Random links, random thougts

Because it beats working.

• This is mighty interesting. I wonder what it'd take (beyond Coco) to get Saltalamacchia? If you're going to get rid of Coco, it's hard to come up with an upgrade in the name department, but this one might actually work. (Plus there's the whole "Jason Varitek will be 36 next year" thing. But that's not nearly important as having awesome names on the roster.)
• The MLBPA is so fucking predictable. (Though I have to say it's pretty awesome that Gene Orza accused Murray Chass of collusion. Who to root for?)
  
• Two weeks ago Will Leitch (of Deadspin fame) wrote this awesome article about Curt Schilling. It sums the guy up pretty perfectly in my opinion.
• I've known about this for years, but have never bothered to take a look: C.J. Nitkowski has a blog, which he's maintained for years (probably before the term "blog" was even coined). It's worth a look - it turns out he's more than just the guy I picked up late in the 2002 fantasy season (along with A.J. Hinch, B.J. Ryan, A.J. Pierzynski, A.J. Burnett, and B.J. Surhoff) because of his awesome name. This last season for him seemed rather rough - he played in Japan, for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (teammates with Adam Hyzdu!), struggled throughout the season, and clearly by the end was ready to go home. His blog is interesting because it's just so candid - something you don't see much by athletes these days.
  
• Anyone else notice that Peter Gammons has been taking potshots at baseball stats lately? "The sabermetrics guys in their garages never understand these things." "Sorry, but the postseason is not random" "But it is that drive and obsession with consistency and winning that makes Jeter a greater player than any statistic can measure." I know he's never been too into statistics, preferring to focus on the human side of the game, but has he always been this snide (even passive-aggressive) towards sabermetrics?
• Obviously Scott Boras continues to surprise (see Barry Zito), but I can't help but think he made a huge mistake with the A-Rod opt-out. Simply talking to the Yankees gives them 7 years/$230M - they could probably talk it up to 8/$265. Maybe the Angels will pay more than that, but maybe not. If they have to settle for 5 years, even if it's $33M/year, I'd view the whole thing as a big fuckup.
• The Tejada rumor is great. As you know, I hate the guy, so I'd love to have him to root against. And the fact that he's on the decline, and may well make a nice big cameo in the Mitchell Report, makes it that much better.
  
• Bob Raismann may be the awesomest-looking sportwriter ever. That's it, I'm growing a moustache.