It's been too long since  we've had one of these, so here goes:

• Brian McTaggart checked in with Ed Wade while he's in Chicago this week and learned that while there's a ball park for payroll, there's actually no certainty for it.  While I don't think this means Drayton is going to authorize real spending, it's nice to know that a team who has had six weeks off still doesn't know exactly what it's offseason plans could entail.
• Speaking of offseason plans and the Astros, Billy Wagner's agent is toying with Boston by publicly stating that he just might accept arbitration if he's offered it.  My guess is that Wagner won't, but I like this signaling by his agent, Brian Stringfellow (this guy got picked on as a kid).  Wagner's Type-A status is a burden for his free-agency candidacy, so if Stringfellow can spook the Sox into not offering arbitration, score one for the agent.  If Stringfellow accomplishes this, I think increases the seriousness of speculating about an Astros/Wagner 2010 reunion tour.
• In case you needed proof of it just one more time, Roy Oswalt is one of the best pitcher's of his generation.  I need these moments of validation every once and again.
• It could be until 2011 that the rest of the 105 who haven't been named—yet—can sleep well, as a federal appeals court will not rule on the matter of the list being seized in the first place until then.  Sucks to be them.
• JC Bradbury summarizes the evidence that Moneyball impacted player compensation through a revaluation of OBP.
• I think I just like things like this because it discusses technological innovations that took place before I was born: A look at Sabermetrics in 1983.