MLB Bullets Has Been Ejected

Good morning Monday.

• The baseball world is still reeling from the blockbuster deal that sent Carlos Ruiz to the Dodgers in exchange for A.J. Ellis. (Yeah, I don't get it either.) Robert O'Connell writes that the Dodgers traded good vibrations for a slightly better-than-average bat. He doesn't seem to think that trade was worth it.
• Dave Cameron wonders if the real reason that Ellis was included in the deal was to open a spot of the 40-man roster for Ruiz without taking the PR hit for just releasing Ellis.
• Some players interpreted the Ellis deal as a statement from team president Andrew Friedman that no one person is more important than the team. Not Ellis. Everyone already knew that. This message was aimed at Clayton Kershaw.
• Carlos Ruiz, the second-to-last member of the Phillies last World Series team, left behind a message for the teammates he left behind.
• The Tigers really got into it with home plate umpire Mike Everitt on Saturday as four of them were ejected.
• J.D. Martinez reveals what was said that got him ejected. Sounds like an #umpshow.
• And Bryce Harper threw his helmet on Saturday and got tossed.
• Ken Rosenthal weighs in again on the Diamondbacks mess and says that owner Ken Kendrick deserves a lot of the blame.
• On the good side of the front office work, Mark Axisa looks at the best one-year and minor league free agent signings this past winter. Yes, Dex is on the list.
• Joe Posnanski compares the Albert Pujols of today to what Albert Pujols used to be.
• This is a good piece by Albert Chen on how Statcast is changing the way the game is played.
• Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez is quickly becoming a legend in the Bronx.
• Someone claimed Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson on waivers, but the Phils pulled him back after failing to make a deal.
• Bad news for Rangers reliever Jeremy Jeffress who was arrested for DWI. Although the detail that most people are glomming onto is that he wet himself during the stop.
• Athletics slugger Khris Davis has finally found his home run stroke. He's also planning on playing for Mexico in next spring's WBC, even though the US team might be interested.
• Brewers infielder Jonathan Villar is second in the majors in stolen bases. So Seth Victor asks: why is he such a terrible baserunner?
• On the other side, R.J. Anderson looks at how the slow Paul Goldschmidt is such a terrific base stealer.
• Craig Edwards looks at the streakiest teams in baseball.
• Mike Axisa writes that not only is Reds first baseman Joey Votto an underrated ballplayer, he's one of the top few hitters in the game over the past 45 years.
• Phil Rogers believes that the heart of the Mariners order has carried the team into the Wild Card hunt. Hmm. Now that I read this, it's not as interesting as I thought it was. I thought the Mariners were into some sort of weird Aztec sacrifice ritual.
• Congratulations to the Little League team from Endwell, NY who won the Little League World Series over the weekend.
• The Nationals gave up a run when A.J. Cole threw a wild pitch during an intentional walk.
• A Korean pitcher's pickoff throw went wrong and almost hit the runner in the head.
• Richard Justice looks ahead to some series this week and their potential impact on the playoff races.
• In case you're curious, here's a list of team planning on attending the Tim Tebow workout.
• I've hear of player's giving themselves or their teammates a haircut in the clubhouse, but Rangers outfielder Carlos Beltran gave himself a new head of "hair" during Sunday's game.
• A young fan got very emotional after he got an autograph from Mike Trout.
• A look at the San Diego Chicken as he approaches the end of his career. A nice piece on a legend of the game.
• And finally, the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians/ Louisville Bats game got rained out on Friday. Or more accurately, flooded out as a flash flood hit the stadium. But some of the players decided to make the best of their situation and turned the park into a water park, with inner tube baseball, clubhouse swimming and re-enacting scenes from Titanic.

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