Links For Friday

Here are your links for Friday morning, the last of the week. Enjoy.

Tim Marchman had a great piece on 2009's free agent busts so far, calling Edgar Renteria Willy Taveras the worst contracts from the offseason. I love the way that Marchman opens up the piece:

Free agency is one of history's great scams, up there with state lotteries and the old grifter trick of selling a man his own house. They all rely on greed, stupidity, and man's belief that bad things will happen to other people but not to him.

Marchman, one of my favorite baseball writers, has a blog, by the way; I can't believe I had never come across it before, but it's absolutely worth bookmarking.

Why is the Great Joba Debate even a debate?

Cliff Lee can't buy a win, writes Aaron Gleeman.

Cameron Maybin might be on his way back to the majors, writes R.J. Anderson.

The rosters for the 2009 Futures Game were released yesterday. In the future, I might be doing an article for the site and FirstInning analyzing the make-up of each roster.

The St. Louis Cardinals appear to be set to sign top international prospect Wagner Mateo $3.0-M, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. (H/T MLB Trade Rumors)

If you recall, Kiley McDaniel spoke about Mateo, a 16-year-old outfielder with tools galore, on a recent episode of Minor League Notebook Weekly.

Missed it yesterday, but, if you've been living under a rock for the past 24 hours, then I'll fill you in: LSU National Champs. I was happy to see Paul Manieri win a title, because he truly is a class act who deserved more credit for his outstanding work at Notre Dame.

Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel insists that slumping shortstop Jimmy Rollins will remain in the leadoff spot.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett extended his hitting streak to a career-high 19 games on Thursday night, raising his season line to .371/.409./.574. Bartlett, who recently return from a stint on the disabled list, has been exceptional this spring, producing 3.1 Wins Above Replacement to this point. Thus, even with the missed time, he was my selection to start at short for the American League in our staff All-Star ballots.

Within the notebook, there is word that side-arming reliever Chad Bradford could be ready to return to the Rays as early as Friday.

The Detroit Tigers' winning streak has got the city--fallen on tough times--excited, writes Tom Gage. The city of Detroit can use all the good news it can get right now, especially after the 0-16 nightmare referred to as the 2008 Detroit Lions, so it's good to see this.

Despite sitting out two consecutive games, the Milwaukee Brewers aren't ready to bench Bill Hall for good. Yet. Hall, hitting just .197/.259/.336 in 189 plate appearances, has really struggled, even against southpaws, generally his calling card. He has graded out above average defensively in terms of UZR, but that 56 OPS+ will obviously need to improve.

I love knuckleball pitchers. And, as a result, I'm happy for R.A. Dickey, who seems to have found a nice gig in the Minnesota Twins' bullpen. Within the notebook, there is word that outfielder Michael Cuddyer is now penciled in as the club's backup second baseman.

Ryan Zimmermann pitched great against the Boston Red Sox last night.

John Smoltz, on the other hand, did not. Making his first start in a Boston uniform, Smoltz was surrendered five earned runs on seven hits in five innings. It's hardly the end for the future Hall of Famer, though, writes Nick Cafardo.

Ichiro's hitting streak now stands at 26.

Josh Hamilton, on the DL with a hernia injury, could return to action next week, according to Jeff Wilson.

In Hamilton's absence, the Rangers' offense has scuffled, prompting team president Nolan Ryan to search for a hitting plan.

Chris Davis has been one of the main culprits for the offensive struggles, but had a big night for Texas on Thursday. Davis is slugging .435 despite a .209 batting average, so the power is legit, but he's also leading the league by a wide margin with 103 strikeouts and having a difficult time making consistent contact. He shined for the Rangers' win against the Arizona Diamondbacks, though, going 4-5 with a key two-homer in the 12th inning.

Be back at it Monday, enjoy the weekend.