Elephant Rumblings: Minor League Action, September Roster Fixes, Race to the Bottom

Prospect Watch:

• Rockhounds lose; Lake Monsters split...
• Trimming the A’s 40-man...
• Yahoo’s 2017 All-Minor League team...

ICYMI:

• Blake Treinen is a “Disney story in the making”...
• Do the A’s have a long-term plan at shortstop?
• The A’s are installing 50 Stomper statutes around Oakland...
• Many takes on how to fix the madness that is September roster expansion: Travis Sawchik; Bob Nightengale; and Bruce Jenkins...
• Where have the fastballs gone missing?
• Things are getting worse for starting pitchers, not better...
• The Twins are trying to become the most unlikely playoff team in MLB history...
• What would our storylines be if the first half were erased?
• Indians 15-game winning streak longest in 15 years...
• The true impact of the Justin Upton trade goes beyond addition and subtraction...
• Would Giancarlo have been any good in the Deadball era?
• Nats call up Victor Robles...
• In hungry, angry Brewers, Cubs see younger version of themselves...

Today in Baseball History:

• 1880 - The Polo Grounds, which were previously used exclusively for Polo, are leased by a baseball team, and become the first commercial baseball stadium on Manhattan Island.
• 1916 - In front of the smallest crowd in American League history, with 23 fans attending the game, Athletics catcher/outfielder Wally Schang becomes the first switch-hitter in baseball history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game.
• 1998 - Mark McGwire hits his 62nd homerun, breaking Roger Maris’s record.

Best of Twitter:

• Pace of play...

• The real race, the one for draft picks...