Daily Links - The Sixteen Inning Blues Edition

I normally stay up late to write this so the fact that it's 2am EST now isn't abnormal to me. What is strange is that the Red Sox game just ended. Fifteen pitchers threw about 500 pitches giving up eight hits but only one run over sixteen total innings of what amounted to a soccer match. Dustin Pedroia won on penalty kicks in the sixteenth.

Link time!

According to Matt Clement (really) the Red Sox have been consistently consistent, a line which in context makes plenty sense but out of context sounds like something Tim McCarver says in his sleep.

The most valuable franchises in professional sports are at least somewhat predictable. If you can't grab the order you can probably at least guess the teams. Forbes Magazine has their list of most valuable franchises out and The Biz of Baseball has your coverage. Manchester United is the most valuable, followed by the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Yankees and the Washington Redskins. Guess where your Red Sox are. Find out after the jump.

The Red Sox are thirty-fifth on the list, though they are the second most valuable baseball team, seven slots ahead of the LA Dodgers. In between the Yankees and Red Sox are two thirds of the National Football League including, but not limited to, the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Carolina Panthers, and New Orleans Saints. I won't quarrel with Forbes evaluations because honestly, what the heck do I know, but if given the choice, I'd rather own half the Boston Red Sox than all the Panthers, Chiefs, or Browns.

Mike Axisa at River Avenue Blues has an idea for how to fix the All Star game: make it young versus old. Changing it up like that wouldn't be the worst thing ever, but I don't think it really solves the problem. As I wrote about last week, MLB is trying to have it both ways. On one hand they want the All Star game to be taken seriously by the players, coaches, and fans, but on the other they want everyone to get into the game, they want in-game interviews, and frivolities galore. Either it counts or it doesn't, fellas. Altering the teams is just playing in the margins.

Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus has a mid season Top 50 Prospects list. It's behind the paywall but as a Red Sox fan you aren't missing much. There are only two Sox on the list. Bryce Brentz comes in at number 36 and Will Middlebrooks is four slots behind, which brings me to ask, what is list really listing. Are these future major leaguers? If so, I think the list is biased in favor of players in the lower minors. I don't mean to pick on Mr. Goldstein's list, indeed he's forgotten more about prospects and scouting than I've ever known, but I don't see how a player like, to pick one, Taijuan Walker, who is 18 years old and in Low A is a better bet to help a major league franchise than Ryan Lavarnway who is a 23 year old catcher hitting .365/.434/.687 at AAA.

Tom Verducci has his second half previews out for every team in the history of baseball. I think he's totally wrong about the 1983 Washington Senators. Also the 1927 Yankees. No way they're that good.

Finally, this reads like something from The Onion.