Reverse one and a half somersaults with three and a half twists, in the Free position

J.P. Riccardi, our Lord and master, has decided that competing in the American League East is not enough of a task. He's opted to add some degrees of difficulty. Already hamstrung with a shrinking budget, JP's turned to the scrap heap in his search of available talent. This method has merit, but I'm beginning to question some of the acquisitions. In general: Really old Japanese guys. Specifically: Matt Bush.

A guy picked first overall is obviously a good athlete, but a no bat shortstop turned pitcher at age 22? Sounds dubious. I recognize that Shaun Marcum was a similar case, but he pitched in college and isn't a huge douchebag. I'm all for plugging holes with no cost/no risk projects, but what is Matt Bush's ceiling? Double A roster filler? Aren't there dozens and dozens of dudes, far hungrier having missed out on signing bonus money, that could fill the exact same non-role? A guy like Bryan Bullington I get, and support. Matt Bush just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

On Controversy

I have very little to say about Alomar & Rodriquez. Just know this: the amount of outrage & coverage that an alleged steroid abuser gets compared to KNOWN wife beaters and drunk drivers is disgusting. Will Tony LaRussa be kept out of the Hall of Fame after putting numerous innocent people's lives at risk? Absolutely not. Sports are important, and a huge part of all our lives. But when my first thought is "I wonder how this will affect his legacy" not "what a horrible set of accusations, if they're true he's one of the worst humans on Earth" I wish it was less-so.

Announcements and Linkage

• O an we twitterin. Yup, follow me on Twitter where I will regale you with tales of Baron Davis's awesomeness and hopefully baseball type stuff too. As a bonus, you'll learn what it's like to be nocturnal!
  
• Shitty neighbours are the worst. Good thing my mom insulated her basement long ago, I would have been arrested for calling Johan Santana a "motherfucker" about 1000 times while playing MVP Baseball.
  
• Rob Iracane makes an impassioned plea for Bud Selig to get his head out of his ass. Jeff Blair shoots fish in a barrel full of fish and blames agents. Business people aren't cool.
  
• Fangraphs adds outfield arms to their defensive metrics. More good stuff from my go-to nerditry site. Though I wish their numbers loved the Jays as much as Bill James and The Hardball Times metrics do. I enjoy cherries when they are easily picked.