Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 8/9/13

Let's get right to it.  Onto the links!

- On Monday, SJK of NoMaas pointed out another glaring flaw in the front office's plan that Derek Jeter's continued injury problems this year have exposed.

- On Tuesday, Derek Albin of Pinstripe Pundits attacked the 2014 payroll plans from all angles with a hypothetically reduced A-Rod suspension factored in.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud had a collection of league-wide reactions to the Biogenesis suspensions.

- On Wednesday, Matt Imbrogno of IIATMS/TYA quickly and easily disproved Michael Kay's theory that David Robertson throws too many pitches to be a successful closer.

- SG of RLYW calculated the latest postseason probabilities to show just how bleak the Yankees' chances looked.  And that was before Wednesday night's game.

- Joe Pawlikowski of RAB, inspired by a cool exercise by Donnie Collins, analyzed the collection of Yankee homegrown Major Leaguers to show how little impact talent they've developed.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog looked back at another historic moment in MLB history involving the Yankees, one of their big stars, the MLB commissioner, and a bunch of shady business.

- On Thursday, Matthew B of Yankees Fans Unite looked back at just how good the last 12 years have been, in case this season has you so far down in the dumps that you're becoming a spoiled Yankee fan.

- El duque of It Is High... summed up this season in one perfectly eye roll-inducing photo.

- Mason Stark of Pinstriped Bible looked back at the history of the Yankees turning picks into prospects in Part 3 of his series investigating their development of young pitching.

- On Friday, Alex Pugliese of Yanks Go Yard mused on the idea of fan reaction for A-Rod tonight and discussed how her reaction towards A-Rod will change based on this new steroid accusation.

- Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes looked for a trade partner for Lyle Overbay as part of his series in selling off useful pieces now to build for the future.

In lieu of picking just 1 song from the QOTSA Lollapalooza set I missed last week, I'm going to throw the whole set up here for everyone to enjoy.  IMO, the highlight is "I Sat by the Ocean" and "I Think I Lost My Headache" back-to-back towards the end.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

Adam Warren's Descent Back To The Mean

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Like David Phelps and Ivan Nova before him, Adam Warren stepped up to grab an opportunity that injuries presented in Spring Training.  He pitched well, got noticed by the coaches, and stepped into Phelps' vacated long man bullpen role when Phelps got bumped to the rotation.  Warren, always regarded as a consistently good but never great prospect in the Minors, projected to be a 4th-5th starter at best at the Major League level and his best chance to work his way onto the roster was probably through the bullpen.  Warren continued his impressive spring through the first couple months of the season, coming up with a couple big outings and displaying solid stuff.  Since the calendar flipped to summer, however, the going has gotten tough for Warren and the regression has brought him back down to just average.

When's Betances Coming Up?

This is a topic that's been covered extensively in the last month or so by the rest of the Yankosphere, so I'm really just piling on at this point.  But with the focus now transitioning from 2013 to 2014, it's a topic that still warrants mentioning here.  Dellin Betances was finally moved to a relief role permanently earlier this season in Triple-A after allowing 16 ER and 16 BB over 24.0 IP in his first 6 starts of the season.  The organization had seen enough of his command and delivery repetition issues and decided that a full-time relief role was the best way to get value out of Betances moving forward.

Shut The F*ck Up, Randy

(Courtesy of the NY Post)

Via AB4AR favorite Wally Matthews, who went to get Randy Levine's thoughts on the season:

""We've got great players, but it's up to the guys on the team to play better baseball. That's the answer...

The guys we brought in over-performed for a long time there, and now they're in a rough stretch, but I have a lot of confidence in the talent we have on our roster...

I hope they can still make the playoffs, but I don't know if they can."

Translation- "Don't blame me for this.  Look at all the players we brought in to cover for the injuries.  Front office did its job.  They just aren't playing well enough."

What a scumbag.  I'd give up a month's pay for one free shot to that face.  So punchable.

Friday Morning Small Sample Size Food For Thought

- Alfonso Soriano since the trade: .244/.279/.415, .303 wOBA in 43 PA

- Curtis Granderson since his return: .167/.348/.333, .318 wOBA in 23 PA

- Alex Rodriguez since his return: .273/.429/.273, .340 wOBA  in 14 PA

The Yankees are 3-8 since the Soriano trade, 1-5 since C-Grand returned to the lineup, and 0-3 since A-Rod came back.  So much for upgrading the lineup.