I cannot imagine this, but Tim Lincecum said he got up to 196 pounds in November. Took it off by frog-form swimming in his Swim-X.

— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) February 3, 2012

Considering how much information in conveyed in this single tweet, I think Andrew Baggarly is either a genius or one of the greatest writers of his time. This single tweet sent my mind into so many vivid places, I can only marvel at the incredible economy of language...

Like Bad Brains, these people are Banned in DC.

Phillies fans are some of the very best in baseball. They travel like mad and create entire t-shirt empires out of dust; slowly reducing the tired “violent/bitter Philly sports fan” stereotype to rubble. It is almost as though a nine-year run of sustained success is good for business!

Understandably, some of their division rivals do not view the invading hordes from Eastern PA/South Jersey so warmly. Phillies fans descend on parks...

I really don’t know how I feel about Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers holding a press conference to talk about the events that transpired on Monday eveningthat led to Hamilton’s relapse with his alcohol addiction. On one hand, he has embraced his public role as a recovering addict, rarely missing an opportunity to promote his beliefs as a means for dealing with his addictions. On the other hand, such things are a deeply personal matter, and certainly not...

Earlier today my esteemed colleague Dustin Parkes wrote about Cleveland’s acquisition of Casey Kotchman. It is indeed a puzzling move, as the Tribe seemed to be lousy with first base options. First and foremost, the team seems intent on limiting the amount of time stud catcher Carlos Santana spends behind the plate. Between Santana, lefty masher Shelly Duncan, and organizational question mark Matt LaPorta, one would assume there aren’t too many at batslying around for Kotchman to pick...

Two things surprised me yesterday. I suppose actually three things surprised me if you consider that the first two things that surprised me both relate to Cleveland.

Anyway, the first thing that caught me unexpectedly was that the Cleveland Indians, presumably in an effort to further prove that randomly winning a bunch of games one year can be detrimental to a franchise the next, signed Casey Kotchman to a one year deal worth $3 million. And then, shortly after that...

The Chicago Cubs have signed Cuban left-hander Gerardo Concepcion to a Major League contract worth $7 million plus incentives, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes Los Angeles.

At only 18 years of age, Concepcion was named this season’s Rookie of the Year in the Cuban Serie Nacional after pitching just over 100 innings. On the surface, his 10-3 record and a 3.36 ERA is astounding for a player of his age pitching against a high level of competition. However, his...

According to a report from Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News, Texas Rangers outfielder and 2010 American League MVP Josh Hamilton was seen consuming alcohol at Sherlock’s Pub & Grill in the Dallas area on Monday evening.

The incident marks Hamilton’s second known relapse as a recovering drug and alcohol addict, the first being the well documented bender in January of 2009 at a bar in Tempe, Arizona. According to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler...

One could say Tommy Hanson (right) looks like a rock star. Not in the co-opted way that everyone and (more generally) their kid sister refers to the term rock star, Tommy Hanson looks like an actual rock star. James Hetfield, if we’re being specific. Maybe a little bit like one of the guys from The Sheepdogs, which I understand to be a band people like.

Here is Hanson looking very much unlike a robot with superstud reliever Jonny Venters...

Why didn’t anyone tell me when I was hired that we can pass off cheesy pop culture stuff as baseball analysis? It would have saved me a lot of scrounging. I guess you can do this kind of stuff if you post under an obviously made up name like “Bill Parker.” Yeah, right, like that’s a real name. What other choices made the final cut? “John Smith?” “Scott Baker?” Don’t be ashamed of your heritage, “Bill,”...

This old media, it is very old. No sooner do we record a podcast wondering aloud what will become of Edwin Jackson and…the Nationals became all over Edwin Jackson. It is the nature of the beast, I suppose.

In less time sensitive news, we spoke to 17 year big league veteran Royce Clayton! Royce is participating in the March of Dimes Celebrity Golf Classic event next week in sunny California so we spoke to him about the...

According to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, the Washington Nationals and Edwin Jackson have agreed to a one year contract, believed to be worth something in the $10 million range.

Earlier today, the Nationals won their arbitration case with John Lannan, resulting in a $5 million non-guaranteed contract for the left handed starter. Almost immediately afterwards, rumours began spreading that Lannan was on the trade block and that the money Washington would save by trading him would go toward signing Jackson.

No...

There are few things in the world more soul-sucking for a writer than rote previews. Going team-by-team through the league and “breaking down” the chances and pitfalls always seems like a good idea but ends up taking years off your life.

Phil Rogers is the man in charge of this thankless task for the Chicago Tribune. Phil Rogers has plenty of things on his plate, I can only assume. The prospect of compiling some 900 words on the Toronto Blue...

Kevin Goldstein is a friend of Getting Blanked and the Internet as a whole. He does the Lord’s scouting work, including inventive pieces like the one he ran yesterday, polling GMs in a game of “Would You Rather?” between Youtube prospect Yoenis Cespedes and established big league center fielders.

One of the choices (the least popular choice, according to these front office types) was Colby Rasmus of the Toronto Blue Jays. Seems there isn’t a great deal of faith...

It was a little over a year ago that the Tampa Bay Rays announced that they had signed Manny Ramirez to a one year contract worth $2 million. We probably remember how that ended up working out for the team: Ramirez tested positive for a banned substance (for the second time) and retired rather than face a 100 game suspension.

It seemed unfortunate at the time that such a talented and beloved player had to end his career in the...

From the great DC Sports Blog comes this slightly creepy shot of Nats Park in Washington D.C. looking very…green. Chillingly green, in fact.

As the WaPo’s in-house site reports, the Nationals were simply doing some work on the scoreboard, so what we see here is the park without any of the banner scoreboards or floodlights on to balance out the “War of the Worlds” action going on here.

Local folks took many cool photos of the first LEED-certified stadiumin...

Jason Heyward is an excellent baseball player. Jason Heyward did things, as a 20 year-old rookie, which most players never accomplish at any point of their careers. Based on his eye-popping numbers and the sheer size of the Braves right-fielder, many believed Heyward was on the fast track to stardom. Thanks to the nebulous definition of the word “star”, some might argue Jason Heyward already was a star after his first full year at the big league level.

Then the...

Mark Teixeira didn’t have a very good season in 2011. Not by his standards (and pay packet), anyway. Tyler Kepner of the New York Times showed in August that the extreme shift Teixeira faces while hitting left-handed caused the Yankees switch-hitter big troubles.

Mark Teixeira isn’t one to take poor performance lying down. Sure, Mark Teixeira makes $23 million dollars a year to hit for power in the heart of the Yankees lineup. Rather than limply smack balls into the...

Derrick Goold of the ST. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote a great piece today on the nature of the off-season moves made by the defending World Series Champions. Rather than rewarding/rebuilding the same team and hoping for the same magic, the Cardinals are determined to do something novel: get better.

Getting better after losing your best player — possibly the best in franchise history — isn’t easy. But the Cardinals seem determined to continually improve their roster without betraying the “win now”...

Edwin Jackson’s Pay Day passed away yesterday at a very young age with a report that the right handed starting pitcher is most likely to sign a one year contract for the coming season. The death is believed to have been caused by complications due to a combination of waiting too long to sign a contract and a lack of interest from Major League Baseball teams in locking up an average pitcher for multiple years.

Born out of an off...

Tony Plush? More like Tony Puck. Heyo!

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Nyjer Morgan will be participating in a practice this afternoon with the San Jose Sharks. The Bay Area native grew up playing hockey, and even suited up for the Regina Pats of the WHL for seven games before deciding to focus full-time on baseball almost a decade ago.

Morgan’s status as a fan of his home town Sharks was discovered during a segment on Rome Is Burning, for which...

This past Monday new Houston Astros owner Jim Crane put an end to the speculation by stating officially that the club would not be changing their name for 2013.  Crane had earlier mentioned the team was considering a name change for their shift into the American League.

“We received strong feedback and consensus among many fans, and we will not change the name Astros. The Houston Astros are here to stay”.

While the Houston Astros won’t be changing their name...

When my wife and I bought our first house, we were excited. The home was 15 years old but it was nice and clean and suited our needs nicely. You never know what you’re going to get when you buy a house but, our thinking went, a house that old was something of a known commodity. If the basement was leaky, you could tell. If the foundation was cracked, you could tell.

The day before we moved in, a tech...

The Philadelphia Phillies signed Chad Qualls to a one year contract worth $1.15 million that includes additional unspecified bonuses.

As Bill Baer does an excellent job of suggesting over at Crashburn Alley, Qualls’ declining strike out rates over the last three years could have a lot to do with his breaking stuff losing an edge over that same period. Less movement combined with fewer swinging strikes and higher contact rates on pitches out of the zone lead one to...