Wednesday Halolinks: Extending the Middle With Kendrick, and Finding An End With Relief

I admire Howard Kendrick, but would he really have wanted to stay if the Angels were just like the Oakland A's? Kendrick stays with Angels for loyalty, not Pujols - Yahoo! Sports. "We’ve gotten better, and I wanted to be a part of it," Kendrick said Tuesday after the formal announcement of his new four-year, $33.5 million deal with the Angels. "But even more than that, I’ve been in this organization so long, it feels like a home. It’s definitely special to stay home. … The fan base, the city, the weather, it’s all great. There’s other teams that win, too, but we win in 70 degree weather." Okay, maybe he does like it here.

How important is signing Kendricks double play partner to an extension? Next up: Erick Aybar? - ESPN Los Angeles. "We’ll continue to talk to Erick," Dipoto said, "both as it pertains to his 2012 contract as well as the idea of staying here for a longer period." With so many other options within the organization, is signing Aybar to a long-term deal the smart way to go? Wouldn't Aybar be a valuable trade chip in acquiring some depth in the pen or restocking the lower minor leagues?

MORE LINKS AFTER THE BREAK...

• That leaves just one free agent closer available: Reds, Ryan Madson settle on $8.5 million contract - Yahoo! Sports. "And, speaking of musical pitchers, who knows where former Reds closer Francisco Cordero will sign? The Angels? It probably won't be for as much money as he hoped, either."
  
• Ranger fans are going to have to cut back on the road-kill armadillo burgers: AL champion Rangers raise most ticket prices for 2012 season - CBSSports.com. "While most increases are $1 to $4 per ticket, corner box seats increased 23 percent. Those seats will be $53 for non-premier games and $59 for 26 games classified as premier, such as most Friday and Saturday home dates. Those seats were $43 and $48 last season."
• Halos Heaven friend Rich Lederer is interviewed about Jack Morris: Bert Blyleven lobbyist not convinced Jack Morris is worthy of Hall of Fame - TwinCities.com. Within the interview, Rich makes a great point, "The guy I probably would be most passionate about is Bill James. He should get consideration (for his scientific analysis of baseball statistics). In my mind, he has made us think in a way that has impacted how we think about baseball. I almost would like to see James get into the regular hall of fame and not the baseball writers' (section). I don't know how he'd get on the ballot. He's still a current executive (with the Boston Red Sox). To me, he has a hall of fame-type resume."
• Don't you just love it when people can work out their disagreements? Dodgers and Fox Sports settle dispute - latimes.com. "The settlement means that McCourt has reached agreement with his two primary adversaries in U.S. Bankruptcy Court — MLB and Fox — and can proceed to meet an April 30 deadline for the sale of the Dodgers." The Cord War is over!
  
• You know what they say, "Large strike zone, large...": Which umpire has the largest strike zone? - The Hardball Times. Here's a brief explanation of the theory, "The coefficient of strike zone area was -0.58, meaning that for every one foot increase in strike zone area, we can expect a decrese in FIP of about -0.58. The relationship had limited explanatory value though, with an R-squared of 0.13. This means that the values of strike zone area explain 13 percent of the variance in the values of umpire FIP." You got that?