Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Former White Sox player now US Ambassador to New Zealand

- This Frank Sinatra letter is so Sinatra

- I would have to agree with Jeff Passan's Hall of Fame ballot

- Santa Claus as a shroom-tripping shaman?

- Good point

Royals / Rays Trade

Jeff Passan (a favorite) has a very good breakdown of the big trade that just sent James Shields to the Royals and uber prospect Wil Myers to the Rays.

This trade very much reminds me of the trade that send Josh Beckett to the Red Sox and uber prospect Hanley Ramirez to the Marlins. That trade ended up being a win for both teams. The Red Sox got a final piece that allowed them to meet their goal of winning the World Series while the Marlins got a young superstar under team control. The extra piece that ended up giving value way beyond what was expected in that trade was Mike Lowell who would go on to become the World Series MVP for Boston. Wade Davis is giving off that vibe for me in this trade for Kansas City. Please note that I'm not saying Shields is the final piece for a Royals World Series - their goal is simply to be competitive in the AL Central and I think this trade helps them with that goal.

It should also be noted that if sabermetric GM Theo Epstein was in place at the time for Boston then that trade may never have happened and the Red Sox could still be searching for their second Series win. Point is sometimes sabermetrics doesn't tell the whole story. I consider myself a stats guy but I also realize that games aren't won on the spreadsheet.

Grant Desme: From Prospect to Priest

Fascinating story by Jeff Passan on Grant Desme who went from being one of the Oakland A's top prospects to being a monk and priest in training.

The guy gave it all up - even his name. He's now called Frater Matthew.

Fascinating story. I hope he finds peace.

Red Sox Should Claim Cliff Lee

I agree with Jeff Passan that Cliff Lee is worth being claimed off of waivers. I just think the team to claim him should be the Red Sox.

Passan is right that Lee's performance has been much better than his record and that compared to what will be available via free agency the next two years - he's worth taking a shot. The Red Sox can easily afford him with Kevin Youkilis and Dice-K coming off the books next year - they should claim him. If the Sox are lucky the Phillies will just let him go to get out from his contract. If not maybe they would take Daniel Bard who still has an A-type arm but who is really in need of a change of scenery. Getting Bard back with Papelbon may be just what the doctor ordered.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

Jeff Passan takes a very critical look at Ryan Braun - tough to argue against what he wrote. The one exception is I don't think he takes the leak of what was supposed to be private testing seriously enough.

Story of Mitt Romney saving some strangers. Well known in Massachusetts but it is strange story hasn't gotten more play nationally. Maybe campaign was waiting until NJ primary?

5 Biggest Whoppers In Obama's Energy Speech

Interesting insight into some great TV history - Being Fred Mertz: The Life of William Frawley

In 1988 there was a live-action musical version of Puss in Boots starring Christopher Walken as Puss. One of the most awesome things on the Internet EVER! 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The things you learn from the Internet, "Despite the horrific display, nearly two-thirds of those who were on board the Hindenburg survived its 1937 crash"... Last night's 30 for 30 film on Michael Jordan playing baseball was very "meh". It was stale. I think a surprise for viewers will be the 30 for 30 presentation of Unmatched which will have no narrator or host but will tell the story of the rivalry between Chrissy Evert and Martina Navratilova... Jeff Passan has an excellent piece of how the Marlins were lying when claiming to be broke when then got public financing for a new stadium. The piece makes me want to give more credit to Bob Kraft who built Gillette Stadium basically out of his own pockets (if I recall correctly public money only went to public improvements like the widening of roads, etc.)...

Teenage Steroids

Interesting article on an 18-year old Rangers prospect Matt West who funked a steroids test.

What I found most interesting was the fact that West was signed with a $400,000 bonus out of high school. After taxes - that $400,000 is probably equal to just about the amount of a 4-year full boat scholarship to a major Division 1 university (when you add in all the perks). You have to wonder how many 18-year olders are taking steroids to secure an athletic scholarship. I don't think the NCAA does a whole lot of testing so that number may very well be very high. I don't judge because I'm not sure if knowing what I know now that I wouldn't have juiced in high school if a full boat scholarship was on the line.

Don't be surprised if you start seeing more and more prospects turning down the MLB signing bonus to go to college on a full boat. If you see this trend starting - don't be misled to thinking that it has anything to do with "scholarship" because it may have much more to do with "testing" (and not in the academic sense).

Jeff Passan

The Big Lead has an interesting interview up of Jeff Passan.

To get an idea of how good Passan can be as a writer - read this piece from 2006 on the death of Reds scout Brian Wilson.

Jeff Passan on the Red Sox

Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports looks at the possible offseason moves by the Red Sox.

Passan thinks the Red Sox will be able to re-sign Mike Lowell to a 3-year deal (I hope that's true). It should be noted that if the Red Sox can't re-sign Lowell - then they would have about $25 million coming off the books (Lowell's $9 million plus Matt Clement's $9 million and a bunch of filler). That gives them the flexibility to sign a player like A-Rod but they will not sign a player to a 10-year contract. That just ain't going to happen.

One move I hope the Red Sox make is to sign Jonathan Papelbon to a long term deal (I know I just got done explaining how the Red Sox loathe long-term contracts but I think a deal with Papelbon that would take him past his first free agent year would be fiscally prudent).

After 3rd base - the big questions for the Red Sox will be:

1. Do they trade Coco Crisp and if so for who?
2. What do they do about a back-up catcher? I don't think the Red Sox want to carry Doug Mirabelli and his useless bat.

Tom Glavine and 300 Wins

Last night Tom Glavine won his 300th game and now it seems like everyone wants to call him a blue-collar, lunch-pail pitcher. I don't like those types of descriptions because they're not true. Tom Glavine is an elite pitcher at the end of his career. People like Jeff Passan want to portray Glavine as some sort of workman's hero but that diminishes who Glavine is.

Tom Glavine has won 20-games 5-times, he was top 3 in Cy Young voting 6-times and he won it twice. Glavine may not be the strike-out pitcher he once was but don't lose track of the fact that his 2,544 strikeouts are good enough for 28th place on the all-time list. A pitcher doesn't get to be in the top 25 in wins and top 30 all-time in strikeouts simply through grit and hard work. To call Glavine blue-collar or lunch-pail is to sell his talent short.

Another Tom - Tom Seaver finished his career at age 41 too. Seaver had just 103 strikeouts his final season but I don't recall anyone calling Seaver a "lunch-pail" pitcher because to do so would have been insulting to Seaver's great talent.