MLB Bullets Breaks All The Rules

Happy Friday.

• The big story today involves not a story or a trade, but this profile of Bryce Harper by Tim Keown. It's a wide-ranging story that talks about his childhood in Las Vegas and the trajectory of his major league career, among other things. But all anyone wants to talk about is Harper's quote:

Baseball's tired. It's a tired sport because you can't express yourself. You can't do what people in other sports do. I'm not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it's the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game now who have flair. . .Jose Fernandez will strike you out and stare you down into the dugout and pump his fist. And if you hit a home run and pimp it? He doesn't care. Because you got him. That's part of the game. . . That's what makes it fun.

• Sergio Romo told Bryce Harper to shut up. Which is a bit ironic considering how much Romo celebrates his saves.
• Mike Lupica thinks that baseball should listen to Harper.
• I don't think Hall of Famer Goose Gossage even read Harper's quote, but he coincidentally went off on an angry-old-man rant telling the kids to get off his lawn. He specifically ripped bat-flipper Jose Bautista and "nerds" for ruining the game.
• Twins rookie Byung-ho Park isn't taking any chances though and says he's not going to be flipping any bats in MLB. He also tells everyone his preferred nickname is "Park Bang."
• Dan Carson lists three "unwritten rules" that baseball should dump.
• Barry Bonds has a reputation of being not the most welcoming player in sports. But Bonds surprised the family of a recently-passed Marlins clubhouse attendant by showing for a ceremony in his honor. The man was a big Giants fan who wore a Giants shirt under his Marlins jacket at work and was looking forward to finally meeting Bonds at Spring Training when he died of a heart attack a few weeks ago. (h/t Big League Stew)
• Ruben Amaro Jr. talked with David Lauria and claimed that as Phillies GM, he always used analytics but didn't tell anyone about it. Sure Ruben. And he also has a girlfriend in Canada.
• We already knew Jhonny Peralta was injured. Now the Cardinals admit that he'll be out until June at least.
• It sounds like the Cardinals players are tired of getting asked about the Cubs.
• Here's a new one. Prince Fielder has returned to Texas to seek help with a sleep disorder. Essentially, he can't sleep in Spring Training and it's affecting his game. Good night, sweet Prince.
• Ken Rosenthal looks at the remarkable comeback of Rich Hill. From Independent Ball to Fenway Park in less than a month. Then a big free agent contract with the Athletics.
• Jered Weaver topped out at 80 mph in a Spring Training start this week.
• Jeff Sullivan wonders when it comes to Weaver, how low can he go? And still be able to retire batters, of course.
• David Schoenfield has a man-crush on Rougned Odor.
• Whereas Jayson Stark turns his affections towards Carlos Correa in this profile.
• Fernando Perez talks with Wade Davis about what makes a good starting pitcher as opposed to being a reliever. Perez also suggests two other starters who might benefit from moving to the pen.
• Despite being two of the biggest pitchers in Japan, Kenta Maeda and Masahiro Tanaka have never pitched opposite each other before. Could that happen this year in MLB?
• There's a gambling scandal rocking NPB at the moment as four players have been found to have been betting on baseball. None of them have been found to have bet on games they played in, at least.
• Mike Axisa thinks that the Orioles are getting frustrated with the slow start of their new Korean outfielder Hyun-soo Kim.
• Joey Votto and Jay Bruce are working on bunting in order to beat infield shifts.
• Eno Sarris asks several players, managers and writers if they think Spring Training is too long. (ESPN Insider Only) A lot of mixed opinions, but generally hitters think it's too long and pitchers think it's just right.
• Anthony Castrovince lists ten pieces of good news out of Spring Training so far.
• The Royals found the secret hiding place of Tim Lincecum and were asked to leave. Nothing personal against the Royals, he's just shy right now. When he wants them over, he'll tell them.
• Will Leitch plans your ultimate MLB road trip this year.
• Curt Schilling works for ESPN--but even he's not sure he will be working there much longer.
• In the past, people (OK, me) have questioned Royals manager Ned Yost's intelligence (in baseball, at least) but he's pretty smart when it comes to the importance of bees.
• Sir Elton John (I guess I have to call him "Sir" now) dedicated a song to the Minnesota Twins in a recent concert in Florida. John is apparently a Braves fan (really) but his tour manager is a big Twins fan and several Twins got to met him backstage.
• The Dodgers take their Spring Training ping pong tournament very seriously, apparently. As long as it's not beer pong.
• And finally, Cardinals infielder Aledmys Diaz is a candidate to replace Peralta while he's on the mend. He thinks his game is ready to take a step forward this year because he has a much better command of English. How did he learn so much English over the past year? He watched a lot of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." Hey, whatever works for you, Aledmys.

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