DLD 9/17/13

Joe Posnanski wrote an awesome article on the recently retired Vladimir Guerrero. I appreciate this one since Vlad has always been one of my favorite players. The whole thing just makes me smile.

There is now a reason to tune in to watch the Mets take on the NL West's fourth-place team.

Yesterday I linked to an article discussing possible changes to the system used to acquire Japanese players. Eno Sarris assesses the winners and losers if these changes are to be made.

Dave Cameron has a great read on the A's low-payroll success and a comparison between the current team and the teams that took the field in 2000 and 2001.

Jeremy Blachman brings us a very silly article on wild cards.

Mike Axisa eulogizes the Mariners, who have been eliminated from playoff contention.

Ken Rosenthal's flotsam and jetsam includes some nice things about the Green and Gold.

The Wild Card contending Kansas City Royals will call up Yordano Ventura to make his major league debut on Thursday.

The Marlins' offense has been truly atrocious.

Rob Neyer discusses the prevalence of bunting. As you can see, the A's have the second-fewest sacrifice hits in all of baseball. However, that number does not include unsuccessful bunt attempts, like Daric Barton's two foul bunts on Sunday or the famed Adam Rosales BIDP.

Neyer has another article on the new metal detectors at the Coliseum. I really think it's not a big deal and a lot of people are making a big stink over a minor issue.

Sean Doolittle unleashes his wrath.

On this day a year ago, the A's did not play and geared up for a ten-game trip to Detroit, New York and Texas. Alan Torres (who?) previewed the trip.

Tonight's starting lineup has Daric Barton batting second with Jed Lowrie once again unavailable.