Good morning.

Here are several links from the past week that will make your Monday at the office a bit more bearable:

  • Actually, this fascinating piece from John Dewan in BillJamesOnline.com got posted the week before last. Dewan argues that, while Madison Bumgarner’s World Series Game 7 performance was indeed spectacular, those responsible for San Francisco’s defensive positioning also deserve major kudos.
When Nori Aoki slapped a line drive down the left field line that was slicing away from the left fielder, it seemed like Bumgarner had done just that. Aoki’s liner was in the air for just 2.6 seconds. It is a play that Baseball Info Solutions’ Plus/Minus system expects to never get made. However, even as the ball quickly fell out of the sky, Juan Perez came out of nowhere to reach the ball and snag it before it touched down.
That out was made possible by the Giants’ decision to play Perez close to the left field line, which is not at all an obvious decision with a left-handed hitter at the plate. But it was no lucky break for the Giants. They knew that Aoki had a tendency to hit his line drives and flyballs the other way and often down the line. You can see that trend in Baseball Info Solutions’ Defensive Positioning software, which highlights red the sections of the field that Aoki’s most recent balls in play have been hit to.
  • I don’t agree with Ben Lindbergh of Grantland that Mike Trout’s winning this year’s AL MVP vote is akin to Martin Scorsese’s finally winning Best Picture for The Departed. Come on, Ben, I agree with your overall concern about Trout’s future, but he had a really good season, even if his previous two campaigns were markedly superior. As for The Departed, well, let’s just say that film was way closer in quality to Kundun than Goodfellas.
  • Victor Martinez re-signed with the Tigers, but the designated hitter, who turns 36 later next month, didn’t come cheap: $68 million over four years.
  • “Who needs Panda the most?” asks A. J. Cassavell of Sports on Earth. He looks at several teams who could use free agent Pablo Sandoval’s bat in their lineup.
  • Writing in SB Nation, Eric Stephen introduces us to Cuban sensation Yasmany Tomas, who is expected to sign a contract with a big-league club in the coming days. Stephen expects Tomas will command a pretty penny:
Because Tomas is at least 23 years old and has played at least five years in a professional league, as stipulated per the collective bargaining agreement, he is considered a professional free agent and not subject to the international bonus pool limits imposed on signing international amateurs.
That has Tomas in line for a payday similar to the $68 million over six years received by [Jose] Abreu, or the $72.5 million over seven years given to outfielder Rusney Castillo by the Red Sox. Gone are the days of grabbing a potential impact slugger like [Yoenis] Cespedes for four years and only $36 million, or [Yasiel] Puig for seven years and $42 million, as their success gave teams the confidence to invest more heavily in Cuban hitters.
[Agent Jay] Alou said an eight-year offer was already turned down, per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, with Tomas preferring a shorter contract so he can cash in again on another big free agent deal when he is still somewhere between ages 27-30. Cespedes employed a similar strategy when he turned down six-year offers to sign with Oakland for only four seasons at a higher annual value.
  • Courtesy of Fangraphs’ Jeff Sullivan, you’ll never guess who in 2014 led MLB in attempts to bunt for a base hit. Never. Ever.
  • Another Cuban, infielder Yoan Moncada, has been cleared to test free agency by MLB, according to ESPN’s Keith Law, although the Office of Foreign Assets Control will have to give its okay before any team signs the 19-year-old.
  • Robinson Cano’s post-postseason play abruptly came to an end on Saturday in the Tokyo Dome, courtesy of a broken pinky toe. Four Japanese pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter against their MLB opponents as the stars from Nippon Professional Baseball took the first three contests of the five-game series. The MLB squad managed to secure its first win yesterday.

That’s it. Have a walk-off week!