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- Today, Thursday, marks the day in which Tim Lincecum will be taking the mound for scouts around the league. There are going to be at least twelve teams in attendance to watch the former Cy Young winner, and the Red Sox are going to be among them. We’ve bee waiting for Boston to make a big splash all winter long, and now they have their chance with Lincecum! Of course I’m joking about that, but they also really have nothing to lose here. The now-33-year-old hasn’t done much of anything in professional baseball since 2011, and chances are overwhelmingly high that he’s never going to do much of anything again. That being said, Lincecum was one of the most fun pitchers in recent history — both on and off the field — and if there’s even the slightest chance he can be useful for a team there’s nothing to lose by sending a scout and potentially signing him to a minor-league deal. Just don’t get your hopes up.
- The free agent camp being attended by a number of the unemployed players around the league has begun, and there was already some controversy on day one. Apparently, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal, a club executive tried to watch the workouts and was kicked out. It’s very easy to roll your eyes at the Players Union side and think they are crazy for not wanting teams to watch them as they look for a job. However, there’s a reason things like the Lincecum tryout are scheduled well in advance. If players are going to have a tryout, they want to be fully prepared and know exactly when it’s happening. If you’ve ever watched early spring training practices, you know that players aren’t exactly in the swing of things. If the player wants scouts to watch him practice, he’ll let you know.