Here's a small collection of stories/opinions/musings to begin your day. In most cases, these links will have fantasy relevance. Not always. But they might be relevant to someone, somewhere. Let's try to make this a recurring feature; please suggest better names in comments. I kinda hate "Starting Nine," but I've also recently learned that you're not supposed to do lists of 10. That's very 2002. Best name wins a dream date with Garrett Jones(notes).

• Cameron Maybin(notes) has been killing it at Triple-A (.340/.421/.491), but the Marlins may have a financial incentive to keep him in the PCL: "At this point, you have to wonder whether Maybin is still in the minors to delay his arbitration eligibility." [SunSentinel.com]

• John Harbaugh is "hopeful" that Derrick Mason will un-retire, but he's not prepared to give you odds. [Baltimore Sun]

• The Pirates had another offer for Adam LaRoche(notes), but it involved "an exchange of larger salaries." [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

• Boston apparently declined to deal Clay Buchholz(notes) for Victor Martinez(notes), though it's not clear that a fully formed offer was on the table. [Peter Gammons]

• Toronto sent a scout to watch Phils' prospect Kyle Drabek win on Wednesday night. Drabek went eight innings, struck out seven and allowed two earned runs, so the scout probably liked what he saw. [Canada.com]

• Dave Cameron would like you to embrace randomness. Not every streak requires a mechanical/psychological explanation. [USS Mariner]

• While you're considering regression to the mean, revisit the curse/myth of the 370-carry running back. Old post, but important. [Advanced NFL Stats]

• The curse of the Clippers, on the other hand, is clearly real. Blake Griffin has a summer league shoulder injury that will require four weeks of rest. [NBA.com]

• Let's meet outfielder Mike Stanton, who could very well be the Chris Davis(notes) of 2011. [Razzball]

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Unrelated photo via US Presswire

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