Giants Tag JPP, Again

The Giants have just franchised JPP for the second year in a row.  Hopefully, this will keep other teams out of the mix while they work out a longer term contract.  They may want to make some of the other available cuts as this move basically cuts their cap space in half.

This Week on the Blog

At least the Yanks are back and the kids look good. This coming week could be big for all of our teams, but the Knicks. Let's take a look.

Rangers: The trade deadline is Tuesday, things are already heating up around the league.  Ben Bishop has been traded to the Kings, and the Duke has been traded with others to the Pens. The Rangers will probably trade for defense, but it will probably be painful.  Their previous trades have left them short of prospects, thus they might have to give up one of their terrific young forwards.   We'll see.  They are losing to the Blue Jackets right now, but after the game things could start to move.

Yanks: The Yanks are 2-1 in the preseason, and Mitchell, Warren and Severino all had scoreless two inning starts. Judge and Higgy have hit bombs, and Billy McKinney has too.  It would be nice if he finally popped this year.  Sanchez has once again shown his lethal arm, and Gleyber Torres looked Jeterian in his youthful wisdom.  Frazier's had a triple and hasn't been getting cheated.

Giants: The Giants will be at the combine this week, but will probably still be working on re-signing JPP and Hankins.  For a playoff team, they're needs are surprisingly many, but also crystal clear.  OL, possibly DL, WR, TE, RB, LB.  And they will probably add DB's.  So they're going to have to be active in FA as well as the Draft.  I don't see them making any trades, but you never know.

Knicks: They passed at the deadline, and then KP ended up in a walking boot.  Next big day for them is probably the lottery.

Alright, let's hope for savvy trades by the Rangers, health for the Yanks, and luck for the Giants and Knicks.

Have a great one guys.  Will definitely update when the Ranger do whatever they're gonna do, and if Gleyber keeps going nuts, or the Giants re-sign someone.

Knicks Stand Pat at the Deadline

The Knicks, today, recommited themselves to wasting the second season of KP's development with a no-pass point guard.  Apparently, they walked away from a Rose for Rubio deal when the TWolves wouldn't sweeten the pot. Not only that, but they failed to add any other assets so they'll have to try again in June.  The best remaining thing that could happen would be for them to continue to lose then get lucky in the lottery - where they will almost be forced to pick or reach for a PG who might be inclined to pass the ball  to KP and Willy. Suboptimal.

This Week on the Blog

Sorry this is a little late, google decided to keep logging me out for the past few days.  Anyway this could be an interesting week, so let's dive right in.

Knicks: The deadline is Thursday, and there's still buzz around Rose to Memphis and maybe Melo to Boston or elsewhere.  People think Melo wants to stay, but I've never seen him make any such decision while leaving money on the table, and his trade kicker is money I do not see him passing up.  So we'll see. I could also see O'Quinn heading off, and he'd better bring back a good price, that player at that money is value.

Yanks:  The Yanks signed Jon Niese to a minor league deal, with a full value of 2M if he makes the team before the deadline.  And one of the reporters tweeted that Gleyber Torres is turning heads.  And that's how it always starts. And of course, Levine opened his big trap again, so we might have to trade Dellin at the deadline, wish we could just waive Levine.

Rangers:  They did a no show against the Islanders which ended their 6 game win streak, then beat Washington in a tight one yesterday.  They still might go for defense at the deadline, but I think it will be difficult to pull off without giving up Buch or a 1 or some other odious price.

Giants:  The Giants are getting ready for the combine, and probably tring to lock up Hankins and JPP. They can always make more cap room with some other moves.

So there it is, big week for the Knicks, and maybe the Rangers, and health luck and intetelligence neeeded for the Yanks and Giants.  Have a great week everyone.

Giants Save Cap Space by Releasing Victor Cruz

The Giants today gained about 10M in cap room by releasing Victor Cruz and Brandon Jennings.  They were already in decent cap shape, but these were moves they had to make if they want to keep the DL together.  Both guys were over 30, but were also great in the room, and Cruz, especially, set an example of how to go about one's business in rehab.  Like Hakeem Nicks before him, Cruz was a great Giant and one of their best ever receivers when healthy.  Smith and Manningham also had brief primes due to injuries.  I wish him well.

The Giants also reported they wouldn't be bringing back Donnell. Phew.

The Giants can, probably create more space by cutting Vereen and JT Thomas, but it makes no sense to show JPP or Hank's agent a bigger FA pool than they'd be comfortable giving them.

This Week on the Blog

Last week was a good one for the Rangers, who go for their 6th win in a row tonight.  It was a surreal week for the Knicks, who actually started this week by beating the Spurs.  The Yanks added a seemingly extra bat, and the Giants extended Spags. This week should be better...

Yanks: Pitchers and catchers are due in Tampa tomorrow, though it seems like most of them are already there. The Chris Carter signing was curious, but the price was right.  Having said that, it's almost certain that Girardi will give him too many ab's, and that could stymie the needed youth movement.  Cashman also intimated that the Yanks believe the trouble with Aaron Hill last year was that he didn't play enough... yeesh.  Let's hope the kids are undeniable and remove the Carter and Hill questions from the equation.

Rangers: The Rangers go for their 6th straight win today against Columbus.  Now that they have most of this forwards back, the Rangers can be overwhelming.  Having said that, the defense is capable of giving up a goal at any time. The deadline is approaching and they Rangers will probably end up having to overpay for D.  I can easily see this group of F's making them feel like going "all in."

Knicks: Dolan is nuts. Phil Jackson may have also gone nuts.  But, when the Knicks finally started Willy and KP at the same time yesterday, they beat the Spurs and held them to 90 points.  As long as Melo and Rose are on the team it will slow the kids' and O'Quinn's development.  We'll see what happens at the deadline.

Giants:  The Giants wisely extended Spags, who proved last year that the game had not passed him by.  The Giants still have a lot of needs for a playoff team, so they have to really figure out their cap and make sure they can keep the strong DL, fix the OL (6 years!), improve the LB's and offensive skill positions.  A lot will have to go right for the Giants to do everything they need to this offseason.

Have a great week, guys!

This Week on the Blog

Sorry I was off for a week.  Anyway, it wasn't much of one.  Knicks lost another heartbreaker and trade talks seemed to heat up.  Rangers are slowly rounding into for, and neither the Giants or Yanks did anything of note.  Let's take a look.

Rangers:  The Rangers inexplicably extended AV earlier this week. If there was any advantage to having done so, it's impossible to identify at this point.  He's been a study in diminishing returns, and that's after not getting the job done when they went to the finals.   The Rangers themselves still seem to be looking for that puck moving defenseman and made a call on Shattenkirk, who wants to be a Ranger.  Not sure it would make sense from a cost perspective, but a great passing puck moving D would be even more productive with this years crew of F's than Yandle was with last year's, and that could tip the whole season.  So let's hope they can make a good deal on someone.

Knicks: Willy Hernangomez is a keeper.  We've known this, but his offensive game is already impressive and he does seem willing to learn D.  And he's cheap for three more years.  That's why he must not become a Mozgov in any deals the Knicks might facilitate to get rid of Melo or Rose. And if O'Quinn is one, then the Knicks better be getting a first round pick. NBA trade rules have been convoluted since they introduced the salary cap. and the Knicks can't mortgage more future or throw more babies out with the bathwater if they sell.

Giants: The Giants haven't made moves on their staff, nor given any hint of their offseason plan.  It will take all phases of the offseaso to FA, Draft, UDFA and cuts to address their issues, especially if they lose JPP or Hankins or both.

Yanks: Pitchers and Catchers report in 9 days.  Remember, the ARod deal didn't happen till Valentine's Day, so we have to keep our guard up against a costly move for a starting pitcher.

Have a great week, everyone!