Rookie leftfielder Steven Souza Jr., who had been put in the game for defense, used all of his 6″4′ frame to stretch out and make a spectacular game-ending catch.

After the game, Zimmermann expressed his appreciation for Souza’s heroics by telling reporters,“Whatever he wants he can have. I’ll buy him anything.”

Upon hearing of Zimmermann’s offer, Souza joked that he’d take BMW, before giving the company line that he was just doing his job and doesn’t deserve anything from the hurler.

Now it looks like Souza is getting that BMW. According the Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore, Souza had this exchange with reporters before game 1 of the Nationals NLDS against the Giants.

What is Zimmermann getting you?

“A BMW,” Souza replied.

Seriously?

“Yeah.”

No, really?

“It’s getting shipped this winter,” Souza said.

What kind?

“I’m not sure,” Souza said, shrugging as he walked down the dugout and into the clubhouse.

Kilgore writes that he isn’t entirely sure if Souza was being serious, or was just messing around with the press.

It isn’t unusual for a pitcher to dole out thank you gifts after a no-no. Roy Halladay famously gave engraved Baume and Mercier watches to everyone who was in the Phillies dugout after he pitched a perfect game in 2010.

But a BMW would be a particularly meaningful gift for Souza. The 25-year old spent almost all of 2014 in the minors and his salary for the year is likely less than the sticker price for a 7 Series.

But the dude could flat out hit.  So the idea of the Ramirez being the Cubs new hitting — a rumor that has been floating about the web today — is a lot less ridiculous than the best of his Manny being Manny antics.

The former Red Sox and Indian actually coached top prospects at the Cubs’ Triple-A Iowa club this year, including Javier Baez and Jorge Soler and received rave reviews as both an instructor and a mentor.

“He was great. I learned a lot of stuff from him,” Baez explained. “He helped my approach to right-center, (following) his routine every day, going to the cage, the way he works. He’s always got a bat in his hand doing something, either swinging the bat or just hitting in the cage. He talked to a lot of the guys. A lot of people learned from him.”

Cubs GM Theo Epstein didn’t rule out the idea of calling Ramirez up to fill the hitters coach role on the big club when asked by the Chicago Sun Times yesterday.

“I want to see whether he wants to continue playing or not before I answer that question,” Epstein told the daily.

Ramirez had 77 plate appearance in Iowa, only OPSing .648. That plus him being 42 should probably convince Manny, who hit 555 home runs and had a .312 batting average over his 19-year big league career, to hang it up for good. However he is Manny, so you never know.

In addition to Beaz and Soler, Ramirez would be teaching hitting to Cubs squad which features Anthony Rizzo, one of the top young sluggers in the game, and 22-year old speedster Arismendy Alcantara. Uber prospects Kris Bryant, who spent 2014 in Double-A, is also likely to get a call up in 2015.

So there is going to be a lot of impressionable talent for Ramirez or whomever the Cubs’ hitting coach is to work with. Do you think Manny is a bold pick for the job, or a disaster waiting to happen?

Of course mid-September would be an odd time to deal a player. Even one who chose to burn eyes everywhere with his shiny ankles. Perhaps Phillies fans believed Brown had been dealt because there have been a lot of articles suggesting the team’s front office was fed up with Brown — a former top prospect who’s had exactly one good month in his four year MLB career.

Between Brown and Ryan Howard, the Phillies have lost 2.3 WAR in 2014, despite first base and left field being the too easiest big league position to fill. So maybe a Brown trade was wishful thinking on the part of the Phillies faithful.

Any social media hint that Howard, and the $60 million left on his contract had somehow been dealt, will surely whip them into hysterics.

The 23-year old is, however, going through the worst stretch of his career, slashing .195/.307/.537 over the past month. But he’s still maintained his knack for controversy, with the latest incident in the Chronicles of Yasiel having our hero arguing with Matt Kemp in the Dodgers dugout during their game against the Rockies.

As you can see, whatever Puig did to offend Kemp was discussed with manager Don Mattingly (and Puig’s interpreter.) After the game Mattingly refused to elaborate, calling it “family business.”

Speculation is Kemp was angry Puig — who is a fast runner — didn’t take third on an Adrian Gonzalez single which came right in front of Kemp’s plate appearance. The Dodgers won the game 11-3. There have been reports that the Dodgers dugout is “dysfunctional.” Mattingly responded to them be joking his team was “like the ’72 As,” who won their first of three straight World Series despite having a less than harmonious dugout.

Puig’s poor play of late has some calling him to be replaced in the lineup by well-paid bench piece Andre Either, stud rookie Joc Pederson or the unheralded Scott Van Slyke, who quietly has the best numbers of any member of LA’s famously crowded outfield.

So far Mattingly has been sticking with Puig, and the Wild Horse may be getting back on track; he’s 6-14 with two doubles over the last three games.

If he keeps hitting, this latest dust up will blow over. He reverts to his slump, it may be more ammunition for a change, as the Dodgers battle the Nationals for home field throughout National League post season.

Davis was only batting .196 with 26 home runs and 173 Ks for the year, although he had been a little better as of late. The suspension will cost the 28-year old the rest of the regular season and then the first eight games of the playoffs, assuming Baltimore gets that far. The Orioles, who have a ten game lead in the American League East, are virtually guaranteed a spot in the playoffs and still have a chance to catch the Angels for the best record in the American League.

But they will have to do so without Davis. Further complicating the suspension is that Davis had recently shifted over to third base to replace the injured Manny Machado, with Steve Pearce, who’s enjoying a breakout season at age 31, manning first for the Birds.

Kelly Johnson, who’s struggled in 2014, will likely be inserted into the lineup at third now that Davis isn’t available.

The Orioles still have plenty of power — thanks to Nelson Cruz and Adam Jones — and Davis’s glove wasn’t really an ideal fit at the hot corner. So it’s possible the team doesn’t miss a beat, especially if Pearce can continue to hit and Johnson can be useful.

But if they do make a deep postseason run it will be without Machado, Matt Wieters, who’s also out for the year with an injury, and now Davis. Something few would have thought possible going into the season, especially considering their division.

In a statement, Davis apologized for the suspension, saying he had an Adderral exemption last year, but not this year:

“I apologize to my teammates, coaches, the Orioles organization and especially the fans. I made a mistake by taking Adderall. I had permission to use it in the past, but do not have a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) this year. I accept my punishment and will begin serving my suspension immediately.”

Other players who have been suspended for Adderral– which isn’t deemed as serious as other PED use (hence the 25 game vs. 50 game ban) — include Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz.

Yesterday two prominent players — David Wright and Drew Smiley — were officially shut down for the season. A handful more might face a similar fate. We breakdown who’s just been declared out, and who may be out for the rest of 2014.

David Wright
The Mets third baseman will be shut down with a left rotator cuff inflammation. After playing on a Hall of Fame level his first five seasons, Wright’s numbers started to dip precipitously in 2009 — a decline widely attributed to the dimensions of the Mets’ new ballpark Citi Field. His numbers perked up again in 2012, when the Mets moved the fences in. However he had his worst season as a pro in 2014, battling shoulder issues all season. His performance (and his bulky shoulder) must be making the Mets brass very nervous, because they owe the 31-year old $107 million over the next five seasons.

Drew Smyly
The Rays acquired Smyly, along with Nick Franklin, in the David Price deal. Smyly’s always had great stuff, but the 25-year old was never really able to break out of the fifth starter/swingman role he had in the stacked Tiger’s rotation. Since the deal, the left-hander has actually outperformed Price. The Rays decided to shut him down because he’s pitched his Major League high in innings, and they may as well save him for next year when the hope to be back to their role as plucky contenders.

Dustin Pedroia
Let’s talk about wo weird the big-budget Red Sox have played over the last several seasons: A World Series victory sandwiched between two last place finishes. Their star second baseman hasn’t been much of help in salvaging their 2014 seasons. Pedroia’s posting a career low in most offensive categories and is OPSing 674 during the second half of the year. A bad wrist is likely contributing to his poor show at the plate, and the Red Sox are likely on the verge of shutting him down for the season with that injury.

Jimmy Rollins
Quick. Who’s been the second best shortstop in baseball in 2014 according to bWAR. Yup, it’s Rollins. (We’re giving it away be the heading.) The rejuvenated 35-year old tweaked his hamstring legging out a triple on Monday, and while manager Ryne Sandberg says it’s “day-to-day,” Rollins didn’t seem as optimistic. Don’t be shocked if we don’t see J-Roll again until 2015.

Brett Gardner
Right now, Gardner’s status is “out indefinitely” with a strained lower abdominal. The Yankees are hanging on by a thread in the wild card race, and a few more losses in the next week and they are down for. If Gardner can’t return before then, it’s unlikely he will at all.

Ryan Braun
After being a near certainty for the playoff a few weeks ago, the Brewers are now a game-and-a-half out of the final playoff stump. Ryan Braun’s poor play has been a big part of their sudden implosion. Manager Ron Roenicke admitted yesterday that his slugger’s chronic thumb condition is now affecting his whole hand. Braun, who’s OPSing 677 since the All-Star break, sat out a few games in the past week, and it’s starting to look like the Brewers may be better off shutting down the 2011 MVP completely.

The tour’s most important stop was yesterday, his big official “Derek Jeter Day” send off at Yankee Stadium. Word is the ceremony proved all of us snarkers prescient, because the visuals looked an awful lot like the Yankees were saying so long to somebody who has shuffled off from this mortal coil, not goodbye to a once great player who is currently OPSing .618.

The next player with the potential to get the Jeter-treatment is longtime Red Sox and three-time World Champion David Ortiz, who turns 39 this year. Ortiz is still one of the best hitters in the American League, so it is too soon to talk retirement just yet. But when the time does come, Ortiz doesn’t think his goodbye will set up like the Jeter spectacle. This is what the slugger told ESPN Boston.

“What Derek Jeter is doing is fine because he’s Derek Jeter. What Mariano did is fine because it’s Mariano. But I don’t know if I’m going to go through all that. I’m not going to wake up and be like, ‘I’m going to play this year and then not anymore.’ To me, it’s going to be how things go through the season and how I feel and then I’m going to be like, ‘Mama, it’s over.’ I’m going to let her know,” Ortiz said with a big smile and laugh.

So if Ortiz doesn’t do a goodbye tour, who’s the next player to get one? Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley have had long, great careers in one city, but would each need to have a few more really good seasons to reach the sure-Hall-of-Fame threshold that is required for such an honor. Ichiro is a Hall of Famer, but he’s currently playing in the wrong city and doesn’t have enough left in the tank to return to the right city as a regular. Joe Mauer and David Wright have been one-city stars for over a decade, but they are both on the decline and have no postseason success to speak of. A-rod? Ha!

After having three straight years with a retirement tour (Chipper Jones, Rivera and Jeter) we probably won’t be having another for a long time.  Given the depressing turn Jeter’s farewell has taken, it’s probably for the best.

Greinke, who is considered one of the league’s smartest and most interesting players, suggested that his brains aren’t necessarily working to his advantage when he’s on the mound.

“Baseball is a sport where being stupid and keeping things really simple a lot of times is the right way to do things,” he told The Times. “There are very few guys that are capable of processing a lot of information and applying it and still being good at it. … I don’t want to name names, but there were guys I played with that were so stupid that they’re really good, because their mind never gets in the way.”

Makes sense, really.  Baseball is an extremely complicated game and the ability to turn the noggin off  — or to never have it on in the first place — and let athleticism and muscle memory take over is probably helpful for overall performance.

Now the question becomes who was Greinke talking about when he mentions teammates who “were so stupid they’re really good.” We look back at Greinke’s 11-career and use wild speculation to reveal these talented dunces.

Kansas City 2004 – 2010
During Greinke’s KC career the Royals were pretty awful; they had the worst record in baseball over the time period. They didn’t have many players who could be described as “very good” outside of Greinke. But there were still a few that Greinke could have been talking about in the interview.

Mike Sweeney
The five-time All-Star was the Royals only good hitter during Greinke’s first couple of years in the league. He also was known as one of the friendliest people in the game and is prone to giving hugs. Hmmm. We’re not saying being super-duper-nice and childlike always correlates with a lack of intellect, but it is now awfully suspicious.

Billy Butler
Butler, the best hitter on the Royals toward the end of Greinke’s tenure with the team, is nicknamed “Country Breakfast.” Which is basically like calling somebody “Meat,” a moniker never bestowed on the class valedictorian. On the flip side, Butler has recently lost his ability to hit, despite being in the prime of his career, suggesting he may have some destructively complicated thoughts in that sausage brain of his.

Joakim Soria
Closers are usually in high-pressure situations. So it’s best not to have too many thoughts in their head. Soria was about the best ninth-inning man in baseball during his KC career and is now a suspect for extreme stupidity.

Milwaukee 2011-2012
Carlos Gomez
The centerfielder has done a lot of stupid things during his career, and like they say about those who walk like ducks. (Or flip their bats on balls that stay in the park like them.)

Ryan Braun
The aggressive, character witness-laden PR campaign Braun waged after first testing positive for PEDs was pretty idiotic considering he knew very well he was guilty.

Prince Fielder
A smarter man lays off the snacks and has a longer, even more lucrative career.

Los Angeles Angles 2012
Lot’s of intriguing potential idiots, from Mike Trout to Albert Pujols to Torii Hunter. But Grienke was barely on the Angels for two months, so we doubt he had enough time to make proper IQ assessments.

Los Angeles Dodgers 2013-2014
Matt Kemp
Kemp believes he should be playing centerfield. That shows the kind of lack of self-awareness often found in the very simple.

Yasiel Puig
Yes, he’s young and in a foreign land. But so are a lot of other baseball players and they manage to do a lot fewer stupid things.

Clayton Kershaw
Actually, we’re pretty sure Greinke was talking about Kershaw. He’s just jealous of the left-hander and his brain that is so brilliantly uncluttered by thought.

De La Rosa was one of the better pitchers in baseball in 2013, finishing with a 16-6 record and 3.49 ERA despite playing in baseball’s most difficult park for pitchers. It was his first season after Tommy John surgery and his fastball has actually up-ticked in 2014. However the results haven’t quite been there; De La Rosa is 13-10 with a 4.26 ERA so far.

Those are still decent numbers, but perhaps not good enough for De La Rosa to risk free agency. The Rockies could have slapped him with a $15.1 million qualifying offer, and judging from comparable pitchers Kyle Lohse, Ervin Santana and his former teammate Ubaldo Jimenez struggles to sign with a new team after getting hit with a QO, De La Rosa must have figured it’s best to stay home and take the security of a two-year deal.

De La Rosa may have also wanted to remain with the Rockies because he’s one of the few pitchers who’s actually been able to excel at Coors Field.  His 44 wins there are the most all-time, and his 44-14 .759 home winning percentage since 2008 is the second best in all of baseball.

“His changeup is his money pitch,” manager Walt Weiss told the Denver Post. “He speeds hitters up with his cutter, but the changeup has been really good for Jorge. Every once in a while he’ll pop a fastball in there at 95 (mph) or sneak a curveball in there. He’s had it all working, and he’s been ridiculously good here at Coors.”

So now De Le Rosa is off of the free agency board for 2015. But with Max Scherzer, Jon Lester and Jamie Shields still expected to available to the highest bidder — and Cole Hamels likely obtainable in a trade — there is still plenty of pitching talent for teams looking to improve their starting staffs next season.

The blast helped the A’s break their four game losing streak, which had included a 29 inning scoreless stretch. Dunn finished the day with 2 for 3 with one of his signature walks.

”That’s the most excited, anxious, probably call it a little nervous, than I’ve been in a long time,” Dunn said after the game, The 34-year old, who says his going to retire after the season, has played the most games of any current player without making the playoffs.

The Big Donkey was one of a handful of potential impact players moved between the non-waiver period and the postseason roster deadline. Below are the other big August acquisitions. Let us know which when you think will make the biggest difference in the playoff race.

Roberto Hernandez
The Dodgers gave up two fairly significant prospects to get the artist formally known as Fausto Carmona from the Phillies at the beginning of the month. It turned out it was a move of necessity; Josh Beckett was ruled out for the year soon after they made the deal. Hernandez had been solid in his first four starts with Los Angeles, however he did get hit around in his last appearance. He had been pitching fairly well in Philly before coming over so expect him to be decent down the stretch, but still unlikely to be called upon for any postseason starts.

Jonathan Broxton
One of the better setup men in the game, despite a rapidly declining K-rate, Broxton moved to the Brewers on August 30th. Yesterday the Brewers fell out of first place in the AL Central for the first time this year. If Broxton can team with closer Francisco Rodriguez to form a shutdown backend that gets Milwaukee back into first, the trade will be worth it. The downside is the Brewers are on the hook for Broxton’s $9 million salary in 2015. However, K-Rod is a free agent to be, so they could en up moving Broxton and his closer salary to the ninth inning next year.

Matt Thornton
Sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest difference. The Nationals acquired lefty  reliever Matt Thornton from the Yankees on August 5th, and since then the big fella has been doing what he does best; getting left-handed hitters out. In fact, Thornton has yet to give up a run in his 11 appearances for the Nats.

Josh Willingham
The Royals sit a half-game up on Detroit in the AL Central and are two games clear in the Wild Card race. They’re just four weeks away from being the surprise playoff team of the year and their mid-August acquisition of Willingham may go a long way to getting them there. The underrated 35-year old has .OPSed .866 since coming over from Minnesota, and given punch to a fairly punchless Royals lineup. He’s missed the last few games with a sore ribcage and KC needs him back ASAP.

Gordon Beckham
Beckham hasn’t hit much since his rookie year in 2009. But the 27-year old can play second and third and is a decent enough hitter against lefties. The Angels will make the postseason, the question is will it be as a division winner or wild card team. It’s a big difference, and even a utility player like Beckham can be the difference maker.

Other August editions who can make an impact: Josh Outman, Alejandro De Aza, Kelly Johnson, Kevin Correia, Geovany Soto.