HumpLinks: Spring now in full bloom!

We have a large plate to fill today, so let's just head directly over to the buffet and get in line for a smorgasbord of Links:

______________________________

Everywhere In Baseball

Pedal Powered Pujols: Albert Pujols hears his doctor tell him to be extremely patient with his reapired foot. It's going along so well he decides that maybe being patient needs to be ignored. Fortunately, this is where Mike Scioscia's conservative nature - and ability to override Pujols - comes in handy. Pujols thinks he will be ready for Opening Day, but Sosh says not so fast..............

Pink Panthers: Ladies, MLB is opening up their annual contest to become the Honorary Bat Girl for the Angels this season. I would not wish the qualification upon anyone, but any of you heroic survivors should throw your Halos Heavenly name into the hat!................

Harper Hypers: The coming Bryce Harper Mega Contract is already drawing some awe-inspiring predictions. Mike Daniello over at The Sports Quotient is looking at $400 million. Bob Nightengale at USA Today tops that, going for $500 million..............And to think that Mike Trout will probably top that..........

Blue Cool: Umpires riding around the infield on hoverboards. That would be incredibly funny if those things were called something other than "hoverboards"................

Jurisprudence: Rob Manfred has started taking action against players involved in domestic violence cases. Rockies' shortstop Jose Reyes is on paid leave until his case is adjudicated.

Cryin' Ryan: Ryan Howard is getting peevish. dealing with the scrutiny that comes with losing all your dominant skills at a relatively young age while being a huge financial burden can do that to a guy. Not only does he have to deal with being platooned against lefty pitching - tantamount to being called half the player he used to be - he also has to deal with Philadelphia sports reporters riding the ripples of the Al Jazeera PEDs accusation.............Ryan Zimmerman, also accused by Al Jazeera of PEDs use, he takes a different approach. He is fighting back............

A Taco Short: This Damian Ford cat needs to join Halos Heaven, and read my shit regularly. Had he done this he would not have struggled so hard to get his hands on some Fresno Tacos merch. Because, as you people already know, I signed up and got mine the day they were announced. And I wear mine proudly. I would have gladly helped out the guy with his Canadian shipping address............

Real Danger: This international human trafficking of baseball players is getting seriously out of hand. Just days after learning that an agent got arrested for kidnapping, now we have an agent dropping his client because he is getting death threats from a trafficker.............

Just Jousting You: If baseball is the Camelot of sports, it's only fitting that during rain delays players find a way to host a jousting tournament.............

Leeward Journey: Cliff Lee is done. His game is gone and his comeback is not going to happen. Adios, Mr. Lee...............

Coll-Mentor: I love this guy! Josh Collmentor is caught teaching physics to baseball players. I don't know what I should be more excited about, a baseball player with a voraciously curious mind...or...a gaggle of baseball players who are open to learning about hard science?...........

Long Shots: Non-roster invitees are always wild cards during Spring Training camps. I love the hope on the part of the player, and the opportunity that player represents as hidden gem.............

QO Killers: Players are noticing the obvious. The Qualifying Offer is having a drag effect on work opportunities. Nationals players are showing amazement that their former shortstop, Ian Desmond, is still unemployed. They rightly point to the fact that because he was handed a Qualifying Offer which he turned down, any team signing him between now and draft day will lose a critical draft pick. Of course, it can also be said that Desmond probably should have accepted that QO. Desmond made $11MM in 2015, and turned down $15.8MM for 2016 after generating 20.bWAR last year................

Panda Platter: Pablo Sandoval used to play in San Francisco. Now he plays in Boston. And he is morbidly obese. Well, he is. And SF radio jockey Mike Krukow, who knows Panda from his Giants era, knows enough to declare Sandoval a victim of an eating disorder............

Be a Pepper: I can recall when I was a punk that playing pepper was a normal way to get the juices going before even warmups began at baseball practices. I used to wonder why baseball stadiums would warn pro players away from playing pepper near the areas around dugouts, as if pros were especially bad at it and would pose a threat to fans. And I haven't seen anybody play pepper since I was about 12. Until now.............

Long Form: Super K. The night that Tom Cheney struck out 21 batters in a single game..............

Age Old Story: Players get old, and as they do their skill sets decline. Based on their particular skill, the aging curve will vary. And what we are finding out now is that the variance itself is varying over time. This will make it difficult to forecast the true value for a Bryce Harper or a Mike Trout at the back end of their mega-contracts.............

______________________________

______________________________