LA Angels 2sday Links

Two weeks from today grown men will report to Spring Training, get their lockers, and leave. And it will be a glorious day.

The big news, of course, is out of Washington D.C. Everybody is talking about it, there’s no denying it, so I’ll just start off with it: the Nationals signed Kevin Quackenbush. Ha ha.

In bigger baseball news, the Arizona Diamondbacks added Starling Marte yesterday for two prospects. This is another solid move by a team that is quietly building a playoff contender. It is a tall order to chase down the Dodgers, but by beating up on SF, Colorado and maybe even SD the Snakes could have a nice path to a Wild Card while the NL East and Central teams beat up on each other.

The return for the Pirates was very solid, the equivalent of a first round draft pick and a first round international signing if rounds existed. However, these kids are barely old enough to actually need to shave and this foreshadows a long rebuild.

With this trade the Pirates projected payroll drops to $50 million. This is something I’d bring up in the next CBA as both an owner and player rep. If the revenue sharing split for each team was $118 million then the salary floor needs to be $118 million. Its not too much to ask that the money a smaller market team receives from the larger market teams go towards players instead of profit. After all, I need to sell tickets when your team needs to come to town if I’m an owner. And I know you have the money if I’m a rep.

One person who seems to find money everywhere is Scott Boras. He managed to find a market for defensively challenged Nick Castellanos and snag a 4 year $64 million deal that also includes two opt outs. That race in the NL Central should be fun to watch.

Looking around the AL West, meet future ace of the Mariners Julio Rodriguez. He might be a major thorn in our side for years to come. Didn’t Seattle just bid adieu to a guy who took MLB by storm as he finished his teens?

The Oakland A’s seem optimistic about finally getting their new ballpark. Hopefully they do. With Texas getting a new ballpark this year and Arte set to either completely renovate or build a new Big A, the AL West might soon see the very nice park in Seattle become the oldest park in the division.

As we await the day Rex takes pictures of your 2020 squad we need something to watch. One of my all time favorite clips is the Funny or Die by Doc Ellis about his no hitter on acid. For no other reason than to put a smile on your face, please enjoy.

Have a great day and add anything I missed. It is way past my bedtime.