MLB Bullets Won't Punch Anyone In The Face

There was a lot of trading action on the floor over the weekend, so if I missed a deal here or there, I apologize. Of course, a few deals are just too inconsequential to even bother reporting on a weekend like this.

To tell the truth, I'm not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to. If I ever saw myself saying I'm excited to go to Cleveland, I'd punch myself in the face, because I'm lying.

Ichiro Suzuki

• Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy was traded to the Cleveland Indians, but Lucroy invoked his no-trade clause and rejected the deal.
• Dayn Perry gives a blow-by-blow account of Lucroy's wild weekend, via Twitter posts.
• Lucroy explains why he refused to go to Cleveland. Bill Baer thinks Lucroy made the right decision.
• Mike Bauman agrees: Lucroy made the right call.
• Indians catcher Chris Gimenez, whose job Lucroy was likely going to take, essentially said "your loss" to Lucroy. Although you do have to ask yourself why Gimenez was so gung-ho to get himself DFA'd.
• Dave Cameron writes that while there are a lot of disappointed people, there are "no villains in this story."
• However, Cleveland got a nice parting gift. The Indians got Yankees reliever Andrew Miller for four prospects.
• Anthony Castrovince writes that while Miller won't help as much as Lucroy would have, he was still a huge pickup for the Tribe.
• Baseball Prospectus has a breakdown of the players involved in the Miller deal.
• Ken Rosenthal is excited by the deals that seem to indicate that the Indians are "going for it," even if the Lucroy deal got squashed.
• Ben Lindbergh writes that Miller makes the Indians the team to beat in the American League, even without Lucroy.
• David Schoenfield believes that the two relievers that the Yankees traded this week makes the possibility of a Cubs/Indians World Series much more likely, and he's in favor of the two teams with the longest Championship droughts facing off.
• Wallace Matthews writes that the Yankees have finally come to their senses and begun to rebuild.
• Dieter Kurtenbach believes that this signals an "end of an era" in which the team with the most money in baseball (The Yankees) automatically wins.
• Jim Callis thinks that after the deals, the Yankees arguably have the best farm system in the majors.
• And of course, with articles like these, there's absolutely no pressure on that farm system to produce. Billy Wirtz wrote an article asking if Gleyber Torres is the next Derek Jeter? To think I used to feel a little apprehensive comparing him to Edgar Renteria. And this is in The New York Times! The Post is probably asking if he could be a combination of Jeter, DiMaggio and Whitey Ford.
• By the way, I never knew the story behind Gleyber Torres' first name before. I never thought to ask.
• The Padres send pitcher Andrew Cashner to the Marlins.
• Cliff Corcoran thinks the Marlins got a mediocre pitcher for so-so prospects, but it was the best deal that either team could expect to make.
• Cashner did likely win over Marlins fans (and likely fans of other teams) by saying that Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez hit Giancarlo Stanton on purpose and calling it "The Cardinal Way."
• The Padres made one other deal, sending outfielder Matt Kemp to the Braves for suspended outfielder Hector Olivera. This is mostly an exchange of bad contracts and the Padres are expected to designate Olivera for assignment as soon as his suspension is over.
• Cliff Corcoran breaks down the Kemp deal, such as it is.
• But this deal was a big one for one reason and one reason only: We got hugs! It's just not #hugwatch season without hugs.
• The Cardinals got reliever Zach Duke from the White Sox.
• Corinne Landrey believes the Cardinals improved their bullpen without giving anything up.
• The Orioles landed Mariners pitcher Wade Miley, who improves their beleaguered rotation.
• Jeff Sullivan calls Miley an "unexciting generic innings sponge" whom the Orioles probably needed.
• The Pirates traded closer Mark Melancon to the Nationals, but David Schoenfield insists that the Bucs are not waving a "white flag."
• Baseball Prospectus breaks down the Melancon deal too.
• Schoenfield has five teams that might deal for Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig today.
• Ken Rosenthal notes some other players who might be on the move today. Hey! There is Jonathan Lucroy again!
• Andrew Simon has a list of terrible deadline deals over the past thirty years.
• Jay Jaffe has a similar list, but gets extra credit for a Seinfeld reference.
• The Blue Jays (temporarily) moved into first place in the AL East on Saturday. How did they get there?
• However, Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki had his thumb broken on Sunday when he was hit by a pitch.
• Tom Verducci has more bad ideas about how to "improve" baseball.
• Marly Rivera has a terrific interview with the eminently-quotable Ichiro Suzuki. He makes a good observation about American culture as he throws some shade on Pete Rose.
• The Marlins won a game on a walkoff hit by Derek Dietrich, and somehow his jersey got ripped off and he celebrated topless. I hate to break this to you, Derek, but that's an automatic yellow card these days.
• And finally, this pitch by Dodger pitcher Ross Stripling ended up inside the chest protector of catcher Yasmani Grandal, allowing the Diamondbacks Jake Lamb to score. When even Vin Scully says "I've never seen that before," you know that's something special.

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