MLB Bullets will make it better

One week from tomorrow is Opening Day in Miami!

• Free agent pitcher Alex Cobb waited all winter, but he’s finally found a new team as he’s agreed to a four-year, $60 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles. This assumes he passes the physical, which is no sure thing with the Orioles.
• David Schoenfield looks at where Cobb fits in with the Orioles. He fills a big need and he makes the Orioles better, but they still seem to be far from competing in the AL East. It is interesting, Schoenfield notes, that Cobb waited out the market and got the contract he was looking for at the start of the winter (or at least the contract that was projected for him).
• Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner has a broken wrist after being hit in the hand by a fastball by Athletics pitcher Kendall Graveman. The Dodgers do not have a timetable for his return yet, but they do say that he will not need surgery.
• Matt Snyder looks at the Dodgers’ options going forward without Turner.
• David Schoenfield looks at how badly Turner’s loss might affect the Dodgers. HInt: not enough to cost them the division, but maybe enough to cost them home-field advantage in the playoffs. That would be a shame for the Cubs’ biggest rival, wouldn’t it?
• It looks like the Yankees and Red Sox will be the teams playing regular season games in London during the 2019 season. I’m kind of surprised those teams would give up the home dates, but that’s the marquee matchup in MLB, isn’t it?
• Jordy McElroy explains why the Yankees and Red Sox are the perfect teams for the UK excursion. Oh, you say that now, but wait until the British fans get treated to a 4 ¹⁄₂ hour game.
• I loved this piece by Jesse Rogers, who talked to umpire Ted Barrett about how the rules changes are being incorporated into the game. Barrett cleared some things up about mound visits (use common sense) and he also said he never understood why players get upset at striking out until he got overturned on replay. (But he added they all want to get the call right.)
• I never thought I’d be writing so much about tax law as I have the past few weeks. But in the recent tax overhaul passed by Congress, they removed the exemption that teams have on paying capital gains taxes on traded ballplayers. I expect that this is going to get changed, because I can’t see the IRS going through player contracts and trying to figure out the dollar value of one WAR, let alone decide which version of WAR they are using. But when you write a major tax bill in just a few weeks without any hearings, you get weird results like this.
• Sheryl Ring gives a more in-depth look at the legal case behind MLB’s efforts to get minor league ballplayers exempted from federal wage protections. More DC shenanigans that have nothing to do with Bryce Harper.
• Ben Reiter has the inside story of how Giancarlo Stanton ended up with the Yankees.
• The Braves sent top prospect Ronald Acuna down to the minors and Craig Calcaterra is angry about it, calling it legally and ethically wrong.
• Anthony Castrovince presents his top 10 lineups for 2018.
• Bradford Doolittle does a way-too-early preview of the July trade deadline. His words, not mine.
• Stephanie Apstein calls the Angels the most interesting team in baseball. Can’t really argue with that. Best? No way. But you can make a strong case for “interesting.”
• Speaking of “best” and the “Angels,” Mike Trout has yet to strike out in 41 Spring Training plate appearances. I know Spring Training numbers are meaningless, but wow.
• Michael Baumann makes the case that Twins outfielder Byron Buxton is the most exciting player in baseball and that he might be one of the best soon too.
• The Rays are planning on going to a four-man rotation this summer and Travis Sawchik spoke to Chris Archer about the change. Archer says he’s willing to give it a try, but he does have some concerns.
• Mike Petriello writes that the Statcast numbers indicate that Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig could be in line for a breakout season in 2018.
• Brewers pitcher Zach Davies explains how he gets batters out without velocity. (And yes, he does study Kyle Hendricks.)
• More ex-Cub news as Brett Anderson has signed a minor-league deal with the A’s, the team he started with.
• Padres outfielder Alex Dickerson will have Tommy John surgery.
• Alexis Brudnicki has a two-part series on players adjusting to life after baseball. Part one and part two.
• Thirty-three minor league teams will be participating in a Latino outreach program this year called the “Copa de la Diversion” (or “Fun Cup” in English) and yesterday they announced their new names and caps for the special “Copa” games. I’ll have more on this tomorrow as the Eugene Emeralds are one of the teams participating. I also have to say that some of those caps are pretty sweet-looking to my non-Hispanic eyes.
• Hector Diaz explains why the San Antonio Missions’ “Copa” name is so awesome.
• To celebrate the arrival of Spring, Michael Clair has an “all-Spring” lineup.
• Another ex-Cub, Daniel Vogelbach, explained how he “robbed” teammate Kyle Seager of a hit last year.
• Brewers Hall-of-Fame broadcaster Bob Uecker is a legend and a treasure. He’s also tough-as-nails as he explains how he was bitten by a brown recluse spider this offseason and lived to tell the tale.
• And finally, back to Justin Turner. In what already is the favorite for the top “awww” moment of 2018, a crestfallen two-year-old Dodgers fan saw that Turner got a “boo-boo” and he wants to “kiss it and make it better.” Turner offered the fan (who is from Visalia, by the way) tickets to his first game back with the Dodgers.

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