MLB Bullets Is Done For Four Years

The World Baseball Classic is behind us for another four years and we don’t have to hear anymore about why the US can’t win this thing. At least not for another four years.

• Jon Paul Morosi, who has been the WBC’s biggest cheerleader coming into it (even bigger than me!), declared that the 2017 tournament was a “hit.”
• Jonah Keri had the chance to go to the WBC finals as a fan, and the experience turned him from a skeptic to a believer.
• The numbers support Morosi’s claim, as attendance, TV ratings, sales and social media “buzz” were all way up in the WBC’s fourth tournament.
• Except that a lot of people were really upset that ESPN2 was broadcasting the game in Spanish, apparently not realizing the game was on in English on the MLB Network. Or maybe they did and just objected to it being in Spanish at all.
• Of course, this story made the rounds. Because the residents of Puerto Rico wanted to show their support for the team, the island suffered a shortage of blond hair dye.
• Tracy Ringolsby speculates on whether the success of Puerto Rico in the WBC can make the island a hotbed of baseball talent again.
• Commissioner Rob Manfred agrees with Morosi and calls the 2017 version a “watershed” that will lead to even better future tournaments.
• Manfred also seemed to indicate that he’s leaning against a July WBC, although there has been a lot of talk that the 2021 tournament will be held a week later in March. Also, Manfred has no problems with bat-flipping.
• Tom Verducci calls it the best WBC ever, and has some highlights and lowlights of the tourney.
• Bob Nightengale announces that the WBC is here to stay and has some ideas to improve it the next time.
• Eric Nusbaum went to the finals and talked to the fans. He said that for as good as the games were, the best part of the WBC was the way it worked as a cultural exchange program.
• Billy Witz looks at the contrast in style between the WBC finalists.
• Ken Rosenthal writes that a win the WBC was the perfect end to manager Jim Leyland’s career.
• How did Team USA win? As they say, pitching wins championships.
• Nick Ashbourne breaks down why Marcus Stroman was so dominant in the championship game.
• Yadier Molina would like an apology for what Adam Jones said after the championship. Honestly, the whole thing is silly on both sides.
• Mike Axisa wonders if Team USA were an MLB team, how many games would they win in a 162-game season?
• Team USA celebrated their win with a giant eagle statue. He’s no Mensch on the Bench, though.
• Steven Martano has some lessons that MLB can learn from the WBC.
• Staying international but moving off of the WBC, Ken Belson explains what has to happen for Japan’s Shohei Otani to come to MLB.
• We’ve already covered the passing of former Cubs GM and Phillies manager Dallas Green, but CSN Philly’s Jim Salisbury writes a heartfelt appreciation of what Green meant for the game and to the Phillies.
• John Perrotto writes that Green will always be a legend in Philadelphia.
• Todd Zolecki looks at how the Phillies are using technology to improve their baserunning.
• The Yankees have always been the biggest critics of the WBC, and now they are upset over the injury to Didi Gregorius, writes Andrew Marchand.
• Gregorius should have stayed in Spring Training like Angels infielder Luis Valbuena did. Oh, and Valbuena is going to miss four-to-six weeks with a hamstring pull suffered in Spring Training.
• Jonah Keri continues his series of ranking players by their trade value.
• Jon Heyman predicts 30 players who could break out in 2017. A couple of Cubs on the list.
• Anthony Castrovince has 12 prospects to watch in 2017. One Cub on his list, and it’s not Ian Happ or Eloy Jimenez.
• Michael Baumann profiles Matt Moore and reminds us that he was a higher-ranked prospect than Mike Trout at one point.
• Will Leitch looks at the 25 best players in the game and predicts whether or not they’ll be even better in 2017.
• Richard Justice notes that Terry Francona’s use of the Indians bullpen last year is changing some minds about reliever usage.
• Eddie Matz looks at rookie Koda Glover, a candidate to be the Nationals closer this year.
• Alex Smolokoff grades Dave Dombrowski’s moves with the Red Sox so far.
• Travis Sawchik looks at the Braves rebuilding efforts and their emphasis on pitching.
• AT&T and the Justice Department settled their lawsuit over DirecTV collusion over the Dodgers channel. But that doesn’t mean that DirecTV will start carrying SportsNet LA.
• Buster Olney looks at how Adrian Beltre keeps the Rangers happy and loose.
• The Rays have struck out on all of their top five sites for a new stadium in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area. However, team president Stu Sternberg says they are still looking.
• The Braves are offering a giant sandwich at their stadium this year. called the “Tomahawk Chop.”
• Some fan in a Nolan Ryan jersey sat right next to Nolan Ryan and didn’t even notice.
• Mike Axisa tests some fans: Can you tell a real minor league team from a made-up name?
• And finally, a request. I need my readers to vote #TeamTaco as the Fresno Grizzlies and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs are having a Tacos versus Bacon throwdown. You can always have a bacon taco. You can’t have taco bacon. You can go to baconvstacos.com for more details.

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