Rotoman

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Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Phillies send Polanco to Tigers for Urbina, Martinez

Earthshaking news for those AL only players in leagues who don’t carry over stats who had gotten used to Urbina’s saves, but good news for people like me who are counting on Percival. Now he just has to stay healthy the rest of the way.

Good news, too, for those of us who have Polanco in mixed leagues (or NL only leagues that carry over stats). Polanco is a good little contact hitter who has shown some pop. Not a big deal, but a tonic if you were feeling the loss of Jason Smith.

It looks like the immediate guy to take a hit will be Omar Infante, who isn’t hitting, but this is as much a vote of no confidence for Carlos Guillen’s knee, which has been bothersome so far this year, to say the least.

There is also Ivan Rodriguez’s hand problem. Polanco doesn’t catch but he does play third base.

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ESPN.com: Reggie Taylor

In the preseason I touted Reggie Taylor because he’s a decent enough hitter who happened to be in the mix in Colorado, but the Rockies decided to go with other guys and dealt Taylor to the Devil Rays.

Taylor has been doing just fine in Triple-A Durham, but he hasn’t been as powerfully good as Jonny Gomes nor as quick as Joey Gathright. A few weeks ago I dropped Taylor from my Tout Wars team, keeping some dubiously better reserves who I thought had a better chance of making the big club.

But those wacky Devil Rays promoted Taylor today, and started him. In mixed leagues there is nothing to think about here, but Taylor is exactly the sort of guy who can step in and earn extra playing time with a good start. He had that tonight.

A little pop, a little speed, he could be a very helpful outfielder in AL-only leagues. Or he could be sent down for no apparent reason tomorrow. Caveat emptor.

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“Tom Terrific Seaver”

I was going to flog MLBlogs, where Tom Seaver started his blog today, signing off by saying, “Looking forward to blogging with you again soon.” A bunch of other broadcasters also started blogs. You can, too, though you have to pay.

But it turns out that Seaver, who says he’s computer averse, has two web sites. The one linked to here (it lands on a Flash opening) seems to be a medium for selling Seaver memorabilia. It also has two Reggie Jackson quotes hyping Tom Terrific.

The better of the two: Tom is so good blind people come out to hear him pitch.

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Spector’s Past Gun Play to Figure in Trial – Yahoo! News

I think Da Doo Ron Ron is the greatest song in all of rock and roll, though this is one of those things that you only say to make an argument. Like Rolling Stone magazine deciding that Bob Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone was the greatest rock and roll song of all time.

Or that a song by the Rolling Stones was the second best.

In any case, the picture you’ll find of Phil Spector, the architect of the Crystals, in this link suggests that a non-traditional defense is going to be in play in Phil’s murder trial. I really wish Phil were innocent, and that the woman weren’t dead, but I’ve seen enough Columbos to think I know how this one is going to turn out.

I wonder what Peter Falk’s hair looks like these days?

For baseball fans: Nice game for Ervin Santana tonight against the hot White Sox. ES’s name hearkens back to Magic and Johan. That’s quality.