The biggest Rays related news the past couple of days is that Hideki Matsui retired. Over on on the Tampa Bay Times Rays section, it is still the lead story... a guy that hit .147 in 103 plate appearances with the Rays is hanging it up and that's all the news we have for you. Yep. It is that time of the off-season.

Meanwhile the club is still in need of a designated hitter, first base platoon partner, corner outfielder, a couple of bullpen arms and maybe a backup catcher. As a fan, and a writer, I can't help but hope that Andrew Friedman does something soon. If only so we will have something new to talk about.

Elsewhere, the non-Rays baseball world is abuzz over HoF ballots and reliever Michael Gonzalez signing with the Brewers. That's something, I guess.

Is it Spring Training yet?

• Jeff Sullivan at FanGraphs looks at pitch receiving and pitch types. Jose Molina gets a mention.
• Matt Hunter at Beyond The Boxscore asks if we should use home runs when we evaluate pitchers.
• Keys to pitching: Don't be terrible. Be good. And Win.
• Everyone loves the Hall of Fame and steroids conversation, RIGHT?
• And, I'm spent.