MLB Bullets is still waiting

We’re down one more media outlet as Sports On Earth shuttered over the weekend. SoE was great when it started out as a Joe Posnanski vehicle and still very good when Posnanski left. It fell off a bit when USA Today pulled out of the publishing agreement, leaving MLB as the sole owner of the site. But it was still good as it published a lot of good work from freelancers and overflow stuff from MLB.com writers. It will be missed.

Also, I just wanted to ask Al: Are Yu in danger of running out of Darvish puns anytime soon? I kind of like “Yu are the sunshine of my life” if he signs.

• The bad blood continues to brew between the owners and the players as the Cold Stove continues. The Players Association is considering filing a grievance against the Marlins and Pirates for not reinvesting their revenue sharing money into improving the team like they are supposed to.
• The commissioner’s office, however, announced that both teams are in accordance with the rules.
• At the Dodgers Fan Fest over the weekend, closer Kenley Jansen said that the players may have to go on strike to remedy the situation. He obviously meant at the end of the current CBA, not right now. He also kind of, sort of, walked it back later when asked about it.
• Jon Heyman runs down all the explanations for the slow winter so far.
• Grant Brisbee offers his take on the fire sale down in Miami and he’s pretty upset that the Marlins traded away one of the greatest young outfields in MLB history in the span of a few weeks.
• The Brewers have a glut of outfielders after picking up Christian Yelich, so Mike Axisa evaluates all other 29 teams to determine where there might be a trade fit.
• The Giants have added a couple of outfielders over the past week, but Stephen Loftus thinks that San Francisco should be shoring up their bullpen instead.
• Although Jon Heyman believes that the Giants could be a bidder for Bryce Harper next winter.
• Travis Sawchik believes that if your team is in the market for an outfielder, they shouldn’t forget about free agent Carlos Gonzalez, who is coming off a down year.
• Dayn Perry explains why he thinks the Cardinals need to add another starting pitcher.
• The Phillies have signed Francisco Rodriguez to a minor league deal.
• Orioles third baseman Manny Machado and shortstop Tim Beckham will switch positions for the 2018 season.
• Buster Olney lists some of the big lineup questions for teams in 2018, such as “Who will bat leadoff for the Cubs?” He also offers some thoughts on the labor negotiations.
• Former Yankee Alex Rodriguez wonders if the Giancarlo Stanton trade will put too much pressure on the young Bombers.
• A-Rod and his new broadcast partner, Matt Vasgersian, explain how they got the Sunday Night Baseball gig and what they expect the job will be like. Rodriguez said “I’ve got a Master’s at screwing up, so I’m certainly ready for that.”
• The Braves have a great farm system. The Cubs have a bad one at the moment, but at least it’s not the worst. Sam Miller looks at exactly how much having a great farm system helps your team and vice-versa. Of course, the Cubs had the best farm system in baseball just three years ago, so we know that having a good one leads to good things.
• Richard Justice looks at ten players whose team’s playoff chances hinge on their 2018 season.
• New Hall-of-Famer Vladimir Guerrero returned home to the Dominican Republic to a hero’s welcome and a parade.
• Do you want to read Vlad’s original scouting report from the Expos scout who signed him? Of course you do. “No found weaknesses—unusual” should go on his Cooperstown plaque.
• Susan Slusser writes about newest Athletics outfielder Stephen Piscotty and his mother, who is rapidly deteriorating from ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. The Cardinals did him a favor by trading him to Oakland where he could be close to his mother and help to care for her.
• Speaking of the A’s, they will take off the tarps and open up all the seats for the April 17 game with free admission. At the price of free, they should be sold out that night.
• Bay Area native Alonzo Powell has always dream of suiting up for the Giants, and he left the Astros coaching staff this winter to become the Giants new hitting coach for 2018. But first, he will have to undergo surgery for prostate cancer tomorrow, which was detected over the winter. He still plans to be in Arizona for the first day of Spring Training and Andrew Baggarly has his inspiring story.
• Sad news as former MLB pitcher Marcos Carvajal, who pitched for the Rockies and Marlins in 2005 and 2007, has died in his native Venezuela of pneumonia. The long delay he faced in getting antibiotics in that strife-torn country was likely a major contributing factor in his death.
• All 30 MLB teams are likely to have extended the netting behind home plate by the time the 2018 season starts.
• The Braves have a new mascot and Vincent Frank is not a fan. He has plenty of company. At least they’re not bringing back Chief Noc-A-Homa.
• Hunter Pence got irrationally excited at the unveiling of his new coffee-and-boardgames shop in Houston. Actually, that’s a great idea, Hunter. Open one in my city.
• They’re actually playing some baseball that counts somewhere and check out this fantastic catch by The University of Saint Katherine’s Austin Colvin. Oh, fielding porn. How I’ve missed you.
• The Brewers really love Girl Scout cookies. Can you blame them?
• And finally, that young Mets fan got her 500k retweets, so she is going to get her prom photos taken at Citi Field. Now she just needs a date. She better hope he’s not a Yankees fan.

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