Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 2/10

I don't know about you guys (and gals), but I worked too damn hard this week.  Somehow, someway, I still managed to find enough time to gather up the best of the week that was around the Yankosphere.  The things I do for you.  If you're shutting down mentally for the day like I am, hopefully this is enough to kill the rest of the time you have to spend in the office.

- On Monday, Larry Koestler of RAB continued to kick the "Mark Teixeira should bunt more" theory down the stairs by examining Teix's pitch breakdowns from the left side, and specifically what he's doing against the curveball.  Repeat after me, everybody.  No bunts, better approach.  No bunts, better approach.

- On Tuesday, William Tasker of IIATMS compared Francisco Cervelli and Austin Romine as backup catcher options.  As a guy who's no fan of Cervelli and still not 100% sold on Russell Martin staying healthy for a whole season, I can totally get behind Romine getting the spot to get more reps.

- Also on Tuesday, the team over at Bleeding Yankee Blue interviewed Nick Swisher.  I feel like I'm definitely the last blogger out there who hasn't actually talked to someone from the Yankee organization.

- On Wednesday, BryanV21 of The Greedy Pinstripes took his turn breaking down the hypothetical 2014 payroll to see if there's room for Cole Hamels.  As the guy who wrote the "dream rotation" post that got hijacked by the commenters and turned into a discussion about what hitters to go after, it's good to know I'm not the only one out there who wants Hamels.

- Joe Pawlikowski of RAB traced the long and mostly mediocre history of Yankee catchers between the Thurman Munson and Jorge Posada eras.  Definitely a cool read to see some of the names that get brought up there.  They're pretty easy to forget about when you've got Berra, Dickey, Howard, and the aforementioned Munson and Posada getting all the shine.

- On Thursday, el duque of It Is High!... made an impassioned, and very logical, argument for why the Yankees should hang on to A.J. and not use his salary relief as a reason for not signing a DH target (Damon).  I'm always the first in line to punk A.J., but I found myself nodding in agreement with everything ED had to say here.

- Frank Campagnola of Pinstripe Alley looked into Russell Branyan's BABIP to see if 2011 was just a bad luck speed bump on Branyan's otherwise stellar track record of hitting right-handed pitching or the start of something more.  Here's hoping it was just bad luck because I'd love to see him launch a few homers in Yankee Stadium wearing pinstripes for a change.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog crunched the numbers on Keith Law's Top 100 Prospects, and took the time to point out that if you count Montero and Arodys Vizcaino, there's a lot of big time talent on this list that was drafted, signed, and/or developed by the Yankees.

- On the heels of his NoMaas interview last week, this week Dante Bichette Jr. talked to Delia E. of Yankees Fans Unite.  Yep, I'm definitely the only one not interviewing people.  Balls.  Good job, Delia, and nice job getting Dante to shout out Mariel Checo as the GCL teammate that impressed him the most last season.

- We'll finish this up with a trio from my boys at TYA.  First up, Mike Jaggers-Radolf tackled the A-Rod health subject again on Monday, reminding us that when he is healthy he can still produce at a well above-average clip.

- On Wednesday, Alex Geshwind talked about Ivan Nova's strikeout rates as a predictor of his future ceiling while also taking the time to point out that Nova can still be successful and still be a valuable piece to the rotation even if his K/9 never rises above the 6s.

- Also on Wednesday, Michael Eder looked at the Yankees' history of scouting and developing great relief pitching over the past 20 years.  It started with Mo and it's continued right through today.  Say what you want about their ability to develop starters, but there's no denying that the Yankees have an eye and a method for relief talent.

We can't leave without a jam of the week, and after three weeks of asking I FINALLY got a reader request.  Courtesy of loyal AB4AR fan Jessica E., who was nice enough to offer her request on the AB4AR Facebook page, here's The Cure with "Friday, I'm in Love."  Enjoy the weekend, everybody.