Wednesday Halolinks: Look Out Ladies of Orange County, Here Comes Alex Rodriguez

Except for the occasional link to weird or interesting stuff that might catch my eye, you may have noticed that Halolinks contains no coverage of the post season. This isn't because I'm bitter about the Angels not making it, but rather, Halolinks has been designated as a "no playoff zone". Much like Angels Stadium the last 3 years.

• Hopefully Wilson's surgery helps him return to his first-half form: Wilson set to undergo elbow surgery - angels.com. "Barring an unforeseen setback, the procedure typically requires a four-to-six-week recovery process, easily allowing Wilson to be ready by the start of Spring Training -- and perhaps playing long-toss by mid-December, if he's so inclined." In Wilson's first 18 starts, covering 111.1 innings, the first-year Angel went 9-5 with a 2.43 ERA. In his next 16 games, we saw him go 4-5, while his ERA almost doubled to 5.54 in 91 innings. It looks like Wilson had a harder time keeping the ball in the park during his second half floundering. Fourteen times the ball left the yard after July first, compared to five times from April to June. Obviously something changed. And everyone involved is hoping the surgery fixes that "something".
  
• Isn't it weird how many of the top front office people were average, or below average players? Is it because the great players don't need a career after their playing days are over, or possibly they have no idea why they're great, it just come naturally to them? Angels add Gary DiSarcina, Tim Huff as special assistants - latimes.com. "Dipoto said DiSarcina, who played for the Angels from 1990 to 2000, will be responsible for infield coordination throughout the system and will have a more prominent voice in major league roster decisions and planning." I'm hoping the reason guys like DiSarcina have become prominent baseball evaluators is because they've spent their lives working hard to get to the levels they have. It gives guys like me the drive to improve. Where I was once a ridiculously bad writer, through hard work I've become a piss-poor writer with aspirations of one day reaching the pinnacle of average. We all have our dreams.
  
• And speaking of the pinnacle of average, this guy became one of my favorite players last season...in spite of his first name. Fans finally learn with Giants' Marco Scutaro is all about - FOX Sports. "Marco is a winning player in everything that he does, and as tough a player as there is in the game," O’Dowd said. "He gets it because he has earned it. His path wasn’t an easy one. But he could play in any era. I love the guy."
• Why can't the Angels ever have a catcher like this? Wait, what? Free agent preview: Mike Napoli - CBSSports.com. "It's also pretty rare for a catcher as talented as Napoli to hit the market. Teams are starting to extend their young players before they become eligible for free agency, allowing them to get a slightly better deal while also ensuring they don't lose a key player to another team." Kind of like what the Halos did with Chris Iannetta. This post goes on to speculate how much Napoli could possibly see in his next contract: "Considering all the factors, there's a good chance Napoli will make somewhere between $70 million and $80 million this offseason." He's so getting laid.
• Hit by a Pitch: Five Very Scary Moments in MLB History - Yahoo! Sports. "Boston Red Sox right fielder Tony Conigliaro hit in face by a pitch (August 18, 1967) - Conigliaro was hit in the face with a fastball thrown by California Angels pitcher Jack Hamilton, ending his season and causing him to miss the entire 1968 season as well."
• SB Nation's Beyond the Box Score has a few interesting posts. The first is for you stat nerds and includes pretty charts: The Filthiest Pitches in Baseball - Beyond the Box Score. "An analysis of which pitchers have the best fastball, change, curve and more, and what the most valuable pitch in all of baseball was in 2012." This next one is an announcement of their first award presentation: 2012 BtBWAA Awards Executive of the Year: Billy Beane. "Billy Beane wins in a landslide, presumably in recognition of his great work in last year's film adaptation of Moneyball. Beane earned seven first-place votes and was ranked first or second on every ballot. And finally, an off-topic post asking: What's your favorite piece of sports memorabilia?
• I brought this up last week, but now others have picked up on the thought: Time to put A-Rod on auction block - FOX Sports. "Based on his performance this season, Rodriguez would be an immediate upgrade at third over the platoon of Maicer Izturis and Alberto Callaspo the Los Angeles Angels deployed this season and he'd be popular with the team's Latino fan base as long as he remained productive." Imagine if Rodriguez were to become an Angel, we'd get to read about this stuff: A-Rod hits on female fans during ALCS game against Tigers - NYPOST.com. "The note asked them to write their phone numbers on the ball and throw it back,’’ the witness said. We'd finally have a man-whore replacement for Napoli! Besides, here's who would be hanging out in the OC with A-Rod: Torrie Wilson brushes aside A-Rod report
• And people would make funny videos of him:
  
• I suppose if you can't become a major league baseball player, the next best thing would be a drug-lord: Ex-Red Sox 2B Barrios among 40 indicted in Puerto Rico - CBSSports.com. "The U.S. Attorney's Office issued a statement on Tuesday saying that Angel Santos Berrios was second in command of a drug ring that sold crack, heroin, cocaine and prescription pills in the southern mountain town of Cayey."
• This could be sad news if Smith is selling his stuff because he has to, and not because he wants to: Ozzie Smith flooding the gold market? - Baseball Nation. "The collection features more than 100 pieces, many of which are Smith’s awards and trophies that he collected during his Hall of Fame career. Among the collection highlights are his 13 Gold Glove Awards from 1980-1992, 11 of his All-Star Game rings, and St. Louis Cardinals World Series rings from 2006 and 2011."
• For those of you considering going to Chicago next season to see the Angels play the Cubs at Wrigley July 9th and 10th, the cost may have become a little more reasonable: Chicago Cubs lower some ticket prices - ESPN Chicago.. "The overall message is we have lowered our ticket prices by two percent and that includes 30 percent of the seating area of the ballpark," vice president of ticket sales and service Colin Faulkner said."
• It wouldn't be Halolinks without a Deadspin link: The Definitive List Of Shit Mankind Needs To Invent. "Cold fusion solves so many problems that I get a hard-on just thinking about it: wars, global warming, gas prices, etc. It would be a miracle, as opposed to virtual fucking, which is all but inevitable anyway." Virtual fucking...that'd be almost as good as MLB.tv removing their blackout policy.