Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 2/7/14

I might be the worst person in the world at filling out tax returns.  I bring it up because I'm planning on doing them this weekend and every year it's the same routine.  I forget where I left my previous year's tax forms, I don't remember my IRS website login for the e-file stuff, I always fill something out wrong the first go-round that doesn't get caught until the end when I try to submit, and I butcher the form for Wisconsin state tax return.  It's like a yearly version of "Groundhog Day" for my own personal stupidity.  You'd think that as a single guy in his late-20s it would be a cakewalk and I'd have it figured out by now but no.  Not even close.  This is probably why I'm a cube monkey making exactly 0 dollars from blogging.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Matt Seybold of IIATMS/TYA did some serious number crunching on starting rotation spot performance to determine where Masahiro Tanaka should be slotted into the Yankee rotation and if the order of the rotation even matters at all.

- Reminder, the IIATMS/TYA weekly podcast is in full effect and definitely something you should be checking out on the reg.  This week's one was especially good.

- On Tuesday, Jason Cohen of Pinstripe Alley broke down the ST competition for the backup catcher spot.  I agree that Cervelli is the odds-on favorite, but it wouldn't shock me if Romine or Murphy stole the job.

- On Wednesday, Chad Jennings of LoHud mused on the problems that have crept up on some of the bigger Yankee FA signings to turn them from long-term to short-term risks.

- Andrew Marchand of ESPN NY profiled A-ball pitching prospect Luis Severino, including a few good chunks of scouting reports and comments from Yankee personnel.

- Chris Mitchell of Pinstripe Pundits examined Dean Anna's Triple-A success in the Pacific Coast League to see if it will translate to any kind of above-average Major League production.

- On Thursday, Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes interviewed 2013 draft pick Cale Coshow, a big right-hander who could turn into a relief prospect in the next year or 2.

- Gavin Ewbank of Yanks Go Yard suggested the idea of signing the recently released Brett Wallace as first base insurance for Teix.  Maybe not a bad idea if the Swing Doctor Long can fix him.

- Mike Axisa of RAB made a case for signing Ivan Nova to an extension now to potentially save some money by comparing him to other pitchers who signed deals before their arb-eligible years were up.

- On Friday, Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily pegged the High-A Tampa Yankees as the most exciting team to watch in the farm system in 2014.

- Vizzini of NoMaas did a side-by-side comparison of last year's lineup to this year's to forecast the team offensive output this season.

Going with a little NIN this Friday because it's been a while since they were in the rotation.  Still salty that I sat through the entirety of the Grammys just to watch their ending performance with Queens get cut short.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.