While we were all busy watching Denver's epic display of bed crappery, the baseball world continued to revolve, albeit slowly.
Watching sports on Pacific time is odd. It's 8:25 pm here. I'm still slightly buzzed from five hours of Super Bowl drinking which started at 3 pm, and packed full of Candian KFC and Little Caesar's. Something doesn't feel right, and I'm not sure which part of the previous three sentences is to blame. Anyway, on with the baseball news:
Indians news
What could the Indians get in a Masterson trade? | Cleveland.com (Paul Hoynes) - A Hoynes mailbag wherein a non-Cleveland resident besmirches Justin Masterson's sense of self worth and suggests we trade the ungrateful bum. Hoynes suggest that the Indians know his worth based on talks in December, are confident they can avoid arbitration, but much less confident they can sign him to a multi-year deal.
And just in case you make it a point to not contribute page views to CleCom but were still curious about Hoynsie's HOF votig credentials, here's where he stands on pitcher wins:
Wins are still the most important stat in baseball and a starting pitcher who is a consistent winner is still one of the most important players on a team.
Kipnis content to watch and wait at the plate | Indians Baseball Inside (John Grimm) - Jason Kipnis saw an increase in both his walk and strikeout rates in 2013. The rate at which he swung at pitches was the fourth lowest in the majors. His patient approach at the plate means he's going to walk a lot, but it also means he's vulnerable watching a lot of third strikes blow past him.
Who is the Tribe's most hated opponent? | Wahoo's On First (Brian Heise) - I hate to link to list "articles" that force you to click through to a new page for each entry, but I thought this could spark some discussion on a slow news Monday. For the record, I don't agree at all with their #1.
Around the league
Market heating up for Nelson Cruz | NBC Sports (Drew Silva) - Seattle seems to be leading the charge, but there could be up to five other teams in on the sweepstakes, including Detroit.
Orioles, Phillies, and Pirates in a bidding war for A.J. Burnett | NBC Sports (Bill Baer) - Is it April yet?
LGFT Tony Sipp signs with Padres | NBC Sports (D.J. Short) - Minor league contract with an invite to spring training.
Miscellany
Uecker provides more details about Major League IV | Fox Sports (Ricky Doyle) - I guess it can't really get worse than III, can it?
Russell Wilson could was pretty good at baseball, too | CBS Sports (Mike Axisa) - Wilson makes a slick diving stop in this video, which is only slightly less glamorous than stomping Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl.
Remembering Philip Seymour Hoffman as Art Howe | CBS Sports (Mike Axisa) - Remembering one of the world's other great Phils.