The New NHL Trade Deadline

Teams are free to start making trades again for about three days starting at 12pm est tonight. Let's keep the speculation here.

DePaula?

The Buscon who claimed the Mariners were going to sign top International pitching prospect Raphael DePaula has now heard he is going to the Yankees, afterall. I'm following up to see if this is true and will talk a bit more about the kid if it is. The Yanks are also close on Cuban SS Hechevarria. They liken him to an Elvis Andrus type with a better bat. The farm needs to be rebuilt a bit after the trades so let's hope they get them both. Go Yanks!

Giants Tender Moss, Let Docker and Darcy Johnson Go

Today, the Giants mildly surprised their fan base by given perennially inactive underachiever Sinorice Moss a second round tender, and non-tendering both Dockery and Darcy Johnson. Moss has been a disaster since the Giants used two top 100 picks to get him in the 2006 draft. He can't get on the field over rookies in the offense, and has never developed enough special teams ability to contribute there. Some think they had to tender him in case another team wants him in a trade, but I don't know who they think would. Others pointed out that he could be insurance for the wr group in camp - but so could 50 other guys who haven't sucked for 4 years. Darcy Johnson couldn't be tendered because of some technicality and Dockery apparently just fell way out of favor. It's a little odd because he's been a much more valuable Giant on game days than Sinorice has been.

In any event, the Sinorice tender is somewhat reminiscent of the old Club Mead days of the `90s. It would have been nice to see a little more accountability.

Yanks Sign Park

Pending a physical the Yanks will sign Chan Ho Park. Apparently it will be a big league deal for 1.2/1yr. When they actually do sign him, they will have to move someone off their 40. And a crowded bullpen just got more crowded.

Knicks Show Signs of Life and Lose

Tracy McGrady looked good in his first game as a Knick, scoring 26 though missing two crucial free throws near the end of regulation. Eddie House scored 24 and also looked good. He appears once again to be a good fit for the D'Antoni O. Sergio Rodriguez looked worlds better than Duhon in terms of speed, quickness and shooting ability. He should be the starter going forward. Gallo played good D relative to his teammates, but didn't get much done or get the ball much on O. David Lee had 30 pts. and 10 rebs, but other than 1 block, looked awful on D as Collison and others embarrassed him all night. Wilson Chandler had 15 and 6 but made some questionable decisions with the basketball, though the refs also let him get hacked with no whistles in OT. There were moments when they looked better than they have all year, and then there were moments where they looked the same. Hopefully TMac will be able to handle more minutes going forward and show us he can be a part of the future, tonight was very encouraging where he's concerned. Go Knicks.

Breakout Candidate: Andrew Brackman

Okay, Andrew Brackman is coming off a bad year. He did not dominate the Sally league as a guy with his stuff should have. But that's why he's a candidate to breakout. His talent far exceeds his performance thus far. When right, Brackman can touch 100 with his fastball and has a sick curveball. Last year, it seems he got a little frustrated and started listening to everybody's advice and that only lead to more frustrations. Oddly, when Yankee mL pitching czar Nardi Contreras was around him, he was lights out. Similarly, he was lights out when they took away the change and put him in the pen. They gave him back his change in instructs and got his mechanics smoothed down to where they were in Hawaii where he had been surprisingly successful after his surgery. Needless to say, if he can keep his mechanics together and keep the changeup in the mix, minor leaguers won't be able to hit him and he will start to move. And that's really what I expect to see from him this year: dominance. Otherwise,they'll just throw him in the pen and he'll be an impact reliever. Go Brack!

Knicks Dump Jeffries!

The Knicks have did a little bit better than expected today as they trade Jarred Jeffries, Larry Hughes a swap of 2011 picks and their 2012 pick for Tracy McGrady and Sergio Rodriguez. Rodriguez is a guy that many of us have believed could really flourish under coach D, and he'll have a window to see if he can. No one knows what kind of shape McGrady's in, but the point was the cap room and we got it. Also, the Knicks ended up getting Walker in the Nate trade, and he's a very athletic and intriguing guy. Not so bad. And they may not be done! Go Knicks!

Nate is a Celt

Don't have the details yet, but here ends the Knick career of one of the most frustrating players in Knick history. Short as he was, he was also talented as all hell and if he had only brought the heart and determination he showed in college to the Knicks, he would have been a big star in this league. Needless to say, it's sad, but let's see what we got. Go Knicks.

UPDATE: Looks like it's for Eddie House and another 2nd round pick. It won't be announced till tomorrow, but if true, this is a terrible deal for the Knicks. How do you get two teams interested and not even come away with a first round pick? Just terrible.

FURTHER UPDATE: Hahn says it might not be a second rounder.


LATEST UPDATE: Seems to be Nate for Giddens and House. No picks for the Knicks no seeming point, for the Knicks either. Earlier they had traded Darko for Brian Cardinal. Another pointless errand. Oh well.

CC Arrives!

Yankee ace CC Sabathia joined many of his teammates and a ton of minor leaguers in pre-camp work outs today. The big man has been throwing for awhile and was happy to be back. I really think it took him half a season to get used to things last year and this year he'll contend for the Cy. AJ Burnett has also been around. Here's hoping he has a better year, too, though I was pleasantly surprised by what a great teammate he turned out to be. I don't think ARod or Tex are back yet, but the camp is filling up nicely ahead of time. Go Yanks!

Granderson Arrives

So, the offeason's biggest acquisition arrived about two weeks early to Tampa today. Curtis Granderson indeed showed up, reminded reporters that he was comfortable in left and in any position in the batting order, took some fly balls and worked on his bunting with Brett Gardner. Perhaps most importantly, he also got a ton of Yankee apparel, so we'll have proper pictures of him going forward. I still can't believe this guy was available this offseason, and still love that we picked him up. I have a really good feeling about how he'll work with Kevin Long and how perfectly he will fit the team. No news on the IFA front, but it looks like both the minor league and major league camps will be full before their respective reporting dates, and that shows the kind of commitment and excitement we like to see around here. Go Grandy!

Knicks Closing In on a Deal

The Knicks are closing in on a deal that would send Jeffries, Harrington or Hughes, and Hill to the Rockets for Tracy McGrady and filler. On the face of it, it looks huge, as that would open up enough cap room to sign to Max FA's in July. But the devil is often in the details and we'll have to see if there are picks or any other considerations involved if we make the move. On the plus side, this would allow us to trade Nate Robinson for a 1 in this year's draft if anyone is interested. Let's hope for the best possible outcome as we await the details.

Yanks in on Edeinis Hechavarria?

I hope you don't mind me using Kelvin DeLeon as the default picture on all IFA threads where I don't have a good picture 0f the prospect in question. In any event there are rumors all over the place that the Yanks are the front runner for Cuban SS Edeinis Hechavarria. I've gotten no confirmation on this yet, but word is he's staying at the Yankee Academy down in the DR. As everyone knows the Yanks do not have an obvious replacement for Jeter anywhere in the system, so they need to be on the lookout for shortstops in IFA and the draft. That said, there are mixed scouting reports in Hechavarria and an assortment of ages, too. I think he's 21 but I don't think we'll know till he signs somewhere because he apparently has gone through and investigation of his age. I'll see what I can find out about this one.

Meanwhile, DePaula the RHP has been shutdown for a few weeks and still hasn't passed his second investigaion. If he does, the Yanks are still planning on signing him. Go Yanks!

Creeping Character?

After getting shutout on two goals from Steven Stamkos in the first, the Rangers batled back just like they did Friday night against the Pens, and scored 4 goals in the second. Avery started the scoring, the Prospal scored, then Christensen scored two more, before Drury scored an empty netter in the 3rd for a 5-2 Ranger win. Without Gaborik and Del Zotto, things looked bleak after the first, but the Rangers were really impressive in the way they pushed the action and really looked like a Tortorella wet dream over the last two periods. The game really turned when Hank made some huge saves to keep it at 2-0 going into the second and at the beginning of the second. It was just lights out for the Lightning after that. Big win going into the break. Go Rangers!

Breakout Candidate: Graham Stoneburner

Here begins an occasional series on the breakout candidates in the Yankee system. We'll start right off with Graham Stoneburner, a righty power pitcher the Yanks took last June in the 14th round of the draft. Of course, they had to pay him a 6 figure signing bonus to get him to quit Clemson. Stoneburner is a fastball, slider, change-up guy. Without any adjustments from the Yanks Stoneburner was cranking it up to 96 in his 1 inning of professional work. As you probably know, the Yanks have a 30 day rule, where they don't change anything about a pitcher's mechanics until they have watched him for 30 days.


And this is why I think he's going to be a breakout player. Stoneburner was unhittable in his inning of work and then in instructs without the Yanks touching him. Unlike Joba and Brackman who hit the 30 day plateau in Hawaii then saw their velo jump when adjustments were made, Stoneburner won't get his adjustments till now. So there's every reason to believe the Yanks will find a little more velo and sharpen up the slider and the change. They'll keep him at starter for now to build armstrength and cause starters are more valuable, but he has the stuff to make an impact as a reliever if he can't master that third pitch. Anyway, if the change comes quickly, he could really move starting this summer, sort of like Joba and Ian did a few years ago. Keep an eye on him.

Rangers Add Shelley for a Pick

For the third time since passing on Orr last summer, the Rangers today added yet another enforcer type, this time for a pick. This is an absolutely ponderous move given that the Rangers two needs are scoring and defense and Shelley offers neither. That's all they did, unless something is still at the NHL office. So they'll go into the break having not addressed either of their persistent needs. Nice. Go Rangers?

Sullivan and Ryan Promoted

Today, the Giants continued their slow reload of the coaching staff by promoting WR Coach Mike Sullivan to QB's Coach, and Offensive Quality Control Coach Sean Ryan to WR's Coach. So it was a good day for the Irish at Giants Central. Beyond that, they still need a new OQC, and that job usually goes to a younger coach as an entry level sort of a deal. Sullivan has been very impressive with the WR's and might really be able to get Eli and his former charges more on the same page than they've ever been. The promotion did not happen without Eli's blessing, so perhaps we'll see some more fun in the passing game. Sean Ryan is progressing well as a coach and he inherits and absolutely loaded core of receivers. No word on the new OQC candidates. Go Giants!

Pierce Cut

Today the Giants finally parted ways with a man who was once the heart and soul of a world championship defense. I think they could have taken his involvement in the Latin Quarter/Plax incident a little better if he could still run around and make plays. But, the former undrafted LB who worked all the way to the Super Bowl and the Pro Bowl, is in steep decline, and they felt he had compromised his leadership. So that's that. Of coure, there is no clear replacement for him on the roster or in FA, thus far. The Giants still have not named a new QB coach. Go Giants.

A Knick Trade Finally Brewing?

So there's talk now of a deal that may include 3 teams that would send Harrington, Jeffries and Mobley's deal and bring back Tracey McGrady. Of course, even if TMac can't play this would put the Knicks in perfect position for July. The only other thing Walsh would need to do would be to secure a first out of this or a subsequent deal. Get er done!

Another Trade Brewing?

Okay, word is starting to leak out from more legitimate sources than Ecklund that there may be some actually teeth to the blockbuster trade he said was brewing between the Rangers and Panthers earlier today. It could involved Dubi, Cally, Gilroy and perhaps more going for Weiss, Horton, a #1 and perhaps more. This one's pretty tightly under wraps if there is anything to it. We'll see. Go Rangers.

Welcome Back, Marcus!

The Yanks have apparently signed Marcus Thames. If it was to the 40, they'll have to release someone, otherwise it's just a minor league deal. Thames came up with the Yanks and has shown some righty power in his career, if little else. He doesn't walk, but perhaps could be influenced to. Anyway, he'll be in camp. Jeter, Cervelli, Hughes and David Robertson are already there. Go Yanks!

UPDATE: it's a minor league deal, so no 40 spot.

Better

Henrik Lundqvist was much better than he's been in awhile as the Rangers beat the Devils 3-1 in regulation tonight. It's was 0-0 till about the middle of the second until Gaborik, Callahan and Drury scored in a three minute span. After that they had one defensive lapse that lead to a Devil goal in the 3rd, but for most the night Hank was just spectacular. Probably his best game of the season, and one of a surprising few number of game where he has looked all world. Del Zotto had another assist and also knocked Kovalchuk out of the crease and onto his ass at one point! Could he eventually be the guy? Why we're waiting for Staal to get more physical, that part of MDZ's game is really coming along. More trades this week? We'll see. Go Rangers!

Rangers Get Jokinen/Prust

Tonight, the Rangers completed their trade with Calgary that saw Kotalik and Higgins move North for Jokinen and Prust. The Rangers pick up a seasoned scorer who'll be playing for a new contract in Oli, and a middleweight brawler in Prust. The team got better and gains cap room at the end of the season. I wouldn't be surprised if this is just the opening trade as Sather may want to go out with a flourish. Good trade.

Kovalchuk?

Rumors are starting to fly that the delay in last night's is because the Rangers are trying to land Ilya Kovalchuk. He's worth a lot, especially since the Rangers could extend him. We'll see what happens. Along with Gaborik, he'd give us 2 great scorers. Go Rangers!