$30 Million to Take Out Massie. 425 Beef Plants Into China. Make It Make Sense. — 5/20/26

A's Bullpen Implodes, Ketel Marte Walks Off Doyers | BD Baseball 6-5-26

Happy Friday, Daylight Burners. Jake is out today, so I’m rolling solo through a lighter MLB slate that still gave us plenty to talk about. I’ve got to start with the A’s, because that one hurt. JT Ginn gave Oakland six innings, two hits, one run, and eight punchouts. That is exactly the kind of start you want. The offense did its job too. Shea Langeliers hit an inside-the-park homer and another shot, Tyler Soderstrom went deep, Jonah Heim joined in, and the A’s put six runs on Shota Imanaga. That should have been enough. It was not. The bullpen gave up six, the Cubs walked it off 7-6, and Wrigley got to celebrate snapping an eight-game home losing streak. The A’s still took two out of three in Chicago, but that was one they had in their pocket. I also get into Zach Wheeler keeping it rolling for the Phillies, Baltimore roughing up Boston, the Yankees edging Cleveland, the Giants and Brewers putting up a football score, Toronto avoiding the sweep in Atlanta, Kansas City’s offense showing signs of life, Pittsburgh beating Houston, and Ketel Marte walking off the Dodgers in Arizona. Then I look ahead to the weekend series that matter: A’s-Astros, Mariners-Tigers, Pirates-Braves, Guardians-Rangers, Reds-Cardinals, Brewers-Rockies at Coors, and the Battle of L.A. The A’s are still hanging around the AL West and wild card picture. The Cubs still look like June swoon candidates to me. The Braves and Dodgers keep looking like monsters. And the NL Central is still the division I’m watching closest. Now move your ass. We’re burning daylight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Screwworm’s Back at the Gate | Friggin’ Farm & Ranch Report June 4, 2026)

The New World screwworm is not just another fly. It is a livestock parasite that eats living flesh, nearly broke parts of the cattle business before eradication, and is now back in Central America, Mexico, and pushing hard against U.S. cattle country again. In this Friggin’ Farm & Ranch Report, Matt McKinley breaks down what screwworm actually is, why it matters, how bad it got before eradication, how the sterile insect technique changed the game, and what modern ranchers have now that their granddads did not: better wound treatment, systemic products, emergency approvals, surveillance, and a whole lot more science behind the response. We also talk cattle markets, feeder prices, corn relief, diesel, the sale barn picture, and why a Texas-scale screwworm establishment could mean hundreds of millions in producer losses and billions in broader economic damage. This is a bug your granddad hated and your kids have never seen. Let’s keep it that way. Topics covered: * New World screwworm biology * Why it targets fresh wounds, navels, castration cuts, dehorning stumps, and other injury sites * Why newborn calves, lambs, and kids are at highest risk * The old benzol-and-pine-tar treatment era * How sterile insect technique helped eradicate screwworm from the U.S. * Why the Panama sterile-fly barrier matters * Modern treatment tools: topical larvicides, systemic products, emergency authorizations, and wound care * Why a Texas-scale outbreak would be an economic wreck * Cattle markets, feeders, grains, diesel, and sale barn reads * Why ranchers should watch the situation without letting fear merchants run the show Full immersive version with transcript, charts, slides, and source appendix is available on Substack: burningdaylight.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

A’s Stun Cubs, Tigers Sweep Rays, Rockies Get Rocked, Sánchez Makes History, Ohtani Is AI | BD Baseball 6‑4‑26

Solo Thursday BD Baseball — Jake’s out, I’m running the full slate east‑to‑west, then shutting it down to read about New World screwworm instead of doing the farm and ranch report. We hit every game on the board: Marlins–Nats ruining my over, Tigers absolutely cooking the Rays at the Trop behind Troy Melton’s best start yet and Dillon Dingler’s third homer and ninth RBI of the series, and the White Sox offense dragging the Twins through the mud while Sam Antonacci reaches six times. From there it’s Mets ending Seattle’s eight‑game heater, Braves winning their 12th straight on two‑out bombs, Giants–Brewers playing a 1–0 game decided by a rookie’s first homer, Royals–Reds drama, Yankees–Guardians, and an Astros–Pirates game where Houston explodes late and Josh Hader finally closes one for them. In the homer block, the A’s pull a 10‑inning win at Wrigley on a Nick Kurtz RBI and a Colby Thomas rocket off the bench, Rockies get exposed by the Angels as Vaughn Grissom and friends hang 11, and then we zoom out: Cristopher Sánchez’s scoreless streak ends at 50 2/3 but he sets the all‑time lefty record, and Shohei Ohtani throws six scoreless while reaching base five times in a 7–0 Dodgers win. We close with today’s probables — Wheeler, Rodón, Chris Sale, Seth Lugo, JT Ginn, Robleski and more — plus a quick reminder that if you think Ohtani isn’t MVP, I don’t know what you’re watching. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Gage Jump Shoves, Tigers Roll, and Joe Adell’s Canseco Special | BD Baseball 6-3-26

From Detroit’s bats waking up to the A’s and Rockies stealing headlines, Jake and I walk through a jam-packed slate and preview a loaded day of pitching. Show Notes (concise, from your POV): On this June 3 episode of BD Baseball, I sit down with Jake and run through a full 15-game slate: * Tigers crush, Flaherty shoves, and Greene/Perez provide the power we’ve been missing. * Gage Jump delivers seven strong in Wrigley as the A’s win a tight one behind an opposite-field bomb from Nick Kurtz. * Rockies step out of the basement, the Angels fall further, and Joe Adell recreates Jose Canseco with a ball off his glove and head. * We talk Johan Duran’s filth, John Smoltz’s “no pitchers, only throwers” comments, and where we agree or disagree. * Around the league: Orioles in Boston, Pirates staying relevant, Braves still a wagon, and the Giants plus Red Sox continuing to make their fans miserable. * We preview a stacked pitching slate with Peralta–Kirby, Sanchez–Buehler, Burns–Royals, Cole–Gavin Williams, and Skenes–Astros, plus some first-five and total leans. * Injury and transaction notes on Verlander, Jackson Jobe, Mason Barnett, Cade Morris, Civale, and Severino. New episodes of BD Baseball drop all week on Burnin’ Daylight Sports. Don’t let your butt crack — move your ass, we’re burnin’ daylight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Friggin’ Farm & Ranch Report: Futures Freak Out, Sale Barn Says Otherwise | June 3, 2026

The board had a full‑blown hissy fit today. Fats dumped, feeders slid, and if you’re glued to the screen you’d think the cattle business just died. Out here in the real world, five‑area cash and the sale barns are still paying up, and the country isn’t buying the panic. I walk through the tape, the BDR Sale Barn Pulse runs, and what that ugly futures‑to‑cash spread really means when you’re hauling cattle instead of clicking buttons. Then we hit grains getting kicked lower on fund selling, a little relief on corn and meal, and why it doesn’t feel like relief when diesel, fertilizer, and 8‑percent money are still chewing on your margins. War Reel is hot—missiles and drones in the Gulf, U.S. strikes back, tankers getting hit, crude jumping—and that all shows up in your fuel and fertilizer bill real quick. Plus screwworm creeping north, Theileria in Nebraska, wolves in Washington, drought squeezing the beef cow herd, and fresh noise out of D.C. on MCOOL, cattle price discovery, and WOTUS. Full write‑up, charts, receipts, and the full transcript live over on Substack: https://burningdaylight.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]