THT Links: Games!

So apparently, the fact that it’s spring has actually led to less good baseball coverage, as most writers figure they can turn their brains off and churn out the standard drivel and people won’t notice because there are finally games on.

ESPN Scoreboard – So by the way, did I mention there are games on! The marquee matchup, such as it is, is obviously Minnesota-Boston, where we could see one of the Twins’ top young starters in Matt Garza or Kevin Slowey, or J.D. Drew or even Dice-K in their first Red Sox appearances.

Cautiously Optimistic – The Bleed Cubbie Blue community projects new $136 million man Alfonso Soriano to hit 41 home runs next season, but post only a .331 OBP, which seems a little light given the home runs. They’re also probably subconsciously projecting a long season, as they have him with only 99 RBIs to go with 41 home runs and 39 doubles.

Wagner Card Sells for $2.35 million – Don’t get me wrong, I used to love baseball cards. I had one of those binders with the pages of plastic sleeves, and thought Andy Van Slyke was just the coolest name. But $2.35 million???

Duquette Builds Baseball in Israel – Former Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette is helping to establish a new pro baseball league in Israel, with the goal of getting an invitation to the 2009 World Baseball Classic. What’s awesome is that I was in an OOTP baseball league with Leon Feingold, who will be pitching there, for about two years.

Wear and TearBobby Abreu will be out a couple weeks after an oblique strain in the first of several minor injury reports.

Weaver Could Miss Opening Day – Okay, so the article says that Jered Weaver might be ready for Opening Day. But the A’s need enough help as it is, and I hadn’t heard that he was injured.

Call OSHA – Orioles prospect Hayden Penn twisted his ankle while carrying some boxes yesterday, which means that he’ll miss a couple spring training starts.

Use It or Lose It – Every spring training, teams lose players who run out of options but aren’t good enough to make the roster. Marc Hulet has a look at which option-less fringe players might make the cut.

The Fall and Decline Scott Long over at Baseball Toaster takes a look at the decline of the Sporting News, once America’s foremost baseball publication.

Today at THT

The Best Young Shortstops of 2007Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez lead this list of 15 great young shortstops in the major and minor leagues.

Minor League Workhorses: 1976 – 1980 – The late ’70s prove to be a period of remarkable stability in the usage patterns of minor league aces.

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.


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