This Week on the Blog
Giants: The Giants should beat New Orleans, except they almost never win down there, and tomorrow is All Saints Day. Still, the Giants should prevail, though, they rarely do what they they should do, and there is literally no excuse for heading back to .500.
Rangers: The Rangers continue to win with minimal contributions from their big guns. This week we discovered that McDonagh's foot injury was worse than we thought and he may not be 100% at any time this year. What's more the team's passing and shooting is abysmal so far, and they just aren't shooting enough. But, getting points for every game is the best way to stay in it while you're figuring things out, and they're sure doing that, even if it is hard to watch.
Yankees: The Yanks need to make room for Gary Sanchez, who is mashing up the AFL. He's a rare talent and if Girardi doesn't think he's a fit at C, then it really is time to force his hand. Gary could be another Posada, and the Yanks tend to win a lot when they have C's like that. I think they really have to get rid of McCann, who's basically been declining since well before they signed him. We'll see what happens. They also have to find a way to get Ben Gamel on the 40 or trade him for something good, because he will be the first or second pick in the Rule 5 draft if he isn't protected or exchanged.
Knicks: The Knicks play again in an hour, and through two, they are fun to watch. It's a work in progress, but this team probably could roll at some point. They also did something interesting today, and that was, they drafted Jimmer Fredette with the #2 overall pick in the D-League draft. Using that valuable a pick on Jimmer means they probably have a long term tryout agreement with him. I think he'll be a fit on the second team, once Grant or Galloway or both graduate. And this probably is the beginining of the end game for Calderon.
So, go teams, and have a great week everyone!
posted by Kalel9 @ 3:09 PM
15 Comments:
Calderon will get the entire front line in foul trouble. V
Calderon is getting some bad foull calls against him because his defense is awkward.
Last year, the people who think Cashman is a top GM praised him for attempting to emulate KC's model of success by assembling a deep high-end pen.
This year, KC is showing that the real key to their success is an offense built around high-end, youngish contact hitters who grind, similar to the Yankee's offense of the '90s that Stick built and Torre and Cashman rode.
The question is: will Cashman now emulate that offense in his roster construction rather than rely on the one-dimensional big hairy monsters who he has extolled and pursued over the last five or so years?
Refs is a contact hitter who grinds, as is Bird, as are a number of their prospects.
No one wants to watch their aging shit anymore, and the Mets' young core will offer significant competition for the finite discretionary sports spending.
Let's see what Cashmnan does. He has been here too long to escape responsibility for the direction they choose.
I wish Sanchez could manage a staff as well as Posada.In no way is Gary in Po's league. Moving him while he has value would be best for both parties IMO. Hello Gordon,Lets talk....
There were multiple stories in the media until about 2000 "reporting" about how the pitchers hated throwing to Posada.
You DO NOT trade young, cost-controlled impact bats in the post-PED amphetamine era, and another full season of McCann't would suck.
No Beason. Rinse. Repeat.
Those reports never really stopped. Remember Randy Johnson? Wasn't there at least one more high-profile pitcher that had his own catcher?
It's way too soon to give up on Sanchez in terms of his handling of pitching staffs, but I would be OK trading Sanchez *depending on the return.* If the return is a young impact bat, then that works. If it's for a pitcher, even a good, proven one, it will show this team has not learned its lesson RE: what LINJ was talking about with hitting.
I don't follow the Giants closely, but I do know the Saints are BAD. So my question to y'all is, should they blow the team up?
You don't blow up a team in the NFL because well-run teams are continually adding young talent in the draft. Their failure to draft well is the primary cause of their predicament. So Reese or a new GM just has to draft better.
I might write something about this tomorrow, but the team is currently 4-4, and arguably could be 6-1 one if games, including today's had not included bad calls, like today when the face mask was called on the Giants, but not on the Saints on the very same play. Or when they missed the PI on Randle when he didn't catch the ball down the sideline.
Also, the Giants have been missing JPP and Beatty all year. That's a 1 and 2. And for the past few weeks they've been missing Prince, and that's another 1. All year they've been missing Cruz, and UDFA super pickup.
Anyway, they are .500 and expect to get those guys back, and that's a lot of talent on the come. We'll see how this season ends up. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if they made a trade or two for health at the deadline.
I think they lack quality depth in important areas because of many years of bad drafting beyond the first two rounds, and it is almost amazing that the poor OL decisions haven't gotten Eli killed.
Met fans will understandably be disappointed, and TBH, I am not unhappy about KC winning, but barring injuries they will be the best beam in NY until the Yankees get rid of or stop playing old players, and return to following Stick's model of roster construction that the Royals have successfully implemented.
They have the young pieces. What will they do with them?
Anyone who thinks pitching wins is clueless.
It is, and has always been balance, featuring an offense that grinds and hits to all fields.
As an aside, although I would see if he can play 3B, I am not sure that Ackley is a grinder.
This over-emphasis on pitching the Yankees have employed has certainly been a head-scratcher. Not that they don't need good pitching, mind you, but given the fragile nature of the art — especially when you consider the overuse of youth pitchers here in America, as well as the Japanese pitchers being driven into the ground before coming over to MLB — it's high time they realize their bread-and-butter needs to be offense.
And not just offense, but offense that isn't one-dimensional. For several years following the 2009 championship, it seemed like the Yankees became more of a "home run or bust" offense, until they stopped hitting well altogether.
@AndrewMarchand: I could see Ben Zobrist being a Yankee target. I can also see him being very popular this winter.
If they sign Zobrist they are fucking stupid.
As I've said most of these writers are the stupidest people who call radio talk shows.
As far as the pitching wins nonsense, Jeter used to say that repeatedly, but as Phil said once upon a time, Jeter was used to playing with a great offense so he took it for granted.
JPP! And the "if only Beason was healthy" bullshir meme may be finally over.
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