Sunday Spiels

People in San Francisco would bend over backward to see Lincecum win the Cy Young.

Well, this should be an interesting three or four days for me, but I should still be able to get some posts up here. In the meantime, peruse a few links.

- Nomar Garciaparra isn't very good these days, but the Red Sox still can't replace him.

- Jarrod Saltalamacchia likes the idea of going to the Red Sox. Apart from the fact that he should probably keep his mouth shut until it happens, I thought it was interesting that people keep saying Varitek's defense is amazing. I'll give him pitch-calling, but if he's so good defensively, why do they need a special catcher for Wakefield?

- Pat Gillick will not be returning to the Blue Jays. I think I'd rather stay in Philly, too.

- Mike Jacobs isn't looking to take a walk. Really?

- Junichi Tazawa is now being targeted by the Tigers. I'm surprised it took so long.

- Here are some righty bats the Twins are looking for. Where is Adrian Beltre?

- Dave Cameron at USS Mariner is up for a $10,000 blogging scholarship to UNC-Greensboro. Where do I sign up? Here is the link to vote for him. I don't read him on USS Mariner, but I enjoy his insights on FanGraphs. Looking at the tally so far, I think he'll be $10K richer soon.

- Tim Cowlishaw continues to be one of the dumbest people I've heard of. Now, he wants the Rangers to go after Manny. Um, the Rangers don't need offense. They need pitching.

- The Phillies are resisting the urge to jump for left-fielders. I agree with Amaro, they need more pitching not more offense.

- As if we really needed to know, signing free-agent pitchers is risky business. I'd like to see a study where they compare the success of home-grown vs. free-agent pitchers. I realize the free-agents make a heckuva lot more money, but something tells me that they are more effective than trying to find options from within.

- We now have baseball metaphors for the economy: Economy Throws MLB a Curve, But Selig Thinks the MLB Can Hit it.

- Bob Smizik takes a shot at the neutral-siters. Good.

- Let's all complain about how much pro sports athletes make so much money, but let's not stop going to games, watching them on TV, buying merchandise, ...

- Tim Lincecum will try to be the second Giant to win the Cy Young on Tuesday. Gaylord Perry nor Juan Marichal won one? Wow.

- Someone else thinks the Manny offer wasn't legitimately heart-felt. Let's also remember that it was the first offer and offers usually increase the longer time goes on. Why should he have offered a six-year contract if no one else will go over three?

- Willie Randolph is the Brewers' assistant coach now, but he's still looking ...