Weekend Chum Bucket

post from FishStripes on 21 November 2009 10:26:00 AM. © FishStripes

Mmmm, the weekend. It is here at long last, and as always, it brings your weekend Chum Bucket. Thanks to the exciting mobile commenting feature, you'll now have something to do as you stand in line waiting to see Twilight: New Moon.

There is no judgement here on FishStripes. Just be you.

I don't have too much time to elaborate, as there are less than 2 short hours before the Ohio State/Michigan game, and I need to get my pre-game ritual going. (You know, paint my face, meditate, find my center, throw up a few times. The usual.) But there are a few other noteworthy things happening this weekend as well, such as UM's regular season finale vs. Duke at LSS.

Oh, and for some reason I will never fully understand, a bunch of cars will be driving real fast in circles at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. And making it extremely difficult for me to get anywhere I need to go for the next few days. Sigh. But at least it has given me an excuse to wear my favorite T-shirt around town, so there's that.

Happy Weekend!

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Chapman Has A New Agent

post from Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog on 21 November 2009 10:24:00 AM. © Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog

According to Sam Borden, Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman has fired his agent, Edwin Mejia, and has signed on with the Hendricks Brothers. One of the Hendricks Brothers clients is Andy Pettitte, another is another Cuban defector, Angels first baseman Kendry Morales. Jennings speculates that that could have been one of the reasons for the switch.

This may or may not effect the Yankees chances at landing the 21-year-old fireballer. Maybe Andy Pettitte can push him the Yanks way.

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Ken Griffey Jr Is A Defensive Master.

post from 30-Year Old Cardboard on 21 November 2009 10:00:11 AM. © 30-Year Old Cardboard

If anyone made playing the outfield cool, it was Ken Griffey Jr.While he was never classified as ‘the fastest guy on the team’, Griffey definitely had a knack for getting to the ball and putting his body on the line in the process if needed. With tons of running grabs, shoe-string catches, and over-the-head acrobatic plays to his [...]

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Tigers/Mariners Trade Speculation

post from TigerBlog on 21 November 2009 09:48:02 AM. © TigerBlog

Lynn Henning wrote today that he wouldn’t be surprised if the Tigers ship a player or two to Seattle. It still bothers me that there’s all this talk of the Tigers trading for prospects after such a close run last year but what happens in these next couple of months will show what the front [...]

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The Mets

post from Love My Team on 21 November 2009 09:25:46 AM. © Love My Team

Wallace Matthews writes a pretty darn accurate piece for Newsday, which you may or may not be able[...]

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Season in Haiku: Washington Nationals

post from Knuckle Curve Semi-Drop on 21 November 2009 09:25:00 AM. © Knuckle Curve Semi-Drop

Stephen & Bryce &Ryan. That's pretty good, right?Well, no, not really.[...]

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Giveaway: New York Mets Keychains

post from The Mets Report on 21 November 2009 09:18:18 AM. © The Mets Report

Since the Mets haven’t really given us anything but heartache in the last year, I decided to give something away myself to Mets fans. Thanks to my friends at Wholesalekeychain.com, I have three New York Mets keychains to give away. You can check out their site and purchase Mets keychains that would make a nice [...]

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Free agents face tough market (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 21 November 2009 09:04:59 AM. © MLB News Blog

It's the time of year in baseball for courting and bluffing — sometimes simultaneously. Free agent signing season began Friday with teams competing for a dearth of stars and a large number of players nearing the end of their careers. With only pitcher John Lackey and outfielders Matt Holliday and Jason Bay considered elite players [...]

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Let the Free Agent Frenzy Begin!

As of 12:00 Friday morning free agents had the right to sign with other teams, marking when the free agency frenzy really begins. Earlier this week we looked into TBO's crystal ball to see where the free agents would potentially go. Now some of the[...]

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Saturday Rockpile: Rockies retain Phillips,
protect five prospects by adding to 40-man roster

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

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Phillips is in the fold - The Denver Post
The Rox signed Paul Phillips to a hefty $13,000/month contract yesterday, which gives the Rockies a contingency plan in the event that Yorvit Torrealba is lost to free agency and Michael McKenry doesn't become superman in Spring Training (which I have a good feeling he won't do, although I'm definitely rooting for it).

McKenry among those added to 40-man roster | All Things Rockies
Speaking of Michael McKenry, the Rox protected five prospects from the Rule 5 Draft. It's good to know that McKenry, Al Alburquerque, Edgmer Escalona, Juan Nicasio, and Chaz Roe won't be leaving the organization without a return. The club still has two open spots to play with.

White Sox add five to 40-man roster | MLB.com: News
Former Colorado farmhand Brandon Hynick was among Chicago's additions.

Law: Ranking the top 50 MLB free agents - ESPN (Insider Only)
Keith Law lists his top free agents, from Matt Holliday at No. 1 to Adam Everett at No. 50. In between, two Rockies players are included - the soon-to-be-gone Jason Marquis (#32) and Rafael Betancourt (#33). Here's what Law had to say about Raffy:

Betancourt throws a lot of fastballs and throws them for strikes. He's at 89-94 mph, mostly 91-93, with a short arm action and good deception because of it, and his stinginess with the walk -- only 85 unintentionals in 435 career innings -- should keep him employed for a while. He'll get ahead with the fastball, and he primarily uses his slider when he's ahead, especially with two strikes, although he's just as likely to keep pumping heat. His 2008 season, whether bad luck or a carryover from the way manager Eric Wedge overused him in 2007, now looks like a fluke, and Betancourt is the rare middle reliever who's worth a multiyear contract.

Final notes from Arizona Fall League - ESPN (Insider Only)
No mention of any Rockies, but there is a story about a bat boy-turned-criminal from ESPN.com's Jason Grey:

Stuff had been disappearing from one of the team's clubhouses for a period of a couple weeks. This situation was apparently resolved when police offers literally went into the dugout during the game and took the team's batboy away in handcuffs. Did I mention this happened during the game? The look on the manager's face was priceless, as in "What the heck are you doing in my dugout?" Lacking a batboy, the club plucked a lucky fan out of the stands to fill the role for the rest of the contest.