MLB Bullets Goes Full Bartolo

I've told the story before of how I had nine Fred McGriffs play off against nine Tim Teufels in a tabletop dice baseball game in 1988. It was college and some beer was involved. In the end, McGriff, who had just finished his rookie season, won and was named Master of the Universe. And he gives that his full endorsement.

What is Christian Slater doing sitting in my living room? And why doesn't anyone else notice he's there?

• There have been no games since the last time I wrote one of these link pieces. But there was a big trade as the Red Sox acquired Drew Pomeranz from the Padres for top pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza.
• Ken Rosenthal applauds Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski for a fearless roll of the dice.
• David Schoenfield thinks the deal could be "win-win" for both teams.
• Jeff Sullivan is more cautious and worries that the Red Sox paid a lot in the hope that Pomeranz's newfound level of excellence will continue. Right now, John Hart is in Atlanta and doubling his demands for Julio Teheran after this deal.
• If you want to know what the fuss is about, Eric Longenhagen has a scouting report on Espinoza. He's a top 15 prospect in all of baseball.
• The last time a prospect that highly regarded was dealt was when the Diamondbacks acquired Shelby Miller. Yeah, about that. Arizona just sent Miller down to Triple-A.
• Andrew Joseph thinks the Miller trade has ended up as a far greater disaster than anyone could have imagined, and a lot of people thought it was a horrible trade at the time. Those people were all too optimistic from the Diamondbacks point of view.
• R.J. Anderson asks how did it all fall apart for the D-Backs? And more importantly, who can we blame?
• The Yankees front office is split about whether to be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. GM Brian Cashman wants to sell, whereas the business side of the operation wants to buy. I know which one of those I'd trust.
• That news affects the Nationals, who have made adding a bullpen arm their "top priority" at the trade deadline.
• The Pirates are looking to trade starting pitchers Jon Niese and Jeff Locke. Something tells me they won't bring as much back as Pomeranz did.
• Steven Goldman explains how the changed economics of the game means the trade deadline isn't the "Black Friday shopping spree" that it used to be. Also, a look at the current state of the market.
• Mike Axisa looks at 13 sellers and what they have to offer.
• Anthony Castrovince has five trades that "make sense," although he regurgitates the "Miller-for-Schwarber" deal, so his definition of "makes sense" is a little different. The Cubs might trade Schwarber one day, but as good as Miller is, the Cubs aree not parting with Schwarber for a guy that might throw 25 innings this season after trade.
• Since it's mid-season, everyone has to have their reviews and 2nd half previews. Especially since there are no games to write about. Yahoo! Sports has their Top Ten Surprises and Top Ten Disappointments of the first half.
• Castrovince has some storylines to watch for in the second half.
• Will Leitch has 100 second-half predictions.
• Tom Verducci has a second-half preview for each American League and each National League team.
• Jeff Sullivan notes that after years of the American League being the better league, the pendulum is swinging back towards the NL.
• Putting the stellar final season of David Ortiz into perspective.
• Jorge L. Ortiz believes that Edwin Encarnacion would be the perfect replacement for Ortiz in Boston.
• Zach Kram wants to know why you don't love Jose Quintana more than you do.
• Here's an interesting piece on a day in the life of a rehabbing pitcher--the Rays Alex Cobb, in this case. I suspect Zac Rosscup has been playing Pokemon Go. Or he just ran across some other people playing it and tweeted about it.
• ESPN has a new 30 for 30 documentary on the Mets of the 1980s out. Neil Paine looks at the rise and the fall of those Mets teams through Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry.
• Following up on the famous line from Moneyball "It's incredibly hard," Adam Dorhauer tries to examine just how difficult is it to learn to play first base later in your career?
• The brown and mustard All-Star game jerseys were a huge hit. I want one that says "Jimenez 28" on it. I don't think I can get one.
• Ever wonder what it's like to be the chef for an MLB team? Read this piece by Kate Petterson and find out what the Blue Jays eat.
• But J.A. Happ has an issue with milk in Canada. Happ doesn't understand why Canadians sell milk in bags.
• And finally, this was a fanpost at Amazin' Avenue. I say that only to shame you into creating content this awesome. What would happen if every player in baseball was Bartolo Colon?

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