MondoLinks: Win some, lose some.

Have fun with that win one, lose one, win one, lose one, etc., etc.s, etc. But pay more attention to the individual stories and not the team outcomes. It's only practice, folks. For instance, Albert Pujols made his Spring Training debut yesterday..........This puts him on track to make Opening Day..........Afterward, Pujols stated that he felt great............Everybody is thrilled, and now all we need is for Albert to not go 0 for Spring..........

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Everywhere In Baseball

Nava Again: I could get used to this. Range in left field defense out of our lead platoon guy, Daniel Nava...........

Gio Trio: This is another good sign. That last year's Giavotalla-as-offensive-sparkplug was not a fluke. Three baggers are always welcome..........

Weaver Dreamer: Jered Weaver is NOT a fan of shifts:  " 'I’m not really a fan of that. I don’t think you’re guaranteed the guy is going to hit the ball there all the time. If there’s a 75 percent chance he will, there’s still a 25 percent chance he won’t.'  What about rockets hit into the shift that result in outs?  Weaver’s response to that question would best be described as a non-verbal whatever...." I hope that Jered got his college degree via scholarship. I would hate to think that he paid for a college education that would eschew the facts that run the real world..........

Thick Skulls & Thin Skins: I have news for MLBPA Chief Tony Clark: he had better get used to the idea that information is going to get published via the Internet with which he - and his constituency - shall be unhappy. The clubby nature of the relationship between the newsmakers and the information exchange is ending. And over time, there will be far more folks sharing news and rendering judgment than there have ever been in the past, few of whom will have any reason to worry about whether or not a Tony Clark would allow them to share the sour aroma of used jockstraps. And, really, Clark already has his hands full.........

The Chase is Over: MLB has dropped their plans to suspend Chase Utley in the regular seasons for his take-out slide in the 2015 playoffs. Something about the MLB rule book being too confusing at the time of Utley's slide. Which clearly has been solved by adding more rules and confusion to the MLB rule book. Clearly..........

Fresh Take: Since we are talking about changes to the MLB rule book, why not go whole hog? The Sports Quotient suggest something beyond radical, but which makes a hell of a lot of sense. It would allow for situations when a catcher, having been pulled from the game for whatever reason, could re-enter the game later due to certain circumstances. I like the intent, and I love out-of-the-box thinking. It sure would help with the 25-man. But I wonder about unintended consequences, such a the backup taking a dive in order to get the starter back into the lineup..........

Unclear on the Concept: People really want to struggle with the idea that statistics struggle with the success of the Royals. We fans of LAA kind of understand, having watched our team outpace PECOTA year after year after year. But this all misses the basic point. Statistics don't define what will happen for any given toss of the coin. They define what would happen if that same coin is to be flipped a hundred times. It's simple, and impossible. Put all these players onto all these teams and play out this upcoming season 100 times, with the same ages and injuries and everything, and most of the time the Royals don't even make the playoffs. Considering that baseball is a game of fail, that is hardly revolutionary.............

Air Support: Hey, ump! What did you do when a flock of seagulls invaded the stadium during a Pirates-Astros spring training game? "I ran."..........

Moral High Roads: Well, well, well. It looks like we have a new cause, and just in time for CBA chit chat. We have high-quality pre-arb players refusing to sign their 2016 contract offers from their ballclubs, as a means of symbolic protest. Technically, all this does is allow the club to set the pay rate at whatever they want as long as the rate meets or exceeds the league minimum. But these youngsters are not happy with the relatively low pay for their quality output at a time when their own union has set the rules, with the owners, against them. So I gotta ask: how many of these dudes will be surrendering their mega-millions when they, then in their 40's, will be grossly overpaid albatrosses living large off the back end of their 7-year deals???.......

Oh, Snap!: For the first time, MLB is going to allow players to take their cellphones into the dugout...and use them...during games. It's only 1 day, March 11, and only for a Spring Training period, so let's not get all too excited about following Mike Trout and his tiny little airplanes between at-bats in Anaheim...........

Ohio Primary: The 2016 Presidential Primary season rolls into Ohio this month. For the record, Donald Trump has already lost once in Cleveland...........

Zoning In: The strike zone is morphing, as all should be aware. For some batters, this had had a significant impact. It may sound counter-intuitive, but it hasn't had that big of an effect on Mike Trout. Mike Trout cares very little about your strike zone. Mike is THE Mike Trout..........

If it were THIS easy: Dan Johnson, career 1st baseman/Designated Hitter, has decided that at the age of 36 maybe it's time he thought about starting a new career. So Johnson, last seen with the Cardinals in July of last year, has signed a minor-league deal with the Rays, to become an MLB  knuckleball pitcher..........

Bats, Nets & ADD: Here is a guy with excellent instincts, and the reflexes to serve them. When a bat went flying into the stands on Saturday, this dude stayed focused and not went ducking, AND managed to reach out and deflect the errant bat before it could cause damage to any fan. In this case, the fan was a small boy, who was choosing to celebrate his infield seats by paying attention to his cellphone. We should think about getting Apple to sponsor the MLB park backstop net extensions..........

Cap & Frowns: If I found out that somebody had pranked me with gum on my cap, I would wear the gum out onto the field of play proudly...............

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