A Month of Fundays

A New York Yankees, Giants, Knicks, Rangers and other stuff blog.


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Saturday, February 04, 2017

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!


28 Comments:

At 5:49 AM, Blogger Rich said...

Porzingis is not playing well, and hasn't shot well all season. It's a step back year.

Hermangomez is the bright spot of the season.

I think not keeping JPP and Hankins would undue much of this past season's progress.

With the Yankees, less is more. Stand pat on big moves for a while. As much as I don't like Cashman and Hal's comments about off the field issues this past week, they are doing more things right on the field over the past year than the other NY teams. Low bar, yes, but true.

 
At 7:30 PM, Blogger Lawyer in NJ said...

Sad.

 
At 10:55 AM, Anonymous yankyfan said...

Yanks looking at Chris Carter and Travis Wood.

 
At 12:09 PM, Anonymous yankyfan said...

Done deal.

Carter a Yankee.. 1 year 3M

 
At 12:19 PM, Blogger Mike in Mississippi said...

Awful. One or more of Judge, Bird, Austin will lose at-bats to a guy who doesn't get on base (as if they didn't have enough of those types). They never learn.

 
At 12:26 PM, Blogger Rich said...

Yeah, I don't see how it furthers the youth movement, and as awful as he is defensively, Girardi is going to put him in the field?

Do they have a trade for Austin planned?

 
At 12:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This kind of sums it up:

@NeilKeefe
Chris Carter will hit bunch of HR, K a lot, not get on base much and take playing time away from the future of the team. Yankees baseball.

-Mike K. at work

 
At 1:53 PM, Blogger Rich said...

And he's not important enough to motivate them to depart from playlist kids. It's just weird.

 
At 2:10 PM, Blogger Rich said...

To give them the benefit of the doubt, for this move to make any sense, Gardner has to be traded in Holliday has to play the outfield until Frazier is ready.

 
At 2:18 PM, Blogger Rich said...

To be fair though, in comparison to what Phil Jackson is doing with Melo, publicly running down the value of an asset he seemingly wants to move, this signing is pedestrian.

 
At 8:11 AM, Blogger TB said...

I'm against signing free agents to take away playing time from our youth but don't see how the Carter signing hurts too bad. He's insurance behind Bird, late inning HR bat off the bench, spell OF for rest, provides RH power which has/will be an issue. IMO if a young player is NOT starting, they'd be better playing everyday in the minors, bench players should be older veteran types and/or specialized players(speed/power) of which he fits. He only costs $3,5 for one year so is he doesn't work out, "waive" goodbye.

 
At 11:25 AM, Blogger Rich said...

Look how long it took him to wave goodbye to Roberts.

I think it's because he likely would take AB away from Austin and I don't see how that makes sense:
http://nypost.com/2017/02/08/how-yankees-decided-this-was-best-way-to-spend-last-dollars/

 
At 11:28 AM, Blogger Rich said...

It's not a major move, it's just indicative of the regrettable reality that they have trouble embracing rebuilding. It's a New York disease that can prevent championships.

 
At 3:07 PM, Blogger Rich said...

Castro is available. They can prove me wrong by getting something of value for him, but the trade never made sense because he lacks patience and his contract is large:

http://riveraveblues.com/2017/02/sherman-the-yankees-have-let-some-clubs-know-starlin-castro-is-available-149550/

 
At 6:31 PM, Blogger Mike in Mississippi said...

So, Knicks fans, Charles Oakley vs. Dolan, who you got?

 
At 6:34 PM, Blogger Rich said...

What's the backstory?

 
At 6:52 PM, Blogger Rich said...

OK, having read about it now, whatever the merits of Oakley's case against Dolan is, you have no right to invade somebody space, particularly in a building they own. Oakley is different than most of us in that he can probably drop $100 grand on legal fees, if necessary, and it's nothing. He needs to realize that he has a public forum to air his grievances, and whether he likes it or not, that's enough.

 
At 7:33 PM, Blogger Rich said...

I see people are loving it, but most of us, including myself sometimes, have different rules depending upon whether or not we like or dislike a target.

 
At 2:25 AM, Blogger Rich said...

It is just so sad that the franchise that was the central interest of my youth (the NYY and NYG sucked), has become such a pathetic spectacle on and now off the court. There are many people responsible, going back to the day Riley was allowed to leave after having made what in retrospect was a reasonable offer that was rejected by ownership in favor of retaining Checketts.

There is no quick fix, but the Commissioner needs to get the ball rolling, similar to the way saved the pathetic NYG were saved from the Mara's in '79.

 
At 3:27 AM, Blogger Michael said...

Lawyer great post about the Knicks! I agree enough is enough they are a joke. Question his much will Stern push the issue? No matter what anyone says Stern still has pull within in the association. Silver can prove me wrong, The jury is still out for me.

 
At 9:00 AM, Blogger TB said...

Lawyer, if Austin can't win a starting job out of Spring Training, he'd be better off getting AB's everyday in the minors. Holiday is the FT DH, if Bird bombs, Austin has a chance, otherwise I don't see a space for him without injury.

The Commissioner tried to save the Knicks once but Dolan dumped Donnie Walsh just when he cleaned up the years of mess the puppets/Thomas created. I think the Knicks actually have great scouts and find talent, the problem is they rarely get picks to make.

 
At 10:45 AM, Blogger Rich said...

lion

If they believe in the kid's ability, why should a short sample determine where he plays? A vet is much more likely to have a good spring training then a kid, who should really just be worrying about getting better not necessarily the results.

I was not very impressed with Walsh's job here. His drafts were largely underwhelming, passing on Lopez and DeRozan.

 
At 4:06 PM, Blogger Rich said...

Given that we live in a time when branding is everything *cough*. The Knicks' brand is so toxic now they might as well blow everything up and change their name.

 
At 6:16 AM, Blogger Rich said...

Speaks of branding, Kushner's family is part is part of a group that has a handshake deal to buy the Marlins. Does MLB really want a connection to that shit? On the bright side, maybe they would hire away Levine's duplicitous ass.

 
At 2:17 PM, Blogger Mike in Mississippi said...

So, I complain about Yankees management at times like anyone, but reading TV critic Alan Sepinwall Twitter feed has opened my eyes to how bad Knicks fans have it. Wow.

 
At 4:05 PM, Blogger Rich said...

It is very hard to win in the NBA because so few players dominate the sport. So you have to be smart and lucky...and patient.

 
At 11:18 AM, Blogger Rich said...

Of course, that doesn't explain less than zero effort on defense.

 
At 1:42 PM, Blogger Rich said...

Dolan as transparent Farce:

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18672485/latrell-sprewell-sits-new-york-knicks-owner-james-dolan-game-sunday
http://es.pn/2lyHfae

 

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