Lookout Linkage, 3/23/14

Sunday links!

• The Mariners announced that they will honor the Superbowl champion Seattle Seahawks during their home opener on April 8th against the Angels. Puzzling marketing move to have a promotion on opening day.
• Taijuan Walker and Stephen Pryor both threw in a minor league game on Saturday as a part of their rehab program and appear to be progressing well.
• Greg Johns at Mariners.com has a story on Dominic Leone, the AA reliever who is drawing some attention this spring. Also, the title of the video that goes with the article suggests Leone is included in Jonathan Mayo's list of the top 20 Mariners prospects which is released to the public on Monday.
• Jeff Sullivan at U.S.S. Mariner examines some possible bad nicknames for Brad Miller. Sad Miller? He might be if he were called some of these.
• Jeff Sullivan, this time on Fangraphs, tries to figure out why hitters don't bunt against the shift. This is something I personally have been wondering for a while. Fantastic read.
• Apparently he was really excited about bunting because here's another Jeff Sullivan bunting article that delves further in to the subject.
• Jake Mintz of The Hardball Times gives a history of baseball in Australia. It's a great read for you historians out there or even just those interested in baseball, which I assume is everyone reading this or else wow I'm flattered.
• The Pirates have offered multiple contract extensions to outfielder Starling Marte but he's not biting yet.
• George Springer's agent is considering filing grievance over Springer not breaking camp with the Astros out of Spring Training.
• The Tigers took care of their need for a shortstop by trading for Andrew Romine on Friday, who I could have sworn was a Yankee catcher.
• The Tigers are also considering bringing their current first base coach Omar Vizquel back as a platoon shortstop. The former Mariner is currently 47 years old.
• Apparently Aroldis Chapman has a ton of staples on his head now. He's likely to return to action in mid-May.
• The Red Sox are closing in on extensions with David Ortiz and Jon Lester.
• Athletics Nation points out that it has been a while since the A's had a hitter to call their superstar.
• If you're curious how the Mariners' rivals are looking this year, Beyond the Box Score now has season previews up for the Angels and Astros (Links to previews by clicking on the team names).
• The Dodgers and Diamondbacks have now opened up the MLB regular season with two games in Australia, both wins by the Dodgers. True Blue LA has a stream of articles if you're interested in how the games went.
• Sam Miller of Baseball Prospectus takes a closer look at the simulated seasons that actually have the Astros in the playoffs.