Giants Draft Review

Saturday the Giants wrapped up the first draft of the Dave Gettlemen Era, and added value at all 6 of their draft spots.  Only problem was, they were doing so good, you'd wish they had more picks.  Of course, that wasn't a particular problem, because this year there was a pretty weak draft pool. Overall, they picked second in all but the 4th round, where the Ogletree caused them to flip from 2 to 8, but they still got their guy. Let's review:

First Round: The Giants take Saquon Barkley, the best runner, receiver, returner and player in this draft class.  Just like 1981. The Giants made Eli's life easier, OBJ's life easier, the OL better and the defenses life easier with one pick.  Some people wanted the Giants to gamble on one of the 4 elevated QB prospects in this draft, but they had a much better plan.

Second Round: After worrying all night that their guy, Will Hernandez, would be gone by 34.  They lucked out and he wasn't.  Hernandez was the second best G in this draft, behind Nelson, who might as well get fitted for his gold jacket.  He lasted till number 6.  Hernandez ended up going in the exact same spot that the Giants took Chris Snee. I believe they both ran 5.15 40s at the combine and have benched the tri-state aread. Hernandez will probably play of the left side (Snee played on the right side).  What's more, Hernandez and not Solder will be provide the new identity to the OL, which will now be headed moving in the right direction for the first time in years.

Third Round: A lot of us wanted the Giants to wrap up the OL with a tackle pick here, but it sure seems like their last tackle prospect went off the board and here's why.  The Giants had two tightly packed picks at the tip of round three, with the first being pass rush freak Lorenzo Carter. Later when summarizing, Gettlemen admitted that he had tried to trade up for Carter.  And I could only see this happening if the OL they had above Carter on their board had been picked.  Anyway, they got the kind of freak Boettcher has turned into stars.  After taking Carter, the Giants went back to planet theory and took flexible nose DT BJ Hill from the stacked NC State D-Line. He reminds everyone of Linval Joseph. Boettcher must have loved this.

Fourth Round:  The Giants surprised a lot of their fans as well as mortifying Patriot Nation, by selecting Senior Bowl MVP Kyle Lauletta. This is Shurmur's boy. After watching him outplay Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen at the Senior Bowl, he sent Shula out to California to watch Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen, and didn't watch them till they visited.  Lauletta also visited, where he no doubt rocked the white board. This morning Shurmur said Lauletta has West Coast feet.  This is just his guy and we have to defer to him.  By the way, he can strengthen his throwing arm, but I hope it doesn't slow down his super quick release.  I think he's going to get a chance to become the next Giant QB.

Round Five: With no other, OL's or CB's left, the Giants went back to another strength of the draft, DT, and took RJ McIntosh, a flexible passrush DT from Miami whould could be an end in the 3-4 and add to the waves and waves of passrushers that have always been a feature of the very best Giant D's. McIntosh probably would have gone higher had he not battled a thyroid condition during the all-star and testing processes.  Another pick with which Boettcher can add ferocity to the rotation. Nice.

This was just a really great draft top to bottom, where value trumped need and the Giants were able to honor their board.

They still have other areas to fortify with either band-aids for the coming season or long term solves. But they maxed their 6 picks, without reaching for a QB who should have stayed in school.

This Week on the Blog

That was some week.  Yanks are gaining traction under Boone.   Giants had a great draft.  The Rangers got screwed in the NHL Lottery for the 47 millionth time, and the Knicks kept expanding their coaching search, beyond Europe to Juwon Howard.  Okay, let's take a look at this week.

Yankees:  Yanks have won 8 straight, and they're still not firing on all cylinders.  Out of the extreme weather conditions of the first several series, the starters have been better - except for Sonny Gray. And he's not the only issue that's coming to a head. Brandon Drury's better and playing down in AAA.  But he's not better than Miguel Andujar, and that's the issue. The firm of Miggy&Gleyber has tightened up the 8 and 9 spots in the batting order and will both move higher soon.  Miggy hits like a younger version of Gary Sanchez, and Gleyber is a time traveller from the 1930's, who after getting knocked down by a pitch last night, dusted himself off, and lined a single on the next pitch.  These kids shouldn't be going anywhere, and they shouldn't be sharing positions with Brandon Drury. Nothing against, Brandon, but he's Pipped.

Giants: The Giants just had their best draft in forever. That's probably because they had the second pick in all but the 4th round where they had the 8th pick.  They still managed to get the best player in the draft, the second best guard in the draft, three passrushers, and another candidate for quarterback of the future. Not bad. Here's the bet they made as far as QB's go: they'd rather pay a huge salary to a guy that can get on the field from day one, than pay a #2 overall salary to a guy who will not play for a year or two.  There is a need for QB in the future, so they spent another mid round pick on the intriguing Kyle Lauletta.  Added bonus: the Patriots wanted him, and traded out of the 4th as soon as the Giants took him off the board.  Extra-added bonus Patriot Nation is now upset with the Giants again.

Since the draft, the Giants have been signing UDFA's, and we could see some more turnover at the bottom of the roster up to and through the rookie mini-camp.

Btw, I don't think Shurmur will ever want to run a 3 day full team camp into the draft again.  He looked cashed through most of the weekend.

Rangers: The Rangers got screwed at the lottery again and fell from 8 to nine, through the backstage magic of whatever that "random" process is. It's doubly bad, because the Rangers have 3 first round picks, and they should make them all.  But the Rangers also have a need for elite talent, and that required lottery luck, or will now require trading picks and or players to move up.  And I'm pretty sure they will.  It won't be efficient.  And their undercover coaching search moves on.

Knicks: Just when it looked like the Knicks were close to making a hire, they added Juwan Howard to their search.  Who knows when that interview will take place or if it has.  I'm starting to think that Mills and Perry are talking to so many different candidates is to get ideas.  Hopefully this wraps up soon.  They have three candidates that could work in Stack, Bud and Larranaga.  Pick one.  And let's wish the Knicks some lottery luck.

So there we are.  Have a great week!

NHL Lottery Tonight

Don't know if you are praying folks or have other spiritual tools.  But let's wish the Rangers all the luck tonight.  It would be great to move from 8-1 or even from 8-top 3, because they could stay at 2 or three and get a great player or make the move for #1 and get Rasmus.

Giants Take DT RJ McIntosh

Okay, this kid in 6'4" 285, and is probably a DE in the 3-4 instead of DT, but he has a terrific first step and could be a load knifing into the backfield in Bettcher's aggressive scheme.  Disruptive.  Loading up on passrushers, always a good idea.  This is the Giants last scheduled pick, though they might trade back in.  Good stuff.  UDFA time.

Giants Take QB Kyle Lauletta

The Giants just took a QB.  Lauletta is a really smart guy who was the MVP of the Super Bowl.  This is actually a brilliant move, as it will create competition behind Eli for the next couple of years. Plus, it's better than muddying the waters with another veteran signing. Webb has a more powerful arm, though he might have a more powerful arm than everyone.  Lauletta has  a heart and a brain, like Webb. Their competition should make them both better.  Financially, this is much better than spending a 1 on a kid who will not play.  They both get a year or two with a QB whiperer, and who knows what will happen.

Giant Draft Day 3

Through the first two days of the draft the Giants have collected two athletic freaks, in Barkley and Carter, and two surprisinging athletic big men in Hernandez and Hill. Nice stuff and the advantage of having high picks in each of the first three rounds.

So what about Day 3?  The Giants only have 2 picks going into today, unless they trade Ereck Flowers or something. Ideally, they'll find someone who can be developed into an above average RT, and maybe a CB or Safety.  The advantatge of finishing early on Day 3 is they can immediately start calling their UDFA targets and if their scouts have done good work, they'll find more gems.  The UDFA period is generally more fun than rounds 6 and 7 anyway, so let's have a great day.

Giants Take DT BJ Hill at 69

Hill is most likely a nose in our new 3-4, but Mayock says he's the same guy as former Giant Linval Joseph.  If that's the case, sign me up.  DG is saying he's instinctive and smart, and you have to stop the run, as well as you start the run on the other side.  Another big body for the rotation. He was 6'3" 311 at the combine, so he might be good for some strongside DE in the 3-4 as well.

Giants Take DE/LB Lorenzo Carter at 66

The Giants just took freaky tweener Lorenzo Carter who will play OOLB in their new 3-4.  He might need to add strength, as most rookies do, but we used to collect these guys and have often done well with them. Should provide pass rush.  He's 6'4" 250 right now and runs a 4.5!

Giants Take UTEP's Will Hernandez!

The Giants not only got the Hog-Molly they wanted they got the one they needed in UTEP's 6'2.5" 340 pound mean bastard Will Hernandez!  This is thrilling for us, and thrilling for Saquon.  This guy run block like a monster and is a decent pass blocker for a guard.  That's what Snee was when we got him, and he'll get coached up, like all guards do, in the passig game, but he's not primitive there.  This is a GREAT PICK.

Giants Draft Day 2

Okay, so the Giants are heading into day 2 where they have the second pick of the second round and the second and fifth pick of the third round.  They should be able to go a long way toward finally fixing the OL today, and maybe add a passrusher or DB.  Saquon Barkley has already massively improved this team's roster, but to max out his chances as well as Eli's, Odell's, Evan's and Sterling's, we've got to fix that OL.  Two picks today, or they better show us why not first thing tomorrow.  Go Giants!

A Generational Talent

Shurmur and Gettleman are giddy and here's why.

Saquon Barkley is a Giant!

Just like last time the Giants have the #2 pick in a draft, the Giants just got the best player in this draft!   I'm over the moon as this has been my guy the whole time.  Now we have to finish fixing the OL.  Welcome to the Saquon and Odell Show!

The Sanchino!

The question now becomes, how are any of these MVP type Yanks ever gonna get enough votes to win it.  Holy crap what a great comeback win.  As you know the Yanks were being no-hit into the sixth and the Twins three runs seemed somewhat insurmountable.  But Stanton doubled then scored to make it a two run game in the 7th, then Didi and Stanton got infield singles to start the 9th, the Gary walked us off with an explosive blast.  I'm taking this as a sign that the Giants will have a great draft.  Also, that the Yanks will keep getting better and better!

Giants Start Mini-Camp

Here we go with the Shurmur Era.  This morning it was revealed that the Giants have been engaged in Ereck Flowers trade talks.  Couldn't hut.  Still need to find a right tackle, unless Wheeler took advantage of his year in and NFL weightroom.  But let's talk a little bit about Shurmur and this class of QB's. Shurmur comes to the Giants with a well earned reputation as a QB whiz. Before you get to excited, Fassel did, too.  Anyway, you might reasonably think that, knowing Eli can't play forever, even with a rebuilt line, that Shurmur would be allowed to pick his guy.  Shurmur has talked about what he wants in a QB, and I guess if there is someone like that there at 2, it would be understandable for the Giants to go for it.   I'd rather do something else, because I'm not crazy about these QB's, and think the more intriguing guys are outside that top 4 group of Allen, Rosen, Mayfield and Darnold.

Of those, I favor Darnold, who I saw lots at USC, but was better as a Sophomore than as a junior, though might really benefit from spending a year or more learning behind Eli.

Rosen has the concussion issue, but a great arm, and with his tennis background, should be more mobile in the pocket than he is.  If the medicals are clean or comparable to everyone else's, he could be a great project for Shurmur.

Allen is the best athlete of the bunch and has the biggest arm with the best velo (like Davis Webb).  However; Allen's completion % was below 60% and who knows if even a QB whisperer like Shurmur could fix that.

Finally, there is Baker Mayfield, who is just 6' but has big hands and good velocity.  He's also quick in the pocket and good at finding his windows.  That said, he has alreay lost a QB competition to Davis Webb so who knows what the Giants think of him.

Anyway, it seems like Sam Darnold is the cleanest of these guys but I'm sort of expecting him to go to Cleveland at #1.   And I'd still rather have Saquon Barkley than any of these guys.

Yanks Crush the Twins

The Yanks welcomed the Twins back to the Bronx for the first time since last year's wild wild card game. There was great energy, but the Yanks started grinding from the get go, and just put a world class pounding on a pretty good team.  Stanton, who is waking up, was 4-4 with a jack and a walk, Andujar was 2-4 with a double and homer, Didi was 1-5, but it was a Grand Slam.  Judge had two walks and a double. Torres got his first single and scored on the Didi Salami, Gardy had a pair of walks.Tyler Austin had a double and a two run homer.

Oh, and Tanaka pitched one run ball into the 7th.  Green got the third out in the 7th, then sat.  Hale came in and finished the game.

I think this is a preview of what we will see this summer.

UPDATE: After tne game, the Yanks released Hale, and traded for AJ Cole who took over the 40 spot and may not be long for the roster.  The trade was for future considerations or money.

Miguel Gets 4 Hits as Yanks Finally Win a Series

On Gleyber Torres big day, Miguel Andujar continued his coming out party going 4-4 with two RBI doubles.  Torres was 0-4 with, but, and I think importantly, started a double play.  When the Yanks are great they create more DP's on D than expected.  With guys like Castro or Sori playing second that doesn't happen.  With guys like Cano and Randolph it did.  Good sign for Gleyber.

Severino is an ACE, and after starting out hot, then losing it for an inning or two, he finished strong giving the Yanks seven innings of one run ball. His ERA is down to 2.32 after blowing up in the Ice Storm in Boston.  Stanton had another tough day, but made two big plays in left.  Huge win and finally a series win,

Yanks Call Up Gleyber Torres

Whatever the timing, the Yanks have called up Glyeber Torres, and the hope here is that he play 2B.   Andujar is getting red hot at third, and neither Tyler Wade nor Walker have hit a lick. Would probably best to waive Walker, but I suspect they'll send down Tyler Wade.  Two other objects on the horizon are Brandon Drury's return and the suspension of Tyler Austin. Tyler's absence might give Andujar a chance at first if they are dead set on giving Drury a chance to win his spot back. Anyway, this is all just logistics,  the Yanks are calling up their best prospect and he's gonna play.

He actually should have made the team out of ST last year, but they were playing service time games.   Then he lost three or four hundred AB's do to his TJS injury playing the infield. Anyway, Gleyber gives them another lethal right handed bat to go along with the collection.  Not sure what his power ceiling is, because it was really coming on when he went down last year.  He thrashed the AFL as a 19 or 20 year old after the trade that brought him to the Yanks.

This is fun, and it could be huge.

This Week on the Blog

Alright, this past week has been more up and down for the Yanks, getting closer for the Giants, and filled with Coaching Interviews for the Knicks and Rangers. This week could be huge - at least for the Giants. Let's take a look.

Giants: The Giants have their bonus mini-camp that is a courtesy to all teams with new coaches, starting Monday.  It wil run right up to the NFL draft where they currently hold the #2 pick. There should be 3 draftable (at least on paper) QB's available at 2.  So the Giants could have their pick of the remainders after Cleveland does whatever it's going to do at 1.  That's why the mini-camp is so important.

Last year, the Giants drafted Davis Webb as a big armed, prospecty kid with the an interesting story.  He started out at Texas Tech, sharing starts with true freshman Baker Mayfield, including starting and winning a bowl game.  The next year he beat out Mayfield and Mahomes to start the first 8 games of the season before an ankle injury ended his season.  Mayfield, who wasn't beating out Webb or Mahomes, transferred to Oklahoma, where he eventunally went off and won the Heisman.  By the time Webb was back, Mahomes had taken the job. So Webb moved onto California after flirting with Colorado, and lit things up.  He then blew out the combine, showing the best velocity on his throws.  Even better than big armed Mahomes.  He's got Kerry Collins size, but is awake and the wheel and has spent his first 12 months as a Giants working his ass off.

This mini-camp is his first chance to show QB Whisperer Shurmur and Son of Don Shula that he can be the future of the franchise.  We may not know what they think till Thursday.

Meanwhile if they do take a QB with the #2 pick, possibly USC Sam Darnold, who was better as a sophomore than as a junior, though that might have been a function of changing teammates, they will have the honor of paying him a huge salary to sit on the bench for a year or two, and having to hold off Davis, who has a better arm. Sub-optimal.

We'll see what happens, but it's a huge week for Webb and the Giants.

Yankees: The Yanks are spinning their wheels through the first 3 weeks of their season.  But at least they are at .500 and not somehwere below that mark.  Help is on the way in the form of Gleyber Torres and Greg Bird, so the offense will get a huge lift, but the pitching is looking like a serious concern.  Sevy is Sevy, but even he has not been his best in the current playing conditions. I do think the extreme cold (for baseball) has played a role in the pitchers ability to warm up and feel their pitches.  That said, I didn't want to keep Rothschild as PC when the rest of the coaching staff was changing, and he hasn't been able to get much done, especially for Sonny Gray, who cost the Yanks a premium prospect package and has pitched like a 6th starter or long reliever.  Sub-optimal.  There are signs that the O is waking up, so that could really help, but the pitching has to improve or we'll have to say goodbye to even more prospects.

The Rangers:  The Rangers are apparently going to sign a Swedish sniper named Lindqvist.  Also, the NHL draft lottery is toward the end of the week and the Rangers have a 6% chance of moving up to number one and a better chance of moving into the top 3.  We'll have a post about that if anything happens. Beyond that they are still looking for their next coach.  While the Knicks are publicizing their every interview, the Rangers are keeping it quiet and general. It's thought that the Rangers are interviewing college coaches like BU's David Quinn,  Denver's Jim Montgomery, and Minnesota-Dulutch's Scott Sandelin.  They're also perhaps looking at AHL guys like Sheldon Keefe and maybe Dallas Eakins, who. they didn't hire last time around.  Keefe is still in this 30s, and thus the "fresh(est)" guy that's being mentioned, but they all represent guys who have developed players and programs and won  This seems like the optimal course.

Knicks: the Knicks are interviewing everyone.  After talking to Stackhouse, Jackson, Woodson, Fizdale and Kenny fricking Smith, this past week they are going to Europe to talk to David Blatt and also interviewing erstwhile Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer, and Spurs assistant, Jame Barrego. Stackhouse has been the most interesting guy, though the Knicks maybe should have tried a littel harder to get a great college coach. They various coaches they have talked to don't seem to have much in common, and with a few of them, I'm not sure there's a there there.  Sub-optimal. I think  there's a pretty good chance they name Blatt this coming week.

So it's a big week.

Have a great one.

Giants Draft Part 1

I've been blowing this off a bit for a couple of reasons.  First, it's too damn long a wait between receiving the #2 pick in the draft and making it, and second, because this is a crappy year to have the #2 pick.  The last time the Giants had the #2 pick, they took Lawrence Taylor, the greatest player in team history and in the opinion of many, in football history.  They didn't take a QB. They had injured Phil Simms and late rounder Scott Brunner.  Parcells misplayed the QB's when he eventually got the job, but the rest is history.  This year's QB's all have their problems.  First, junior entry QB's have generally had poor careers.  Both Darnold and Rosen should have stayed in school.  Darnold to prove he hadn't regressed, and Rosen to prove he could stay healthy after 2 concussion.  Josh Allen had accuracy flags, and Baker Mayfield is a shrimp - while the Giants hired a 6'8" left tackle.

Also, the second overall pick in the draft is getting big money.  And if the Giants use that pick on one of the QB's, they player will burn one, one and a half or two years on the bench, because, as the Giants learned, Eli is a borderline holy figure as Giants QB around the world.  Benching him last year cost 1 GM and a bunch of coaches their jobs. Also, last year, the Giants took Davis Webb, who had beaten out Baker Mayfield at Texas Tech, and had the best velocity at last year's combine.  Better than Mahomes.  This coming week, Shurmur, the QB Whisperer will get a load of Webb, and that could make things very simple for the Giants, if they're not in love with these QB's.

What I hope the Giants do is what they did in 1981, and use the #2 pick in the draft to take the best player in the draft and that is Saquon Barkley.  He's not only the best RB in this draft, but the best pass receiver.  He's an OBJ talent in a running back's body.   You can take that at 2 every year.

Failing that and only if the offer is overwhelming, I'd like to see them trade down to 4 with Cleveland and get both of their 2's as well as a 2019 1.  Then they can take ND's Quenton Nelson, the second best player in the draft, and use their Cleveland riches to hit RB, OL again and D in round two, or use the future one to trade back into the first to get a falling QB like Jackson, who is different enough from Davis Webb to give them legitimate options after Eli, but not at top 2 money,

So there it is.  I favor Barkley, or a trade down to 4, but it has to include a future one and both of Cleveland's 2's.  Oh, and Chubb is no LT, and didn't blow the doors off the combine, to make anyone think he could be anywhere close going from his natural 4-3 fit to a 3-4 ROLB.  More as we get closer.

More Money for OBJ

The Giants today released WR Brandon Marshall, who looked over the hill and unwilling in his only action as a Giant.  This gives them about 5M extra bucks to load into OBJ's new deal, which I suspect is close. Why else would he show up for the offseason work?  Also, the timing of this now, and not at the start of the offseason is interesting.  I hope they are not thinking of signing any other over the hill power receivers.  Let's see if they can find one somewhere in the draft -- or just make Engram a WR  and pick up another TE.

Yanks Crush Miami

That was fun. Aaron Judge is starting off like he did last year, complete with bombs, walks and 3-2 singles over the defense. Sevy was back to being Sevy and I suspect it was because he could feel his fingers again. Stanton is still figuring things out, but will.  Sanchez is hitting things hard and took a walk.  Didi hit two bombs and his walks are close to those of 99.  Huge improvement if he can make it part of his game.  Tyler Austin and Miguel Andujar are rocking and Aaron Hicks is hitting everything hard.  Big win.  I think they have 9 more in a row at the Stadium and it would be great to see them get the traction we've been expecting.

Stackhouse in NYC for his Knicks Meeting

I find myself excited by this news.  The Rangers are looking FRESH and the Knicks might find it with Stackhouse. He's a great communicator and his player development skills have gained broad recognition in the D and G Leagues.  They might want to hire him a defensive coordinator as an assistant, or they may not need to. He comes from Dean Smith at UNC and that is one of the classic American programs.  This might be fun, and it might be FRESH.

Coaching Searches

The Knicks fired Jeff Hornacek the other day, then after giving the fourth iteration of "we're going to talk to 5 or 10 guys and the next coach (manager) will present himself) we've heard this year.  It's what the Yanks said, what the Giants said, and what the Rangers said. Interestingly, though the Rangers started their coach hunt earlier, and already had the phones ringing with people wanting the job, we have no idea who called or whom they want. The Knicks braintrust of Mills and Perry spent 45 minutes talking about what kind of coach they were looking for, then reach out to six guys, where at least four of them do not fit what they talked about for 45 minutes at all. And we still don't have a name from the Rangers, though that could well mean they are waiting for someone who's team is either in the NHL playoffs, the AHL or the World Championships.

I actually think the Rangers will have a more successful search because Dolan loves them less, and has successfully given them to Glenn Sather who, wisely, has handed the day to day off to Gorton and Clark.  Sather has tried to give the Knicks to Thomas, then Walsh, then Jackson, and now Mills and Perry.  We'll see if two Knick controllers handle him better than the 3 previous stewards.   So far they haven't traded any firsts, though that started with Jackson - even the no-names between he and Walsh had thrown ones around like they were making it rain for strippers.

When all is said and done it will be interesting to see which of our 4 teams followed their hiring protocols the most successfully.  Boone has the best talent.  The Rangers have some young talent but a ton of picks to get even more. The Giants have unusually high picks and at least two elite talents, and the Knicks have KP, Frank, maybe Burkey, maybe Hardaway and maybe one or two others, plust another lottery pick, and probably more after that if the new coach can't turn them around.

Knicks Will Meet With David Blatt

This also makes some sense.  Earlier, Woj announced that the Knicks have gained permission to talk to Woodson, and now he's saying they have a meeting with fomer Cleveland and Euro championship coach of the year, David Blatt.  This guy is Steve Mills bro, and if they are looking to have a leadership team, getting someone like Blatt with some good assistants could work.

The 2018 SWB RailRiders

The Riders have been a good team for the past few years and should be again, even if they lose the top end of their talent to promotion, there's more on the way.

Pitchers

Chance Adams

Paul Young

Oliver Perez (L)

Josh Rogers (L)

Brady Lail

Brody Koerner

Jonathan Holder

Daniel Camarena (L)

David  Hale

Anyelo Gomez

Gio Gallegos (injured)

JP Feyereisen

Cale Coshow

Raynel Espinal

Cody Carrol

Nothing super exciting here, though the relievers could have good careers.  Chance Adams have some undisclosed problem in ST, and we'll see if he gets back to being the prospect he was two years ago, or stays at the level where there's no rush to put him on the 40 Man roster.  Cessa will be returned to them, but that's no reason to party. Josh Rogers could be one of those lefties who has a long career.  Camarena was always a little underrated and it was nice to get him back. At the momeny, they are really more suspecty than prospecty.

Catchers

Kyle Higashioka
Erik Kratz

Apparently, Higgy's D has declined.  Kratz has been around forever, but has really raked in small samples.  Still have to start hitting C hard in our player acquisition seasons.

Infielders

Abiatal Avelina
Thairo Estrada (shot!)
Billy Fleming
Mike Ford
Jace Peterson
Gleyber Torres

This is where they are great.  Gleyber Torres could be a consistent all-star for the Yanks at any of three positions.  Estrada's coming back, but he has a hit tool, good D at 3 positions and has shown a bit of the walk gene at times.  Underrated guy, who, if he can come back will have a good career. Abiatal Avelino can't hit like the first two, but looks the part and could make it.  Jace Peterson is Jace Peterson, but Mike Ford and Billy Fleming are both interesting guys, who will be 26 this year, but can really hit.  Ford is a 1b and Fleming is listed as a 2B.  Ford definitely wasn't drafted, and not sure Fleming was either.  But I think they will both make it somewhere and Ford is a good option if Austin get hurt.  Once hit 4 homers in an FSL game.

Outfielders

Clint Frazier (injured)
Billy McKinney (injured)
LJ Mazzilli
Ryan McBroom
Mark Payton
Zack Zehner

This is an interesting bunch, though if Clint or Billy were healthy, they'd probably be up. McBroom has power. and Zack Zehner is another big OF (6'4") who has really come on the last year and a half or so.  Like Hendrix (who's probably injured at AA) and Rashad Crawford is a toolsy guy who came over during the tornado or trades back in 2016.

Get to do this 4 or 5 more times when short seasons begin in June.

Knicks Also Reached Out to Jerry Stackhouse

This is a little more like it.  The Knicks have also reached out to former UNC and NBA star Jerry Stackhouse who is currently the head coach of the Raptors 905 of the G League. Since winding up his long NBA career, Stackhouse was a broadcaster for awhile before going into coaching.  So we know he can talk.  He was an assistant with Toronto before taking over their D League and now G League team. He played for a lot of different NBA teams, and played his college ball for the great Dean Smith. He's won coach of the year awards in what is a developmental league no matter the name. If they can't get Jay Wright, Stackhouse, or a similar candidate is probably the way they'd be best served going.  He lacks baggage.

This Week on the Blog

Alright, this week we found out we don't have a cold weather pitching staff, the Odell trade rumors stopped, and the Rangers and Knicks fired their coaches and began to search for new ones.  Let's see what's up for this week.

Yankees: I don't take April baseball very seriously, especially since they moved the start into March and have so many early season cold games.  The players will loosen up by October, and that's when it counts.  Sure you can bank wins now, but it's also okay if you don't.  One great thing going for the Yanks is Gleyber Torres.  He's crushing at AAA and they can call him up Wednesday or Thursday without burning a year.  Also, they should get Greg Bird back in May and that's two better bats than most will be able to add in season this year.  Unless some team acquired Manny and Harper at the deadline.

Giants: The Draft is 12 days away and the Giants will begin week 2 of their offseason program. So far, only Eric Flowers has blow it off, and good lord is that kid ever proving that he's stupid. It's bad enough that he's 3 years into his pro-career and still doesn't know how to make consistent use of his hands. but now he's refusing to get on the good side of the brand new coaches.  What can he possibly gain from this?  If he was great they wouldn't have signed Solder.  Yeesh.

Rangers:  The Rangers are looking for a fresh coach, but, as it was with the Giants, they may be looking at NHL assistants on playoff runs. No candidates names have leaked yet.  Btw, it seems like the common wisdom through all of these coaching searches have been to talk to 5-10 guys and let the winner emerge. Doesn't seem like it was that long ago they'd just choose one out of three, or in some cases, knew who it was gonna be before they fired the last guy.  In other Ranger news,  Andersson, Chytil and Kreider are all playing for their National teams in the World Championships and Andersson had a goal and an assist in his first big boy international action today.  Go Lias!  Hope USA wins, but it would be cool to see Lias roof another silver if Sweden comes in second.

Knicks: The Knicks had a long press conference earlier this week that laid out their parameters for a new coach.  They said he must be able to communicate with today's players, must subscribe to analytics, and must believe in modern training methods.  They also said he must realize he is a team with the GM and the the Prez.  Then they reached out the Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy who fit none of those parameters, and David Fizdale, who got fired from his last job for feuding with their big Euro star.  The Knicks best player is a big Euro. This could be more Knicks stupidity. and if it's Mark Jackson, I may have to suspend them from the blog again.

So there we have it, the Yanks will improve, the Giants might have 3 more needs on the OL, the Rangers are waiting on guys, and the Knicks have scared the pants off me.

Hope everyone has a great week, and the Knicks don't do anything stupid.

The 2018 Trenton Thunder

This year's Thunder features some pitchers who could move fast, as well as some hitters looking for a little redemption. Jay Bell, who appeared to be one of the organizational candidates for the Yankee Manangers job, is steering the Thunder.  Tim Norton is the pichting coach. Ty Hawkins is th hitting coach. It's a little surprising that the Yanks have an old schoool staff at AA, and that sports science and analytics don't seeem to have trickled down much.  Of course, maybe they do and it's just not listed.

Pitchers

Domingo Acevedo

Will Carter

Jordan Foley

Joe Harvey

Caleb Frare (L)

Brian Keller

Jose Mesa Jr.

Kaleb Ort

Jean Ramirez

James Reeves (L)

Andrew Schwaab

Justus Sheffield (L)

Erik Swanson

Stephen Tarpley (L)

Dillon Tate

This is a group with high upside. Sheffield is the best lefty is the system, and for the moment, might be the best overall pitching prospect.  He's the goods and seems to be improving.  Dillon Tate has had a weird path, and if he hits his upside, we got him at a serious discount.  Tate was impressive during his first start, and he really could be a bonus get.  Domingo Acevedo is built like Michael Pineda, and a strike thrower with a big fastballl and change, but he really needs that slider to stay a starter and it hasn't kicked in yet.  Erik Swanson is built like a bulldog, and just has to keep progressing to have a chance.   Brian Keller is a slender guy who's gotten good results so far, and could really surprise.  Jose Mesa Jr was returned be grabbed in the Rule 5.  He probably a reliever.  Caleb Frare is a courageous guy who's come back from many injuries.

Catchers

Ryan Lidge
Chase Numata
Jorge Saez

Lidge and Numata are both switch hitters, like Posada was.  That's probably the only way they are like Jorge.  Numata was a guy they picked up from the outside.  They really need to find more catchers.

Infielders

Mandy Alvarez
Bruce Caldewell
Vincente Conde
Chris Gittens
Kyle Holder
Gosuke Katoh
Russel Wilson

Alvarez was a late pick a few years ago who's really climbing the systm.  Vincente Conde has always been a more org type than prospect.  Chris Gittens has big power.  Kyle Holder is a great defensive shortstop who finally started showing signs with the bat.  He's a great athlete who also played hoops at a high level, but if he sticks with it he might just turn into something.  Katoh was taken in the Tyler Wade draft.  He's struggled, but has the walk gene and shown talent.  If he can stabilize it he's still got a chance.  Don't know about Caldwell.  Wilson is restricted because of his football gig.

Outfielders

Trey Amburgey
Cesar Diaz
Jhalan Jackson
Ben Ruta

They seem a litte undermanned here.  Amburgey is sort of the JuCo pick version of Tyler Austin. He's  got some patience and pop, but has been plagued by injuries.  His health will determine his future.  Diaz and Ruta are just guys. Jackson is a power guy who kept getting better through college and is off to a hot start this year.

So there they are.  Some talented pitchers putting in their time, and some star crossed hitters looking to prove themselves.  Could get Florial in the not too distant future.

The 2018 Tampa Tarpons

Alright, the Tampa Yankees have changed their names to the Tampa Tarpons.  I think it's stupid to change your name from the Yankees to anything else. Yet, here we are.

Pitchers

Albert Abreu

Phillip Diehl (L)

Matt Frawley

Nick Green

Hobie Harris

Chase Hodson

Kyle Johnson

Connor Jones

Justin Kamplain

Michael King

Trevor Lane (L)

Jonathan Loaisiga

Spencer Mahoney (L)

Christian Morris

Freicer Peresz

Adonis Rosa

Clarke Schmidt (Inj)

David Soesbee

Trevor Stephan

This could be a great staff, and include some fast movers.  Abreu, Perez, Stephan and Loaisiga are among the best arms in the system.  Abreu had apendicitis during ST and is on the 7-Day DL. Freicer Perez is a huge guy who's velo and secondary stuff keeps bumping up.  Stephan was picked last year and came in with a plus fastball and rudimentary slider and little used change.  They worked with him and he's already in High A, which is where advanaced college picks should be.  His buddy Otto, has the big curve, but little else, so that's why he's still in Low A, working on things. Loaisiga was a Giants prospect who had TJS and was released.  The Yanks signed him and had to protect him on their 40 because he pitched well enough in Low A last year for some other team to pick him in the rule 5.   Adonis Rosa has had some moments, and Clarke Schmidt probably won't pitch till late this the year as he is still coming back from TJS, which he had about a year ago.  Green has a good curve ball.

Catchers

Francisco Diaz
Donny Sands
Keith Skinner

Nothing impressive here.  Sands was a 3B that they have been converting to a catcher, but all of the guys from Cervelli, through JR Murphy, through Sanchez, were all ahead of where Sands is now.  Also, he's on the 7-Day DL.  The Yanks need some high upside C's.

Infielders

Angel Aguilar
Diego Castillo
Tim Lynch
Hoy Jun Park
Brandon Wagner

This is an interesting group.  Castillo and Park were part of that 2014 haul, and though they haven't set the world on fire, they're climbing the levels.  Park has a lot of speed. Brandon Wagner may be a ringer.  He came out of some nutty JuCo, where he put up Ruthian numbers.  Anyway, it took him a couple of stops but he's been doing it again this season.  They've made him a 1B but he was originally a 2B.

Outfield

Leobaldo Cabrera
Ricardo Ferreira
Estevan Florial
Isiah Gilliam
Pablo Olivares
Alexander Palma
Carlos Vidal

This could be a very productive group. Florial is probably a top 2 or 3 prospect in the entire system, and Gilliam made a big power move last year.  The rest of the guys are toolsy, and Palma was always expected to develop power, but we'll have to see after he gets off the 7-Day DL.  Vidal was a high average no pop guy for awhile.

So there they are, the first edition of the "Tarpons."  Pretty loaded, but some of the pitchers and Florial might not be long for the level.

The Knicks Fire Hornacek

It's early Thursday Morning back East, but the Knicks have fired Jeff Hornacek, as we all expected. He was bad under Phil Jackson and the triangle was blamed.  Then he was bad on his own.  He was supposed to be a "guard whisperer" but he overplatyed Jack most of the year, underplayed and underdeveloped Frank and that other Guards. Hardaway played the 3 most of the year and he didn't develop much, either.  Like the Rangers, and Yankees the Knicks will once again be a young team next year, and they need a good coach.  I'm hoping for Villanova's Jay Wright, but I suppose Blatt is more likely. Anyway, as a final FU from Horny tonight, the Knicks won their last game and, without lottery luck, will pick 9th.  And it's not a great draft.

Yanks Win

Gary Sanchez snapped out of his early season doldrums with two homers and a double, and the Yanks just won 10-7.Yankee cold weather pitching has been an adventure but things will warm up. Stanton also had a triple and a single and is warming up.  Judge continues to get on base about half the time,  Tyler Austin is a true Yankee.  Sure he drove in a run tonight, but he also exchanged words with Brock Holt after a clean but hard slide. Later, Red Sox reliever Joe Kellly hit Tyler in the elbow with the 98 mph fastball, and Tyler charged. The Red Sox are lucky that Judge and Stanton worked as peace keepers, because Austin, Phil Nevins and CC Sabathia were ready to rumble. I wonder if this will be an event that closely melds the young Yankees with their new coaching staff.  Nevin had their backs.  DRob came flying in from the bullpen several yards ahead of the other guys. Something very Yankee about all of this.

The 2018 Charleston RiverDogs

The full season minor league teams have been playing for almost a week, so let's see if we can start getting a better hold of them.  Here are the 2018 Charleston Riverdogs.

Pitchers

Braden Bistro

Luis Cedeno

Miles Chambers

Rony Garcia

Dalten Lehnen (LH)

Yolber Marquina

Chad Martin

Nolan Marinez

Nick Nelson

Nestor Oronel (LH)

Glenn Otto

Daniel Ramos

Alex Robinett

JP Sears

Anderson Severino (LH)

Brian Treglaff

Alexander Vizcaino

Greg Weissert

Garrret Whitlock

Matt Wivins

Miguel Yajure

Kyle Zurak

Okay, this staff might just as well be refered to as Spin Rater City.  Certainly Nolan Martinez and Glenn Otto have monster curves. As you'll recall, Otto was a reliever in college but is built like a starter, so they're trying to convert him.  If they can't that curveball will still play at all levels. Luis Cedeno and Anderson Severino has already had some success, but are both under 6 feet tall and will probably end up in the pen. Rony Garcia has had buzz and times and is still just 21, though it feels like he's been around forever.  There are some IFA lottery tickets as well as a bunch of college arms, who need to start moving filling out the pitching staff. Probably should mention Nick Nelson.  He reminds me of Alan Horne, who would have made it but for a series of TJS surgeries.  Anyway Alan went through a period where he would have one bad inning.  Nick had that last year.  Nick has a great arm and if he can smooth out the performance he can make it.

Catchers

Jason Lopez
Eduardo Navas

Neither of these guys were big tickets, though Lopez is still just 20. In fact the catching situation throughout the organization could use some serious attention.  I expect them to draft two or three this year, and early word on the 2018 IFA class is that the top two kids associated with the Yankees are catchers.

Infielders

Dalton Blaser
Oswaldo Cabrera
Griffin Garabito
Wilkerman Garcia
Chris Hess
David Metzger
Danienger Perez

Blaser is a college lefty hitting 1B.  Power or its absence will make or break him.  Oswaldo Cabrera is a 19 year old 3B who's pretty well regarded.  He's a switch hitter.  Wilkerman Garcia was once a top 10 prospect, but two straight years of slumping have given him a lot to prove as a 20 year old in Low A.  Hess and Metzger are 24 year old 2B's and most likely organization guys going forward.  Perez is on the DL, and already 22 so he needs to get healthy and get going.

Outfield

Evan Alexander
Fredrick Cuevas
Brayan Emery
Leonardo Molina
Timmy Robinson
Steven Sensley
Dom Thompson-Williams

This is an interesting crew.  Alexander is a tall CF at 6'2" who needs to hit.  Cuevas is already 21 and a sweet swinging lefty LF.  Brayan Emery is that big left fielder who was a later part of the 2014 class.  He's also a lefty hitter and just 20, but it's time to start raking.  Molina is now 21 and was once a top IFA.  He's not awful, but he won't make it unless he starts hiting.  Timmy Robinson is that kid from USC who is now 24.  Sensley is the ringer.  He's a lefty hitting RF with patience and pop, and quite frankly, I expected him to start at High A.  He's already raking in the Sally  DTW is a speed guy who's been running in place.

So there you have it.  Some lottery tix, some big curveballs, some guys who haven't hit yet, but need to start, and Steven Sensley who should be in Tampa.  They don't play as many day games as they did during the Jesus Montero era, and I think, now that the Yanks have more affiliates below low A than they have at  Low A and above, the talent has been spread out more.   The guys who aren't in Low A yet are in Extended Spring Training and will either join the Dogs or one of the short season teams as the year progresses.

Gorton To Speak Monday

Ranger GM will meet with the press Monday morning. It's unlikely that he will have a new coach in place, but he might be able to outline the search parameters.  They have to have already been planning if not outright looking. He'll probably also talk about draft movement options and free agents or trade targets, but I'd expect him to keep it general and non-commital.

Personally, I'd like to see the Rangers eschew the hiring a celebrity coach like Messier or Roy, as well as reaching out to a retread, who either has one a cup (like Torts had) or had been on the cusp (like AV had). Instead, I'd like to see them hire one of the great college coaches, like Leaman from Providence, David Quinn of BU, or Rick Bennett of Union.  I think they probably will go back to a New Englander, given the backgrounds of Gorton, Clark and Drury, but someone like Tony Granato from Wisconsin or Jim Montgomery of Denver.

Just no retreads.

UPDATE:  Gortona wants to hirt a "fresh" coach but one who does have some coaching experience at some level -  so no retreads and no Messier.  That's greart news.  They've also fired Scott Arniel and Daryrl and still plan to talk to Lindy Ruff about his future.  That probably meant they want to fire him in person or they have some other organizational role in mind for him.  He certainly isn't fresh and won't be the coach

Also, there are tweets for Igor Eronko and others saying that Ilya Kovalchuk will sign a 2-3 year deal with the Rangers. He's been on the same team with Igor Shestyorkin and the D Yegor Rykov over in the KHL.  Wonder if the Rangers some how acquired Kovy's rights. Otherwise, the Rangers will have to wait till July 1 to sign him, in what would be the Satheriest Sather move in years.  Ilya is 34. Jagr was 32 when he came to the Rangers.

Vigneault Out

The Rangers did not waste any time. Tonight, they parted ways, as they had to with Alain Vigneault. Just got in and found out.  This had to be done and should have been done sooner as the diminishing returns could not be denied and paralleled pretty closely his tenure in Vancouver: Close but no cigar.   We'll never forget the President's Cup season or the run at the Stanley Cup - that was lost on a bunch of uncalled but clear as day goalie interferences. Robbery.  Anyway, the key now will be to get a new coach who will be great with kids.  We'd heard mixed things about AV and kids when he came in, but the negatives turned out to be on the money. I don't think it will be Lindy Ruff or anything like that, but we'll see.  I believe this will be the first time since the late `70s or early `80s that our 4 teams will be making a coaching change in a single season.  That is if the Knicks do the right thing and can Horny.  Thought the Ranger might wait till Monday, but, they too care of business.  Hope they have a great plan that doesn't include squandering assets.

This Week on the Blog

Alright, the Yanks are off to slow, meaningless start, the Knicks and Rangers are limping to their ends, and the Giants are finally through the period of the offseason where they can't talk to their players about Football.  Let's see what all of this means in the coming week.

Yankees:  The Yanks are 4-4, and the offense and bullpen, their two greatest strengths, haven't really showed up yet,  To make matters worse, they are being roughed up by player injuries.  Last night they had to add CC and Drury to the DL and they sent down Holder.  Today, they called up Jace Peterson (I don't know what the 40 man move is) as well as German and Cessa.  None of this means much yet, and thank goodness Sanchez is okay after cramping up in the 14th last night.  They'll start churning soon, and Andujar will now gt a lot of reps.  And whatever happens with Drury, who has migraines, was not serious enough for them to burn Gleyber Torres first year. It will all work out.

Giants:  Monday, the the Giants will begin Phase One of their voluntary offseason program.  This will be the first time the new coaches will be allowed to discuss football with the players. How crazy is that? This period will end with a mini-camp leading up to the draft, so at least we'll have a steady flow of Giants news.  And tomorrow they entertain Saquon Barkley - hope he's there at #2.

Rangers:  The Rangers play their last game of the season starting in about 90 minutes.  Then it will be time to fire their coach and pray for lottery luck.

Knicks: The Knicks have 3 games left, starting today and and finishing up on Wednesday.  Then it's time to fire their coach and pray for lottery luck.

So there it is.  Yanks have to get going,  The Giants are allowed to talk football and will keep meeting with draftable players.  The Rangers and Knicks neeed new coaches and great offseason plans.

Have a great one, and thanks for looking in.

Giants Sign CB William Gay

The Giants may have solved their slot corner problem, with the signing of William Gay.  This is feeling a lot like the 2000 signings, that the Pats have been copying ever since.

Yanks Minors Start Today

Charleston, Tampa and Trenton are all starting today, but I think SWB has been weathered out. Hopefully, I'll have enough time to do some roster reviews in the next several days.  Between the trades and Rule 5, the Yanks admirable depth has taken a hit.  Hopefully, the guys they added late with the Ohtani money, and the coming draft and IFA period will replenish things.

Sevy Dominates and Stanton, Sanchez and Judge All Homer

First of all, Severino was great but had terrible W/L luck last year because of the pen.  He's now 2-0 and been dominant in both outings. So his bad luck could be over.  Significantly, in today's win, Stanton, Sanchez and Judge all homered for the first time in the same game.  Get used to it.  If you didn't see it, Stanton was absolutely a MAN last night as he owned his 5 K's and all boos.  He is showing Yankee character down to the marrow. It was great to see Sanchez and Judge to their things. Gary had been making hard outs, while Judge had mixed in some walks and hits with his.  Today, they both hit bombs.  Great stuff.  Still looking forward to that game where Bird makes it a foursome. They are looking very much like the dominant home team we expected through 2 games.

Yanks Win Their Home Opener

Sir Didi Gregorious had two homers, a double and an RBI single as the Yanks crushed in their Home Opener.  Jordan Montgomery was impressive and wouldn't have given up anything but for the home plate ump, who sucked on balls and strikes today. Brandon Drury also contrtibuted to the Jays with a huge throwing era. The Yanks O is still not firing on all cylinders, but they're 3-2 nonetheless, because there've been some two out hits and good pitching.