MLB Bullets Looks At The Exit Polling

I’m sure that annoying camel in your office will be reminding you that it’s hump day all day today.

• Later today, the Hall of Fame will announce who has been elected to Cooperstown by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Jay Jaffe, who has made a career writing about the Hall, tells you what to expect today. Expect Tim Raines and Jeff Bagwell to be elected. Flip a coin on Ivan Rodriguez. Trevor Hoffman and Vladimir Guerrero have a shot. Jaffe has some other stuff too.
• Next year, all Hall of Fame ballots will be made public after the results are announced. Jayson Stark declares this a good thing.
• Craig Calcaterra reminds those who are opposed to this change that voting for the Hall of Fame is a privilege, not a right and not a pillar of democracy.
• If just ESPN.com writers were voting, there would be seven players inducted into Cooperstown today.
• Nathaniel Rakich thinks that some voters are coming up with a silly reason to not vote for Manny Ramirez. He thinks that you should either vote for PED-users or not vote for them.
• Grant Brisbee thinks that the voters are unfairly punishing Mike Mussina and Curt Schilling for pitching in the “Steroid Era.”
• Andrew Forbes makes the case to induct Larry Walker into the Hall.
• Brisbee also has an appreciation for 15 players who will fall off the ballot today after one election. Everyone who even makes a Hall of Fame ballot was at minimum a pretty good player, even if they have no business being in Cooperstown without a ticket.
• One probable future Hall-of-Famer, David Ortiz, reiterated that his playing days are over. There had been some speculation that he might play in the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic.
• We’re getting the details of Jose Bautista re-signing with the Blue Jays and the terms are a lot less generous than what Bautista wanted at the beginning of his free agency.
• Ben Lindbergh thinks Bautista was a victim of terrible timing and that the Blue Jays stand to benefit from that.
• Ken Rosenthal thinks that while Bautista didn’t get anything close to the contract he wanted, it’s probably for the best for everyone involved that he’s returning to Toronto. Well, everyone except the other teams in the AL East.
• Anthony Castrovince thinks it made too much sense for Bautista not to re-sign with the Blue Jays.
• Travis Sawchik analyzes what kind of a player Bautista is today and how his success challenges our existing ideas about the aging curve in baseball.
• On the other hand, spoilsport Jesse Spector thinks that the Blue Jays should have re-signed Michael Saunders instead.
• Speaking of Saunders, Chris Cwik thinks he’s a perfect fit for his new team, the Philadelphia Phillies.
• The Padres have signed first baseman Wil Myers to a six-year extension.
• Jonathan Bernhardt says that Myers is now the face of the Padres, for better or worse.
• No love for Trevor Cahill, who signed a one-year deal with the Padres?
• The other player signing a long-term extension is pitcher Danny Duffy, who signed a five-year, $65 million extension with the Royals.
• Mike Petrillo explains why he believes that the Royals got a bargain in the Duffy extension. He thinks that Duffy’s 2016 campaign is just the first step in a Duffy becoming an elite pitcher.
• After signing his extension, Duffy talked about the time in 2010 that he quit baseball. That the Royals supported him during that difficult time was a big reason he wanted to remain a Royal for life—or at least of the next five years.
• The Mets may end up keeping outfielder Jay Bruce. Because no one else wants him. I wish that was just me being snarky, but it’s the truth.
• Dave Cameron tries to find a new second baseman for the Dodgers. His choice is Javier Baez, although he admits to not coming up with a deal that the Cubs would accept. His deal is “Jose De Leon plus ???” I know someone in the comments is going to suggest Corey Seager.
• The Dodgers are also looking for Kenta Maeda to be stronger in 2017.
• In former Cubs news, the Rangers have a minor league deal with Josh Hamilton. (And yes, I’m joking about the “former Cubs” part.)
• Rangers pitcher Jake Diekman will miss at least the first half of the season after surgery for colitis.
• Richard Justice lists ten teams counting on players to bounce back from injuries in 2017.
• Cliff Corcoran tries to improve the Braves. They could get rid of the Tomahawk Chop, for one. And not move out into the suburbs.
• Sad news as the brother of Marlins pitcher Edinson Volquez was stabbed to death in the Dominican Republic.
• Chris Crawford has a quick look on the relationship between draft position and future stardom. It means a lot, and it doesn’t.
• The penalties (if any) in the Cardinals hacking scandal are supposed to be announced before the start of spring training. Cue the Bobby Fuller Four. Hopefully.
• President Obama has pardoned Hall-of-Famer Willie McCovey over his ‘90s tax evasion conviction.
• Alex Rodriguez is getting his own television show on CNBC. No matter the merits of this show, I hope Rodriguez gets into baseball broadcasting because he was terrific during the World Series.
• The taco emoji is now owned by Astros Triple-A affiliate the Fresno Grizzlies/Tacos. I have no idea what that means, but they own it.
• Ken Burns is considering updating his “Baseball” documentary with a piece on the Cubs winning the World Series. “The two teams met on the fields of Cleveland and only one team would emerge from the resulting skirmish unscathed. With blood already dripping from the fingers of Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer . . .”
• And finally, a new book is out about the women who played baseball in the 19th Century. It sounds like a terrific book for those interested in either women in baseball or 19th Century baseball.

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