Odds And Ends: Orioles, Bowden, Nathan

A few links for Sunday afternoon…

• According to MLB.com’s Spencer Fordin the Orioles used "number crunching and statistical analysis" to compare Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis to similar past and present players before locking them up to deals worth $40MM and $66MM, respectively.
• Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports that Joe Nathan’s happy to see Jonathan Papelbon making lots of money this year ($6.25MM) because it’s good for closers in general.
• Jayson Stark of ESPN.com points out the absurdity of the Manny Ramirez negotiations and suggests the structure of a deal that could work for both sides. It’s been nearly four months since the Dodgers made their initial offer of two years and $45MM.
• Pete McElroy of MASN Sports reports that Dmitri Young’s "shocked" to see Jim Bowden resign. Young, who first dealt with Bowden on the Reds, spoke glowingly of his former GM.
• According to MLB.com’s Jason Beck Jim Leyland confirmed that the Tigers had some offseason discussions about Juan Cruz.
• The draft’s still three months away, but Keith Law of ESPN.com is already putting together scouting reports about some top amateur players.
• MLB.com’s Lyle Spencer dreams up a deal that sends Adrian Gonzalez and Jake Peavy to the Angels for 10 players.