Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 12/7

I don't have much to offer in the form of personal stories today.  I bought some of my shop guys pizza for lunch today as a way to thank them for pulling some overtime recently to keep a few projects of mine on schedule.  It dawned on me that a lot of my good deeds come in the form of spending money.  Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's my thing.  I don't walk around a lot, so opportunities to help old ladies cross the street or throw my jacket over a puddle are few.  Probably still not enough to get me on the "Nice" list for Christmas, but whatever.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Chris Carelli of Yanks Go Yard advocated for bringing back Eric Chavez as the backup at third base again.  Guess the Steinbrenners should have read this too.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog discussed the "rock and a hard place" situation the Yankees are slipping into after the A-Rod injury was announced.

- On Tuesday, Chad Jenningsof LoHud captured the best bits from Joe Girardi's Winter Meetings press conference.  He said about what you'd expect him to.

- Greg Corcoran, Bronx Baseball Daily's resident prospect guru, laid out his list of Top 10 Yankee relief pitching prospects.  No surprise at who's #1, but a couple of the others might surprise you.

- On Wednesday, SJK of NoMaas wondered what the Yankees' plan to address third base was after Chavez signed a cheap 1-year deal.

- On Thursday, Eric Morales of Bleeding Yankee Blue weighed in with her take on the Curtis Granderson trade rumors and the need for the Yankees to get a deal done quick if they are trying to move him.

- Mike Axisa of RAB examined the options for replacing A-Rod at third from every conceivable angle, and suggested an interesting internal move that could be worth trying.

- Bryan Van Dusen of The Greedy Pinstripes expressed his frustration with the Yankees' strategy and slow-moving execution so far this offseason.

- EJ Fagan of TYA kicked around the idea of the Yankees doing a modified rebuild this offseason and ways to do it without impacting the 2014 payroll goals.

- SG of Replacement Level Yankees Weblog came through with the updated version of his CAIRO projections for 2013.  Take a look at where the AL East stands right now.

- On Friday, el duque of It Is High... shared his sentiments on the possibility of Kevin Youkilis at third, and interestingly enough they mirror mine.

- Brien Jackson of IIATMS took down a negative piece about Marvin Miller in The Economist, and tore apart all the wrongness the author of the piece used as the basis for his argument.

For this week's Friday Jam I'm going with some good old American southern heavy metal, "Pillars Of Eternity" by Down.  I don't know how Phil Anselmo manages to scream like that so often in so many different bands but it's good stuff.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

Another Way To Look At Things...

I've sensed a growing frustration and even some anger towards the Yankees this week as each day of the Winter Meetings passed without them making any moves to address their open roster spots.  It's unfamiliar territory for us as Yankee fans and writers to see them miss out or flat out not get involved with players who could help them, and it can be hard to cope with.  But consider who the Yankees have signed already and the former Yankees who have signed with other teams:

Players Added: Hiroki Kuroda, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte.  Combined career fWAR: 123.7

Players Lost: Russell Martin, Eric Chavez, Eli Whiteside, Mickey Storey.  Combined career fWAR: 58.8

I know there are other former Yankee free agents out there who are going to eventually sign with other teams, which will up that lost WAR count a decent chunk, and that has to be considered.  But it hasn't happened yet.  And I know that, eventually, the Yankees are going to make moves to replace that lost production and up their added WAR count in the process as well.

The important thing to remember here is that the Yankees haven't lost anything that's going to make or break them in 2013.  A-Rod is still on the team, he's going to be back on the field next season, and he may even be healthy and productive when he does.  It's been a slow offseason, but the moves will come and the roster holes will be filled.