This Week on the Blog

Alright, the Yanks got started, the Knicks and Rangers kept losing and the Giants didn't do anything stupid this week. Not bad. Let's take a look at the coming week.

Yankees: I think everyone assumed the Yanks would add 2 starters, aside from re-siging CC and Happ, but it wasnt to be, and the trade for Jame Paxton was the only big move and he debuts today. Let's hope he's ready to explore his immense ceiling. In other news,  Boone is already playing around with the lineup, and is sitting Greg Bird today so DJLM can play third, and Andujar can DH.  Ugh.  I hope Boone lets Miggy start in the playoffs. The really exciting event coming up this week is the start of the long season minor league teams. So from low A Charleston to AAA Scranton, the kids will start playing.  In general, I think we'll see a lot of breakouts on the farm this year, and I'm breakdown the roster if I have time later this week. 1-2-3, pop-up, K, K, for Paxton!!!!

Giants: the Giants are ramping up their draft preparations. Right now they are going to pro-days and hosting visiting players.  They can have 30 non-local visits and I believe their "local visits" from school like Rutgers, and I think up to BC and down to Penn State, are unlimited. This has to be a huge draft for the Giants, and with 12 picks, they ought to get it done.  Ideally, they'll get a starting caliber RT and someone who can compete or start right off the bat at C. Beyond that, I'd like to see them get more passrush, another CB and a better backup RB than Wayne Gallman. It would also be nice to get a wide receiver who can get deep. One of the strenghts of the draft is supposed to be TE, so with 12 picks, perhaps they can indulge in another one.

Rangers: the Rangers will wrap up their season this week. So far, they've only signed one undrafted guy and they did not bring over any of their Russians.  So some signings might happen right after the season. The Draft lottery will be early this year, so Ranger fans wiill only have to wait til 4/9 to see how the NHL lottery will screw them them this year.  With 6 games left it will be interesting to see if the resurrgent Buch sccores his 20th and Kreider makes it to 30. He seemed destined to, before the trades happened.

Knicks: Has been acknowledged, Mitchell Robinson, has been doing a great imitation of Bill Russell the other night with his 19 pts, 20 boars, and 2 blocks. And I'm not saying that he has a Bill Russell ceiling, but he is a Bill Russell type Center.  He's probably never going to be a Wilt or Shaq back to the basket guy. And history has shown you can win with either type, but in a sense, basketball is probably in bigger Bill Russell phase than has been the case of the past few decades. The Knicks season ends April 10.

So there you have it Yanks and their farm revving up, the Giants looking for more Giants, the Rangers winding down and the Knicks are also winding down.  Have a great one.

Yanks Win!

Yanks opened up today against the Birds. The Tanakster took the mound and got the win allowing just 1 earned run over 5.2.  The O's had scored an unearned run earlier, but after the first earned they lifted him.  Yanks didn't wait long to announce themselves. In the bottom for the first after Gardy made out, Judge lined a single, Stanton lined a single and Voit hit one to Detroit.  The Yanks scored their 4th run (Judge again) in the 4th when Andujar GIDP's. Then they scored 2 more in the 5th without getting a hit - Gardy, Judge and Stanton walked them full, the Voit was hit by a pitch and Andujar hit a sac fly.  Bird, who had K'd thrice, unloaded one of those beautiful Yankee Stadium homers, that recalled Maris and Nettles, the bottom of the 8th. Ottavino looked filthy and Britton looked good as they managed 4 outs then 3 outs respectively.  Chapman gave up an weak infield hit to start the 9th, the K'd a guy, got a flyball, then got another groundball for the final out. Big win.  Off till Saturday when Paxton makes his Yankee debut.  Let's sweep these bastards.

This Week on the Blog

So the Yanks had to shut down Betances, the Giants began their pro-day tour, and the Knicks and Rangers kept on tanking. This week should be more exciting, though as the Yanks go LIVE on Thursday to start the 2019 season, we might find out some other stuff, too.  Let's take a look.

Yankees: The Yankees are badly banged up heading into the regular season, with Sevy, Dealin' Dellin, CC and Hicks starting out of the Injured List. So, early season  rainouts could help this year.  Meanwhile, the O looks like it could be something special, even without Hicks to start. Everybody who needed a big ST has achieved one, with the exception of Clint Frazier, who's already been sent down and just needs tons of AB's after missing most of last year. Greg Bird, who was really being challenged has gotten back to taking his walks and going oppo taco. Voit is also hitting the ball hard, but not walking as often, but both guys have gotten "make it" grades and should be up to start the season with Stanton playing more Left and Gardy starting fewer games.  Btw, Stanton and Judge now look like Super Destroyers, and they could really carry the team all year, though with Gleyber and Andujar and the other around, they won't have to. Tyler Wade looks like he's making the team and has added what looks like above average OF ability to go with his SS, 2B, 3B and god knows what else package.  He's been hitting and stealing and could really help.  He's a much more natural basestealer than Gardy ever was, and has close to if not superior speed at ths point.  Should be a great season.

Giants: The Giants are in better shape than they were last year at this time. Plus they have 12 picks to use next month which is the most they've ever had since the draft moved to the 7 round format. And some time in their first three picks, they will fix Right Tackle, and once that is done both the O and the D will be instantly improved, as "ball control" will become a thing again for the Giants.  I'm hoping they go 6-6 on O/D picks and not try to force a 9-3 of 8-3 D advantage, or anything like that.  They still have some things they need on O , like a field stretching WR who can open things up for Saquon. Not a big Wayne Gallman fan, so wouldn't mind seeing another RB brought in.  Also, TE is a strength of this draft - so why not?  So I'd do at least 1 T, 1 OC-G, 1RB and at leat 1 WR.  And that doesn't even factor in QB, which may or may not be a Giant Want come April.  So, anyway, the Giants shouldn't go all D in the draft and hitting it as many as 6 times should really improve it, anyway.  We'll see.  Wonder if they'll make anymore trades.

Rangers: the Rangers are closing in on a bottom 5 season, which should help them in the lottery. To my knowledge, they haven't yet signed any more of their picks or prospects, like the Russians, nor have they signed anymore college or undraft MJHL guys. So they don't want to burn any entry years by having kids take part in the tank to start out. They have fewer then 10 games left, and I think the draft lottery is being held earlier this year.

Knicks: Frank returned last night and they still lost. Mitchell had a big game, and after a few nice games, Knox seemed off. I think they, too, are down to 10 games or fewer in this misbegotten trainwreck of a tank show. They really need to win the lottery. but grabbing Ja Morant with the #2 pick would also be a huge move for the franchise. He would electrify Big Mitch and Knox and whoever else is here.  Special talent.  So is Zion.  Need luck.

So there it is, our one great team will start its season, and our 3 rebuild jobs are all in different states of their rebuilds and need both intelligence and LUCK to return to the promised land.  Have a great one!

Giants Stuff

The Giants seeem to have moved their focus from free agency to the NFL Draft, which makes a lot of sense, since they have little cap room, and a 12 picks. And the truth is, for the Giants and, really every team. the draft is far more important than free agency.  Without the 2003, 2004, 2005 drafts, where the Giants collected Osi, Diehl, Eli, Snee, Gibril, Webster, Tuck and Jacobs, the Giants would only have 2 Lombardi's. The 2007 draft was vaunted at the time, but really only Bradshaw was a big contributor.  Likewise, without the `81 -`90 drafts, the Giants wouldn't have won their first two. 2007 was the last draft that Reese ran, before shifting his total focus to GMing. Between 2008 and 2017, under Mark Ross, the Giants just didn't pick enough Giants. Sure, JPP, Linval, and OBJ were great picks, with JPP and Linval contributing to another superbowl win in year 2, but there were very few other special picks. Hakeem Nicks was great for awhile but was destroyed by injuries, like Kenny Phillips, Steve Smith, Mario Manningham, Terrell Thomas, Justin Pugh, Weston Richburg and Landon Collins. Others were just turned out to be horrible picks.

Now, whether or not you are mad or distrustful of the latest FO, they had a hell of a first draft, last year, including Saquon, Hernandez, Carter (4 sacks), BJ Hill (5.5 sacks), plus Kyle Lauletta and RJ McIntosh.  They did that with 6 picks, and this year they have 12, which is the highest number of picks they've had in since the Draft shrunk to 7 rounds. They had 11 picks in 2003, but their first picks was #25 and their second pick, Osi, was #56.  So not only do they have an extra pick this time, but they start 19 slots higher and have 2 picks before 25, and 3 or 4 before 56.

So they could really clean up next month. And it feels like they're counting on doing just that since they gave out a bunch of 1 year deals in FA, and the only guys who got more are mentor types. Let's hope they're plan is solid and it starts with crushing another draft.

This Week on the Blog

This was a tough week, the Giants traded a Unicorn, the Knicks and Rangers kept tanking, and, though the Yanks look great, they are down to SP's and their CF, and could go into the season short handed.  Let's take a look at what might be coming this week.

Yankees: Sevy isn't expect till May, and CC won't appear till sometime in April, it could be sooner but he's got his suspension to serve. Ominiously. Jacoby Ellsbury could rejoin the Yanks this week and migh be end up being their starting CF to start they year. Okay, whole that's all bad news, the good news is Aaron Judge. He seems to have improved. He has gotten rid of his leg kick with two strikes and he is crushing balls ala the similarly flat footed Joe DiMaggio. Judge has had period through his metioric rise, where he looked like a high average, high OBP, high SLG and if he can continue to cut down the K's with his new approach, we could really see some 1930s type productio.  Also, after a slow start Stanton is raking, too. As is Gardy and Andujar.  And Bird and Wade. And they're about to play the Jays.  Holy shit, Judge just hit another BOMB! So does Gleyber!

UPDATE: Estevan Florial broke his right wrist crashing into the wall in CF.  He'll miss 6-8 weeks, again this year and lots of AB's.

Giants: This week, the Giants created one need, but took care of two. As currently composed they have no big playmaker at WR. Golden Tate and Serling Shepard ad some YAC, but neither is explosive.  Fortunately, the coming draft is full of big, fast WR's and the Giants have a lot of picks.  What they did do that was a positive was settle the Safety position with Peppers and Bethea, and solidify RG for years.  They are still in desperate need of an upgrade at RT, and Mike Remmers left yesterday withouth a deal. It would be nice to get someone like Remmers, but with the way the draft is set-up we can also get a long term RT at 17, 37 or maybe even with our third.  It would also be good for them to find a Center-Guard for depth and to eventualy unseat Pio. They did add some passrush this week, and yesterday add 3-4 DE Olsen Pierre, who had 5.5 sacks working for Boettcher in AZ. We'll see what else they can get done ahead of the draft - as well as who visits, as those are about to start.

Rangers: The Rangers are at that time of year when they sign former picks and undrafted guys. And before their loss yesterday, they signed WHL F Jake Elmer, a late blooming 20 year old, right shot, who just had 38 goals and 78 points in 66 games this year. This is a good practice, as they are still realing a bit from all those ones and twos they traded since the cup runs started. Like the Giants they have at least 2 ones this year and a plethora of other picks.

Knicks: Zion Williamson has looked amazing in two games and it seems imperative that the Knicks win the lottery. Zion would be the first powerful heart scorer the Knicks have had since Willis Reed. They've had other heart players, like Mason and Oakley, but they weren't big time scorers.  So please, can we win the lotter and finally get this thing going in the right direction.

So there it is, Yanks are injured, but their best players look amazing, the Giants still have a lot of work to do, and a lot of picks with which to do it, the Rangers should keep signing guys and the Knicks have to keep tanking. Have a great week!

Giants Golden Day

On day 2 of UFA, the Giants added edge passrusher Markus Golden on a one year deal, and 30 year old WR Golden Tate on a 4 year deal. Tate's deal is really probably a 2 year deal, and he gives them another productive mentor type to go with S Antoine Bethea, whom they also acknowledged today.  They also brought back CB Tony Lippett and DB/Special Teamer Antonio Hamilton. Tonight, they are hosting  OL Mike Remmers for dinner than, a guess a meeting and physical tomorrow. Remmers would be a perfect stop gap at Right Tackle, while the Giants draft another one among their first 3 or 4 picks. We'll see if they lock him up. Markus Golden is coming off of an ACL (second year off) and Remmers was bothered by back issues last year.

Giants: Big Wednesday?

Yesterday, the Giants traded a future Hall of Famer.  Today, they have a chance to start putting themselves back together. Old school as they are, they haven't leaked any of the tampering they've been able to do during the official tampering period, so we'll see what they have to to anounce today and we'll post it here.  Would be nice to get a RT, which would take a ton of pressure off the draft.

Breaking: The Giants Trade OBJ to the Browns

The Giants just traded the greatest passcatcher in the history of the franchise to the Cleveland Bowns, for the 17th pick in the 2019 Draft, a 3rd round pick, and S Gibril Peppers.  They also added S Antoine Bethea on a 2 year deal earlier today. He's 34 or something but has been productive. I can't believe this crap.

This Week on the Blog

This past week, the Yanks kept dealing with injuries, the Giants traded for Zeitler, the Rangers kept keeping on and so did the Knicks.  This week could be a little more exciting.

Yankees: If the Yanks are going to do anything about adding another starter, it will probably get done this week.  There scheduled healthy starters are all over the 50 pitch mark, and so, someone who'd been out, like Dallas Kuechel, wouldn't need too much time to catch up. If they let it go much further, it would. I think the Yanks probably will do something, because I don't think they want to make up two starts per time around the rotation from what they have.  They might still be able to make a trade, but we'll have to see. I could see them letting Lasagna or German start once per rotation but don't see both of them being in it to start the season.  And a trade might let them offload Cessa, who is out of options and seems to have no organic future with the club.

Giants: Last year, the Giants start NFL Free Agency by signing Nate Solder to a big deal. Since then they drafted Will Hernandez and will announce their trade for Kevin Zeitler when the official league year starts on Tuesday or Wednesday. Will they start sign a new Right Tackle? Kevin Wheeler has been a two season bandage - which re-emphasizes just how bad Flowers had been.  This week they habve a chance to solidify that position for the foreseeable and that better be part of the plan. They could also use more pass rush and a safety or CB. That would take a lot of pressure off of their draft - where they still have 10 picks, four of which are 5ths. If they want to open more cap space they can always extend Eli for a season or Zeitler for a season or two. They should have close to 28M to start.

Rangers: the Rangers today announced the signing of 21 year old G Adam Huska.  He's a good prospect and this is the time of year when the Rangers tend to signing the past picks they need to sign. Also, Kravstov may or may not be done with his play offs and it might want to bring him over to finish the last few games. By the same token, they might not want to start his clock in the tiny part of the season that is left.

Knicks: the Knicks are just gearing up for the lottery. Kevin Knox and, most of them, really, are having trouble shooting. And we can only be bouyed by the fact that alll 3 of the rookies have been really impressive at times, and when they have been, they have joined to company of basketball immortals in their outings. Let's hope they are properly developed.

So there it is,  Yanks might need to make another pitching move, the Gianst will make a move or three, and the Rangers and Knicks keep working their way to some needed draft luck.  Have a great one!

Yankees Buying Back YES

The Yanks have reached a deal to re-acquire the part of the YES Network they had previously sold from Disney. YES had gone to Disney in the Fox merger. It was thought that Amazon was also treing to get it. The Yanks will pay 3.4B, but their franchize value will soar even higher, and self sustenance is good. Doubt this had anything to do with their baseball moves.

Actually, the above is wrong. Apparently they are only increasing their stake to 30% of the network. They had retained 20% after the original sale. Not sure what this does for them.

Giants Trade OV for G Kevin Zeitler

It doesn't look like this deal replaced their missing 3, but the Giants just fixed RG for the foreseeable. This guy is good.  So, the Giants now have a plus LT, LG and RG. Still need to upgrade C and RT, but this is huge.  The Giants also swapped a 4th for another 5th (they now have 4) . This is a good deal.

Giants Tender ERFA Penny and 3 RFA's

So they tendered the fullback as well as C Jon Halapio, K Aldrick Rosas and WR Corey Coleman.  Out of these guys, I'd worry about a team stealing Rosas, who had a great season.  And I have no idea why, but the Giants seem high on Halapio as a C.  He got hurt before Jamon Brown sort of stabalized things, but things were no good when he was in there.  Also, last season they carried UDFA C Evan Brown on the 53 all year without playing him, but if they didn't see something they liked, he would have been a very easy cut. They should perhaps lock-up Rosas, now.

Severino Has an Inflamed Rotator Cuff

Yankee Ace, Luis Severino missed his scheduled Spring debut today due to shoulder discomfort.  They are now calling it RC inflamation, so he'll be down for weeks, not days - if all goes well - and won't be able to start on opening day. Let's hope for the best, because we are not currently equipped to replace him, unless Johnny Lasagna is ready to rock. It would be a shame to see them reach for a Kuechel, and tough to make another trade without hurting other plans.

In other news, Sonny Gray was telling anyone who would listen that his problem here was that the Yanks kept insisting he throw more sliders, when he believed he couldn't really control it and had preferred to bounce them for strike three when he had been a successful starter in Oakland. That really has to be looked out. I know the Astros are always telling pitchers to do one thing or another more, but this flat did not work.

Giants Stuff

This morning, the Giants informed S Landon Collins that they would not use the Franchise Tag to keep him, so he is free to become an unrestricted FA next week. Collins, an in the box S probably has less value in the 3-4 than he had in the 4-3, but he was a good Giant and, perhaps, if they would have cut bait on Eli's huge cap number, something could have been worked out. That said, they have created another need to handle in FA and/or the Draft. Tomorrow begins the legal tampering period that precedes Free Agency every year.  They have a lot to do, and thus far only about 26M and 10 picks with which to get it done.

This Week on the Blog

Alright, this week, the Yanks got into their Spring schedule, the Giants filled out their coaching the staff, the Rangers called up a rookie, and the Knicks won two games and kept competing. Let's take a look at what's coming this week.

Yankees: The Yanks are playing now and Cessa is some how still competing for the 6th starter spot.  Yikes. In other news Bird, Wade and Tulo have been fantastic and everybody else is still looking for their rhythm. The presumptive starters who have gone, Paxton and Happ has looked fine, but both have given up jacks. Paxton's had a lot of swing and miss in his 4.1 innings of work. When Philly signed Harper, it became FACT that the Yanks were not going to hand out a monster contract this offseason, and the next one they do, could very well be for Aaron Judge. We'll see. Hope they succeed in reaquiring YES. Forial just doubled.

Giants: The Giants are at the Combine, where both Gettleman and Shurmur spoke to the press. Both of them made it sound like the Giants were going to pick a Quarterback in the first round, which could implya a trade up to get the guy they want. Also, they seem to be marketing Olivier Vernon, which bothers me not at all, hopefully they can add a third round pick that way. They still haven't talked to Landon Collins and, at the moment, only seem to have 26M in cap room under the new cap figure. So they're going to have to make more room. NFL Free Agency starts on 3/13.

Knicks: The Knicks have been a lot more fun lately, and one of the reasons has been the play of Henry Ellenson, the 6'11" stretch 4 from Marquette who was a first rounder back in 2016. The Knicks plucked him out of the G, and he is giving them great minutes. He was a huge part of the comeback win over Orlando.  Wisely they've upgrade him from his 10 contract status. I thought we'd see more of this kind of acquisition back when Phil Jackson was running things - but seeing it now is great.  Not everybody has their man strength when drafted nor is everyone the proper fit for their draft team. Let's hope they find some more. Also, they better not trade Mitchell Robinson.

Rangers: the Rangers are competing and managed to add more picks at the deadline, again. Both Lemieux, who scored last night and Libor look like they belong, and Lias has looked more look good Lias Andersson, during his current call up. Lemieux has some snarl to his game and the young Rangers could really use some of that - as well as that's not all the player is brining. Btw, D'Angelo is looking more and more like a player lately.

So there it is, steady as we go. Have a great one!