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Wow, Kyle Lohse and Vernon Wells both find new homes on the same day. I never thought that would happen, but alas it has, and we should all make sure to scrutinize these moves for all their worth. In other news, was Jim Edmonds ever a highly rated prospect, and speaking of prospects, who's Austin Hedges and why should we care about him? Welcome to SaberSphere, all the answers you're looking for lie within.
Previously on Beyond the Box Score
James takes a look at one of his constantly nagging questions that takes him from inquiry to query to what he hopes are answers. In his latest quest, James dives into the phenomenon of the ongoing rise in strikeouts in baseball. He objectively traverses previous hypotheses, interjecting his own concerning called strikes and ultimately, like most sabermetricians, ends questioning everything.
In case you hadn't heard already, the New York Yankees have suffered some injuries recently. In their latest fishing expedition they've thrown some bait and hooked Angels outfielder Vernon Wells. Ryan Potter explores this as a solution, stopgap, or whatever else you might call it.
When did the scouts just get it so wrong that it hurts? Well if you've ever wondered this, you and Chris St. John have something in common. Chris took a look at the best players never to be named a top 100 prospect in baseball, and some of the names may surprise you.
The Indians sure made headlines this offseason, signing Michael Bourn, trading for Trevor Bauer, and signing Nick Swisher, but is it enough to do anything but make them a team of interest? The American League Central has one bonified contender, and now two teams making moves, hoping to get a share of the limelight. Does Lewie think Cleveland made the right moves to give those rooting for the Tribe any hope? More importantly, do you?
Around the Sabersphere
Ever heard of Austin Hedges? Well if not, take a look at Mike Newman's latest piece on Fangraphs, it discusses the San Diego catching prospect, placing him in a list of other young catchers, as well as a solid detailed description of his attributes, both positive and negative.
Russell Carleton is no stranger to taking on whatever issue irks sabermetricians, and in his recent piece for Baseball Prospectus, he does just that. Carleton takes a look at the viability of our current system of five starters and some variation of relievers in the bullpen. Sometimes a good idea just, put simply, won't work, but is this one of them?
Around SB Nation
Kyle Lohse finally signed with an MLB team, and it's the Milwaukee Brewers. Rob Neyer makes the case the Lohse will help the Brew Crew, but is contention in the NL Central in the cards? Maybe time will tell.
Yes folks, it's that time of year again, time for the regular season to finally start. In our first game we have a riveting matchup between the Texas Rangers and the lowly Houston Astros. But, before the home plate umpire says "play ball" let's see what the staff at SB Nation thinks will happen this year.
Outside the Sabersphere
Okay, so this isn't a non-baseball link, but I think we can all agree that sometimes a picture truly is worth a thousand words. The problem is whether you want to read those thousand words or imagine them yourself. In the case of this graphic about tie ballgames, it might arouse both some of the best and worst memories in your baseball fanhood experience.
