MLB Bullets has a new problem

Good morning to all.

• Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich have broken a new scandal as three members of the 2018 Red Sox have told them that Boston was using the video replay room to learn the other team’s signs. (The Athletic sub. req.) Compared to the Astros sign-stealing scandal, this is more like getting an advanced look at the test as opposed to having the answers in front of you while you take it. Also, the Red Sox stressed that they didn’t do this during the playoffs (when they won the World Series) because MLB monitored the replay rooms in the postseason. Also, teams were changing signs so often in the playoffs that it wouldn’t have worked anyway. (If you don’t subscribe to The Athletic, you can read a summary here.)
• Chris Cwik and Liz Roscher have a primer on the two sign-stealing scandals.
• Craig Calcaterra thinks you’re foolish if you think this scandal is limited to just the Astros and Red Sox. (Or you’re just hoping it is, like commissioner Rob Manfred.)
• Commissioner Manfred says that MLB will investigate the Red Sox and they will face punishment, just like the Astros.
• Speaking of that, Jeff Passan reports that the MLB expects to announce its findings and hand down punishment on the Astros in the next two weeks. No players are expected to be disciplined, but the coaches and front office executives can expect suspensions.
• Hannah Keyser reports that MLB is looking at the use of on-field technology to circumvent sign stealing.
• Jeff Passan answers 20 questions you may have about 2020. I have to say that the “Trade Kris Bryant and then trade for Nolan Arenado” Cubs rumor is one of the more bonkers ones I’ve heard in my time. That doesn’t mean it’s false or a dumb idea, just that it’s bonkers.
• Will Leitch ranks the teams trying to sign free agent Josh Donaldson by how likely they are to land the third baseman. Leitch cites reports out of Minnesota that the Twins are convinced that Donaldson doesn’t want to play in the Twin Cities.
• Other reports out of the Twin Cities say that the Twins and Donaldson are in constant contact and Donaldson is “intrigued” by the idea of playing in the AL Central. I guess we’ll find out which one was right. Probably only Sid Hartman knows for sure.
• Michael Baumann believes the AL Central is going to be the most exciting division in 2020 and he explains why.
• The White Sox have signed former Cubs reliever Steve Cishek.
• The Rangers have agreed to a one-year deal with catcher Robinson Chirinos.
• The Angels want to trade for a “frontline” starting pitcher and R.J. Anderson says the Halos have the trade pieces and salary room to do so.
• The Dodgers have signed free agent pitcher Jimmy Nelson and Rian Watt explains why they would want to do that.
• Brendan Gawlowski examines the Nationals signing of infielder Starlin Castro and how Castro revived his career last season. He also wonders why the Nats are trying to sign all the infielders.
• Mike Axisa has 30 players who could have a bounce-back season in 2020.
• Andrew Simon outlines what outfielder Yasiel Puig needs to do to return to form in 2020.
• Stephen J. Nesbitt follows Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon around as he attempts to come back from his second Tommy John surgery. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• The lawyer representing the family of the two-year-old girl hit by a foul ball at Minute Maid Park (hit by Albert Almora Jr.) says that she has suffered permanent brain damage.
• Michael McCann speaks to the people in Lowell, MA who are working to save the Lowell Spinners, one of the minor league teams on MLB’s “extinction list.”
• Six writers for MLB.com who have Hall of Fame ballots reveal who they voted for.
• And finally, Josh Jackson has the second and final part of his story of the Pacific Coast League Vernon Tigers, who fell apart in 1920 in part because of a game-fixing scandal. (Prohibition really hammered the Tigers as well, as Vernon was one of just two cities in Los Angeles County that permitted the sale and consumption of alcohol, which is why they were located in Vernon in the first place.)

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