One suggested rhyme for Yorvit came via Twitter: Corvette. Hey, if you can rhyme CIA and Mafia, why not…

• Blog Update: Joining the Yardbarker Network (Friar Forecast). Congrats to Daniel and company!
• Maybe it’s time to worry about the Padres (It’s About The Money, Stupid). Jason raises a valid question: “Or, is the ownership and market of San Diego not viable for the long term? If the total payroll for this organization is unable to materially increase over the next few years, what’s to become of the Padres? Do they sink into the ‘professional farm system’ category for other teams, similar to what Pittsburgh (#30 last year), Florida (#29), etc. have been over recent years?”
• Thoughts on a New Box Score (Baseball Analysts). Dave Allen offers an intriguing alternative to the traditional box score. I can’t say I love it, but I do love the thinking behind it, and I love that someone is actually taking on the task. Innovation often works in unexpected and unintended ways. Maybe we end up with a better box score, maybe we don’t; either way, I’ll bet something good comes out of this effort. [h/t Rob Neyer]
• RJ’s Fro Exclusive Interview with Padres Closer Heath Bell (RJ’s Fro). I’m glad they talked about Bell’s appearance on Sam the Cooking Guy. I met Bell once, and we talked about that as well. Cool dude. [h/t Friar John]
• Fastball Gains (FanGraphs). Matthew Carruth examines “the biggest gains and losses in both fastball speed and fastball frequency.” Kevin Correia shows up among the leaders (#5) in increases in fastball speed from 2008 to 2009, while Chris Young ranks among the biggest drops (#12); former Padres Tim Redding and Oliver Perez also appear on the latter list.
• Hitters by Zones (Baseball Analysts). Jeremy Greenhouse shows, among other things, that you don’t want to pitch Adrian Gonzalez middle away.
• Lucky Streaks (Baseball-Reference). Raphy highlights some fun hitting streaks. Several Padres are represented, including Tony Gwynn (duh), Bobby Brown, and Jeff Gardner. Hmmm, which of these names is not like the other?
• Name to know No. 9: Padres’ Kyle Blanks the next big thing (USA Today). Jorge L. Ortiz gives Gigantor some love. That sounds a little kinky, but you know what I mean. [h/t Gaslamp Ball]
• SABR: Emerald Guide to Baseball 2010 (SABR). “To get your free PDF of The Emerald Guide to Baseball 2010, as well as the guides for 2007–2009, please fill out the form below and hit ‘Submit.’ You’ll get an email with a download link, and one or two more from SABR, but that’s it. We won’t sell or give your information to anyone else.” Sweet. [h/t Baseball-Reference]
• Top 10 prospects for 2010: Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres (Hardball Times). Matt Hagen gives us his list. I like where he’s got Edinson Rincon and Wynn Pelzer. Overall, this is pretty solid, although I’m not sold on Aaron Poreda. We’ll be talking more about prospects around here over the next couple weeks.
• Youth can serve Padres well in 2010 (Padres.com). I’m not picking on Corey here, but I’ve heard many people suggest that the Padres’ 37-25 record over their final 62 games of 2009 may portend greater things in 2010. I’d like to know whether there’s any evidence of a meaningful relationship between the way a team finishes one season and its performance in the next. My guess is there isn’t, or if there is, it isn’t very strong.
• How to fix baseball’s economics as Spring Training approaches (SDNN). Lee Hamilton doesn’t like the status quo and wants to do something about it: “Now comes the challenge of how to fix a game that has a 100-win Yankees team competing with a 103-loss Washington Nationals team. Or the challenge of how not to penalize the brilliant leadership of the Red Sox, but how to force the Marlins owners to put a better product on the field.” Since 1918, the Red Sox and Marlins each have won two World Series. I’m just sayin’. [h/t Gaslamp Ball]
• Fans, Media and Racism Without Racists (TYU). Fascinating article by Moshe Mandel. Excellent discussion ensues. [h/t Hardball Times]
• Giants Dynamic Pricing (MLB.com). Reader LynchMob sends this: “Have you seen/heard what the Giants are doing with ticket prices… makes sense, if you ask me… and I’m guessing the Giants think it makes cents also ” You know another thing about the Giants? It’s awesome when they lose.
• Offseason workouts encouraging to Padres (NC Times). Courtesy of reader Nick G: “This story is very encouraging. Sounds like a few guys have been working out in SD all winter. Led by Tony the Gwynn Jr, of course. Love it.”

Seriously, why can’t we be friends?

Tagged as: adrian gonzalez, box scores, chris young, heath bell, kevin correia, kyle blanks, prospects, yardbarker