MLB Bullets is not issuing refunds

We’ve got a doozy here for you, from the serious (players leaving the country) to the fun (a cute April Fool’s joke), so buckle in and get ready for Friday’s links.

Kicking it off, of course, is the bad news that StubHub doesn’t care if you can’t go see baseball, they’re not giving refunds.

• Craig Edwards says, “Sorry if you bought your baseball tickets on StubHub” over on FanGraphs.
• If you’ve ever wondered what it would take to end the wild Los Angeles Dodgers blackouts, well, it’s the delay of the baseball season, naturally. Jorge Castillo and Bill Shaikin report for the Los Angeles Times.
• Joe Posnanski reflects on Dan Quisenberry for The Athletic. (The Athletic subscription required)
• For MLB.com there was a roundup of the best first basemen of all time, and Jordan Bastian’s number one pick wasn’t Cap Anson or Mark Grace, but someone a lot more current.
• According to ESPN, if the 2020 season gets cancelled, the suspensions of A.J. Hinch and Jeff Luhnow of the Astros will be considered served.
• Eno Sarris shares some excerpts from upcoming baseball books by the likes of Keith Law, Jared Diamond, and more for The Athletic. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Good Guy Choo alert: Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors says Rangers star Shin-Soo Choo is giving $1,000 to every minor leaguer in the Rangers system.
• A little belated, but here is the only April Fool’s joke worth posting from this year. They just missed including Cubs great Henry Rowengartner.

• At MLB.com Tom Verducci warns of the dangers of MLB trying to return too soon.
• Four California teams are moving towards potential job cuts, according to Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic. (The Athletic subscription required)
• Chris Cotillo shares agent Scott Boras’s plan for “functional isolation” at MassLive.
• Bill DeWitt Jr., chairman of the St. Louis Cardinals told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he hopes to get another chance to participate in the London series (but doesn’t know when the season will start).
• Emma Baccellieri has a deep chat with Sean Doolittle for Sports Illustrated.
• Want something a bit more fun? Marc Carig took a deep dive into the history of those bonkers names in Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball. This is precisely the kind of no-baseball content I need. (The Athletic subscription required)
• Brendan Kuty reports that Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has headed back to Japan.
• From MLB’s Joe Trezza we get the upbeat story your Friday needs: Orioles’ All-Star pitcher John Means is pitching BP to his wife to stay fresh.

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