MLB Bullets is wearing an albatross

MLB Bullets is wearing an albatross

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Robinson Cano is suspended for 80 games. Also injured. Legalized wagering is coming. The Dodgers are reeling.

I’ll bet you $50 that the recent Supreme Court ruling won’t have any effect on MLB Bullets.

• Before this column detours into SCOTUSblog, let’s talk about Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano being suspended for 80 games for testing positive for a diuretic, or a masking agent.
• Tim Brown notes that Cano is the latest to pull the “I didn’t know” excuse, although a suspension for a diuretic requires that MLB demonstrate that the substance was taken to mask a different drug.
• In what seems like a related fact (but according to reports, it isn’t), Cano will have surgery on his hand, which was broken on a pitch by Tigers pitcher Blaine Hardy. Cano will serve his suspension concurrently with his time recovering from the surgery. Cano tested positive for the banned substance over the winter and decided to drop his appeal yesterday. However, reports are that Cano and the union were discussing dropping the appeal last week, before Cano was hit by a pitch.
• Ben Lindbergh writes that Cano’s suspension is at the same time both surprising and not surprising.
• Jay Jaffe looks at the circumstances surrounding Cano’s suspension and the impact it will have on the Mariners.
• In the short term, Dee Gordon will be moving back to second base in Cano’s extended absence. Ironic, of course, because Gordon had been suspended in the past for violating the MLB drug policy.
• Jon Tayler also looks at the impact that the suspension will have on the Mariners, who have been a contender so far this season. Tayler writes that this is just another bad blow to a franchise who has had many of them throughout their history.
• Bob Nightengale writes that Cano’s reputation is ruined and the Mariners are stuck with him.
• Tom Verducci agrees that Cano’s reputation is in tatters.
• Naturally, the talk then turns to Cano’s Hall of Fame chances. Jerry Crasnick writes that Cano’s suspension is a “death knell” to Cano’s chances at Cooperstown.
• Jonah Keri isn’t quite so definitive, but he’s certainly quite bearish on Cano’s chances at induction.
• Michael Baumann takes a contrary view, arguing that Cano may benefit from a different set of voters and different attitudes by the time he hits the ballot.
• Two Astros pitchers took to Twitter to mock Cano, but as some have pointed out, Justin Verlander has been much more supportive of players who violate the Drug Policy when they’re his teammates.
• Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera has come to Cano’s defense and said that he’s angry because “I know he didn’t cheat.”
• Now on to SCOTUSblog. The United State Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 which had banned wagering on sports in every state except Nevada.
• MLB and the Players’ Association each made statements on the decision. MLB has been preparing for this day for a while, and they reiterated that while they accept the decision and will work with states to implement wagering, the integrity of the sport is their first priority.
• Mike Axisa breaks down what this decision means in baseball. (And no, Pete Rose isn’t getting reinstated.)
• Jeff Passan thinks legalized gambling can be a bonanza for baseball. I gotta say, I don’t see it. Gambling on baseball has been legal in Nevada forever and illegal gambling on baseball has been around forever. Baseball does not seem to be a sport that lends itself to easy wagering. Also, the prop bets that Passan proposes are a recipe for disaster. No ballplayer today would ever intentionally throw a game, if they even could. But would they have a relative put a bunch of money down on whether they’d hit a batter in the first inning? I’m sure there are a few.
• More legal links. Sheryl Ring looks at what’s behind “shoe-gate” and the legal issues surrounding MLB’s crackdown on the uniform code.
• And now MLB is coming down on Willson Contreras’ Venezuelan arm sleeve.
• Athletics outfielder Stephen Piscotty hit a home run in his first at-bat after returning from the bereavement list after the death of his mother.
• Jorge L. Ortiz writes of five things we’ve learned at the quarter mark of the MLB season. Speak for yourself, Jorge. Cubs fans already knew Javier Baez was El Mago.
• Craig Edwards writes that the Angels six-man rotation experiment is working, such as it is.
• Twins first baseman Logan Morrison thinks that Shohei Ohtani is “probably the best player in the world.”
• The Dodgers are off to their worst start in 60 years, their first season in LA.
• Jay Jaffe examines whether the losers of the previous year’s World Series are subject to a “hangover effect.”
• Matt Snyder looks at the effect that the new humidor is having on Chase Field and concludes that so far, the Diamondbacks home has turned into an extreme pitchers’ park. We need more data, but it looks like MLB may have overdone it. Although if the Snakes keep winning, they won’t complain.
• In bad news for the Diamondbacks, outfielder A.J. Pollock will miss 4 to 8 weeks with a broke thumb.
• Brewers catcher Stephen Vogt hasn’t played in the majors yet this season and he won’t after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery.
• David Schoenfield believes that the number of strikeouts in the game currently is becoming a real problem.
• Schoenfield also examines the factors that keep Mets ace Noah Syndergaard from being among the best pitchers in the game. Good and sometimes very good. Just not great.
• A discussion on the chances that Bryce Harper will be playing for the Yankees next year.
• David Kagan has a look on the physics and geometry of fielding ground balls. Great stuff if you’re into the science of baseball.
• For the past few years, the New York Yankees have been sending flowers all over the country to police and fire stations that have lost an officer in the line of duty. The gesture is appreciated even in Red Sox territory, although not without a few chuckles. I guess we have to cut out the “Evil Empire” talk, at least for today.
• In the final home game of a college player’s career, Fairfield senior Drew Blake hit a home run right into his father’s arms.
• Red Sox and A’s Twitter accounts played “Connect Four” while waiting out a rain delay.
• And finally, Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon is dealing with a cut middle finger that is keeping him off the mound and is healing very slowly. But contrary to reports, he does not want you to pee on his hand to make it heal faster. Unless it actually works. Then he totally wants you to do it.

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

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May 16, 2018 at 03:05PM