MLB Bullets could have done so much better

Going 5-5 when nine of your team’s first ten games were on the road isn’t cause for alarm.

• The best story of the day is this piece by Dayn Perry about the White Sox and Armour Field, a proposed replacement for Old Comiskey Park that never got off the ground because reasons. Mostly because Jerry Reinsdorf had his own idea what the new stadium should look like and this wasn’t it. Armour Field would have been heavily influenced by Wrigley Field and the Polo Grounds and would have, in Perry’s mind, brought about an entirely different history for the White Sox. Perry argues that it also would have been much better for the surrounding area than what current Cellular Rate Field did. I’ve never been to a White Sox game, so read it and tell me if Perry knows what he’s talking about or whether he’s crazy.
• Maybe the White Sox would have more than 1,000 fans as only 974 showed up for Monday’s White Sox game. To be fair, this was the same day that the Cubs game was postponed because of snow.
• That wasn’t the only poorly-attended game this spring as many teams have had poor attendance because of weather or because they’re the Marlins.
• Speaking of the Marlins, they are claiming that they’re a “citizen” of the British Virgin Islands in an attempt to get the county’s lawsuit over profits from the sale moved from state court to federal court.
• Sheryl Ring points out that the Marlins are constantly suing everybody, including their own fans. It seems that the Marlins are more of a law firm these days than a baseball franchise.
• Neil Paine takes a closer look at the splitter of Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani and what makes it so exceptional.
• Jeff Sullivan writes that Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka pitches like a knuckleballer without throwing a knuckleball.
• Matthew Trueblood writes that the Astros seem to have found the “ace” inside of Gerrit Cole that the Pirates could never get to.
• The good news for the Pirates is that, according to Craig Edwards, the Bucs have a new “ace” in Jameson Taillon.
• As you probably noticed, the Pirates have a new closer in Felipe Vazquez, who takes over for Felipe Rivero. Rivero isn’t upset about the move because he and Vazquez are actually the same person. He’s changed his name to his sister’s name.
• Craig Edwards calls Indians ace Corey Kluber the best pitcher in baseball, better than Max Scherzer or Clayton Kershaw.
• Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo and Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina were both suspended one game for their altercation over the weekend. Molina will appeal his suspension until he has a planned day off and then he’ll drop his appeal.
• Lovullo said he was in the wrong during the incident.
• Tom Fornelli is a big believer in baseball statistics, but he thinks Phillies manager Gabe Kapler’s approach to managing is all wrong.
• New Red Sox manager Alex Cora said he messed up when he forgot to pull outfielder J.D. Martinez for a defensive replacement. But the Red Sox won anyway, so no one is calling for him to be fired yet.
• Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna became the youngest pitcher ever to record 100 saves.
• The Dodgers will host the 2020 All-Star Game.
• The Dodgers are more worried about the 2018 season at the moment, but that despite going 4-6 in their first ten games, Jay Jaffe believes that the Dodgers will (probably) be fine.
• The Reds have designated Yovani Gallardo for assignment.
• The Diamondbacks traded outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker to the Rays for cash. Hazelbaker had earlier been DFA’d by Arizona.
• Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts went on the disabled list with an ankle injury.
• Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton goes on the DL with a leg injury, but the good news is that the knee that caused him to miss all of last season is fine.
• Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto heads to the DL and now the Giants have three starters on the DL.
• Michael Baumann writes that Padres catcher Austin Hedges is one of the best fifty players in baseball, despite the fact that he’s a very bad hitter.
• If Jose Bautista’s career is over, Zach Kram has an appreciation of a player who transformed himself from waiver-wire fodder to regular MVP candidate.
• David Schoenfield looks at what currently-active ballplayers could end up in Cooperstown.
• Bob Nightengale looks back at Hank Aaron’s chase of Babe Ruth’s home run record and how Aaron kept every piece of hate mail ever sent him to remind him of who is out there.
• Alex Rodriguez said on Sunday Night Baseball that he really would have taken a lot less to sign with the Mets instead of the Rangers in 2001. Former Mets executive Jim Duquette says that’s horse hockey.
• Reds first baseman Joey Votto is continuing his tradition of trolling opposing fans.
• Mike Oz continues his series of opening baseball cards with people by opening them with Cubs legend Ryne Sandberg.
• Indians starter Carlos Carrasco wasn’t scheduled to pitch on Tuesday, so he stayed warm (?) by doing some broadcast play-by-play from the dugout. Or more likely, he was just amusing himself.
• And finally, Rangers pitcher Bartolo Colon got knocked around by the Angels, but he did manage to deflect this Albert Pujols line drive into a 1-4-3 lineout double play.

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