Just a Feeling

Before Giant free agency, I told you I had a feeling it would be Martellus Bennett. Several years ago I told you I thought Carmelo Anthony would eventually be a Knick. Well lately I've been thinking Shane Doan will be the big ticket scorer brought in by the Rangers. Not as costly in players as Nash, nor as costly in dollars and years as Parise. He's still a very good player, who I think could be re-ignited by playing for the Rangers. Just a feeling. May be nothing. Go Rangers!

Another thought was that Ray Whitney, also from Phoenix, might join him and the the other scorer/executive bandage till the kids are ready.

Knicks Free Agency

The Knicks biggest win of the offseason will probably be the retention of Lin and Novak through the arbitration and settlement processes. What else they will be able to do will probably be minimum. They will probably only have the 3M exception to offer to free agents, and not much more to offer in S and T's, though I wouldn't mind seeing them throw Landry Fields or Toney Douglas in something for literally anything at this point. We'll see what happens next.

Rangers Out On Schultz

The Rangers today were informed they would not be the landing spot for Justin Schultz. This doesn't blow up the offseason by any means, but it will cost more money and probably more prospects since the Rangers didn't get him. The great things about Schultz were the entry level contract and the right shot. Additionally, he would have made moving MDZ or Erixon for a scorer a little less painful. Now it's on to the rest of the plan or plans, now that Schultz is a no go. We should have an idea if it will be a big trade or big FA in the next day or so. Go Rangers!

Decision Day/Free Agent Night

Today, Wisconsin star turned collegiate UFA will make his decision on where he will start his NHL career, having spurned the Ducks. The Rangers are thought to still be in it, but most think he will sign with a Canadian team. The Rangers won't have time to lick their wounds if that happens because Free Agency starts at midnight tonight.

The Rangers did take care of a little business Friday when they locked up Marty Biron for another two years. Seems like the Rangers will be looking for 2 scorers, and depending on what Schultz decides, a defenseman. I don't expect them to do anything dumb. Go Rangers!

Knicks Take Popanikolau

With their only pick in the 2012 draft the Knicks took Kostas Popinikolau, which I guess was about the best they could expect or do. He's from Greece, and not a particularly good shooter for a Euro. But he's a good defender and might eventually give them some depth if he ever comes over, or be a throw in in some future trade.

The better news for the Knicks is that it looks like they will finish negotiating a way to keep the early Bird rights for both Lin and Novak before open season begins on Sunday. That's huge. Go Knicks!

Andy

Andy Pettitte took a liner off his ankle in the 4th inning of today's game. He will now be out a minimum of 6 weeks with a broken ankle. Sheesh. CC went on the 15 day DL yesterday. They'll probably move Garcia to the rotation, and he was gonna start Friday, but was used today after Andy was injured. My guess would be that they call up Adam Warren and DJ Mitchell, both of whom were sharp in their last work in the minors. They shouldn't blow up the farm on yet another pitcher. Looks like they're about to win their 5th straight. Go Yanks.

Draft Review and Sather's Latest

The Rangers had what is now a typical Ranger draft. Which is to say, a quality weekend at the draft site. They started out with 4 picks, and ended up with 4 players, but not before swapping this year's 3 for yet another 3 next year (that makes 3), and trading next year's 5 to get back into the draft this year. This is how good teams draft. They target guys and are willing to play a little poker to get them at their price. They didn't have any high picks, so they didn't get any can't miss kids or anyone who could turn pro this year or next, but they did get 4 more Ranger types.

Interestingly, they took 2 Americans, a Swede and a Dane. So that half the draft was the responsibility of the American team of scouts and the other half was straight Anders Hedberg. I think it's cool that one of my favorite players growing up has become such a strong contributor during the past few drafts and prospect swaps.

Overall, the team added skating, skating and more skating. All of the players have good size and project to get bigger, while also possessing nice upside based on what they've already shown. So it was about as good as we could have hoped for picking where we did. Just another great job by Gordie, Jeff, and the Scouts. It's fun having a good system again.

As for the Sather comments, he said today that the Rangers were going to be aggressive in Free Agency because that's mostly money, rather than the trade market that costs assets and money. I think the timing is right for that attitude. Let the kids develop and let's not have another early `90s prospect sell-off.

The prospect camp starts Monday. UFA starts next Sunday. Go Rangers!

Great Dane?

The Rangers weren't done, and traded back into the draft, swapping next year's 5th for Nashville's 5th. With that, they took Thomas Spelling a Danish RW, who is listed as 6'1" and 175. The wait will have to rise, but I bet we find out he's a great skater, as that seems to be the theme this year. Interesting move. Go Rangers!

Rangers Call Calle

The only pics of the Rangers 4th rounder or on a great site called eliteprospects. Thanks! In the fourth, the Rangers took big Swedish defenseman Calle Andersson. He's playing in Swedish juniors and will probably take the Fast track to the Rangers, that is Jesper Fast track, meaning he will stay over there for a few more years. That was the Rangers last scheduled pick. So this may be a wrap. Looks solid. Go Rangers.

Rangers Trade Their Third

Instead of making a third round pick, the Rangers traded this year's third to the Predators for a 3rd rounder in next year's more loaded draft. They now have 3 thirds in next years draft. Nice.

Rangers Take a Boo

The Rangers just took one of the more controversial players in the draft. Cristoval Boo Nieves. Boo is a fast skater who oozes talent but just hasn't put it all together yet. McKenzie on the NHL network compared him to Hugh Jessiman but when I looked at him before the draft, I saw more similarities to Kreider. Not that he's Kreider, but he can really, really skate, and he's from a prep school. Go Rangers!

Rangers Take Skjei

The Rangers just went BPA with their first choice selecting 6'3" D Brady Skjei from the US developmental program. Brady can really skate for a big kid, and his O is a little ahead of his D at this point. The TV announcers were comparing him to McDonagh, and a bigger McDonagh would be a very good thing to have. We'll see. I'm sure we will learn a lot more about this kid in the coming weeks. Go Rangers!

Ranger Draft

First off, congrats to Hank for winning the Vezina! It was about time and now the only thing he's missing is his name on the Stanley Cup. Not a bad start to a career.

In the bigger picture, the Rangers go into tomorrow night's draft with 4 picks, picking 28th or around 28th in each of the first four rounds. This is considered a pretty flat draft after the first pool of about 20. So we'd probably call this a red chip draft. The trick to drafts like these comes in the form of "scouting advantage." The Rangers have one, so they should once again be able to reach into the haystack and come right out with a needle -- or something sharper than hay.

Unless a big trade happens, the Rangers still have a formidable pool of prospects they can expect help from in the not too distant future, though maybe not next season. With as well as they just did in the playoffs, they might want more help next season, that's why we can't rule out a trade. Hopefully, if a trade must be made, it will be in line with the hot streak that started with the Gomez deal. We can always tolerate moves like that. But nothing should be done to blow up the farm or the current roster. That has never worked in Ranger history, and trading away blossoming prospects has historically come back to bite them in the hockey pants.

What about a trade up? I find this remotely possible if they have a ringer in the top 25 and he's falling. I don't know what they'd use for trade ammo, though, and I think it is just as likely that the pick becomes part of a trade for someone a little more established if there is a trade at all.

Otherwise, I'd be content to watch them make their 4 picks and see if they trade back in in round 5,6, or 7. Should be interesting.

Yanks Sign Another Cuban

It was announced today (while the Yanks were getting smoked) that the Yanks had won the bidding on 19 year old Cuban Lefty Omar Luis Rodriguez. They reportedly paid somewhere between 4-5 which is a lot cheaper than the other notable Cubans have gone lately, though a little higher than the Yanks have successfully bid for their current crop of Cuban players, all of whom are older than Rodriguez. As mentioned, he's a lefty with an 88-92 mph fastball and some other stuff. It will be interesting to see if he fits the Bill James model of a Cuban pitcher - ie everything including the kitchen sink - or if he is more of the classic control lefty that he appears to be. That remains to be seen, as does the Yankee system's ability to turn a pitching prospect into a big league starter. Hughes and Nova are showing signs (outside of today) but the last great starter from the system was Andy Pettitte, and he's the one really helping Phil and Ivan now. It's perplexing.

Dominant!

CC finally joined the party, throwing a complete game while allowing just 2 runs and striking out a bunch of Braves. He's crediting his work with Larry Rothschild. Jeter had two bit 2 out RBI hits, Cano homered, Tex homered and things are going well. The Yanks were shutout and no-hit through 4, then ended up winning 6-2. They are cruising right now, and the way they come back at will reminds more of the 1980 Yanks so far, more than the 1998 Yanks, though the pitching is getting reminiscent of `98. They've won 10 straight and are now 16 games over .500. That's a great place to be on June 18th. Oh, GCL also started today and won. SI lost. Go Yanks!

Nine Straight!

Ivan Nova moved to 9 and 2 as the Yanks won their 9th straight and are now 18 and 4 over their last 22. Grandy and Cano homered today. Another series sweep and they've swept the whole road trip. Tomorrow they return home against the Braves. Also, the SI Yankees start their short season. Go Yanks!

ROLLING!

The Yanks used a two run double in the top of the 14th from a somewhat resurgent Mark Teixeira to win their 8th game in a row and yet another series. They have exploded in June, and a lot of that has been the great starting pitching they have received. Andy Pettitte pitched better than his numbers today because he was getting squeezed like a pimple out there. Tough to watch. MLB has to do a better job with balls and strikes -- they are the most fundamental element of the game and the both the easiest to screw up, and the easiest to manipulate. That's the way to fix a game if you want to, and MLB can't afford the appearance of that, especially when computerized strikezones could be so easily implemented.

Nova goes for the sweep tomorrow. Do it!

Nash Now?

The Rangers are once again being mentioned as a likely destination for antsy to leave Blue Jacket Captain Rick Nash. If so, that's only sort of interesting, and here's why: the best offer the Jackets were gonna get from anyone, including the Rangers, was at the trade deadline. The temptation is always greatest then, and that time has passed. Now, they can't come back to the Rangers, who were a game or two away from the finals as ask for more. They made it that far without Nash and the kids are just going to get better over the next few years. So it doesn't make sense, and Slats has shown he has his trade savvy back over the past few years. So while Nash may still be a Ranger come October, neither Kreider, nor McDonagh, nor even Stepan will be likely to be going the other way. If they sign Schultz, they could move MDZ or Erixon, but that's certainly iffy at this point. Should be an interesting offseason. The Rangers have lots of room, but very few interesting targets. Go Blueshirts!

Huge!

Yanks won their 7th straight behind the rejuvenated Phil Hughes who pitched 6 strong innings of 1 run ball before he was lifted for a pinch hitter. Grandy hit #20 as well as a 2 run double. Jeter is starting to cook again. DRob returned and gave up a run in the 9th when the Yanks were already up 7-1 and in no danger of losing. Go, Yanks, Go!

ARod Ties Gehrig to Spur Yankee Comeback WIN!

Wow. What a comeback! CC gave up 3 in the first and 4 through 7 as he continues his annual period of non-dominance. Down 4-o with one out in the 8th, Jeter singled, Grandy singled, Tex walked, and ARod hit his 23rd Grand Slam, to tie it. To make things even cooler, Cano singled and Swisher homered. Suddenly the Yanks were up 6-4 and that was all they needed. The Pen was good again, and the Yanks are now 11 games over .500. Nice roll! Go Yanks!

10 Gamers Over

Nova had another strong start - pitching 7 innings of shutout ball - and the offense was once again frustrating as they kept getting men on base but were only able to plate 3 runs. But that was enough as the pen held and the Yanks beat the Braves, 3-0. Moving ten games over by June 11 if a very good thing, and the Yanks are really starting to roll. This should be a fun summer. Savor it, because we have an aging team, and there are not many bridge players available to get us to the next core group, down in A- ball. Go Yanks!

Giants Make Some Moves

The Giants today waived/injured Jake Ballard and re-signed Rocky Bernard. This may just be so that they have enough bodies to rotate at mini-camp which starts tomorrow. Canty may have to begin the season on the PUP list, and some of the other guys are already dinged up.

Btw, it will be a GREAT mini-camp if no one else gets hurt. Go Giants!

Yanks Win Via Martin Walkoff

Yanks just won a weird one. First, they fell behind 3-0 and kept hitting into DP's. Then Rusell Martin hit a huge two run bomb in the seventh to put the Yanks ahead. Then Soriano gave up a run on back to back doubles in the 9th and left the game with runners on 1st and 3rd with one out before Boone Logan got a K and a groundout to keep it tied. Then Martin lead off the ninth with another bomb. This is a huge game for him and if he keeps rolling it can only help. Big sweep! Now it's on to Atlanta and let's win there. Go Yanks!

UPDATE: No news on Soler yet, but everyone thinks it will be the Cubs.

Yanks Keep Rolling

Yanks took advantage of another strong start from Phil Hughes and homers by Tex and Grandy to beat the Mets again to win the first leg of the subway series. Soriano got the save. Hughes is getting better, even though he still throws too many pitches and gives up too many jacks. He's learning to manage games and nurse along wins, even when he doesn't have his best stuff. That's a really good skill to pick up. Now all he has to do is limit the meatballs and be more economical. Feels like it's gonna be one of those Junes where the Yanks take first then run with it. Go Yanks!

Yanks Roll

Robbie Cano hit two bombs, Swish added one and Andruw Jones clubbed one as the Yanks beat the Met 9-1 in the Bronx. Johan Santana appeared to be a little fried from his 132 pitch masterpiece last time out, and Cano got to him in the second, then again in the fourth, followed immediately by the shots from Swisher and Jones. Kuroda was picthing a no-no of his own until he gave up a hit and hurt his foot in the 5th. The level C bullpen was able to finish things up without much trouble, though they did blow the shutout. It will be interesting to see if Kuroda gets skipped or replaced next time around. Let's hope not, he was starting to pitch well and the rest of the rotation is showing signs. Go Yanks!

Nova!

Nova followed Phil and Andy and pitch shutout ball into the ninth, before giving up back to back triples and being lifted for Soriano. From now out he's called So around here. From Mo to So. That's how we'll handle it. Tex and Cano both went deep, and the Yanks moved ahead of the Rays in the standings. Nice. Here they come? Go Yanks!

Day 3: Patterns Emerged

They Yanks made 25 new picks on Day 3 of the Rule IV Draft. Some themes that were developing yesterday kept emerging. First, they went for more lefty power bats, taking Vincent Jackson, Ty Moore, and Saxon Butler. Jackson and Moore are preps and they'll be lucky to get one, while Butler is a collegiate 1B who may have catching potential.

They took a bunch of either slight, short, or short and slight RHP's, including Stefan Lopez, Brady Lail, Brett Marks, Charles Haslup, and Kevin Johnson. Lail is an intriguing prep with some velo, some spin and some pitchability. The rest are college arms, and we're probably looking to find more Robertson/Montgomery types.

They also found some lefty arms, including Tim Flight, Dietrich Enns, James Reed, Jose Diaz, and Eric Erickson, who may or may not be older than Phil Hughes. They didn't take the 10 I thought they might, but they took 6, and unlike the Yanks of late `90s, they don't just take every lefty they can find. They take LHP's that merit the pick and don't reach all over the place for them like they did back in the day.

Diaz is a prep from Puerto Rico who went to the Advantage Learning Institute. I hope they can get him signed for that reason alone.

And they took a bunch of signability cases like Vincent Jackson, Ty Moore, Bo Decker and Jose Mesa Jr! Mesa's quotes make him seem like a longshot, and Jackson, Moore and Decker are probably vying for one payment. Likewise, the prep catcher the the Yanks popped yesterday, Chris Breen, may be competing for one spot with Dalton Smith who was drafted today. Both are big kids with bats.

It will be interesting to see which of the signability kids the Yanks are able to coral using only the overage from the top ten pool +5%. Don't get too attached to any of them, it's going to be tight.

Overall, though, it was another strong, logical draft for Damon and the Scouts, where the Yanks, picking late as usual, still managed to add a bunch of talented kids to the mix. Over time, it looks like this new draft formula will net us fewer preps, though. Still, another strong class. Well done, Yanks!

TC Extended Through 2014

I would have liked to see the deal take him right up to 70, but maybe he didn't want that. As far as I'm concerned he can write his own deal with the Giants. There are a few people that were born to be the coach of the New York Football Giants. Lombardi was one but never for the chance. I supposed Parcells was one but blew it. And Tom Coughlin is certainly one. Long may he coach! God bless the good man!

Andy!

Wow. Something like 22 years after he himself was drafted by the Yanks, Andy Pettitte put on a show in the Bronx tonight, throwing 7 shutout innings and striking people out all over the place. Just a great outing by Andy. Wow. Russell Martin finally did something, hitting a grand slam, and Swish also hit a two run bomb. Yanks may be starting to hit and they are just percentage points out of first. Go Yanks!

Rounds 11-15

Things loosened up a bit from round 11 through round 15. The Yanks grabbed a prep LHP named Caleb Frare from Montana in the 11th, then backed that up by taking Christopher Breen a HS C from Florida in round 12. The name of his HS is actually Winter Springs... no one thought that was idiotic... In the 13th they took James Pazos a lefty with good size from San Diego that I am sure they are hoping is this year's Tracy. In the 14th they took RHP Andrew Benak another college senior with good size, then in the 15th they took Dayton Dawe a right handed high school pitcher from Canada. That's now three years in row where they've taken a Canadian kid pitcher. I think they think they're on to something. We'll see. But it's looking like another terrific, value loaded draft, even though it has a different shape than it has in the past. Go Yanks!

Rounds 6-10

Well, we are seeing the first fruits of the new Draft rules. On day 2, from round 4 when they took Corey Black through round 10 when they took Ole Miss 1b Matt Snyder, the Yanks drafted no preps. Overall they have taken 3 preps and 8 collegians so far, and this change in approach has strictly to do with the new slotting rules for the top 10 rounds of the draft. Of course, the Yanks have good scouts and got players with stuff to recommend them in these rounds, but not the high upside banquet we usually throw on day 2 yet. The other players taken have been Nick Goody an RHP reliever from LSU, who we also drafted last year, Taylor Garrison a righty reliever from Fresno, Taylor Dugas, a short CF from Alabama, and Derek Vanadore a RHP from Auburn who was a starter but may be yet another reliever for the Yanks. Most are seniors and were probably drawn in for less than slot.

Now, we're into the weird part, from round 11 on, where teams are allowed to spend 100K on each pick, but can also go over if they are willing to add that money to this year's MLB budget. We'll see what happens.

Thus far, the Yanks have not gotten a LHP or taken any Matt Hyde players. Go Yanks!

Day 2: Rounds 2-5

The Yanks seem to be having another strong Damon Oppenheimer lead draft. In the second round, they grabbed Austin Aune, a HS shortstop out of Texas. They list him as a CF, but his sweet lefty swing will play anywhere, and he should develop good power. Next, they grabbed Pete O'Brien a college senior C with little leverage but a huge bat. He's literally projected to hit in the middle on an ML order. He's got that kind of power -- though he may not be able to stay at C because of size and quickness issues. Still, he's got plus/plus power and we need guys like that.

In the third, the Yanks went for a cold weather player, taking Nathan Mikolas from Wisconsin. He profiles as a LF/1B/DH and is another player with a sweet lefty swing who can hit anywhere. He's probably played less than the warm weather kids, so his defense could catch up a bit with more reps. He's said to have great intincts.

In the fourth, the Yanks took diminutive fireballer Corey Black out of Faulkner U in Alabama. He's 5'11 but touches the upper 90s and has pretty good secondary stuff. Could be an elite reliever or may even a starter.

In the fifth, the Yanks took Robert Refsnyder, a 2B from AZ. He's another good hitter, though not currently a power hitter (flat swing). He's been playing OF for AZ but the Yanks want him as a 2B.

So far, so good! 10 more rounds today. Oh, and Aune has reportedly come to terms already!

Power Arm

The Yanks stuck with their prep driven model in the first round of the MLB Draft, by taking Ty Hensley out of Enid, OK. This kid is a pure power pitcher on the mound who models himself after Clemens and Halladay. He was also a lethal power bat when he wasn't pitching, so you know he has some aa. He is 6'4" and 220 at 17, and his upside is as a #1 power arm for the Yanks. Most exciting prep arm they've taken since Phil Hughes. Keep it going, Yanks!

Hughes

Now that was impressive. Phil Hughes pitched a 1 run complete game against the Tigers and Verlander giving the Yanks the series win. Other than the atrocious Anaheim game, Phil has been trending up and pitching more like the old uberprospect lately. Keep your fingers crossed. Huge draft for the Yanks starts tomorrow.

Radulov?

Brooksie had some interesting Ranger "news" this morning. Both items made a lot of sense. First, he reports that Glen Sather is in deep talks with the Predators about an Alexander Radulov trade. That would be very interesting. Radulov is scheduled to be an RFA, and he will not resign with the Preds. What's more, he has an offer from the KHL, and he has shown a prefect willingness to jump to the KHL in the recent past. In fact, I think he was a 3 time MVP over there after having a nice career start in the NHL. Anyway, the Preds are in a position where they have to trade him somewhere he wants to go-- or they'll lose him to the KHL for nothing. So they are between a bit of a rock and a hard place.

Now, the cost is the issue, it cannot possibly be too much because the Preds have little leverage. The Rangers would also have to give Radulov a new contract. So they'd have to pay twice, making it less likely that they will trade much. That is a far cry from what a Nash trade would still cost, and Radulov is not far behind Nash as a scorer. Sure, he doesn't look like a Torts type guy, but he'd immediately help the power play, and make us more consistently at 2 or three line team, depending on what else they do and how the kids develop.

The second thing Brooks said was that the Rangers need a D with a right shot and that Justin Schultz is their first choice for the role. I am massively down with that idea, so I hope it works out.

Then they'd still have cap room for another score or so, depending how creative they can get. And both moves Brooks is hawking seem like creative solutions for the Rangers needs. Go Rangers!

Gaborik To Have Surgery -- Miss 6 Months

Marian Gaborik, the Rangers most explosive scorer, was playing with a torn labrum before and through the playoffs. That explains plenty. I've had those, and they are really uncomfortable. As a result, he will have surgery in the next few days that will put him on the shelf for 6 months. Ugh. I think the Rangers may add two scorers this offseason rather than one. We'll see. I really don't want to trade any of the kids. Get well soon, Marian!

Osi Restructured

The Giants have apparently come to terms with Osi Umenyiora on a restructured version of his current deal -- the one with one year left on it. So, Osi will join the offseason program and play out the camps and the season, but then will be a free agent, unless something else is done. Hopefully, getting in the offseason work will help him stay healthy through the year. Go Giants.