Change for the sake of change (and other links)

I really enjoyed this post by Dan Hopper at SBNation Pittsburgh about the Pirates’ offseason:

I can cite Zach Duke’s xFIP as much as I want to argue that he’s still a non-useless major league pitcher who had an unlucky 2010 largely caused by an atrocious defense, but still, the baser, gut-reactiony part of me has zero interest in watching another excruciating Duke start in 2011. I can cite Milledge’s platoon splits and his age and pedigree and not be factually incorrect, and yet, if he were penciled into the 2011 Buccos lineup, the fan in me would be rolling my eyes in anticipation of his creatively spastic baserunning mistakes before Spring Training even let out.

I don’t know if that’s good justification for some of the moves Huntington made, but it’s definitely true. At least in my case. 

The Gil Meche retirement story is incredible. Maybe that’s not even the right word. Maybe it’s unbelievable. 

Walkoff Walk, one of my very favorite baseball blogs on the internet, is closing up shop at the end of the month. The fact that WoW won’t be around when Rinku makes his big league debut almost brings a tear to my eye. Thankfully, I was able to help Drew Fairservice out with an exhaustive log of walkoff walks over the life of the site.