MLB Bullets For King And Country

I’ve been up working on the World Baseball Classic all day, so forgive me if I’m brief in my commentary. Heck, some of you will praise me for that. But I think I can sum it up with U-S-A!

• Will Leitch says that “emotion” puts the classic into World Baseball Classic and that MLB needs to learn from that.
• Ken Rosenthal says that a big bonus for those who joined Team USA is learning from all of their teammates. Rosenthal says the team meals for Team USA is like a graduate school seminar for major leaguers, and that those who chose not to play are missing that.
• Bob Nightengale goes down a similar road, noting that getting to know their Team USA teammates has been among their favorite things about the WBC experience.
• Grant Brisbee breaks down “that catch” by Adam Jones.
• Brisbee also thinks that Team USA may have the greatest lineup in baseball history, and that might still not be enough to win.
• Japan starter Tomoyuki Sugano showed last night that he’s good enough to pitch in MLB.
• Jorge L. Ortiz explains why the WBC is so important to Puerto Rico.
• Doug Padilla has some things to know about Team Puerto Rico.
• For Team Puerto Rico’s Mike Aviles, he’s grateful to be on Team Puerto Rico even if he doesn’t have a major league team at the moment. But most of all, Aviles is grateful that his daughter is now free of cancer.
• Bill Baer thinks the WBC’s extra-innings rule has cheapened Puerto Rico’s success. To be clear here, it’s not just the WBC’s rule. It’s the international baseball rule. I don’t think it “cheapens” the win. However, I will agree that the rule is terrible and would love to hear a solution that’s not just “play until someone wins,” which isn’t possible with mandated pitch counts. At least it’s not penalty kicks.
• The Netherlands were eliminated by Puerto Rico. Despite that, Dutch slugger Wladimir Balentien has made a big impression in the tournament and could be heading back to MLB in 2018.
• And we don’t just mean that Balentien made an impression with the best bat-flip of the tournament.
• Netherlands manager Hensley Meulens would like an opportunity to manage in the majors and thinks that his performance in the WBC shows he could be successful. The dude speaks five languages and his nickname is “Bam-Bam.” That ought to be worth something.
• However, Netherlands and Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius is injured and will miss April. Gleyber Torres will not replace him.
• Andrew Marchand looks at the Yankees non-Torres options for replacing Gregorius.
• Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier will likely also miss Opening Day, again.
• Twins pitcher Trevor May will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss all of 2017.
• Most of you know Jerry Krause, who died yesterday, as the architect of the great Bulls NBA championship teams. But his first job and real passion was baseball.
• The White Sox signed shortstop Tim Anderson to a six-year extension worth $25 million.
• Jeremy Dorn examines the deal and has real doubts that Anderson is worth that kind of an extension.
• There are reports that the White Sox are continuing to try to trade Jose Quintana, although they will wait for a deal they like.
• The Rays could deal a pitcher, with Erasmo Ramirez as the most likely candidate to go.
• The Rangers signed catcher Robinson Chirinos to a one-year extension.
• The Blue Jays are working on an extension with their manager, John Gibbons.
• Bradford Doolittle looks way ahead to the trade deadline.
• On that note, Jonah Keri starts his series where he ranks the top 50 players by their trade value. (And Bill Simmons is being an ass about it. Unless he was joking.)
• Jayson Stark explains how Zach Britton became the best closer in the game—by accident.
• Katie Baker profiles Indians manager Terry Francona.
• Barry Bonds joined the Giants front office as an advisor to the CEO.
• Travis Sawchik looks at how an uppercut swing is spreading in MLB.
• Planning to see the Braves at SunTrust Park? Here are your parking options. They aren’t good.
• Would you eat the Diamondbacks new 18-inch chicken enchilada dog?
• The the Pirates radio and TV broadcast teams get into a fight on the air?
• A man in Croatia wrote all 30 teams why he should be one of their fans. Only seven teams responded. Boo on the Cubs for not answering. I suppose they were busy.
• Marlins Justin Bour and Dee Gordon swapped uniforms for warmups. If you are familiar with Bour and Gordon, you know they don’t wear the same size.
• And finally, some Mets minor leaguer was foolish enough to park in Jacob deGrom’s spot. It did not go well for him.

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