It's amazing to me, after two or three years of intensive baseball study (seriously.  Baseball Prospectus, Bill James, Baseball Think Factory, Robby Neyer, Keith Law... lots of insightful stuff has taught me a thing or twenty) that so many others see gold where I see a shiny brick.  Sure, it's shiny.  Heck, it's never looked better than it does right now.  But it's still a brick, you know?

Take Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez, for one.  He's a good closer, no question.  Wild, exciting (dangerous) delivery, power stuff, wonderful slider.  The media loves him.  Most of them are planning on giving him a Cy Young for his run at the saves record, because, you know, Bobby Thigpen was so darn good that anyone who surpasses him must be God's second son.

Sure, K Rod has been good.  But he has not been great.  The number of pitchers who have outperformed him is long... *deep breath*, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Jon Lester, Jon Papelbon, Mariano Rivera, Joba Chamberlain, George Sherrill, Joe Saunders, John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Jose Arredondo, Zack Grienke, Joakim Soria, Joe Nathan, and the amount of innings that CC Sabathia threw as a Native American.

But, folks, as the old adage goes, they only care about the story, ya moron!

So I'll leave the dead horse alone.  I've kicked him enough.

***

So, Joba Chamberlain has a bum shoulder.  Rather than sit here and soapbox about him, I'll wait until next week.  By then we'll know enough to make a serious comment, but for now, it'll just be speculation, and speculation ain't worth this man's dime.

By the way, it appears Ian Kennedy will get another shot this weekend.

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