I’ve really been enjoying the new and improved Fangraphs. There’s actually nothing all that new about it, but in hiring some of the better statistics-oriented bloggers around in Dave Cameron, Marc Hulet and Eric Seidman, who seem to be posting every day, Fangraphs is no longer just a place to find statistics and WPA graphs. Now it’s an everyday read.

I think what I like best, and perhaps I like this because it’s what I try to do here, is to provide information-based posts, but within the blog format — which is to say the posts are short, concise and readable.

Today’s post by Cameron concerns a “challenge trade for the ages,” the deal that sent Josh Hamilton to Texas and Edinson Volquez to the Reds. Hamilton is off to a .330/.379/.550 start and has thus far remained injury fee. Volquez is 4-0 (on the Reds no less) and among the league leaders in ERA and averaging over 10 K/9.

Hulet’s post concerns the Mariners promoting of Jeff Clement and Wladimir Balentien, a couple of promotions I’m looking forward to watching over the next couple weeks — largely because it’ll likely have an impact on whether the Mariners will be willing to be hoodwinked in a trade for Ken Griffey Jr.

Seidleman explores the Gregory Smith/Dana Eveland component of the Dan Haren to Arizona trade. The DBacks aren’t the only ones making it work as both Smith and Eveland are off to nice starts for the 2nd place A’s.