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Ok. The odds are that Vlad will just miss out on getting the votes needed for induction to the Hall of Fame. But those same odds also say there is still a chance that it DOES happen. And after it happens (if not this year, probably next), there is almost a 50% chance that he goes in with a Halo cap. So, yeah, for a few more hours of possibility. The announcement event starts at 2PM today (PDT).
Link away, people:
A Little Bit of Angels News
Not too long ago we enjoyed other General Managers, and in a time when we had absolutely zero clue as to how they went about their job. All we got to see were the results, good or bad. One of those GM's was Dan O'Brien. O'Brien took over for Mike Port when Port was fired in 1991 (which was just after Port having been in charge of drafting the core of that 2002 team). So there was O'Brien now the GM, through no fault of his own. He held that spot for two years. His 1992 draft was a bust (Bill Simas for the win!). But his 1993 had Brian Anderson, for which the DBacks probably thank us. Like I said, back then we fans had no clue as to how GM's did their job. So we never got to know how Dan O'Brien worked. And now, we never will. Dan O'Brien passed away yesterday at the age of 87.........
Keynan Middleton is coming. Fast...........
Well, well, well. It must be a very safe time to wrist slap the Cards for their Astros hack. Yeah. Color me cynical. This ain't a case of an MLB Front Office staffed heavily with ex Cubs/Reds/Royals executives. This is a franchise the MLB adores. And in the interim between when the hack happened, and then when the perpetrator confessed in court (and implicated un-named other STL FO execs) and now, "The Cardinals enjoyed a strong 2016 amateur draft while awaiting sanctions and also spent aggressively in the international market. In that sense, the franchise prepared for the potential loss of draft picks or international signing capability the franchise could suffer."
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Everywhere In Baseball
It's becoming almost comical. HoF voters are rushing to beat each other to the podium and spill their guts over how they voted this year. It's gotten to the point where I can't tell whether it's guilt or lemming-level honor. Up at MLB.com, it's a team thing. Vlad draw 9 out of 14 (64%) and fails. 5 of their 14 voters didn't find 10 worthy names..........
Deep math. In consideration of today, think of this article as what happened whenever Vlad Guerrero smacked a baseball with his mighty lumber. Because when you get solid wood on a baseball solidly, said baseball flies.............
The answer to the question of Who will be the first unanimous Baseball Hall of Famer? would be "nobody, never" as long as the current voting system is in place. Not a Derek Jeter. Not a Mike Trout. Nobody ever did it. Nobody will ever be allowed to do it. Not by this collection of nimrods...........
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Trade Winds
Did Billy Eppler just miss an easy one? Trevor Cahill had himself a pretty decent year in the Cubs' bullpen last season. 2.74 ERA, 1.279 WHIP, 147 ERA+ appearing 50 games...........Well, the Padres just signed him to a 1-year deal (limited commit) for only $1.75 million (cheap)...............But the bestest would be Bill Livingston out of Cleveland. The dummy wanted to protest his vote. He wanted to abstain. So, to abstain, he submitted a blank ballot. Which, as Murray Chass already pointed out to the world, is actually a vote and not abstaining. So Livingston, the idiot that he is, thought that by including a lovely note along with his ballot he could get special consideration for his not voting vote...........
Oh, Josh Hamilton sure makes for fun copy. As expected by absolutely everybody, he signed a minor league deal with the Rangers where the Rangers risk almost nothing. Best possible outcome for Texas: Hambone truly is healthy enough to make the MLB roster and the Rangers have a front-line outfielder capable of production for only $2 million. Worse case: the Rangers get some publicity during Spring Training, look like the noble good guys by giving Hamilton a 423rd chance. And in either case, the Angels get stuck with a $26.41 million payroll bill as punishment for trying to steal away an Arlington hero because Hamilton doesn't have to retire for his final season. And, like a horde of TMZ stringers, the Internet blew itself up with glee over the news..........
Jose Bautista is going home, back to Toronto, and not as rich as he thought he would be..........
The Duffle Bag
Half-way home, people...Half-way home...........Before riding off into the sunset, President Obama did as Presidents do: issue pardons. Among them,Willie McCovey..........That Curt Shilling AMA set for yesterday was postponed, to today..........This year's edition of the Fresno Tacos unis are here!!! Hat the cap. Gonna get me the jersey............Sidd Finch, anyone? Prospect Michael Kopech was just clocked at 110mph..........What? Jorge Posada is NOT going to be an HoF one-and-done??...........
Halo-Oppo-ly
Alright! The properties have all been put out there. This week, lets give you the tokens. I will give you 10 of them, total.
(Little did I know when I started out that Hasbro was holding a public contest to define the official game tokens. Results to announced in March.)
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