Two more weeks, folks, until we can see our way through to the other side of winter. Today I post what amounts to a collaborative melange of deep midwinter links for your clickiting pleasure, some rewarmed, some fresh off the hot stove. Special h/ts to schmenkman and taco pal.
Trustee Faults Mets Owners Over Madoff Fraud
This story ran on the front page of the New York Times on Saturday. I sort of feel for the Wilpons on this one, but the bottom line is that the Mets and the Dodgers are in a cash crunch for the foreseeable future. Pair this story with the one BoundforBeach posted about Jeff Francoeur's opinion of CitiField for your nemesis-loathing pleasure.
Mike Sweeney Wants to Play in 2011
A quick update on our favorite huggerslugger.
Grilli Appears Likely to Sign with Phillies
Dig his tweet! Dig his website! Dig his BB/9! Sort of a big league version of Aumont. Minor league deal, for now. For you fans of righthanded bullpennery, also dig that Chad Durbin isn't quite out of here yet, per Jim Salisbury.
Top of the Phils (Batting Order)
Fangraphs' Eno Sarris with the kind of analysis that tires out the mice on the circular wheel that power the Phillies' lineup card formation. To wit:
But this still leaves three decent men for two important spots. If the loser is not Rollins – and recent history suggests that this will be the case – then the loser will be the Phillies.
If you liked that, there's even more, with the thrilling conclusion: lineup debates are kinda noisy.
McCaffery: Phils alright sans righty bat? Not quite
Only in Delaware County can you juxtapose French with a common English misspelling. Mon dieu, I love being from hear. As of this writing, there's only one comment, but it's so worth it.
Beyond the Box Score: The Impact of Luck, K's, and BB's on Hitters in 2010
This article goes right to the heart of the Ryan Howard conundrum. Before my right-brain'd self can comment appropriately, I need to spend a bit more time in the library.
Hardball Times: Ten Years of Spending
Payroll over time, by division, since 2000.
Signal/Noise: Visualizing Major League Baseball, 2001-2010
Bill Petti's remarkable visualizations of all the wins that money bought, or: Better lucky than overpaid (right?). A more colorful version was also posted on Fangraphs here.
Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee: Efficiency Experts
Fangraph's Paul Swydan takes a look at the times in recent history when teammates ranked at the top of BB/9 and K/BB.
Texas CEO: We Helped Phillies Sign Lee
Which could also be titled, "We Made Sure the Yankees Wouldn't Sign Lee." Hey, whatever works!
Newsday: Jimmy Rollins has Bieber Fever
He owns a piece of this. Reallyreally.