MLB Bullets and the home of the Braves

I remember the trade deadline this past July when I reported that I could confirm that Josh Donaldson had been traded to the Athletics, along with Sean Gallagher, Matt Murton and Eric Patterson for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin. It was clearly an in-joke for my Cubs fan readers. Boy, did I hear it from Indians fans who screamed at me for spreading false rumors. Shouldn’t the fact that every other player I mentioned in that deal has been out of baseball for years clue you in to the fact that I was talking about a deal in 2008? On the other hand, these were Indians fans whose views of Chief Wahoo are still rooted in 1947.

• I can now confirm that free agent third baseman Josh Donaldson has signed a one-year, $23 million deal with the Atlanta Braves. Also, he was traded to Oakland for Rich Harden. One of those things happened more recently than the other.
• The Braves were Donaldson’s favorite team growing up in Pensacola, Florida and he said he hopes that he can stick around Atlanta for more than just one year.
• Will Leitch has seven thoughts about the deal.
• David Schoenfield thinks the one-year deal could work out great for both the Braves and Donaldson.
• Jon Tayler agrees. A one-year deal was a great solution for both Donaldson and the Braves.
• One other Braves-related note: they’ve signed catcher Brian McCann to a one-year deal. McCann now returns to the team he played for from 2005 to 2013.
• Dayn Perry thinks that this deal puts the Braves up with the best teams in the National League. (Meaning Cubs, Dodgers and Brewers.)
• That was the big news. The big rumor is that the Mariners are working on a deal that would send second baseman Robinson Cano back to New York. Most likely to the Mets, but Mariners general manager Jerry DiPoto has reportedly had talks with the Yankees as well.
• Mike Axisa evaluates what a possible Cano deal would mean for both the Mariners and Mets.
• Craig Edwards looks at what the Mariners need to get for Cano for a deal to make sense for them. Or more explicitly, how much money can the Mariners send along with Cano before it’s not worth doing.
• It wouldn’t be MLB Bullets without a mention of Bryce Harper. Eddie Matz gets creative where you can pretend you’re Harper and “Choose-your-own-adventure” to decide which team Harper signs with.
• Mike Lupica thinks that it makes too much sense for Harper to sign with the Yankees that it’s almost inevitable.
• Gabe Lacques examines why it would make sense for Harper to sign with the Dodgers.
• Michael Baumann is troubled by what he sees as an emerging trend in baseball: “the disappearing middle class.” He’s worried that teams we formerly thought of as “mid-market,” like the Mariners, Indians and Diamondbacks, are now behaving more and more like small-market clubs.
• Travis Sawchik notes that successful MLB team rarely devote a large chunk of their payroll to one player.
• The Pirates signed free agent outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall to a one-year, $2.75 million deal.
• The Twins claimed C.J. Cron off of waivers. The Rays had surprisingly placed the first baseman on waivers earlier this month.
• The Tigers signed left-hander Matt Moore to a one-year deal.
• Mark Feinsand, in light of the Cano rumors, has five other possible deals involving players with big salaries that he says are so crazy that they just might work.
• Jim Duquette has some potential new teams for ace pitchers Corey Kluber, Noah Syndergaard and Madison Bumgarner, who are all rumored to be available for trade.
• Jeff Sullivan doesn’t think the Giants will be able to get a big package in any possible Bumgarner deal.
• Buster Olney explains why teams still want to trade for Yankees pitcher Sonny Gray despite poor recent results. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• Sullivan also thinks that free agent second baseman DJ LeMahieu has the potential to be a better hitter than he has been going forward.
• Free agent pitcher Patrick Corbin met with the Phillies.
• Jonah Keri draws up a realistic offseason plan for the Pirates as buyers and not sellers.
• If you’re following college football, you know that A’s first-round pick Kyler Murray is a leading candidate to win the Heisman Trophy after his junior season playing quarterback for Oklahoma. This has caused some to wonder if he might quit baseball for football but Murray reaffirmed that he still plans to quit football at the end of the season and become a full-time baseball player. Good idea. Get out while you still have enough brain cells to realize it’s a good idea. (Plus, for all the talk of Murray being a first- or second-round pick in the NFL, there aren’t a lot of 5’9” quarterbacks in the NFL. Yes, he could play a different position, but that opens up a lot of different issues.)
• Kate Morrison thinks that Adrian Beltre picked the right time to retire.
• In light of the controversy over the donation to the campaign of Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced that all future donations to political candidates will need to be cleared through his office first.
• Jeff Passan has a lot more background on the situation with MLB’s lobbyists.
• Why does MLB need (or more accurately, want) lobbyists in the first place? I mentioned on Monday the desire of MLB to not have to abide with minimum wage laws for their minor league ballplayers, and that indeed is a major reason. But gambling laws are another reason and MLB has just announced that MGM Resorts International is now the “official gaming and entertainment partner of MLB.”
• Mike Oz notes that in their announcement of the deal, MLB touted the slower pace of baseball as a plus for potential gambling partners. Ironic, isn’t it?
• Will Ragatz has an introduction to new Reds manager David Bell.
• Grant Brisbee notes that since most smart fans pay a lot more attention to on-base percentage than batting average, we need an OBP-equivalent for “The Mendoza Line.” He naturally has a suggestion.
• Soon-to-be-posted Japanese pitcher Yusei Kikuchi was seen at an Anaheim Ducks NHL game wearing a Ducks jersey. Is that a good sign for the Angels? The Ducks arena is just on the other side of the highway from Anaheim Stadium. Or, more likely, it’s just that agent Scott Boras has his offices in Orange County.
• And finally, someone going through the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles found some previously-unknown film footage of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig playing a barnstorming game in Stockton, CA in 1927.

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