This Week on the Blog

It was a really mixed week.  Yanks lost Kap, but that was all they lost. Rangers won game one, then lost game two over a coaching error.  The Giants lost Hankins, and gained cap room.  And the Knicks, officially stopped playing, but hadn't played much before that.   Big week coming up for the Rangers, and an interesting one for the other teams.  Let's have a look.

Yanks: Severino and Pineda were spectacular, and Jordan Montgomery was very encouraging.  CC is defying time and injuries, and Matsui is still figuring it out. Not bad. Losing Kap was a blow, and yesterday, Dietrich Enns was shut down with "a back."  Still, I don't think Chance Adams has given up a run yet in AA and he could move to AAA to replace Enns (who was also dominating). Ian Clarkin is putting himself back on the map in Tampa, and Albery Abreu is looking like a super destroyer for Charleston. The two big guys, Domingo Acevedo and Fiercer Perez haven't found their grooves yet.  The hitters have been mixed, but Trey Amburgey is alreay bouncing back from an injury prone `16. The win streak is at 6, and let's see how long they can run it.

By the way, Mongomery reminds me more of Boomer Wells than of Andy Pettitte.

Rangers: McDonagh and a surprising Girardi are playing well on D, and so are Smith and Skjei.  So who does AV play in the final minute of a game two with a one goal lead?  Staal and Holden, who have not been playing well. I really cannot believe we extended this coach. I guess Dolan is just so impressed by any team that can consistently make the playoffs, he's will to reward all involved. They need to win today.

Giants: The Giants lost Hankins to the Colts, and this could actually get them a comp pick next year, since the biggest salaries they've been giving have to cut players rather than UFA's this year.  Either that or the league will just give the Eagles an extra one for our loss of Hankins.  They might have to look for his replacement in the draft, which is finally less than two weeks away.  Btw, have you noticed how they never second contract DT's?  This is going back, at least until Cornelius Griffin, but includes Cofield, Linval Joseph and now Hankins. The upshot is extra cap space for right now and they might think about extending Pugh.

Knicks: Ugh. Not only did they leave themselves at the mercy of a coinflip by finally playing hard down the stretch, but the other day, Phil Jackson piped up. Frankly, I just view that as noise.  He did it to Kobe and Shaq, so it doesn't surprise me that he did it to Melo.  I was sort of surprised when Melo wasn't traded at the deadline, but it's also possible he turned something down the Phil would have liked.  Who knows?  It'll happen now, because Melo has a trade kicker in his contract, and he NEVER turns down more money. Which begs the question: what does he charge for giving consistent effort on D?  Of greater concern is the fact that Kristaps Porzingis blew off his exit interview.  If Phil Jackson has one job right now, it's to get that kid back in the canoe.  They have a really big chance to improve this summer, but it all starts with Kristaps, who should be made captain.

So that's where we are.  Have a great week!