The rumors weren't true. Daily Links was not traded for Ozzie Guillen, has not been replaced by Terry Francona, and has not quit to write for Bleeding Cubbie Blue. So, apologies, but unless a trade is forthcoming, you are stuck with me this off season. Ah yes, the off season. A time for renewing hope, a time to look towards better times that surely lie ahead, and a time to drink anytime you hear the name "John Lackey." Drink.
Link time!
We all know what it's like to be fans of a team that loses in the playoffs. Thanks to the 2011 Red Sox we also know what it's like to be fans of a playoff-bound team that blows it all on the last pitch of the season. But, what is it like to be a player on a team that loses in the playoffs? Writing for ESPN, former player Doug Glanville delves into that very subject. The end result sounds a lot like getting dumped by your significant other. Lounge around in your underwear for a few days subsisting on a diet of cold pizza, Taco Bell flavored tortilla chip crumbs, and ice cream (now with candy bar bits from the coffee table). Then your phone rings and you think, 'She wants me back!' but it's just Dusty Baker asking you to return his copy of People Magazine.
Over at the mother ship, Rob Neyer tries to tell us all, for the forty thousandth time, C.C. Sabathia isn't leaving New York and it has nothing to do with the preponderance of incredible cupcake establishments that can be found there. OK, maybe it does just a little bit. In any case, this is something I've been saying since last year, so you know it's not any kind of newsflash if you think about it for a second. Sabathia can opt out of his contract, but no team is going to out-bid the crazy rich and pitching starved Yankees for his services. Also, while Sabathia can opt out of his contract, there isn't anything preventing him from talking to the Yankees and negotiating a new deal before he does so. Throw this one on the pile with taxes and death.
Are Red Sox games really long? Yes. Yes they are.
Did the Yankees just cost the City of New York a hundredy billion dollars by losing to Detroit and therefore not bringing more post season games to New York? Writing at The Village Voice, Neil deMause says nah, probably not. Mr. deMause makes several good points in the article, but the over all point to me, one which he doesn't specifically address, is that anytime an economist tells you a sporting event is going to generate X dollars for some municipality, you can safely bet your life they're wrong.
The Yankees losing did generate a large amount of schadenfreude over at Joy of Sox, if you're into that kind of thing.
Chris Mellon of Sox Prospects has a scouting report on new Red Sox draft pick Matt Barnes. It sounds like we can expect some good things from Barnes going forward, and if he's able to make some adjustments he could develop into a top pitcher in Boston's rotation. Is next year too soon to hope for?
Finally, ever sit down in an unnamed corporate coffee shop with your grande deluxe mocha frapachino, glance over at the line and see Theo Epstein buying a banana? This guy did. Oh. Sorry. Allegedly did.