Bubba Links
Baseball Links
The Reds finalized the contract of relief pitcher David "Stormy" Weathers today. Since the roster was full, a move had to be made.
Of course, I worried it would be Bubba, even though none of the rumors mentioned his name. I can't help it. After three years of holding my breath every time the Yanks made a roster move, it's just habit.
Well, it wasn't Bubba who was cut. It wasn't any of the players who were rumored to be in danger, either. Instead, pitcher Brandon Claussen was DFA'd. I'm guessing they expect him to clear waivers and be assigned to the minors. The Yankees did that with long-suffering Colter Bean earlier this year. He still had options left, but they DFA'd him to get him off the roster. As expected, no one claimed him off waivers, and he was pitching in Columbus three days later. 
Ever wonder what happened to Lenny Dykstra? He's now a stock guru. He lost most of his savings when the stock market tanked a few years ago, and decided to take charge of his own money. He ended up teaching his neighbor's daughter how to play softball in exchange for investment tips. He thinks investing is a lot like baseball:
The link between his career in pro baseball and his new one as an investor and day trader is an ability to spot patterns. "You know the most important count in baseball?" he asks rhetorically as we stroll back to his hotel. "One-and-one. If it goes to two-one, a hitter hits .300. If it goes to one-and-two, he hits .100."
To Nails, bad traders and bad batters are alike in that they swing for the fences when they should stay focused on merely getting on base. His trading philosophy is not that different from how he hit Hall of Famer Steve Carlton. "The game, whether it's baseball or stocks, is about getting into a predictable situation, a 2-0 count, when the odds are in your favor. At 2-0, the guy's gonna throw a fastball into my love zone, where I can turn and burn. I got one rule in stocks. When I make a $1,000 gain, I sell. GTC, dude. Good-till-cancel order. Buy it at $10, sell it at $11."
Now he is trying to start an investment fund for baseball players.
"Guys are done playing at 35," he says, "and there's nothing worse than to make a man change his lifestyle. When that money's flying in, they don't think about paying the bills when they get older, 'cause they never been 35 and outta work. If you don't have cash coming in, you either gotta change your lifestyle drastically or go broke. You can't pay for the big house with the big lawn and the big driveway. The wife says, 'What happened, honey?' What're you gonna tell her? Get a job? She's gotta take care of the kids."
He calls his fund "The Player's Club." The minimum investment is $250,000. So far, no one has signed up.
UPDATE: I was wrong about Claussen. He's arbitration-eligible. The Reds are non-tendering him, apparently with no intention of re-signing him. I must say, that's a bit of a surprise.
