Matt Kemp Jersey , aren’t YOU Lucky! My day job took me on a road trip to NoCal and I spent the whole day Air Westing and Lyfting and meeting, yet here are Links for you to enjoy, anyway. Don’t worry, though, I have a slew of DIY Links coming up later this month. Think Cancun.But you know what’s cool? Walking into a pub & grill in Livermore and seeing the replay of the Halos and Cubs on the TV’s behind the bar. I got seated pretty much in time to see Kole Calhoumn, Peter Bourjos, and Albert Pujols all combine to push back on the growing threat of Jarrett Parker taking away AB’s in the regular season, either as DH or outfielder. All three of those guys showed up on offense.That Mike Trout guy did some damage, too. And this resulted in 9 more runs. Not all of them were against AAA pitching this time. They tagged a real MLB pitcher, Kyle Hendricks, with a couple of runs in the opening frames.And how about that Tyler Skaggs guy? 3 innings of work, which is good. Only 4 hits and just a single earned run. Thumped 4 K’s, too. A little shaky first inning (Trout was not much help, there), but in innings 2 and 3 some of those K’s came against Ben Zobrist, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber. All in the Halos lead in MLB ST runs scored is widening. They now have 97, with the Royals coming in second place way back at 81. Yes. This means that MLB is fearing both franchises this year. Now if the pitching could just catch up.Hey, look! It’s Matt Harvey Day today. Maybe that catching up starts happening. I’m stuck in meetings all day, so YOU will have to tell ME.Have some Get-Em-While-You-Can-HaloLinks:A Little Bit Of Angels NewsOh, Zack. Deep sigh...........I was not the only one who noticed the magical appearance of a healthy and dominant LAA starting rotation pitcher the other day. These things have been like unicorns the past few years..........Mike Trout Hank Aaron Jersey , good at the baseball. As in, “what the hell were you thinking there, Mario Meza?”.........For a weather geek, though, Trout is not so good at dealing with the sun..........I know it’s only been a week and a half, but the regular season is only 3 weeks away. What are YOU starting to see for roster construction?...........(h/t reddit) Mike Trout is kinda curious about his Buddy Shohei Ohtani’s elbow.............Andrew Heaney’s own Elbow Watch is going OK..........Bill Lacheman. A Baseball Life...........Petey, and re-Petey..........Everywhere In BaseballThe MLB and MLBPA have come to a joint agreement...on player transfers between MLB and the Mexican Baseball League. The basic idea here is that money franchises might spend for a player would go more heavily into the wallet of the player himself, rather than the host club in his current international league. But you should notice as you read the link that this pro-player arrangement is architected in such a way as to avoid any conflict with the MiLB players. These international open doors apply only to a player who is already at least 25 years old, with at least 6 years of pro baseball experience outside the US.........Portland, Oregon has some competition for a future MLB team. Raleigh, North Carolina has entered the game. And to think, the only thing Long Beach has going for it is a vintage boat that is sinking...........But if Raleigh is looking towards expansion instead of theft, it ain’t gonna be easy..........One thing is certain, as Sonny Gray makes clear, a pitcher needs to be on the same page as his pitching coach..........Bryce Harper, not being so subtle anymore about tampering with the relationship between Mike Trout and Arte Moreno..........And now I am not the only MLB outsider I read using the ‘tampering’ term as applied in the CBA..........The NL East was busy in the offseason, but I wouldn’t count out these Atlanta Braves so quickly..........The Dodger equipment managers were one crew happy that Harper did not choose a Dodger uniform. 34 once belonged to Fernando.........Miguel Cabrera owns the mega-contract that looms over the future as potentially the worst mega-contract. He is a month away from turning 36, has delivered a -0.3 bWAR over these past two breaking-down seasons, and is still owed another $154M with $30M in vesting option seasons after that. So it stands to reason that Miggy would be speaking up in defense of mega-contracts..........You may have noticed a trend this offseason with teams stocking up on coaches who are NOT ex-MLB players and NOT ex-minor league coaches. It is not an accident. It is part of out-of-the-box-thinking among franchise staffs.......... This is why Mike Trout is going to command a $400 million deal. Because if he signs long term for less, not too long thereafter some other http://www.bravesfanproshop.com/authentic-nick-markakis-jersey , lessor, god will be reaching that bar and making Mike’s contract look like a chump discount............This one from FanGraphs needs to be read more carefully than most. It is a proposed methodology for using the revenue-distribution system to incent teams away from tanking. At the top and middle layers, the more you win the less you have to contribute into the revenue-sharing pool. And at the bottom half (roughly), the more you lose the less you get paid back out from the pool. Derek Jeter, for example, would get ‘rewarded’ for his dumping of his solid nucleus of talent by getting back only chump change from revenue-sharing. It seems pretty complex...BUT...if there is one thing we know about franchise ownership it’s that they care a hell of a lot about the money...AND...this does not have to be the only mechanism put into play. (For the record, MLB does not make public revenue details, so the actual real-world dollar figures for such a plan are unavailable.)..........How does this work, that a person who is employed by a media outlet to observe and comment on sport for the benefit of the viewing audience, actually IS the sport that they are opining about? It is assumed that a Jessica Mendoza would be giving unbiased and objective commentary four our benefit as she works Sunday Night Baseball. But now that she also works in the Front Office of the Mets, how can we trust her objectivity whenever there is an opportunity to discuss the Mets, the Yankees, or the NL East?..........It’s not the same deal as with CC Sabathia joining ESPN while he is on his final playing legs. Nobody makes any presumptions that athletes are objective..........The Angels are not the only ones who have guys who get injuries in camp. The Twins just took a hit with Miguel Sano, and the Yankees just took a hit with Luis Severino..........A good moves for jobs in the Players Union, as MLB looks to expand rosters to 26 next seasons (2020). But September roster expansions will be lowered from 40 down to 28..........Fungo hitting used to be THE way that coaches worked their fielders in practice and warmups. A good coach would be a fungo expert. The late Jimmie Reese was know to be baseball’s fungo Bruce Lee, using his tool like a martial artist. And how, you might ask? Well, it’s because the fungo bat itself is the Olympic sabre of baseball tools..........The Duffle BagJack White is just one of those people running around doing good deeds.............Jason Werth knows Philly. He knows Bryce Harper will get booed, and it will come really fast. I wonder how Harper will deal with it month after month, year after year?..........Brandon Nimmo Julio Teheran Jersey , who did NOT suffer food poisoning after all, has been rained with funny Internet offers..........Cameron Maybin...how could you?...........If Arizona play as well as DBacks catcher Tyler Heineman performs card tricks, it truly shall be magic........... Morning News and Notes, November 1, 2018"Indians NewsCleveland Indians, Leonys Martin agree to $3M, 1-year deal, avoid arbitration - Outfielder Leonys Martin has agreed to a $3 million, one-year contract with the Cleveland Indians months after he survived a life-threatening illness.2018 Fall Stars Game rosters led by Vlad Jr. - The Arizona Fall League is showcasing several of the game's top prospects, and the best of those best will compete against each other in the Fall Stars Game on Saturday, including Rob Kaminsky and Yu Chang.Antonetti: Stability, depth of starting rotation gives Cleveland Indians a leg up in roster planning for 2019 | cleveland.comOne area of the Cleveland Indians' roster that president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff do not have to worry about when mapping out their offseason agenda is the starting pitching rotation.Budish: If Indians Ask for Big Bucks as Condition of Lease Extension, We Should Aim for Arrangement as Sweet as Q Deal | Scene and Heard: Scene’s News BlogIn the event that the Indians come to the county asking for public investment for stadium renovations over and above the Sin Tax, should they get it? And if so, how should it be paid for?Around the LeagueHall of Famer Willie McCovey has diedWorldSeries ratings down 20% despite MLB dream matchupYankees resign Brett GardnerFangraphs looks at disastrous World Series ratingsJoakim Soria declines $10 million option, becomes free agentPirates decline options on Josh Harrison, Jung-Ho Kang