MLB Bullets Paints By The Numbers

Good morning, Monday. I was seriously considering just putting up a random picture of Billy the Marlin up there today just for the heck of it. You already all know what Derek Jeter looks like, right?

• You may have heard, but the Yankees retired Derek Jeter’s number last night. If you haven’t heard, then MLB and ESPN didn’t do their job. Here are some photos and video highlights from the ceremony.
• Karl Ravech has an in-depth interview with Jeter on his career, from his start playing ball as a kid in Kalamazoo, Michigan to retirement.
• Bob Klapisch tells what it was like to cover Jeter day-to-day through his entire career.
• Grant Brisbee gives Jeter his due—”begrudgingly.”
• Nicolas Stellini believes that the focus on a retired ballplayer (and one with a fairly vanilla personality as well) is perhaps not the best way to market the sport.
• Gary Phillips thinks those who feel Jeter is “overrated” should “Get a grip.” I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean, but it is possible to believe that Jeter is a Hall of Famer AND that he’s overrated. I do.
• Mike Schur, Red Sox fan, former operator of the famous blog “Fire Joe Morgan” and creator of Parks And Recreation and The Good Place, massively trolled Jeter fans in a long rant until he said he was just kidding.
• The Yankees are running out of number to retire, so Cliff Corcoran does it for them: He retires every number ever worn by a Yankees player. Yes, Alan Mills gets his number 69 retired by the Yankees here. I get the feeling Mills will actually be the final Yankee to wear number 69 anyway. They might as well give him a monument.
• Anthony Castrovince ranks the top ten players in the game currently wearing number 2 on their backs.
• No Yankee has ever worn number “0,” but as Tyler Kepner finds out, general manager Brian Cashman does not rule out a future player wearing the number. He also talks to Al Oliver, who is the most famous player to ever wear a “0” on his back.
• Joe Posnanski has an idea to give a team’s manager the number of a former great player on each team, but one who just wasn’t good enough to get his number retired. Under his scenario, Joe Maddon would wear Kerry Wood’s number 34, for example. But he picked a number for every National League and every American League team.
• Moving on from Jeter, Dayn Perry notes that with Didi Gregorius and Gleyber Torres in the fold, the future of the shortstop position for the Yankees looks bright.
• And before we move on from the Yankees for good (except in the injury section), Mark Titus thinks the current Yankees team is, unbelievably, likeable. He credits part of this to Starlin Castro, who is the same maddening (but loveable) player in the Bronx that he was on the North Side of Chicago.
• The other big news over the weekend is that the Nationals and outfielder Bryce Harper agreed on a record one-year, $21.65 million deal for the 2018 season. This buys out Harper’s final season of arbitration.
• Buster Olney thinks that the Nationals making a commitment to Harper now could help their chances of keeping him long-term.
• Ken Rosenthal counters by saying this will make no difference on what Harper does when he reaches free agency.
• Adi Joseph agrees with Rosenthal: Don’t read anything into this extension.
• Michael Baumann believes that the Nationals need to fix their bullpen issues if they hope to win the World Series this season.
• Sad news as former umpire Steve Palermo died at age 67. Palermo, you may remember, was shot trying to stop a mugging in 1991. That ended his career as an umpire, although he did work as a umpiring supervisor for MLB after the shooting.
• Diamondbacks catcher Chris Iannetta was hit in the face with a 93 mph fastball by Pirates reliever Johnny Barbato. He suffered multiple fractures, but otherwise is OK and says he could still play if needed.
• Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz left Saturday’s game with tightness in his triceps. Could be nothing. Could be something.
• Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman will miss about a month with rotator cuff inflammation.
• Marlins pitcher Wei-Yin Chen had a setback in his recovery efforts and could miss a big chunk of time now.
• Travis Sawchik tries to get to the bottom of the recent surge in home runs. From all the evidence, the balls have not been “juiced,” although some aren’t buying it.
• Rangers GM Jon Daniels traveled to Japan to see Shohei Otani pitch. Something tells me that there was a bit more to it than just crossing “See a game in NPB” off the bucket list.
• Manny Randhawa actually talked to major league pitchers (including Kyle Hendricks) about whether the pitcher “Wins” stat has any value at all.
• Marly Rivera interviews Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna about his journey to the major leagues. I laughed at Ozuna’s minor league teammate who showed them all how to open a bank account because he got $25 for each new customer he referred to the bank. That probably doubled his monthly salary.
• Kate Morrison makes the case that the Astros have the deepest lineup in the game right now.
• Jeff Passan reports that MLB is investigating the Dodgers over the wrongful termination of Nick Francona, the son of the Indians manager, after he sought help for war-related PTSD.
• Former outfielder Jeff Francoeur is joining the Braves broadcast team and Mark Townsend thinks he’ll be a natural at it. Personally, I think the Braves should tell him that Dansby Swanson is deaf and see how long he believes it.
• The taxpayers of Cobb County, Georgia are picking up the bill for traffic control at Braves games because their clueless county board didn’t realize that teams normally pay for that.
• White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier ran home when the Padres weren’t looking.
• Henry Graber praises Phillies star Odubel Herrera, who even flips his bat when he grounds out to second base.
• Here’s an incredible catch by Twins center fielder Byron Buxton.
• And finally, to honor Mother’s Day yesterday, here’s several ballplayers saying “Thanks Mom” on social media yesterday.

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