Good morning.
- Usually we talk about baseball fights on the field, but the Mariners got into that rare clubhouse fight among themselves before Tuesday night’s game. The Mariners aren’t talking on the record about what happened and manager Scott Servais took a “these things happen” attitude. It does seem to have involved Dee Gordon and Jean Segura, however.
- And here’s something you never want to hear when you’re ripping your manager; “Dude, I’m streaming this!” The Padres’ Wil Myers was playing the Fortnite video game online with Carlos Asuaje, who had been sent down to Triple-A El Paso. As they were playing, Myers started criticizing Padres manager Andy Green before Asuaje told him he was streaming the game for everyone to watch.
- One thing to say about the Padres is that they’re not playing the service time games like some other teams. They’ve already called up infielder Luis Urias and now they’ve called up catcher Francisco Mejia.
- Mejia was also in the news lately about a deal he had signed as a minor leaguer to turn over a percentage of his future major league earnings in exchange for cash then. Jack Dickey has a look at former Phillies reliever Michael Schwimer, who is leading a group that “invests” in minor leaguers. It’s a very interesting piece that touches on Schwimer’s career, how he got into the business, how to project major league futures and how the poor state of minor league pay plays into this business model.
- Jeff Passan takes another shot at top prospects being left in the minor leagues long after they’ve proven ready for the majors. To be clear, Passan thinks the enemy here is not any individual or group but “the system.” Sounds like we’ve got a sequel to The Wire going on here.
- That the players are angry about this and other issue is clear from the news that the MLB Players’ Association has hired Bruce Meyer as their new Chief Negotiator ahead of the new CBA talks. Sheryl Ring explains who Meyer is, why he’s so important and what his hiring means for labor negotiations in baseball.
- Mike Axisa lists the most interesting September call-up for all 30 teams.
- ESPN’s baseball experts predict the rest of the season.
- You may not know this, but the Athletics are one of the best teams in baseball. As Bob Nightengale writes, the A’s are fine with you not knowing that.
- Jeff Sullivan explains why you need to add the Rockies’ Trevor Story to your list of the best shortstops in baseball.
- Matt Snyder looks at the chances of Mets ace Jacob DeGrom setting the record for the lowest ERA since they lowered the mound in 1969. Currently, it’s Dwight Gooden’s 1.53 in 1985.
- The Rays’ Ryne Stanek became the first rookie in 75 years to start back-to-back games. Of course, Stanek was operating on the Rays’ “opener” system.
- Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen will probably not play in the next series at Colorado. The Dodgers are concerned about Jansen’s heart issues at altitude.
- Former Phillies slugger Ryan Howard has retired, in case you didn’t know that he hadn’t officially done that yet. Marc Normandin makes the case that Howard is the true single-season home run record holder. Methinks his tongue may be in his cheek. But for about five seasons, Howard was a very, very good ballplayer.
- Brandon Phillips became the first player in Red Sox history to wear the number “0.”
- I assume by now you’ve read about what Cole Hamels said about the Cubs/Brewers rivalry. David Schoenfield defends Brewers fans.
- Richard Justice ranks the top-5 rivalries and baseball. See if the Cubs and Brewers made the list!
- The Roberto Clemente Award finalists from each team were announced. Two Cubs were nominated as Jon Lester was the Cubs nominee and Hamels earned the nod from the Rangers.
- Angels broadcaster Victor Rojas offers his take on the issues of diversity in baseball broadcasting. It’s a smart, measured commentary that is worth your time. Also, I had no idea that Rojas was the son of former infielder Cookie Rojas before now. (h/t Hardball Talk)
- Nationals shortstop Trea Turner was called out after oversliding second base after a walk. They seem to think this has never happened before.
- Sheryl Ring examines the Mets decisions not to play David Wright and Peter Alonso and defends them, sort of.
- White Sox first baseman José Abreu underwent emergency surgery for “testicular torsion,” which sounds pretty bad. That’s because it is pretty bad.
- The Astros kicked a fan out of Minute Maid Park for holding up a sign with the number for a domestic violence hotline. So are the Astros are pro-domestic violence?
- They say that people don’t write plain old-fashioned letters anymore, but that’s not true. Ballplayers get a lot of mail.
- Brady Feigl is a minor leaguer in the A’s system. Brady Feigl is a minor leaguer in the Rangers system. Not only do two completely unrelated minor-league pitchers share the same name, they even look alike.
- Grant Brisbee has that and other weird baseball news from the past week.
- The Athletics gave minor league broadcaster Donny Baarnes a chance to call a major-league game on Friday.
- Mets third baseman Todd Frazier caught a foul ball going into the stands. Except he didn’t. Frazier substituted a fan’s rubber baseball and got away with it.
- Finally, that was a terrific defensive play that wasn’t. But here’s one that’s completely legitimate. Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas making a sliding stop and then throwing to third base while still sliding away for the out. You all know that I love great fielding plays and this one is probably the best of the season.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.