MondoLinks: 11 days to go!

And there you have it. With the format that allows for a one-and-done-dud, the NFL proves once and for all that baseball has the very best championship event. Being able to put forth a best of 7 process over a mere 2 weeks, baseball allows for good days and bad, and greater strategic engagements to be tooled and retooled as the contestants battle across greater amounts of time and space.

It's un-possible for baseball to put up a League Champ that would compete for its highest award, that is capable of dumping 4 consecutive games of impotence, incompetence, errors and brain farts. And the idea of two teams behaving as such, back-assing their way to a title? Pshaw.

Baseball rules. The World Series rules. Andrelton Simmons rules. Let's get the Angels to this next one and then let's all experience something infinitely superior to what sports was forced to endure this past Sunday. First step, wiener dog links:

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Everywhere In Baseball

Looking Forward: Here are 21 things to think about and watch for as the season moves on. Ten things from JP Morosi and eleven more things from Paul Hagen over at MLB.

Rising Tides: Jake Arrietta just set a new world record for MLB pitchers with only 4 years of service, signing for $10.7MM for one year. Just keep in mind that Garrett Richards is almost precisely one year behind Arrieta, and is at $6.43MM for 2016. Wouldn't it be nice to see a fantastic year by Richards. Combine that with a new CBA, and Richards might end up with a chance to vault over Arrieta...............

Roles rules: Well, sure. How managers and general managers use their players as resources can have a significant impact on that players metrics. It impacts how we measure and compare players across eras and, of course, it can impact player pay. But I think that this is only the surface of this topic. Someday we will be able to calibrate our data and tune our measurements based on how a player is used between pitches...........

From the Bureau of Entitlements: A recent theory coming out of New York is that the Yankees have gone dry in the Free Agent marts as a means to stockpile dollars so that they can steal away Bryce Harper from the Nationals as their next Sooper Dooper Star. So, of course, we have a response out of Boston. Anything Yankees can do, BoSux can do better, anything Yanks can do Sux can do too............

Good Intentions: Baseball park bans on smokeless tobacco won't stop those using smokeless tobacco, but that doesn't mean it's not a step worth taking............

Hipster Unis: The Orix Buffaloes of the Japan Pacific League are taking the field this upcoming season...in plaid. I am not making this up. All they need now are throw-back paisleys..........

Choices. Decisions: Antwaan Randle El, now retired from his successful NFL career, recently lamented his choice to pursue football and not baseball, considering the toll it has taken on his body and mind. In this essay, Jon Morosi goes behind the scene of Randle El's contemporary, Jeff Samardzija, who did choose baseball over football. Samardzija's advantage? Ty Willingham, Samardzija's college football coach. Willingham, in his position and college football being as competitive as it is, is revealed to be a rare man..............

Walk Off: The Carribean World Series ended in the most dramatic of fashions possible, with a walk-off title winning home run by DH Jorge Vazquez as Mexico defeats Venezuela............

Nothing Left to Lose: Pete Rose still has a shot at baseball Hall of Fame, but since he no longer has any realistic shot at reinstatement, he might as well double down in his remaining skill: gambling associations. Rose does a TV spot for the William Hill sports betting app..........

EXPOnents: The march back to Montreal might become a heroes quest before all is said and done. Keep in mind that the magic of the Expos was their talent pipeline far more than their location. The fact that all that talent kept being piped up to the pretty city of Montreal was merely an interesting touch of color to the real story. So, unless all these well-wishers can re-assemble the scouting and drafting and development expertise, all we will have in another Cleveland Indians team or another Milwaukee Brewers team. And that ain't so magical...........

Sports Biz: MLB, with headquarters in New York, is more than a little interested in the ability of DraftKings and FanDuel to make changes in order to adhere to state laws. If they do not, MLB would drop them as a Fantasy partner............

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