Detroit Tigers Links: Jose Quintana hasn’t been traded yet, but spring training is coming

It is a cold, dark Sunday evening as I sit to write your Monday morning links post. The fine city of Philadelphia, in which I reside, has seen its first real snowfall of the year, and the 20 degree temperatures have left the city streets as desolate and inactive as the Detroit Tigers’ front office this offseason. I will not despair, as we are just over one month away from that glorious day where the trucks head down to Florida, players stretch in the outfield grass, and the air is filled with the sweet popping sound of baseballs colliding with leather.

Hold on. We’ll all get there together. Until that day arrives, gather around and warm yourselves by the fire of my hot Monday morning links.

Jose Quintana is still on the White Sox

The talk around a potential deal for White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana picked up again on Friday. As of Sunday evening, there are a handful of teams said to be interested in acquiring his services. I’m for a Quintana trade if only for the reason that it gets another great pitcher out of the AL Central. I’ll happily let the White Sox gather their prospects like so many unhatched chickens. They may turn into a juggernaut, but for the time being I’ll enjoy the idea of Hawk Harrelson having to call games for a terrible club.

The Mariners got busy

It seems Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto woke up on Friday morning feeling a bit frisky because he did some serious work to close out the week. In a pair of trades, the Mariners picked up outfielder Jarrod Dyson from the Kansas City Royals for pitcher Nate Karns. Dipoto then shipped outfielder Seth Smith to the land of The Wire for pitcher Yovani Gallardo.

The Gallardo move is one Tigers fans should find a certain amount of reassurance in. You might ask why we should care about a trade where a team acquired a once-serviceable 30-year-old pitcher who posted a 5.29 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP last year and is owed $11 million in 2017. Hop on over and take a look at the stats of Anibal Sanchez and Mike Pelfrey. Mediocre pitching is as movable as ever. I hope Al Avila is paying attention.

Moves that make you say “Who?”

If Seattle’s acquisition of Jarrod Dyson did nothing else, it illuminated the fact that Jarrod Dyson was a 50th round draft pick. Not to be outdone, the Tigers went out and acquired a 50th round guy themselves. In a move that is becoming painfully familiar, Detroit inked another guy you’ve never heard of to a minor league contract. Have fun watching Efren Navarro play first base in Toledo next year, everyone. I bet the Mudhens are pumped.

Did I mention spring training is close?

Ian Kinsler is getting ready! If you’re anything like me, you will watch this for the next 10 minutes in a meditative state that you will eventually awaken from feeling strangely soothed.

National Bobblehead Day was a thing

Saturday was National Bobblehead Day. For those of you lucky enough to obtain a coveted Don Kelly bobblehead, I can only imagine you spent your day cleaning it and feeling inspired to do good things for your fellow man. Cleveland Indians utility man Jose Ramirez doesn’t have his own bobblehead, so he got creative in the way that only guys on a team that blew a 3-1 lead in the World Series can.

Baseball is awesome

Bonus links to sustain you

Murray Chass sends in a blank Hall of Fame ballot. His reasoning makes little sense to me. Edgar Martinez was a feared hitter. Today’s starting pitchers looking to make the Hall of Fame are gonna have a hard time.