HDWEB: Ervin Santana saves the day and Kevin Youkilis is still beautiful

In today’s HOW DARE WE ENJOY BASEBALL, we lose our minds about Ervin Santana signing with the Braves, we admire the statuesque beauty that is Kevin Youkilis in Japan, and we start to worry about our starting pitchers. YES!

by Justin Bopp

Mar 12, 2014, 6:04 PM UTC

Good afternoon HDWEB'ers, it's March 12th and Ervin Santana finally got a job and now I'll need to change my lede. Thanks a lot, Ervin. Here's everything you need to know.

If you have ideas or suggestions, send 'em my way at @justinbopp.

Kevin Youkilis remains a beautiful, horrifying monster

Kevin Youkilis, Japanese superstar pic.twitter.com/pwL63sOIk5
— Brian Costa (@BrianCostaWSJ) March 12, 2014

Here's how to cheer for Youkilis in Japanese (jump to 3:27):

Ervin Santanapalooza

Braves sign Ervin Santana to 1-year, $14.1 million deal - MLB Daily Dish
The deal will pay Santana $14.1 million (the exact amount of the Royals' qualifying offer he turned down earlier in the offseason).
Braves sign Ervin Santana: Everything you need to know - MLB Daily Dish
Did Atlanta panic? Did they overpay? Is Santana worth the draft pick? Does this actually fix their problem? We answer all that and more with everything you should know about the Ervin Santana signing.
What to Expect Out of Ervin Santana - Talking Chop
Just how good will the Braves' new starting pitcher be?
Kris Medlen injury: Tommy John surgery likely for Braves starter - SBNation.com
According to reports from the organization, and statements by the pitcher himself, it appears Braves ace pitcher Kris Medlen will need a second Tommy John surgery, which would immediately end his season.
Kris Medlen and Insurance (or lack thereof) - Talking Chop
It's a virtual guarantee that none of Medlen's salary will be covered by insurance.
Jason Kipnis, Indians negotiating extension - SBNation.com
All-Star second baseman Jason Kipnis and the Cleveland Indians are in the process of negotiation an extension, following in the footsteps of outfielder Michael Brantley.
Jhoulys Chacin injury: Rockies starter will likely begin season on disabled list - Purple Row
"Feeling better" does not mean "will avoid the DL," apparently.
Manny Machado thinks Orioles contract is 'disappointing' - SBNation.com
All-star phenom Manny Machado calls his slightly-better-than-league-minimum contract "disappointing", doesn't want to wait for pot of gold at end of service time rainbow.
Nate Schierholtz trade rumors: Ryan Kalish might force Cubs' hand - SBNation.com
With the rise of former Red Sox prospect Ryan Kalish, Cubs outfielder Nate Schierholtz appears to be on the trading block for Theo Epstein-led front office, according to reports.
MLBAM Player Tracking: Ask Us (Almost) Anything - Reddit
Some great questions here, but maybe the most important: What are your plans for distributing the data so that it can reach a broad audience?

“Well, we’re still in the planning stages, and our first audience for this data is going to be the clubs. That said, we’ve publicly committed to distributing raw data, and we’re working on an efficient way to get it out there. It’s a lot of data, and we want to make sure it’s manageable for us and for end users.”

Spring training roundup: Justin Verlander debuts, David Price notches 8 strikeouts - SBNation.com
A couple of high-profile aces looked sharp in Florida on Tuesday.
Tigers trim spring training roster - Bless You Boys
Eight players have been assigned with one being released from the Detroit Tigers organization.
When should we start to worry about CC Sabathia's velocity? - Pinstripe Alley
It's been only two starts so far, but should we start to panic over CC Sabathia's lack of fastball velocity?

Although it has been a hot topic dating back to last year, Sabathia has said that he isn't worried about his decline in velocity. Girardi pretty much echoed that sentiment after yesterday's game, saying he only looked at the radar gun "once or twice," while noting that CC's command "was a little off" and that it "got (Sabathia) in trouble," rather than the radar gun readings.

The lack of velocity on Sabathia's fastball at the moment may be a bit of a bigger deal than what the Yankees are making it, yes, but there's more to pitching than just fastball velocity. It appears that we should be more worried about CC's command than his velocity, at least for now.

Vargas looks ready - Royals Review
Royals starter Jason Vargas continued what the beat writers call an "impressive spring" on Tuesday. At least the beat writers in the employ of the club. Against the Dodgers, he completed four...
Kurt Suzuki Leading Off? No, Just No - Twinkie Town
It appears as though Ron Gardenhire's preference is to have a center field bat leadoff this year, but if Aaron Hicks, Darin Mastroianni, and Alex Presley fail to run away with the job, Gardy may have a surprise option up his sleeve: Kurt Suzuki.
John Danks looking, pitching more like old self - South Side Sox
Radar gun readings, scouting reports, results all pointing in the right direction
VIDEO: Uggla crushes a home run to left - MLB.com
This home run from Uggla shows that he still has a little gas in the tank. A little mustard in the bottle. Other cliches.

Projecting best- and worst-case Red Sox rookie seasons for 2014 - Over the Monster
Let's take a look at the extreme scenarios for a handful of kids turned 2014 Red Sox.
Is the Drew Hutchison Optimism Justified? - Bluebird Banter
Coming off some strong spring training performances Drew Hutchison is everybody's favorite rotation candidate, but is he worthy of that designation?
Phillies Outfield Battle and the Quest To Keep Darin Ruf - The Good Phight
In a spring that has seen an acute shortage of offense, Darin Ruf is making it tough for the Phillies to consider leaving him off the Opening Day roster. But Ruf's defensive limitations could leave him on the outside looking in.
David Phelps is not yet expendable - Pinstripe Alley
Teams are scouting David Phelps, and Michael Pineda looked sharp, but Phelps is not necessarily an expendable trade chip.
Will Grady Sizemore push Jackie Bradley Jr. to minors? - SBNation.com
What would Grady Sizemore earning the starting center field job for the Red Sox say about Jackie Bradley Jr.?

If Sizemore does land the starting gig, that means the win-now Red Sox don’t feel Bradley’s ready to take the job for good yet, and will probably ship him to Pawtucket as a result. But that doesn’t mean they’re down on him. Rather, more time in Triple-A would give Bradley the additional seasoning he needs and help the Red Sox avoid a potential roster crunch.

Best Cure for the Staff? An Even Better Offense - Talking Chop
The Braves need help, and four position players can do just that.
Current players, turn-of-the-millenium stats - SBNation.com
Let's see what today's players would have looked like with 2000 numbers:

The Case of the Player With Speed Without Speed - FanGraphs Baseball

Last season didn’t start out that way. Murphy didn’t make a single steal attempt in April. By May 18, he was 1-for-4. He was still 1-for-4 the morning of June 9. But from then on, in 104 games, Murphy attempted 22 steals, and each and every attempt was successful. Beyond that, for the year, he managed to take an extra base 61% of the time.
That’s according to Baseball-Reference, where the league-average rate was 40%. Half the time someone hit a single with Murphy on first, he made it to third. There were 21 occasions that Murphy was on second when someone hit a single; on 17 of those occasions, Murphy scored. Murphy was aggressive on the bases last year, but he was both aggressive and effective, which is what allowed him to accumulate such value.