Pura Vida

Just an FYI to all Talking Chop readers, I will be Christmasing in Costa Rica this year through the end of the month. Naturally while zipping through rain forests and lying on the beach I will not even be thinking of who's going to win the fifth starter job. In my absence Joe "The Hammer" Hamrahi will be pinch-hitting for me. Those of you who have been around TC for a while probably remember Joe, as for the rest of you folks; Joe was the original blogger who started Talking Chop waaaay back in 2005. He also runs a website called Baseball Digest Daily, which spans the gambit from blog to radio to feature articles to player and executive interviews. He also publishes an email newsletter through BDD that is sent out several times a week. Through that email list he issues valuable alerts about trades and free agent signings - if you're into up to the minute baseball news, I highly suggest you sign up.

So Joe "The Code of Hammurabi" Hamrahi (that's a more obscure one, I think he prefers "The Hammer") will help you close out the year here at Talking Chop. And while he's freezing his bum off in Jersey, I'll be enjoying myself in the 90 degree pleasantness of the most peaceful country in the world. Thanks for pinch-hitting Joe!