks the fans of South Florida ought to give Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria another chance.
• Craig Calcaterra asks if they can't just enjoy the 2015 Marlins while continuing to think the team's owner is pondscum?
• No pitcher has struck out 300 batters in a season since 2002. Grant Brisbee wonders if we'll ever see another 300 strikeout season.
• It probably won't be Drew Smyly, but David Schoenfield thinks Smyly could be a sleeper Cy Young Award candidate in 2015.
• The Mets have a surplus of starting pitchers, but it doesn't look like they deal any of them before the season starts.
• By the way, Aragorn is a Mets fan and he offers his opinion of the upcoming season and the meaning of being a Mets fan.
• Jeff Sullivan looks at the data to answer if baseball is getting even tougher for rookie hitters. (Answer: it's always been tough for rookie hitters.)
• Rockies pitcher Adam Ottavino credits an article of Fangraphs for his midseason turnaround.
• Jon Paul Morosi is excited by the possibility of a team of top minor-league US prospects facing off against the Cuban National Team in the Pan-Am Games this summer.
• Cubs manager Joe Maddon thinks the Rays new manager Kevin Cash will do a great job.
• Nick Cafardo ranks all 30 MLB managers. Also from that same article, Cafardo reports that the Red Sox made an offer for Cole Hamels that mostly featured major league players as opposed to the prospects that the Phillies want.
• Dave Cameron has his opinion of the worst 10 transactions of the winter.
• MLB purchased the rangers.com domain name and now own 27 of the 30 names for their team's nicknames. They're still missing the Twins, Rays and Giants. They're not getting the Giants because the NFL owns that one. But MLB owns cardinals.com, so each side has one cyberhostage.
• Tracy Ringolsby has the story of Rocky Bridges, a minor-league baseball lifer who died in January at age 87.
• In the running for promotional giveaway of the year, the Nationals are giving away a Jayson Werth Chia Pet.
• Oh Andrelton Simmons. How much I've missed you over the winter. All summer I could watch you late at night on "Quick Pitch" before I went to bed. Here's eight minutes of Andrelton Simmons defensive porn from his highlights of the 2014 season. That should get me through until April.
• In weird news, David Wells Tweeted that his wife had bit him over an affair, showing a picture of his black and blue leg. He has since deleted the Tweets in question and said they were a joke. All on Valentine's Day weekend.
• And finally, in happier holiday news, Fernando Rodney uses his signature move to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day.

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