Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 6/1

Dude, it's June already.  June.  That whole "time flies when you're having fun" line is a load of crap.  Time flies when you start getting older.  It just naturally does.  I'm convinced there are only 20 hours in the day now that my irresponsible college days are well in my rearview mirror.  And I've traveled home twice in less than a week, so that's not helping the feeling either.  Anyway, onto the links!

- On Monday, William Juliano of The Captain's Blog made a case for the Yankees pursuing a trade for OF David DeJesus.  Definitely wouldn't hurt to see Ibanez back in his DH-only role.

- On Tuesday, Vizzini of NoMaas followed up on his campaign to properly call out MLB umpires for the shitty jobs they do with some more thoughts.  I stood and applauded when I finished reading this.

- Dan Pfeiffer of NYY Universe unveiled his Top 15 Yankee prospects list.  In-season prospect rankings?  I'm there.  Definitely has Cito Culver too high, though.

- William Tasker of IIATMS wisely threw fire on the potential "Martin or Stewart" catcher debate before it could really even get started.

- Mike Eder of TYA once again worked his PITCHf/x magic to look at CC Sabathia's command issues this season.

- On Wednesday, Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily went through the rotation man by man and gave reasons why there is still room for optimism moving forward.

- Donnie Collins of The SWB Blog had the details on Pat Venditte's mystery injury and they weren't good.  Good thing he's got another arm.

- Anthony Rushing of Yanks Go Yard commented on Curtis Granderson's continuing positive production.

- David Waldstein of The NY Times had some numbers and player thoughts on the lineup's bases-loaded futility this season.

- On Thursday, Joe Pawlikowski of RAB discussed Rafael Soriano and the success he's had since taking over the closer role.  I'm not a huge Sour Puss fan, but I have to give him credit.  He's done a good job.

** Also worth noting that Mike Axisa has started up his 2012 draft prep series, highlighting players the Yankees could target in the upcoming draft.  If you want to be well-informed about the draft, this stuff is must-read. **

- Speaking of the draft, EJ Fagan of TYA laid out his high-level strategic plans for the Yankees' draft this season.  Stay tuned for more stuff from EJ and Eric Schultz as the draft gets closer.

- Andrew Marchand of ESPNNY actually made some sense in this piece about flip-flopping A-Rod and C-Grand in the lineup.  I could have done without the A-Rod/steroids reference, but it's not worth picking nits when I'm actually on board with something Marchand writes.

- On Friday, Jesse Schindler of Bleeding Yankee Blue mused on Dellin Betances' command problems and hinted at a move to the bullpen, a move that I'm convinced is coming later this year.

- WhatWouldJeterdo of Pinstripe Alley explained why he has stopped hating Boone Logan for the time being, and with what Logan has done in the first 2 months, that lack of hate is well-deserved.

We're kicking it old school for the Friday Jam.  I know there's talk of bringing Jimi Hendrix and Marvin Gaye back as the next 3-D hologram performers after the buzz over the Tupac one, and I certainly hope that doesn't happen.  I like to remember Hendrix as he was in his prime, not as a money-making technological freakshow.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.  I know I will.

Bloop Singles, Huh?

("Line drives are better, you say?  I don't believe you.")

I hope I'm taking this quote out of context.  It certainly wouldn't be the first time I've done it.  But if I'm not, and Joe was serious when he dropped this line talking about A-Rod's lack of power yesterday, then this is a pretty big head scratcher.

“Everyone gets caught up in home runs.  I get caught up in runs and RBI. That’s what I get caught up in. You go out and try to swing for the fences every time and hit .200, that’s not what we want. We want him to get on base, and we want him to be productive. However that happens, I don’t care. I don’t care if it’s bloop singles with the bases loaded every time. I really don’t. I get on K-Long when guys line out. I say, ‘So?’ Bloop singles, I’ll take them.”

I agree that getting on base is always a good thing, and A-Rod has done a great job of that this season.  But to say you'd rather see your cleanup hitter hit bloop singles instead of line drives?  That's just comically wrong.  Bloop singles and just getting on base would be fine from A-Rod if he were hitting in the #2 spot.  But from the #4, you want line drives and hard contact because that's what gives him a better chance to drive in runs.

The Horse is healthy and he has been productive. And those are both good things.  It would be better to see the SLG, ISO, HR, and OPS numbers start to increase a little.  Less blooping, more lining drives.

P.S.- If Joe actually gives K-Long crap when people line out, Long should laugh in his face and/or slap him.

AB4AR "Best Of The Month" Awards: May 2012

It's that time again, gang.  Time to rip a page off the calendar, which means it's time to hand out some end-of-the-month awards.  Bit of a strange month for the Yankees, but there were still some good performances and memorable moments.  After the jump, check out the winners for May.