Totally embarrassing and totally unacceptable," Hillman said. "If we had had a healthy replacement, I would have replaced him immediately. That’s embarrassing and can’t happen.

Once again, the fans get to pick one last All-Star in the wildly overhyped "Final Vote" process. The AL ballot includes arguably the worst player to ever be part of this, Jose Guillen, a corner outfielder/DH with a .297 OBP. He’s not one of the 100 best players in the AL this year, and having him on the ballot rather than Markakis or 50 other guys is a joke.

No, the problems with the players’ selections are the glorification of the last 90 days and their backwards emphasis on wins and saves. No Cole Hamels or Johan Santana, but Ryan Dempster and Brandon Webb. Joe Saunders over John Lackey. Brian Wilson over 25 other guys.

I’ve made this point before, but I want to reiterate it as the players’ selections provide a teaching moment. It’s very important, and if it comes off as arrogant, well, I’ll live with that.

The skills required to be one of the very best baseball players in the world have very little to do with the skills required to evaluate the performance and the value of baseball players. I might even argue that the ability to do the former makes you less likely to be able to do the latter. Regardless of how much playing experience is valued by people hiring within the game, by the media that covers the game, and by a lot of fans, all of the evidence we have at our disposal indicates that players by and large do not understand what drives run scoring and run prevention, and are therefore ill-suited to grading the work of their peers.

"I could easily play five more years. I'm feeling pretty good. I'm moving around better. My knees are good. But really? Two or three years, maybe."

"I'm really up in the air. I really am. I've got a few more years left, and I’d like to make a run at it. The last few years have not left the best taste in my mouth, let’s be honest. I don't want to go out like that."
-Mark Grudzielanek

Of course I [Buzz Bissinger] asked for it by saying in Three Nights that sabermetricians don't love the game of baseball. That set their hair on fire. So did a theory I posed (I emphasize theory) that young pitchers get hurt because they don't pitch enough in the minors. It was four paragraphs in a 7,000-word piece about Kerry Wood for Play, and Wood himself agreed with the theory. What they really hated was that one of my sources was Tony La Russa, whose performance over the past four years, including this one, makes Billy Beane look like a Little League GM."

So much to love about this -- the Beane-LaRussa comparison, the notion that he was unfairly attacked, and more. My favorite is that Mr. Journalistic Responsibility neglects to mention that the "attacks" on Three Nights in August showed that he didn't even bother to do a basic Google search or consult the easily-accessible information that could have established the historical point about innings in the minor leagues once and for all. You see, Buzz, one of the requirements for something called a "theory" (as you so cleverly try to qualify it) is that it can be confirmed or disconfirmed.

As I've said before, I suppose he didn't have any money left for an expensive phone call or email to Stats, Inc. or wherever after picking up LaRussa's bar tab for a night or two.

Joakim Soria worked the ninth with his usual Mexicutioner efficiency

"I haven’t decided anything. Probably around August we’ll start cracking down on stuff."
-Royals first round pick Eric Hosmer

"I wanted to take it," Esposito told the New Haven Register, referring to the Royals' offer of a $1.5 million signing bonus. "But then emotions settled down and you put things in perspective. Do I want to go off and play professional baseball at 17 years old? This is the best possible situation. It will benefit me in the long run."

Apparently the Royals 7th round draft pick has decided to attend Vanderbilt after all. Hard to imagine that he'd turn down a huge offer like that (WAY over slot), but I guess he has

Royals starters average 99.1 pitches per outing, the most in MLB; the Yankees' average 86.4, the least

So I don’t know what will happen. But here’s the thing: My heart tells me that Hosmer will be great. Scouts like him. He’s got a great swing, a great body, great high school numbers, all that. He’s an advanced htter … those guys have the best shot of making it through the minors quickly. My heart says: Hosmer was a great pick. I tend to write with my heart, which is one reason why I’m so often wrong.