MLB Bullets is selfish and overrated

Good morning.

• Robert Murray created a stir by quoting an anonymous “National League executive” who called Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper “overrated” and a “selfish, losing player,” whom he wouldn’t sign. (It’s clear that Mr. Anonymous is not a GM or Team President because he writes “If I was in charge. . .”) Also in that same article, Murray talks about top “GM candidates” and the Cubs’ Jason McLeod is unsurprisingly in the top echelon.
• Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo angrily defended his star’s reputation and production, calling the report “chickens***.”
• Craig Calcaterra gives a taste of some of the media reaction to the comments on Harper.
• Then Harper got hit by a pitch twice in a game against the Yankees. He had a bad day.
• Speaking of getting hit by a pitch, Pirates pitcher Joe Musgrove hit the Diamondbacks’ Chris Owings with the Pirates winning 5-0 in the seventh inning, kickstarting a Diamondbacks comeback and a 9-5 win for Arizona.
• We’ve hit “Peak Nightengale” as Bob Nightengale writes an execrable piece praising the Pirates and Diamondbacks for “old-school baseball” by intentionally hitting other human beings with a hard projectile thrown at high velocity. I may have to re-think that “Nightengale Line” thing.
• Matt Snyder gives a saner take on the brouhaha.
• James Wagner has an interesting piece on how native English speakers should pronounce Spanish baseball names. It’s a fine line between making an effort to pronounce things right and affecting a terrible accent. Above all, be respectful. Most players appreciate the effort and don’t care much if you don’t get it exactly right.
• Maybe good news and maybe not. After a report came out that Angels pitcher/DH Shohei Ohtani would need Tommy John surgery, both Angels GM Billy Eppler and manager Mike Scioscia said that the team was actually “cautiously optimistic” that Ohtani would not only avoid TJ surgery, but also play again this season.
• The news isn’t so good for Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who ruptured a biceps tendon on a swing and will be out for the season.
• Also Red Sox reliever Carson Smith, who will be out for the season after injuring his shoulder earlier this season throwing his glove in the dugout in disgust.
• Nats second baseman Daniel Murphy made his season debut last night. Sure, after he totally ruined my fantasy team. Be back by Opening Day my eye.
• Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano may not be the Mariners second baseman when he returns from suspension as GM Jerry Dipoto says that Dee Gordon will be the team’s second baseman going forward. I guess Cano cold learn to play first base. Playing first base is not that hard. Tell him, Wash.
• Jerry Crasnick looks over the moves that Dipoto made that turned the Mariners into contenders.
• Bradford Doolittle explains how the Braves went back to their 1990s roots to turn Atlanta back into a contender.
• Jay Jaffe notes that the Brewers’ success this season is based on their record in one-run games and examines whether or not this is sustainable.
• Dayn Perry notes that Giants shortstop Bradford Crawford’s turnaround season should be an MVP candidate this year.
• Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons is the toughest player in MLB to strike out.
• On the down side, Grant Brisbee notes that we’re living in the Golden Age of crappy ball clubs.
• Dayn Perry gives all those terrible teams something to look forward to.
• And that doesn’t even count the Mets, who were the toast of Gotham over the first few weeks of the season and have been terrible since. James Wagner looks at what has gone wrong with the Amazin’s.
• Bill Baer questions the Mets decision to release Adrian Gonzalez and keep Jose Reyes around.
• If the Mets decide to rebuild, Craig Edwards argues that they’d be foolish to trade aces Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. (Unless someone makes them a stupid offer, of course.)
• More positive Mets news as Travis Sawchik thinks they may have found a hidden pitching gem in Seth Lugo, whom he calls “the right-handed Rich Hill.”
• Peter Gammons argues that MLB should invest in college scholarships for baseball players.
• Andrew Bucholtz looks at what the recently-approved (for now) Time-Warner/AT&T merger would have on sports broadcasting.
• Whitney McIntosh argues that MLB’s purchase of Rawlings Sporting Goods is a sign of their desire to control all aspects of the game.
• Rangers pitcher Bartolo Colon got his 2,500th career strikeout.
• The Rockies celebrated their return to “Coors Field” and someone at the Denver Post got angry.
• Mike Oz continues his series of opening baseball cards with people. Some of these pieces are better than others, but believe me when I tell you that this one with Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow is one of the better ones.
• There was a wild game that sent the Florida Gators to the College World Series on a walk-off home run that bounced off the outfielder’s glove.
• And finally, Jim Deshaies was talking about this last night, but a terrific act of sportsmanship in the Minnesota high school sectional championship. The pitcher who struck out the final batter of the game didn’t celebrate with his teammates, but rather immediately went to the batter to console him, who was a close friend. He said “Our friendship is more important than just the silly outcome of the game.”

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