SF Giants Press Clips Thursday, July 6, 2017

San Francisco Chronicle allows 9 runs, including 4 HRs, for San Jose Henry Schulman and John Shea

Madison Bumgarner threw 76 pitches in four for San Jose in his latest rehab start Wednesday night, giving up nine runs — eight in his final — on nine hits, including four home runs. San Jose lost to Rancho Cucamonga, a Dodgers affiliate, 14-1. Bumgarner allowed three of those four homers in that eight- fourth inning, two to DJ Peters and one to infielder Drew Jackson , who went to Miramonte High in Orinda and Stanford. Bumgarner was scheduled to throw for San Jose again on Monday. Manager still considered a July 15 return for Bumgarner a possibility. “We’ll see how he comes out of this,” Bochy said. “Hopefully after the break he’ll be good.”

Upton update: Melvin Upton Jr. cannot catch a break. Shortly after the Giants signed Upton to a minor-league deal in April, he tore a thumb ligament in extended . After surgery and a two-month rehab, he played one game for -A Sacramento on Saturday and now has a recurrence of a shoulder irritation he felt in the spring. Upton has not played since then and is expected to see a doctor after a few days of rest.

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The former Tampa Bay, , San Diego and Toronto outfielder has seen 13 different Giants play left field this year. Health prevented him from getting a shot.

“It stinks for him because he felt like he would have been on track to help the ballclub,” brother said Wednesday. “Anytime you get injured and have surgery, you’re going to miss that opportunity.” The Giants signed Melvin after the Jays released him before . The Giants were seeking an experienced outfielder to back up Jarrett Parker . Now, they are looking at younger players, including Austin Slater , who has become the everyday left fielder. Justin, now the Tigers’ left fielder, said his older brother still would like a shot with the Giants this year.

“At the end of the day, this is the highest level, and he wants to play here,” Justin said.

Melvin 20 homers last year, 16 for the Padres and four for the Blue Jays.

Henry Schulman and John Shea are Chronicle staff writers.

On deck Thursday at Tigers

10:10 a.m. NBCSBA Cueto (6-7) vs. Sanchez (0-0)

Friday vs. Marlins

7:15 p.m. NBCSBA Straily (6-4) vs. Moore (3-8)

Saturday vs. Marlins

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7:05 p.m. NBCSBA TBA vs.

Samardzija (4-9)

Leading off Nuñez schedule: Manager Bruce Bochy confirmed what Eduardo Nuñez suggested Tuesday, that the third baseman will not return from a hamstring injury before the All-Star break.

San Francisco Chronicle Giants hold on to beat Tigers, clinch winning trip Henry Schulman

DETROIT - It sounds unbelievable, but it's true. The Giants had gone an entire calendar year since their last winning trip, and even that "journey" started with two games in Oakland.

The Giants finally turned the trick with their seventh win in eight games Wednesday night, a 5-4 victory that looked like a runaway victory for six innings but true to form required a lot of sweat and shivers at the end.

The Giants withstood a four-run seventh and held on for their fourth win in five games on this trip to Pittsburgh and Detroit, with pitching Thursday's matinee finale.

Ty Blach carried a three-hit shutout into the seventh inning of his final first-half start and owned a 5-0 lead when the Tigers got three more hits to start the inning and scored twice on a Victor Martinez .

Blach will got into the All-Star break as the only starter with a winning record, at 6-5, and he was not even in the rotation when the season began.

Once Blach departed, the seventh inning became a nightmare.

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George Kontos allowed a broken-bat single to his only hitter, Mike Mahtook. The Giants finally got an out when Steven Okert struck out pinch-hitter Alex Avila.

Manager Bruce Bochy turned to Cory Gearrin searching for an inning-ending play. Instead, Gearrin threw a wild pitch to remove the double-play setup then walked Jose Iglesias to load the bases.

Iglesias shot a single off Gearrin's leg for an that scored Martinez. Nick Castellanos hit a sacrifice fly to close the Giants' lead to 5-4.

Just as the Tigers seemed poised to tie the game or take the lead, Gearrin struck Justin Upton to end the inning before could step in with runners on base.

Hunter Strickland got a popup from Cabrera to start a scoreless eighth and Sam Dyson saved his third game on the trip, this one requiring seven pitches.

Blach outpitched Tigers left-hander Brian Norris. The Giants dinged him for five runs in four innings with a clutch-hitting clinic.

Jae-Gyun Hwang and each had RBI singles, and a two-run triple, all with two outs. Pence had three RBIs, giving him nine for the trip.

The Giants used the -style "double " lineup by having speed guys Kelby Tomlinson and Gorkys Hernandez bat back to back at ninth and first, respectively.

The scheme worked as planned in the third inning when each singled to start the inning, Hernandez on a bunt, and both scored to give the Giants a 2-0 lead.

Tomlinson made an alert dash to third on a pitch in the dirt then caught a break when he delayed his bolt for home after Pence lined a comebacker that Norris could not catch cleanly. The reached the ball quickly and could have gotten Tomlinson at the plate. Instead, Norris threw to first for the out.

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Hernandez scored on a two-out, two-strike single by Hwang after the Tigers walked intentionally.

Belt and Pence continued the two-out clutch run in the fourth inning, Belt's single producing one run ahead of Pence's two-run triple, which made it 5-0 Giants.

San Francisco Chronicle Justin Upton: brother Melvin still hopes to play for Giants Henry Schulman

DETROIT — Melvin Upton Jr. cannot catch a break. Shortly after the Giants signed Upton to a minor-league deal in April he tore a thumb ligament in extended spring training. After surgery and a two-month rehab, he played one game for Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday and now has a recurrence of shoulder irritation he felt in spring. Upton has not played since then and is expected to see a doctor after a few days of rest.

The former Tampa Bay, Atlanta, San Diego and Toronto outfielder has seen 13 different Giants play left field this year. Health prevented him from getting a shot.

“It stinks for him because he felt like he would have been on track to help the ballclub,” brother Justin Upton said Wednesday. “Anytime you get injured and have surgery, you’re going to miss that opportunity.” The Giants were in a far different place when they signed Melvin after the Jays released him before Opening Day. The Giants hoped to contend and were seeking an experienced outfielder to back up Jarrett Parker . Now, the Giants are looking at younger players, including Austin Slater , who has become the everyday left fielder. Justin, now the Tigers’ left fielder, said his older brother still would like a shot with the Giants this year.

“At the end of the day, this is the highest level and he wants to play here,” Justin said.

Melvin hit 20 homers last year, 16 for the Padres and four for the Blue Jays.

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“He can hit the balls in the gaps, too,” Justin said. “That’s the game the Giants have played for years. Hit the ball in the gaps and run the bases well, and he does both.”

Bumgarner night: Madison Bumgarner was to throw about 75 pitches in his second rehab start Wednesday night, this one for Class A San Jose. Manager Bruce Bochy said the next step would be decided after Wednesday’s game, but Bumgarner is supposed to throw for San Jose again on Monday. Bochy still considers a July 15 return for Bumgarner a possibility. “We’ll see how he comes out of this,” Bochy said. “Hopefully after the break he’ll be good.”

San Francisco Chronicle Giants pregame: Enjoy trade rumors, but be very skeptical Henry Schulman

DETROIT - Baseball's silly season has begun, the time when you will start reading the Giants are "connected to" and "interested in" certain teams and players "who make sense" ahead of the July 31 deadline.

Ninety percent of what you hear is wrong. A lot of it is fabricated. A lot of it is a single phone call or conversation that gets turned into, "Hey, this is what the Giants are want to do!" Or, more likely, a national reporter speculates that Player A would be a "good fit" for Team B, even if Team A and B have decided they are not good trade partners.

My first hint that the season had arrived was this morning, when reports began surfacing that the Cardinals are interested in . That actually makes a lot of sense. The Cardinals need a bat and play in a mediocre, winable division. The Blue Jays are going nowhere and might decide to rebuild.

Donaldson is under contract this year for $17 million and eligible for arbitration one more year before he becomes a free agent. The way arbitration works, he could be a $20 million player next year.

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If the Jays could move that kind money and get a couple of decent prospects from St. Louis, why not?

But there was another part to the story. An excellent national writer who usually knows his stuff speculated another team that could be a "fit" for Donaldson.

The Giants.

Unless I'm missing something, the Giants' acquisition of Donaldson makes less than zero sense. Maybe if they won 19 of the last 21 games before the deadline and found themselves near .500 and within clawing distance of the second wild card….know what? I can't even finish that sentence.

Even if the Giants were to retool for a 2018 run, it's hard to see the Giants taking on $20 million for a third baseman when they already are in the luxury tax and could need that money to re- sign Johnny Cueto or his replacement, AND give up valuable prospects at a time when they need to get younger.

Donaldson will be 32 on Opening Day. He is exactly the kind of player the Giants need to stay away from, unless they have not learned their lesson about older players and declining health.

He also plays 's position, unless the Giants trade and install Arroyo as a second baseman.

So, enjoy the silly season, but ttake what you hear with a grain of salt.

The game: faces Daniel Norris in a matchup of left-handers. The Giants secure a winning trip if they take this one. The lineups: GIANTS (vs. LHP Daniel Norris) Hernandez CF

Belt 1B

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Pence RF

Posey DH

Hwang 3B

Crawford SS

Slater LF

Hundley C

Tomlinson 2B

TIGERS (vs. LHP Ty Blach) Kinsler 2B

Castellanos 3B

Upton LF

Cabrera 1B

J.D. Martinez RF

V Martinez DH

Mahtook CF

McCann C

Iglesias SS

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San Francisco Chronicle In latest roles, , Matt Williams tackle broadcasting John Shea

Dave Stewart was set up. When he walked into an early-morning coaches’ meeting two spring trainings ago, he had no idea what was coming.

Suddenly, playing on a screen was video of the A’s-Giants 1989 . It was Game 3, and Stewart was seen hanging a split-fingered that was crushed over the left-field fence at .

Matt Williams was beaming — he hit it, after all — along with the other coaches in the room.

“You don’t always remember when you give up bombs to some people,” Stewart said. “Then all of a sudden, I realized it because a video was playing in my face. I didn’t remember it, then I saw it. Damn, this son of a (gun) hit a bomb off me.”

That was a long time ago. An earlier era. An earlier chapter in the lives of a couple of baseball renaissance men who have done almost as much as anyone can do in the game. Their resumes contain a variety of titles, extensive lists of wide-ranging roles.

They crossed paths last year when Stewart was the Diamondbacks’ general manager and Williams returned to the organization as third-base — 27 years after they met in the World Series.

They dueled in six other at-bats during that one-sided Series, which the A’s won in four, and Williams was 0-for-6 with three . Those at-bats weren’t seen on the video in the coaches’ room.

“For some reason, they were missing,” Williams said. “I don’t know why.”

Their paths have crossed again. Both appear in studio for pregame and postgame shows — Stewart on A’s broadcasts on NBC Sports , Williams on Giants broadcasts on NBC

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Sports Bay Area.

For some, it might be a destination job. For these guys, forever popular in these parts, it’s one more notch on the belt.

When their playing days ended, Stewart wanted to become a GM. Williams “wanted to go ride off in the sunset and sit on a bench somewhere, and that lasted about three minutes.”

After Stewart threw his final pitch for the A’s in 1995 and Williams took his final swing with the Diamondbacks in 2003, it didn’t take long for either to jump back into the game.

Stewart, 60, was an assistant GM in Oakland, San Diego and Toronto and along the way served as director of Latin American scouting, director of player personnel and minor-league director. He was a pitching coach in San Diego, Toronto and Milwaukee — and with the U.S. national team during the Olympic trials.

Turned down for GM jobs with the A’s, Marlins and Blue Jays, Stewart became a player agent and negotiated contracts for Eric Chavez (six years, $66 million) in 2004 and Matt Kemp (eight years, $160 million) in 2011, among others.

Stewart finally got a GM gig in Arizona in September 2014 but was fired after two years. This year’s team, which he helped build, is what he envisioned — it owns the majors’ third best record.

Now Stewart is part of a group, led by Tagg Romney and including Hall of Famer , trying to buy the Marlins.

“Late in my playing career, I had conversations with (former A’s owner) Walter Haas, and I told Mr. Haas I want to be a general manager of a baseball team,” Stewart said. “He asked why I’d choose that course versus coaching or managing.

“I told him the best part of the game is using what I learned on the field as a player to build a team. There’s something missing from management, the ability to understand what takes place

10 inside that clubhouse, putting together the chemistry and personalities and finding the right leadership to make a team work.

“If it weren’t for Mr. Haas, I’m guessing (then-A’s GM) , out of the blue, a month after I retired from the A’s, would not have come to me and said, ‘We want you to come to work.’ I think that happened because of Mr. Haas.”

A year after he retired as a player, Williams was hired by Diamondbacks CEO Jeff Moorad, his old agent, as a special assistant. Williams bought into the team and had a variety of roles, including in player personnel and broadcasting.

Williams became first-base coach, then third-base coach. He managed in the and interviewed for managerial jobs with the Rockies and Nationals. He got the Washington gig (and sold back his stake in the Diamondbacks) and went 179-145 in two seasons.

Williams returned to the Diamondbacks as third-base coach last year with Stewart upstairs as GM. Though both were shown the door after the season, Williams 51, is open to managing again.

“For me, my most comfortable space is in uniform,” he said. “I’ve done the ownership thing and front-office stuff, and that’s fun. The most gratification I get is swinging a fungo and throwing batting practice and being on the field.

“It’s what you know and love. I look at myself as a teacher first and foremost. At the end of the day, I think that’s how I have my greatest influence.”

Stewart and Williams are analyzing troubled teams that have played so poorly that the only thing left is a do-over, far different from their own glory days with the A’s and Giants.

“From the perspective of being behind the desk, you’re much more aware of the outside variables,” Williams said. “There’s more fan interaction. What are your thoughts? Can they turn

11 it around? There’s more time to interact in that scenario where as a manager, GM or player, you don’t necessarily have that. It’s a new perspective.”

Williams can relate to infielder Christian Arroyo, who was called up by the Giants as a promising prospect but struggled and was shipped back to Triple-A. It happened three times to Williams before he stuck and became a five-time All-Star.

“Stew will tell you, from a GM’s perspective, he needs to play,” Williams said of Arroyo, currently shelved with a broken hand. “He’s an integral part of the future.”

Stewart, a World Series MVP and four-time 20-game winner, led a dynamic Oakland rotation and realizes the current A’s aren’t close to returning to prominence. He did say the young starting could eventually form one of the game’s top rotations.

“I’m not expecting them to win,” Stewart said, “but I can see there’s a plan in place, which is to develop your starting rotation, and maybe these guys will be the (Mark) Mulders, (Barry) Zitos and (Tim) Hudsons that are coming.”

Stewart and Williams were interviewed together on the day the Giants’ plunked Washington’s — three seasons after Harper twice homered off Strickland in the — prompting a brawl that led to suspensions for both players.

It was a major topic on the Giants’ postgame show, of course. Williams had managed Harper in Washington and gave insight into his personality and intensity.

“This game is played with passion, and nobody’s immune to that passion or they wouldn’t be in that spot,” Williams said. “To talk about it allows you to relive the moment. You feel fortunate to have that knowledge.”

The fight made it onto the A’s postgame show, too, along with a 1986 clip of Stewart, as a player, being charged by Cleveland manager Pat Corrales in a memorable on-field incident. Corrales tried to kick Stewart, who punched him and knocked him to the ground.

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Off the air, Stewart noted, “When I look back on it, I had invited 300 kids to that game from the Boys and Girls Clubs in the Bay Area, and all of a sudden I’m in a fight with a manager and tossed from the game. That was not a proud moment for me.”

While Williams eyes another managing opportunity, Stewart is skeptical about becoming a GM again. His departure from the Diamondbacks left zero African American GMs, though Kenny Williams of the White Sox and Michael Hill of the Marlins were promoted from GM roles.

Asked if his time as GM would lead to more blacks hired in decision-making positions, Stewart said, “It hasn’t worked so far. Minorities have been knocking on the door for decision-making positions forever, and that’s a snail’s crawl.”

Stewart said he wasn’t given the authority he was desiring in Arizona, saying, “I don’t think that was a fair shot because of the circumstances.”

He’s back running his agency, Sports Management Partners, which was in his wife’s hands when he ran the Diamondbacks. His next step, if it pans out, is ownership. For now, he and Matt Williams are content appearing on air before and after games.

And if the 1989 World Series comes up, so be it.

“I’m waiting for payback on the video,” Williams said.

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San Jose Mercury News Giants get solid outing from Blach, beat Detroit 5-4 Daniel Brown

DETROIT — As Madison Bumgarner moves closer to a full recovery, there’s no guarantee Ty Blach will stick around in the Giants rotation.

But he made his case Wednesday night.

The Giants rookie breezed through the first six innings before hitting a speed bump in the seventh. The solid outing, backed by another productive night from Hunter Pence, was enough to carry the Giants to a 5-4 victory over the at Comerica Park.

The Giants are now 27-13 this season when they score at least four runs in a game.

With the win, they also clinched their first winning road trip in exactly a year. That was last June 29-July 3, when they went 3-2 against Arizona and the A’s.

Pence, looking like himself again, delivered an RBI ground out in the third inning and a two-run triple in the fourth. Pence now has 16 RBIs over his past 21 games.

Blach took over Bumgarner’s rotation spot in April and has had his ups and downs since then. This was definitely an up. Relying on a 90-mph two-seam fastball and an 80-mph , he looked in command early. His final line: six innings, three earned runs, one walk and two strikeouts.

He had help from several defensive gems by Jae-Gyun Hwang. The third baseman’s rangy night included a diving, backhanded stop to haul in a bad hop in the sixth. Then Hwang pounced to his feet to throw out Nicholas Castellanos.

Sam Dyson, acquired from the on June 6 for a player to be named later, recorded his third in three chances. All of the saves have come on this six-game trip through Pittsburgh and Detroit.

This time Dyson retired the side in order on seven pitches.

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San Jose Mercury News Giants’ hope rising from a Bumgarner return: ‘So far, it’s all been good’ Daniel Brown

DETROIT — As cautious optimism builds surrounding Madison Bumgarner, the countdown is officially underway.

Giants Manager Bruce Bochy on Wednesday sounded hopeful that the MVP will be back shortly after the All-Star break.

Asked specifically about July 15 — the second game of the second half — Bochy left the door open.

“It’s a possibility, yeah,” the manager said in Detroit, a few hours before the Giants played the Tigers at Comerica Park. “So far, it’s all been good. So right after the break, we think he’ll be ready to go.” Bumgarner was scheduled to make a rehabilitation start in San Jose later Wednesday night, where the left-hander was targeting a 75-pitch limit. Bumgarner is also in line to start July 10 at Municipal Stadium, although Bochy indicated the plans are fluid. “We’re going to talk about it after he pitches and see what we’re going to do at that point,” the manager said.

The Giants ace went on the disabled list April 21 with bruised ribs and a grade one or two left shoulder AC sprain. He sustained those injuries during a dirt bike accident on the team’s off- day in Colorado on April 20.

For complete Giants coverage follow us on Flipboard. — In other injury news, Bochy said infielder Eduardo Nunez (left hamstring strain) is a “long shot” to return before the All-Star break. The Giants keep pushing back his timetable, a few days at a time. “He’s just not quite there,” Bochy said.

Jae-Gyun Hwang started at third base Wednesday night against Tigers left-hander Daniel Norris.

— Infielder Ryder Jones, who was hit by a pitch on the left wrist Saturday, remains available as an emergency . Bochy doesn’t expect him to be 100 percent until Friday’s series opener against the Miami Marlins.

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MLB.com Pence logs 3 RBIs as Giants hold off tigers Jason Beck and Jarrod Horrobin

DETROIT -- Hunter Pence drove in three runs, two of them on a fourth-inning triple, as the Giants built a lead that withstood a furious Tigers comeback for a 5-4 victory on Wednesday night at Comerica Park. A day after the Tigers rallied late to take the series opener, they nearly topped that feat, coming within a hit of erasing a 5-0 deficit in the seventh inning. But the Giants' bullpen held onto the advantage built against Daniel Norris (4-7), who gave up five runs in defeat for the third consecutive start, and was chased by the fifth for his second straight outing. Full Game Coverage Ty Blach (6-5) took a shutout bid into the seventh before a procession of four relievers tried to extinguish the Tigers' rally. Victor Martinez had a two-run single as part of four consecutive hits to open the inning, then hit an eighth-inning double to bring the potential tying run back into scoring position with two out before Mikie Mahtook struck out to end the frame. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Three-Pence bit: Pence drove in the game's first run on a comebacker that left Norris shaken and unsure whether to throw home for what looked like an easier play. Pence's fourth-inning drive to the out-of-town scoreboard in right-center, by contrast, left little confusion about the outcome, clearing runners from the corners and building a 5-0 lead after Brandon Belt 's RBI single. It's just the fourth triple for Pence since 2015. Gearrin douses the comeback: One night after Justin Upton 's go-ahead two-run single, the Tigers' seventh-inning comeback again gave him a chance to be a hero, bringing the hot-hitting outfielder to the plate with the potential tying run on second base and two out. But sidearmer Cory Gearrin -- the fourth reliever of the inning -- attacked with sliders inside until Upton swung and missed at the 2-2 pitch, ending the threat. WHAT'S NEXT Giants: Right-hander Johnny Cueto (6-7, 4.26 ERA) will start the finale of this three-game set on Thursday at 10:10 a.m. PT. Cueto has faced the Tigers three times (all in 2015), going 1-2 with a 2.88 ERA. He has a 1.58 WHIP his past five starts. Tigers: Right-hander Anibal Sanchez (0-0, 6.34) will try to continue his summer revival in the Tigers' rotation when he takes the mound for Thursday's series finale at 1:10 p.m. ET. Sanchez has a 3.14 ERA in three starts, allowing 11 hits over 17 1/3 innings with four walks and 14 strikeouts.

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MLB.com Crawford picks comfort zone over adjustments Jordan Horrobin

DETROIT -- During the Giants' three-game series in Pittsburgh over the weekend, was ready to try something new. Amid a summer slump, which saw him go 10-for-64 (.156) over the previous 15 games and .167 the past month, Crawford decided to tweak his approach and hope for the best.

"I've honestly felt good for a couple weeks," he said, "but just not getting any results." Full Game Coverage

On advice from hitting coach , Crawford shortened his swing, his stance and his stride to the plate. Meulens said Crawford's swing had become too long and his timing was off, which made him late on some . The idea was to simplify and not do too much, which is a typical suggestion for slumping hitters.

In the batting cage, the shortened swing felt good. But in his first at-bat against the Pirates on Sunday, Crawford hit a chopper to first and immediately had second thoughts.

"I was like, all right, let's just go back to being comfortable and doing what I normally do," he said. "I ended up getting a hit later that game." In his next game, Tuesday's 5-3 loss to the Tigers, Crawford appeared to take another step in the right direction. He went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer. More importantly, three of his at- bats featured hard contact (an exit velocity of at least 95 mph, according to ™ ), including a warning-track fly ball to the opposite field.

Meulens, who stands behind the cage during batting practice and gives Crawford pointers between rounds, said Crawford often makes his own tweaks when results go awry at the plate. That explains Crawford's decision to go back to his regular batting stance and swing.

"You want to make some adjustments, but at the same time you gotta feel good about doing it," Meulens said. Worth noting

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• Ace Madison Bumgarner was slated to pitch for Class A Advanced San Jose on Wednesday night, and Giants manager Bruce Bochy said the goal is for Bumgarner to pitch five innings and approximately 75 pitches. Third baseman , who could return as early as Friday from the 10-day disabled list, was also scheduled to play in the game for San Jose.

• The Giants have agreed to terms with 17 players during the 2017-18 international signing period, according to MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez. Among them, Sanchez has reported shortstops Luis Toribio and Yorlis Rodriguez, Yohan Polanco and Jean Pena and left-handed starter Jesus Gomez have signed for $300,000 each.

• Connor Nurse, a 6-foot-6 high school right-hander and the Giants' 34th-round pick in this year's Draft, has signed and received a $250,000 bonus, according to Jim Callis of MLBPipeline.com. Only half of Nurse's signing bonus counts against the Giants' bonus pool because he was taken after the 11th round (the first $125,000 of signing bonuses for all 12th- rounders and beyond doesn't count).

MLB.com Cueto looks to pin down Tigers in rubber game Jordan Horrobin

It will be a battle between veteran pitchers when Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto faces Tigers righty Anibal Sanchez in the finale of a three-game Interleague series on Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park.

Sanchez continues to impress since returning to the starting rotation on June 19 after beginning the season as a reliever. After his most recent start on Saturday, in which he allowed three runs in 6 1/3 innings, Sanchez said he felt great and was encouraged by the effectiveness of his mixed velocities. He has a 3.12 ERA three starts this year, but has yet to receive a decision. Full Game Coverage

Sanchez emerged from the 'pen with a 7.96 ERA, but he hasn't allowed more than three runs in any of his first three outings as a starter. With more innings to work with, Sanchez, who used to throw as hard as 96 mph a decade ago with the Marlins, has started relying more on his

18 offspeed pitches, some more extreme than others.

Sanchez unveiled a changeup he's nicknamed "La Mariposa" (English translation: "The Butterfly") on several occasions in his previous start against the Indians, going as low as 64 mph on a pitch to Yan Gomes. As Sanchez has reduced speed, the exit velocity of balls put in play against him have gotten softer, too -- from 90.0 mph out of the bullpen to 81.1 mph as a starter.

Cueto has gone at least five innings in all 17 starts this season. He has faced the Tigers three times, all in 2015 (once with the Reds and twice with the Royals after he was traded to Kansas City at the non-waiver Trade Deadline), and is 1-2 with a 2.88 ERA against them. Three things to know about this game

• No one on the Giants' current roster has faced Sanchez since 2012. Of those who have seen him, Buster Posey has surprisingly had the most difficulty. Posey is 1-for-11 (.091) with five strikeouts against Sanchez, while Hunter Pence and Brandon Crawford are a combined 10-for- 28 (.357) with a double and three RBIs.

• After yielding just one out of 181 at-bats (0.55 percent) ending in four-seam fastballs last season, Cueto has allowed six homers in 128 at-bats (4.7 percent) ending in four- seamers already this year, according to Statcast.

• Cueto led the Majors with five complete games in 2016, but he hasn't had any this season. In 17 starts, he's only completed more than seven innings once.

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Yahoosports.com Two days after ripping them, Dodgers’ proclaims he ‘loves’ his fans Tim Brown

The day was Oct. 10, just last fall. A Monday. At noon, the freeway running through downtown Los Angeles was at a stop and would be for the distant future. Just too many cars. There’d be a baseball game in about an hour just up the road, maybe three or four miles, and there’d be no chance to see the first pitch, unless you were to have left your car and walked. Unhurriedly. Then you would have reached in plenty of time.

There are murals on buildings that can be seen from the freeway: large, colorful renderings of classical musicians many stories high that, in passing, are quite lovely.

Stare at them for 40 minutes, though, those things start talking to you.

“You’re late, you know.”

“You’re never going to make it.”

“Is that the anthem I hear?”

“Sure you have enough gas?”

“Still listening to ‘70s music, I see.”

I was going to work. The Dodgers and Nationals had been rained out in Game 2 of the division series, which meant Game 3 was moved to Sunday, which meant an early Monday flight across the country in time for a 1 p.m. PT start. So, for the first time in many years, I was funneling into Dodger Stadium with 50-some thousand other people, all of us wanting to be in our seats by the first pitch, needing to be there, and yet here we were, inching along guardrails, past guys risking their lives to buy and sell tickets, past guys waving you three inches closer to a parking lot a mile away.

For the first time, maybe ever, I thought, “Man, it’s hard to be a fan. It’s hard work.”

It hadn’t occurred to me before, not like that.

When Kenley Jansen blasted Dodgers fans Sunday — and Kenley Jansen is one of the more likeable players I’ve ever met — I thought back to that afternoon in October, to what those people endured (and paid) in order to get into that ballpark, into those seats, just to watch Kenley Jansen — turned out — give up four runs in one-third of an inning. And some do it 81 times a year, more if they’re lucky and the team they follow is any good.

No wonder they’re mad when a ballplayer can’t drag himself 90 feet with any enthusiasm three or four times over three hours. No wonder they boo. No wonder they sometimes don’t have the time to vote for stuff.

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Being a fan requires nothing. You don’t have to go to games, you don’t have to watch on TV (a fortunate clause for Dodgers fans), you don’t have to buy shirseys or little mounds of dirt that Tim Tebow may or may not have trod upon, you don’t have to rent 5×10 plots of tar for $10 an hour. Just try not to, you know, throw anything or hit anyone, just like in the 21 hours around the games.

Jansen is by all appearances a good guy. When he took on the fans in the name of friend and teammate , his heart was in a decent place. It’s just, well, he may have been a little rough.

By Tuesday, a couple days later, his tone had softened.

“I blame myself too,” he said, and admitted he’d spent time voting for Turner since Sunday. “We have the best fans in the world. I just want to be the messenger.”

Besides, he added, “The reaction from the fans is great. JT is leading the vote right now. … I say whatever I have to say. I love my fans. I never doubted my fans.”

To hope for more is, I guess, reasonable. But to demand more?

As my pals on the building would say, “You’re never going to make it.”

*** So, the baseball. It’s always flying too far or missing too many bats or whizzing by people’s heads or connecting with people’s heads or being messed with in Costa Rica, and now it’s been accused of raising pockets of puss where they shouldn’t be. Which is anywhere.

The latest, beyond their being wound too tightly, according to the conspiracists, along with those employed to hold and throw the things, is that have consistently lower and wider stitches. So they carry farther. So they don’t curve with the same bite. So they cause blisters.

I never took physics. And I’m not going to sit in my darkened garage with a baseball and a hacksaw. But here we are.

Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman, after developing a blister during a start on Monday, restarted the conversation.

“I’ve never had a blister in my life,” he said. “Nothing even remotely close to having a blister. It’s crazy. … I feel like it’s an epidemic that’s happened across the big leagues now, a bunch of pitchers getting blisters.”

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With flatter stitches, assuming they are lower, pitchers must grip the baseball with greater pressure, exposing areas in their hands not previous callused. Also, perhaps, because the ball has less drag, it might carry farther. And, if that theory plays, more home runs.

Veteran lefty Rich Hill is an expert on pitching. Also, on blisters.

“I never had a blister until 2016,” he said.

So, the baseball’s are different.

“A lot of guys are saying that,” he said. “There’s a lot of talk the baseballs are different. The seams are flatter and wider.”

He fetched a memo from his locker and held it up. It was from MLB and, he said, basically refuted speculation baseballs had been altered. To summarize, same specs, same balls, same everything.

Except, it seems, different game.

*** WHAT ELSE : While the accountants are probably super busy, the folks on the baseball side of the Miami Marlins are waiting and wondering who their next boss is going to be, and whether he or she will prefer to keep the roster together or fling it into pennant races across America. It’s something they would love to know in the next week or two, ahead of the July 31 deadline.

Left-hander Brad Hand, at 27, with 135 minor-league appearances and 211 major league appearances behind him, waived by the Marlins a little more than a year ago, is an All Star. Sure, the were required to send somebody. But also there’s plenty to be said about showing up, doing your job, and making your right place and right time.

The best moment in Mike Foltynewicz’s near no-hitter Friday night in Oakland was a dugout exchange he revealed afterward. In the seventh inning, while trying to adhere to no-hitter superstitions, Folty needed to use the bathroom. He was unsure, however, at a time of same seats and same routines, if the trip would kill his mojo. He leaned over to his , Tyler Flowers, and asked, “Should I go?” To which Flowers responded, “Oh no, that doesn’t matter. Go to the bathroom.” Whew.

In a lawsuit, umpire Angel Hernandez claims two things — that he is an exceptional umpire and that MLB has discriminated against him for reasons of race (Hernandez is Cuban) and “personal animus.” Perhaps, if nothing else, the suit will bring traction to the idea that umpire’s grades be made public. Then we’ll all know.

*** INCOMING :

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Waiting on the Cubs to start winning has become a daily event, because they can’t possibly be this mediocre, because the hangover that’s impossible to deny anymore can’t possibly last forever, because it shouldn’t be that hard to overtake the .

And yet.

The starting pitching has been almost as unimpressive as the offense, and the defense has been worst of all, and a year ago we had some of the same questions about the Cubs before they blew through the second half at 50-23.

The have lost six of nine. They are 17-24 on the road. Starling Marte won’t return for another two weeks. They come to Wrigley for three this weekend.

As good a time as any.

The probables:

Friday: Trevor Williams vs. Eddie Butler

Saturday: Ivan Nova vs.

Sunday: vs.

SI.com Mid-Year Report: shines, Cubs flail in homer-happy first half of 2017 season Tom Verducci

It’s shaping up as a season for the record books: more strikeouts, more homers, more rookie sluggers, and perhaps more teams vying for playoff spots than ever before.

Strikeouts are up for a 12th straight year, reaching another record high. Home runs are flying out of ballparks like never before.

Oh, and games keep getting longer.

In other words, if you like action, the are your worst nightmare. No team takes longer to play an average game: three hours, 19 minutes. And much of their time is spent doing nothing. In a whopping 39% of their plate appearances—roughly two out of every five batters who steps to the plate—no defense or running is required because the

23 play is not put in play. They are the kings of the Three True Outcomes (strikeouts, walks, home runs). And they are one of many American League teams still in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Halfway home, the American League is up for grabs as far as who can challenge the Astros. Washington and Los Angeles are the class of the National League.

MLB All-Star Game rosters feature plenty of youth and even more power

It’s time to present the Mid-Year Report, a rundown on my picks for All-Stars at each position, the four major awards and the five biggest storylines of the season. (In picking my All-Stars, I don’t cop out and pick three “outfielders.” I picked the best at each unique outfield position, and considered the position where the player started the most games.)

Position NL AL

C Buster Posey, 30 Salvador Perez, 27

1B Paul Goldschmidt, 29 Justin Smoak, 30

2B , 32 Jose Altuve, 27

SS , 23 , 22

3B , 27 Jose Ramirez, 24

LF , 21 Justin Upton, 29

CF , 31 , 27

RF Bryce Harper, 24 Aaron Judge, 25

DH Corey Dickerson, 28

SP , 32 Chris Sale, 28

RP Kenley Jansen, 29 , 29

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The skinny: Check it out: nobody over age 32. Sixteen of 21 in their 20s. Only three who switched teams as a free agent (Murphy, Scherzer, Upton). The lesson: better grow ‘em on your farm. NL Awards

MVP

1. Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona

2. Bryce Harper, Washington

3. Charlie Blackmon, Colorado

4. , Cincinnati

5. Ryan Zimmerman, Washington

6. Corey Seager, Los Angeles

7. Justin Turner, Los Angeles

8. Anthony Rendon, Washington

9. Nolan Arenado, Colorado

10. Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles

The skinny: This one’s not even that close. Harper has been terrific, but Goldschmidt has been that good.

Oh, and by the way: First 861 career games: Goldschmidt .934 OPS, .301 batting average, 159 HR; Miguel Cabrera .924 OPS, .309 batting average, 170 HR. Get used to it, folks.

Cy Young

1. Max Scherzer, Washington

2. , Los Angeles

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3. Carlos Martinez, St. Louis

4. , Arizona

5. Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles

The skinny: Scherzer leads in ERA, WHIP, innings and strikeouts. How’s that $210 million investment working out for Washington? With the Nationals, Scherzer is 44–24 with a 2.68 ERA. His ERA with Detroit had been 3.52.

Rookie of the Half Year

1. Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles

2. Kyle Freeland, Colorado

3. Josh Bell, Pittsburgh

The skinny: Bellinger changed his stroke in Class A to get the ball airborne. The result is the most whippy swing through a baseball since . Upon follow-through, Bellinger regularly knocks himself in the back with the barrel of the bat.

Manager of the Half Year

1. , Washington

2. Bud Black, Colorado

3. , Arizona

The skinny: Black was supposed to get the Washington job before the Nationals reversed field and gave it to Baker. Now the Nats and Rockies are the better for that decision. Baker brings his usual superb touch to a team that lost its centerfielder and leadoff hitter, Adam Eaton, has no reliable late-inning relievers, and now just lost its shortstop and replacement leadoff hitter, Trea Turner. Baker gets the most out of his stars.

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AL Awards

MVP

1. Aaron Judge, New York

2. Carlos Correa,

3. George Springer, Houston

4. Jose Altuve, Houston

5. Corey Dickerson, Tampa Bay

6. , Boston

7. , Los Angeles

8. Jose Ramirez, Cleveland

9. Chris Sale, Boston

10. Justin Smoak, Toronto

The skinny: It’s difficult to remember any hitter who adjusted so quickly to plate discipline and bat-to-ball skills than Judge. A swing-and-miss machine last year has become the most compelling player in baseball. (He’s the new flavor). Try this on for size: Judge home runs by pitch type:

Pitch Type Batting Average Home Runs

Cutters .429 2

Curveballs .379 4

Sinkers .346 6

Changeups .333 4

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Four-seam fastball .329 9

Sliders .214 3

By the way, don’t think that sliders are his Achilles. Very few hitters hit sliders. It’s the most difficult pitch to hit in baseball. That’s why you see relief specialists predominantly throwing fastball/ combinations. Nobody wants to bring sinkers and out of the bullpen; they want the ball not to be put in play. The average big leaguer hits only .218 against the slider. Judge is just an average slider hitter, not a weak one.

Cy Young Award

1. Chris Sale, Boston

2. Lance McCullers, Houston

3. Jason Vargas, Kansas City

4. Yu Darvish, Texas

5. Craig Kimbrel, Boston

The skinny: Bill James likes to say a player new to Boston incurs a break-in tax; it takes a year to acclimate to the environment. Not Sale. His stuff is great, and the reason why it plays up even more is that nobody throws quite like him. Hitters have no frame of reference in their mental database. Rookie of the Half Year

1. Aaron Judge, New York

2. Trey Mancini, Baltimore

3. , Boston

The skinny: Mancini’s terrific season is being overshadowed by Judge. You might say the same about the season of lefthanded pitcher , Judge’s teammate.

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Manager of the Half Year

1. A.J. Hinch, Houston

2. Mike Scioscia, Los Angeles

3. , Minnesota

The skinny: Hinch pushed for leadership and better quality at-bats. The Astros rid themselves of several stat darlings who gave too many empty at-bats. Now this team is running at full throttle with confidence, even with injuries to the rotation. Hinch’s use of super-reliever has been genius.

The Biggest Storylines of the Half Year

1. The Great Home Run Surge.

The ball is livelier. Period. There is no way to explain the sudden (since the second half of 2015) and extreme jump in home runs without addressing the ball itself. My theory: the balls might have the same components, but they are manufactured better and tighter, falling within the lowest end of the allowable size and weight restrictions. (Most people don’t know official MLB balls are not one size; they have a leeway as much as a quarter of an ounce and a quarter of an inch in diameter.) Tighter baseballs with tighter seams have less drag. Less drag means more carry. More carry means more home runs. That’s what we’re seeing.

Yes, the Launch-Angle Revolution is inspiring more hitters to sell out for home runs. But here’s why that explanation only goes so far. According to baseballreference.com data, the percentage of balls in play that are flyballs has barely budged over the past four years (starting from 2014: 29.2, 26.8, 28.6, 29.8). We are not seeing a significant increase in flyballs. Yet the of flyballs that are home runs has soared (7.7, 8.0, 10.3, 13.4).

Here’s what it means: if flyballs carried this year the same way they carried in 2014, and we had exactly the same number of flyballs, we would expect to see 2,873 of them go out of

29 the park. Instead, we are on pace for 5,008 flyballs to leave the yard. That’s a 74% increase in flyballs that become homers. A surge that big just can’t be explained without bringing the ball into question.

One more piece of evidence that the ball is carrying farther: tape-measure home runs are becoming commonplace. We are on pace for 168 home runs measured by Statcast at 450 feet or more. That’s a stunning 38% increase just since 2015 (122).

2. Judge and Belly

We’ve never seen anything like this: two rookies, Judge and Bellinger, leading their league in home runs while on pace to hit more than 40. Oh, they also happen to play in the two largest markets on traditional powers in playoff position.

Only once in baseball history have two rookies hit 33 or more home runs: 1950, when hit 37 and hit 34. Now Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers should smash their way well beyond those totals, while rookies Matt Davidson of the White Sox (17) and of the Padres (16) are not far behind.

3. The Cubs are bad.

Unless gets voted in for the last roster spot, nobody from Chicago’s world championship team will be at the All-Star Game. (Trade acquisition is the team’s lone rep.) The Cubs reached the halfway point with a losing record (40–41). It’s not as if they’re been victims of bad luck or suddenly going to rip off a 20–3 run the way the Dodgers did. This team is going to struggle to get to the 87 wins it will take to win the mediocre NL Central. It has earned every bit of the poor record. Here’s why:

— Their older starting pitchers are showing the effects of getting pushed through the seventh month of competition last year.

Every one of them has lost miles per hour off their average fastball: (down 2.37 mph), Jake Arrieta (-1.73 mph), Jon Lester (-1.31) and (-1.13)—this in a year where changes in data collection actually added velocity for most pitchers.

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— They miss Dexter Fowler.

The defense is significantly worse. Their other-worldly rates from last year have fallen, from first to seventh in defensive efficiency (down 31 percentage points) and from first to fifth in batting average on balls in play. Most of the decline on defense shows up in the outfield, where was a liability in leftfield and John Jay and can’t match Fowler in centerfield.

— They miss .

Willson Contreras is the greater talent, but he’s still learning how to catch and run a game. The Cubs’ walk rate has gone up 22% with Contreras behind the plate as compared to when Ross was back there last year.

Catcher IP BB% K% K/BB

Ross (2016) 448.2 7.9% 24.9% 3.14

Contreras (2017) 502.2 9.6% 23.4% 2.46

The Cubs are walking a dangerous line: they are trying to win by putting a veteran pitching staff into an entirely young catching corps (Contreras and rookie Victor Caratini).

4. The Astros are the Best Team in Baseball

They are the most fun team to watch. The Astros also are state of the art.

Houston has built an aggressive, athletic offense that has learned the value of putting the ball in play in this era of strikeouts, and a pitching staff that relies on spin in this age of advanced measureables.

Here’s the cold, hard truth while everybody wants to obsess about increased velocity in the game: fastballs get hit.

Spin rates, not mph readings, are the way forward. Just two years ago not one team in baseball dared throw fewer than 50% fastballs. This year five teams are throwing fastballs

31 less than half the time, and all five of them are competing for a playoff spot: the Indians (49.6%), Rays (49.1), Angels (48.7), Astros (47.5) and Yankees (an astoundingly low 43.2).

5. The Drought Watch (Continued)

In the past dozen years baseball ended the three longest World Series title droughts in history (Red Sox, White Sox, Cubs). This half season has kept alive the possibility of ending the fifth-longest drought ever (Indians) as well as six of the seven longest current droughts.

Take a look at this: the seven longest current World Series droughts, and where those teams stand at the halfway point.

Team Years Playoff Position

Cleveland Indians 68 First place

Texas Rangers 56 2 GB Wild Card

Houston Astros 55 First place

Milwaukee Brewers 48 First place

Washington Nationals 48 First place

San Diego Padres 48 13 GB Wild Card

Seattle Mariners 40 1.5 GB Wild Card

Eight current franchises have never won the World Series: all the teams listed above except Cleveland, as well as the Rockies and Rays. Those eight title-starved teams have combined for 338 years of waiting. Now all of them except San Diego are still in the hunt for October.

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USAtoday.com For Marlins, All-Star Game puts team’s dysfunction – and imminent sale – in spotlight Bob Nightengale

MIAMI - The Miami Marlins’ game is over, but the loud, thumping music is blaring over the speakers, tequila shots still are being served and several men are sharing pictures of women from earlier in the evening whose bodies were covered by only bikini bottoms and body paint.

The Clevelander Bar, located behind Marlins Park’s left-field fence and which promotes itself as the Best Party in Baseball, certainly has no fear of creating false advertising.

Inside the Marlins clubhouse, where the real entertainers are done for the evening, the vibe is subdued as players head home after yet another loss.

If the Clevelander is the happiest place at Marlins Park, uncertainty can at times make the Marlins clubhouse the gloomiest.

“It’s tough on guys in here,’’ Marlins veteran catcher A.J. Ellis says. “You’re living on edge. It’s especially tough for a lot of these guys who have been lifelong Marlins. This is all they know.’’

The Marlins, a franchise that's only 25 years old, are preparing for their fourth fire sale, the second in five years, with any player on a multiyear contract available.

All of this comes as baseball’s elite prepare to gather this weekend in advance of Tuesday’s All-Star Game, a strange contrast for an event designed to showcase the home team’s stars and heritage.

Gary Sanchez fires back at Logan Morrison on Derby snub: 'Not my fault he wasn't invited'

MLB All-Star Game rosters: Nationals, Yankees, Astros Indians score five selections apiece

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Aaron Judge hits 29th homer, ties Joe DiMaggio's Yankee rookie record

Instead, with the Marlins at 37-45 and fourth in the National League East, it’s more like last call for an ownership group ready to bail.

This franchise is hemorrhaging money, projected to lose $62 million this season, according to investors who have seen the Marlins’ books. The Marlins are carrying a debt of about $500 million, and it’s increasing by the year. The Marlins, with a franchise-record opening-day payroll of $116 million, have a staggering $488 million in future salary commitments.

It’s the highest financial commitment of any team in baseball - nearly double the total of the - despite averaging a National League-worst 20,904 fans per game and carrying the lowest-paid TV contract at $20 million a year through 2020.

Owner Jeffrey Loria, who has been involved in baseball ownership since 1989 and bought the Marlins for $158.5 million in 2002, hopes to sell the club after the All-Star break for $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion. It will be an all-cash deal. A group led by businessman Wayne Rothbaum and Tagg Romney is considered the favorite to purchase the team, but former New York Yankees star and his investment group remain in the running. Local Miami businessman Jorge Mas is considered a long shot.

“There are a lot of moving parts to this sale, no doubt, but it’s happening,’’ Marlins President David Samson told USA TODAY Sports. “The timetable is the same. But it will be sold. It’s in the process right now.’’

Loria has taken care of several of his most trusted front-office employees with lucrative contracts. Michael Hill, Marlins president of baseball operations, is earning in excess of $10 million under his five-year contract.

Loria wants to stay loyal to his executives but still reduce the debt to make the purchase price more appealing, meaning their players will have to depart. It doesn’t matter if your name is , Christian Yelich, AJ Ramos or even , the Marlins are preparing to strip it down for the next ownership group.

Yes, less than three years after signing Stanton to a record 13-year, $325 million deal, the Marlins are ready to unload him, if someone is actually willing to inherit such a financial commitment.

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“I can’t control what’s going to happen,’’ Stanton quietly said Tuesday in St. Louis. “I can’t control what people say. I can’t control the rumors. I just come in here and play hard every day and try to win.

“But it’s tough. There’s only so much you can go through. It’s not normal, but you take it for what it is. There just have been so many things that have gone on here. It’s more of the same story, just a different day. You’re almost numb to it.’’

Stanton, 27, a four-time All-Star, is in his eighth season with the Marlins but has not experienced a winning season. And never have they finished higher than third place in the NL East or within 15 games of the division title during that span.

The Marlins seriously considered rebuilding in the aftermath of Jose Fernandez’s death in a boating accident last September, but Loria overruled several executives. It not only was unfair to the community, he argued, but also to the legacy of Fernandez.

“Right when that happened with Jose,’’ Marlins manager said, “we talked about how are we going to compete? We knew we didn’t have the resources to go get two big-time pitchers. And we didn’t really have that guy in our system. So there was really some serious talk about it.

“The one thing we said was that we thought this core of players deserves a shot. We felt like our bullpen was going to be pretty good. Maybe with those arms, you can kind of piece it together and have a shot. We just haven’t been able to do it.’’

Any serious playoff aspirations ended in May with a stretch of 19 losses in 23 games. They went five weeks without winning back-to-back-games. Their starting rotation is yielding a 5.05 ERA, third highest in baseball, while pitching the second-fewest innings.

The Marlins are anticipating a sellout crowd for the All-Star Game, although tickets still are available, but believe it might be the last time they draw a crowd larger than 25,000 this season. They might have a beautiful new ballpark with a retractable roof, ending the days of rainouts, hurricane warnings and rain delays at their old digs, but they still haven’t drawn in excess of 2 million fans since Marlins Park’s inaugural 2012 season.

The $639 million ballpark was largely publicly funded, and the ultimate cost to taxpayers is expected to exceed $1 billion.

“We just haven’t been able to provide a winner consistently enough for our fans since we moved into this ballpark,’’ Samson says. “That’s a frustrating thing. People try to think that Miami is different, but it’s not. Everybody supports a winner. But we

35 haven’t built enough momentum over the years of winning to do that.’’

With attendance cratering, can this fan base tolerate another fire sale?

“These players have been together for four or five years trying to make a run, and it hasn’t worked," Samson says. "To me, if the Marlins do it, why is it any different than when the Cubs did it? Or the Astros did it? Or the Phillies did it? Or the Braves did it?

“If they can stomach it there, they should be able to stomach it here. To me, I just want be a normal franchise.’’

Well, try convincing a fan base that has seen seven managers since 2010 and is still paying three managers this year with Mike Redmond, Dan Jennings and Mattingly on the books.

“It’s crazy how many things happen there,’’ says shortstop Jose Reyes, who signed a six-year, $106 million free agent contract in 2011, only to be traded a year later. “I think it’s hard for the fans. They want to see a team that wins. They don’t want to see their favorite players get traded. It’s crazy, but that’s how they do it there.’’

Change is coming again for the Marlins, and whether it’s the proper course of action of not, it has created anxiety.

“It can easily be a distraction,’’ Ellis says, “especially when there is nothing else to distract you, your team spinning its wheels in the middle of the pack of the NL East.’’

The Marlins say they had no intentions of breaking it up, but the wee hours of Sept. 25 changed everything. It was the morning the Marlins learned that Fernandez, 24, was one of three passengers killed in a boating accident.

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