.Right after I retweeted it I realized it was fake. Actually, I think I knew it was fake BEFORE I hit RT. I think in this case though, it was SO obvious, it was cooler to RT it, than not RT it. Got all that?

BREAKING: Kobe Bryant set to retire after 17 years later tonight, Sources tell Y!

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahoooNBA) May 20, 2013

Kobe's not retiring but...he should tell the Lakers to amnesty him, so they can Waste '14 for Wiggins! 

.Miguel Cabrera to break the hits record? I'd bet strongly against that. Cabrera's going to have to defy aging in the mostly post-PED era to cruise past 500 homeruns. I say cruise, because at 332 at 30 seems like a foregone conclusion. Please refer to Pujols, Albert when it comes to MLB stardom in your 30s. 

However, don't think I'm wacko when I say that I think Cabrera can EASILY win back to back Triple Crowns.

I'm serious. 

Equal to, or even more than that, you know I'd still like to see Cabrera get past 166 RBIs to join the immortals of the game on that single season list.

I don't buy into the 'on pace' stuff because that rules out the human factors of - hold your breath - injury, or fatigue, which will likely cause a few, relative, cold streaks for Miguel. But, if you care, he's on pace for 181 RBIs. So there's that. 

.I LOVE Cabrera. Nearly as much as I loved Bonds and Maddux growing up. But as I hinted at above, baseball, and other sports, are truly younger men's games now. There's a quiet cadre of 20 year old's creeping into the MLB conscious. 

One of them is 5th in MLB in WAR. It's not Trout or Harper. 

The latest to arrive is Jurickson Profar, who didn't have a position in Texas because of Andrus and Kinsler. IF Profar deserves to stay, expect Kinsler in the OF/DH/1B rotation or you can look for a Rangers trade. 

.The full trailer for October's Arkham Origins.

Sh%T, I'm struggling to focus, concentrate and peck out a blog, so I'll just fire out some of the thoughts and ideas I'm trying to share.

Anthony Rizzo got locked up long term, Rays-style (they did it with Longoria, twice, and Matt Moore).

The Brewers, who've done it with Ryan Braun, want to do the same with Jean Segura, their prize from the Greinke deal. 

More on that from the NY Post's Joel Sherman here. 

After processing all that last night, I felt awful for my Phillie fan friends. They don't have a player anywhere in their organization that where you'd want to buy out their arbitration years and a free agent year or two. Basically, you buy out their prime. $20 million plus, per year, even in the era of the lavish TV deals, is not something I could ever support. See the Angels. With stronger PED testing in MLB now, and HGH testing to come, you don't need to be a scientist or a number cruncher to realize the best year's of a baseball players career are before he turns 30. 

From some amalgamation of the Sherman read, this Grantland article and something on MLB Traderumors - sorry for being so scattered - I decided to look up the Cardinals year by year record. 

They are the Tim Duncan Spurs era of baseball, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. They currently have the best record in baseball, with the best ERA in the game, and essentially a top five offense. No La Russa. No Pujols. No Carpenter. It's not all luck, in fact, none of it may be. 

Jeff Luhnow, who's tasked with resurrecting the Astros, was a major impetus of the Cardinals success over the last half decade. Check this out from the GL article...

Luhnow had the perfect background to take advantage of baseball's new rules. As vice-president of scouting and player development for the St. Louis Cardinals from 2006 through 2011, Luhnow presided over one of baseball's most productive farm systems — the Cardinals entered this season with the no. 1 farm system in the game, and most of those prospects were acquired during Luhnow's tenure. (According to Baseball America, more players on Opening Day rosters this year were signed by Luhnow than by any other scouting director.)

(As a Rays fan, if the Cards are interested in David Price, who'll price himself out of Tampa, please ship Oscar Tavares and something down to the Rays. This can get done!)

That last note is unbelievable. 

Back to the Cards year by year record. You're aware they had two World Series in 5 years, 2006 and 2011, but some simple math shows that since 2000 (BP...before Pujols), they've averaged 90.5 wins a year, they won 100 twice, never won less than 78, and the year that had the audacity to finish fourth, they still won 86(!) games. 

From 2000 to 2012, their average place of finish in the division was 1.8th place. Remarkable. 

And yes, it IS the best baseball city in American, and yes again, sure winning helps foster that atmosphere. But aside from JUST 2.9 million in attendance in 2003, the Cards haven't had less than 3 million come through the gate since 1997. 

.It seems everyone's thinking and writing aboutthe Cardinals today. 

After winning the World Series with Pujols in 2011, the Cardinals scored more and allowed fewer runs in 2012, despite falling one win short of another National League pennant. And they are off to the best start in the majors this year, at 21-12.

The production the Angels have gotten from first base, Pujols's primary position, is virtually identical to that of Cardinals first basemen since the start of 2012. The weighted on-base average, a sabermetric measure of offensive performance, of each team's first basemen over that span is .356.

. If things weren't great enough for the Cards on the mound, at the plate and in the dugout, with a very unsung La Russa successor, I concur with this ESPN.com bracket that they've should have the 1 seed in their AL/NL uniform bracket. Their new alternates may be the game's finest jersey. 

I love that it's not called a cream, off white, or bone color...it's ivory! 

.Titus Young's father hasn't exactly been the best source of information or rationale for his son's behavior in the past, but even if he's conjured up this story about needing to be on medication since a conscussion, at least now there's serious consideration - as I've been saying for months - being given to the possibility of a mental disorder to describe Titus' unruly and downright baffling behavior. 

Richard Young said his son suffers from a disorder caused by his brain being compressed into the front of his skull, but he couldn't remember the disorder's name Monday. The father said his son's disposition changed after he suffered a concussion during his rookie season, although the Lions never listed that as an injury.

Let's not blame just the rookie season concussion, Young's behavior has been bawdy dating back to college. 

Peter King's reputation is hardly for his incisive criticism but he went after the Lions yesterday in MMQB. Probably the most he's written about the Lions since their playoff season of 2011. 

Here and the first two items here. 

Psychiatry is no religion to me, and this scathing criticism of the DSM and the entire field aren't inapproproate, but in my very amateur opinion Titus Young's behavioral troubles would likely be improved if he's medicated once a correct diagnosis is achieved. 

I've dabbled with with 4 antipsychotics before, so while I'm certainly for doctor of psychiatry, I know the right medications can be effective against mental disorder, as nebulous as they can be. 

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.Bill Simmons' trade value column has Derrick Rose at number 9. 

Rose's game hinges on attacking the paint, attacking the rim, attacking defenders, attacking everything. If you could describe him in two words, you'd use these: "relentless fury."

Well, what if that fury has been compromised a little? What if post-ACL Rose decides, I'm gonna pick my spots, shoot more 3s, maybe pass up a few of those fearless drives in traffic? Remember, Rose's breathtaking athleticism was his single best asset. So what now? It took 12 months for Ricky Rubio to look like Ricky Rubio again. It took 12 months for Iman Shumpert to look like Iman Shumpert again. We're at 13 months and counting with Rose. I don't totally know what we're getting from Derrick Rose when he comes back. And neither do you. We're sticking him here to be safe.

Six spots higher at number 3(!???!) is Steph Curry. 

Reason No. 1: Along with Kevin Durant, he's 2013's co-winner of the Derrick Rose Award for "Guy Whose City Would Riot If He Were Traded." Right now, the Golden Gate Bridge has a better chance of being traded than Steph Curry.

My point here is on Rose though. 

I swore it was in that column but I guess not. Maybe I heard it tossed out recklessly on the radio somewhere, but really...even as their season has just one offensively inept game left in it, would Chicago really riot if Rose were traded, for I don't know, Rondo? Or some other inventive deal bringing back a PG who took advantage of an offensively improved Joakim Noah, and then assisted in the emergence of Jimmy Butler morphing into one of the league's better slashing/scoring wing players. Cuzzzzz, I'm not so sure Rose is gonna do that stuff when he returns. And Chicago might be worse off for it. 

They have to do construct everything they do to beat Miami. How are you going to accomplish that? With Rose slamming into the lane for 25 per game? With Rose adjusting his brutish assaults into the lane and getting teammates involved? Or, with someone else besides Rose at the point?

Just asking. 

Sort've.