TuesdoLinks: Over the hump already!

It’s been 76 days since the 2017 World Series came to an end on November 1 of last year. It’s only 73 days until Opening Day on March 29 against the A’s. We have passed the halfway mark, friends, and it’s a downhill coast from here on out.

Have some Light-At-The-End-Of-The-Tunnel-Offseason-Links:

A Little Bit of Angels News

EYJ sharing his upbeat message yesterday for MLK Day...........

Ian Kinsler, our new 2B, knows all about In-N-Out., which outweighs his desire to avoid California’s egregious tax rates..........

Yahoo! has come to a final decision on how to deal with the two-way skills of Shohei Ohtani. You will be able to draft him at both pitcher and hitter slots...........

It just kind of makes sense that the #1 prospect in all of Baseball would also most likely be the #1 prospect at his position??............

Everywhere In Baseball

One last chance to enjoy for yourself some Dave Cameron without joining the San Diego Padres organization............

That NFL playoff game between Minnesota and New Orleans ended in gobsmacking fashion. Could we duplicate such a finish with Major league Baseball? Actually, kinda yes we can...........

EastSPiN having their ultimate fantasy dream with their most favorite franchise - the Yankees............

NFL ratings still trending down, even now that they are in their playoffs. At some point we are going to have to start wondering how this will translate to Baseball ratings trends, if at all..........

Speaking of football/baseball comparisons, here is an interesting argument that the rising salary cap in the NFL has created a competitive edge to be exploited. Over here in MLB, the luxury tax threshold is also rising, though not as dramatically as in NFL. The linked article reveals a cap growth of $47 million over 4 years, whereas our CBA lifts the threshold $21 million over 5 years. And baseball salaries are higher per player, so there is less growth benefit to be passed along to the top end talent. But baseball teams have smaller rosters, and the trend is towards younger, cheaper talent anyway. So pay attention to how MLB teams work the two factors of rising threshold and redirecting that towards less-expensive players, and keep your eyes peeled for parallels to NFL results...........

Now you know how us old-timers feel. Yadi Molina - THE BABY of the Molina brothers and the one who did not play for LAA - is about to retire. He announced that 2020 will be his last..........This creates a sense of urgency among Cards fans, who are watching the rest of Baseball leave them behind this off-season..........

Hot Stove

As an example of that NFL/MLB comp paragraph above, note that the Pirates went to a longer contract with their brilliant young closer, Felipe Rivero. Instead of a 1-year arb decision, Rivero gets 4 years guaranteed, worth $22 million. The contract also includes options and buyouts that take Rivero all the way out to 2023. That’s 6 years overall. For a 1-2 inning guy. Young, brilliant, cheap by MSM hot stove desires, but a nice raise for a kid who has barely earned over $1 million in his career total..........

The San Francisco Giants just keep getting older. They traded for Andrew McCuthen yesterday..........But that might not be something that ends well..........

Howie got himself a refresh gig in DC, signing a 2-year deal with the Nats for $7 million...........

The Ji-Man lands in Milwaukee. Choi signed a short deal with the Brewers. The best news for Choi is that he can play Major League Baseball without having to stay in the visitors’ hotel in Milwaukee.............

The Brewers are now rumored to be looking to find some key players with which to surround The Ji-Man. Both Jake Arrieta AND Mike Moustakas might be coming down to their price range...........

Crank up your memes. Granderson is no longer available. Again..........(Imagine how things might have went had we not been left joking about this in 2013, signing Grandy instead of Hambone. He’s been worth about 11.5 bWAR since.)..........

Frank Thomas is definitely NOT General Manager material. Seriously? He has not heard of Eppler nabbing Upton, then Ohtani, then Kinsler, then Cozart??...........

The Duffle Bag

Martin Luther King, Jr, was a baller at heart.............And there is a very strong connection between MLKJr. and Jackie Robinson.............Something to add to my post-retirement baseball tour bucket list: The Hot Springs Historic Baseball Trail..........Add Toronto the growing list of stadiums adding expanded netting............Oh. Here it comes. I knew we skipped something. That missing retirement announcement of Justin Morneau..........