Tuesday Halolinks: No Playoff News Here, My Girlfriend Is Hot

There's not much Angels news during this time of the season. While the players whose teams didn't make the post season are now at home getting reacquainted with their wives, girlfriends, and kids, it seems like the writers covering those teams have also found other things to do with their time. Obviously, the playoffs dominate the news cycle, while others are starting to work on their "what went wrong this season" or "how we should fix this team" posts (they've already started to show up on Halos Heaven), I'll continue to scourer the internet for interesting content (i.e., fart and dick jokes). Oh, and although my girlfriend is indeed a hottie, the only reason I mentioned it in the headline was I needed filler. Sorry honey. Here's today's roundup:

• FanGraphs takes a look at Chris Iannetta and his new 3-year contract. It seems that as far as catchers go, average is the new good: Iannetta’s California Sojourn Lengthened - FanGraphs Baseball. "The drop in power the last two seasons is a bit troubling, but Iannetta still has some power and draws walks. He looks like he can be a league average bat for at least the time being, and given that he is a catcher, that qualifies as good offense." Like the shortstop position had been in the 80's and 90's, finding good hitting catchers has been difficult for the Angels...or at least identifying good hitting catchers.
• This is weird. At no time did I ever think of the August 1st Angel-Rangers game as exhilarating, but I suppose if you look at that game through the eyes of a baseball fan rather than an Angels fan, it was a good game. 2012’s most exciting and incredible games - The Hardball Times. "On Aug. 1, the Rangers allowed the Angels to score three runs in the top of the 10th before storming back with four in bottom of the inning to cinch an 11-10 win. Mind you, there was only one out when Texas scored the winning run, too, so their bats were really on fire. Making it even better, the extra-inning comeback came after a big regulation comeback. The Angels led 6-0 early in the game. Texas tied it in the bottom of the ninth to force the exhilarating 10th frame." How different the season might have gone had the Angels would have held on and won this game.
• Headlines I'd like to read: Colorado Rockies Los Angeles Angels manager Jim Tracy Mike Scioscia resigns after record losses disappointing season - ESPN "I was surprised," Bill Geivett Jerry Dipoto, the team's director of major league operations general manager, told The Associated Press. "I wanted Jim Mike to come back. That's how we began our conversation on Friday, that he was the manager. But he called, informed me today he was resigning."
  
  Jim Tracy says, "Get the fuck heck outta here".
• Not much mention of Jerry Dipoto other than he has work to do on the Halo bullpen (No kidding?), but this is a long and interesting post none the less: When it comes to regrets, these baseball GMs have a few - Boston.com
• Bud Selig is a genius...no wait...SUPER genius: This is why they did it: wild card game ratings high - HardballTalk. "Through its first two days of coverage, TBS is averaging 3.9 million viewers, up +26% over last year’s first two days of Postseason coverage. The two Wild Card Games averaged more than 4.6 million viewers, up +61% over last year’s first day of coverage and also exceeded the average 4.2 million viewers for the entire 19-game 2011 Division Series." When I first heard about the new wild card format, I thought, "Stupid." But now that we've lived with it through the end of the season, and I saw how much of a positive effect on the races it had, I'm kind of a fan.
  
• This is very important information for the Angels' front office with Albert Pujols entering this phase of his career and the potential re-signing of Torii Hunter, who is the definition of "aging hitter": Hitter Aging Curves: Plate Discipline - FanGraphs Baseball. "Often times, scouts and commentators mention how a hitter’s approach changes over time: less disciplined, less contact as a young player; better bat control and better strike-zone awareness as a hitter matures. But does the data confirm this thinking?"
• Yeah, okay. Whatever: Stop using K/9 and BB/9! - Beyond the Box Score