Rays Talk
First up, I'm late getting to this story, but the Florida legislature has uncovered an old law that requires publicly-financed sports stadiums to serve as homeless shelters while not in use. They're attempting to push a measure through that would enforce said law while also tacking on some extra provisions -- one of which includes fines a team for blackouts. If the bill passed, any stadium that hasn't been operating a homeless shelter while receiving public money would have to pay back millions of dollars.
I doubt anything comes of this, as it seems like a lot of grandstanding. But still...might Maddon get inspired to take his Thanksmas idea to a whole new level?
Jeff Keppinger has been talked about in these parts an insane amount these past couple days -- Spring Training can't come soon enough -- but there are another couple good pieces on him if you haven't already hit your #KeppTalk quota. Bradley Woodrum tackled how he fits in on the Rays current roster over at FanGraphs, and the tossed around the idea that signing Kepp could open the door for a trade of B.J. Upton.
And finally:
New #Rays reliever Fernando Rodney was wretched tonight for Leones del Escogido in DR:0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 ER, 1 K, BS Yuck.
— John Gregg (@RaysDigest) January 27, 2012
It's only one game. It's only one game. It's only one game....
MLB Chatter
Prince Fielder's new contract has already had one great side-effect: it has served as inspiration for many of us writers who were struggling to come up with interesting things to write about. Jay Jaffe took a look at how the Tigers new infield will shake out defensively (hint: quite poorly), and the BP staff uncovered an old article from 2007 on the "worst contracts" in baseball.
What would it take for the Washington Nationals to sign Ryan Zimmerman to an extension? Wendy Thurm takes a look.
So remember that monstrosity of a home run feature that's going to be in the Marlins' new ballpark? It's under construction, and apparently it's massive.