Joakim Soria trade rumors swirl around us like so many falling leaves, threatening to troll our Christmas weekend. For me, I've simply given up trying to guess what will happen. The Gio Gonzalez trade to Oakland removes one increasingly annoying rumor from the stream, but we've still got lots of time to spin about on matters related to Jair Jurrjens. Meanwhile, the reactions to the Yuni signing rolled in. Am I the only one that merely feels very tired at the end of this year?

The baseball links talk Padres, Cardinals, and Gio, while the Grab Bag touches on the Chiefs, the American conquest of the Middle Ages and offers yet another refutation of the Creative Class idea. Yay!

Royals:

• From Tragedy to Farce: The Return of Yuni | FanGraphs Baseball
• Yuniesky Betancourt And The Nearly Inconceivable - Baseball Nation
• My letter to Lee Judge | Pine Tar Press
• Time to Shoot For Roy Oswalt - Kings of Kauffman -
• Anatomy Of A Free Agent Signing – A One Act Play - Royals Authority
• The Royals have signed left-handed reliever Jose Mijares to a one-year deal. | royals.com: News

Baseball:

• A Graphic Look at Gio vs Prospects - Beyond the Box Score
• Evaluating the Jed Hoyer era in San Diego

Grab Bag:

• The Smart Set: The Eco Chamber -Umberto is back with another bad book
• The Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, explored by Adam Kirsch | Harvard Magazine Jan-Feb 2012
• Urban-Development Legends by Mario Polèse, City Journal Autumn 2011
• Reasons To Dream - Arrowhead Pride