TuesdoLinks: Back to the Suns of Summer

Juan Graterol comes, and Juan Graterol goes. I would think that the Players Association would have somebody think about the player as a person and a family member and create some limits against teams ping pinging guys around the league like this. After all, the Angels claimed this kid just 4 days prior from the DBacks, who claimed him from the Reds 4 weeks ago today, the Reds claiming him off the Angels 4 weeks before that.....By the way, it wasn't just Graterol that the Blue Jays claimed. They took Gregorio Petit away from us, too. Like I wrote last year, I see this as good news. Even before Keith Lyle's recent assessment, other teams claiming the guys that Billy Eppler tries to pass through the waiver wire means that the overall talent level within the organization is on the rise. Other teams want our stuff. Not the case a year ago..........

Somebody still thinks very little of the LAA farm system. Keep in mind that way down there in his lump of C+ players are Jahmai Jones and Alex Meyer. And there is some reason to believe that Meyer is going to get a shot in camp at a spot in the rotation............

Yeah, I gotta do it. I do it every year because it never changes. My general lamentation is that the Angels farm out their creative juices for seasonal promotional events to the ladies auxiliary committee of some local church. And, of course, Corrine and her fine quaff of blue hair is delighted to be re-elected as chair-person for the 17th consecutive year. It has absolutely nothing to do with the monetary value of the lineup of free shit. Just look at the lineup and tell me why this is so different than 2013, or 2008, or 2003.  Then, just as I do every year, go and compare the LAA list to that of the SF Giants. We got 81 regular season home game. With some luck, that last 10 could be compelling in and of their own because we are in some kind of playoff race. But the rest of the season is a slog. There is no shame in spicing things up and keeping things fresh for fans who might otherwise see the game as just another Wednesday night they could stay home and watch on their laptop. Hell, if the Angels aren't going to spend an extra Happy Meal or two to dedicate a couple of interns on thinking up new ideas, just steal the ideas from other teams around the league! It's really not that hard..........

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Everywhere In Baseball

Yordano Ventura update. Speed truly does kill..........And, related, $20 million is a lot of money in the DR. So I wouldn't bet a plug nickel that any local toxicology report would threaten $20 million net new income into the local economy there. Which is unfortunate, because that prejudices me against the report regardless of how scientific and truthful it might be. Maybe not you, and that's OK. But I confess that I have been placing jabs against the DR medical community for years. If you have made snarky PEDs comments/jokes about David Ortiz, you have too..........

Spring Training is such a drag. All it does it delays Opening Day. MLB agrees. Thanks to the new CBA and scheduling changes to make the drag somewhat easier on the players, ST will be shortened by 2 days starting in 2018..........

And the season is even more of a drag. Especially if you are a player on a west coast team. It's a basic fact of geography that some team located far away from everybody else will be the one that does the most traveling. This is why a Seattle Mariners last year had to travel almost twice as many miles as the Chicago Cubs. You people have all flown cross country. You know what a beast that can be. Check the table. The Angels traveled 2nd-most. I wonder how these numbers looked before the Astros joined the AL West? But back to the link. The other news is that baseball teams get crushed by jet lag, and teams that travel from west to east are more negatively impacted by jet lag than teams traveling from east to west. We a new stat: Wins Above Jet Lag...........

Oh, gee. I am so surprised. The ownership of the Atlanta Braves is demanding more money out of the Cobb County taxpayers. In a nutshell, there is a memo of understanding between the two that talks about the construction of infrastructure around the new stadium. The County spent a lot of money doing such construction, and the ownership spent a lot of money doing such construction. And now the ownership is going to the County and claiming that they money the County spent on County projects should have been spent, instead, to reimburse the owners for the money the owners spent on the ownership projects. The memo was left unspecific so that both sides had some leeway, and the owners are leewaying their way into interpreting it so that they get the County to spend County money on the County stuff AND get the County to spend County money on the ownership stuff......The other part of this is that between the time that deal was struck and the money was spent, Cobb County taxpayers kicked out the County Chairman, Tim Lee, and installed Mike Boyce as the new hardliner. Boyce managed to win the election despite a lot of funny money being added to  the campaign war chest of Tim Lee.............

What's it like to go through that whole Tommy John process as a pro ballplayer? Let's find out from a guy who is still doing it. I shattered both my ankles as a 16-year old high school basketball player, way back in the 70's. I am jealous of the progress made in sports medicine. My ankles are still sore even as I sit here tonight with rain clouds all around us...........

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The Duffle Bag