MLB Bullets Says Goodbye To An Old Friend

Oh, it's a sad day. It's a very sad day in my world.

• Why is it such a sad day? Because my favorite punching bag around here, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr., has been fired. I feel like Henny Youngman after someone actually took his wife.
• Over at The Good Phight, John Stolnis recaps over the worst of Amaro Jr.
• Jerry Crasnick notes that while Amaro Jr. generally got good reviews for his moves this season, he had too long a legacy of mistakes to overlook.
• Mike Axisa ranks the six open GM jobs. The Phillies job is right up there at number two.
• Jon Heyman reports on three early candidates for the Red Sox GM job.
• Ken Rosenthal reports the Marlins want manager Dan Jennings to return to the front office next season. However, Jennings might not like the decreased authority he might have in a return there. He'd like the Mariners GM job, but he's not likely to be offered it.
• There was a report late last night that Tigers manager Brad Ausmus will be fired. Oh no! Who will take the title of Sexiest Manager Alive for 2016?
• Maybe it will be Athletics manager Bob Melvin, who despite a rough season signed a contract extension through 2018.
• With the Mets now having a 7.5 game lead, David Schoenfield reminds their fans (and the rest of us) of the greatest September collapses in history.
• Schoenfield also remembers the continuing history of Nationals bullpen meltdowns that helped the Mets sweep the Nats.
• Tom Verducci explains why everyone overrated the Nationals at the beginning of the season. (Video)
• With all the young pitching the Mets have, Erik Malinowski asks where would the Mets be without Bartolo Colon?
• For some reason this is a thing. OK, I know why it's a thing. The New York Media. People are now arguing that Yoenis Cespedes should win the NL MVP. Jon Paul Morosi cites the precedent of Rick Sutcliffe winning the NL Cy Young in 1984, but he fails to mention that Sutcliffe was traded on June 13, not July 31.
• David Schoenfield thinks the argument is silly, but he breaks down the case for Cespedes for NL MVP anyway.
• If you're into this stuff, Grant Brisbee grades all the postseason awards by their potential to cause fistfights at the sports bar.
• C.J. Nitkowski doesn't think Alex Rodriguez will win AL Comeback Player of the Year.
• Jonathan Judge thinks the sabermetric stat DRA is a better way to evaluate pitchers.
• Jerry Crasnick outlines the questions swirling in Baltimore after the Orioles disappointing season.
• Meg Rowley writes a personal essay that a lot of Cubs fans can relate to. It's about how the great season of Nelson Cruz was not wasted despite the Mariners terrible season because of the the joy it brought to fans.
• Dayn Perry says the best free agent signing of the offseason was the Pirates Jung Ho Kang. As many have said, the next player posted from KBO is going to go for a lot more than $5 million.
• Joon Lee writes about how much the success of Kang means to him and the entire Korean-American community.
• The Braves insist that they are not going to tank for the number one pick. (h/t Talking Chop)
• In a baseball first, you can now buy stock in Angels pitcher Andrew Heaney. He's selling 10% of his future earnings.
• Jeff Sullivan projects how good will Francisco Lindor end up being.
• Jay Jaffe remember Joaquin Andujar, one tough Dominican.
• Dave Cameron explains how Matt Carpenter has been selling out contact for power.
• Tim Hudson made it official: He's retiring at the end of the season.
• Remembering Sandy Koufax's perfect game against the Cubs, along with a rare postgame interview with Koufax.
• Joey Votto got tossed from a game and Will Leitch thought his meltdown was glorious.
• CJ Nitkowski wants to get rid of baseball divisions. Jeez, where did he get that idea? (OK, I got the idea from Jeff Passan.)
• One man's quest to meet every ballplayer pulled from a 1986 pack of baseball cards.
• Kevin Kloesel thinks MLB should take the decision to delay and call games for weather away from umpires.
• The time fans in San Francisco booed Beat poet Allen Ginsburg. I bet you didn't know that? I bet if it had happened in Philadelphia, you'd have heard about it a dozen times.
• That gave Craig Calcaterra a chance to link to a video of Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti reciting his poem "Baseball Canto."
• The Nationals made the radio station that carries their games stop playing a song by Journey after wins because the band is from San Francisco. Instead, they'll play a song by the Foo Fighters because Dave Grohl is from Virginia.
• And finally, a rant. No one, ever, should ever play a Journey song. Not even ironically. It's cruel and inhuman. So as stupid as their reasoning was, the Nats were saving their fans' lives. I suppose the Foo Fighters are inoffensive, which is probably why they were picked, but there are a lot of better choices out there. A lot of people have suggested songs from the DC hardcore punk scene of the eighties, but really, it should to be something by Thievery Corporation. First of all, they're from DC and not Virginia. Second, if I didn't know they released their first record in 1997, I would have thought they were named after the Nats. There is no better fitting nickname for the Nats throughout their history than "Thievery Corporation," am I right, Expos fans and DC taxpayers? I guess I'd suggest Vampires as fitting, although perhaps Sound The Alarm suits the Nationals mood better these days.

OK, I'll hang up now and get mocked for my public radio taste in music off the air. And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. And please come back, Ruben. Just not to Chicago.