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MLBTR Originals: 2/26/12 - 3/3/12

By Steve Adams [March 4, 2012 at 6:05pm CST]

As Spring Training picks up steam, let's take a look back at the original content and scoops provided by the MLBTR writing team this past week:

Tim Dierkes attended the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston, and had the opportunity to get some thoughts from Scott Boras on Edwin Jackson, Johnny Damon, and Mike Gonzalez. Boras said he feels a one-year deal benefits Jackson, because his agency's metrics lead him to believe that evolution as a pitcher is still coming.
Tim also had the opportunity to ask new Astros GM Jeff Luhnow a few questions after he participated in a panel at the event. Luhnow spoke about the decision to move Brett Myers to the bullpen, the importance of the first overall pick, and his implementation of more advanced statistical analysis in the Houston front office.
Happy belated Leap Day! Howard Megdal's latest work takes a look at the history of the rare February 29 transaction.
Mike Axisa gave us an idea of what to expect this month when he ran down the transactions from March of 2011.
Ben Nicholson-Smith examined Salvador Perez's surprising contract extension, noting that there's significant upside for the Royals.
Ryan Zimmerman became the newest $100MM man in baseball, leading Ben to look at $100MM contracts in history by players' age.
The new Collective Bargaining Agreement will have significant impact on trading strategies this year, and Ben examined what changes we can expect when he looked at the new trade market.
Ben examined John Axford as an extension candidate and concluded that a four-year, $17MM deal would be fitting for the man with Milwaukee's most notable mustache.
That wasn't the only situation Ben analyzed; he took a look at Mike Minor as a trade candidate following some candid comments from the Braves young lefty last week.
Ben gave a fantastic preview of service time considerations for Baseball America's Top 100 prospects. Ben's piece sheds light on how long players like Bryce Harper and Shelby Miller will have to be in the minors to give their clubs extra service time.
Tim provides an extensive list of starting pitchers who could hear their name on the trading block whis summer.
Tim also published MLBTR's list of 2014 free agents, and in a separate piece, looked at the top names available at each position in that free agent class.
On a related note, Tim also checked in with players who would be entering contract years, were it not for contract extensions they signed.
The Offseason in Review series is back, and Tim kicked off by looking at the Atlanta Braves.
In a pair of polls, Ben and Zach asked readers which 90-win team will disappoint (with the Brewers getting the most votes) and which NL team will have the biggest turnaround (the Nationals won the voting), respectively.
WIth Scott Sizemore going down for the season, Tim looked at some third base alternatives for the Athletics.
As he does each and every week, Mike provided readers with a window into the best of the baseball blogosphere with this week's edition of Baseball Blogs Weigh In.
Tim manned the helm for this week's MLBTR Chat.
MLBTR is seeking comment moderators, so be sure to apply if you're interested in helping out!
As usual, there's plenty of new fantasy baseball content over at the newly re-launched RotoAuthority.com. Here's a look at the latest.
MLBTR was the first to learn that the Orioles signed minor league catcher Josh Johnson.