Elephant Rumblings: Rule 5 Draft Preview, Ballpark Site Opponents’ Poll, A’s New Batting Practice Cap

A’s Coverage:

• Oakland A’s acquire outfield prospect Ramon Laureano from Astros...
• A’s finalize 40-man roster; add prospects Heath Fillmyer, Lou Trivino...
• The new (old?) batting practice cap is out and it is sharp...
• Laney College site opponents release poll that shows four in five voters want A’s to stay at Coliseum site...
• Oakland Athletics 2018 top-50 prospects: Anthony Churlin, OF...
• Oakland Athletics 2018 top-50 prospects: Oscar Tovar, RHP...

MLB News:

• MLB, players union, NPB push back deadline on Ohtani posting agreement...
• Joe Morgan wrote a letter asking Hall of Fame voters not to support PED users...
• Who to watch for in the Rule 5 Draft...

Baseball Interest Stories:

• The 17 most contentious names on the 2018 Hall of Fame ballot...
• Rethinking the Win Curve...
• Five ‘bargain’ players Dave Cameron would sign if he were running a contender...
• Jackie Robinson Dodgers jersey from rookie year sold for $2.05 million...

Today in Baseball History:

• 1934 - The Yankees purchase Joe DiMaggio from San Francisco of the Pacific Coast League. The son of Italian immigrants will be one of three DiMaggio brothers to play in the major leagues. Dom and Vince are the others.
• 2002 - MLB announces the Montreal Expos may play approximately twenty-five percent of their home games (22 of 81) in San Juan, Puerto Rico next season. Away "home games" are not unprecedented as the Brooklyn Dodgers played seven games in Newark, NJ in 1956 and 1957, and the Chicago White Sox, filling a void when the Braves left, played nine games in Milwaukee, WI in 1968 and another 11 in 1969.

Best of Twitter:

• Whoa. MLB Pipeline’s #38 prospect...

• Count me surprised too...

• And here are all the new BP/ST caps...