Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 3/8/13

Do people actually listen to voicemails anymore?  Anybody?  I honestly couldn't tell you how long it's been since I've actually listened to an entire voicemail start to finish.  It stems mainly from the hatred I have towards talking on the phone.  I abhor talking on the phone.  It's the worst.  I would love to never have to talk to anybody on the phone ever again.  Obviously that doesn't include you, Mom and Dad.  You guys are awesome and I love you very much.  Everybody else, however, can just pound sand when it comes to phone conversations or voicemails.  I'm a written word guy, not a spoken word guy.  Send me an email, send me a text, anything other than a 5-minute voicemail that really says nothing other than "call me back when you get this."

These days, if I get past the "Hi, Brad, this is... " part of any voicemail, I consider that a major accomplishment.  Somewhere along the line I've probably missed out on a Publisher's Clearing House check or something, but I don't care.  That's how much I hate voicemail.  They installed new VOIP phones in my office a few weeks back, and they have the ability to wipe out an entire voicemail box with the push of a button.  I let that baby fill up over the course of the week and then blow them all away on Friday afternoon.  Such power.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, George Szabo of Gutty Gritty Yankees looked at a historical breakdown of average team age and winning percentage from the last 15+ years to put a positive spin on the age of this year's Yankee team.

- Michael P. of Yankees Fans Unite pointed out potential problem areas in the Yankees' 2013 interleague schedule.

- On Tuesday, el duque of It Is High... expressed his unhappiness with Cash's decision to jump out of that plane this week.  It's been a rough offseason for the guy.

- On Wednesday, Jason Cohen of Pinstriped Bible took an even more detailed look at the Yankees' injury problems already this season than I did.  Because I'm too scared to admit that I'm the jinx because I started talking about batting orders too early, I'm going to point out that Jason wrote this on Wednesday morning, before the bad Teix news came down, so he's obviously the jinx.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog mused on the impact Teix's injury would have on the lineup and possible solution options the Yankees could pursue.

- Mike Eder of IIATMS/TYA has been gettin' GIF-y with it since the merger (see what I did there?) and noticed something new in Brett Gardner's swing mechanics this spring that could be the cause of his hot start.

- Alex Pugliese of Yanks Go Yard identified his X-factor for the Yankees this season, and while I don't share his feelings, I'll let you make that decision for yourselves.

- Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes made another pitch for pursuing Carlos Lee as a temporary replacement at first base.

- On Thursday, Jeana Bellezza of Bleeding Yankee Blue explained why she's excited about David Aardsma returning to game action this year and why Yankee fans should be too.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud had the highlights from Mark Teixeira's media session to explain his injury.

- Mike Axisa of RAB highlighted just how important Robinson Cano has become for the Yankees this season in the wake of the recent injuries that have weakened the lineup.

- Louis Winthorpe II of NoMaas had the best visual representation of the Yankees' spring injury problems that I've seen yet.  Not looking so good, Louis...

- On Friday, Marc Perez-Santalla, a new edition to Bronx Baseball Daily, wondered what the 2013 season might have in store for Joba Chamberlain.

- SG of RLYW put Kevin Youkilis under the projection microscope (not literally) to set some expectations for his 2013 production potential.  Considering how bad Youkilis was last year, I think I'd take those results.

This week's jam comes to us from a little duo known as Outkast.  I don't know why, but I always forget just how good Outkast was.  Somehow they make their way out of my rotation and it takes "Aquemini" or "Gasoline Dreams" coming across shuffle on my iPod for me to remember that I've got an entire collection of some of the best rap music produced in the 90s rotting away in there.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

Triple-R Game 2013: Rebound

(If you don't like that picture, something is wrong with you.  Courtesy of Corey Sipkin/NY Daily News)

We weeded out the regressors on Wednesday, we identified the guys expected to remain where they are yesterday, so today it's time to look at the players who are going to rebound from their 2012 seasons and offer up improved production in 2013.  Obviously some guys coming back from injury factor in heavily here, as do players whose 2012 results were way down from their usual standards.  But there are also a few surprises included, a few guys who I just have a good feeling about.  After the jump, check out the players I'm predicting rebound years for this season.

#LOOGYProblems

Having one LOOGY out with injury problems is bad enough, but TWO??  That's just madness.  Unfortunately that madness is reality for the Yankees right now as their injury-plagued spring continues.  It was announced yesterday that Clay Rapada will be shut down for 7-10 days with shoulder bursitis, this after Boone Logan's elbow continued to bark.  That's now the top two lefty relievers in camp with problems to the two parts of the arm you never want to have problems with if you're a pitcher: the elbow and the shoulder.

Luckily, the Yankees aren't short on LOOGY options in camp.  Francisco Rondon has looked outstanding in his four appearances ( 6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K) and has looked capable of facing right-handed batters if needed, and Juan Cedeno hasn't looked bad in his three outings either.  Cesar Cabral is still on the radar, and needs to spend time on the roster per the Rule 5 Draft rules, but he won't be a real option until May.

Hopefully Rapada's issue isn't as serious as Logan's appears to be and he's able to make it back in time to start the season.  If not, maybe the Yanks put in a call to someone well-versed in the dark arts and try to summon Loone Bogan for a few weeks.