MLB Bullets is ready to go

Is it baseball yet? Tomorrow is Opening Day, and that means it’s time for predictions. My prediction? In the immortal words of Mr. T, “Pain.” At least for 29 teams and I’m predicting the Cubs won’t be one of those 29 teams.

• But Sam Miller starts us off with a reasonable and achievable goals for all 30 teams that if reached, the team can call the 2018 season a success. Just in case you don’t want to click on the link, the Cubs are one of three teams that just have one goal.
• Joe Posnanski has a “crazy” prediction for each team and how crazy they actually are.
• David Schoenfield has six themes that will dominate the 2018 season, such as “What’s up with the ball?”
• Tom Verducci has five teams that should be better than expected in 2018.
• Evan Davis also has five teams that will overperform in 2018.
• And Gary Phillips has five teams that will underperform.
• Craig Calcaterra wants to know who exactly is picking the Orioles to win the AL East?
• Grant Brisbee has his axis of which teams should win now vs. win later and which teams have the window of contention closing and which ones have an open window for the foreseeable future. It’s one of those graph-thingies that are all the rage among the infographics set.
• One of the topics of conversation of 2018 Spring Training was the Astros use of a four-man outfield. They announced that they will continue to use a four-man outfield against certain hitters this year. But Liz Roscher writes that hitters will eventually adapt to beat such a strategy.
• Tim Keown has a longform profile of Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who went from a failed managerial experiment in Arizona to a World Series-winning manager in Houston. A very interesting man and very readable piece.
• The extensions keep coming as Diamondbacks shortstop Ketel Marte signed a five-year, $24 million extension.
• There was a report that Braves top prospect Ronald Acuna turned down a six-year, $30 million deal just before he was sent down to the minors, but both the Braves and Acuna have denied the report. They confirmed there were some informal discussions, but no offer was made and no specific dollar amount was discussed.
• Nevertheless, Robert Murray explains why teams are going to keep pushing young players to sign these long extensions.
• There is also a report from Ken Rosenthal (behind a paywall, so I’m linking to a summary piece) that many players are upset with MLB Players Association head Tony Clark and there is talk of replacing him. Craig Calcaterra notes that the MLBPA leadership could probably use fewer former players and more people with experience in organized labor. Marvin Miller came over from the United Steelworkers Union, of course.
• The Mariners have signed Jayson Werth to a minor-league deal.
• As long as we’re on the Mariners, no one around here needs to be reminded of the glory that is Dan Vogelbach. But now that Kyle Schwarber has lost weight, Jon Tayler showers love upon the Vogelbach and calls him baseball’s “Large Adult Son.” Tayler loves Vogy like Cubs and Mariners fans do and predicts that soon many more Americans will learn to love Vogelbach.
• The Rays acquired Rob Refsnyder from the Indians. Maybe the Rays need someone to hit the ball into the camera hole in center field at Tropicana Field.
• Early in Spring Training, the Butcher’s Bill looked like it was going to be manageable this year. Not anymore. The Athletics have lost top pitching prospect A.J. Puk to Tommy John surgery. Puk is the second A’s pitcher to go down with TJS in a week.
• Yankees first baseman Greg Bird will have ankle surgery and will miss six-to-eight weeks.
• Mike Axisa has some starting pitching options for the Giants after Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija both are starting the season on the disabled list.
• In their series on “dominance” in sports, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick looks back at the career of Clayton Kershaw as he reaches 30. It’s getting harder and harder to argue that Kershaw isn’t the greatest pitcher in Dodgers’ history, even better than Sandy Koufax.
• Another Dodgers legend is the broadcaster who has been behind the mic longer than any current broadcaster, Hall-of-Fame Spanish-language broadcaster Jaime Jarrin. Bill Plaschke has a profile of Jarrin, who has been calling the Dodgers since 1959. Jarrin had never seen a baseball game before coming to the US from Ecuador in 1955, but now he’s synonymous with the game for millions of Californians.
• Travis Sawchik evaluates Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill’s claim that he ages better than most pitchers because spin rate does not decline like velocity does with age.
• There have been reports that the independent minor leagues could be in financial trouble after the so-called “Save America’s Pastime Act.” Craig Calcaterra doesn’t know, but thinks that wouldn’t be a bad thing.
• But Nathaniel Grow argues that the Act may not necessarily apply to the indy leagues and explains why.
• A look at what the financial life of a minor leaguer actually is.
• Tim Brown reports that the best word to describe Angels pitcher/DH Shohei Ohtani is “composed.” If he’s worried about his poor spring, he’s not showing it.
• Zach Kram looks back at Babe Ruth’s 1918 season, the first one where he played in the field as well as pitching. Kram points out that there are some parallels to Ohtani.
• Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson hit a home run in an exhibition game yesterday at Marlins Park and the Home Run Sculpture did not go off. Boo! Boo! As if I couldn’t hate Derek Jeter more. That sculpture has more personality each time it goes off than Jeter displayed in 20 seasons in the majors.
• “Marlins Man” offered to buy season tickets for the next three years to Marlins games for $200k up front, but the Marlins turned him down. I’m beginning to think the Marlins are just a giant money-laundering operation these days. (A joke, before Jeter sues me.)
• Albert Belle was arrested for DUI and indecent exposure at a Cactus League game.
• Was he driving the bullpen cart? Because the DIamondbacks’ bullpen cart got into action for the first time over the weekend.
• Nevest Coleman was a groundskeeper for the White Sox in 1994 when he was arrested for a murder he did not commit. After 23 years in prison, the White Sox gave him his job back. That’s a class move by the White Sox and if you ever tell anyone I said that, I’ll deny it. But for now, bravo, Pale Hose.
• Jared Wyllys looks at what it’s like to work as the social media people for a major league team. Yes, there is actually a person (or people, actually) behind the @Cubs account.
• The beer vendors at Yankee Stadium revealed technology that could make the faces of Yankee players out of beer foam. However, active players cannot be seen endorsing alcohol, so MLB put the kibosh on that. Still, if you want to see what Aaron Judge would look like if he were made out of beer foam, click on the link.
• MLB is doing a partnership with the HBO series “Game of Thrones” this year. I don’t know what that means, but there’s a kind of neat promo announcing Opening Day in the style of the GoT’s opening credits.
• The Athletics are bringing back Harvey, the mechanical ball rabbit from the 1960s.
• You probably saw this, but Mookie Betts had to chase down a Kris Bryant triple in the middle of an interview yesterday. Betts told the broadcast crew “I ain’t getting this one, boys.” Spring Training is too long.
• The lowest moment of Spring Training came last last night when the Angels and Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium had to be called off in the fifth inning when sewage spilled onto the field. That’s funny, I thought the Marlins were in Miami.
• And finally, probably the best moment of Spring Training. The Blue Jays played an exhibition series in Montreal the past two days and they gave top prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. plenty of playing time and his dad’s old number 27. And in the bottom of the ninth, Vlad Jr. hit a walkoff home run to win the game in the stadium he used to watch his dad play in when he was a kid. (Want to know something scary? Vlad Jr. is better than his dad was at the same age.)

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Of course it will be. It’s Opening Day.