Slow week, random links

The week between Christmas and New Years is dead time for most of the country, baseball included. Even if you work, you aren't really "there," ya know? I only worked two days last week and I am not afraid to say I should have been paid for maybe a half-day. Maybe.

-Bobby Cox got some love from Jeff Passan's New Years Resolutions article found here.

I resolve to get ejected for all the right reasons, which include balls and strikes, bad calls on the bases, close plays at the plate, umpires breathing wrong, butterflies flapping their wings, Joe Morgan mispronouncing a name, a keyboard being used somewhere in America and photosynthesis occurring.

-I can talk all day about Cox's abilities as a manager in the game, but one thing I respect about him is that he fights for his players moreso than any other manager I have ever seen. He's not behind his players so much as they are holding him back. Also, check out the Tommy Lasorda link. Kinda racey. Don't worry, Tommy. This Tommy enjoys some girl-on-girl porn, too.

-Speaking of odd things, Oscar Villarreal got a two-year deal with an option for 2010 from the 'Stros. $2.85M. I guess it's not a terrible signing, but Villy really isn't good enough to deserve more than a one-year deal and an option. You can always do better than Villy and you never want to be tied down to him. He's like the girl you settle with because you gotta be with someone, ya know.

-Mark Bowman slurped on the Murph for awhile. Cox, John Schuerholz, and Pete Van Weiren all guest-star in this Made-For-Hallmark tale about a good guy who could hit homers and for some reason, that wasn't enough for the Hall. Fact is...the Hall of Fame is for the best of the best of the best. Murphy is not one of those guys.

-Bowman delegated a duty to some random person, who wrote up the Braves Year In Review. Oddly, Peterson Orr didn't even get mentioned.

-The Chop Chick (she's a man, baby!) put together a Farm Report for the AJC. The article is...hard to read. That's an understatement. I have brain leakage after reading about Boyer and Devine.

-Boyer and Devine would have been a great title of an 80's show.

-Finally, I missed this, but on December 17th, the Braves signed Jorge Campillo to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. Campillo is 29 and a veteran of eight major league games with one start. When he came out of the Mexico League three years ago, he was one of their best pitchers. Decent, not great, minor league numbers. Horrible, or horrid, major league numbers. Long shot, but I like these type of players. Maybe McDowell can get him going.

Happy New Year, children.