MLB Bullets Pulls A Wild Card

I think it's safe to say the only things left to decide in the National League is whether the wild card game will be in Pittsburgh or Chicago and whether one NLDS will start in New York or Los Angeles. Still a little intrigue left in the AL, especially if the Astros keep reeling.

• Ken Rosenthal wonders if the Pirates third-straight trip to the wild card game, despite currently sitting with the second-best record in baseball, will cause MLB to re-evaluate the current playoff setup. He gets a quote from commissioner Rob Manfred saying that MLB is always open to change, but doesn't want to overreact to any specific incident. You have learned the art of saying both everything and nothing from Master Bud well. There's also a proposal from Theo Epstein.
• For Roberto Clemente Day, David Schoenfield looks over some myths about how the Pirates got Clemente from the Dodgers. Also a short video essay by Doug Glanville.
• Chris Cwik tells the unlikely tale of how the Rangers went from playoff afterthought to leading the AL West.
• Will Leitch gives ten reasons to root for the Rangers.
• Tracy Ringolsby notes that the surprising Minnesota Twins have hung in the playoff race, despite a lack of stars.
• Paul Casella lists ten of the most unlikely playoff teams in history.
• Rob Neyer points out that for all the importance we put on deadline deals, very few of them have had any positive impact on the pennant races so far.
• Joe Lemire argues the exact opposite point, calling it the greatest trade deadline in history.
• C.J. Nitkowski thinks the Astros deadline deals have worked out badly.
• Last time I had a story about how the Mets acquired Yoenis Cespedes from the Mets point of view. Gordon Edes goes through what happened in the Tigers front office.
• Jayson Stark talks to doctors about the way the Mets have handled Matt Harvey and discovers that no one really knows how much a pitcher can safely throw after Tommy John surgery.
• Josh Johnson will need a third Tommy John surgery. That's pretty much "Game Over," isn't it? I'm pretty sure you get three operations in MLB: The Show and then your character dies.
• Grant Brisbee explains why he doesn't really believe that the Dodgers will start Jimmy Rollins over Corey Seager in the playoffs, no matter what Don Mattingly says.
• They won't start Mat Latos over anyone because the Dodgers designated Latos for assignment.
• I don't think this will get many arguments around here, but Ken Rosenthal writes that after the Dodgers and Rockies played 58 players in one 16-inning game, the September roster rules have to change.
• Major league baseball made a major change to the way Cuban players can sign with teams. Cubans will no longer have to register with MLB before May 15 to be eligible to sign in the next signing window. This is huge news for the four teams, including the Cubs, who are over the international budget for 2015-16 and won't be able to sign any high-priced international free agents from 2016 to 2018. Now several of these current players will be eligible to sign in this signing period, where the Cubs, Dodgers, Royals and Giants are still able to sign players.
• Craig Edwards shows how Bryce Harper is having one of the greatest all-time offensive seasons of all time.
• Joe Posnanski goes down the rabbit hole that is the argument over the meaning of the word "valuable."
• After saying they wouldn't, the Athletics called up Barry Zito when Jesse Chavez went down for the rest of the season.
• There's been a lot of talk about Zito making a start against Tim Hudson when the Giants come to town later this month. Rob Neyer says with both teams (presumably) out of it, this special game needs to happen. Sure, it's a stunt. Is there a problem with a stunt in a meaningless late-September game?
• Ken Rosenthal says that the Athletics are going to try to make it happen. I'm also seeing reports that the A's have spoken with Mark Mulder about throwing out the first pitch if it happens.
• It also looks like this will be the last season with Billy Beane as GM of the Athletics. Beane is expected to move upstairs to a team president role and David Forst will take over as the A's GM.
• Christina Kahrl documents how A's coach Ron Washington turned Marcus Semien from a terrible shortstop into a decent one in just a few months. And Washington thinks there is more improvement to come.
• Jered Weaver got upset at the way Kyle Seager called time. So he hit him with a pitch and was ejected.
• Grant Brisbee breaks down the unwritten rules for calling for time.
• Matt Corbett thinks sabermetric thinking is great for GMs, bad for players.
• Rafael Palmeiro will play for the Sugar Land Skeeters this season alongside his son for the remainder of this season.
• Albert Pujols' injured foot has really impacted his poor second half. And the Angels postseason chances, one would assume.
• White Sox pitcher Scott Carroll got sent down to the minors in August. He left his car parked near Wicker Park. When he got recalled this month, his car had been stolen.
• And finally, here's the Kiss Cam. Ho hum. There's a young couple on a date. There's a mom and dad with some kids. And there's an old couple . . . .wait. Is that Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter? The Braves haven't won much this summer, but at least they can win at Kiss Cam.

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