MLB Bullets is operating under unusual circumstances

Good morning.

• Mets general manager Sandy Alderson announced that he was taking an immediate leave of absence as he revealed that his cancer had returned. The 70-year-old Alderson had previously been treated for cancer in 2015, but had continued to work through treatment. The Mets will be run by assistant GM John Ricco and special assistants J.P. Ricciardi and Omar Minaya in the meantime. However, Alderson cast doubt that he would ever return to the job, even if his health improved. He said in the press conference announcing the move that “if I look at it on the merits, I’m not sure coming back is warranted.” So in a sense, Alderson fired himself, even if he did leave a small crack open for an unlikely return.
• Mike Axisa wrote this before Alderson’s announcement, but he makes the case that any rebuild of the Mets must start with a new front office and new ownership.
• When people criticize the Mets, they often bring up the Bobby Bonilla contract, which the team is still paying off despite Bonilla retiring in 2001. But Dan Lewis has found an even more egregious contract from the Braves, who are still playing reliever Bruce Sutter $1.12 million a year even though he retired in 1988. (Subscription required.) It gets worse. They then owe Sutter $9.1 million in 2022, after which they will finally be relieved of the burden of his contract. It should also be noted that while Sutter is a Hall-of-Famer, he was pretty terrible with the Braves
• Also, they found a dead body in a beer cooler at SunTrust Park.
• Royals GM Dayton Moore is advocating that the team sign Oregon State pitcher and convicted sex offender Luke Heimlich, although he said that the decision would have to come from ownership.
• Craig Calcaterra finds Moore’s arguments for signing Heimlich “stinks to high heaven” and that he owes Jarrod Dyson an apology for comparing Heimlich to him, noting that the only mark on Dyson is a PED suspension when he was in the minor leagues.
• Whitney McIntosh finds Moore’s statements to be irresponsible and disrespectful. She lays out the case against Heimlich and while she agrees that responsible people can disagree on the merits of letting Heimlich play professional baseball, Moore’s comments showed no understanding of the complexities of the issue or even compassion for the victim.
• Diana Moskovitz writes that Heimlich has done nothing to earn the second chance that so many people think he should get.
• Then there is the suspended reliever Roberto Osuna, whom the Blue Jays would probably like to trade. Sheryl Ring examines the issues that would cloud any Osuna deal.
• That takes us to the trade market. The Yankees want to add a starting pitcher, but they won’t deal Clint Frazier for one.
• Robert Murray argues that the Braves would be a good team for Adrian Beltre to go to in a deadline deal.
• Dayn Perry has four starting pitchers who could be on the move before July 31.
• Alden Gonzalez puts forth all the options facing the Angels as they decide what to do with injured two-way star Shohei Ohtani.
• The Rays and Nationals benches cleared after Rays closer Sergio Romo started yelling at Nats outfielder Michael Taylor, whom he had just struck out to end the game. Romo was apparently upset at Taylor stealing a base against him three weeks ago.
• The Pirates, of course, got into a bench-clearing non-brawl with the Mets as well.
• Phillies outfielder Rhys Hoskins started yelling at a fan during a game. Hoskins apologized for that.
• Bobby Nightengale argues that Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman should get strong consideration for the permanent job.
• Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson has suffered a setback in his return from a calf injury.
• The Brewers have put outfielder Lorenzo Cain on the disabled list.
• Unsurprisingly, Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is against the designated hitter rule and he explains why. If all pitchers hit like Bumgarner, the DH wouldn’t even be an issue.
• Sam Miller reveals that no one in baseball is better at fielding bunts than Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke.
• No one in baseball has a higher batting average on balls in play (babip) over the past three years than Diamondbacks outfielder Jon Jay and Carson Cistulli isn’t quite sure why.
• Evan Drellich thinks that after all the Sturm und Drang surrounding his first two years with the Red Sox, pitcher David Price is proving to be a perfect fit for Boston after all.
• And after the almost daily scandals of Yasiel Puig’s first years with the Dodgers, Dylan Hernandez writes that Puig has grown up and now fits right in with the rest of the team. Except after posing nude for ESPN the Magazine’s Body Issue, closer Kenley Jansen says he’ll never be able to eat peanuts again after seeing them strategically cover Puig’s body.
• Emma Baccellieri grades the teams of the AL Central. I hope it’s on a curve.
• Matt Snyder has an “all-surprise team” of the first half. Good surprises.
• Blue Jays outfielder Curtis Granderson hit a pop up at Minute Maid Park and discovered that what goes up may not necessarily come down.
• I don’t play Fortnite but I can tell you that a whole lot of minor league ballplayers do play it. So the Omaha Storm Chasers are going to wear Fortnite-themed jerseys on August 6.
• MLB’s Twitter account told a fan upset about the MLB float at the NYC Pride parade “bye.”
• It was just batting practice, but Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton hit a ball right out of Citizen’s Bank Park.
• And finally, Diamondbacks pitcher Archie Bradley tells the tale of the time this season he pooped in his pants during a game. What bothers me is that he had a good outing when he did that, so doesn’t baseball superstition dictate that he has to do it every time until he doesn’t have a good outing?

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