Today's links were composed while counting anachronistic expletives in Deadwood …
• The Dallas Observer's Sam Merten offered
a Christmas wish list for the Rangers. Granted, No. 3 on the wish list -- sign
Randy Johnson -- is
no longer an option. But trading
Michael Young and moving
Ian Kinsler to left field remain …
intriguing.
• Will the Giants be competitive, having signed
The Big Unit?
According to Jorge Says No!, much depends upon whether
Travis Ishikawa and
Pablo Sandoval are the real deal. Well, Sandoval's for real. At least as a hitter; it's not clear that he'll find a position anytime soon. As for Ishikawa -- who plays Sandoval's most likely eventual position -- his track record isn't bad, but John Sickels
recently rated him as a C+ prospect (and by the way, John's book, as essential as ever,
is now available for pre-order.
• With the Red Sox apparently close to signing
their No. 6 starter and No. 2 catcher, they may turn to their attention to a No. 4 outfielder, and Fire Brand of the American League today
begins a three-part series on the top candidates for the job.
• Who hit the last home run in Yankee Stadium? I don't actually know. But as Alex Belth reports,
Ray Negron gave it one hell of a shot.
• I've never watched one of those outdoor games that hockey fans get so worked up over. But I don't care much about college football and I
do care about Wrigley Field. So I believe I'll be watching
this hockey game on New Year's Day.
• Sean Lahman, who's done a great deal of good work over the years, has been working on a method to
predict Hall of Fame voting. As he admits, there's not a great deal of
practical value in such a method … but that doesn't mean it's not fun.
•
Joe Posnanski is J.P. Ricciardi (and I'm not, though we do share an affection for the first two
Godfather movies, which, by the way, are currently playing around the country in new prints, and the theater is really the only place to see them).
Rob Neyer
