Odds and Ends: Teixeira, Dickey, Takahashi

Links for Friday…

• In the aftermath of the Yankees’ spending, Joe Posnanski reminds us that two thirds of MLB teams have won the World Series in the last 30 years.
• UmpBump doesn’t like the idea of a salary cap.
• FanGraphs now shows a hitter’s wins over replacement level, as well as the player’s dollar value.  You don’t need to be a stathead to enjoy this.  For example, here’s the Carlos Pena page.  Scroll to the bottom.  Value Wins shows he was worth 6.0 wins over replacement level in 2007.  That made him worth $24.6MM, but he earned just $800K.
• If you are a stathead, you’ll like this 1981 SI article on Bill James.
• A look at the only five players who should be considered within the first five picks of a fantasy baseball draft next year.
• Mark Teixeira leftovers…Murray Chass says Tex and his wife didn’t want to live in Boston, while Kat O’Brien details the hard stance the Yankees took with Scott Boras.  The Nationals did everything they could to sign Teixeira, but he wanted to win now.
• ESPN’s Keith Law explains why the draft pick compensation system is broken.  Brewers GM Doug Melvin had interesting comments on this in a recent Buster Olney blog.
• The New York Times Company is trying to sell its stake in the Red Sox.
• La Velle E. Neal III tries to figure out the Twins’ signing of knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.
• Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker takes a closer look at lefty reliever Ken Takahashi.