Morning Linkaround

Time to pull together some odds and ends, friends:

It appears that Kevin Towers will be joining the Yankees as a consultant in 2010. Why only a consultant? Because if he had a higher title, he wouldn't be able to continue collecting his salary from the Padres. How's that for revenue sharing, San Diego?

Just like he did last winter with Robinson Cano in the Dominican Repbulic, Kevin Long is already working with players on their swings. Long has already visited Nick Swisher, is working with A-Rod this week and Curtis Granderson in the near future.

The Replacement Level Yankees Weblog compares the 2008 and 2009 Yankees defenses. Hopefully there will be another jump forward in 2010.

In light of David Cone's departure from YES, Larry from the Yankeeist gives his thoughts on the broadcasts and wonders whether we'll ever see a true sabermetrician in the booth.

After covering each team in the AL East individually, the folks at Beyond the Box Score have taken to comparing them using their slick DiamondView graphic. The Yankees lead in both on base ability and power, while the Rays have the best fielding and baserunning. The Red Sox run second in each of those categories, making them the jack of all trades but the master of none. And there's nothing wrong with that.

River Ave. Blues presents their long-awaited Jesus Montero prospect profile.

A-Rod reportedly has a new lady friend, a 25 year old Miami socialite named Elaine Spottswood. Over/Under on this one: 2 Weeks.

Alex Remmington at Big League Stew tells you everything you need to know about UZR.

First up in the BBWAA backlash category, Deadspin lists the worst Hall of Fame voters. You know how I can tell Barry Petchesky isn't really a baseball fan? There are only three on his list and none of them are Dan Shaugnessey or Jon Heyman.

Ken Rosenthal thinks that, in addition to adding web-based writers to the BBWAA, they should be subtracting voters who are out of touch with the game.

Sky Andrecheck half-jokingly suggests 5 things players can do to improve their chances of getting into the Hall of Fame as a way of pointing out the flaws in the voting. Of the 5, there is only one that a player himself could control and it runs contrary to the interests of the team (working fewer walks).

Lots of words have been spilled about the Expos lately, most notably from Jonah Keri. He recounts some personal memories from his youth at Olympic Stadium during an ode to Tim Raines while Tyler Kepner has a column in the Times today about the former stars who came from Montreal.

And finally, the physics and psychology behind catching a fly ball.