MLB Bullets Are All Made Of All-Stars

The American League won the All-Star Game and Giancarlo Stanton won the Home Run Derby. If you didn't already know that, I question your status as a baseball fan. Either that, or you're such a fan of me that it's the first thing you read after going to bed early the night before. I know which one I think is more likely.

• Despite the AL winning the ASG and the last World Series, Jayson Stark has written a well-argued piece about how the balance of star-power in baseball has shifted to the National League. I guess I have to agree. Other than Mike Trout, Carlos Correa and I guess Mookie Betts, pretty much all the interesting young stars are in the NL these days. If you asked a random fan to name 10 ballplayers under 30, I'd bet they'd name seven or eight NL players before they named an American League player not named Trout.
• One of those stars you might name would be Noah Syndergaard. But his mom wants you to spell his name correctly, unlike what they did at the All-Star Game. That's N-O-A-H.
• Grant Brisbee explains why he loves the Home Run Derby and Giancarlo Stanton.
• The Marlins had an offer to lower ticket prices by 1% for every home run that Stanton hit in the Home Run Derby. So Marlins tickets are now 61% off, right? Think again, sucker.
• Will Leitch notes that Monday was likely ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman's final Home Run Derby after 23 years. Leitch thinks that while we won't exactly miss Berman, the event will be different without him.
• Joel Sherman thinks the All-Star Game has gotten stale and the whole thing needs to be rethought from scratch. He's not in favor of abolishing it, but he does want radical changes. He's just not sure exactly what those radical changes should be.
• Manny Randhawa remembers the 1992 ASG, which was the last one held in San Diego.
• Craig Calcaterra was very impressed with the food and the beer at Petco Park.
• Jerry Crasnick talks to several All-Stars who have the trade deadline on their mind right about now.
• Speaking of which, Ken Rosenthal speculates that the Rangers may be about to make a deal (or two), based on the fact that 18 scouts were watching a Rangers rookie league game in Arizona recently. That's a lot, especially for rookie ball.
• There was a bit of a political controversy when a member of the group singing the Canadian National Anthem (which Fox chose not to televise in the US) decided to change the lyrics to refer to recent events. It does appear that the man who did this is, shall we say, a "creative thinker" in that some sleuthing (see the comments) shows that the guys thinks the earth is flat and that he believes in chemtrails and mind-control through radio frequencies. Others might say he's nuts.
• Also before the game, baseball announced that the American and National League Batting Titles would be named after Rod Carew and Tony Gwynn.
• One issue that the players have brought up about the All-Star Game is that the actual All-Stars don't get much of a mid-season break. It's something likely to be brought up in collective bargaining talks.
• Speaking of which, commissioner Rob Manfred held his annual All-Star press conference. The CBA talks were a major source of contention and Tyler Kepner notes that while all is calm at the moment, that doesn't mean that there are some serious issues between the two sides.
• One thing that Manfred said is that if players want a shorter season, they have to accept a smaller paycheck.
• Manfred said that expansion is off the table until the Rays and the Athletics get new ballparks.
• He also said that MLB is committed to staying in Oakland.
• Manfred does not believe the rise in offense the past two seasons has anything to do with juiced balls or juiced players.
• On that point, Jared Diamond has a story about how much scoring is up recently.
• The commissioner and the Player's Association definitely agree on one thing: they are both upset that there are currently no Latino managers in MLB.
• Manfred re-emphasized that he will take no action against the Cardinals until after former scouting director Chris Correa is sentenced in the hacking scandal.
• On the issue of compensation for minor leaguers, Manfred tried to argue that MLB's problem isn't so much the money, but the problems of "excessive regulations" to pay minor leaguer a reasonable wage. That's a new argument. "Jeez, we'd be glad to increase our minor league payrolls by $3 million per team per year, but the paperwork would be just too much of a headache. So let's just keep paying them next to nothing."
• Kevin Trahan goes down to Peoria to talk to people on both sides of this issue. Mainly, MLB is hinting that they might eliminate a minor league tier if they were forced to actually pay minor leaguers. I'm not buying it, but some minor league owners are.
• Cliff Corcoran evaluates the trade that sent Brad Ziegler to Boston. He argues it's a good deal for the Red Sox, but the team really needs to do more.
• Mark DeRosa and Sean Casey talk about baseball's first half. And Casey tells about the only time he faced Clayton Kershaw.
• Michael Baumann looks at the four "super lineups" in baseball this season. The Cubs are one.
• Mike Piellucci talks to the former teammates of Bryce Harper at the College of Southern Nevada about what happened in Harper's one season in junior college. A nice piece which reaffirms the belief that Harper is a baseball freak.
• You might not want to read this, but ESPN.com has compiled a list of the 25 worst collapses in sports history. Warning: non-baseball content included.
• Rob Arthur runs the numbers and asks "Would an all-star team of the greatest players in major league history go 162-0?"
• Baseball uniforms are getting more colorful and have been since the proliferation of color television, with a short reversal with the "retro" look of the '90s.
• Padres first baseman Wil Myers wouldn't know good Mexican food if they hit him with a fastball every time he praised bad Mexican. He defends his belief that Mexican food is better on the East Coast than on the West Coast. I just don't even know where to start on that.
• And finally, this graphic is really cool. It's every pitch that Clayton Kershaw has thrown so far this season from the point of view of home plate.

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