THT Links: March Madness
Some nice articles today, with J.C. Bradbury’s new book out and Mark Shapiro being rewarded for his work in Cleveland. That, plus it’s day one of March Madness. My Final Four? Florida, Kansas, Texas and Texas A&M. Disclaimer: I watched about two games this season and spent about three minutes on my bracket. A far cry from my glorious run back in 2002, when I correctly had Kent State (a 10 seed) and Missouri (a 12 seed) in the Elite Eight and vaulted to 655 in ESPN’s Bracket Challenge. Ah, to be young and in high school again.
Indians Extend Shapiro – The Cleveland Indians extended general manager Mark Shapiro’s contract through the 2012 season. Shaprio has done a great job of rebuilding the Indians and, in my opinion, is one of the top front office men out there.
Baseball Economist – Friend of THT J.C. Bradbury’s book, The Baseball Economist, is finally out, and covers topics from whether MLB acts like a monopoly to whether managers can impact umpires. I haven’t had a chance to read the book yet, but given what I know about Bradbury’s writing, I’m sure it will be a cracking read.
Angels Still Not Satisfied – The denial that Gary Matthews Jr. issued yesterday is apparently not enough for Arte Moreno. The Angels’ latent hostility toward Matthews has been in stark contrast to the stances taken with other steroid suspects: the Yankees supported Jason Giambi, while the Giants seem to have more of a passive aggressive relationship with Barry Bonds.
Third Base Coaches – Dan Fox and Neal Williams try to quantify the impact of third base coaches over at Baseball Analysts.
Tracy Tabs Duke – I can’t be the only person who thought that Jim Tracy was a Duke fan. In reality, Zach Duke will be the Pirates’ Opening Day starter.
Spring Stats – A fun and in depth look at how Phillies players have stacked up this spring.
Reunion Tour – The Giants are starting to look at Russ Ortiz as more than a potential fifth starter. The rest of the NL West applauds. The THT projection system has the Giants surprisingly strong this season, but moves like giving Ortiz a few extra starts could be their undoing in what looks like a wide open NL West race.
Timlin Still Sidelined – The Red Sox closer situation continues to be unsettled, as Mike Timlin has not completely recovered from an oblique strain.
Today at THT
Bringin’ Some Serious Cheese: Rich Harden – Today, we examine Rich Harden’s mechanics in order to find possible causes of injury.
Five Questions: White Sox – Will the White Sox win more than 72 games?
Five Questions: Minnesota Twins – What will the Twins be like without twin anchors Tony Batista and Juan Castro?
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.