Good morning!
Here are several go-to links that will make what remains of the offseason a bit more bearable:
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The Mariners’ pitchers and catchers, including newcomer Jesus Montero, descended on Peoria, Arizona, to start their spring training activities.
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Here’s another sign of spring: Saturday was Truck Day in Boston.
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Dave Cameron of FanGraphs presents the ten worst off-season transactions. His No. 1 was Jonathan Papelbon to the Phillies for $50 million over four years (plus a fifth-year vesting option):
The Tigers overpaid and got a star [Prince Fielder]. The Phillies overpaid and got a reliever, then had salt rubbed in the wound when the reliever they were replacing ended up signing with another NL contender for 17% of the guaranteed money they gave Papelbon. The list of big contracts for free agent relievers that have turned out well is extremely short, and while Papelbon has been a very good reliever thus far in his career, he’s not without his own set of risks. For a team that had other holes to fill, this just wasn’t a good use of resources, especially with the glut of relievers on the market. By exercising a little more patience, the Phillies could have walked away with a good closer, a real answer in left field, upgraded their bench, and had enough left over to convince Roy Oswalt to return. Instead, they decided to go all-in on a ninth inning upgrade that might not even turn out to be a big upgrade.
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Baseball Analytics’ David Golebiewski wonders whether A. J. Burnett would be a useful addition to another team’s rotation.
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Writing at DRays Bay, “Bososx13″ compares Ben Zobrist with second baseman contemporaries Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia.
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Frank Jackson of the Hardball Times looks back at Hurricane Andrew’s destruction of Homestead, Florida, back in 1992 and how it forever changed spring training.
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Matt Kemp shows off his fairly intense workout regimen.
Is it safe to assume that this jetBlue plane will not make too many landings at JFK?
That’s it, folks. Have a walk-off week!