MLB Bullets is leaping over mouse droppings

I’m a man of few words today. Maybe Miguel Montero could learn a lesson from me.

• It’s an odd-numbered year, so we expected the GIants to be down this season. But no one expected them to be this far down. Ken Rosenthal has a look at the problems of the team inside the clubhouse, where the Giants don’t seem to have the same comradery that they had in their title seasons. Rosenthal reports on how new closer Mark Melancon hasn’t fit in with the rest of the team, although no one dislikes him. Maybe that’s the problem, because the quote from this piece that is getting all the attention is:

Some with the Giants muse that the team even misses Angel Pagan, who created an odd sort of unity because most of the players disliked him.

• (By the way, I can’t guarantee that link will still be good this morning, as Fox Sports has gutted their website. Ben Koo has the whole fascinating but disheartening story here, and you should read that. But what you need to know is that Fox Sports Digital is now video only and exists solely to expand the “brands” of the blowhards with daytime shows on FS1. I hope Ken Rosenthal and Katie Nolan, the only two people really worth anything that are still there, get out soon.)
• Craig Calcaterra rolls his eyes at this piece, saying it really exposes how a “positive clubhouse culture” is the result of winning and not a cause of winning. Calcaterra does praise the reporting that went into it.
• Giants manager Bruce Bochy got the quote of the year when asked about the Rosenthal article. He said the concern over Melancon’s routine was “pole-vaulting over mouse turds, to be honest.”
• Claire McNear looks at what went wrong for the Giants this season. It’s more than just the calendar.
• Sad news as former Cubs pitcher Anthony Young died yesterday at age 51. He’s best known for setting the major league record for consecutive losses with the Mets.
• The Marlins sent shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria to the Rays for two minor leaguers.
• Mark Simon looks at the lasting impact of the Bartolo Colon trade, 15 years ago this week. (He does not mention, however, that the Expos were in line to be contracted at the end of the season, which played a part in the trade.)
• Yet another Mets pitcher got hurt, this time Robert Gsellman. Ron Darling thinks that baseball needs to start questioning its training methods.
• The Nationals bullpen problems means the team has signed recently-released Francisco Rodriguez to a minor league deal.
• The Indians were expected to run away with the AL Central. David Schoenfield notes that while they are still the favorite, the Indians’ season has been a lot tougher than expected and he explains why.
• Indians manager Terry Francona missed last night’s game after falling ill.
• The Astros have been the best team in the American League so far this year, and Kate Morrison suggests some moves that would make them even better.
• Jeff Passan looks at how good the Dodgers are and notes that they are only likely to get better in the future.
• Eno Sarris looks at the debate between rookie sluggers: Aaron Judge or Cody Bellinger?
• Dave Hogg notes that with the team struggling and his contract up at the end of the year, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus will not be managing the team much longer, and certainly not next year.
• Tom Verducci looks at what the Cardinals need to do to still make the postseason this year.
• Ryan Davis has five players the Cardinals should trade this summer. It doesn’t seem like Davis is on board with Verducci’s turnaround plan.
• Jeff Sullivan looks at the issue of how much value (or lack thereof) does Albert Pujols still provide for the Angels?
• StatCast can tell us who is the fastest player in baseball? (Hint: It ain’t Pujols) (h/t Hardball Talk.)
• Cliff Corcoran looks at the tough decision that the Royals have on whether to be buyers or sellers.
• Howie Kendrick knows that the Phillies are going to trade him this summer, and he’s OK with that.
• The New Yankee Stadium Community Benefits Fund charity, which was set up to help neighborhoods adversely affected by the new stadium, gives very little money to the local community and instead mostly gives money to wealthier areas of the Bronx far from Yankee Stadium, according to a report from The New York Times. It also operates with very little oversight and many expenditures go unexplained. (h/t Hardball Talk)
• It’s not your imagination: MLB games are longer than ever.
• A US Court of Appeals ruled that Minor League Baseball is exempt from antitrust rules.
• Britni De La Cretaz asks if there is still a place in baseball for “Ladies Night.”
• There is a place for the Mariners “Celebrating Women in Baseball Night.”
• The MLB Players Association rejected a proposal for the home and visiting team to switch batting practice times during the first weekend after the All-Star Break.
• Richard Justice looks at some close All-Star voting races.
• Former Dodgers great Maury Wills has retired as the broadcaster of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.
• Jason Lockhart, the 15-year-old son of former major leaguer and current Cubs scout Keith Lockhart, is in a coma after being hit in the face with a baseball during a play at the plate.
• Are you old enough to remember the bullpen carts that carried relievers in from the bullpen? (Obviously they never had these at Wrigley Field.) A closer for the Yokohama BayStars gets brought into the game on the back of a convertible.
• And this good dog brings water out to minor league umpires between innings.
• And finally, Paige Parker is a pitcher for the National Champion Oklahoma Sooners softball team. Watch Royals catcher Drew Butera get knocked off his feet trying to catch her fastball. The lady has some heat.

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