Bluebird Links - Training Camp Banter

Minor Leaguer brought the heat yesterday with approximately 749 links (nice post by the way)! I don't have quite so many but hopefully there's enough to keep you entertained for a while.

I'll start it off with recaps of yesterday's loss from Tom, Gregor Chisholm, The Globe and Mail and Richard Griffin. And for a little fun, Ian at The Bluejay Hunter and Scott at Getting Blanked have photoshop fun with Kyle Drabek and Bobby Valentine.

JAYS LINKS

Blue Jays pitcher Henderson Alvarez more relaxed at second spring training
Griffin with a spring training piece on Alvarez and his improved slider / cutter.

Blue Jays buzzing about young Cuban Hechavarria
A piece on Vizquel and Hechavarria. Apparently Vizquel'd debut was two weeks before Hech was born. Heh.

Crawford impressing when opportunities arise
According to Chisholm, reliever Evan Crawford is impressing some people. Doubt he makes this bullpen but could be a mid-season callup.

Jays never dull with Lawrie around
Another article about Lawrie's impact in the Jays clubhouse. I do like this quote from him though:

"I’ve taken a lot of pride in my defence," he says now. "That was the biggest concern that people had. I had no position to play, so I wanted to prove the point that I could play the position, that I could play any position. "I did need to hone my skills at third base when I went to triple A and needed to prove that I could play there. That was what I was there to do. I just wanted to prove that I was really sound."

More after the jump!

Travis Snider learns about the Zen of baseball
Thanks to Shawn Green. There might be a couple of parallel's between Snider and Green thanks to Cito.

Chart Attack: The Battle for Left Field (03/05)
Nothing like a completely unscientific chart from the Drunks.

AL East Match-ups: Toronto v. Tampa Bay
The Southpaw compares the Jays and Rays position by position.

Positional Power Rankings: Catcher
Fangraphs is starting a series ranking each position by team (while attempting to project playing time). The Jays catchers don't fair so well with a ranking of 21st overall. At least we're ahead of Tampa!

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Are umpires behind the decreased run environment?
Tom Tango wonders.

There you go… no need to look at steroids or anything else. The umpires are calling strikes alot more on pitches that the batter takes. Just like that, you get 0.35 fewer runs per game.

Major League Baseball's new playoff format might have saved the Montreal Expos
The Expos would have made the playoffs and played the LA Dodgers.

Curveball in Braun case came from fair man, peers say
Here's an interested piece of the Braun arbitrator, Shyam Das.

Pirates Lock Up Andrew McCutchen
Pittsburgh fans, dance in the streets. That about sums it up.

Is Jeremy Hellickson's Luck About To Change?
I think the easy answer is probably yes.

A's newcomer Céspedes makes solid first impression
It sounds like the A's hope that Yoenis Céspedes makes the team on opening day.

Bryce Harper: Prodigy will be a star by any name
Harper will probably join the elite crowd of 19 year olds to make the majors this year. The only question is if it will be on April 1, or in June.

Colorado Rockies’ Jamie Moyer trying to be nifty at 50
This guy just keeps going. After not pitching last year thanks to Tommy John surgery, Moyer is in camp with the Rockies.

Dykstra! Dykstra! Lenny To Do Hard Time
Sentenced to three years in prison.

Nine more accusers come forward against former Red Sox clubhouse manager
In a not so fun story...