WeekEnd HaloLinks: Release The Hounds!

Time to get Winter Busy. Or not. It depends on the market, of course, but I have hope.............

Except for those of you in Arizona (or Hawaii, Samoa, Puerto Rico, etc....You know who you are) dig these Say-Goodbye-To_Daylight-Savings-Time-HaloLinks:

A Little Bit Of Angels News

Just a little bit of paperwork. The Angels outrighted John Lamb and Sherman Johnson to SLC. This means they cleared waivers, got moved off the 40-man, but remain employed as a Halo..............

Hmmm. Now why would it be that the subject of LAA retired numbers is a subject on the official Angels web site?.............

We already know that BaseballAmerica selected Shohei Ohtani as AL Rookie of the Year. Well, this is where they explain to Yankee fans how that happened............

Oh, and it’s definitely the holiday season at BaseballAmerica. Here is something about Mike Trout for your holiday stocking. (Because, yeah, they named Trout Player of the Year. Suck on it Boston.)..........

I am going to keep this up here until the event, as a reminder. JeffJoiner directs us all to the annual opportunity for we fans to join the Halos in giving back to our community. The Groundskeepers are hosting their 12th Annual Canned Food Drive Friday, November 16th thru Sunday, November 18th at Angel Stadium.

Everywhere In Baseball

Somebody at SBN is doing all the work to keep track of winter transactions for me. So let’s take advantage of that person..............It IS QO day.............We have seen a trend of players considering or accepting Qualifying Offers the past couple of offseasons, and this go-round, with an even higher QO level, might break records............

Except for Bryce Harper. Harper deserves his own prediction department..............

Jon Heyman claims to have word that Manny Machado’s Big League market just shrunk by one candidate..........

I would think that if I were Clayton Kershaw, I would not opt out. Kershaw already has $70 million assured and will be only 32 when ready for his next contract. And, coming off the worst season of this decade, it might be valuable to get a chance to re-polish his sterling credentials. The problem with that plan, though, is that would be the same year that Jacob deGrom hits FA, and only 12 months before Noah Syndergaard and Max Scherzer become FA’s...........That decision is due today............The Dodgers and David Freese already figured things out already..............

How about bold 2019 predictions? I was totally following these until the author got to the Padres..............

Oh yeah. Jeff does his Sullivan thing and dives deep, deep, deep into the moment that umpire Marvin Hudson took one in the family jewels. What other sports grants us this sort of richness in any minor moment?...........

Is this stat about the A’s because they don’t bunt, or because they totally suck at bunting?...........

And the only “Amazing Fact” to remember about the 2018 playoffs would be this one: “The A’s have lost eight consecutive postseason winner-take-all games, the longest streak in history.”.............

But the WS itself? While these guys share and debate and reminisce, I find that my mind is already working to erase the chalkboards of anything that happened. I remember 18 innings, and a couple of the home runs, and a free taco.............

If we can consider the playoffs as our canary in the mine, we had better find a way to tone down pitching dominance while not enabling the home run rush. ‘Cuz 162 of those WS games would make for a fatal summer............

Oh this is most excellent. The first thing that new Mets GM BVW does is ignore the smarter guys working under the past GM - those who could be a threat to the apparently insecure new GM - and bring back the disastrous Omar Minaya to be his immediate underling...........

That’s the thing about media. They always get the last word. So when Alex Cora made a point to troll the early season doubters in the middle of what should have been a city-wide celebration, the MSM could not let that go. Not in Boston. Of course, WEEI is a pretty dastardly media outlet unworthy of having any sensitive skin...........

But the other thing about the media is that they get a chance to call bullshit on power. Like the NY Post calling bullshit on the Mets for hiring that BVW fella. “In other words the Mets have hired a GM who, when it most counts, vows not to get involved...Exactly how is that going to work? When, for example, deGrom’s future is discussed and determined, Van Wagenen will leave the room or, to be extra cautious, leave the country?”.............

And grab your popcorn. Hal Steinbrenner has come out swinging for the Red Sox.............

Forget about the coastal part, or the World Series tie-in. Just read this to witness how the sport of baseball connects two random people who will never meet, and possibly never come withing 2000 miles of one another. Yeah, we got it pretty good.............

A couple of moments to expand our minds, shall we? Kim Ng, currently working the MLB office, is getting pretty tired of being used to satisfy some EEO checklist and won’t interview for GM openings unless the franchise is pre-qualified to be offering her a real chance to run their team. It looks like the Giants are that serious..........And let’s be introduced to Canada’s Women’s Baseball team. My takeaway is that everything we can note concerning the sacrifices that MiLB players have to make trying to work their way up the ladder, can be said about Canada’s players.............

Willie McCovey remains an awesome baseball gift that will never stop giving.............I mean, the man could literally hit the cover off the ball..........Grant Brisbee, the SBN mothership writer who happens to be our biggest SFG fan, says goodbye...........And so does AT&T Park............

The Duffle Bag

I have nothing creative that would be worthy to add to the phrase: “Barry Bonds in street clothes hitting home runs off a pitcher who is jumping up and down on a trampoline.”.............The Red Sox equipment manager must be pretty sharp with his duct tape..............The Red Sox, touring LA, before duck boats...........Happy Anniversary, Houston! One and done?.............