MondoLinks: 4 days to go!

Happy President's Day, everybody. Enjoy some sleep-in-on-this-random-holiday-Links:

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Everywhere In Baseball

Trout Porn: Mike Trout's career spray chart was a thing trending around the sports twitter universe yesterday. And, yeah, this is why he is such a difficult out. But as beautiful as the spray chart is on its own, pay particular attention to the cluster on the left side of the infield. Speed kills, people!...........

714 Rules: And we are not talking about Babe Ruth's career home run totals. Have some fun with MLB teams recast as their area codes. Why, I suddenly realize, is one of those things that will be looked back at quite fondly by old-aged millennials, when such a thing as an "area code" for identifying people, businesses, and things will have faded away into history. Like princess phones...........

Lemon-Aide: The only way to deal with the reality that you are thirsting for nourishment while your cupboard is full of lemons, is to douse it all in sugar and pray for lemonade. Hence, Alden Gonzalez backs up the sugar truck..............But remember, people, this is the same farm system that has recently generated a foundational piece for more than one important franchise............

Honey-Puns: MLB went a little daft yesterday. IMHO, if they weren't going to Bandy the ideas about a little harder, they should Nava have attempted such Cowart-ly efforts...........

Tasteful Plaque: Somebody has to do it. Here is where your HoF plaques come from..............

Muscling Up: Tony Clark, head of the MLBPA, is getting out in front of the media these days as the union gears up to start their negotiations with the owners over a new CBA. Try this one on for size: an NBA-style lottery for the top draft picks. So, yeah, you should think about that a little bit. Discuss...........

Flipping Out: The WBC is gearing up, and the international players are bringing their bat-flip A-game.............And while developing a signature flip may piss off people in and around Arlington, Texas, it does have its benefits. Free food and beverages in Toronto, Canada..............

Ban Hammer: 26 years old, and now banned for life from the game you worked your ass off to achieve. Jenrry Mejia, Mets closer, has been banned permanently (whatever that turns out to mean) for three-strikes PEDs failures.............

Oh, Henry: Well, the issue that arose recently between the Atlanta-Fulton County officials and hte Atlanta Braves front office as to who owns the iconic status of the most iconic player in the history of the franchise - Henry Aaron - has been resolved. It's going to stay right where it is, in the current home of the franchise and their perfectly fine stadium. The one the franchise is abandoning. How did that happen? Well, the team has simply said screw it, they'll just make a new one................

Oof: Outfield help may actually be coming to the AL West. California, even. The Padres are listening to trade offers for Matt Kemp, or so say some. But the team knocking on the San Diego front door with the bouquet of flowers are the A's............

Bargain Base-ment-ball: As Spring approaches, deals are out there to be had. Dexter Fowler and Ian Desmond, for example. Both rejected qualifying offers, so maybe Billy Eppler is wishing for them to still be available after the June draft..............

Limitations: Tommy John pitchers aren't the only ones being put in innings limits. David Wright, coming back from spinal stenosis, is on a 130-game clock for 2016. Looking out for the health of a player is a fantastic thing, but it's also another way for teams in the future to hide their roster shenanigans, so expect the MLBPA to have opinions on this.............

Over-Under Odds: Atlantis Reno released their games won odds for 2016. The Angels are set at 82.5. That's 4th in the 5-team AL West. They might look very good on paper at the moment, but they won 85 games last year with an ailing Pujol, an ailing Trout, a missing Wilson, a patchwork rotation, and a platoon that didn't work out in LF. If the platoon works out even slightly better this year, with all those other things not happening and maybe some of the overachieving teams last season giving back a win or two this year, I say take the over.............

Sploop: There is so much to be mined in this story about a young man who wins an intern spot with the Yankees, then wins an actual job and realizes a dream of millions, only to eventually become disillusioned in how backward the old guard is concerning new ideas and adapting to the pace of new technology. So he then turns and leverages the very technology that his one-time employers rejected. Here comes Sploop, people............

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