Wednesday Halolinks: Kendrys Morales Should Be Comeback Player

Hey Torii, what do you think of today's Halolinks?

Thanks!

• I suppose it all depends on what you're coming back from: Dunn, Posey win Sporting News' Comeback Player honors - Yahoo! Sports. "Apparently focusing on Dunn's 41 homers and ignoring the rest of his body of work, a panel of 203 major league players chose Dunn as the Sporting News' American League Comeback Player of the Year." It's noted in this post that Dunn compiled a 0.9 WAR on the season. So in spite of hitting all of those home runs, his .204 BA and 222 strikeouts (among other factors) resulted in Dunn's minuscule WAR.
• The OC Register's Jeff Fletcher makes a good point about Comebacks: Comeback? Kendrys Morales is 0 for 2 - The Orange County Register. "In voting by AL players, Chicago White Sox DH Adam Dunn won with 19 votes, while Morales got 18 votes. Dunn and Rays closer Fernando Rodney, who won the MLB.com Comeback Player of the Year, were just bad in 2011 and good in 2012. If you give an award to someone for coming back after a bad season, you’re just rewarding them for having a terrible season the year before." I totally agree. Morales' comeback was completely different than Dunn's and Rodney's, he had to overcome a physical injury, not a performance issue.
• If Hank Conger's not going to be Chris Iannetta's back-up next season, who is? Jon Hester? Bobby Wilson's departure could open door for Hank Conger - angels.com. "I'll never really commit to anything, other than Iannetta is on our club, and if he's healthy, he's going to get the primary playing time," Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto said.
• No big news as to who the Angels have as arbitration eligible this off-season, but I somewhat disagree with Tim Dierkes' opinion regarding Jerome Williams: Arbitration Eligibles: Los Angeles Angels - MLBTradeRumors.com. "Williams battled injuries in 2012 and was eventually replaced in the rotation in July. Since his improbable return to the Majors last year, Williams has proven useful at times, but he's a likely non-tender candidate this winter." Williams proved useful last season while splitting time between the rotation and bullpen, and depending on what happens with Haren, Santana, and Grienke, he could return to the Halo rotation in 2013.
• More interesting work from FanGraphs: Velocity Trends and Pitchers to Watch in 2013 - FanGraphs Baseball. "Second, 91% of pitchers that do finish a season down at least 1 mph compared to the previous season will lose additional velocity the following season (average decline of 1.6 mph), with only 7% regaining some (but, likely, not all) of that velocity back."

Some pretty cool clips: High-Speed Video Clips from 2012 NLCS - Physics of Baseball The above clip from Game 2 shows Yadier Molina hitting the ball near the center of the bat, which is close to the location where the lowest vibrational mode of the bat is largest. As a result, the ball-bat collision excites vibrations in the bat in a major way.

• Baseball broadcasts aren't geared to rabid fans, they know we'll watch, but rather to the band-wagon fans who only watch every-once-in-awhile: Teams use advanced stats. Why won't broadcasters? - SportsonEarth.com - Will Leitch. "Baseball is being described by people who are actively hostile to how baseball is being practiced at its highest levels. We have flat-earthers making all the maps."
• Kenley Jansen of Los Angeles Dodgers undergoes heart procedure - ESPN Los Angeles. "On Tuesday, Dr. Koonwalee Nademanee performed a catheter ablation on the 25-year-old Jansen. In a roughly three-hour procedure, Nademanee identified the abnormal tissue in the left atrium of Jansen's heart and cauterized it to stop it from generating abnormal electrical signals. The Dodgers said Jansen's heart was beating in a normal rhythm after the surgery."
• Marlins split from Ozzie Guillen, controversy - Fox Sports. "Yes, the Marlins will have to pay off the remaining $7.5 million on Guillen’s deal. Guillen has been vacationing in Spain (spending some of that $7.5M) and wasn't immediately available for comment. Beinfest said he delivered the news to Guillen on Tuesday afternoon that he was being let go."