This will bring you reassurance, I promise.
Watching people return this dropped hat at the parade today was unreasonably thrilling pic.twitter.com/1ghfUJsItw
— Josh Pherigo (@JoshPherigo) November 3, 2017
I could watch this for hours and hours and it’d never get old.
Aside from option decisions and qualifying offers, there isn’t much news to be had out there. We seem to be in that phase between the thrill of the World Series and the excitement of free agency. Does anyone have a time machine?
Have some Gosh, darn, I hate everyone it’s Monday Links:
A Little Bit of Angels News
Not sure if this has been linked yet, but here’s a recap of the Angels’ organizational all-stars, including Jahmai Jones and Jo Adell.
The AFL Fall Stars game was on Saturday, and Matt Thaiss was the only Angels representative that played. If you missed the game, here is video of his first at-bat, and here is video of his second.
Jon Heyman reports that the Angels are “seen as a likely pursuer” of a certain Michael Moustakas. I’m not knocking Heyman for this being the second or third time he has published this, but because the wording is so vague that there’s likely no link to someone notable in the Angels’ front office.
In case you missed it (audio links): Billy Eppler on the Justin Upton extension, the Angels’ beat writer Maria Guardado on the move, and finally, here’s what the guys over at MLB Tonight thought of it.
Elsewhere In Baseball
Jim Duquette of MLB.com predicts where the top 25 free agents will land. Please note that the interested teams for Shohei Ohtani should say “anyone and everyone”.... Which players might be sneakily underrated in free agency? Tyler Chatwood says hi.....Tim Kurkjian of ESPN brings us the ten most important offseason questions, so it makes sense the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, and Dodgers have their own dedicated ones. After all, they are the only teams that exist.
Starting pitcher Alex Cobb has been extended a qualifying offer, which means the Angels would surrender a 3rd round draft pick if they sign him to an offer over $50 million. Of course, this is all assuming that he rejects the QO .... The Rangers’ Andrew Cashner, on the other hand, was not extended one.....Masahiro Tanaka and Johnny Cueto both did not exercise their opt-outs...
Zachary Rymer of Bleacher Report opines the Dodgers should trade for Giancarlo Stanton. To that I would say, what is there to be gained? It’s not like the Dodgers have a solid outfield prospect or anything.....Speaking of Marlins outfielders, MLBTR looks for teams that might match up in a Marcell Ozuna trade.
The Mets have hired DiSar as bench coach.
Andre Ethier is a free agent, which means the Angels wouldn’t have to give up C.J. Wilson to get him. :^)
The Duffle Bag
A few Astros—Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, and George Springer—were on SNL this week and it’s worth a watch... Other Astros visited the Houston Rockets’ home to show the World Series trophy....Uhhhhh, what did I just see?...
In a classy move, the Dodgers took out a full-page ad congratulating the Astros in the Houston Chronicle.
OT: A lot of people, including myself, have been wondering why they have lost interest in watching NFL this season. This might explain it.
Stirrups will be back tomorrow, resuming his per usual gig as Links Extraordinaire.