Nightly Links: Nova, Leiter, Pineda

• made his final spring training start today and got shelled by what looks to be the Mets opening day lineup. It looked like some terrible fastball command had him throwing meatballs high in the zone, he finished after 2.2 innings giving up 8 hits, 5 runs, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. The Purist Bleeds Pinstripes has a word on the rough spring for Nova, while I agree that he’s running out of time to have a good start, I don’t worry until the season gets here. He could be working on throwing pitches high in the zone for all I know, so jumping to conclusions is premature. In relief of Nova was David Phelps who successfully pitched 1.1 innings, but D.J. Mitchell went a full 3.0 innings, which is a sign that we have our long man picked out. Pat Venditte and personal favorite Brandon Pinder made appearances, while another favorite Mike Montgormery gave up the walkoff homerun to . Offensively, and went 2 for 3, but Swisher had a double and a homerun, I think he’s gonna have a huge season in this contract year. (Box Score)

• If you missed it, Mike Axisa interviewed Al Leiter last Friday, and it is a must read. It’s one of the most interesting interviews of I’ve seen with a player.

• Bronx Baseball Daily has their take of ‘s shoulder situation. They go into the anatomy of the shoulder, which will give you a better idea of what Pineda is dealing with.

• After the extensions to and yesterday, It’s About The Money takes a look at the contracts of other 9 figure recipients, and how they’ve faired thus far. I’ve heard a lot of people calling the contracts crazy, especially the Joey Votto one, but I actually like them both.

• Our own Brad V. talks about the free agent pitching class shrinking after the Matt Cain deal, and how it will influence the contracts of the arguably better and . My bold prediction last week was that Greinke would have a huge season and be the most demanded free agent this offseason, so you can tell I’m biased.

• Marc Hulet at FanGraphs lists his 5 prospects that teams may regret trading, and number one on the list is Mr. Jose Campos. He says that the right hander has No. 1 or 2 starter potential and it will really sting the Mariners to lose two top starters. I don’t see the Mariners missing much starting pitching over the next few years.

• Starting tomorrow, Metro Commuter Network is running a contest from tomorrow April 4th to April 10th with the lucky winners receiving two tickets to the Yankee home opener on April 13th. Details will be listed on the website, and all you have to do is set up an account. Good luck.

• Here are today’s workouts.

Enjoy the truckload of links today, but don’t forget to tune in to tomorrow’s 12:05 pm start against the Mets, supposedly will be pitching.