Links For Lunch

Here are some items to keep you busy while we decide whether or not to devote another entire post to our hatred of the Randy Winn signing:

Speaking of the Winner, Rob Neyer doesn't think he's a particularly good fit with the Yankees. Cliff Corcoran ain't thrilled either, saying "If he has a bit of a dead-cat bounce in the Bronx, he’ll go from being a typical bench player to something of an asset".

The Yanks have some interest in Rocco Baldelli, Johnny Gomes and Marcus Thames but Joel Sherman says they won't offer any of them more than a minor league deal.

Joe Girardi says the configuration of the outfield isn't set in stone, meaning Curtis Granderson might end up in left field after all. /crosses fingers

On Twitter, Bob Nightengale announces that the Yankees are going to hire Kevin Towers like it's news, even though we were pretty sure we knew that three weeks ago.

Mike from River Ave. Blues tried to determine what (if any) correlation strikeouts had to overall offensive production. Sorry to all you Adam Dunn haters, but the answer is "not that much of one".

With his Yankee career all but over, Johnny Damon knows one thing for sure. He's "going to grow an incredibly douchey beard".

Craig from Circling the Bases exposes Scott Boras' failure to spin the Johnny Damon debacle into something positive. Take that for what it's worth though, as Craig is notoriously "irresponsible".

Andrew Katz thinks that Damon is the victim of a conflict of Boras' interest. I have to agree.

Walkoff Walk brings us the baseball tweets of the week. Props to Rob Iracane for using the word "brotard" to describe Nick Swisher.

Hank Waddles from Bronx Banter did an interview with Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post.

Also at BB, Cliff Corcoran grades each Yankees hitter on their 2009 season great detail. Spolier alert: there are a lot of A's.

Our pal Jason Rosenberg put together a volume of some of the dumber comments made in regards to steroids in baseball and lets you figure out who said them via the matching game. If you don't have that kind of patience, the quotes are paired with their speakers here.

Also, the IIATM,S Hall of Fame has a new member.

Can someone please tell John Harper of the Daily News that Randy Winn isn't replacing Johnny Damon? And that Brain Cashman's ego wasn't the reason Damon isn't on the team. And that his picture on the NYDN's website makes him look like Nick Nolte before he went off the deep end.

Sky Andrecheck takes a look at evolution of stolen base strategy over the years over at the Baseball Analysts blog.

Via Baseball Musings, a study shows that pitchers from the South are more likely to plunk batters especially in the name of "justice" or "protecting social identities", but only if the batter was white.

The Yankees' Business Acumen Knows No Bounds

Keep this in mind next time you hear the Fenway Faithful start to get lippy:

New York Yankees team ownership revealed Tuesday that the phrase "Yankees suck," one of the most popular chants in sports, was trademarked by the 27-time World Series champions prior to the 1996 season, a business strategy that has earned the team close to $100 billion over the past 13 years.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records show that every time an individual chants, shouts, or writes the words "Yankees suck," the New York Yankees organization earns at least $2.15, an amount that escalates depending on repetition, volume, and whether the phrase was used during a national broadcast.

And that doesn't even count towards revenue sharing!

Dill Dough

Some of you may know DJ Gallo as "the only funny person writing for Page 2" or possibly as the sole proprietor of The Sports Pickle. I started reading his stuff a few years back on Page 2 when I realized that I couldn't sit in a chair and do work for 9 hours a day. His A.M Jumps and columns were always good for at least one laugh that would let your coworkers know that you weren't proofing the report your boss sent down. Since they pulled the A.M. Jump from Page 2, I've rarely visited, but I did stop by occasionally to check out D.J.'s NFL Hangover.

Today, word came down that the Pickle had been acquired by CollegeHumor. From the press release:

Created as a sports humor and satire site by DJ Gallo, SportsPickle.com's content has attracted a loyal audience ripe for expansion across the CollegeHumor Media properties. Known for its funny, entertaining and original content appealing to both consumers and advertisers, CollegeHumor Media caters to the same demographic of males age 18-24, showcasing the natural synergies between both brands.

The Sports Pickle was The Onion's sport section before The Onion had a sport section. Updated weekly with six or seven articles, there were also recurring features such as (ranked in magnitude of hilarity) Ponder This, This Week In Sports Revisionist History (T.I.R.S.H.), Fake Quote Of The Week and Mail Athletes.

Cash those checks D.J., you've earned them.

Some Yankee-related favorites:

Joba Chamberlain Strikes Out The Side On One Pitch

Desperate Yankees Sign John Fogerty To Play Centerfield

Mike Mussina Disappointed Crossword Answer For “Washed Up Pitcher” Is M-U-S-S-I-N-A

Study: 96-Percent of Boston Sports Fans Have No Idea How Annoying They Are

Scrappy, Never-Say-Die Yankees Hanging Tough in A.L. East

Yankees Not Even Sure Who They’re in a Bidding War For

Enjoy.