ThanksLinks: Much to be grateful for

Ok, so the 2018 was craps. But the frustration of crapping out is knowing the taste of rolling sevens. Be thankful that we enjoy a franchise that strives to win, and even in this worst of years, when the rotation folded before the sun could even warm the stadium seats, puts forth enough to win almost half the time.

Be thankful for the potential. A team with Trout and Simmons and Ohtani at its core has explosive possibilities. And Billy Eppler has acquired a coming wave of promising talent that is growing near.

Be thankful for our community here at Halos Heaven, which has survived, and evolved, and still thrives.

Be thankful for the day, because eventually they do stop coming. And when they do stop, you are going to miss out on a lot.

And, yes, for those brave few who are blessed with enough spare time to wander by and see what’s going on in the baseballing world, I am thankful.

Thankful enough to offer up these Pumpkins-Pie-HaloLinks:

A Little Bit Of Angels News

We gots ourselves some changes in our pitching staff. Billy Eppler swung a deal with the Marlins and acquired LHP Dillon Peters.....Peters is not The Answer. had been DFA’d by the Marlins, and should be thought of as yet another starter backup from which Ausmus might pluck out a rotation should enough guys shape up in Tempe.....To bring Peters in, somebody had to go. Alex Meyer was the guy DFA’d, which is kind of sad. I wanted so bad to see him work out. But, reality check time, we have had enough with the pitching breakdowns and need to move on. Trout’s clock is ticking...........

Also in the mix was Jose Fernandez. The same guy who back in June was “living the dream” of being a Major League ballplayer, well, he was released from his job as a Major League ballplayer............

Shohei Ohtani made it back home to Japan. In a welcome back interview, he admitted that the level of play throughout MLB is a significant step up from Japan, and also that it was a good thing to have gotten his TJ surgery out of the way...........

LAA social media maven having some fun with MS Paint............

Everywhere In Baseball

Manny Machado can speak publicist-speak all he wants in an effort to redeem his reputation (and contract projections). But there are too many videos of him pimping away bases to convince the masses............

That thing where the Rays DFA’d C.J. Cron, right after Cron has a 30 home run season? Well, it’s quite possible that Cron has little production beyond hitting home runs to offer, and that production is getting easier and easier to replace?..........

If MLB owners are not going to rectify the near-poverty they impose on their future entertainment content (minor league players), and if it is unrealistic that the MLBPA would begin a collective bargaining effort on behalf of MiLB players, and if it is even more unrealistic that transitory members of MiLB might unionize themselves, is there any other way for MiLB players to raise their own tide? Why, yes, yes there is. And it is a fascinating concept...........

In case you had not noticed, or realized just how far science had integrated itself into MLB, well, it’s literally rocket science.............

Interesting. If I am figuring out this ruling that allows the Cincinnati Reds to avoid paying taxes on the promotional items they purchase for give away (such as bobbleheads), this means that they do not have to pay taxes on things they hand to fans at the gates, but they still do have to pay takes on those things that they shoot out of cannons at those same fans in their seats...........

For you baseball history buffs, especially those aware of the pre-MLB roots form the 50’s on backward, this is one heck of an enlightening interview with author Lincoln A. Mitchell, who is promoting his new book (already on my Christmas Wish List) “Baseball Goes West: The Dodgers, the Giants, and the Shaping of the Major Leagues”. So much information of which I had never been made aware, and so much new concepts to ponder............

I will never understand the fascination so many other among my baseball fan peerage have for spending large sums of their hard-earned money on game-related paraphernalia...........

Disney lost 2 million ESPN subscribers in 2018. Before all you go doing your victory dance, they still have 86 million. 2 million is a mere rounding error...........More significantly, NBA ratings are down. This is being blamed on LeBron James moving to the west coast. Less about time zone issues and more about leaving the eastern talent pool rather diluted and uninteresting. But it sure points a fair weather vane in the general direction of why east coast media whines...........

Hot Stove

In an unusual deal, the Reds inked closer Raisel Iglesias to a new 3-year deal worth $24 million. What’s unusual about it is that Iglesias was not even scheduled to be arb eligible until 2021. But his contract was kind of messed up by today’s standards, so this was more about cleaning up his contract and fixing his pay............

It appears that a handful of teams have made serious enough package offers to the Mets that they are tempted to consider actually trading away Noah Syndergaard............

The Dodgers appear to be gearing up to be very busy this winter.............

And the Yankees are talking internally about the value of taking a run at Bryce Harper..........

If you want to play the clever game at your LAA GM discussions in the open idea forum, TheRinger has some pretty intriguing second-tier options..........

The Duffle Bag

Some day Ippei is going to get his own bobblehead............With Adrian Beltre’s retirement, MLB has only 1 guy left who played in the 1990’s: Big Sexy.............(h/t reddit) very cool tunneling GIF of Trevor Bauer. Imagine trying to figure out how to hit off that dude...........Here is a series of bits for which we can thank UniWatch: In this rare clip of 1940’s World Series action, the true charm is the awareness (reminder for me) that the WS used to be a national day-time event. Practically a holiday....When you order team merch from the official store of the Amarillo Sod Poodles, they ship it in a crate......But the Sod Poodles are in for a struggle. They have been trumped by trademark trolls............