MLB Bullets Finds A Home On The Range

This isn't the first time this has happened to me, but it's always disconcerting when I go to Google News to look for stories for MLB Bullets and it tells me that I might be interested in "Chicago Cubs Minor League Wrap" on Bleed Cubbie Blue. Nah. The guy who writes that column is a total doorknob.

• Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre signed a two-year extension with the team that will keep him in Arlington through 2018. Beltre says that he intends to retire as a Ranger. I hope not until 2020 though, because he's the only active player with a realistic chance to be a "four-decade" player.
• Richard Justice says that the Rangers simply "could not imagine" Beltre playing somewhere else and that he's a leader of the team on and off the field.
• Cliff Corcoran notes that it is curious that the Rangers have made a commitment to Beltre despite having two young players, Jurickson Profar and Joey Gallo, down in the minors who could play the position in the years to come.
• Former Tigers manager Jim Leyland has been named the manager of Team USA for the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Leyland says he's excited to be managing again and he'll be just as prepared as he was as a major league manager. Leyland also says this is his last managerial job ever.
• Jon Paul Morosi looks at what Leyland's Team USA might look like.
• Mike Axisa also has some recommendations for the Team USA lineup.
• Following up on Friday's big story, it turns out that Red Sox did not just put Pablo Sandoval on the disabled list in order to get rid of him for a while. The Red Sox said that the MRI revealed that "there is a great deal going on in his shoulder" and Sandoval said the results were "pretty bad." He's going to Dr. James Andrews to get a second opinion.
• Brad Snyder talks about where myth and reality collide in the story of Pee Wee Reese's on-field "embrace" of Jackie Robinson. Snyder says that unlike what Ken Burns' recent documentary said, the embrace did happen, just not in the way or at the time that the story has normally been told.
• Grant Brisbee reminds us that Jackie Robinson Day in baseball is not a day to celebrate the way Robinson breaking the color barrier fixed everything that was wrong with baseball.
• Bob Nightengale notes that there are extremely few African-American pitchers in the game today. Sure enough, the Cubs don't have one at the moment, despite having three African-American position players, which is actually a lot by 2016 MLB standards.
• Pirates manager Clint Hurdle thinks that there will be a female MLB player one day.
• Dodgers team president Andrew Friedman said "We, as an industry, . . .have failed our Cuban players."
• Mets hurler Jacob deGrom has been placed on emergency family leave because of "complications" with his newborn son. Fortunately, his condition is reportedly improving and they hope to take Jaxon home from the hospital today.
• Manny Randhawa writes about Tim Lincecum's efforts to come back from injury and how his former Giants teammates miss him in the locker room.
• Mark Townsend notes that Shelby Miller is the current leader in the clubhouse for the "strangest injury of the year" award: he injured his hand by hitting the mound with it on the follow-through of a pitch.
• Katie Strang talks to Tigers outfielder J.D. Martinez about how he turned his career around after getting released by the Astros.
• A fan at Tropicana Field was seriously injured by a foul ball that went through a small gap in the netting. The Rays have since fixed the gap.
• Jeff Passan thinks that new laws outlawing tobacco in stadiums could help eliminate tobacco from the game.
• John Lott on how the "secret" sinker of Marcus Stroman is now his biggest weapon.
• Peter Gammons writes about the defensive skills of Troy Tulowitzki and a couple other shortstops.
• Jorge Camargo writes about how the Padres Triple-A affiliate, the El Paso Chihuahuas, are marketing themselves to the cross-border Mexican market--as well as the Padres efforts to market themselves in Mexico in general.
• Ian Kinsler intentionally dropped a pop up. Smart play. I thought there was a time in the Reds series that the Cubs should have done this.
• Seth Rosenthal admits to a really weird desire to be eaten alive by the Phillies Iguana mascot. TMI? Maybe.
• The NBA is going to start putting ads on uniforms. Craig Calcaterra thinks it is just a matter of time before MLB does this. Probably, but I'll bet MLB will be the last North American professional sports league to accept advertising on uniforms.
• In the meantime, enjoy the terrific 1979 throwback uniforms the Pirates wore yesterday. We are fam-i-lee.
• Even the Pirates broadcasters got into the act. Of course, one of those broadcasters, Bob Walk, actually wore those uniforms, albeit not in 1979.
• Bryce Harper fought the law and BRYCE HARPER WON! After MLB banned personalized bat knob decals, they have now reversed their decision and Harper has his personalized "100 emoji" decals back.
• So finally, to celebrate, Harper has homered in each of his last four games. The last one, on Sunday, landed in the bullpen bathroom at Citizen's Bank Park. That's hitting the nail on the head. Err, that's hitting the ball in the head.

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