MLB Bullets Favors The Bold

There was a good amount of silly stuff coming out of the New York media (and one Chicago writer) about Alex Rodriguez, although by A-Rod standards, it was mild. But as my gift to you, I'm just going to ignore it.

• Yoan Moncada signed with the Red Sox, of course.  Owner John Henry says that in order to win a championship, "you have to be bold." Henry also says the Red Sox, coming off a last place finish, have never been stronger. That may be true, actually.
• The Red Sox called in Cuban great Luis Tiant to help recruit Moncada. I bet Theo didn't even bother to call Jose Cardenal for help.
• Marc Normandin says the Moncada signing fits in with the Red Sox pattern of spending big on hitters but not pitching. Yeah, but they're still drafting pitchers in the first round, so they haven't gone "Full Theo."
• Ben Carsley tries to figure out where Moncada fits in the Red Sox future. Of course, Carsley notes that if Moncada is as talented as everyone says, they'll find a place for him.
• Matt Provenzano uses the mathematics of auction bidding to try to explain why the Yankees lost the bidding for Moncada.
• C.J. Nitkowski doesn't think the $63 million the Red Sox paid in bonuses and penalties is too high a price to pay for Moncada.
• Drew Smyly, on the other hand, thinks that's too much for a 19-year-old Cuban ballplayer. Or he thinks that that's the right amount but that American kids in the draft are paid too little. He's right either way.
• Following up on something that caused a lot of discussion last time, Cal Ripken Jr. flat out denies that he hazed Greg Zaun or anyone else in the way Zaun described. Other former Orioles back up Ripken's statement. (h/t Big League Stew)
• Staying with the Orioles, Chris Davis once again has his therapeutic-use exemption to use banned stimulants. His failure to renew his exemption cost him a 25-game suspension last year.
• Giancarlo Stanton says that he has fully recovered from his beaning and says that other than trying out a face guard, he doesn't plan to change anything.
• Also from last time, his former teammates on the Reds were not happy with what Mat Latos said about the team in an interview with Ken Rosenthal.
• Also following up from last time, Melvin Upton may have fixed his name, but can he fix his game? David Schoenfield is pessimistic.
• Jay Jaffe has a list of players who also changed their names during their careers. He doesn't have Ervin Santana, however, whose birth name is Johan Santana but he figured that name was already taken so he changed his first name to Ervin for no particular reason other than he liked it.
• MLB has begun briefing teams about how the new pace-of-game rules are going to work. Lots of details, but the short answer is that they're trying to make it as unobtrusive as possible.
• Lots of talk about a 154-game season. David Schoenfield says it's never going to happen.
• Will Leitch agrees that the shorter season isn't going to happen, but he's impressed that new commissioner Rob Manfred is willing to discuss such changes to the game, at least.
• A bill is being introduced in the California legislature that would ban smokeless tobacco (and all other tobacco products) in stadiums. Somewhat surprisingly, MLB has spoken out in favor of the proposed law.
• Former minor league pitcher Jason Burch says he is gay and that several of his teammates knew. Burch pitched for the Cardinals, Rockies, Orioles and Blue Jays organizations from 2003 to 2008.
• The Pawtucket Red Sox have announced their intention to move to a new ballpark in Providence, RI. Dan Barry writes about the long history of baseball in Pawtucket and what the historic stadium the team will leave behind for the New York Times.
• Joon Lee has a great little primer on baseball in Korea. I've got to say, it does look like Koreans have more fun at the ballpark than we North Americans do.
• ESPN the Magazine ranks all teams in the four major sports by how much they rely on analytics. Yes, the Cubs are near, but not at, the top in MLB.
• Jeff Samardzija doesn't have much use for that fancy numbers stuff. And as Craig Calcaterra points out, he really doesn't need to. Some players don't need a lot of information floating around their heads while they're trying to perform.
• Jerry Crasnick writes that James Shields will be a leader for the Padres in the clubhouse as well as on the mound.
• GM Brian Sabean says that California taxes are making it harder for the Giants to sign free agents. For example, they lost out on James Shields to the Padres because of the high California tax rates . . . wait a minute. I'm confused.
• The Giants expect that Matt Cain will be ready for opening day.
• Will Leitch remembers Dave Kingman and how much he struck out. He notes that strikeout totals like Kingman's are now routine, but power levels are dropping anyway.
• Rob Neyer talks about Nate Eovaldi and how his strikeout totals are so low despite one of the fastest fastballs in the game.
• Adam Wainwright went back to St. Louis after experiencing abdominal pain. GM John Mozeliak says he's moderately concerned.
• Andre Ethier says "play me or trade me."
• Alex Skillin thinks that despite their losses, the Rays are still contenders to win the AL East.
• Mike Moustakas plans to bunt more to beat the shift. David Schoenfield explains why it will only have a small positive effect.
• Run! Scorpions! Run!
• Mets GM Sandy Alderson had jury duty this month. When asked what he did in his free time, he responded "look for a shortstop." Really. He did say that. (He says he was joking.)
• And finally, World Series hero Madison Bumgarner dressed up like Paul Bunyan, complete with an ox. Because Bumgarner is so cool he can pull that off.

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