MLB Bullets has a lot to talk about

Happy Monday. Here are some fuzzy bunnies to enjoy.

Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images

• As we get closer to the trade deadline, it is becoming clearer who will and who won’t be available on the trade market. But Jerry Crasnick notes that the Cardinals are in the uncomfortable position of being sellers. He does think that the Cards should bite the bullet and sell, however.
• Travis Sawchik thinks the Pirates should be “soft” sellers, trading away more around the margins than giving up any “core” players. Unless someone blows them away with an offer.
• Kate Morrison points out that the Rangers don’t have an easy decision on whether to be buyers or sellers.
• Chris Bahr has the Mets top 6 trade assets as the Amazin’s look to rebuild.
• Dave Hogg writes that the Royals need to sell at the deadline, despite being just 2.5 games out of first.
• Once phigured as the phuture of the phranchise, the Phillies are aggressively trying to trade third baseman Maikel Franco.
• Giants starter Johnny Cueto is expected to opt-out of his deal at the end of the season, so it’s natural to assume that the woeful Gints will try to move him at the deadline.
• Dayn Perry has 15 players likely to be on the trade block over the next month.
• Joe Sparacio has 5 stars who are likely to have a big bounceback in the second half. Two Cubs are on his list.
• The Brewers claimed Stephen Vogt off waivers.
• The Red Sox claimed Doug Fister off waivers.
• The Tigers released Francisco Rodriguez.
• The Cardinals put Dexter Fowler and Kevin Siegrist on the disabled list and called up Randal Grichuk.
• Dodgers top prospect, left-handed pitcher Julio Urias, will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. And that is why young pitchers will break your heart.
• Here’s a great piece by Eddie Matz on 16-year-old right-handed pitcher Eric Pardinho, who is expected to receive the first seven-figure bonus ever given out to a Brazilian amateur player. It’s an interesting story with a pushy but loving dad who was convinced that his son’s future lie in that game the Japanese kids in Sao Paulo play rather than soccer. Don’t break our hearts, Eric.
• Not one, not two but three different Athletics players hit their first career home run on Saturday. That’s a record. Thanks, James Shields!
• The Orioles tied a MLB record on Friday that they would rather not have gotten. The O’s allowed five or more runs in their 20th consecutive game. However, the 1924 Phillies stay in the books as the Orioles only allowed three runs on Saturday to break the streak.
• Ichiro Suzuki set a record by just taking the field on Sunday. He became the oldest player since 1900 to start a game in center field.
• Ben Lindbergh takes issue with Tom Verducci’s piece saying that the “three-true outcomes” (that I linked to last time) are threatening to kill the sport. Lindbergh notes that while strikeouts, walks and home runs are all up, that is not likely to “kill” baseball.
• Evan Davis looks at how Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor started hitting fly balls and home runs. Davis also ties it all into the importance of launch angles rather than just hitting the ball hard.
• Filip Bondy looks at how Statcast is changing the way we look at home run distance. No longer are balls simply hit “a country mile.”
• Jay Jaffe looks at who the leading home run hitters in the majors are so far this season and sees a lot of names he didn’t expect to see there.
• Will Leitch looks at the ten teams that have gone the longest without throwing a no-hitter.
• Blue Jays pitcher Roberto Osuna admitted that he’s dealing with an anxiety issue.
• This story has been told before, but Rob Neyer reminds us how Derek Jeter became a Yankee in the 1992 draft.
• Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who earlier abandoned Jeter’s group to buy the Marlins, has now joined the Tagg Romney/Tom Glavine group’s bid for the team. I believe in pro wrestling, they’d call that a “heel turn.”
• Mike Oz praises Padres manager Andy Green for insisting that his pitchers not retaliate against Anthony Rizzo and thinks we need more managers who ignore the “unwritten rules.”
• A Nationals fan claimed in his obituary that he died “after watching the Washington Nationals relief pitchers blow another lead.” It also asked for donations to be sent to the “Nationals Bullpen Fund.”
• Doug Glanville on the lessons he’s learned from coaching his kids’ youth baseball team.
• Dodgers rookie Cody Bellinger admitted he had no idea who Jerry Seinfeld was and he got ribbed by his teammates for it. In his defense, he wasn’t yet three when Seinfeld went off the air. On the other hand, the show has been continually in reruns on TV since then. I know who Lucille Ball and Jackie Gleason were. And maybe he should ask his dad about the cotton uniforms that Constanza had the Yankees wear.
• And finally, as part of a 25th anniversary celebration, MLB Network’s Kevin Millar took the field for one at-bat for the independent league St. Paul Saints, where he started his professional career 25 years ago. Would you believe he hit a home run? (Brian Murphy has more on Millar and the Saints.) You’d better believe they’ll be talking about this on Intentional Talk later today.

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