Elephant Rumblings: Kap Injury Update, Off-Season Needs, More Ballpark Opposition

Prospect Watch:

• Oakland’s 2017 minor league free agents...
• How big is too big for a shortstop prospect?
• A’s fill out AFL rosters; injury updates on Kap, Jefferies...

ICYMI:

• It was a long game but the A’s pulled through courtesy to a Jed Lowrie slam...
• Olson stretches homerun streak to five games...
• The A’s vets offer hope, too...
• A Statcast analysis of Matt Olson...
• Opposition to new ballpark site mounts...
• MLBTR’s Three Needs: Oakland Athletics...
• You have to think the A’s will be interested in some of these budding free agents whose stock has fallen in 2017...
• A deep dive into the Brewers’ surprising success...
• Justin Upton hits homerun, narrowly misses out on a cool million
• The most influential pitcher you’ve never heard of...
• MLB set an all-time home run record; the Giants didn’t help one bit...
• The homerun is the king of baseball. Is that a good thing?
• Pat Neshek explains his disdain for Zach Greinke...
• 45 guys dressed up as 'Magnum P.I.' got booted out of the Tigers game...
• Marco Estrada signs a one-year extension with Toronto...
• Ichiro isn’t done breaking records...
• Changing baseball: a thought experiment...
• Baseballs are more consistently juiced than ever...
• A really interesting piece on what happened inside the Indians’ clubhouse during the streak...

Today in Baseball History:

• 1905 - Chicago White Sox president Charles Comiskey orders a houseboat built for the express purpose of transporting and housing the team during spring training.
• 1980 - In a 9-0 loss to the A’s, George Brett goes 0-4, dropping his average below .400. He is now hitting .396 and will finish the season at .390.
• 1998 - Cal Ripkin, Jr. took himself out of the starting lineup and did not play in the Baltimore Orioles' loss to the New York Yankees, ending his consecutive-game streak at 2,632 games. After nearly 16 years, Ripkin said he decided the time was right to end the streak, which began on May 30, 1982.

Best of Twitter:

• Some Matt Olson quick hits...

• A solid draft class...

• This throw helped the Brewers move within one game of the Rockies in the NL Wild Card...