Links, links, links, links, links, links, baked beans, links, links, links, and links…

• Talking with Bill James: Part 1 (Cincinnati Sports News) C. Trent Rosecrans chats with James about the relative merits of Barry Larkin and Tony Gwynn, among many other things. James responds to the question of whether we understand baseball any more now than we did in 1905: “Absolutely not. Our knowledge is much larger and our ignorance is much larger.” Part 2 includes this money quote from James on the tired scouts/analysts dichotomy: “It is a stupid debate to have. Exactly. I sit beside scouts at games all the time and we’re trying to do the same thing by different routes.” [h/t Hardball Times]
• Categorizing Starting Pitchers By K, BB, and GB Rates: 2007-2009 (Baseball Analysts) Rich Lederer takes his annual look at pitchers.
• Fifth Starters Don’t Exist (FanGraphs). Speaking of pitchers, Marc Hulet makes an interesting claim and then follows it up with a modest proposal.
• San Diego Padres 2010 Projections: Infield (Friar Forecast) Daniel offers up some guesses. Outfielders are here.
• Gammons: Gonzalez staying focused (MLB.com). Adrian Gonzalez loves being asked about trade rumors: “I realize everyone has his job to do and wants to get in his own question, but sometimes when I’ve answered the same thing three, four and five times, I wonder why they can’t all ask it together. I give the same answer.”
• Ten things I didn’t know about starting rotations (Hardball Times). Chris Jaffe informs us, among other things, that the ’77 Padres had horrendous starting pitching.
• Cabrera tapping into potential (Padres.com). Hitting coach Randy Ready on Everth Cabrera: “He’s got a lot of tools. We’re trying to simplify all facets of the game where he’s comfortable.” Bonus points to Corey for referencing Fangraphs in his article.
• Year makes big difference in arms race (U-T). Bud Black on Wade LeBlanc, who is having a terrific spring but who probably will start the year at Triple-A Portland: “He’s pitching aggressively. We preach fastball command. And Wade’s realizing the importance of that … it’s imperative to his success.”
• Moorad: No money worries for group (U-T). Jeff Moorad’s group now owns 50% of the Padres. Looking for the new boss to change Petco Park? Not going to happen, according to Moorad: “Our ballpark is a beautiful and unique facility that offers strategic advantages. In the past, the Padres have failed to take advantage of that. We’re building a team that features speed, defense and starting pitching to take advantage of Petco Park. The last thing we’re going to do is change that.” He also expects that “the payroll will eventually grow to more than $70 million,” with the key word there being “eventually.”
• Adams kills hitters with arm, teammates with wit (NC Times). Fun fluff piece on reliever Mike Adams.
• Community Forecast (The Book). Quoth Tango: “As I did last year, I am using the Wisdom of Crowds approach to determine how often each player on your team is expected to play. Unlike my past surveys, this one is available in real-time! Select your team, then choose how you think each player will be used.” You can view the Padres here and submit your guesses here. Wackiness will ensue.

That’s all for now. Happy Friday!

Tagged as: adrian gonzalez, barry larkin, bill james, bud black, everth-cabrera, jeff moorad, mike-adams, payroll, petco park, pitchers, Projections, randy ready, scouts, tony gwynn, wade leblanc