Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 6/14/13

It's a near riot in Yankeeland right now.  Everybody just losing their shit over the sweep in Oakland and the 17 straight scoreless frame the offense put up yesterday.  I'll be honest, I was shaking my head and throwing out a fair share of mothereffs watching the MLB Gamecast on my computer yesterday, and 2-3 years ago the entirety of this blog's content today would have been cursing everybody and everything.  But when I woke up this morning, I really wasn't all that upset.  I had no desire to write anything about the meaning of yesterday's game other than it was another loss.  I expected Vernon Wells to suck, I expected Ichiro to suck.  I hoped for a rebound from Youkilis and abandoned all that hope the minute he hurt his back.  I expected Hafner to be hurt by now, so the fact that he's not and not producing really doesn't cause me any anger.  When you look at what the offense has/hasn't done this week, and consider everything that went into creating this situation, what else did you expect?

- On Monday, Rob Abruzzese of Bronx Baseball Daily mused on the growing importance of Alex Rodriguez now that Youkilis is starting to look shot.

- On Tuesday, Matt Bove of The Greedy Pinstripes wondered what kind of impact A-Rod is still capable of making when he does return.

- Rich Kaufman of Bronx Pinstripes pointed out the surprising offensive performance from Chris Stewart this season.  It's still not great, but the guy is hitting better than he ever has.

- SG of RLYW used projections and linear weights to put the Yankees' season in perspective.  I doubt anybody will feel better today reading that, but it's good to keep in mind that they've outperformed expectations.

- On Wednesday, SJK of NoMaas showed just how bad the 2 multi-year deals the Yankees did add this offseason look right now.  This probably needs a "NSFW" label after last night's game.

- El duque of It Is High... commented on the crumbling Yankee offense.  He was ahead of the curve I guess.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud got some great quotes from Brett Gardner on his offensive performance this season and his inconsistency on the basepaths.

- On Thursday, Jason Cohen of Pinstriped Bible looked at the huge dip in power from the offense since April and also at the lack of immediate upgrade options.

- On Friday, Mike Axisa of RAB unleashed a rant on the state of the Yankees after their 18-inning loss.  Arguable points aside, I think there's something in there that any and every Yankee fan can relate to and agree with.

- In response to Axisa's rant, Mike Eder of IIATMS/TYA unveiled his way out there possible explanation for the Steinbrenners' recent decisions and offseason execution.  It's out there, but it does make sense.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog pondered Hal and Cash's willingness to admit their plan has started to fall apart and go with  a Plan B.  Is there even a Plan B?

- Brian D. of Yankees Fans Unite made his case for trading Hughes and Joba now.  I doubt the Yankees would get anything back that could help them immediately, and that's what they would really need to go through with that plan, but keep an eye on this idea for later in the season.

This afternoon's Friday Jam is "Bloody Knuckles" by High On Fire.  If you're still pissed about last night, throw this on and go hit a heavy bag or something.  You'll feel a little better when it's over.  Maybe.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.