Friday, October 1, 2010

SweetSpot Roundup 10/1

Austin's Astros 290 Blog: Reasons to keep watching the Astros
Austin's got four good reasons.  Though one of those four is dependant on not finding Brett Myers repugnant.

Disciples of Uecker (Brewers): Draft Standings Entering the Final Weekend
Pittsburgh has clinched the top spot, but the Brewers could end up picking anywhere from 7th to 16th next year, depending on how things break.

View From the Bleachers (Cubs): Thursday Randomness
Includes an update on the career status of Matt Murton, Slugger of the Orient.

Dodger Thoughts: "Fernando Nation" to air on October 26
Jonathan previews ESPN's 30-for-30 documentary on Fernando Valenzuela.

Mets Today: Which Mets to Keep, Which to Trash
"Bottom line is this team is in dire straits — in much worse shape than they were in 2004. Who they keep and who they jettison during this offseason will have a significant impact on the team’s success or failure over the next 5-10 years."

Crashburn Alley (Phillies): GM Amaro Considered Blowing Up 2010 Squad
"While the sentiment of blowing up the team may surprise you, it wasn’t that unreasonable. The Phillies had to go on a ridiculous run to get to where they are now. On July 21, they were 48-46, in third place, and seven games back of the Atlanta Braves."

Redleg Nation: Aaron Harang
Harang continues the tradition of former Reds aces who couldn't make it to the promised land when their team finally got there.

Fire Brand of the American League (Red Sox): Should Jon Lester Win the AL Cy Young Award?
Charlie asked this question about Buchholz the other day, and the readers demanded Lester. Charlie's a man of the people.

Sox Machine (White Sox): Guillen flirting with new kind of bullpen
A lot of us have been saying for a long time that a manager should stop chasing "saves" and use the best pitchers in the best spots for them. A lot of casual observers probably wouldn't figure Ozzie to be that guy, but that's what makes them casual observers.

The B-List Indians Blog: The B-List Lite: 9/29
Cleveland sweeps Detroit; the best bunt in the world; Shelly Duncan steals a base?

Royals Authority: Can We Trust Zack and Luke?
The Royals look to Greinke and Hochevar to lead the rotation for at least the next two seasons.

Nick's Twins Blog: Longoria and Price's Comments Bad for Business
Nick reflects on the Rays stars' comments and compares the Trop to his formative years in the mid-nineties Metrodome. (I was older, but I was there all the time, too. And it sucked.)

It's About the Money, Stupid (Yankees): An epic Rosenthal rant on replay
Jason riffs on Ken Rosenthal's exasperated take on instant replay (which you know will be popular around these parts--Rosenthal's excellent piece exonerated him in my mind for his ludicrous Delmon-as-MVP-candidate post from a month ago, and he and I had a little chat on Twitter about it).

Pro Ball NW (Mariners): The King Rests
Connor on the Mariners' decision to skip Felix's last start. Felix's health is obviously vitally important, but he's made it through 34 starts (and 68 going back through 2009) with no problems. How sure are we that avoiding the marginal added risk of one more start is really worth more than (a) adding some interest to the final game of the M's dismal season and (b) the chance to strengthen his Cy Young case even further? Unless Felix has some identified issues I'm not aware of, I don't get this. (But I've become convinced that he's going to win the CYA regardless.)

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