Thor'sLinks: Angels catching up on rumor lead

Dear Jon Heyman. It's still iffy whether or not Vlad Guerrero will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. And there is still some credible debate as to whether or not he should be (although, really, how can we not immortalized a giant beast of a man who destroys baseballs and then runs around the bases laughing like a little kid???). Neither of those things are in any way a predicate to knowing the BBWAA is loaded with idiots................

If GR Therapy turns out not to be a stable solution to UCL issues after all, maybe Garrett Richards could look to "primary repair" surgery before considering TJ?..........

Each year I suffer the same thing. The Angels do promos for we fans to help keep us excited and engaged through the long slog of a baseball season by giving away NASCAR sombreros and forcing us to mimic a love-lorn stalker by singing along with The Foundations night after night. The San Francisco Giants do things like treating their fans to Grateful Dead Tribute Night. (1967 was a great year for pop and rock music but where I might want to go with the Doors, I'd be afraid taht John Carpino would roll out The Monkees. Hell, even Get On Up by the Esquires makes more sense for a 7th inning stretch singalong.).........Meanwhile, maybe it's something in the SoCal air. The Dodgers have released their bobblehead schedule and it looks rather obvious, and uninspired...........

Seriously. I am truly surprised to learn that the Mets are not inviting Tim Tebow to Big Boys camp. They had been publicly glossing over and/or spinning his catastrophic AFL showing and I was certain that they would cash in on his celebrity as much as possible before cutting down squads prior to quitting Camp. Florida (where the Grapefruit League is held) is right smack there in his base, Teh more he is around camp the more attention the Mets garner. He could still make some ST games, but the Mets aren't committed to maximizing their money's worth after all..........

Jewish-American baseball fans alert! Israel might be a major spoiler in the WBC..........

Wally Backman can't get a job, claims he is being blackballed. I dunno. I used to be a BIG Backman enthusiast. But I am aware enough to see what is going on with the brain trusts through MLB to realize that Backman's schtick is not going to appeal to modern Front Office staffs. Maybe it is true that Backman has not been worthy of love all along, but whatever time he had has certainly passed him by............

I voted for Roger Clemens into the IBWA HoF. exclusively based on his pre-PEDS cred, which is formidable. People have been diving into the numbers and making that same case for years. Other people just choose to keep ignoring it...........

But if you just wanted to base your Hall of Fame memberships on the "fame" factor, well, things get more interesting. Certainly for some guys who spent their years in time zones removed from those who enable "fame".........If, on the other hand, you drag yourself through "the Bill James Keltner List" of questions, some decisions become easy no matter where you spend your baseball writing hours. Go Vlad!..........

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Jerry Dipoto has officially taken full command of the high seas of Trade Winds this offseason. He made deals #10 AND #11 just this winter alone yesterday, both within an hour of each other. In the end, they add Drew Smyly and Shae Simmons to their starting rotation. As FanGraphs points out, Dipoto made move #10 to get a guy he didn't need on his own roster at all, just so he would have the pieces to make his move #11, enabling him to target the needed upgrade to his rotation. This is the kind of maneuvering Dipoto is capable of when he walks into a situation where a Tony Raegins and Arte Moreno have not gutted his prospect options. I don't know if it's going to work out for him in the end, and he is giving away a lot of future value, but I have to admire the work ethic...............

That Mixmaster that is the Seattle roster keeps FanGraphs intrigued with their forecast modeling. Keep in mind, however, that Dave Cameron has his roots with Lookout Landing..........

Relief Pitchers are all the rage now, certainly after teh 2016 playoffs. But it's Designated Hitters who are getting way overpaid. Maybe there is hope for Mark Trumbo after all.........

The Duffle Bag

Oh no! How shocking! MFY Nation is going to be whining that Jorge Posada will fall off the HoF ballot after only 1 year. The rest of us will be wondering what the hell he was doing on the ballot in the first place................Mr. VaselineGaylord Perry (who IS in the Hall of Fame) discusses the relative HoF merits of Mr. PEDs Barry Bonds versus Mr. Bookie Pete Rose...........Strangest MLB baseball card I have ever seen..........Sometime before I die, can't we all agree that permanent body art should not be used as the payoff for nutty sports?...........Add Hulu to your cord-cutting streaming options. And rejoice, because advertisers don't yet think viewers of sreaming content are valuable targets, so not as many ads to deal with. Again, I should emphasize "yet".........Holy, holy crap!!! There is much debate about the HoF credentials of Edgar Martinez, primarily because he was a DH and somewhat because few voters remember west coast AL baseball from his era. And then - thanks to reddit for the find - we see THIS..............

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Halo-Oppo-ly

My 2016-2017 Winter Project: Monopoly for the Rest of Us. You, too, get to try your hand as Arte Moreno-bags. We begin with the properties.

Alright...home stretch.  The final properties. Think of this as our...ummm...Hall of Fame District.....

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