SnakeBytes: Last Month of Winter edition

D-backs related

• [dbacks.com] Arizona Diamondbacks Spring Training Tickets - Individual tickets for all 2014 Spring Training games at Salt River Fields go on sale Saturday starting at 10:00 a.m. MST. In addition, the first 100 fans who purchase tickets at the stadium box office Saturday will be given two free tickets and parking to the team's Street Eats Festival on Jan. 25-26. [Whisper] However, if you use the magic code "MLBAM", you can start buying online now... There's also a Tucson discount code, but I can't in good conscience hand that one out here.
• [thetelegraph.com.au] Hall eyes cricket talent for baseball side - "I have no doubt your elite cricketers could make the transition to Major League Baseball. We could definitely teach baseball to those guys. In terms of a pathway, Australian cricket is certainly a realistic scouting ground for us. With the hitting, the power arms, the hand-eye coordination, there is so much crossover there. I'm just not sure how many Australians who make it to the elite level would want to give that up."
• [ArizonaSports] Trumbo has 'everything it takes' to be a good outfielder - So says D-backs coach Dave McKay, anyway: "If you have a player who's willing to work at it, which Mark Trumbo is, there's a lot of things you can do. I point it out, he goes to work. The player makes himself good.The guy has everything it takes to be a good outfielder. Make all the routine plays, and we'll go from there," We'll see...
• [dbacks.com] D-backs FanFest takes place Feb 8 - All the usual features will be there, including player and coach autograph sessions, clubhouse tours, the yard sale, Q+As, anthem try-outs, etc.
• [BaseballAmerica] D-backs sign Brazilian Rodrigo Takahashi - as AJV19 noted in his fanshot. Not much more info, but Takahashi is apparently "a 17-year-old Brazilian righthander with Japanese ancestry. He also plays third base and attended the third MLB Elite Camp tryouts in Brazil in January 2013."

Somewhat D-backs related

• Are elite GB% relievers undervalued? - Beyond the Box Score - Ryan from InsideTheZona is now also writing at BtBS. Here, he looks at how much value the increased likelihood of double plays adds, largely inspired by Brad Ziegler.
• [Realty Today] Jason Kubel Lists Arizona Home for $1.3 Million - "Kubel purchased the home for $980,000 in 2012, while he was with the Diamondbacks, reports the Realtor Blog. Listing records of the home state that the house spans an area of 3828 square feet, across a 0.28 acre lot. Comprising of five bedrooms, and five bathrooms, interiors of the home provide for mixed flooring and ceilings. Exclusive features of the residence include a game room, a bonus room and a den."
• [CBS LA] Puig To Give Up Driving - "He knew he was not in a good spot. He knew that he had let a lot of people down," Ned Colletti said, adding that he asked Puig how he planned to explain his arrest to Little Leaguers he has worked with in Los Angeles.
• []CBS NY[ Surreal, Sad Journey Of Joba Chamberlain - Remember when we were supposedly interested in Chamberlain? Yeah, I've erased that from my memory too. Still, he's now with the Tigers, so we're safe there.
• [phillies.com] Phillies, Comcast SportsNet agree to new TV contract - Remember I said this could be a marker for what the D-backs could be getting? Hold onto your hat. "Sources said it is a 25-year deal and the Philadelphia Inquirer reported it is worth more than $2.5 billion, with the Phillies also acquiring an equity stake in the network, plus receiving advertising revenue."

Not very D-backs related

• I am so uninterested in the sanctimonious fuming, from all sides, regarding the Hall of Fame voting. So you won't get any links to it here. Instead:
• Baseline Cherrypicker - "Statements of the form "Jack Morris won more games in the 1980s than anyone else" are fascinating. Although they're true, they rest on cherry-picked years that may or may not illustrate a deeper truth in context Printed out, all the statements you could make with the data here would take about 15,000 pages: this visualization lets you hone in on the patches of interest." This tool should tide you over until spring.
• [Forbes] The Economics Of Major League Baseball Free Agency: Start It Earlier To Achieve Fiscal Sanity - "Early free agency would formalize the logical idea of labor costs rising or declining according to its value.. The present system distorts the market by suppressing labor costs initially and then giving players effectively one shot at a big payday. Coupled with a limited free agent pool, it is no wonder that franchises still give mega-contracts to thirty-year olds."
• [SportsonEarth.com] What can a baseball fan do to get through the winter? - "It's a particularly cold January around most of America, and the sunny days of green grass and blue skies seem so far away. So what's a baseball fan to do for the next two months? There's other sports, or baseball simulations... or cats."