This is stupid.
Anyway, as part of my ongoing effort to wrap my Soviet-like tentacles around the world and extend my influence into every country with an Internet connection, I took part in a Baseball Analysts AL West roundtable, which you can view here (also participating: Rich Lederer, Patrick Sullivan, and a very preoccupied Jamey Newberg). So go give that a read if you haven't already heard "wow this division totally sucks" enough times over the winter.
In more important news, JJ Putz's elbow MRI apparently doesn't show anything out of the ordinary. Which is good, since nothing's torn, but bad, since this is basically the equivalent of saying "okay, you hurt, but we don't know why, so we can't do anything." I'd feel better if they at least did something medical, like put his leg in a cast or give him tuberculosis antibiotics, but this whole 'ethical conduct' thing gets in the way, and it can be a real bitch to try and find a doctor willing to do whatever's necessary to help a patient (or a patient's #1 fan), even if it breaks a few "rules". Bureaucracy, I tell you. The times are more complicated now than they used to be.