One of the best things to happen to me this week is this post over at our sister-site, Beyond the Boxscore.

If you have an interest in sabermetrics, there's some must reads there (most of which I haven't read yet, but I will).

Let's start with the fun stuff: how do you say that?  I'd have said L-O-B, rather than lob, as in toss.

The Hardball Times likes Verlander's new extention, calling it a bargain for the Tigers while still setting up Verlander for an AJ-esque extention at 31.  The free agent starters to watch are down to Josh Beckett and Cliff Lee.

Mustn't ever let a chance go by.

Steve Lombardi of WasWatching thinks the pitching staff will miss Jose Molina.  I acknowledge that the Yankee pitchers pitched their best when Molina was behind the plate.

But that doesn't mean that they pitched their best because Molina was behind the plate.

Steve is kind enough to list BABIP for the catchers over the last 3 years: in each season, Yankees pitchers posted BABIP 8-15 points lower with Molina behind the plate than with Jorge there.  Pitch selection could make a difference, but more likely the difference is Posada catching more 'junk' innings from mediocre pitchers at the end of games that are not save situations.

Oh, NYPost.  If you need a Damon fix:

If you turn them down for that, you deserve one year for $3 million or whatever he is going to get. In February, teams have got guys in place. My feeling is that now he is going to be lucky to get whatever he gets. It’s still supply and demand in this game. And Johnny’s arrow is in the middle or going down.

The thing that baffles me about this is how could a professional misjudge this market for a 36 year old LF/DH?  Just counting the teams with openings and the number of players available meant there were going to be several players left without chairs.  Cashman said as much as the winter meetings.