Pretend I said something clever here. I won’t tell if you don’t…

• POLL: Alan Trammell and the Hall of Fame (Baseball-Reference). Does the Kearny Mesa HS alum belong in Cooperstown? Hint: Yes.
• Lincecum’s Endorsement Potential Clouded by Past Marijuana Use (Forbes). First off, “clouded” is a most excellent verb in that headline; kudos to the writer. Second, without wishing to get too political, it fascinates me that this is even an issue. [h/t BBTF]
• Expanded playoffs ‘under serious consideration’ (Yahoo!) How about 30 teams, best of 162 games? [h/t BBTF]
• I know you’re angry. I’m angry too. (Sacrifice Bunt). From the article: “I have a confession to make: I was rooting for the Giants. If you wish to stop reading this blog, I understand but give me a moment to explain myself. I like the Giants. Oops! That probably made things worse, didn’t it?” Yep, pretty much. But don’t stop reading… Ray makes some interesting points. As for the last bold move, I’m thinking the Milton Bradley acquisition, although I may be forgetting someone.
• Padres to carefully walk free-agency tightrope (Padres.com). From Corey’s article: “…the margin for error for a team like the Padres, who will have a budget of about $40 million next season, allows absolutely no wiggle room when it comes to spending on talent.”
• Your introduction to the Hardball Times Annual (Hardball Times). Oh, this is going to be a fun book. Full disclosure: I contributed the chapter on the American League West. The fielding stuff promises to be very cool, as does the discussion of decreased scoring in recent years.
• Padres decline ’11 option on Young (Padres.com). A team expected to have a payroll in the low $40 millions didn’t want to fork over $8.5 milion for a guy who has been limited by injuries to a total of 96 innings over the past two seasons? How bizarre. Well, I’ll still wear his jersey to the ballpark. As Pete Yorn says, we share the same last name. And who knows, maybe he’ll return at a lower price in the hope of re-establishing his market value a la Jon Garland.
• MLB Salaries Over Time (Baseball Analysts). It’s just a chart, but a pretty informative one at that.
• Damned lies, statistics and sabermetrics (BBC) Quantitative analysis is migrating to other sports, in this case soccer. Money quote: “…you can create value and a business model out of shrewd player transactions.” Bingo. [h/t BBTF]
• Schrodinger’s Cat and Adrian Gonzalez (619 Sports). Craig offers a thorough and well-reasoned discussion of the Gonzalez situation.
• Predicting a Team’s Wins Using Underlying Player Talent (FanGraphs). This looks like a potentially fun way to waste time over the off-season.
• Batted Ball Location Leaderboards (Baseball Analysts). Best opposite field hitter in 2010? Adrian Gonzalez, shock.
• George and Sparky (SI.com). Joe Posnanski remembers the late, great Sparky Anderson. So does Chris Jaffe.
• TinCaps 2010 season review (hitters) (Watson Files). Dan offers his thoughts on Fort Wayne’s position players, including outfielder Everett Williams: “He has incredible talent. I mean, hit a 400-foot, opposite-field bomb one at-bat, then beat out an infield hit and easily steal second the next time. When he got hot, he went nuclear. It just didn’t happen consistently.”
• Headley qualifies for arbitration as Super Two (Padres.com). From Corey’s article: “Headley has two years and 123 days of Major League service time, which means that he becomes eligible for free agency a year early — by one day.” Oops…
• Adolfo “Dolf” Luque: The Pride of Havana (Mop Up Duty). Callum Hughson recounts the exploits of a man who enjoyed a fine, if sometimes troubled, big-league career. Luque, among other things, was the best pitcher in the National League in 1923. Callum has been to Cuba, and tales of his travels are also well worth reading.
• So You Need Starting Pitchers (Baseball Prospectus). Marc Normandin looks at this winter’s free agent crop. If you can afford Cliff Lee, you’re in good shape; everyone else will have to scrap. Garland picked a great time to hit the open market. If I’m the Padres, I’m looking at Jake Westbrook and Jeff Francis, neither of whom costs draft picks. Heck, even Brandon Webb or Rich Harden might be worth a flier if the price is right. Come to Petco Park, stay healthyish, re-establish your value. It’ll be grand.
• The Ultimate Seven-Game Fall Classic: Game Four (Seamheads). Mike is running a fun series that features “the most competitive, intriguing, historic games in World Series history.”
• Hit By Pitch vs Home Runs (Baseball-Reference). From the article: “It turns out that there is a fairly strong correlation between HBP rates and HR rates.” Charts and stuff… pretty cool.
• Ken Davidoff’s top MLB free agents (Newsday) He predicts that the Padres will sign second baseman Orlando Hudson to a 1-year, $6 million deal. Sounds good to me, although I wonder if Hudson can’t do better in a market that features so few palatable middle infielders? [h/t BBTF]
• When Should San Diego Trade Adrian Gonzalez? (FanGraphs). When Red Sox fans say so, duh.
• Mariners hire Ted Simmons to advise (Seattle News Tribune). To our dreaded rivals? Oh noes! Could the Hall of Fame be next? Should it be?
• Padres add Ausmus, Jarvis to staff; replace Riddoch with Murphy (U-T). They’ll be in the front office. Maybe Ausmus can make his way down to the field once in a while and continue Simmons’ tutelage of Nick Hundley.

More clever stuff. Happy Tuesday…

Tagged as: adrian gonzalez, alan trammell, brad ausmus, brandon webb, chase headley, cooperstown, cuba, dolf luque, dude where's my endorsement, everett williams, fort wayne tincaps, free agent, hall of fame, jake westbrook, jeff francis, kearny mesa, kevin jarvis, milton bradley, oliver perez, orlando hudson, rich harden, service time, sparky anderson, super two, ted-simmons, tim lincecum, world series