HumpLinks: Tempe Take-Oh-ver

Immerse thyself in these Valentine’s-Day-Spring-Training-Links:

A Little Bit of Angels News

The Oh Crush is on. Day One and it’s all about 6-man rotations. (Nice timing on my part, huh?)............Mike Scioscia said it once, and everybody reported it a thousand times:.....CBS Sports.....ESPN.....Bleacher Report.....The LA Times......The Comeback.....and even Maria with MLB.com...........

Maria gives us a couple of other pieces. One is about some guy named Shohei Ohtani. And the other is about who will be the 6th man in the rotation. That last one will probably the most interesting campaign out off Tempe this year............

Also, it should be obvious that just because yesterday was the ‘official’ day for pitchers and catchers to report, that doesn’t mean that all the players are locked out until then. We already have guys sharing impressions about Ohtani, all impressive.............

FOX Sports West today. 2PM PDT. Shohei Ohtani presser ............

How about some not-Ohtani news? How about some serious upside to Zack Cozart, our new third baseman?...........

And how about second base? Ian Kinsler, ranked the top of the bottom! Sad that I am actually stoked by this major upgrade............

Everywhere In Baseball

This is just a very long and complicated way to postulate yet another Mike Trout to the Phillies scheme............

Yes, David Price, you have been a real prick lately. You have forgotten that MLB exists as entertainment. You gotta be a spectacular athlete and competitor, but you are still entertainment............

Matt Kemp is back as a Doyer, somehow having found 40 pounds off excess fat to lose. This is a DA story just waiting to happen...........And it’s the story that Pedro Moura leads with on the same day that a Shohei Ohtani arrives right under his nose. Just so that you don’t forget the priorities around here............

Interesting cord-cutting trend. Fox is surviving as cord-cutters turn to Hulu, because Fox has an ownership interest in Hulu. It’s one development I warned about. Disney is about to buy Fox. Disney owns ESPN, ESPN is a key contributor the cable costs that cord-cutters are fleeing. So cord-cutters are on the precipice of leaping right back into the arms of Disney’s revenue stream (as it were)............

Hot Stove

Theo Epstein is nobody’s idiot. He took full advantage off all the crazy-assed whining and fear that developed over Yu Darvish’s 2 World Series appearances, and picked him off the market when so many others stood idle.............

If it’s true that Darvish had so many large offers and he sat on them, maybe the MSM needs to consider the players bear more than just a little bit of the guilt for this offseason’s transaction rates...........

And now it looks like some fun sporting blood is rising between Darvish, and the Dodgers. First chance comes on June 25th...........

Since the Red Sox are a rich AL team in need of a slugging DH, the presumption is that the Red Sox need J.D. Martinez badly. But the other way to think about it is that since the Red Sox are the only rich AL team left that needs a slugging DH, and there is no place for a Martinez to go should they pass on him, Martinez needs the Red Sox even more badly. So, yeah, these two need each other. And I wouldn’t mind seeing Boston drop lock themselves into that payroll commit............

Meanwhile, over in the NL the Diamondbacks are trying to not let that Boston/Martinez thing happen...........

The Yankees are looking to get just as creative with figuring out how to add Mike Moustakas...........

And the Dodgers brought back 105-year old Chase Utley. I think we win the 2B war here in SoCal...........

The Duffle Bag

Yankee ans are expecting 162-0.............Derek Jeter found another way to cut costs. No-Fun Jeets has eliminated the mid-game sea creature race...........Yeonis Cespedes has ended up to be a perfectly accomplished LF after all. Suck it, doubters...........Phil Coke is trying to make come true that most popular theory: to extend his career as a knuckleballer. We could use one of those..........Bruce Maxwell has...um...changed his stance. Sorry. I had to do it.............Need a job? How about as a trainee scout???............MLB Network anaylysts work out of MLB Network studios, which are in New York. So it’s no surprise that they are breathing the MFY ether. And when that gets the better of them, Justin Verlander is there to counter with one high and inside............One scribe is gonna pay a high price for covering Ohtani’s Spring debut............