Totally Mailed In Hump Day Post + Open Thread

I got a new phone in the mail yesterday afternoon, a Google Nexus 4 (you can read a review at SB Nation's sister site The Verge), to replace my existing Blackberry Bold. I spent most of the evening setting it up (ie. playing with it). I'm super excited to use it: did you know they make phones now that can actually load pictures when you browse the internet (Blackberry user inside joke)? As such, we have this totally mailed in Wednesday morning post. Here's what's up:

• R.A. Dickey's full press conference (via Sportsnet.ca) is embedded below. You may wish to have a dictionary and a copy of Philosophy For Dummies ready to go:

• Dickey content can also be found on other Sportsnet assets such as Prime Time Sports, Digital Dose, and Connected.

• Mike Wilner chimes in on Dickey and reveals his hypothetical Hall of Fame ballot. I know today is big Hall of Fame Day but I really don't care anymore at this point.

• FanGraphs has ZiPS projections for the Blue Jays
• The Toronto Star's Brendan Kennedy (@BKennedyStar) tweeted a whole bunch of stuff from a an Alex Anthopoulos press scrum after Dickey's presser. Here's a summary plus some of my own comments:

• • The Blue Jays have pretty much filled out 24 out of their 25 roster spots. For the last bench role, Anthopoulos would like to see a right-handed hitting infielder who can play a couple of positions. Perhaps Mike McCoy or Eugenio Velez? Perhaps more non-roster invitee signings? Perhaps more waiver picks?Also, J.A. Happ is the sixth starter and he will have to compete for a role in the bullpen. He could be optioned to Buffalo to start and keep his arm stretched out, but Anthopoulos said that he doesn't "anticipate using [Happ's remaining options]." The "game plan" is to have Josh Thole catch R.A. Dickey, which means that Thole may be the starting catcher on Opening Day. Anthopoulos will allow Darren Oliver until February 13 (when pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training) to decide whether he would like to return for one more season. There is no more money to sign a reliever, so there will either be a trade or internal replacement for Oliver should he retire. On the World Baseball Classic, Jose Reyes and Brett lawrie will be playing for sure, Edwin Encarnacion and R.A. Dickey may get invitations, Melky Cabrera likely won't be asked, and he doesn't really want Jose Bautista to play.

• According to Sportsnet's Jamie Campbell, Jack Morris is in the running to replace Alan Ashby on the radio, but Dirk Hayhurst may be the favoured one right now:

  @andymc9293 @andrewstoeten He's in the running, but I'm getting the sense Hayhurst is the lead horse right now.

  — Jamie Campbell (@SportsnetJamie) January 8, 2013

• Richard Griffin really likes R.A. Dickey's personality and thinks that he could become very popular in Toronto. Cathal Kelly joins in with swooning.
• Pat Hentgen talks about team bonding and evaluates relievers
• Mop-Up Duty looks at Blue Jays in the various Winter Leagues: Moises Sierra is hitting .268/.372/.427, good for 10th best OPS, Jeremy Jeffress hasn't pitched much in Venezuela, and Marcus Knecht is hitting .269/.322/.471 in Australia. Callum also updates us on former Jays Kelvim Escobar, Gustavo Chacin, Randy Ruiz, Danny Farquhar, and Rommie Lewis.
• T-Mobile is now MLB's official cell phone carrier and will be providing wireless dugout-to-bullpen phones at select ballparks (perhaps Busch Stadium?). According to MLB, they will be operating using dedicated cell towers. I don't anticipate seeing them in Rogers territory yet.

Late Addition!

Remember when Dustin Parkes resigned as editor of Getting Blanked to start a new project? Well, the new project is Fanatico, where there will be good, well thought out sports writing (wuhhhh?) featuring Parkes, Scott Lewis, and Devang Desai.

We’ll have weekly features summarizing long reads and reviewing media coverage. We’ll have book club events and interviews with athletes and other members of the sports-industrial complex. We’ll comprise monthly top one hundred lists on a myriad of subjects. We’ll watch horrible sporting events on purpose and we’ll write about it. We’ll write about sports that don’t get a lot of attention, and we’ll write about athletes that do. But above all else, we’ll be thoughtful and entertaining.

Go get 'er, and best of luck on the new project!