Happy Monday to all in the baseball kingdom. We hope your fantasy teams are firing on all cylinders and your closers aren’t blowing saves left and right. Slightly shortened MLB slate tonight for your baseball watching, but we’ll be back to normal tomorrow with a completely full slate. Here are some good baseball reads around the internet today.

-David Schoenfield says the Saturday game I saw in Cincinnati was the weekend’s best. [ESPN SweetSpot]
-Is there cause for alarm for Jered Weaver? [Fangraphs]
-C. Trent is impressed with Shin-soo Choo. Who wouldn’t be thus far? [Cincinnati.com Reds Blog]
-Legends are in awe of Bryce Harper. [Washington Post]
-ESPN’s power rankings are out, even though it’s stupid to have them for baseball. [ESPN]

We’re officially on day three of the MLB Regular season. We already can’t get home and wait to watch all the action tonight, and that’s how it usually goes with the first few days of the season. The Reds play on Opening Day Monday, then take Tuesday off. And at this point in the season, we’ll watch anybody. Even Cleveland appeals to us for a minute. By May or June, teams like Cleveland won’t have us looking at the clock all day long. But for now, we can’t wait.

Here’s some interesting baseball blips from around the web today:

-In Praise of Vin Scully. [Hardball Talk]
-Jerry Crasnick tells us more about the Nationals’ big Opening Day in Washington. [ESPN]
-Robinson Cano is now Illuminati. Just kidding, but he did sign with Jay-Z’s agency after leaving Scott Boras. [New York Times]
-Shame on us for not devoting a single post to it, but Clayton Kershaw had a day yesterday. [Dodgers Now]
-Ten lessons from Opening Day. [ESPN SweetSpot]
-Jackie Bradley’s fantasy value is around that of Denard Span or De Aza. [Fangraphs]
-Sam Miller looks at the Astros best-case scenario and the Angels worst-case scenario. [Baseball Prospectus]

Today is the eve of Opening Day eve. There are elite eight games on tonight and the Astros vs. Ranger opener tomorrow evening. Plus Wrestlemania 29 is on Sunday night. And then the main event of Opening Day on Monday.

Here’s all of the muck that’s fit to rake in the way of baseball reads:

-How the Nats went from ugly to elite, by Joe Posnanski. [NBC Sports]
-ESPN’s expert award predictions. [ESPN]
-The DiamondBacks signed Paul Goldschmidt to an extension yesterday. [AZ Central]
-Buster Posey got paid big time yesterday with his own 9-year extension. [Hardball Talk]
-And here’s more on how Justin Verlander became the highest paid MLB pitcher in history yesterday. [MLive]
-The Baseball Prospectus Guide to 30 teams in baseball. They’re really low on a lot of these win totals and just, off. [Deadspin]

The snow has melted at least for now, and I’ve had MLB Network on just about every night. With just four NFL teams left in play to determine who will win the Super Bowl, baseball season looms just ten short weeks away. Okay, who are we kidding? February will be a bear even with the NHL back in action. The only cure for a baseball fix is baseball.

Here are some daily links that we found interesting:

-Have the Arizona Diamondbacks lost their leverage with any Justin Upton trade? [Grantland]
-Nyjer Morgan is one crazy individual. [Deadspin]
-#MLB13Cutch takes the cover of MLB 13 the Show. [Big League Stew]
-Every MLB team’s top untouchable prospect. [Bleacher Report Prospect Pipeline]
-A look at the Pirates probable opening day roster. [PBC Blog]
-Fangraph’s take on Rafael Soriano ending up in D.C. [Fangraphs]

It’s hard to believe that it’s 2013 and this blog began in 2007. There’s been some bumps in the road, but all things considered we’re still here and it’s good to still be writing about baseball on the interwebs. Here’s some baseball links of note that we found to be interesting in some way today:

-Miguel Tejada, back from the dead to talk about his favorite hitting drill. [Next Level Ballplayer]
-The Diamondbacks are still “open” to trading Justin Upton. As long as the sun rises this statement will probably be true. [MLB Trade Rumors]
-Scott Rolen might play again for the Reds in 2013 but isn’t really sure. Scottie, I’m sure I want you retired. [Hardball Talk]
-Remember the name Dave Denson. He just broke Bryce Harper’s Tropicana Field home run distance record. He’s 17 years old. [Rant Sports]
-Internet commenters try to trade for Giancarlo Stanton. [Baseball Prospectus]

It’s hump-day. It’s still hot as can be. With about two weeks to go before the MLB trade deadline, baseball news season is about to touch it’s peak. Let’s see what offerings the interwebs give us in the way of baseball related-reads today:

-ESPN SweetSpot’s David Schoenfield says the Mariners need to trade Felix Hernandez. [ESPN SweetSpot]
-Maybe I should give Out of the Park (OOTP) Baseball a try. [Deadspin]
-Is Carlos Ruiz the best catcher in baseball right now? [FanGraphs]
-Mike Trout is just unbelievable. [Sports Illustrated]
-Why you shouldn’t play video games. [The Guardian]
-Adam Dunn stole a bag last night. [Hardball Talk]

For the baseball fan during baseball season, there is no better time of year. The game has taken center stage, and summer is about halfway done. For the next 48 hours, the talk will be primarily about our favorite sport. After that, all bets are off and the focus will be back on the Lakers. But for today and tomorrow, we can all enjoy sports as it were back in the 50′s, 60′s, and 70′s when it truly was America’s game. Here’s some good Home Run Derby Day posts:

-Drew Silva snubbed us for a podcast once. He’s in Kansas City with his thumb up his ass covering the All Star Game for NBC Sports. Good things happen to bad people. [Hardball Talk]
-Lightning struck at the Ballpark in Arlington last night, literally. [Deadspin]
-I agree that Andrew McCutchen was baseball’s face of the first-half. Even over Mike Trout and Bryce Harper. [ESPN SweetSpot]
-Tim Mccarver inserts foot in mouth. [Deadspin]
-Justin Verlander and Matt Cain will start the All-Star Game. [USA Today Daily Pitch]
-Tim Lincecum is a mess. [SB Nation]
-Carl Crawford will need Tommy John surgery at some point. [Baseball Musings]
-Will Leitch on why the 2012 Mets could be Amazin’ [NY Magazine]

The good news for those of you out there who are complaining that you had to work today, is that in just 48 short hours you are to the weekend. And at least your team didn’t get beat by Aaron Harang to end a holiday. Here’s today’s mandatory baseball reads around the internet:

-Aaron Gleeman writes about SABR 42 in Minneapolis. By the way, we’ll be at SABR 43 in Philly. [Aaron Gleeman.com]
-How about Hanley Ramirez’s 30-second home run trot yesterday? [Deadspin]
-M.J. Lloyd says Mike Trout is the best player in baseball. [Halo Hangout]
-The Marlins added the prized Carlos Lee. [FanGraphs]
-A look at the NL Rookie of the Year race. [Hardball Talk]
-Big Papi hit his 400th career home run yesterday. [MLB.com]

We’re two days out from Diamond Hoggers bachelor party bash 2012 in Cincinnati, and it’s our first shindig without being a bachelor. We will keep you posted with how that actually goes, with a further post to come later in the week. For now, here’s some of the more newsworthy reads from other sites who like to talk about about baseball.

-Starlin Castro forgot how many outs there were yesterday and got into some hot water. [HardballTalk]
-Carolos Correia goes #1 overall to the Houston Astros in the MLB draft. [USA TODAY Daily Pitch]
-Pretty nice little story here about a Giants fan saying goodbye. [Speaking Plainly]
-I’m going to start listening to this podcast a lot more often. [ESPN Podcenter]
-Bryce Harper text messaged Lucas Giolito following his being drafted by the Nationals last night. [Nationals Pastime]
-More about this Giolito kid, who might have been the best talent in the draft. [Byron Kerr on the Nationals]
-Slow night in baseball last night, Jarrod Parker was very good. [The Drumbeat]
-MLB Network needs more impartial reviews of drafted players in their draft coverage, says Rob Neyer. [SB Nation]

It’s already Thursday. That’s the good thing about a holiday weekend: it succeeds in shortening the following week. We’ve got some good bits to come from now and throughout the weekend. Here’s some lunch-time type links:

-ESPN held it’s franchise player draft today. Jim Bowden had a pick and I didn’t. [ESPN]
-Bryce Harper overshadowing Mike Trout, maybe undeservedly. [HardballTalk]
-You had to see what the Mariners did in Texas last night, right? [Seattle Times]
-FanGraphs looks at the 2012 amateur draft. [FanGraphs]
-Kansas City is reviewing all of the All-Star Games in honor of having the game there this season. [Ball Star]
-The Reds haven’t gotten hot at the plate yet. And they might not get hot. [Cincinnati.com]
-Wish I was still a Mike Stanton owner. [Palm Beach Post]

Welcome back to work everybody!

Who else spent their morning shaking off the cobwebs? Anyone besides me? Well the first day back from the holiday weekend is half over with, we’re a few hours from getting home to relax and watching some baseball. I’m going to watch a 7:05 game and then flip it back over to Netflix to finish up the Ken Burns series: Baseball. I fell asleep last night as they were talking about Bobby and Barry Bonds. I think I’m in the 10th inning of the series.

Lunch-time links aplenty:

-Our friend Taylor over at MLBeef took his first trip to Safeco Field recently. It’s going to be one of the last parks we get to on our list. Looks like we need to make it a priority though. [MLBeef]
-Phil Mickelson is part of a group of investors that want to buy the Padres. [HardballTalk]
-Paul Konerko and the White Sox, on fire. [Deadspin]
-Tater Trot Tracker times for this past Sunday. [Baseball Prospectus]
-Bryce Harper is making history, and ended up on a list with a guy named Buttercup Dickerson. Dave Cameron will tell you the rest. [FanGraphs]

It’s the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. I played nine terrible holes of golf early today. I ran a couple of miles. Tomorrow morning, I’ll wake up and run in the Spring Lake 5. For now, we’re just taking a look at a few entertaining baseball links.

-My old roomate sent me a column by his favorite conservative writer, Charles Krauthammer. And it’s a good one about the Nationals and the joy of winning. [Washington Post]
-Adam Jones signs a reported six-year extension with Baltimore. [Hardball Talk]
-The Nationals offered Storen, Lambardozzi, and Lannan for Adam Jones over the winter. [NBC Washington]
-The Cincinnati Reds woke up in first place today. That’s six in a row by my count. [Cincinnati.com]
-Jason Motte looks like Animal from Muppet Babies. [The Golden Sombrero]
-Streaker at the Cardinals game last night got his money’s worth. [Yahoo Jeff Passan]
-The Angels are getting rolling a bit. [OC Register]

Overcast Tuesday afternoon before Memorial Day. Here’s some links to get you through the rest of your day:

• Even my mother text messaged me about this: the same Reds fan caught back-to-back home run balls last night. [Hardball Talk]
• One writer says be patient with Cubs prospect Anthony Rizzo. [CSN Chicago]
• It’s time for Justin Upton to start dominating. [ESPN SweetSpot]
• Rob Neyer points out the Mets are three games above .500 but have been outscored by 31 runs. [SB Nation]
• Phillies fans, hatin’ on Harper. [The 700 Level]
• The Phillies used extra security for Bryce Harper at the stadium last night. [WaPo]
• You’ve all heard but Aroldis Chapman got busted doing 93 MPH last night about 20 minutes from where I live. [Sports Illustrated]

It’s been a while since we’ve thrown it around. Let’s plan on making this more of a regular occurrence now that it’s baseball season. Here’s a look at some interesting baseball reads around the internet for this March spring day:

-How Aaron Gleeman (baseball blogger/Hardball Talk) lost 150+ pounds. Pretty inspiring. [Aaron Gleeman.com]
-FanGraphs is positionally ranking organizations. The Reds fared well at first base. [FanGraphs]
-Craig Calcaterra, you have the life I want. [Hardball Talk]
-Alex Gordon vs. Jay Bruce, from a fantasy perspective. [Roto Arcade]
-You’re getting closer, Bryce Harper. [Washington Times]
-The Twins might be horrible in 2012. [Baseball Prospectus]
-The Reds were featured on MLB Network last night. If your cable provider doesn’t have MLB Network like mine you will be happy I’ve found some segments for you. [Cincinnati.com Reds Blog]