MLB Bullets Won't Burst Your Bubble

Happy Monday. Congratulations to the Fresno Grizzlies, who won their first-ever Pacific Coast League title. Turns out losing the Giants affiliation and moving on to the Astros wasn't so bad after all.

• I'm trying to lead with something other than the Mets, who seem to be dominating the news for the past few weeks for obvious reasons: they're winning and they're in New York. So let's start with the thumb injury Yadier Molina suffered in yesterday's game against the Cubs. Losing Molina for the postseason would be a huge blow to the Cardinals chances.
• David Brown agrees and says a loss of Molina could be crippling.
• Going back to the Jung Ho Kang injury, Jay Jaffe thinks that MLB needs to change the rules about takeout slides at second base.
• Rob Neyer thinks rule 7.13, the one about home plate collisions, could still use some tweaking.
• The Brewers are expected to name David Stearns, the assistant GM with the Astros, as their new general manager. At 30, Stearns will be the youngest GM in the game.
• Maybe he can do something about the "circus-like atmosphere" at Miller Park that one fan thinks is responsible for the Brewers losing ways.
• Even though the three best teams in baseball are in the NL Central, Anthony Castrovince doesn't think that baseball's postseason setup needs changing.
• Every day we learn more about what a boondoggle the new Braves Stadium is. Apparently, there are no plans to pay for a planned bridge to get fans from the parking lot to the stadium, so before every game, fans are going to have to play a real-life game of "Frogger" across the highway. And of course, the only way to get to the stadium will be to drive. This is what they mean when they say baseball's fan base is dying off.
• OK, the Mets. Ian O'Connor talks to former Mets GM Omar Minaya about how the current front office turned the Mets into a winner. He also gets former Mets manager Bobby Valentine's take on the same thing.
• Former Met Mike Piazza says that the arrival of Yoenis Cespedes taught the Mets to believe in themselves and that they could win.
• Maybe because Cespedes says the only thing he fears is death. Then he added, just kidding, I don't even fear death.
• Cespedes is, of course, a free agent at the end of the season and he's seeking a six-year deal.
• Wayne G. McDonnell Jr. examines just how much Cespedes is worth to the Mets.
• On to the issue of Matt Harvey, Lindsay Berra talks to people about just how little we know about recovering from Tommy John surgery.
• Dirk Hayhurst knows this sounds mercenary, but he feels that Harvey has to put his own health above the team's fortunes.
• Jonah Keri is impressed with Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud and his ability on the field. He's not so impressed with his ability to stay on the field. He thinks the Mets should make d'Arnaud a uniform out of bubble wrap or something. Or seriously, do whatever it takes to keep him healthy.
• They call Noah Syndergaard "Thor" for a reason. Sam Borden and Tim Rohan take a trip to check out Syndergaard's roots and the baseball scene in Denmark, which is mostly non-existent. Mostly. A fun article.
• For those of you chuckling at Jeff Samardzija having turned down the Cubs contract offers now that he's stinking on the South Side, first of all, be thankful he did and we have Addison Russell. Second, Jon Heyman writes that insiders tell him that despite Samardzija's poor second half, he's going to get paid this off-season.
• Sad news. A player in the Athletics organization is in critical condition after being shot in the head and torso over the weekend.
• Even more sad news. Brandon Martin, a 2011 first-round supplemental pick of the Rays has been arrested for the murder of three people. Martin had not played for the Rays since 2013 because of "personal reasons" and was released in spring training this year. (The linked-to article says two people were killed, but the third victim has since died.)
• Former Cub Damon Berryhill led the Oklahoma City Dodgers to a divisional title and was named PCL Manager of the Year this season. As a reward, he, along with nine other managers and coaches in the Dodgers system, were fired.
• The Angels are back in the postseason hunt thanks to Mike Trout.
• Barry Zito pitched in the majors for the first time since 2013.
• That got Matthew Kory thinking: Who threw the slowest fastball in the majors this season?
• David Lauria interviews Edgar Martinez on hitting.
• Jeff Sullivan makes the case for Miguel Sano for AL Rookie of the Year.
• Justin Verlander has politely asked Tigers fans not to boo. Yeah, that always works. At least he was polite about it.
• Royals slugger Kendrys Morales hit three home runs and a team-record 15 total bases on Sunday.
• Christina Kahrl believes the Royals offense can carry them deep through the postseason.
• Braves pitcher Mike Foltynewicz has been hospitalized with blood clots in his right arm.
• More exhibition games in Montreal next April.
• The Pirates are likely to trade or release Neil Walker this winter. Assuming Kang comes back, the Pirates do have one infielder too many.
• The Marlins would like to bring Ichiro Suzuki back for one more season. I'd love to see him get 3000 hits and unofficially break Pete Rose's record. (No, he wouldn't really break it. But I'm convinced that had Ichiro started his career in the USA, he would have broken Rose's record.)
• Phillies manager Pete Mackanin benched Odubel Herrera because he was "pouting."
• This is more of a general sports story than a baseball story, but it does relate to baseball and I found it a fascinating trip down memory lane. Andrew Heisel traces the rise and fall of sports forecasting and the 1970s fad of "biorhythms." I remember Bill James doing a story debunking biorhythms. Also, biorhythms were one of the first "killer app" of the personal computer industry.
• And finally, his Royals teammates got Yordano Ventura with the old "bubble gum bubble on the hoodie" trick.

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