Daily Red Sox Links: Jeremy Giambi, Jonathan Papelbon, Tyler McDonough

Sad news to start links today, as we learned on Thursday that former Red Sox Jeremy Giambi has passed away at the age of 47. (ESPN)

Sometimes being good just isn’t enough to get into the Hall of Fame. That’s what we saw with Jonathan Papelbon and his contemporary, Joe Nathan, who were both really good closers for a long time. (Estevão Maximo; Beyond the Box Score)

It sure was fun when Brock Holt was playing for the Red Sox. Tyler McDonough could be the heir apparent to Holt in terms of play style. (Christopher Smith; MassLive)

Marcelo Mayer and Jeter Downs may be the bigger names when it comes to up-and-coming middle infielders in the Red Sox’s system, but don’t forget about Christian Koss. (Hunter Noll; BoSox Injection)

It was only a matter of time before every MLB team had to use a designated hitter. As we get closer to that inevitability, Russell A. Carleton takes us down the road to this precipice. (Russell A. Carleton; Baseball Prospectus)

We already got the news that Shohei Ohtani was going to be the cover start for this year’s version of MLB The Show, and now we have a taste of the game’s actual visuals. (Eddie Makuch; GameSpot)