MondoLinks: The Super Bore

Yesterday, a sporting game was played and for the first 3 ¹⁄₂ hours we saw only 2 scores. But in all that downtime, the NFL raked in $5 million for every 30 seconds of commercial, which were dull, but still more exciting. The last half hour saw two other scores.

It might as well have been an MLB game. Except in football, all such droll is forgiven.

But, hey, next week we get P&C report. So let’s roll with these last Countdown-HaloLinks:

A Little Bit Of Angels News

Shohei Ohtani won’t be ready for Opening Day, but he is making regular progress on his TJ recovery program.............

Good catch, reddit user.....The Angels have home games on June 27th, July 27th, August 27th and September 27th. And every time is a Mike Trout promo............

A modest proposal? Billy Eppler should sign Clay Bucholz? Sure, yeah, he was great last season. But with his track record that means that he won’t be great again until 2021...........But one more arm, maybe the Angels owe that to Mike Trout?............

More bad news. Albert Pujols is expected to be ready in time for Opening Day............

60 seconds of Andrelton Simmons porn...........

Happy birthday, Victor...........

Everywhere In Baseball

More on the fascinating trends among MLB teams. We know they are getting younger, and surging in players with 2 to 5 years of experience. But did you know that the average number of different teams that players play for is dropping, even as teams are burning through more and more pitchers?...........

One gets the feeling that the Dodgers spent so much time putting together their roster and farm system and finances, that they forgot to get a handle on things like workplace safety, ethics, etc. The latest mess involves Gabe Kaplan and an accusation that, back when he was with the Dodgers, he failed to report an assault incident that involved some minor league players (and others) when it was brought to his attention.....Kaplan has come out and denied the allegations, but it’s a mess that things even had to get to this point...........

A great recovery story continues to do better. Danny Farquhar, recovering from an in-game brain aneurysm just last year, has signed an MiLB contract with the Yankees...........

Luke Hagerty is a great story, too. 99mph flame-thrower. And he is making a comeback. At almost 40 years of age............

Roger Clemens is putting on a brave face concerning his dwindling Hall of Fame chances. One might even call it denial..........

Adrian who?? Because Rob Manfred is so good at promoting baseball, folks............

We are in full arb season now. Blake Treinen wins one for the players...........Michael Taylor loses one to the Nationals............

Randal Grichuk learning not to blink?...........

ESPN was not going to have a Baseball Tonight broadcast this seasons. So they really didn’t need an Adnan Virk anyway. But firing him for cause, claiming that he was leaking ESPN insider information? What the hell would that have been? ESPN has not been interesting for a few years now...........

Disney might have overpaid for those FOX RSN’s they want to sell off. And they might still be over-estimating them. Which kind of cracks me up. Is this collusion, or maybe just business?...........

Hot Stove

The Padres did end up meeting with Bryce Harper. They might be preferring Harper over Machado for marketing reasons. (Note the “stupid $” comment there.)............The Phillies are also expecting to sign Harper or Machado. So does this mean that the Padres and Phillies will split those two, and we are waiting for something - Phillies/Padres/Harper/Machado - to go first.............Unless Harper chooses to take a 1-year deal to ensure that he gets to deal next year from whatever becomes Machado’s base..........

Ken Rosenthal makes a compelling case for why the Dodgers are not caring to bid on Harper. “To this point, only two teams.....have made greater free-agent investments this offseason than the Dodgers.....their 2019 payroll be among the highest in the NL.....the team also will rank among the industry leaders in spending on facilities, front-office staff, revenue sharing and scouting and player development.....and.....the Dodgers currently project to 93 wins, most in the NL even without Harper...”...........

All this brings us to the realization that Bryce Harper is not chum for the top-tier MLB teams, such as Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs. His landing spot is being debated between the White Sox and Padres...........

People love to harp on the sheer number of remaining Free Agents unsigned. But when pressed to come up with where to actually put the guys, it soon becomes apparent that there aren’t that many left of quality (at least among pitchers), and every one of them is flawed.............

Now that Nolan Arenado won his record $26 million arb decision, the Rockies are going to want to sign him to a long-term extension so they can pay him Bryce Harper money for years and years. That would take him off the Free Agent market next year...........

With Craig Kimbrel on the market, and the Red Sox trying to wait him out so that his price comes back to their weakening check book, the Red Sox are dumpster-diving now to try and fix their bullpen............

The Duffle Bag

The Nationals are banning backpacks starting this year. For security, they claim. Because, after all, everyone was at extreme risk last year, and the year before. I think that the only thing they are trying to secure would be their food and beverage sales............The baseball that Jose Bautista hit for a home run, inspiring his epic bat flip, was just sold at auction for $28,000...........Come on, Inland Empire Little League teams, get your 66’ers sponsorship apps in right away...........