Play the player-profile game again on Thursday and Friday of this week at 11:30am ET. Each day, we’re giving away a free copy of the 2012 Second Opinion to the first reader who guesses correctly the identity of that day’s mystery player. (Limit one copy per customer).

Next Monday (or so says my colleague Eno Sarris), FanGraphs will release the third annual edition its very useful and even more affordable fantasy companion, The Second Opinion. Thanks to the vision of Mr. Sarris, along with the hard work of many of FanGraphs’ own contributors, this year’s edition promises to build upon last season’s sophomore effort, while still maintaining the white-hot analysis that is FanGraphs’ trademark.

We will have more details on the guide very shortly. In the meantime, however, it makes sense to offer some previews of what readers can expect from this year’s Second Opinion. These peeks promise to be especially sneaky as they’ll come in the form of the player-profile game I intoduced in these pages not so long ago.

The game is easy: one person (me, in this case) offers the text of single player profile, being careful to omit any proper names that might reveal the identity of the player in question. The other person (you, the reader) attempts to identify the player using only the details provided in the profile.

For the first reader who guesses correctly (in the comments section below), we offer you, if you can even believe it, a free copy of this year’s Second Opinion — approximately a $1000 value!

Today’s entry comes to us courtesy the unbearably handsome Mike Axisa.

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This same truck once brought Jose Lopez from Seattle, WA to Peoria, AZ.

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Assorted Headlines
2. Projecting: ZiPS for Cleveland
3. Crowdsourcing Broadcasters: St. Louis Television

Assorted Headlines
Teheran and Delgado Possible Bullpen Options
Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez told David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Tuesday that top pitching prospects Julio Teheran and/or Randall Delgado would be bullpen options in the event that they didn’t, either one of them, make the opening-day rotation. John Sickels recently ranked the pair first and third overall in the Atlanta system; Baseball America has them in the spots. The clubs already has what would appear to be five able starters in Tim Hudson, Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens, Brandon Beachy, and Mike Minor.

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Episode 133
Like a book by Jonathan Safran Foer, today’s guest Dayn Perry is incredibly loud and extremely close. Unlike a Safran Foer book, Perry also swears a lot with his child in the room. Among the topics discussed in this edition of the podcast: baseball cards of the 1980s, Dayn Perry’s employment history, human sexuality.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 34 min. play time.)

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Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero narrowly avoided his arbitration hearing today, agreeing with the club to a one-year, $5.9 million deal for 2012 — i.e. Montero’s last year of team-control.

Per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, both the Diamondbacks and Montero are interested in discussing a long-term deal to keep the catcher in Phoenix for the foreseeable future.

Projecting a market-value contract for the Montero depends on what you think about his true-talent level. He finished fourth per WAR among catchers last season (counting Mike Napoli as a catcher) — and is sixth among catchers between 2009 and ’11. Still, a lot of that value comes from Montero’s strong 2011.

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Scholars maintain that the translation was lost hundreds of years ago.

Caribbean Series Begins Thursday
With the victory on Monday of Dominican Winter League team Escogido over Cibaenas, the four teams for the very entertaining Caribbean Series — which begins Thursday, February 2 — have been decided.

Here they are, with links to team pages and a list of players whose names and/or faces you’re most likely to recognize:

ARAGUA (Venezuelan Winter League)
• Edgardo Alfonzo, Seth Etherton, Wilson Ramos.

ESCOGIDO (Dominican Winter League)
• Julio Borbon, Jose Constanza, Andy Dirks, Francisco Liriano, Julio Lugo, Jordan Norberto, Denis Phipps, Fernando Rodney, Aneury Rodriguez, Fernando Tatis, Pat Venditte.

MAYAGUEZ (Puerto Rican Winter League)
• Jeff Dominguez, Ruben Gotay, Martin Maldonado, Eddie Rosario, Ramon Troncoso.

OBREGON (Mexican Pacific League)
• Alfredo Amezaga, Luis Ayala , Karim Garcia.

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Episode 132
The Detroit Tigers now have Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, and Delmon Young, and yet still claim to lack a DH. In this episode of FanGraphs Audio, managing editor Dave Cameron explains how that’s possible. Also discussed: Roy Oswalt’s Final Destination, a pair of cheap pitchers, finding the next Michael Pineda.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 32 min. play time.)

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Experts are pretty sure that one of these pitchers is Kyle McClellan.

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Assorted Headlines
2. Superfluous Video: Kyle McClellan
3. Crowdsourcing Broadcasters: Pittsburgh Television

Assorted Headlines
St. Louis May Trade McClellan
The St. Louis Cardinals have interest in trading right-hander Kyle McClellan, reports Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The move would serve to clear some payroll space for a team (i.e. the Cardinals) that appears to be among the most likely to sign Roy Oswalt. McClellan will make $2.5 million in 2012. He split time in 2011 between starting and relieving, actually posting a better xFIP in the former role (4.25 in 104.2 IP) than the latter (4.59 in 37.0 IP) and showing almost no platoon split (4.32 xFIP against 247 LHBs, 4.36 against 360 RHBs).

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Wilson Ramos: Star?

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Assorted Headlines
2. Projecting: ZiPS for Washington
3. Crowdsourcing Broadcasters: Philadelphia Television

Assorted Headlines
Revised 2012 Draft Order
With the signing of Prince Fielder on Wednesday, all Type A free agents have been signed — and all the corresponding compensation picks have been determined. Mike Axisa has the revised 2012 draft order at River Ave Blues. Some notables: St. Louis has picks 19 and 23; Toronto, 17 and 22; and the Angels don’t make any selections until the 110th pick in the draft after signing both Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson.

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“I know it when I see it.” — Justice Potter Stewart

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Assorted Headlines
2. Prospecting: MLB.com’s Top-100 Prospects
3. Third Thing: A Video Celebration of Winston Abreu

Assorted Headlines
Cespedes Declared Free Agent by MLB
Major League Baseball has told teams that Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is eligible to negotiate with teams, reports the Associated Press — a day after he (i.e. Cespedes) gained residency in the Dominican Republic. Jackie Moore looked at his resume in the Cuban baseball league a couple weeks ago, noting that, while some park and league adjustments are in order, Cespedes’ power has still profiled as above average. Fielding is the issue: is Cespedes an average center fielder, or corner outfielder? The difference is about 10 runs, or one whole win, every 162 games.

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Episode 131
Today’s guest is Craig Robinson. Of Flip Flip Fly Ball. Of the internet. Craig is a Britisher who (a) cares deeply about baseball and (b) lives in Mexico City. In this episode, we learn wherefore and why. Also discussed: R. Kelly’s “Feelin’ on Your Booty (Remix)”.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 38 min. play time.)

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