Austin's Astros 290 Blog: Austintatious Predictions of 2011
Austin is not bully on the Astros in the coming season. His pessimism is, frankly, incredibly fun.
Capitol Avenue Club (Braves): Tommy Hanson and workload management
"While seeing the Braves take a relatively cautious approach to managing Hanson’s workload is extraordinarily encouraging in many ways (no abuse = less risk of a drastically different aging curve or shoulder trouble down the road), at some point we’d all like to see Hanson pitch a little bit longer.
Disciples of Uecker (Brewers): The 40-Man in the New Year, Pitchers
"It’s amazing how one position can go from complete question mark to team strength in the course of two weeks."
Fungoes (Cardinals): Twelve Days of Christmas, Day 11
Pip continues his incredibly amusing reinterpretation of the Twelve Days of Christmas.
View From the Bleachers (Cubs): Month in Transactions, December
An annotated look at what the Cubbies have been up to.
Dodger Thoughts: Jerry Sands, How close is he?
Jon Weisman looks at a potential reinforcement on the farm.
Bay City Ball (Giants): Does Mike Fontenot's Arm Mean Anything to Aaron Rowand's Future?
"If the Giants decide to add an actual functioning shortstop to prepare for a case of Miguel Tejada being old and not good anymore, it could spell trouble for any one of Nate Schierholtz, Travis Ishikawa or Aaron Rowand. Depending on how many relievers the Giants carry, one of those guys could be taking up one 25-man roster spot too many."
Mets Today: Mets Get Buchholz, Capuano
"Both signings may be ho-hum on the surface, but either (or both) could turn out to be huge — not unlike the similarly hum-drum signing of R.A. Dickey last winter."
Nationals Baseball: O's get Lee, Nats get depressed
"What the Lee signing really means is that any hopes for a suprise 2011 is gone. Oh they could make a shocking run to 78 wins or something but I can't see a way they would meaningfully be in a playoff race. Hopefully Rizzo will see this and accept it."
Ducksnorts (Padres): Hall of Fame and Off-Season Moves
Geoff points to some important posts for Padres fans to look out for.
Crashburn Alley (Phillies): Phillies 2011 New Year's Resolutions
Bill takes us through his hopes for the Phils in the coming year.
Redleg Nation: Most Valuable Bobblehead
I don't care what you say, that's an awesome bobblehead.
Baseballin' on a Budget (A's): Top Fives, Best 3B in History
Sal Bando? I need to spend more time looking at Sal Bando, apparently.
Ghostrunner on First (Blue Jays): Enjoy a Bracing Shot of Nightmare Fuel for New Years
"WARgraphs are sweeping the internet away today. Hopefully they function as the starting point, not the finishing stroke to many Hall of Fame debates. The most strident nerds among us will use these as crutch instead of an opportunity. In other words, let's not get carried away."
Pro Ball NW (Mariners): The Current Salary Situation
"Given that the top two options to clear payroll remaining – trading Bradley and/or Wilson – are doubtful at best (and would likely require eating most of their salaries), I don’t see the Mariners being able to make any more deals of more than a passing significance. We’re looking at adding guys on minor-league deals with invites to Spring Training only."
Baseball Time in Arlington (Rangers): Michael Young, Professional DH
"Even if he has accomplished little else on the elect-Morris-but-not-Blyleven front, Jon Heyman can sleep well with the knowledge that in 20-30 years' time, people will still recall his name every January, even if that memorability is a direct function of being obnoxiously myopic about the Hall of Fame today."
Fire Brand of the American League (Red Sox): No LOOGY? No problem.
"When Robinson Cano comes up in a late inning situation Terry Francona has options, albeit right-handed ones, and none of them will need to be limited to only one batter. If the Sox enter 2011 with no lock-down lefty specialist, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Royals Authority: 2010 American League Central Positional Comparison
Nick's got a lot of really pretty graphs and charts that explain why the Royals were, shockingly, not contenders in the AL Central in 2010. Trust the process. Seriously, though, the graphs are awesome.
The Daily Fungo (Tigers): Same Time Next Year for Me, Morris, and the Hall of Fame
Gobs of articles have been written in the past couple of weeks, the majority of which put The Cat squarely in the “great but not Hall-of-Fame great” category. Sadly, many of them, such as this one by Joe Posnanski, make terrific arguments against Morris’ chances. Even sadder, I’m starting to believe them."
Nick's Twins Blog: Eyes on Diamond
"Recalling the team's past success with a certain left-hander acquired in the Rule 5, the intrigued might be wondering if the Twins have found (in what is almost certain to become a horribly overused cliche) a diamond in the rough. Is excitement warranted?"
Sox Machine (White Sox): Thornton wants secrets kept secrets
Jim looks at Matt Thornton's reaction to Oney Guillen's idiotic Tweeting.
It's About the Money, Stupid (Yankees): A Simple Answer to a Complicated Question
An interesting idea: "Personally, I see a rather obvious solution to this problem; create some sort of process for removing a player from the Hall of Fame, at least for disciplinary reasons. Jeff Bagwell goes into the Hall and 3 years later it’s proven he used steroids? Put it to some sort of vote to determine whether or the entrusted electorate thinks he should be kicked out of the Hall."
And make sure you check out the big Hall of Fame-centric podcast from last night with TCM, Bill, and Larry of Wezenball.com.
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