Giants Claim Jamon Brown

The Giants have claimed former Ram RG Jamon Brown off of waivers.  Jamon was a starter for the Rams last year and then was suspended for 2 games for having pot in his car. If that happened in CA, it was legal, but in violation of the NFL's rules.  Anyway, he has perfect size for RG at 6'6" 340 and is only 25 years old. If he can abide by the rules, he could prove a long term fit there and would reduce the need for finding another starting caliber RG (as well as RT and maybe C) in the draft. Strong move.

Yanks Bring Back Gardy for 1/7.5

The Yanks have announced that they are bringing back Brett Gardner for 1 year and 7.5M.  That's less than the 12.5 he'd be due had they picked up his option.  But did they also have to give him the 2M to buy out his option, making the deal really 9.5M or is the 2M part of the new 7.5M.  In either event, he looked pretty shot this past year, but, having said that, he is 100% Yankee through and through and the new deal is fine.

This Week on the Blog

Alright, this was another kind of crappy week for our teams. Perhaps this one can be a little better.  It'll start off with the Giants playing Washington, then before that's over, another Ranger game, and then more Knicks early in the week. Let's take a look.

Yankees: The Yanks better be busy making their offseason plans, because the World Series could be over soon. Anyway, I don't know how much they've been talking, or how long after the Series the action will start, but at least it's coming. And let's hope they're considering extending Judge now.  They've got to know what the salary structure is going to look like for their own young stars before adding Manny or whoever.   We'll see.

Giants: the Giants traded 2 defensive starters this week, and we should know pretty quickly if that mattered, and should know soon if they're going to make any more trades by the 30th. And Eli watch must be on. They are one and 6, and haven't even made Lauletta the back up QB, yet.  We'll also get to see if week 2 of the new OL configuration shows any progress, and whether they are finally willing to really go to Saquon and establish the running game.

Knicks: The Knicks are 1 and 5, but have been more competitive than the Giants.  And that's without Kristaps Porzingis or Kevin Knox. Fiz has them going hard.  Right now there in a place where they can really keep it tight for a half or three quarters before the floor falls out.  They need to learn how to finish.  They might have discovered something Friday, when they started Frank Ntilikina at the Point and he was the best player or the court not named Steph or Durant.  And Burke was good off the bench.  This might crucial change that lasts.

Rangers: the Rangers are also almost always competitive.  They probably had their best game early in the week against Florida, then played their worst against Chicago. The first goal they game up in that one was the product of two Rangers colliding. They answered it quickly, then the second one game when Brent Smith's stick broke, and then the doors were off.  I think Quinn, like Fiz, is the right man for the job, so let's hope they look better (win or lose) Sunday against the Kings.

So there it is, trade deadline approaching for the Giants, trades season approaching for the Yanks, and the young Knicks and Rangers will hopefully keep plugging.  Have a great one!

Giants Take a 5th for Snacks

The Giants just moved their immovable run stopper.  He's one dimensional and only plays a little over 50% of the defensive downs.  He's also still owed a bunch of money, so I can understand the Giants only getting what should be a pretty high 5th from the Lions. One of the things we were seeing with Snacks was QB's checking out of run plays when he was in. I'd heard that RJ McIntosh had been practicing a bit, so I wonder if he's close to being activated. He's a 3-4 DE, not a nose, but he's talented an could help the rotation.

Giants Trade Eli Apple

The Giants just traded Eli Apple to the Saints for a 2019 4th, and 2020 7th.  I actually thought they'd trade Jenkins. Apple has ideal size and make up speed for today's game, and I think he's made himself a solid starter in the league again. We'll have to see what else happens. Taylor Decker was still on the board when the Giants took Apple, and though I had him as the #1 CB in that draft, I wanted Decker.

This Week on the Blog

Okay this past week featured, no Yankees,  no Giants, more Rangers and finally the 18/19 Knicks debut.  Let's see what's up for this week.

Yankees: Cashman says the Yanks have been charged with surpassing the Red Sox. Wish we were already there, but this past season was about re-setting the tax, and it has been re-set. Their big issue seems to be starting pitching.  Let's see where they go with that. They could also always use another quality bat.

Giants: the Giants haven't made any trades yet, but trades have started around the league and they have till the end of October, and they are going nowhere.  One guy they are swapping out is Patrick Omameh, who has been ghastly at right guard.  So they're moving Greco to guard, and Pulley to starting C. That could be sort of momentous.  If Pulley can solidify C, that is one less guy they'll have to find in the offseason.  The other interesting guy in the group is Evan Brown.  And he's a C who's managed to stay on the roster all season, so far. Gotta wonder if they're teaching him guard.  We'll see. As for the QB situation, Lauletta is still running the scout team - so no move seems close.

Rangers: The Rangers are 2-4-1 and on a little point streak. They're playing Calgary later today, and we should see another honest effort as the continue to adapt to this new system.  It's too soon to see if any of these guys are future core or not, but Lias Anderson is scoring a point a game in the AHL, and Kravstov is having a fine age 18 season through 19 games.  Also K'Andre Miller has really taken to college hockey.  And they could all be future core.

Knicks: The Knicks won big on opening night and have since lost two games by a total of 4 points.  They absolutely got reffed against the Nets and should have won.  They lacked some poise against the Celtics, but showed guts by continually coming back.  Like the Rangers under Quinn, the effort that's been missing for so long is back. Unfortrunately, Kevin Knox sprained his ankle last night, and will missed the coming week, then be reevaluated.  He was eh in game one, then was pretty great in game 2.  Overally, the offense isn't giving Knox and Frank the ball enough when they are open.  And though the Knicks are finally moving their feet on D, there is some staning around on O.  I'm sure it will straighten itself out.

So there we are. The overt rebuilds are fun to watch, while the Giants' needed rebuild is still not being  overtly embraced by the FO.  After what happened last year with Eli's benching, it sort of makes sense that they are not eager to bench him again. So there we are, Rangers today, Giants and Knicks tomorrow.  Have a great one!

Knicks Trounce Hawks

The Knicks blew out the Hawks tonight. 126-107.  THjr had 31 with 5 dimes and 6 boards.  Both Enes Kanter and Noah Vonleh had double doubles, Enes with 16 and 11, Noah had 12 and 10 (16 minutes) .  Of the rookies, Knox had 10 points with 1 block and 2 steals, but no boards or dimes.  Alonzo Trier had 15 points, with 4 boards and 2 blocks, and Mitchell Robinson had 2 points, and nothing else in one minute of play. Hezonja also had 15 pts.  Trey Burke threw in 15, too, along with 4 assists, 3 rebounds

Rangers Beat AVs via the Shoot Out

Kevin Shattenkirk, who scored in the shootout and assisted on Kreider's goal was just the first star of the game in the win.  Hayes had the other regulation goal (come to think of it, Shatty assisted on that, too), and both Chytil and Vesey probably should have had a couple but didn have any. The team played well and we're starting to see a really coaching difference. And Coach Quinn is doing things differently, last week he scratch Shatty, tonight it was Buchnevich's turn to sit.  Risky, but they guys are playing their butts off, and that's all we can ask while the kids develop and the new core forms.

This Week on the Blog

Here, hopefully endeth one of the worst sports weeks in the history of this blog.  The Yanks were eliminated by their mortal enemy, the Giants lost 2 games, the Rangers won an OT game, but lost two others, today by way of the ref, and the Knicks lost their last 2 preseason games and blew 6M in cap space by cutting and stretching Noah, now.  This week can only get better, right? Let's take a look.

Yankees: the Yanks, yesterday, announced that Didi needs TJS and their entire coaching staff is coming back. Neither of these things are good, but the coaching staff coming back intact is horrible news. The pitching coaches are atrocious.  Look at Gray, look at Sevy, look at the long stretches of wildness from both Betances and Chapman over the last two years. Also, yesterday it was confirmed that Sevy has been tipping pitches during the second half of the season. So, if they were aware of it, why wasn't it fixed?  Can they even be counted on to fix it?  It's not worth finding out, but they're gonna.  I think the proper move was to promote Danny Borrell to MLB pitching coach. Likewise, they didn't grind enough under Marcus Thames.  They did in April/May, but then stopped. That bears more examination than they could have given it between Tuesday and Friday.  I'm sure we'll have more to talk about between now and April, but they are starting things off with a very bad decision.

Giants: Two things are clear -- the Giants were not quick fixable, but they did take the best player in the draft.  They still need to rebuild the OL, and add more playmakers to the D.  The trade deadline is October 30th or 31st, and they should be sellers. They need more picks and more young players with upside. Eli looks like toast and let's hope they give Lauletta a chance before they're forced to take a QB with next year's high first rounder.   I doubt they'll fire the coaching staff a second year in a row, but they need a new plan.  And they should start at the deadline.

Rangers: the Rangers just lost their 4th game - out of 5 - this season because they refs called a penalty on Namestikov when he was the player who'd been fouled, giving Edmonton a power play and the go ahead goal.  The Rangers are playing hard, though, and we knew what this year was going to be.  Speaking of that, K'Andre Miller scored a goal in his first game for Wisconsin last night. It was a laser. So that's great news. He has the chance to give the Rangers another unicorn.

Knicks: The Knicks weren't able to buy out Noah, so they cut him today, using the stretch provision now, instead of later and losing 6M in space in the meantime.  Seems inefficient, and that's not what we want to see from any of these rebuilds.  We should see the final cuts in the next day or so and the regular season will start this week.  Speaking of inefficiency, Kevin Knox has been missing a lot of shots, especially at the Garden.  But, you can see him really focusing on D, and trying to block shots, so it could be a matter of a step back to move forward.  He still does enough amazing stuff to keep the long term hopes up.

So, here's hoping that this new week will be a better week for our teams and all of us.  Thanks for reading.

Didi's Getting TJS

At the year end presser, Brian Cashman revealed that Didi Gregorius needs TJS. This probably means he won't be back in time to start the season.  When Torres had his TJS, he missed half a season and then came back this past Spring.  So Didi will probably miss months at the beginning of next season. Torres or Tyler Wade can play SS while they wait.

Giants Add OT Brian Mihalik From the PSquad

Okay, the Giants have now waived Ereck Flower and elevated Brian Mihalik from for the practice squad to take his place.  They probably should have cut bait on Flowers last offseason, but the market was crummy and after signed Solder and Omameh, they probably didn't have much cap left. Flowers was physical marvel, but ultimately for one reason or another, he was unreachable or unteachable by 3 different Giant OL coaches. Flaherty, whom he hated, is now coaching the good line down in Jacksonville. Mihalik, in the meantime, started a few games for the Lions and originally played for Chip Kelly in Philly, so Shurmur knows him.

Sanchized!

Judge had his customary one jack, and the Kraken reawakened and had two jacks and 4 rbi's, in the Yanks 6-2 win that sends them back to New York with a chance to win it. Tanaka was good enough and so was Betances, who worked two innings again. Britton and Chapman took care of the 8th and 9th.  Cutch had the other  RBI on a single.  Big Win.  Let's finish it!

This Week on the Blog

Okay, week started off with a Giant misfire, then continued with both the Knicks and Rangers looking better, and the Yanks splitting a pair of playoff games. Let's take a look at this week.

Yankees:  Yanks lost one they probably should have won last night, and their margin of errror for losses could end today, if they blow another one. We need "Playoff" Tanaka, and he is available and scheduled to throw. Boston had to use their game 3 starter, Porcello, last night because their bullpen is so bad. Need to start getting into it fast. This is doable and guys like Stanton and Torres, who were awful last night, can be heros tonight. Go Yankees!

Giants: You are what you're recod says you are. So they have a 25% chance of winning tomorrow. Ugh. They have to get Saquon and OBJ more involved.  One good thing: the rookies like Saquon,  Will Hernandez, Lorenzo Carter and BJ Hill, are already among the best players on the team.  So sucking again, and getting more high picks, could really pay off -- next year.  We'll see if they have any heart.

Knicks: The Knicks are now 3-0, and we are witnessing actual player development.  Let's take Kevin Knox for example, we knew he was a scorer, but he is also working really hard on D, and getting steals, getting lots of rebounds, and suddenly trying to block a lot of shots.  Alonzo Trier is a pure scorer, and clearly more valuable than Mudiay, so that could be the move, if they want to put him on a regular contract.  Should mention THjr. In game 2 Fizdale benched him after taking a bad 3.  Well, last night a driving and dishing Hardaway came back with 19 first half points and no dumb shots.  That was impressive.

Rangers: The Rangers are 0-1 but got reffed at home in game one and if they play as hard against Buffalo tonight, they should get their first win. As with the Knicks, development will be key, and guys like Chytil, and Buch are already looking like two of the best on the team.  Howden, who is centering the 4th line has good size and great hands, so lets see if he can pot a few. I was amazing that Vesey and MZA didn't score Thursday.  They had their chances.

So there it is, all 4 teams are playing, though the Yanks need to pick it up if they want to keep playing.  Have a great one!

Yanks Beat Themselves in Game One

JA Happ was crap, and gave up 5 runs in three innings.  That said the Yanks battled back, and loaded the bases in both the 6th and the 7th, but couldn't get the big hit in either frame. Judge homered to lead off the 9th, to make it a one run game, but nobody else could do anything and Stanton had a terrible AB. They can still do this if their starting pichers can give them a chance and if they can get a big hit or three.

Rangers Get Screwed In Their Opener

In the first official game of the David Quinn Era, the Rangers played hard for 60 minutes, but they the refs missed a bunch of calls and the Rangers didn't get a power play till late in the third. They lost 3-2 and literally would have won with decent refs, two of the goals against came in situations where the refs missed something.  Of Fast got the first goal of the season on a great pass from Filip Chytil.  Buchnevich got the second goal of the year from Mika and Mats. If they keep up this effort and keep digesting the new system, they should win some games.  But even with bad refs, it was good to see them get after it.

Knicks Stuff

In last night's preseason win against the Nets, Mitchell Robinson landed on someone's foot and had to leave the game with an ankle. Also,  Alonzo Trier went off.  I think he's looks way more useful than Mudiay. Kanter's in great shape and playing some D!  And they already cut John Jenkins.

Yanks Advance!

Severino was squeezed but dominant into the 5th, Judge followed a Cutch walk with a blast in the bottom of the first, and it was just counting down the outs after that.  The A's kept switching pitchers, effectively, but Judge lead of the 6th with a double, and Hicks doubled him home, Stanton walks, Voit  tripled and Didi hit a sac fly to finish the scoring in a 4 run inning.  Britton pitching in his first playoff action gave up a two run bomb, but Stanton answered with a bomb of his own and it's off to Boston we race! Let's go, Yankees!

Sevy Will Start

Yanks have just announced that Luis Severino will start the Wild Card game.  I think this is the right chouce.  JA Happ and Masa Tanaka have had success against the Sox, and Sevy's swing and miss is back and even a little better than it was during his first 18 starts. Also, because he came through the system with Sanchez, Judge, Bird and the rest, it hjust feels right. I'm sure everyone will be available, though.

Knicks Win Pre-Season Opener

In a pretty fun game, the Knicks beat the Wizards in overtime tonight.  What I think was most interesting thing was the way in which they did it. The Knicks ones and twos lost the first half by 5 points.  But it was mostly back in forth.  I don't know what happened at halftime, the the starters, including Kevin Knox came out and went on quick run that saw Knox hit a couple of threes (finished with 13, 10, 3 and 2 steals).  It was enough to take a lead, and then the ones and twos sat for the night and the 3's and 4's played. That group see-sawed back and fourth, with Trier looking really impressive and Vonleh intriguing. One play that he almost made was called an offensive foul, and it probably was, but damn is he athletic.

Mitchell Robinson continued to look like a natural as he played with the ones and twos and got dunks, blocks and rebounds. For "raw" guys both Knox and Robinson have a great feel for the game.