MLB Bullets wants to make a deal

Don’t believe the hype coming out of Russia. Germany is totally going to win the World Cup.

• We’re getting into the trade season and the Mets are going nowhere, so some of the Mets players might be going somewhere. The Mets are now willing to listen to offers for pitchers Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom.
• The Yankees would be interested in both pitchers as well as Tigers pitcher (and former Mets farmhand) Michael Fulmer.
• The Phillies and Dodgers are the leading teams in pursuit of Orioles shortstop Manny Machado.
• Speaking of Machado, he has apologized for not running out a ground ball. Ooh, I wonder if it will hurt his trade value? Although in that link, Bill Baer argues that it is in neither Machado‘s nor the team’s interest for Machado to risk a hamstring injury running out a ground ball, which is absolutely true. There is the issue of good sportsmanship though, and that’s what Machado is apologizing for.
• The Orioles are definitely sellers, but closer Zach Britton’s poor performance since coming off the disabled list is definitely hurting his trade value.
• The Rangers believe that they can deal starter Cole Hamels before the All-Star Break. I’ve often wondered if Hamels could end up on the North Side.
• The Twins should be selling at the deadline and Dayn Perry looks at three impending free agents that Minnesota are likely to sell.
• Perry also looks at the dilemma the Athletics face on buying or selling and what they’ll need to do to catch the Mariners in the Wild Card chase.
• Chris Jones has a long piece about the career of Mo Salah and argues that Liverpool should sell him as soon as possible while his value is still sky-high. (Wait. How did that get in there? Must be a Red Sox thing.)
• Angels infielder Zack Cozart will have surgery on a torn labrum.
• Which leads into Craig Edwards piece on how things aren’t working out in Anaheim and examines the Halos options at the trade deadline.
• One bit of good news for the Angels is that injured two-way star Shohei Ohtani has been cleared to begin hitting again. He won’t be pitching anytime soon, but he will play again this season as a DH at least.
• There was one trade as the Red Sox got outfielder Steve Pearce from the Blue Jays. And this is where I express my astonishment that Pearce is still playing and hadn’t retired four years ago.
• Speaking of retirement, this is one piece you should read this week. R.J. Anderson profiles Grant Desme, whom you might remember was one of the top prospects in the Athletics system before quitting to join the seminary. Desme never became a priest, but now he’s back in baseball at age 31, coaching at a small Catholic college and playing independent baseball. He’s also doing very well in independent ball.
• One problem with Desme ever signing with a major league team again is that he’s 18 months older than Tim Tebow. But Tebow has gotten hot in Double-A recently and Zach Braziller spoke to his manager and a few scouts and they all agree that Tebow has gotten better this season. No one thinks he’s major-league better though. (h/t Yahoo! Sports)
• David Schoenfield admits that yes, Tebow has gotten better and yes, he’s been better than most in the game expected. But Tebow still hasn’t shown anything that would make a neutral observer think he’s a major-league prospect. Of course, he’ll probably be in Citi Field in September anyway because the Mets need to sell tickets.
• Then there is Rafael Palmeiro, who is actually having a productive season in independent ball at age 53. So there’s hope for me yet?
• Speaking of players past 30, Sam Miller has a good piece what recent research says about how athletes age. Most athletes actually start losing athleticism at around 23. They make up for it by increasing skill levels, at least until they can’t anymore.
• Fired Tigers pitching coach Chris Bosio is defending himself from charges he made a “racially-charged” remark and is threatening a lawsuit over his dismissal. Anthony Fenech reports Bosio’s side of the story and gives reasons to be skeptical of it.
• Jeff Passan gives an update on the Royals and Luke Heimlich.
• Royals general manager Dayton Moore blasted the media for quoting what he said about Heimlich. He also said he’d be willing to “reach out” to Jarrod Dyson, although he hasn’t yet and he hasn’t apologized. Dyson was not pleased at being compared to Heimlich.
• Congratulations to the Oregon State Beavers, who won the College World Series. With two outs in the ninth inning of game two, three Arkansas Razorbacks fielders failed to catch a foul pop up that would have won the title for Arkansas. Instead, Oregon State rallied after the defensive boner in game two and then won game three and the title.
• MLB and the Players’ Association are in negotiations to end the tyranny of their shoe policy. MLB does have a solid point that they don’t want shoe companies to abuse loosened regulations about shoes to conduct guerrilla marketing campaigns.
• After two years of mediocrity, Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin has turned himself into a strong starting pitcher this season.
• Ben Lindbergh says that the 2018 AL Central looks like the worst division in history.
• Gabriel Baumgaertner gives out midseason grades to the NL West teams. Better than the AL Central, still not good.
• Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp gets a good grade from Bradford Doolittle, which is pretty surprising considering Kemp’s recent performances.
• Craig Edwards notes that most of the offseason spending on free agent relief pitchers has backfired. He does note that Cubs pitchers Brandon Morrow and Steve Cishek have been exceptions so far.
• Sam MIller breaks down every bunt by Reds pitcher Matt Harvey since he returned from Tommy John surgery and concludes that Harvey is the worst bunter ever. Before surgery, he was a solid bunter for a pitcher. Since then, he’s been terrible. I suppose if you have one thing that doesn’t come back as a pitcher after surgery, it’s that.
• Good news for the Reds is that they had won nine out of ten games for the first time since 2012. Michael Clair has that and other good news for the Reds.
• Jeff Sullivan notes that the most unhittable pitcher in the minor leagues this season has been Rays reliever Colin Poche and neither Sullivan nor anyone else is quite sure why.
• Here’s another football story. Jerrion Ealy is the number three running back in the 2019 college football recruiting class and is committed to Mississippi. But Ealy may never play for Ole Miss as he is also expected to be a high first-round draft pick in baseball next summer. I’m going to tell every high school athlete this. If someone offers you several million dollars to skip college, give up football and play baseball, do it. Definitely go to college and get an education later, but don’t risk your health and financial future on playing a violent sport for free for a few years.
• There was some vandalism at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, but in the spirit of Buck O’Neil, the museum vows to rebuild.
• And finally, there was a big old baseball rhubarb a few days ago about a profanity-filled video of former Mets manager Terry Collins arguing with an umpire. But these umpire reports of ejections from minor league baseball in 1952 show that there is a long baseball tradition of such conversations.

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