NOV 1: Excerpts from my interview on Sirius/XM last week and my comments about Mike Trout... …

This tightly edited audio clip generated a bunch of response from various sources. I stand behind it and will be talking more about it all spring.

NOV 7: Yup - all roads lead to #BaseballHQ. MT @almelccbs Back in the day, I wrote a Scoresheet column for @RonShandler just like @fivethirtyeight

NOV 8: @kronzer I told my wife that just like @fivethirtyeight I used to write for @RonShandler and @BaseballHQ. Her resp: Where's your book?

NOV 21: He's come a long way since writing for us as a 19-year-old here #NateSilver

NOV 21: Forget 538 and best-selling books, #NateSilver REALLY made it by getting into yesterday's Doonesbury comic strip.

Not too many people know that Nate Silver's baseball writing career began as a Scoresheet Baseball columnist for us back in the late 1990s while he was a student at the University of Chicago. Al Melchior, currently at CBSSports, picked up that column shortly afterwards. Another former writer, Craig Kronzer, chimed in as well.

NOV 14: Great Sheehan quote... "The rule I apply to fantasy baseball applies here: any trade involving more than 4 players is a sign you're bored."

Joe Sheehan tweeted this right after the Blue-Jays-Marlins 12-player trade. It is so true. Though, if not bored, there is certainly a need to ferret down to reveal the real goals of any deal. I'd say that 95% of all fantasy trades can be equitable with just four players.

NOV 29: #AllStarStats is no more. End of an era for fantasy leaguers who've been playing since before the turn of the century.

It is always a sad day for me to see a long-time company close up shop. Before all the major media sites swallowed up the commissioner service business, All Star Stats, USA Stats and TQ Stats were the industry stalwarts. TQ was eventually bought out by Fanball, which then went under. USA was bought out by All Star, and now they're all gone.

Just like we are encouraged to patronize independent entrepreneurs in all industries, we should do likewise here. OnRoto.com is the reincarnation of TQ Stats and very worthy. Also many positive comments about Fantrax and Custom Stat.

DEC 7: First Pitch Forum sked - LA (Feb 16), SF (Feb 17), Chicago (Feb 23), DC (Mar 1), NY (Mar 2), Boston (Mar 3)

Just a reminder...

DEC 10: In defense of the #Royals.. Matt LaPorta, Andy Marte, Sean Burroughs, Brandon Wood, Jeremy Hermida, Justin Smoak... all top 10 prospects

DEC 10: In defense of the #Royals 2... Joe Borchard, Jesse Foppert, Dallas McPherson, Austin Kearns, Hee Seop Choi... all top 10 prospects

DEC 12: Are clubs learning that unproven prospects are tradeable chips? 3 of arguably the top 6 prospects just got dealt in the past week.

I was annoyed how quickly baseball writers were to pass judgment on the Will Myers trade and thrash Royals' management. We don't know who Myers is going to turn into.

DEC 13: Hate to say this, #Angels fans, but park effects potentially are going to do a number on #JoshHamilton.

DEC 13: Like I said. Park effects RT @JeffPassan Josh Hamilton career at Angel Stadium: .260/.325/.440 with five HR, 13 BB and 28 K in 150 at-bats.

There have been several analyses that have come out refuting this. Using the actual distances of Hamilton's home runs in Texas overlaid with Anaheim park dimensions, it appears that the fall-off might not be as severe. However, his actual performance at Angel Stadium - rather than speculating on what might be - seems the stronger argument.

DEC 12: Buster Olney @Buster_ESPN When I hear HOF voters say certain players 'did it clean,' I think: How could you possibly know? Speculating either way a slippery slope.

JAN 1: Why the HoF voting system is fatally flawed, Reason #312: Value of individual achievement should not depend upon strength of class.

JAN 4: Flawed HoF Reason #313: MT @sean_forman Three people at http://GolfersWest.com have a ballot & Bill James, John Thorn & Vin Scully don't.

JAN 7: I signed this. You need to as well so we can spark change in a highly flawed system.

JAN 9: Sick of all the #HoF talk. There has been an incredible amount of energy analyzing and speculating on the results of a highly flawed system.

JAN 9: I wish that we just admit that the system is flawed and redirect all that energy to rebuilding it. And NO BAND-AIDS. It requires a REBUILD.

JAN 9: #HoF FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL Arrrrrgh!

JAN 9: How many potential first ballot #HallofFame candidates lost votes just because of the anti-first ballot bias? #DoubleWhammy

I have been thinking about the Hall of Fame a lot lately. And while the topic is not specifically fantasy-relevant, I think there are potential solutions that can draw on the lessons of fantasy baseball. I need to organize my thoughts, but I think I am going to be writing more about this during the summer.

JAN 15: @BaseballGuys @rotoballs @Jeff_Erickson @Tim_Heaney There are enough more projectable players to push Trout out of the 1st rd. #RecencyBias

Oh, it's starting. Get ready....

If you are on Twitter, follow me @RonShandler. Let's see how my follower count soars after this note...