Andrew Baggarly & Zach Buchanan – The Athletic ($): I don’t care about the dangers involved in Madison Bumgarner moonlighting as rode roping competitor Mason Saunders. I wish Major League Baseball players were allowed to do these things freely. I don’t believe any business should have any say in the activities you partake in off the clock, as long as those activities are not damaging to the company. Baseball players should be able to have outside interests and compete in the activities that bring them joy, simple as that.
Evan Drellich – The Athletic ($): It’s easy to look at the words offered by Tony Clark in this story and dismiss them out of hand. I think doing that is missing the forest for the trees. The writing has been on the wall for some time now when it comes to analytics and sabermetrics pushing the envelope of what makes for quality baseball and what can be done to win games. Acknowledging this isn’t bad, rather it shows an understanding that the stats themselves aren’t the problem. The problem is what front office people are choosing to do with the stats at their disposal.
Bill Baer – NBC Sports: I’m not sure how many times I, or others, can write about this topic, but there’s more fuel for the MLB hates minor leaguers fire. Every single story that comes out about the conditions minor leaguers are expected to live under is a glaring indictment of MLB owners and front offices not caring one iota about labor or taking care of their fellow human beings. There is a prevailing organizational rot in MLB, it’s the rot within MLB itself and the way it allows minor leaguers to be treated.
Lead photo courtesy of Mary Altaffer – Associated Press
