Cole Hamels?

So Twitter is alive with a possible Cole Hamels to the Yanks for Chance Adams and Thairo Estrada. I've seen that mix a couple of places now, and I wonder if it's true.  Hamels was once darn good, and after a bad season last year and a balky first few starts this year, he's got his K rate back to his career norms of about 9K per 9ip. That can only auger good things.  Of course, if we were the Astros, we'd acquire him and he'd suddenly better than he was in his prime. Anyway, the Yanks are on his no-trade list, so he'd have to drop that, and I wouldn't want them adding any inducements, as they once did for Randy Johnson. If they can get this done for what would be a system neutral trade, like the one proposed, because Chance has not been great since 2016 and Thairo is pretty darn blocked, as well as shot up, why not?  It would mean not having to rush Justus Sheffield, as well as giving Justus and Monty another valuable mentor, just as Cliff Lee had been for a young Cole.

Okay, more reports that it could look like Chance Adams,  Josh Rogers and two lower level guys.  Of course does that mean from A ball or lower talent level.  The devil could be in the details in this one.

Former scout Alexander Richards reports that the two teams are talking, while Heyman has also mentioned what it might look like.

Yankees Pitching Situation

Some define insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Last year, the Yanks traded three prospects for Sonny Gray, who's been awful, and now some think they should try that again. The truth is, the Yanks haven't gotten a good pitcher at the deadline since David Cone in 1995.  Further, per Gray and the Yanks' other struggling pitchers: the Yanks do not seem to have a good support system for pitchers at the major league level.  Remember, Pedro fixed Sevy (pretty easily), and there's not much we can point to outside of Sevy.  Monty is injured, but had better stuff in AAA because the coaches had him using his lower half.  The success he's had with the Yanks has mostly been arm only.

The Yankee department that does seem to know pitching is the amateur scouting group. In recent years, they're picking good starters as well as pop up good starters every year.  Also, whoever they have a good team to help them down in EST and at the complex in Tampa, because so many of them are adding velo right after they join the Yanks. So, between the scouts and the reception comittee, the Yanks are finding and refining plenty of pitching talent.  Thus, the system remains their best chance of finding someone.  And fortunately, they already have.

Domingo German was an important piece in the Martin Prado/David Phelps swap. In fact, he was so happy to be a Yankee, he over pitched and needed TJS.  But now he's ready to help, and the proof is not so much in his starts but in his swing and miss stuff.  He's getting more swings and misses than anyone else on the staff and that's as good a guage as any with the inconsistent defense we've seen behind all of the pitchers this year. The deadline is about 2 months away, and that should give German time to prove he belongs.

If they need another pitcher, they've got Justus Sheffield, who's been flashing top of the rotqation stuff since he was in the AFL last fall.   Right now, after skipping a start, he's on a 75 pitch count, but, he really just needs to get his count back up to be ready.  He's no doubt already better than Sonny Gray, and his stuff would be top 3 (along with Severino and German).

So it's important that the Yanks become more pecunious with their prospects and give the ones they have lots of chances before punting a chunk of what's a big, wide open window for another fungible starter from somewhere else.

As per bullpen, AAA has them covered.

More Yankee Draft Stuff

As the top 3 in the Yankee batting order tonight are all Yankee Draft Picks, it's crucial to once again remind everyone just how important these 3 days in June have become the the organization.  Gardy's on his second deal, but Judge and Bird are still saving the Yanks millions and have paid for their entire draft classes already. It's incredible that such a startingly efficient market still exists. Of course, you could say going 1 for 40 is not effiicient, finding a Free Agent starter for the Yanks always costs more.

Anyway, this year the Yanks have a smaller pool and might want to stretch it out by saving money on their first round pick, who could be an injured guy or someone from a smaller school.  I think they'd only change this tack if someone like Triston Cassas or some other huge ceilinged Prep falls to them at 23, at that point I think they could even switch to a first round overpay and look to really save on picks 2-10.  So depending on how things fall Monday, we should be able to tell what Tuesday will look like.

Rangers at the Combine

So while the rest of us are remembering heroes past, the NHL is running it's combine. Very Canadian of them, but the combine and International Play are to the Rangers as Wood Bat League play is to the Yankees.  Not only was their choice of Chris Kreider largely determined by both, but their acquisition of McDonagh in the Scott Gomez trade was based on his blowing the doors off of the combine.  I don't think the Rangers respect all amateur league play, so they use the combine to validate ability, whereas the NFL uses the combine to validate the production they saw in games and on film.

I think there's absolutely no doubt that they will trade up from 9 (they're loaded to do so), not only because the brought back B+ talent and not necessarily A's in their trades, but because they squandered so many picks acquiring final pieces in their last run, their system is a little trashed.  Though, I will say that's also partially because they traded prospects on their run, too.

Excting times and Gorton keeps saying.

One Week Till

Yankee Draft Time! Ten days from now the Yanks will have picked 40 more guys.  Buy July, they will have signed 25 to 30 of them.  You remember the current drill.  MLB gives you a pool number based on total picks and draft position.  The pool is the pick value of all the picks you have in the first ten rounds.  The Yanks don't have any comp balance of FA comp picks, so they only have 10.  Plus, they are picking 23rd so their pool number will be bottom 10 throughout the league.  And that shouldn't get them off their game at all.

Even will all of the deals they've made over the last 11 months or so, once the short season teams open early in June, we'll be amazed at the majesty of what they have been doing.  They have a ton of recent prep arms and bats, as well as like 40 new IFA's, some of whom have huge ceilings.  Their swing and miss/spin rate pitching drivers are helping them find better pitchers, and their patience and pop hitting model has been closely followed. On the posotions side they will occasionally take a chance on "an athlete" like Dom Thompson-Williams or something, but mostly they're looking for exit velo and walks.

Rumor has it that the Yanks have been beating the bushes for prep bats this year, but we know they'll just take 35 RHP's or something.  Can't wait.

This Week on the Blog

Yanks were a little up and down this week, Giants ran some OTA's, Rangers finally named a coach, and Coach Fiz kept doing the right things.  Let's see what's in store for this week.

Yankees:  Greg Bird is back!!!  This is huge.  Though Tyler Austin and Neil Walker have done yeoman's work in his absence, this is a core guy who's had ridiculously bad luck,  And bad luck for Bird is bad luck for the Yanks. As we expected the Yanks sent Toe to AAA. I have no idea why Twitter is so upset. Suzyn can't have that many false handles.  And while I believe they're carrying too many pitchers, once Walker found his bat and Torres came up, this was the only move that made sense.  Now, perhaps, Tyler Austin can relax.  He's homered about as frequently as Gleyber and the Yanks need that.  Especially since the top of the order is struggling.  Maybe Booney will put the names in a hat like Billy did once or twice.  Big homestand and they have to keep winning.

Giants: The Giants have gone througb 3 of a scheduled 10 OTA's.  They have their 4th one Tuesday and it will be open to the press.  I guess the best news out of the practices is that Eli has looked great.  Could it be that they finally have an offense that makes the most of what he can do, instead of hanging out at the extremes of his skill set?  Anyway, that's exciting and the tapes look good.  Now we just need them to get through the mini-camp without incident. Thing are feeling Gianty again, like they used to under Tuna and the Colonel.

Rangers:  So the Rangers hired David Quinn, who was one of the best candidates in their chosen pool.  Now he's got to hire a staff (which might include an offensive coordinator and a European), and right after this weekend they have to attend the NHL Combine that starts on Tuesday. I'm sure there will be a lot of rumors since they are loaded up for a tradeup, but the Gordy/Gorton combo has always been a big fan of guys who kill the combine.  That's how they targeted Kreider and McDonagh. So we'll have to see if they are associated with any names.

Knicks: Fiz talked to KP and got him so excited he tweeted about it.  A face to face meeting is coming and that might just heal his knee. Seriously, Coach is killing this part of the job.  The draft is still over three weeks aways and the Knicks haven't had any private work outs yet, so that's something else to keep and eye on.

So there we have it. Bird is the word and their is quiet competency being shown throughout the domain.  What else is possible?

Have a great one.

Yanks Win a Tough One

The Yanks are getting the worst balls and strikes calls in baseball, and I wonder if it's screwing with the top of the order.  They've been awfully quiet lately.  Of course, it could just be awe at what Gleyber is doing, Aaron Judge is getting the worst treament of all, but he's not taking it into the field, where tonight he gunned down a runner at home on the fly, and later a moron going for second. He's an all around type.  So's Gleyber who also made a big defensive play before adding his 9th homer.  This was Sevy's third so-so start in a row, but he still only allowed 1 run (Trout'd) over six innigs.  We haven't had an ace who could battle like that in quite some time.  Tomorrow Bird returns and that should cheer up all of his friends.

The Roster Crunch is Upon Us

Greg Bird will return Saturday, and the roster crunch they've been putting off is finally on. I've already reasoned this out that because Walker can play all positions but short, and Torres is really a short, but can cover 2nd (brilliantly) and 3rd, we don't need Torreyes to cover anything on D.  And we don't need a mascot. Let's see what happens, but Tyler Austin has already single handedly won a couple of game for the Yanks this year and is deadly against LHP, and Andujar has done nothing to get demoted.

The New Affability

All of our teams have hired new coaches in the past 6 or 7 months, and all of the new guys are more affable than their predecessors.  This isn't to say, the Girardi, McAdoo, AV and Horny were brusque, but any means, but these new guys are far more hale and well met.  Of course none of their pleasantness matters if they can't coach or win, but it's very refreshing.  And the only one among the new bread to be doing his thing right now is Boone, and his Yanks are making hitory most nights.

I was absolutely against the Fizdale hire, and felt (without doing enough research) that he was an over the transom flavor of the week kind of hire.  Btw, I was really surprised Hornacek wasn't a better fit here, but I actually think the whole triangle thing kind of messed him up, and he should have handled KP and Willy better. He was supposed to be a guard whisperer, but no evidence showed up here. Anyway, Fisdale has now spoken to KP and KP tweeted that he's excited.  So Fiz really has hit the ground running, and could be the perfect guy.

On the Giants side, things are running smoothly again, and after participating in a great draft, Shurmur has run a rookie mini camp and three OTA's.  Landon Collins whom Shurmur had lightly upbraded when addressing the Ereck Flowers issue, said today he was loving the new staff because there's no bullshit.  That worked out well. Shurmur was apparently a driving force behind the Barkley pick and as an established QB whisperer, the living repudiation of the "Giants have to take a QB at 2 Crowd."

Quinn just got hired today, but will head off to the NHL combine which starts on May 27. I don't remember AV attending combines, and Torts might have been banned from them or something. It will be interesting to see what kind of voice Quinn has in the draft, and probably fun to see if he runs the traditional post draft prospect camp.  Generally, the head coaches haven't but Quinn has such a reputation for being hands on that I think he might.

Anyway, things are suddenly fresher with the new guys, and though the Yanks were first to pay lip service to the concept of a better communicator, the Rangers and Knicks did as well. And all four teams seem to have gotten one.

Rangers Introduce Quinn

Jeff Gorton, Chris Drury and Glenn Sather just introduced new Ranger coach David Quinn. Hayes and Shattenkirk were also on hand.  It was a brief and straightforward presser.  Quinn talked about knowing Gorton and Drury for 25 years, and that the relationship, timing and where the current state of the team made the timing perfect. Nothing was mentioned about assistants, so I guess we'll catch those on the fly.

Fizdale Keeps Doing Things Right

I've been meaning to write about this all week, but Monday, Knicks Coach David Fizdale gather the young PG's, Frank, Trey and Mudiay as well as Troy Williams, whom Fiz had previously trained at the Knicks practice facility and started their indoctrination. All of these guys need directing and there he was to give it to them.  Guess the NBA practive rules aren't as rigorous as the NFL's.  Wonder if he'll coach Summer league.  Now tonight, he is taking Frank Ntilikina up to watch Boston and the Cavs, and perhaps a more friendly meeting with LeBron.  We'll only know tomorrow if they should have brought Enes.

UPDATE: Fiz also brought Mudiay and Dotson.

Rangers Acknowledge Quinn, Will Intro Him Tomorrow

The Rangers have finally named David Quinn as their new head coach.  They will introduce him tomorrow morning at 11:30 EST. We've already talked about Quinn a bunch and will more over the coming days, but there is one thing about his game Ranger fans should be smiling about.  He loves puck moving defenseman.  The Rangers have only ever been good when the D was a big part of the O.  In `71, they had Brad Park.  In `79 they had Ron Greschner and Mike McEwen. In `94 they had Leetch and Zubov.  Now they have Shatty, who Quinn has already coached twice, plus DeAngelo and Pionk.  They're no doubt add more, but married to a great forecheck and this is fun hockey.

Yanks Make History Again

The Yanks just won their third straight since that weird game Friday after the airport sleepover.  Histoty was made in this one as it became the first time in their storied and staried history that they've hit 14 homeruns over a 3 game span.  And speaking of history, Gleyber Torres is making some of his own. He hit two bombs tonight, becoming the second youngest Yankee to hit two in a game.  Mickey Mantle was the other.  He's also as good as Willie Randolph and Robinson Cano on D.  Mavbe even slightly better.  Judge snapped out of his 0-17 with a blast of his own.  Neil Walker finally hit one and so did Hicks.

Tanaka sort of struggled again, as had Sevy (by Sevy standards).  I hope they let this settle itself organically, but I fear they're already working the phones.  It would be a shame if Clint Frazier became the centerpiece in a deal for another Sonny Gray type.

Giants Sign WR Russell Shepard

Guess they didn't like whoever dropped the bomb in this morning's OTA.  They've signed intinerant LSU product Russell Shepard.  He's 27 and probably crossed paths with OBJ early in Odell's LSU days.  He's crossed path with Big Dave more recently as he had him in Carolina. We'll probably see a lot more turnover in the WR and DB depth as the offseason progresses.

Knicks Stuff

Lots of stories today about the Knicks having the "hots" for Oklahoma Curry tribute Trae Young.  Why not? Still the draft is a month and a day away, so it would be downright Saquonian if the Knicks were to focus exclusively on Trae now.  Unfortunately, they are sitting 9th not second and the Knicks haven't had significant luck since 1985.

Two guys who we didn't talk about last week are Kentucky's Kevin Knox, who's a 6'9" scoring machine, and might fit perfectly opposite Kristaps Porzingis.  Another one is Miami shooting guard Lonnie Walker.  That's something they should only do if they are moving Hardaway again. They're pretty much the same guy.  Anyway, Knox would be nice and Knox to the Knicks would be fun to say.

In general, with all these high upside freshman, and the uncertainty of having KP next season, I think the Knicks should take a frosh instead of one of the Bridges.  Might as well give them a season to learn before KP's return. While a junior entry player, even a guy who's just a high floor, they could win too much.  Better to have toddlers.

Btw, Fansided is a very buggy site. And I just braved it to see what someone's revolutionary idea of the Knicks draft was.  Hint, it involved trading KP and stuff for the #1 pick.  The moron who wrote it didn't realize that KP would be the #1 pick in this and most drafts.  And I braved all the bugs to read such idiocy.  The articles about wanting Trae Young at 9 were more interesting.

Giants OTA 1 In the Books

So the Giants first organized team activity is over. The second one is tomorrow. A lot of good signs are being reported.  Significantly, Nate Solder stayed after practice and worked individual drills with Ereck Flowers. Hand drills. If you have watched Flowers since draft day, his hand placement has been AWFUL. I don't know why it has never been corrected, but it's a thing of great import that they are finally working on it now. That's leadership.

Eli Apple has also bee showing up and taking responsibility for last year.  That's good, and they're saying William Gay is providing more leadership.  Also, Sean Chandler had an interception today.  Also, Davis Webb hit Roger Lewis with a 50 yard bomb.  He threw another great one, but it was dropped.

Significantly, Lorenzo Carter is showing impressive coverage ability  You know what TE's have done to us over the years, and it would be FANTASTIC to have a big fast guy to take some of those away.

Odell was there stretching with Saquon, but they're not letting him do football stuff yet.

Also, if you watch the highlights on Giants.com Evan Engram looks FAST.

Sonny Gray and Clouds on the Horizon

Sonny Gray just pitched his best game as a Yankee: 8 innings of 1 run ball.  It was so good, in fact, that I might go find a picture of Sonny in a Yankee Uniform. The problem his pitchng well creates is that it puts Gary Sanchez of the bench. And right now Gary is red hot. Romine, btw, just had his annual good game at the plate, but not as good as Gary's yesterday, and why would anyone want to slow Gary down?  Once they get 20 over, they better start working Sonny with Gary, because no one, unless they are an imbecile, wants to see Austin Romine in a playoff game.

In other news, the Tyler Austin just had his second two homer game of the season.  He has 8 homers in about 93 AB's and they cannot send him down when Bird comes back later this week.  Oh and Andujar is hot again and has been great at 3rd, so they can't send him down. Torres and Walker can cover all the Torreyes rolls. So what do they do?

UPDATE: Erik Swanson, he of the 5-0 record and .45 era in AA, has been promoted to AAA.  This is a hard throwing horse, who could really solve a problem for the big league Yanks this year.

More on Quinn

The Quinn hiring now has the same structure as the Fizdale hiring did two or three weeks ago.  We find out at the end of one week, but it's not announced till the next.  I wonder if all candidates must meet Dolan before any announcements can be made.  I hope both new coaches are successful and we don't have to go through this again for a long time.  Hell, I hope Boone and Shurmur have long runs full of championships, too.

This seems to have worked out optimally. The Rangers went for fresh and developmental, and didn't waste time on NHL retreads.

Quinn was the legendary Jack Parker's chosen successor.  He had played for Parker and assisted Jack in winning the 2009 NCAA championship for BU.  So it's not like the NCAA Hockey Wheel of Titles  hadn't stopped on BU somewhate recently.  Anyway, coaching trees are good, and Quinn comes from a universally respected line. Players have said they are alike and yell about the same stuff.

Quinn also has years of experience with player development this includes: his time running development for Hockey USA,  his college coaching jobs and his AHL coaching experiences. In fact, he helped develop Kevin Shattenkirk.

He is exactly what we have been talking about and what the Rangers said they were after. I assume this was very much Dury's guy throughout the process and they are a couple of BU Parker boys. I doubt Gorton and Gordy needed much convincing, though Sheldon Keefe might have been another serious candidate.  Maybe Brad Richards'? Actually, I don't know how much of a vote Brad has.

It's very clear that the Rangers are going all in with their youth movement, and I'd be surprised in they're not still comitted to searching the globe for players.  Thus it might be a good idea to add a European or even a Russian coach to the new staff.

Quinn has been a great recruiter and thus might give the Rangers an added advantage both NHL free agency and collegiate free agency, where they've been cleaning up just the same.

I don't think this part of things could have worked out any better.

This Week on the Blog

Okay, this week saw limited Yankee action beyond them having to sleep at Dulles airport one night, Giants getting ready for their first OTA, the Knicks functioning rationally, and the Rangers possibly picking a coach.  Let's take a look at the week that's coming.

Yankees:  Yanks looked out of sorts last night and they lost to a terrible team.  Hopefully, they'll regain their alignment and start winning again.  The Florial news was bad and he'll miss a month or two or three of development time.  And as we think about Florial and the kids, we are two weeks and two days from the 2018 MLB Rule 4 Draft.  It would be nice to get some catchers and power lefties, both on the pitching and hitting sides.  The Yanks are picking 23rd, so their pool will be limited. Still they've been able to find guys all over these drafts and regardless of pick position. Oh yeah, and Greg Bird should be back this week.

Rangers: What was rumored yesterday is really flying this morning.  Apparently, Boston University's coach, David Quinn wants the Ranger job.  Larry Brooks is reporting that Gorton could make it official as soon as he gets back the World Championships in Denmark next week.  They had already met with Quinn before Gortona left, and I would guess decided he was their guy and made their offer pursuant to their organizational meetings which wrapped up last week. Interestingly, a lot of us have thought the Rangers would trade up into the the top 5 of the June Draft.  Currently they sit 9th.  And if they hire Quinn, the guess is they will trade up for LW Brady Tkachuk, the star of BU's hockey team. He's probably going top 4 or 5 so they'd just have to move up 4 or 5 spaces.

Knicks:  The Knicks were at the combine this week watching the workouts and meeting with the prospects.  They met with everyone we've been talking about as well as Kevin Knox and Miles Bridges.  Trae Young has already says he doesn't know if he'll work out for them in New York, which might mean he already has a promise from a top 9 team.  Now Coach Fiz will start his meetings with KP, as well as finalizing his staff.

Giants: Odell Beckham Jr. will attend the Giants first OTA which starts or takes place Monday. He has apparently taken Saquon under his wing and has talked to the kid about some of the mistakes he's made that Saquon can easily avoid. The OTA will also give Ereck Flowers his first reps at RT since he was a Freshman at Miami. Hopefully it will come back to him quickly and he can become a force at his natural position.

So there it is, Yanks have to start cruising again, the Rangers will probably hire and introduce Quinn, the Knicks are doing things right, and the Giants will get the fullest version of their team out on the field for the first time.

Have a great one!

Rangers Stuff: Quinn Back in the Coaching Mix

Ranger Nation on Twitter is blowing up with rumors that Sheldon Keefe is out and Boston University's David Keefe, who'd seemingly pulled out of the search two or three weeks ago, is back in the mix. I've always thought both of these guys as well as the other college coaches showed that the Rangers were fisning in the right pond, as opposed to the Knicks who seemed to have a pole in all ponds - though - to their credit, that's looking good. I guess the knock on Quinn is that he hasn't yet won a National Title, and that might be missing the point.  It seems that with so many teams competing, they're almost on a rotational basis and all the good coaches will win at some point.  Per Quinn, he was in the Ranger system for a while, but his career was severely curtailed by a rare blood disorder that he's controlled for the past 25 years or so.  Anyway, as a coach he helped build the University of Nebraska-Omaha program from the ground up, then was the developmental coach for USA Hockey,  then coached in the AHL for the Avalanche, then became an assistant coach for the NHL Avalanche before taking his current job at BU.  That's the full tour, and features stops where he built a program and a stop where he ran development.  He checks pretty much all of the named boxes and would be as intriguing a choice as any.

Florial Out with Hamate Surgery

Future Yankee CF Estevan Florial has been shutdown till August with Hamate Surgery.  This is the procedure that Nick Johnson and Tyler Austin went through.  Tyler was a long time coming back, but I also think they were a long time in discovering the problem.  This cropped up Yesterday for Estevan and they've already done the procedure.  Progress? This probably saves him from being traded in July, though the A's took two more injured players last year for Sonny Gray.  The guys who are sort of School of Florial, are well behind him in levels and won't be playing in America till short seasons start, and in some cases, next year.  He had a 32 game on base streak going when he went down during a game.  Sucks.

The Wildcard

Behold: Michael Porter Jr, who according to Michael Porter Jr. is the best player in this draft class. Problem is, missed most of the passed season for back surgery to alleviate herniated discs he had been suffering since he was undercut on a dunk as a Sophomore.  Before the time off, he was widely expected to go first in the coming draft.  He did make it back for the tournament but was a slow mover.  Personally, I don't think herniated disc procedures should do anything but help those who have suffered them, but if he can't perform in the showcases leading up to the draft, things could get interesting. Especially if the Knicks can gain any sort of special insight that would assure them they'd be getting the real Michael Porter Jr. because, healthy, he probably is the best player in the draft.

So why is that?  He's 6'10, with great hands, feet and handles, he can shoot, he can pass and he can block shots.  I think he's going to be thicker than Duran, but you see KD and guys like Danny Manning in his healthy game.  He's a voluminous rebounder, too, so there's also some Larry Bird.  And you realize anyone who combines the virtues of those three players would be the best player in virtually any draft.

So, if the Knicks can confirm full recovery, they might even want to move up for Porter. Look at it this way, sitting 9th, and without lottery luck for 33 years, their chances for getting elite young talent are slim.  And this is a guy who has elite talent.

I posted a picture of Joe DiMaggio the other day. The only reason the Yankees were able to get Joltin' Joe, was because the Cubs pulled out of a deal with him when he hurt his ankle.  Yanks gladly stepped in and got Joe at a discount.  The rest is history.

So, if the Knicks can gain any sort of certainty, they should go for it.  Or just stay and 9 and take Mikal, Collin, Trae or Wendell.

UPDATE: The Knicks talked to Wendell Carter and Trae Young today, so they've done combine interviews with everyone we've talked about.

Knicks at the Combine

New Coach David Fizdale and Perry Felton spoke to the media from the NBA Combine again today. Once again, they kept saying all the right things about establishing a defense first culture, and taking the BPA at 9 since they are still in the talent acquisition stage of their rebuild.

Defense first is really important and has been a Knick tradition since the days of Red Holzman, in fact, the championship Knicks set their positions by who they were defending -  for example Bill Bradley didn't have the lateral quicks to stay with guards but could stay with forwards, so he became a forward - and so on and so on.  But on offense, they just hit the open man and didn't have a point guard running the show.  Frazier, Monroe and Barnett were all just guards. In this sense, the Knicks were a lot like the "positionless basketball" everyone is talking about these days.  You were what you could guard, and tried to get open or set a screen so someone else could on O.   The Knicks had had a PG when Dick McGuire was on the team, but moved to two guards for the championship era, then didn't try to get back to having PG's untile Ray Williams then Sugar Ray Richardson in the later 70s.

And of course, Riley brought back the defensive firt culture, then mistakenly forgot to get Patrick the secondary scorers they needed to overcome the Bulls.  Hopefully, they play D like Riley, but find guys who can play O as well as D like Holzman did.  He was the scout who put the Knicks together before leading them to two titles as coach.

Another important thing I think Fizdale is doing is reaching out to the players and suping them up.  He plans to meet KP and his family a few times over the summer, starting next week or something but he really is working on this relationships. This should all sound great to Knicks fans as it does to me.  He also said he's trying to put together the best staff possible, but we'll have to see what that is.

It does seem like we were right and that Mills and Perry really wanted to create a three headed leadership council with whomever they hired.  And though I feard that would make Fizdale their functionary, I'm really seeing how this can and is working through the first few weeks.  I said I'd give him a chance once he was hired, and so far he's running with it.  Of course, if KP hates him, so do I, but I don't think that's a possibility.

2018 Yanks: Historically Good?

We have a few days off here, so let's take a look at the Yanks. Through 40 games the Yanks are 28 and 12, good for .700 and run differential is +65, which is no great shakes so far.  But this version of the Yanks started the season under insane weather conditions that hurt the hitting, pitching and fielding.  They've righted it lately, but we're still not seeing a representitive diff number, and should see it exlpode as the weather heats up. The greatest run different in baseball history was +411 by the 1939 Yanks.  That team featured Bill Dickey, Joe Gordon, Joe D, King Kong Keller and Tommy Henrich.  No Babe Ruth, just 8 games from Lou Gehrig, no problem.

Though the Yanks had Joe D and Joe Gordon supply undgodly righty power in a brutal suppresive home park for right handed batters (58 homers between them), Dickey, Lou, King Kong and Tommy were all lefty swingers, as was almost great Yank George Selkirk.  Babe Dahlgren took over for Lou at first and he as a righty swing, too.

Pretty heady stuff.  These guys might actually be the best Yankee team ever, and are certainly up there with the `27, `36 and `98 versions.

Outside of all that bad weather, the 2018 Yanks are fully capable of putting up a comprable season.  They are at +65 and that's without Sanchez, Stanton and Judge getting as hot as we've already seen them. Greg Bird hasn't even played yet, but will join a downhill snowball when he does.  The Yanks have a lot more righty power now than they did then, and the park is more hitter friendly now.  

Red Ruffing was the ace of the 1939 staff and went  21-7 with a 2.93 era over 233.1 innings with just 95 K's.  I think Severeno might well beat those numbers, and will probably blow by those K numbers in June.  The rest of the staff lead by Lefty Gomez had a bunch of 12 and 13 game winners and the bullpen lead by Johnny Murphy was lights out.

Not yet sure if the rest of the current staff will end up with double digit wins.  The good news is that Justus Sheffield threw a bullpen today and Erik Swanson'sERA is now .44 in AA and he's old enough to be in AAA and should be. So help is on the way, and I have no idea who the Yanks could trade for that would be both available, and an upgrade.

The Yanks are going to have to get a bit hotter, and pitch a bit better, but they're capable of both, and we should all enjoy an amazing summer of Yankee greatness.

Knicks Draft

Okay, the Knicks are stuck at 9, but that doesn't mean they can't get an important piece. For a team that is now obsessed with culture and defense, Villanova's Mikal Bridges might be the perfect fit.  He probably has a Toby Knight upside on O, but with 3's, but has the chance to be an elite defender owing to his insane wingspan, high IQ and relentless drive to defend. In that sense, he's like a bigger version of Frank, and could give the Knicks unparalled wing D for the foreseeable.  Some are turned off by the fact that he stayed at school for three years. For us that means he's coming from vast exposure to great basketball fundamentals and elite culture.  So the Knicks would be betting a 3 and D instead of a one and done guy.

Having said that. there are a few other interesting guys who could be Knicks at 9, like Wendell Carter Jr from Duke, and guards Trae Young  from Oklahoma and Collin Sexton from Alabama.  If they pick one of the PG's, one would hope that they have some trades worked out to alleviate their stockpile.

In general, I'm hoping the BPA is Mikal or Carter.  Either would add to the defensive culture around KP and Frank. Either of the guards would need Frank to cover for them on D.  Especially, Young, though Young does sort of like some bizarre cross between Steph Curry's range and Jack Sikma's shot mechanics, if you can remember them.  You do remember how badly I wanted the Knicks to draft Curry, don't you?  The Knicks are meeting with him Friday.

Btw, the NBA Combine is later this week and like the NHL Combine, a lot can be determined and reshuffled there.

UPDATE: I guess the Combine has already started.  Meanwhile, Coach Fizdale has stepped away from Knick prospects to meet with Enes Kanter tonight.

Knicks Stay at 9

Scott Perry isn't bad luck, but he's not good luck, either, as he just sat in as the Knicks rep and the endless NBA Lottery and the Knicks moved neither up, like they deserved to, nor down, like the Rangers did. The lack of luck tonight will slow the rebuild, but there we are. The Knicks will probably be in the lottery again next year if KP doesn't play, so hopefully they're send a luckier rep. The Knicks will probable end up with Mikal or Miles Bridges as things look now, though that could change.

Breaking: Clint Frazier's Been Promoted

This is just breaking but Clint Frazier is on his way back to join the Yanks.  He has been on fire, and I think this is a sign that they don't want to waste his production in the minors. I assume David Hale will be gone.  Going into NL games, this will give the Yanks a better pinch hitting option than Gleyber Torres or Austin Romine.

Yanks Promote RHP Garret Whitlock to Tampa

Garret Whitlock had been shredding the Sally League so today the Yanks bumped him up to High A Tampa.  Whitlock was DES RHP out of UAB they picked in the 18th round of the 2017 draft.  They popped him because he had been throwing 95 at the Cape the previous summer and had carried utter dominance through his sophomore season till a back issue rendered him vulnerable.  Well, he's been healthy this year and just crushing things for Charleston.  Remember, in last year's draft the Yanks took a ton of power pitchers and this one's starting to move. Fun stuff.  Now it's time to promote Erik Swanson of the .54 ERA at AA to AAA and Trevor Stephan from High A to AA. Let's see if they do it.

Giants Stuff

Ereck Flowers has returned to the team and if his head is on straight, he can erase the Giants' question mark at RT and keep playing football for a long time. If it's not, he'll get cut and start bouncing from team to team. We'll see what happens.

In other news the Giants cut 6 guys and added 6 more based on this past weekend's mini-camp. The newly signded players are OG Chris Scott (30 year old veteran) CB Chris Lewis-Harris (young vet) OG Malcom Bunche (2017 UCLA), WR Alonzo Russell (2017 Toledo) DB Mike Jones (actual rookie, Temple), and RB Robert Martin (actual rookie Rutgers).

The banished guys are CB Brandon Dixon, OT Adam Bisnowaty, LB Derrick Matthews, CB CJ Goodwin (the long athletic guy) as well as UDFA's TE Stephen Baggett and CB Bryon Fields.

The only surprise here is that Baggett, he of the sub 4.5's didn't show enough to stick.  It's also a little odd that they are having 30 year old veterans of at least 14 camps competing against rookies.  Not super fair to the kids who were attending their first camps. And I hope the Giants have been fooled by a professional camp attender. I guess I could look at it as Chris Scott just never giving up on his dreams. We'll see.

Yankee Roster Issues Loom

So tomorrow or Tuesday, Brandon Drury will have to be reactivated or put on the 60 Day DL (I think).  What's more, in the next week or so they 'll be getting back Greg Bird and he's core.  Here's the problem, Drury's best position is 3B, or DH, I guess, but he's not really playable in the OF or 2B.  Miguel Andujar's best position is also 3B, and though they intended to get him work at 1B, they haven't, and though he's slumped a bit, he seems to be coming out of it.  Gleyber Torres can play SS, 2B and 3B, and probably the three other corners, because he's a natural. And Neil Walker can play everything but C, SS  and CF.

And then there's the mascot, Ronald Torreyes. I love him, too, but there's nothing he can do that can't be covered by bigger, stronger guys with POP.  Lately, perhaps because he's playing less, he seems to be beginning his annual reversion to his annual OPS+ of 81.  Hopefully, they don't have to DFA anyone and can work out a trade here, because demoting Andujar weakens the major league team.  So, though it will be hard on some fans and the Suzyn's of the world, I think trading Torreyes would be the way to go.

UPDATE: Drury was reinstated and optioned to AAA, because he's still not quite 100%.  Greg Bird and Billy McKinney were just promoted to AA, so roster challenges are still on the way.

This Week on the Blog

This week ended with a thud as the Yanks lost two in a row for the first time in just over a month.  On the plus side, the Giant Rookie Mini-Camp is in full swing,  the Rangers will have to hire a coach some time and the Knicks are really overdue for some lottery luck.  Let's take a look.

Yankees: Though they'd been doing it throughout their torrid streak, the Yanks could not overcome a substandard start by CC or a reversion to suckitude by Sonny Gray. Complicating things, perhaps slightly, Justus Sheffield left his AAA start last night with shoulder tightness.  Bad starts aside, the Yankee offense still hasn't started rolling.  Though they usually grind, the big hits have not been coming and guys like Gardy, Sanchez and Stanton (against RHP) haven't been themselves yet.  What's more, Didi is in the tank, Andujar's expanding, and Hicks may never be what he looked like for a month or two last year. The interesting news is that Clint Frazier is playing again in AAA, and has hit some homers. He's already on the 40, and could easily split Left and DH with Stanton while Gardy played C if Hicks was moved.  In any event, the offense should come around any day now.

Giants: Rookie Mini-Camp is good as long as no one gets hurt. The first day was exciting and 3 of the DB's, Haley, Davis and Chandler impressed onlookers. If this goes anything like last months voluntary Mini-Camp that lead into the Draft, performances should just get better and better, though Saquon Barkley's extreme suddeness was on display on Day 1.  Another small thing that came out in the reportage is the the locker room is now organized by position groups: the OL's are next to the OL's the LB's are next to the LB's and so on and so forth. Previously, It hadn't been organized that way and it may have contributed to the manner in which things went to hell last season.  Btw, reporters are currently tweeting the Shurmur has been in touch with Ereck Flowers and that he is reportedly in good shape. Flowers has always looked like a plus Right Tackle to a lot of folks, and if that's what he can give the Giants this year -- they'll have a really good line.

Rangers: The Rangers still haven't hired a coach. Having lost the NHL lottery (they moved back one spot) it seems somewhat likely that they will try to trade up in next months draft. Not sure it will make a difference given that they once drafted Brian Leetch with the #9 overall pick, but as long as they're using roster players instead of the majority of their picks to move up, it could be worth it.  No one will let them have Dahlin, but there are other great talents up at the top.

Knicks: We keep hearing the Nick Van Exel and Keith Smart will be added to Coach Fizdale's first staff, but nothing's been made official yet. Meanwhile, the NBA draft lottery is just 3 days away, and the Knicks are well overdue some luck. I guess Perry will represent the Knicks at the table.  This might not fit the tradition of having a legendary Championship Knick there, but it started with Dave DeBusschere at the table and he was both a legendary Knick and the GM at the time he won it, so maybe the GM role is more important. Of course, if the Knicks do win I'll be pulling for Luca Doncic.

So there we are.  German should dominate today, the young Giants should keep looking better, the Rangers better have a good plan, and the Knicks need some luck.

I hope it's a lucky week for all of you.

Giants Rookie Mini-Camp

This is the fun stuff. After checking in, doing meetings, taking physicals, and running through, the Giant rookies finally take the field for their first live practice in less than an hour. Along with the six draft picks, and 11 signed UFDA's, there are 44 tryout players on hand, looking to displace signed UDFA's or anyone else on the lower third of the roster.  So it will be a pretty full camp.  Interestingly the list of signed UDFA's didn't include everyone who's name was being bandied about two weeks ago.  It does include 3 OL, a TE, 4 DB's,  another DT, 1 WR and an LB.

The most intriguing guy in the group, on paper, is C Evan Brown, though only 6'2" and 302, he popped out 36 reps, has a 36" vertical, and ran a sub-5 40 at the combine.  If the Giants are using the same vertsion of OL technique the Vikings were last year, Brown could really develop into the long term answer at C, because the Giants won't be playing smashmouth, they'll be playing power spread.  That's a little like the old Mouse McNally scheme or what Alex Gibbs used to teach.  Thus athleticism is a little more valuable than pure bulk.

The other two OL's, Nick Gates, who's 6'5" and 295 and looks as though he's never been to a gym, may be ticketed to the practice squad.  He played T at Nebraska but the Giants are now listing him as a guard. Tyler Howell is 6'8" and 300 and they're still listing him as a T, but he's going to have to fill out some to be a Hog Molly.

Another guy who really interests me is CB Grant Haley. This guy is just a football player. Remember Will Hill?  When he wasn't on cloud nine, he was a guy who just knew how to play football and tackle people. Grant is short at 5'9" but built at 185.  Other than height the knock on his has been so-so ball skills. Truth is, all Giant DB's have played like they have so-so ball skills over the years.  Anyway, this isn't just a football player, he also killed the combine and will cover kicks and punts while he's learning the slot from Gay.

Meanwhile, Sean Chandler, the safety from Temple is 5'11" and 195, so also a bit undersized, but he was the first name we heard, so the Giants must like him.  Aaron Davis is a CB from Georgia who's got decent size,  and Byron Fields is a little slimmer CB from Duke who has some leadership.

Stephen Baggett, the TE from East Carolina is also intriguing. He's 6'5" and 251 and routinely puts of sub 4.5's in the 40. Sounds like a natural to back up to Evan Engram, or even a pass rush prospect for Bettcher is that doesn't work out. Anyway, this is the kind of athleticism that the Giants need all over the roster, so, let's see if he can play.

Another guy who is intriguing is LB Tae Davis, from Tennessee-Chatanooga.  He's listed as 6'1" 200! and that's what's so intriguing. There are no 200 pound LB's in the NFL, so they must have something specific in mind for this guy.  He is a coverage demon on specials, so that could be the thing, or they could also be envisioning some kind of in the box blitz punk.

It's all very exciting and I'll keep updating.

UPDATE:  First practice is over.  Grant Haley showed great coverage and had a PBU on the last play of the session.  Sean Chandler intercepted Sirk, while camp invite Orion Steward picked off Lauletta. Kyle fumbled his first snap, a la Darnold.  He also went on to show better velocity than some were expecting.  That's a plus.  We'll have to see what the coach says about the rest of his day.  Saquon was fine, and probably in "please, Hammer, don't hurt `em" mode.  Nothing has come up about the other defenders, though McIntosh had to sit out.

UPDATE 2: Saquon Barkley and tryout QB John O'Korn were the last two guys on the field, playing catch.  On their way off, Saquon lagged back so he would be the last one to leave the field. He may be as cool as Lias "roof the silver" Andersson.

Greg Bird to Begin His Rehab Assignment

Greg Bird, who was the Yanks best hitting prospect when he, Sanchez and Judge were coming up, will begin his annual rehab assignment tomorrow in Trenton.  They do tend to keep them down till they're on fire, so let's hope Greg, who was born with the walk gene is ready to roll.  Believe it or not he has been missed both from his offensive power and grinding, but also defensively, where he has made himself a plus player.  No more dropped double plays.  This is great news.

Ranger Stuff

Right now, the Rangers are having their Organizational Meetings.  This happens every year ahead of the draft and free agency, where they figure out their options, their plans and their targets.  Since they didn't have any playoffs at all, they've had a lot more time than usual, so hopefully that leads to a great plan, and not to overthinking things or getting cute.

You might recall, the Rangers attempted a 2016 Yankee type selloff at the deadline.  In doing so, they liquidated a lot more of their core than the Yanks did in 2016, and perhaps did not pick up any Torres or Sheffield level talent in return.  What they got was two extra firsts, an extra second and an extra third. So that's where they're  going to have to find their Justus.  Right now they're sitting 9th in the first round of a draft where most pundits believe the elite talent dries up at 8. So unless they can count on a ringer falling, they're probably discussing a trade up.  Hope they used roster players and not their picks.

They still haven't hired a coach, and it's getting a little weird. Last week Jim Montgomery took the Stars job, and Dan Quinn took himself out of the running,  Today, Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin, who was thought to be another top coaching target, revealed he has had no contact with the Rangers.  That's awful.  What's more, Dave Tippet's name is starting to be mentoned.  Tippet, who coached the Start for a long time, then coached Phoenix for a long time, is another win nothing re-tread, who is one job past his "prove it" job.  The Rangers were AV's "prove it" and he proved he was what he'd always been. The Rangers need "fresh" coach, which was their original word for what they hoped their search would produce.  Anything stale will be unacceptable and a search failure.

Knicks Introduce Fizdale

So, the Knicks are introducing Coach Fizdale, and it's not remotely as embarassing as their usual intro pressers are.  He has said the right things about KP, the plan, that he wants to install an oportunist defense that creates turnovers and offense.  Not bad. One advantage that he does have is that the Knicks don't currently have any coaching resistant stars like Starbury and Melo were. We'll see who else they add, but right now, they do feature a roster that will listen.  So, if they can add more pieces through the coming drafts and FA periods, we could see a slightly different result.  It would be good to move up in the lottery, as it really is just a 1 or 2 player draft.

Giants Stuff

This morning the Giants cut 5 players: G Damien Mama,  RB Terrel Watson, WR Caanan Severin, S Ryan Murphy and P Austin Rehkow.  This either means they already have 5 more deals that will be signed by UDFA's once they show up for their physicals or they're leaving 5 open for tryouts or a waiver claim or two.  Looking at the roster, the tryout UDFA's should really go for it because more room can be made.

I'll keep updating this thread, rather than making a bunch of other little Giants threads leading up to the camp.

A Gleyber of Love

This might have been the craziest one yet.  First, Domingo German pitching six no-hit innings with 9K's and 2BB's.  He got lifted for pitch count.  At the same time, the Yanks were being one hit.  Betances was dominant in the 7th, but went back for the 8th, and couldn't get anyone out.  Holder finished it but the Yanks were down 4-0 and being 1 hit going into the bottom of the 8th.  They scored three runs keyed by a Judge double.  Shreve, of all people, pitched a scoreless 9th.  Then Hicks lead off with a double, Wilson doubled him in to tie it, then Andujar grounded out,  Stanton walked, and then Gleyber Torres walked us off with a 3 run blast!   Holy crap!  We have another exciting young starting pitcher, and our best 2B since Cano! Yanks finally have a day off tomorrow and I think we can all use one.  What a team!

Knicks Culture?

Since the hiring of new Coach David Fizdale, a lot of ink and pixels have been talking about the ability of Fizdale to install a new culture for the Knicks. It's been explained that he was rightly trying to do that to an aging Memphis when he was fired. The Knicks are almost a blank canvas by comparison, with an injured franchise player, a defensively gifted teenager, a possibly "for real" Iverson clone, and a well meaning, 17th highest paid shooting guard. There's only one odious contract and it can be flexed.  The Knicks also have all their first rounders going forward.

That said, for not much trouble, they're really bad right now.  Mills hired himself to replace Phil Jackson last year, then hired Perry to be the GM.  They managed to move Melo, which was long overdue, but then gave away Hernangomez, and pulled a Zeke, but trading for busted lottery pick Mudiay. At least they didn't give away any ones, which was the metier of most of the past administrations.

Chewing on what seemed like a suboptimal result of an exhaustive and exhausting public coaching search won't help anyone, so the big question here is: is David Fizdale the kind of coach who can install a defenive mindset and a modern offense?  Budenholzer's love of the triangle might have DQ'd him.  Fizdale has no such connection to and hopefully doesn't eschew the three ball, like Phil Jackson did.

Fizdale is said to be School of Riley/Spoelstra and is definitely from the San Diego U Toreros which has been a coaching cradle for unimpressive guys like Bernie Bickerstaff and Mike Brown.  So he's not as over the transom as he seems at first blush.  If he can instill the Riley Era defensive orientation to the Knicks, he'll have half the battle won. Now, if we can only get the players to run Riley's Showtime Offense, it could be a great brand of basketball.

We'll have to see.  But it is a pretty blank canvas, has all it's picks and can make cap room whenever necessary.  We'll see how this goes, because this would be a great situation for a great coach.

This Week on the Blog

Alright, this week saw the Yanks keep on keeping on, the Knicks flub a coaching search, the Rangers add more internationa wings, and the Giants quietly continue their offseason program.  Let's see what the coming week holds.

Yankees: The starters have been pitching well, but suddenly there's been a blip in the bullpen.  Hopefully it will pass. Monty will be gone for 6-8 weeks and it looks like they are giving Domingo German the first crack at being the new 5. Down on the farm, the Yanks this week promoted Justus Sheffield to AAA and Jonathan Loaisiga from High A to AA. Both of those guys could come fast, and Erik Swanson is finally pitching like he looks - a man among boys with a sub 1 ERA. He cannot be long for Trenton. Right now, Sonny Gray is in the midst of what's looking like a second quality start in a row, so we might have some time. Yankee Magic Happening Now.

Giants: The Giants are currently getting ready for their rookie mini-camp.  It will feature all of the draft picks, the undrafted guys they have signed, and a bunch of tryout players looking for jobs, once again they have invited a bunch of guys from Canada. I don't know if Webb will be allowed to participate - the rules have changed from time to time, but the camp will definitely be the Barkley and Lauletta show.  Don't know what we'll see from Hernandez, and the pass rush, though it did look like rushers were getting to Darnold on the films from the Jet mini-camp, so maybe they'll flash some.  Let's hope it's well covered.

Knicks: The Knicks have hired but not yet introduced Davd Fizdale. Mills and Perry really do like to talk, so I'm not really looking forward to another 50 minute series of platitudes about how great their  plan is. It already seems to have failed from here. Keith Smart seems to be joining the Fizdale's staff, and I assume it will be filled out with more guys like that, and no old mentor type.  The Draft Lottery isn't till May 15. Watch these guys win it.

Rangers: The Rangers will have their organizational meetings this week, but as of yet do not have their new coach. Wouldn't surprise me if they named Sheldon Keefe in the next few days.  When they let Montgomery go to Dallas and Quinn withdraw, I felt they had their guy, or that two perfect candidates were not finalists, but other guys were.  Keefe would be a great hire for the young team they want to develop as would any of the college coaches.  They have been a lot quieter about their search than the Knicks were.  And I have a feeling I'll like the choice more.

So there we are.  Yanks are winning, the rest of our teams our hopefully getting ready to start winning. Hope it's a winning week for all of you.

More on Fizdale

Was torn about actually adding a picture of Fizdale since the odds of his making a difference or lasting very long are slim at best.  I get the feeling that the Mills/Perry team is going to be big talk, but no big moves.  And by big moves, I'm not talking about bringing in LeBron, I meant hiring Jerry Stackhouse or Jay Larranaga or a strong coach like Mike Budenholzer.  At the outset of their expansive coaching hunt, the Knicks expressed the notion that the new coach would have to realize he was part of a team with Mills and Perry.  I'm wondering if Fiz is the only guy who was willing to do that.  Budenholzer has already proven more than Mills and Perry, so I could see him bridling at the notion. But here's where we are, perhaps limited by the Mills/Perry brand.

As for Fizdale, I guess the thinking is that he's a Spoelstra disciple, and as such, also a disciple of old man Riley.  I prefer the cleaner connections and traceable coaching lines of Stack to the Dean, Budenholzer to Pop, and Larranaga to his Pop and Brad Stevens.  We'll see how this works out.

I think it's important that Fizdale get a legitimate basketball guru on his staff. Whether that comes in the form of an old college coach, or an old assistant -- it must not come in the form of Mike Woodson.

When Woodson originally came back to the Knicks is was to help with Mike D'Antoni's D.  Instead, he took Mike's job, and though the Knicks playing ISO Melo ball won 53 games, they got demolished in the playoffs, because they still wouldn't play D, which was supposed to be Woodson's strong suit.  Also, Woodson loves that atavictic ISO Ball and the Knicks also paid lip service to the idea of being modern.

They say Fizdale is going to Latvia to see Kristaps. I guess that's a start.

Quinn Pulls Out of Ranger Search

It's bad enough that the Knicks hired the kind of coach they said they were not looking for, but the Rangers now seem to be on the same path.  There is something really wrong at MSG, if they are losing coaches like Montgomery to expansion crap like Dallas, and having BU's Coach Quinn pull out of the search.  These are the most valuable franchises in their respectice sports, and either can't make timely decisions, or can't attract the best candidates.  This is horrific.

Rangers also signed Finnish right shot, Ville Meskanen today. He's another overage more goals than assists guy, who apparently still buys the old myths of MSG.

Woz is Reporting Fiz is the New Knicks Coach

Woz is reporting the Knicks are hiring David Fizdale as their new coach. They had 11 interviews and this is what they came up with? Fizdale was fired in Memphis for clashing with their best player, a big Euro.  The Knicks best player is a big Euro.  After the draft, if they have any draft  luck their second best player may be one, too. This seems like another catastrophically stupid move by the Knicks. I thought Princeton was a good school. Guess it's not.  The richest franchise in the NBA hired a guy who won't get along with their best player and will probably force a trade for pennies on the return.  This is an awful, awful move.  Also, Fizdale has no record for player development, which was one of the missions for Mills/Perry combo.  Fizdale has only developed an unimpressive resume, and frankly I think they've fired a series of better coaches.  Let's hope Woz is wrong, but I doubt he is.   They are that stupid.

Severino Shuts Out the Stros

Giancarlo Stanton had two homers and a double to drive in all four Yankee runs, and usually that would be the big story.  But it wasn't Luis Severino, the Yanks 24 year old ACE was.  He just pitched a complete game 5H, 1BB, 10K, complete game shutout.  I actually think he's the first homegrown guy to do that since Gator.  Righetti did it, too, but he wasn't exactly homegrown (maybe 60% when we got him as a minor leaguer in the Sparky Lyle trade).  Don't think Andy ever completed one, and don't think Joba, Ian or Phil ever had a complete game, let alone a complete game shutout.  And he did it the the Cheatin' Champs, too.   Not bad, not bad at all.  If Sevy has gone full Pedro, and Stanton is back to being Stanton... look out.  Also Gleyber Torres had two hits and made a great catch when Sevy was in his only jam.   One more tomorrow, then home.

Giants Awarded CB CJ Goodwin on Waivers

Rember when the Giants used to pick up useful Super Bowl player off of waivers, like Madison Hedgecock and Domenik Hixon?  Dave Gettlemen was Director of Pro Personnel at that point.  Today they may have reached back in yore, and picked up huge, fast CB CJ Goodwin from the Cardinals.  Say, isn't that Coach Bettcher's old team?  And doesn't he like big corners?   Stay tuned, this could be another ringer.

Jonathan Loaisiga Promoted to Trenton

This is interesting and we may be seeing the Yankee pitching plan snapping into place.  The Yanks tonight promoted Jonathan Loaisiga to AA.  In Tampa, over 4 starts and 20 innings he had 26 K's and a 1.54 ERA. Like a surprising number of Yankee starters, he's not that tall at 5'11" but he's got velo and pitchability to the point where they had to protect him on the 40 this past winter because someone would have taken him in the rule 5 and stashed him in their pen.  We'll see if Justus is also getting promoted after last night's dominance, and Albert Abreu came back from his appendicitis surgery and was throwing 98 the other night.  So the Yanks really may not have to make a trade.

Rangers Stuff

The Rangers today announced their deal with 23 year old SHL forward Michael Lindqvist.  Michael is a right handed shot but definitely not a typical Ranger power foward at 5'11" and 183. He had more goals than assists last year, so let's hope he has some snipe to him.

In other news, Denver Coach Jim Montgomery has agreed to coach Dallas. It's unknown if the Rangers made him an offer, but he is a quality candidate who has now signed somewhere else. Let's hope they're not playing Hamlet, because the hiring market may be moving faster than they'd like.

Jordan Montgomery Lifted From Start With Left Elbow Tightness

Jordan Montgomery pitched a 1-2-3 first inning tonight, then left the game with left elbow tightness.  Jordan is being sent back to NYC where he will be examnded by Dr. Chris Ahmad. This couldn't suck much more. Years ago we also lost Chien Ming Wang in that South Texas Hell Hole.   Fortunately, and perhaps fortuitously, Justus Sheffield K'd 9 in 6 innings of shutout ball in what was probably, one way or the other, hist last AA start. Down in High A Tervor Stephan gave up a homer and nothing else in a 6 inning 6K start.  But prayers right now for Gumby.