MLB Bullets has a Giant decision to make

Good morning.

• Before we get to the collection of catalogs of players available for trade that is going to dominate this edition of “MLB Bullets,” take time to check out Danny Gold’s piece on his trip to the Dominican Republic to find out what people are saying about the David Ortiz shooting. Gold doesn’t solve the case, but he does find out a lot about life in the Dominican Republic and how no one there believes anything about the Ortiz case.
• Now back to our regularly-scheduled trade deadline. R.J. Anderson ranks the top 50 players who could be dealt by July 31.
• David Schoenfield has a list of 31 players that could be traded.
• Mike Petriello predicts where 20 players will get traded this month.
• Dan Szymborski isn’t predicting trades, but he does propose a few possible trades that make sense to him.
• Jake Mailhot notes that the Giants’ recent hot streak has put their front office in a tough spot about whether to buy or sell over the next week.
• Claire McNear writes that the Giants’ recent surge is definitely a fluke and that the team should sell. Unless she’s wrong, she writes.
• If the Giants do sell, Michael Shapiro has some possible trade destinations for Madison Bumgarner.
• Tess DeMeyer writes that time is running out for the Rockies to get back into Wild Card contention and avoid a team fire sale. Seriously? They’re six games out of the Wild Card and there are five teams ahead of them. Fangraphs gives them a 2.8% chance of making the wild card.
• Emma Baccellieri explains the new trade deadline rules this season and how they might affect the deals made.
• Players admit that the can’t help but be affected by trade rumors, writes Bob Nightengale.
• Probably because being traded can have a huge impact on players’ families and their lives, writes Gabe Lacques.
• On to non-trade news. Mets second baseman Robinson Cano hit three home runs in Tuesday night’s game.
• Nationals shortstop Trea Turner hit for the cycle on Tuesday. Turner became just the 26th player in MLB history to hit for the cycle twice in his career.
• Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole has already struck out 200 batters this season, the second-fastest to do it in history. (Randy Johnson in 2001 was the fastest.)
• The Dodgers announced a $100 million renovation project for Dodger Stadium. It will include a statue of Sandy Koufax.
• Tigers outfielder Nicholas Castellanos is no fan of Tiger Stadium, blasting the park’s dimensions in a radio interview.
• Michael Baumann argues that Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is finally pitching up to the high expectations that surrounded him when he was taken with the first pick of the 2009 draft.
• The independent Atlantic League announced that they will go with robot umpires for the rest of the season. Or just automated balls-and-strikes calls, if you prefer a more literal statement. Yes, it would be cooler if Rosie from The Jetsons put on a mask and got behind the plate.
• Former Mets and Yankees pitcher Dwight Gooden was arrested again for DUI and Gooden says that he’s never been in worse shape in his battles with addiction than he is now.
• Jack Baer questions whether the Rays should have used a position player pitching when only trailing by five runs.
• Eno Sarris looks at whether “purpose pitches,” or inside pitches designed to move hitters off the plate, actually have a positive effect. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Braves pitcher Dallas Keuchel tripped over his own shoelaces on a throw from the catcher. Keuchel caught the ball anyway.
• And finally, watch all of Nationals Park do “Baby Shark” as Gerardo Parra came to bat.

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