"Which starting pitcher has led the AL in ERA since last July 1? I hope you guessed Iwakuma. In 20 games, he has a 2.44 ERA, edging out Justin Verlander's 2.51 mark, and held batters to a .225 average"

I miss Mune so much. Happy to see him succeed; sad to see it's not with the Mariners; sadder to see it's a team the Mariners have more than one series with; happy to think he'll be in a dugout at Safeco again sometime this season for everyone's amusement.

Kyle Boddy looks at the first time in recorded history sabermetricians were clamoring for a sacrifice bunt and didn't get it.

It's not behind a pay wall, but the main part is: "Curveball Mariners, 2010-2011: .287/.317/.465 Tigers, 2011-2013: .157/.224/.229 With the Mariners, batters swung and missed on Fister's curve 27 percent of the time; with the Tigers, it's been 40 percent swing-and-miss." Edit: I don't know why the format turned out like this.

Marc's probably not going to toot his own horn here, so here it is if you haven't made your way over there today. Excellent article, pretty much must-read if you have any interest in the new deal, as is Dave's equally excellent piece right before it. I suspect we'll see Wendy Thurm's take on it up at Fangraphs within a day or two, which should also be well worth the read.

Anyone think we'll pick him back up?

HE IS BACK!