Wednesday links

Links from around the internets that are keeping me entertained until my Hattrick team’s fourth-round cup match tonight:

* Jacob Jackson of The Hardball Times has an excellent, well-thought out post about how to fix baseball’s worst franchise, the Pittsburgh Pirates. I like one of his suggestions — hire Paul DePodesta. While it would never happen, I would love it if he replaced Bill Stoneman when Stoneman retires one day. DePodesta got a raw deal with the Dodgers, but he made good moves with what he inherited and with a lower payroll than Ned Colletti has now.

* The Epic Carnival has a baseball story that could be potentially better than The Rookie. I’m not exaggerating — if Brodie Downs makes it to the big leagues, it’s at least as amazing as Jim Morris.

* tziller at Ballhype has a great visual post, mapping teams in the NBA based on offense, defense, efficiency and pace.

* The Royals finally regained some power last night. No, not that kind. (Babes Love Baseball)