Eric Chavez Rejoins Yanks as Special Assignment Scout

The latest move in the Yanks slow offseason organizational rollout, features hiring Eric Chavez as a special assignment scout.   Chavez wants to stay in baseball and it's a good first job. In other news, they're going to talk to Raul Ibanez about the vacant hitting coach job.   Still hope they hire two as Hinske or Shelton could still become available given what should be the Cubs fall out.

BA Names Their Top 10 Yankee Prospects

BA has done their annual list to top 10 Yankee prospects.  It's interesting to look at, and Josh Norris, who has alway been as on top of Yankee minor matter as anyone in the National Media, has written the side piece.    The video shows Luis Severino mostly throwing changeups.

Knicks Beat the Cavs in Cleveland

After last night's meltdown, the Knicks travelled to Cleveland today where brand new coach, Derek Fisher earned his first win.   Early, it sort of looked like it could be a repeat of last night, but the Knicks hung in there, and started to hit the open man.  And the open man, more often than not, was scoring.  Basketball O is literally that simple.   The only time things lagged was when they reverted to one on one, or stopped trusting what had been working.   There were some good games all around, and everyone, include JR Smith, played under control.  Quincy Acy looks like he might have a role on a winning team.  And Shane Larkin has insane speed and deserves to be developed.   A really nice and unexpected win.

Yanks New "Quadrants"

George King, who's about as accurate as a broken clock, has been peddling the idea that the Yanks are dividing their scouting and development operation into 4 separate departments, all responsible to the GM.   He's been pimping the quad decision for weeks, including today in Baseball America - which might say something about them.

Anyway, according to King the new departments are pro scouting, amateur scouting, international scouting and player development.   He says they will all report to Cashman, but that doesn't really give Gary Denbo a job.   King says he won't be involved in the DR like Newman was.   Anyway, given the new titles, it's unclear where Denbo fits in.   They are still to name a head of development.   Damon Oppenheimer will remain as head of amateur scouts, and Donny Rowland will probably be formalized as the head of international scouting.

It's unclear who will be the head of pro-scouting and that's not so much what they should be focused on, anyway.   So we'll see what they have to announce when they finally make some announcements. For all we know they, and all we know about King, they could be dividing into eighths.

Yankee Pitching Stuff

It seems like a lot of people want the Yanks to get one of the "big" free agent pitchers among Lester, Shields and Scherzer, and of course all of them are over thirty and will require 4 or more years.   McCarthy would probably give them the best bang for the buck, as he might be less in dollars and years.

And of course, they really should re-sign Robertson.  He's basically everything a Yankee reliever is supposed to be and he's a stand up guy.  Perfect to play Mo to the loads of young pitchers that will be coming through over the next year and teach them how to be Yankee tough.  We need more guys like DRob, not less.

The Knicks Are Now Down 30 in the 4th...

The Knicks are getting slaughtered tonight in their home opener against the Bulls.   Nobody looks very good, and the young players, including Hardaway, have looked lost, and tentative, while aggressively committing dumb fouls.  Good thing this year doesn't matter.   Sad thing the NBA salary cap and rules have created seasons like this for most franchises.

Yankees Still Quiet

So as of game 7 of the World Series, the Yanks have not hitting coaches for their major league or AAA affiliates.  What's more, they have not named a new head of development, nor a major league 1B coach.   Beyond that they don't seem to have completed their organizational meetings nor have they moved around or replaced any minor league coaches with the exception of Colbrunn.    Of course, all of these positions will be figured out and announced, and hopefully soon so we'll have more to talk about.  

Rangers Jon Moore Suspended For 5 Games

John Moore must have been pretty persuasive during his hearing, because he only got 5 games.  That's what usually goes with a phone interview, so he got lucky.  Meanwhile, the Rangers did not as there is no way on earth they can suit up Kotska 5 more times this year and expect a good result.  He's literally an assist machine for whomever we're playing.   We'll see what happens here, but the Rangers must realize this won't work.

Rangers: Tape to Tape

Back in the preseason, I talked about chipping pucks to the fast guys and letting them do their thing.  Hunwick's method works, too.  Duclair couldn't have swooped and scored like he did with that tape to tape diagonal pass from Hunwick.  In fact, the Rangers were doing a lot of that late Monday.  They literally owned the puck in the third.  We hadn't seen that for 5 straight periods as they'd been dominated and couldn't establish consistent enough possession to score much.

I don't know what the difference was, other than the line changes that put Brassard, their hottest C with Nash, their hottest player.  But the shuffling made them coherent and that's the way they've got too play if they want to become elite.   Too many times, in the early going, they've misfired or mistimed passes, or whiffed on pucks altogether.

In other new, AV says Stepan will starting skating with the team again in 4-7 days.  He also said a whether or not they call up a D will depend on the length of John Moore's suspension.  In the meantime, he said Kotska will play Saturday.   I literally can't believe Kotska still has a jersey after his last performance.   Like the rest of you, I'd rather see a kid.

Knicks Tonight

It's opening night at the Garden.  It used to be one of the most thrilling days on the calendar, and it probably will be again next year, but not this year, not with regard to this team of mismatched parts.   The most interesting part of this year will be to see which young, cheap players can learn the triangle and compete on defense well enough to stay another year.   Certainly don't get too attached to any of them, and don't get attached to any veterans, save Melo, because they can all become bundled assets or liabilities in trade scenarios.   So on opening night, the one thing we really know is that this roster will change enormously over the next year or two.   So we really will just be rooting for the uniforms.

Giants Grab CB Mike Harris From Lions PSquad

The today snatched CB Mike Harris from the Lions PSquad to fill the pace left by Jon Beason.  I thought they might add another LB, but they're hitting CB again, as they did all throughout the offseason to precious little avail.  He's pretty average sized, now we'll get to see if he's a player.

Wow!

What a third period.  Holy crap.   The Rangers had been really frustrating for the first two periods.   They were hitting and winning face-offs, but they were also getting called for penalties including two majors and two ejections for Chris Kreider and John Moore.   Meanwhile, they killed all the penalties, but gave up three goals between kills on a couple of defensive lapses by MSL and softies.  Things looked awful.

But then Rick Nash put the team on his back.   He dug a puck out that led to an MZA assist to Klein.   Then he scored his own goal and it was 3-2.   There was another defensive lapse and suddenly it was 4-2.  But they did not give up.  Almost immediately, Brassard cleaned up a Hagelin rebound off the cross bar to make it 4-3.   And then, a few minutes later, Duclair, who had also been a force in the third scored his first career goal as he skated in and beat their goalie to tie it.  It was his first NHL goal and a huge one.   Literally, moments later, MZA who already had two assists scored the game winner for his first goal of the year.  

Huge games by Nash, Brassard, Duclair, MZA and Klein.   Hagelin was also flying and killing things.    Not such an elite game for MSL, Hank or even McD, who was a bit up and down again.  But a huge win being down 2 men and 3 goals.   This is their second big character win in their last couple.    And they managed to get back above.500.  They now have a four day break till Saturday.

Btw, I wouldn't be surprised with a personnel move or two during this four game lay off. Their scouts have been active and there were scouts all over the Garden again tonight.

Rangers Tonight

Rangers play the Wild tonight at the Garden.    Apparently, Chris Kreider, who potted the Rangers' first power play goal of the year a couple of days ago, was taken off the power play after the lousy game in Montreal.  Vigneault is officially roster weird.  They should bench almost everyone on the team for Montreal, dropping Kreider off the power play because he is one of their youngest really important players is ludicrous.   Why haven't there been consequences for the older players like Girardi, who have been awful on the PP?  There've been no consequence for veterans yet this year.  And Tanner Glass will stay in the lineup as Kevin Hayes gets a night off.   Sheesh.

Knicks Trade Outlaw for Moultrie

In an example of the sort of franchise will we wish for all of our teams, the Knicks today traded a shot veteran, in this case, Travis Outlaw to the 76ers,   They had to give up a 2019 2nd rounder and the option to flip 2018 second rounders, but those are sort of easy to come by. They've already waived Arnett Moultrie, the other player in the deal.   This has given them room to add another player, with the widespread opinion that player will be UCLA rookie Travis Wear.  We'll probably know if that's the case soon, as the Knicks have become relatively transparent.

Reese: DaMonster Must Play More Snaps

First the head coach said it, and now the GM has said it.  So will we see more of DaMonster on Monday, or is Perry Fewell even more idiotic and command resistant than he has seemed so far?   It's easy for people to get the impression that the Giants "don't have the talent" when the coaches don't always play the talent they have.  Sheesh.

Giants: Beason Out for the Year

Giants middle linebacker Jon Beason will be out for the rest of the season following foot surgery.   This is a brutal blow for the Giants, who've only really played decent defense under Fewell lately when Beason's been in there.   Obviously, his IR'ing creates a roster space.  But what is out there?  How fast can Devon Kennard get up to speed?  Can he lead the defense?  This is a big problem and the Giants are going to have to find someone who can translate Fewell for the guys.

The Yanks and the Concept of a Sub Rosa Rebuild

The pro-Yankee internet got all twisted up a few weeks ago when Cashman said essentially that the Yanks would never rebuild, and would continue to try to win the World Series every year.   People got depressed.   But let me remind you that in the past Cashman has also said that "Enrique Wilson will be our Third Baseman."  Cash has also said, "Bubba Crosby will be our Centerfielder."   The GM of the Yankees has also said, "We will not re-sign ARod if he opts out."  That one I sorta wish was true.  So, in any event, this is a guy who has historically failed to tip his hand publicly, so why should we think he was doing it now, especially when it behooves the franchise to get the season tickets renewed first.

If they were doing nothing else, the above would be wishful thinking on my part.   But, in fact, everything they are doing and have done lately aside from their reactive free agent splurge last year, has been setting up  for a future run.

To wit: they are undergoing a pretty substantial reorganization of their minors for the second year in a row.  Newman is retired, Roessler is fired.  More firings could be on the way.   Thus far, the only additions have been Gary Denbo in for Newman, and Greg Colbrun's return to Charleston.  Happenstance has really played into the Yankees hands with Colbrunn, and having a top notch hitting coach in Low A, where a bunch of their stalled hitting prospects like Aune and Mikolas will be next season and then should see a huge wave of IFA talent start filtering through the next.

And that's on top of the spending on top scouts they've been doing or the past few years.

What they have yet to do is hire a head of player development and I believe that is because they are undergoing their ongoing review of the entire system right now.  In fact, I think that seems more important to them, right now, than the major league hitting coach job that still isn't filled.

We could also look at their drafts and see a desire for : a wave of college talent, with Refsnyder, Rumbelow, and Lindgren leading the way; a wave of prep talent with Murphy, Bird and Austin leading the way; and a monster wave of IFA talent coming up later with Severino, Mateo, and Dermis Garcia or pick one leading the way.

So why are the spending all this time and money on the farm, for the second year in a row if they aren't rebuilding?   The inescapable conclusion seems to be that they are.  They're bullshitting about it.

We'll see who they hire and what they implement, but they would be wasting time on the farm if they didn't intend to use it.  And even Hal must realize that Time is Money.

Rangers Streak Ends at 3

Carey Price was great and the Rangers were anything but tonight in Montreal.   They couldn't control the pucks, win battles or win face-offs.   The compete level just seem to there tonight.   There was a moving ceremony before the game addressing the Ottawa tragedy, and so the players minds and some hearts might have been elsewhere.  Do better next time, Rangers.

This Week on the Blog

Could be a very interesting week on the blog.  Each of the four teams we cover should be plenty busy, and if they're not, we've got problems.

Yankees: Yesterday, they hired one of the best hitting coaches in baseball to handle their Low A affiliate.   Maybe this coming week, they'll finally name a hitting coach for their Major League and Triple A affiliates.    We'll also see if they name someone to the all important director of development position.   So this could be a week of crucial hires for the Yanks or they could keep twiddling their thumbs.  Btw, it's possible that they're not really twiddling their thumbs at all, but are instead involved in their top to bottom analysis of their system.   We'll see.

Knicks: They will finally start their '14-'15 regular bridge to the new roster season this coming week. They've already made some cuts that will be destined for the D league.  They may also have to make contract room for a kid or two.  Of course, we'd all like to see all of our teams become more kid friendly, so it will be interesting to see what the Knicks are willing to do.

Giants: I thought we might see some roster turnover during the first week of the bye, but nothing happened.   We'll see if they make any moves early this week as they get ready to play again. I think Schwartz can come of the injury DL, and hopefully, he'll be ready to play RG real soon.  They have a chance to save their season, but they have to pick it up in all three areas.

Rangers:  Rangers are getting down to decision time with Anthony Duclair.  Of course it's a no brainer that they should keep him, but we'll see if they're willing to overcome their longterm early season bias toward marginal veterans.  Meanwhile, they need another win tonight, and let's hope Declair has his coming out party.

In all, it should be a really interesting week.  And I hope it's a great one for each of you.

Rangers Tonight

Anthony Duclair will be back in the lineup as the Rangers take on Montreal tonight.   He's going to be playing on a line with Carl Hagelin and Dom Moore.   Hope Dom can keep up with his wings, not many can.   Should be fun.

The other story that's brewing is, will the Canadiens, being the punk ass bitches that they've always been, take a run at Chris Kreider?   Or will they take a run at Hank?  Either case would be too bad, and I hope the Rangers will not stand for any of it, if it does come up.   I suspect the league might have warned both teams.

Yanks: Colbrunn Goes Home

In a bit of good news for the system, Greg Colbrunn, who left the Red Sox because he wanted to be closer to his home in Charlestown, NC, has returned to the RiverDogs as their batting coach, and position he's held in the past.   Interestingly, the Dogs may end up having a better hitting coach than the major league Yankees do.

This is pretty exciting, because when all of those IFA kids they signed this year end up in Charleston, they will really have access to one of the best hitting coaches in baseball.

Eric Hinske Rejects Yanks

The other day the Yanks reportedly told Dave Magadan that they wanted to go in another direction in their searching or a new hitting coach.   That other direction remains unclear as reports have surfaced that Cub assistant coach Eric Hinske has turned them down, choosing instead to be the Cub assistant hitting coach this year.  Not sure if the Yanks should be looking for a message in this, but it's pretty clear they didn't have much of a plan, when they let Long go.   I'm still hoping they hire 2 and that Rowson is one of them.

Btw, yesterday, Trey Hillman cleared something up.  He was asked if he wanted to interview for Newman's job, not that he was offered the job itself.   So Denbo might have gotten it anyway.

Yankee Farm Review Pt.4: Is it Still a Problem?

We spoke a few weeks ago about the farm.  First, we discussed the persistent issues, and second, we discussed what had been good about the 2014 season.   So here's a question that's worth asking: is the farm still a problem?

I really don't think so, unless it turns out the Denbo lacks a winning vision and if they hire the wrong guys for their remaining job openings.   I'm sort of hoping Mario Garza or John Kremer gets the player development gig, but we'll have to see what happens.

Btw, per Denbo, it looks like he may be behind the firing of Butch Wynegar and the hold of on replacing any hitting coaches, yet.    And if that's the case, I like his assertiveness and it would feel like he has a vision.  

In fact, I am hoping that the search for executives and coaches is taking so long because there is a vision in place.  We'll see.

What they have been able to do over the past few years is find better talent in the drafts, exploit inefficiencies with pitching picks and even found college seniors with upside on both the pitcher and position player sides of the draft.   Also, more of their overslot preps have been popping.

What's more, what they are doing in IFA and their Dominican Academy could be historic.  Obviously, they were good their when they were churning out Cano and Melky, but they've been better since Donny Rowland was sent over there and Pat McMahon started running development.   To wit, the foreign kids are learning to take their walks in their career infancy.   Cano didn't learn till his teammates and finally Coach Long worked with him.   Soriano never learned.

Of course, they also found Luis Severino, who looks like he could be the next homegrown star.   This year, they also finally blew out the budget on their IFA class, signing 6 "first rounders" and couple of dozen more high upside kids in the Avelino, Molina and Mateo mold.  They won't all play up to their bonuses, but if some do, they pay for the whole experiment in franchise savings.

In all, I think they now have good scouts all over the place, and I think they have limited their risky bets on tools only guys.

Of course they could have been even farther ahead if they'd kept their 3 #1's and the draft pool they would have created. That said, Lindberg and a few others have hit the ground running and it could turn out to be a pretty significant draft.

So, the development side is really still in the fix stage, and we'll see what they do, but players were developing faster than they could promote them this past year, and that was after they had switched from Nardi to Gil Patterson, and switched a bunch of minor league coaches at the lowest levels.

So, as long as they don't blow the remaining hires, I think they're in good shape moving forward, even with their IFA punishment coming and their penchant to punt picks for old guys.   They should really keep their picks this year.  There's nothing out there worth punting for.

Yanks Down to Second Choices?

Not sure why, but Trey Hillman revealed that he turned down the "Mark Newman Job" before leaving  the Yankees to become the bench coach for the Astros.   We also know that Chili Davis took the hitting coach job with the Red Sox instead of the one the Yanks might have offered him.

Now, I believe these situations, as often as not, work out for the best, but I don't want them to lead the Yankees back into the reactive spending we saw from them last season.  Not that we couldn't use some help, but we can't afford the picks that go with orgiatic acquisitions.

Meanwhile, lots of jobs remain open for the Yanks, including MLB and AAA hitting coach was well as head of player development.

Hitting coaches maybe somewhat fungible, but a head of player development can make a huge difference.   I'm really hoping they go for a younger guy.  I'm not trying to be ageist, but a younger guy might prove more stat savvy than a retread like Minaya.   Now, I know they now have a whole Analytics Department to help them with a more mathematical understanding of things, but I'd want them to hire someone who contains both the number savvy and the teaching savvy in one person.  

We'll see what they come up with.  As far as I know, no one has turned them down for that one, yet.

Rangers Win In OT

Wow!  The Rangers had a really gutty comeback win tonight, and believe it or not, Kevin Klein scored the game winner in OT off a beautiful feed from a crossing Chris Kreider.

But before they could even get to OT they had to overcome a two goal deficit.   And yes, one of the Devil goals went in off of Kevin Klein.

Chris Kreider started the scoring with the Rangers first PP goal of the season.   Then Kreider got sent to the box because Jagr claimed he tripped him -- which he didn't -- and then Jagr scored a PP goal and tied it up.   Then the refs continued calling things one way as the Devils scored two more PP goals in the second period, including one credited to freaking Henrique.

The third period belonged to the Rangers as Mueller scored their second PP goal of the year on a snipe, the Nash tied it up at three with just a few minutes left.

Kreider finally got to play 4 on 4 and set up the winning goal.  I wonder what else could have happened if he'd been allowed to earlier.

Huge win.

Yankees: Greg Bird is Busting Out in the AFL

So, Greg Bird, the best Yankee 1B prospect since Nick Johnson is crushing it in the AFL.   Cool as it is, it starts to raise uncomfortable questions about his future with the Yankees.  He missed the first part of the 2014 season, then started the season in High A Tampa before being promoted to AA Trenton.   Once he got going, he raked and had a great stint at AA.   The question is, will they start him back at AA?  Or will they start him at AAA and have him ready for whenever it is that Tex gets his first boo boo.  And if he continues to thrive at AAA, will they even promote when Tex goes down?   They didn't promote Roller who had a fine offensive season.

Btw, I've read various scouting takes on Roller, and you know what?  I'll believe the numbers.   He should have been promoted.  I don't care how he looked producing the numbers.

In any event, Bird could end up as next year's Refsnyder -- a better player than the big league starter but mired in the minors due to poor planning.

I hope they don't trade him.

Rangers Tonight

The Rangers are back in action against the Devils tonight.  Even when the Rangers are the clearly better team, the Devils have been a tough opponent for them, and tonight should be no different.  AV has once again benched one of his best players so Glass, Malone and Mueller can play.   Idiocy.   Meanwhile, Dan Girardi can go, we we won't have to witness Kostka 2.   Thus it will be up to Kevin Klein to own goal us again and help the Devils

Silly as it's been, that big line of Hayes, Kreider and Nash could really take off at some point.  Perhaps as soon as tonight.

Yanks Promote Gary Denbo to VP of Baseball Operations

So it looks like long time Yankee hitting coordinator/minor league manager/assistant director or player development/ and player development coordinator Gary Denbo will be taking over Mark Newman's position as Vice President of Baseball Operations.

He's certainly got massive experience with the operation and the transition should be an easy one.

Importantly, the Yanks also made it official that Pat Roessler is out.  I would think Pat McMahon or Jon Kremer would get that job.    We'll see.

Yanks Miss Out on Chili

While the Giants were losing on the field, the Yanks were losing off the field, as the Red Sox hired Chili Davis to be their new hitting coach.  I really hope this is not one of these offseasons where we can't rangle our first choices.   We're off to a bad start.

Rangers Shutout Kings 4-0

At least one of our teams played some defense today, as Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers beat the big, tough San Jose Sharks 4-0 at the Garden.   It was a scoreless game for the first period, the Hagelin finally scored a goal in the second.  Toward the very end of the second St. Louis finally scored a goal, and Nash followed right up with his 7th.  Finally, in the 3rd Kevin Hayes scored his first of many NHL goals.  Too bad Duclair wasn't playing since so many were getting their first.

Perhaps next game.   They really shouldn't send him down for the reasons I've outlined.

Giants Play Stupid and Lose

First off, the Giant defense was horrible today and couldn't stop Dallas at any point when they just had to.   Having said that, the Giants had an idiotic game plan that they just wouldn't abandon, it called for endlessly running the ball on first down or on long down distances.   It worked against them all day.  When they finally used their hurry-up, late, they scored easily and could have all day, but they were stupid.  Also, more dumb penalties on the OL, plus two more fumbles from Donell, and stupid plays most of the day by Ruben Randle.  Preston Parker should be cut.

Beckham had 2 TD catches and should have been used more.

The Giants head into their weak looking like they can't beat anyone that's any good.    We'll see if they make changes or ride it out and work in the young guys.   It's definitely time for a new D scheme for next year, if not a whole new staff.

Giants Today

Today the Giants are in Dallas to see if they can maybe score a point of two.    Seriously,  we should know pretty fast if they've prepared for the right opponent or not.  Last week, they were caught unprepared, or, more fairly mis-prepared. as I have no doubt the coaches had them doing something to get ready for the Eagles.  It just wasn't the right thing.

So hopefully, the staff has better insight into the Cowboys, or the players are going to get punched in the face again.  

If it's the Cowboys we know, then stopping Murray, hitting Romo and protecting Eli are the keys.  

We'll see if they're capable.

This Week on the Blog

Could be a tumultuous week on the blog.   All four teams could be in medium to extreme flux.  Let's take a look.

Giants:  Down their #1 RB and #1 WR,  they may also be down their #1 CB by game time as DRC is still whining about his back.  The Giants basically must nut up and win this game, or they could start their almost yearly slide early.   Big game for the Giants.

Rangers:  The Rangers are off to a horrible start and they are blaming the kids, even though it has been the defense and Hank who have contributed most to their lousy start.   They may even send Anthony Duclair back to juniors.  Or they could start making trades early.  In any event, they've really screwed up the roster, and the fixes could be worse.

Yankees:  The Yanks could start filling some jobs around the organization this coming week.  And the overall plan could start to leak out or become otherwise apparent.

Knicks: The Knicks will start their season, and could get off to a really rough start.  Not that it matters, though, as next year is the next year that should actually matter for them.

So let's hope the Giants win, the Rangers keep Duclair and play him, the Yanks make good hirings, and Carmelo doesn't get hurt while we wait to build around him.   Have a great week, folks!

Rangers Should Keep Duclair

Some of the brain dead media who cover the Rangers are speculating that the move of St. Louis back to wing, could mean that there's no room for Duclair and that he should be sent back to juniors.   That would be brain dead of the Rangers.  Here's why.  Duclair is already +4 with 3 assists.  He is also the sharpest passer on the team, and gives full effort without the puck and in all three zones.  And because of that he draws a lot of penalties and always will and gets the Rangers power plays and always will.

On the other hand, Tanner Glass is a non scoring, middleweight roughing, boarding and fighting penalty waiting to happen.   So he does and always will lead to the other team going to the box.   There is no reason to dress Malone, Glass and Mueller.  None.  

Thus, the Rangers should and must keep Duclair and start cutting some of this chaff.    The roster is currently mismanaged, somewhat because Stepan is out, and somewhat because AV is a bit of a moron, but they cannot shoot themselves in the scoring, defense and ability to draw penalties by sending down Duclair or even sitting him.

Rangers Blame the Kids, Send Miller and Fast to Hartford Call Up Mueller

So the reason the Rangers have looked so bad is, of course because of the kids who weren't playing.   AV really doesn't like JT Miller yet, and may never.   Meanwhile, they recalled retread Chris Mueller to be their 4 C, so they don't have to play Marty there.   Not sure who's coming up for Fast, but startled that they made and offensive move and not a defensive roster switch.   Starting to feel like another trade is coming.

Rangers Win Via the Shootout

First of all, all of a sudden, Rick Nash is a beast.   He didn't score in regulation, though he tried like hell to, but then he did score the only goal of the shootout by barreling in and shoving it past the goalie.   Huge difference, and if the Rangers were playing D like they usually do, he'd be taking them places.  

It was an important 2 points for the Rangers as they continued to lose face-offs, turn the puck over and constantly ice the puck.   Because JT Miller was a scratch, when AV finally decided to try MSL at wing, he could only roll three lines and thus Duclair,who is +4 so far, only got one shift in the 3rd period.  Hopefully, that will get figured out before they do something stupid.  So far, Duclair, Hayes and Kreider are the best passers on the team.

More Names In the Yankee Hitting Coach Sweepstakes

Okay, so Heyman has brought up some more names in the Yankee hitting coach sweepstakes.   They are Dante Bichette, Marcus Thames and James Rowson.  I like Chili Davis better than all three, and would absolutely dread Dante Bichette because his only qualification is that he is best friends with Girardi.   I think organization was frustrated with Dante Sr. for coaching Dante Jr. to do things the Yanks didn't want him doing.  So I think his name is only being pushed by Girardi.  Like Girardi, Bichette didn't take his walks, and could hardly be expected to preach their benefit.

Marcus Thames is an up and coming coach, but I'd like to see him ply his trade at AAA first.  Marcus also didn't walk much.

Rowson I wouldn't mind so much, especially if we're hiring 2, like so many other teams have done.

Rangers Tonight

Okay, while the Rangers try to prove that it's just another slow start and that Hank is still Hank, the only thing to wonder about now is who will score first: Duclair or Hayes.   They are both unselfish, but have both had some pretty good opportunities (Duclair) and point blank shots (Hayes), but neither has scored a goal yet.  Well, we'll see!   Let's go, Hayed and Duclair!

Yanks Get Permission To Talk To Chili

The Yanks have received permission to talk to Chili Davis about their vacant hitting coach position.  I am wildly in favor of this.  Chili was a patient hitter and has had success as a hitting coach.    He's still under contract to A's until November 1, but there's no one to coach around now, so they can and should wait.   17 teams now have 2 hitting coaches, and maybe the Yanks could hire Chili and someone like Rowson from the system.   We'll see.   I hate what has become of the Yanks' plate discipline up and down the chain.

Yanks Talking to Magadan

The Yanks are reportedly meeting in New York today with Texas hitting coach Dave Magadan.  I don't know too much about him as a coach, but I remember that he is Lou Piniella's cousin, and remember him with the Mets.  I remember one year, early in his career where he had gained a lot of mass over the offseason and was hitting bombs in Spring.  Then they said he had developed extreme skin problems in his shoulders and he had to go on the DL. Was always sure that was a PEDs experiment gone sideways.

They're also talking to Chili Davis.

Rangers Still Disgraceful

Last week, after Dan Boyle was injured, the Rangers had a choice, either call up a kid or call up a retread.   They called up a retread, Michael Kostka.  Tonight, they were outplaying the Islanders by a ton and had a 2-1 lead in the second when Kostka turned over the puck in front of Hank for an easy Islander goal.  So it was 2-2 at the second break.  To show his confidence in a decision he obviously had input in, AV started Kostka to begin the 3rd period.   Kostka promptly turned it over in front of Hank again, and it became 3-2.    Now it's 6-2 because Hank is off to a hideous start to the season, and so's McDonagh.   Don't know what they worked on in camp, but it wasn't defense or hockey.

If Kostka is still on the team Thursday, we'll have to see this as a hangover, and that Sather is resting on their trip to the finals.  Sheesh.

Giants Sign Ogletree

The Giants added McBride to the IR today and signed former Cowboy WR Kevin Olgetree to give them enough guys to play Dallas.  I was not an Ogletree fan in his draft year, but he sure did some damage against the Giants as a Cowboy.  He's got an equal opportunity coming up.

Yankee Update

Alas, they have already lost Trey Hillman again.  Thus far through their offseason, which once again started early, the Yankees have gotten rid of some they no longer wanted, and lost some they wanted to keep, without adding anyone.  So, instead of controlling the number of holes, they will now be somewhat controlled by them.   Gotta wonder if there'll be anybody left by the time they have their organizational meetings.

Giants Stuff

Okay, I don't have a lot to say about that disgrace we saw the other night.  But I will say this.  The only way something like that can happen in and NFL game is if the team hasn't prepared for what their opponent was going to do.    Now I don't believe the Giants didn't prepare for something last week, but I wonder what that something was, because it clearly was not what they saw on Sunday.   Some defensive players say they weren't prepared for the Philly O, while it was the Philly D that made the Giants look most unprepared.

Btw, the refs had nothing to do with who won or lost, but if the Giants don't send a bunch of cut-ups to the league -- about holdings, blocks in the back, Jason Peters constantly false starting, the head butt that the Eagle gave John Jerry before Weston Richburg tried to head butt one of them, etc. --  they're incapable of standing up for themselves off the field as well.

Yankee Stuff

Reading some disquieting rumors about the Yankee front office search.   Over the past day or so Omar Minaya's name has surfaced as being considered for a job in the front office.    Some articles have said he could even be Mark Newman's replacement.  No diggity.   He has a reputation as a very good scout, and a record as a bad GM.  So, if he comes aboard, let's hope it's in Gordon Blakley's old post and not in Mark Newman's.  

In other news, word's out that Trey Hillman, who was one of the internal options for Newman's post wants to manage or bench coach again, and that he's reached out to the Astro's.   That would suck.   He's got development talent, and the Yanks should probably re-jigger their major league coaching staff to keep him in-house.  

The three day weekend is over, so we might start hearing more Yankee news today.

Still don't feel like talking about the Giants.

Rangers Tonight

The Rangers will try to re-discover themselves against the Islanders tonight.  Because AV always makes changes after losses, Malone is in and Miller and Fast are out.  Kostka is also in for Hunwick.  Of course, blaming kids and replacing bad with worse on D doesn't really address what went wrong the past two games -- it's called effort.

In general, after playing good team D in game one, they've played horrible team D in the 6 periods since.   D is all about positioning and moving your feet.  And that's all about wanting to.   Until they want to again, and get their compete level back where it should be, the bad hockey will continue.

They'll be bigger but slower tonight.  We'll see if that works better than it sounds like it should work.

Best Wishes to Victor Cruz

In a game I couldn't believe I was watching, Victor Cruz just tore his patellar tendon going up to catch what would have been a TD had he not been overcome by agony.   I love this player and wish him all the best for an easy and fluid return next season.   The Giants are getting blown out, and that's one loss, but this is a far greater loss, and it's hard to see our heroes in tears.   God bless #80 now and always.

We'll talk about implications tomorrow.  Or Tuesday.

Rangers Tonight

Would have written this earlier, but I've been waiting to see if their were lineup changes beyond Hank being back in goal.   They haven't announced anything yet, so here we go, anyway.

The Rangers have only scored 5 goals through 2 games.   Rick Nash has three of them, which is great, but only 2 other guys have scored one, that's horrible.  As I mentioned last night, St. Louis has devolved into a miss the net guy or hit the goalie only guy.  That's got to change.   He's useless if he's not scoring.

The other big problem has been the Brassard line.   He and Zucc were borderline awesome last year, and now, something seems wrong with Brass's hands or timing or both, and Zucc has only shown his ability to take punishment.   They've got to start producing regardless of who the third guy is.

The kids like Duclair, Miller and Fast are getting close to breaking through.   The Rangers really need that too happen, because the problem has trickled down to the youngsters.

I expect a better effort tonight.   If not, it might be time to start talking Hangover.

UPDATE:  Kevin Hayes will play.  Don't yet know who will sit so he can.  AV also said their might be more changes.

Giants Tonight

I understand some have deplored or felt jinxed by the war of words and media between the Eagles and the Giants during the run up to tonight's game - not me. I think it's been kind of fun, and I bet NBC loves it for their Sunday Night ratings.

Looks like Beason will be back.  That's huge news for the D.  And his presence, like that of Antonio Pierce before him,  serves to help the DL, who have been playing better and better lately.   I think it's massively important that the Giants not let the Eagle running game finally get off tonight, and a large part of keeping that bottled falls to emerging star Johnathan Hankins.   We finally have a DT we may have to give a second contract to.   He's been strong at the point and quicker than a guy his size should ever be laterally.   And he's got a pass rush move or two.   Nice to have him.

JPP was at the center of this week's media maelstrom, and it will be interesting to see how he reacts.   The Eagles might come to regret it.

And of course, the Eagles also targeted Eli.  I know that wasn't a good idea.  He's sneaky competitive.  But, in the meantime, the OL has been challenged and they need to keep Eli safe and upright, and eliminate the possibility of cheap shots against, him, as we've seen in the Eagles indulge in in previous games.

Here's a prediction:  I think they'll try to get the ball to Odell Beckham Jr. on an end around, a direct snap or a toss play.   With Andre Williams starting, they'll want to vary what they do on the ground a bit, to give him a respite and the Eagles a different look.  So I think that will happen.  Hope he scores when it does.   Hope he scores at least 3 tonight:)

Let's go, Giants!

This Week on the Blog

Big week on the blog, with all 4 teams active to one degree or another.

Giants: First things first, they have a kick the crap out of the Eagles.  They should be getting Beason back and the defense is always more coherent when he's running it.   Hopefully they won't miss Jennings too much, and can get the big plays they'll need from Andre Williams, Odell Beckham Jr. and the other playmakers.

Rangers:  And they, in turn, need to start winning again immediately.  Toronto also lost 5-2 tonight, so they'll be sore when they arrive at MSG for the game. It's important to get that compete level that we liked so much back where it was on Thursday.  This is the first big chance for Captain McD to lead.   Also, this week, we may see them make a little move for another defender.   It was a little ugly on the back end tonight as the continuity seemed lost.

Knicks:  They're keep playing preseason games and learning the new offense.  At some point they'll start making cuts.  Meanwhile, there will be lots more articles about JR Smith.

Yankees: The Yanks were holding off on their organizational meetings while Cashman's new deal was in flux.   They'll probably start them this week, and could even do it with more firings.   We might even get some sense of what they intend to do with DRob, and to address all of the other holes.

Should be interesting, and, as always, I hope you have a great one.

Rangers Get Humiliated in Game 2

The only two Rangers who played even decently tonight were Duclair who assisted on both Ranger goals and Lee Stempniak who had a goal and some positive plays.  Nash scored the other goal, but he was not aggressive enough tonight.  What's more, I still can't believe we gave up 2 #1's for old Martin St. Louis.  Look, I like him, but he misses so many good setups it's absurd.  He should have 3 goals already, and instead he has none, and he can't win face-offs, though he's only playing C because he's a team guy and Stepan is hurt.

The Brassard line has been crap so far.   JT Miller had a puck bounce off his skate and become a Columbus goal.   Kevin Klein was horrible.  Staal was awful, too.   The refs let Columbus get away with near murder all night and Talbot looked less than average.   Just a brutal loss after a good win the other night.   Oh, and they didn't use their speed advantage against the forecheck and thus were getting trapped in their own end all night.   Just a terrible game for the Rangers.