Frayings from the Lunatic Fringe

The Zito contract recalls Brians Sabean's dismissal of his critics as a "lunatic fringe", after he traded away Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, and Boof Bonser for one agonizing, knee-groining year of A.J. Pierzynski.

Here are a few selected items, culled from the torrent of bits and bytes Comcast has delivered up today.  Use this thread as a placeholder for your baseball-related comments and soliloquies.

• From the NY Daily News: Yanks, D-Backs close to Unit deal

  Incredibly, the D'Backs are apparently thinking about giving Johnson a contract extension, as well as giving up decent pitching prospects. The Yankees also seem to be zeroing in on Dougie Mintk*^#$&^&$cz to play 1B for them, with nary a mention of Sexson as an alternative.

• From MLB.com, Suppan's deal with the Brewers is final.

  Four years and $42 million.  If you've got any good recipes for barbecued horse, I know of someone who might be interested.

• From the Rocky Mountain Daily News, Tracy Ringolsby adds Blyleven to his ballot this year.  

  This moves Bert Blyleven one significant step closer to his deserved HOF election.  Ringolsby is one of the most respected writers in the baseball fraternity.  Ringolsby changing his mind about Blyleven adds credibilty that the case for Blyleven isn't merely "stat-heads run amok". Rich Lederer at Baseball Analysts, who has done a fine job over the years of documenting and supporting Blyleven's case, posted an excerpt from an e-mail he received from Ringolsby regarding Ringolsby's decision to vote for Blyleven.  Ringolsby said it was the first time in his memory that he ever added a player to his ballot after having left him off in previous years. Congratulations to Ringolsby for keeping an open mind.