THT Links: Transition

I hope you’ve all enjoyed the Links so far; it’s certainly been a treat for me to compile them for you. In fact, it’s almost kind of embarrassing for me to tell people that one of my duties as editor of the Hardball Times is to … read baseball stories on the Internet and share the most interesting ones with our readers. It certainly doesn’t sound like a real job—more like one of those fake jobs, like the guys who work at LegoLand.

Anyway, now that the season has started, and we’ve begun running our awesome THT Daily reports, by Dave Studeman, again, we’re considering combining the two into one super-report. So tomorrow, check the Daily for your fix of baseball links. And let us know what you think at
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Aces Low – Viva El Birdos discusses Chris Carpenter’s injury, breaking down the impact start by start.

Home Run Payoff – Local woman wins $1,000 in home run inning promotion in Philadelphia. What gets me about this is that in the A’s comparable promotion, the winner gets an autographed ball if a batter hits a home run and a bat if it’s a grand slam, along with a trip to fantasy camp. Maybe the A’s really are small time.

Panic Attack – They’re already sounding alarm bells on the Phillies’ season over at Balls, Sticks and Stuff.

Cleveland Road Show – A great update on the Indians’ impending home dates at Miller Park in Milwaukee. Apparently, Houston and the Disney Wide World of Sports complex were also considered. Check out the story for more interesting tidbits.

Sublime – Apparently, Miguel Cabrera practices Santeria, much like Pedro Cerrano of Major League. My question is, how did we not find out about this until now? I mean, the guy has a shrunken skull in his locker! A miniature skeleton! And we wonder how journalists could have missed that players were shooting steroids.

Young, Padres Close to Deal – The Padres are close to signing starter Chris Young to a four-year extension. I’ll reserve judgment until terms are released, but Young definitely isn’t as good as he was last year, when he was extremely hit lucky. I still expect him to be great, just not that good.

Dotel On Road to Recovery – Octavio Dotel could be back on a mound testing his injured oblique as early as tomorrow, while Royals manager Buddy Bell hopes to have his closer back by Sunday. Fantasy players be prepared to activate Dotel for next week’s games.

Today at THT

The Value Production Standings: 1981-1985 – Into the 1980s, will the National League be able to sustain its long-held advantage in Win Share Production?

Eight More Prospects to Watch in 2007 – The minor league season is underway, and here are eight players who could emerge as top prospects by the end of the year.

Build from Within, Trade for Quality – In an excerpt from his new book, Geoff examines one of the strategies a “small-market” team can employ to help level the playing field.

THT Links represents the best efforts of our editors in scouring the various tubes of the interweb for both relevant and irrelevant news items. If you have happened upon a story that we have overlooked or wish to give feedback of any sort, please notify us at THT Links.

Updated weekdays at noonish, ET.