I tend to add a bunch of personal information into these Halolink posts mainly because I think of them as a social post rather than a news post. I assume that those of you who don't care about the weather in Wisconsin, or my current living situation, just skip down to the important stuff. I think of us as a community, not some anonymous group of IP addresses, and many of us are truly interested in the lives of the other readers/contributors/lurkers.
With that said, the weather in Wisconsin has finally gotten above freezing and I'm almost done with the renovation and will be moving in the next couple of days. What does that mean to you? More time to devote to these links posts (more links and better writing, although I make no guarantees on the writing). And possibly a comic or two. Hazzah!
- I'm sure this is going to be "a thing" for the rest of the season, or best-case scenario, most of the season. Of course, the "thing" we hope for the most would be for Josh Hamilton to get the help he needs, and get his life back on track. Oh, and 30 home runs. The power struggle over Josh Hamilton and why Rob Manfred needs to do what's right - Yahoo Sports, "Should the arbitrator agree with MLB, Manfred must ignore the urge to hammer Hamilton with a suspension that could reach an entire season. However much favor it might curry with Moreno – who, remember, was one of the most vociferous owners opposing Manfred's candidacy for commission – it would fall prey to the same ineffective thinking that turned the War on Drugs into such a rousing failure. Don't punish addicts. Help them."
- It sounds like once the suspension/rehab stuff gets sorted out, Hamilton could be ready to start the season: Hamilton's injury rehab going well - angels.com, ""What I understand from the [physical therapy] end of things is that he's in there, he's getting after it, he's recovering very well," Dipoto said. "I believe he's taken a round of batting practice already. I don't know if that's ahead of schedule or on schedule, but he's gone out and tried it. From what I understand, he's recovering well and that part of the exercises is a net positive so far."
- Here's a situation that seems to be going the best it can: Richards throws two-inning simulated game - angels.com, "But Richards isn't expected to pitch in his first Cactus League game until early next week, at the absolute earliest, and in all likelihood he'll start the season on the disabled list and come back around the middle of April. Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher said Richards will pitch in a game "in the very near future," but the 26-year-old right-hander still has to do more PFP work." the post also mentions the club will take its time with Richards to insure he's completely healthy before rejoining the team, and not activate him early just to say they activated him early.
- This is pretty comical: Baldoquin's delay has become an adventure - angels.com, "First the machine that prints workers visas was broken. So Baldoquin returned the next day, but the U.S. Consulate was closed in anticipation of a government shutdown. The following morning, the Haitian government went on strike, basically keeping Baldoquin sequestered in his hotel room since Friday."
- Sort of a backhanded rip on the previous front-office regime: Angels not interested in Jake Locker - CBSSports.com, "The Angels would release Locker if he wants to pursue a baseball career. The team signed him two years before Dipoto joined the Angels. ""We weren't really on him when I was in Arizona," he said. "Generally with the two-sport guys who we don't think have interest in being a baseball player we don't waste our time." The Angels didn't really waste time, just $300,000.
- Some FYI for future thoughts: Out Of Options Players: AL West – MLB Trade Rumors, "Angels: Drew Butera, Johnny Giavotella. Butera is expected to serve as the Angels’ backup catcher behind Chris Iannetta. Giavotella, acquired from the Royals in the offseason, is part of the Angels’ second base competition this spring. He’s battling with Josh Rutledge, Grant Green, and Taylor Featherston. According to MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez last Friday, two or even three of these players will make the team."
- BRING THE DH TO THE NL! MLB union chief: Designated hitter in NL still a 'topic of discussion' - Sporting News, "As you might expect, we are very concerned about the integrity of the game and having scenarios or situations play out like that that could affect inevitably how a division ends, is not a place you want to find yourself."
- This is crazy: The Tommy John Epidemic: What’s Behind the Rapid Increase of Pitchers Undergoing Elbow Surgery? - Grantland, "Tommy John surgeries are ripping through baseball at a faster pace than ever before. Twenty-five percent of active MLB pitchers have had the procedure, which reconstructs a pitcher’s torn ulnar collateral ligament, as have 15 percent of current minor league pitchers. Last season was particularly distressing: More pitchers had the surgery in 2014 than in the entirety of the 1990s."
- And this is lame:
Comedian and actor Will Farrell plans to play all nine positions in Cactus League games Thursday, shuttled by helicopter to different parks.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 10, 2015 - Your stats related link of the day: FIP, In Context – The Hardball Times, "To help address these issues, this article introduces Contextual FIP, or cFIP. Building on the mixed-model approach we developed at Baseball Prospectus for Called Strikes above Average (CSAA), cFIP seeks to provide this missing context."
- I just thought my neighbor who I'm stealing wifi from was too cheap to upgrade to the fastest service. Sorry Bangor PD. Why America's Internet Is So Shitty and Slow, "And here's the kicker. The last mile infrastructure is controlled by an oligarchy—three big cable companies: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon. You know this well. One in three Americans only have one choice for broadband service; most of the others only have two internet providers to choose from. Without competition, there's no incentive for internet providers to improve improve infrastructure. These massive telecom companies create a bottleneck in the last mile of service by refusing to upgrade critical infrastructure. And they can charge exorbitant prices for the sub-par service while they're at it. So your internet is shitty and slow and expensive."