The blurriest photo of Michael Brantley you'll ever see on LGT has a purpose.
- A Jon Lester trade appears imminent. The Cardinals, Pirates, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Orioles and A's are involved. (Tweet) (SBN link)
- Hisashi Iwakuma walked Michael Brantley in 1st inning last night, which was the first he'd allowed in six starts. With Carlos Santana in the Indians lineup, I figured the streak would end tonight. But somewhat surprisingly, Carlos did not draw any walks off Iwakuma.
- The Marlinsreportedly have interest in Tommy Milone and Jim Johnson. Sounds to me like a "We'll take Johnson's salary off your hands if you give us Milone too" scenario.
- Multiple reports indicate that the Astros might be willing to trade one of their starting pitchers. Here, Jeff Sullivan writes that their rotation hasn't been nearly as bad as projected.
- Ever wonder which starting pitchers drive ticket sales the most? There's your answer. Personally, I'm kind of surprised that somebody completely random didn't show up, which makes me wonder if they looked at ALL pitchers. Like, where's the Mike Leake–type who slipped on the list for a reason nobody can explain?
- The RoyalsreleasedJoe Saunders from his minor league contract that I didn't even know existed.
- Some great news:
The Dodgers just announced Vin Scully is coming back for another year of Dodgers baseball.
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) July 30, 2014 - And finally, Bill Belichick on whether he likes having baseball players on his roster:
Fascinating. RT @WillBrinson: Bill Belichick is very enthusiastic about getting baseball players on his roster: pic.twitter.com/K26qi13xcK
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 29, 2014