Link-O-Rama: Shawn Estes calls it quits - MLB

* Shawn Estes has reportedly
decided to retire after trying unsuccessfully to make it back to the
majors with the Dodgers. Estes finishes with a 101-93 record and 4.71
ERA in 1,678 innings spread over 13 seasons, which qualifies as a
disappointing career after he went 19-5 with 3.18 ERA as a 24-year-old
in 1997. Estes never again posted an ERA under 4.00, going 79-80 with a
4.97 ERA from the age of 25 on.

* Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com notes that “indefinitely” benching Magglio Ordonez
could be the Tigers’ way of not letting him accumulate the plate
appearances necessary to trigger his $15 million option for 2010.

* No. 10 pick Drew Storen was the first 2009 draftee to sign and now he’s the first 2009 draftee to make his pro debut. At this rate he’ll be retired before Stephen Strasburg agrees to a deal.

* When is a six-man rotation not a six-man rotation? When Terry Francona says it isn’t, apparently.

CARSON CITY, Nev. — The Nevada Senate adjourned Thursday without voting on a financing bill for a proposed $1.5 billion Las Vegas Strip stadium for the Oakland Athletics, extending the special legislative session into the next week amid negotiations over whether to contribute $380 million in public funding to the project.

The measure can still be amended by lawmakers, and if it passes the Senate it would still need approval from the Assembly before going to the desk of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who has expressed support for it. Both the state Senate and Assembly are adjourned until Monday.

In a hearing that began Wednesday and stretched into the early morning hours Thursday, lawmakers peppered tourism officials and a representative from a firm partnering with the ball club with questions about the feasibility and benefits of financing such a deal.

Public funds for the stadium would mainly come from $180 million in transferable tax credits and $120 million in county bonds. Backers have pledged that the creation of a special tax district around the proposed stadium would generate enough money to pay off those bonds and interest. The plan would not directly raise taxes.

The A’s would not owe property taxes for the publicly owned stadium. Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, would also contribute $25 million in credit toward infrastructure costs.

A’s representatives and some tourism officials say a deal would further grow Las Vegas’ developing sports scene and act as an economic engine, but a growing chorus of economists and some lawmakers warn that the project would bring minimal benefits for the hefty public price tag.