MLB Bullets is a Ray of sunshine

Have you heard that Manchester City midfielder David Silva is planning to come to MLS and Inter Miami? Either when the Cubs are playing the Marlins or Inter Miami is at the Fire, we have to get an “El Mago meets El Mago” photo op. (Yes, Silva had the nickname first.)

Lots of Javier Baez stuff today for an MLB Bullets column.

• The Cardinals and Rays made a deal that sent Cardinals outfielder/first baseman Jose Martinez and outfielder Randy Arozarena to the Rays in exchange for pitcher Matthew Liberatore, a Top-50 prospect. The Cardinals also got a low-level catching prospect and the two sides swapped Competitive Balance picks as well, with the Rays moving up 40 places.
• Juan Toribo has more information on all the players involved in the deal.
• Keith Law thinks this is a “win-now” move for the Rays and he suspects that the Cardinals are planning to send Liberatore out as part of a trade for a major star. (The Athletic sub. req.—Yes, Keith Law has left ESPN for The Athletic.)
• The Rays made one more move as they sent pitcher Austin Pruitt to the Astros for two minor leaguers.
• As long as we’re on the Rays, Michael Augustine believes that Rays reliever Colin Poche is throwing too many fastballs.
• On to the sign-stealing scandals that are rocking MLB. Two writers had pretty much the same idea. Jay Jaffe looks at how the current sign-stealing scandal echoes the PED scandal.
• Mike Oz agrees on the similarity between the PED scandal and sign stealing and that both were a product of fuzzy and unenforced rules.
• Emma Baccellieri thinks the sign-stealing scandal is an unintended consequence of the instant replay rule.
• David Schoenfield has the player on each MLB team most likely to be traded. Gee, I wonder who the listed Cub is.
• R.J. Anderson notes that the Dodgers have the players and payroll flexibility to pull off a blockbuster deal.
• Dayn Perry thinks that free agent third baseman Josh Donaldson is still a good bet to be a productive player over the next four seasons.
• Zach Kram thinks the Angels, while improved, have failed to build a contender for 2020.
• Will Leitch has five MLB teams who are facing a “make-or-break” season in 2020.
• Jim Callis asked MLB executives whom they felt would be the 2020 rookie who makes the most impact.
• The Yankees signed catcher Chris Iannetta to a minor-league deal.
• The Brewers signed manager Craig Counsell to a three-year contract extension.
• Speaking of El Mago, Mike Petriello introduces a new defensive metric of “Infield outs above average” and Javier Baez tops the list for 2019.
• Craig Edwards looks at the changing way we look at the cost of a win in the free agent market. This is one for all the economists out there.
• Orioles pitcher Miguel Castro was robbed at gunpoint in the Dominican Republic. He also reports that he was nearly shot but that the gun jammed.
• Hall-of-Fame writer Peter Gammons will be honored by the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation.
• Former major league outfielder Alex Romero attacked an opposing catcher with a bat in a Venezuelan Winter League game. Shades of Juan Marichal and Johnny Roseboro.
• A former Yankees minor leaguer sued the team for $34 million over what I can only assume is the team’s failure to pay the minor leaguers the minimum wage. Oh wait. No, it’s not. Garrison Lassiter sued the Yankees for $34 million, claiming the team derailed his career to protect the reputation of Derek Jeter. Lassiter hit .244 as a minor leaguer and never rose about High-A. He feels that he would have taken Jeter’s job as Yankees shortstop were it not for the team sabotaging his career. The suit was tossed out of court back in May.
• And finally, this is Cub Tracks territory, but I’m taking it anyway. What are they going to do, fire me? Here’s some adorable video of Javier Baez playing baseball with his very young son.

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