Thor’sLinks: Time for Xmas Wish Lists?

It’s time for Billy Eppler to write his letter to Santa. He needs to post it now if he wants Santa to get it all figured out in time for Christmas Eve delivery.

Hey, Billy, if you need any help these pages have a lot of elves volunteering!

Let’s just get right to these Goldy-Is-Locked-HaloLinks:

A Little Bit Of Angels News

Some chit-chat about our farm system. Too bad it’s Mike DiGiovanna of LAT...........

Shohei was not living large here in the OC. Of course, he is only making $545K, and it IS OC, which has 8 of the 100 most expensive zip codes in America............

Jered Weaver, do-gooder doin’ good deeds for his old high school mates.............

Yeah, Ron Santo, the reason you sucked in your final season is because you rejected The Halo. Had you not went to the White Sox, where you dragged them down to only an 80-win season, you could have played in Anaheim and made a real impact on dragging down a team that only won 68 (the very worst in MLB that year)..........

Simba Porn...........

Everywhere In Baseball

The big talk around baseball is MLB thinking about outlawing The Shift. Support for the ban is growing...........Some people are for it..........Some people are agin’ it.....Some execs are confused.....Some people are REALLY agin’ it..........What would it actually mean in the results?.............Really, banning the shift would be more about aesthetics than results...........

Once again, the Players’ Union is pissed about tanking, with the Mariners and Diamondbacks diving head first into the shallow end of the pool. First of all, the inaction of the MLBPA has a major hand in the current situation. The economics of player values are now fully vetted by analytics-minded Front Offices, and money is moving away from union seniority. So dump 5 or 6 expensive, or soon-to-be-expensive, guys in exchange for 10-15 less-than-minimum-wage prospects who will be cost-controlled for 5 or more years as they progress into studly youth to fuel playoff runs. But, in that link, note the inside view of how the MLBPA is working. They file grievances. And they are shit when it comes to picking what teams to file grievances about: “ ‘Last offseason, the union filed a grievance against four clubs that it claimed were not trying to win,’ said MLB Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem, citing a case against Miami, Oakland, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. ‘One of those clubs made the playoffs, another club won 90 games and a third club was in contention through the trade deadline. I don’t think the players’ association has any credibility on opining on how clubs will perform.’ ”............

Aha. So THAT is what this DRC+ fangled thing is all about...........

Yeonis Cespedes is still slow in his recovery - to get back onto the golf course during his rehab............

Winter Meetings used to be fun. Then, technology spoiled it all..........

ARod was unhappy his union blocked his move to Boston, far more than Red Sox fans.............

Oh look! Arlington has found a new use for their old, new stadium once the Ranger move to their new, new stadium. A mythical new pro football league............

Hot Stove

Paul Goldschmidt has been traded from the Diamondbacks to the Cardinals. Yet another huge piece of winter action. And yet another huge transaction that has nothing to do with Free Agent signings. So guys like Derek Dietrich just saw their market reduced a shade. The Cards are out of the 1B market altogether (since their 2018 regular, Matt Carpenter, now becomes their 1B depth), and they are replaced by the Diamondbacks, who would only be in the market for a 1B that came cheap, and that is assuming that they are not already committed to something even cheaper, internal......Meanwhile, the Dbacks got back one guy who reminds of Ricky Nolasco, another guy who might turn into David Fletcher, a Comp Round B draft pick, and one last guy who is supposed to resemble a catcher. But, hey, Arizona has all those nuts and bolts locked up. The Cards have to negotiate to hang on to Goldy past 2019. In other words, I agree with this review..........

Not everybody thinks that Pat Corbin is the finest option from which to pluck out of the carcass of the Diamondbacks when upgrading your pitching staff. Of course, you gotta get past Greinke’s no-trade list, which is half of baseball..........

The Duffle Bag

Hunter Pence biting off more than he can chew.............Jeremy Affeldt used to be an MLB pitcher. 14 year career. Now Jeremy Affeldt is a doggone dog-lovin’ hero...........Kenley Jansen is just so happy to be alive and healthy again, Kenley Jansen’s wife appears to have 100% free reign in the household...........Marcus Stroman must be a very cool big brother...........Tony Gwynn was awesome...........

OT, but it’s the most wonderful time of the year, and it’s my Linkage time: two women eras $1.5 million in medial debt for complete strangers...........