Rangers Stuff

The NHL Draft starts 3 weeks from tonight. Unless the Rangers do something stupid - which they haven't for some time - the Rangers will either take Kaapo Kakko or Jack Hughes at #2.  What will be interesting to see is what they do after they get that great player.  As of right now, the Rangers have pick 20, and seven others, including 2 seconds.

They should be able to get another very good prospect at 20, but in waiting at 20, they'll miss out on a bunch of really oustanding propects, who should be off the board by pick 20. Indeed, the top of this draft is as intringuing as it's been in years, and not just because both Hughes and Kakko are worthy of the first overall pick - though I do think Hughes, himself, is one of the big reasons the top of the draft is.

For the past few yeasrs, Hughes has been part of the USNTDP, and fully 6 or 7 of his US teammates could see their names called in the first round. This is unusual, and I'm not sure the influence of Jack Hughes didn't elevate guys like Alexander Turcotte, Trevor Zegras, Cole Caufield and Matthew Boldy - as well of the rest of them. I'm not taking anything away from the program - which seems fantastic - or the other kids, but I do believe Hughes and his teammates will have a big impact on the NHL going forward. They didn't win the U17 - Kakko beat them - but they all look like futures winners and their teamwork was impressive.

Now, most of these kids, especially the C's like Turcotte and Zegras will be gone by 20, and that's why the Rangers should trade up from 20 or use roster players or a combination of roster players and picks to trade for a third first rounder between picks 2 and 20.

The US kids aren't the only big upside kids to move up or move in for.  Russian winger Vitali Podkozin has been falling lately, but he might be the 3rd or 4th best player in this draft when all is said and done. If he falls past 5, the Rangers MUST pounce.  Likewise, C Alexander Newhook, might be the Canadian version of Jack Hughes.  If Hughes is the number  1 skater in the draft, Newhook is 1A and has similar skills and vision. No joke. He's underrated because - for reasons that were never explained - he didn't make the Canadian U17 team.  Anyway, he should be another target besides the Americans, and the Russian.

Some of the mocks have us taking German D Moritz Seider, who, like Hughes and Kakko, played for his country in the recent World Championships.  He's 6'4" and 185 and would be another D for our pile o D prospects. He'd be a great value, but the Rangers need to both dump some of the NHL D's and draft some top 6 prospects. So it could create a logjam.  That said, if he's BPA at 20, they have to take him.

On another note, tomorrow is the date on which the Rangers and other teams have to sign kids they've previously drafted, so they can go back in the draft or become free agents.  I think the Rangers have 2 of these guys in their prospect pool and I don't see them signing either, but they could make a little deal or two here.

More Yankees Draft Stuff

With the MLB Draft coming fast, let's take another look at how the Yanks might do business.  As the now tiresome "draft pool" system - that gives each team an absolute number of money + 10% that they can spend on the first 10 rounds of their draft.  Any amount that remains after the top 10 rounds are taken care of, can be spread among the other 30 rounds and teams see fit.  Since this started, I don't tink any team has used slot value to sign the picks for their first 10 rounds - thereby leaving no pool money for the other 30 rounds - but they have tried every other combination of slot, underslot and overslot payment strategies to make things work.

Teams quickly figured out that they could save hundres of thousands and even millions by taking picking only college seniors in 8 or more of the first 10 rounds. That gave them al sorts of money to spread around on "signablility" players in the next 30 rounds.  And that worked out for awhile, but isn't really a great idea every year - because once the fina 30 rounds are underway the talent pool is 25% smaller.  So teams have learned to vary their strategie when needed.

Last year, the Yanks paid C Anthony Seigler at pick 21, the gave C Josh Breaux an overslot deal (about 400K) at pick 61. Then at pick 97, the Yanks went overslot again for prep OF Ryder Green (another 400K), before finally getting collegiate RHP Frank German for a pool savinngs of 87K.  Then they made a few more slighly underslot deals in 5,6.and 7, before taking cheap seniors for big savings in 8,9 and 10.

By going overslot in rounds 2 and 3, the Yanks were able to get players they loved, Breuax and Green, as well as some intriguing arms, and still have room to give out  10 overslot deals between 125,000K and 147, 500K over the next 30 rounds - where slot is 100K.  So in total they gave out 12 overslot deals, and everything else was slot, underslot, or way understlot.

This year they are picking 30th and also have pick 38, so their pool could be similar to last year's, and we should be able to identify their strategy by the end of night one, or in the early going of day too.  We'll they front load, like they did last year, or will they try to kick more savings into day 3?

Yankee Draft, Rapidly Approaching

The MLB Draft starts Monday 6/3 and runs through 6/5. The Yanks are picking 30th in the first round this year, because they won 100 games last year. Get used to that.  Now, unusually, and almost exotically for us, the Yanks added an extra "competitive balance" pick when they traded Sonny Gray to the Reds. The pick is #38,. So the Yanks not only get an extra player, they get the extra slot value of 38 added to their bonus pool. We'll see if they decide to use the pool to top load, or if they go underslot and look to spend more on Day 3. The path probably depends on the players available.

In general, this draft class seems to be bat heavy, That's unusual, and if true, the hope here would be that the Yanks draft to the draft's strength, because at 30 they're not going to have a chance to get the kind of pitchers they prefer in round one. And I'm sort of hoping the Yanks go bat/bat at 30 and 38, because, the emerging idea this week is that prep arms are a secondary srength of this draft. That's an idea that I do not trust at all.  To me, that means there's a dearth of college arms, and preps are being elevated to fill the vacuum.  This also gives me more faith in the bats supposition going in.  I don't want the Yanks reaching all over for arms if it's a bad class.

Now, unlike the other three drafts, I don't do as much pre-draft research on the propects, the 40 rounds create huuuuuuge classes, and I'd rather see who they pick then figure out who they are, then set my hopes on anyone,  That said, if it's a bats draft, let's take bats.  And let's get over the idea that eventually having a 20-something regular DH is somehow - what - unseemly?  Seems like something that would fit Clint Frazier, and a reason to develope some bat first and only guys who could be needed at some point.

Per prep pitchers: when I started the blog, the Yanks system wasn't the prioritty it has become,  At that point, I supported the idea of taking prep pitchers and bats, over everything because age gave them more upside than older college players.  Makes sense. Right?  But what's happening now is the Yanks are signing high upside international pitchers who are 16 and up and , en masse, they are far ahead of the Yankees prep pitching picks. I don't know why this is so, and believe it has something to do with how the respective baseball cultures develop kid pitchers.  Or that the Yankee's best pitching scouts or pitching scouting system is in the DR.  In either case, I don't think the Yanks should be spending big dough on prep pitchers, they get hurt (though all young or youngish pitchers seem to get hurt with the Yanks) or they become secondary pieces in big trades.

I prefer the Yankee draft practice of targetting a position - like they did with catchers last year - and working it throughout the 40 rounds. For pitching I like college arms, like Frank German was last year, and JuCo  or smaller school arms like Tanner Myatt.  And or hitters, I still favor patience and pop, but the Yanks have really started to look for speed in a lot of picks. To wit, they drafted Lockridge, Pasteur and Alex Junior last year, then used Sonny Gray to get Shed Long (an pick 38) then immediately flipped Long for Josh Stowers - another speedster from last year's draft.  And, by the way, Stowers is crushing it.  So they do value speed.

Another great thing that happens in June is that the Yankee's short season teams start playing.  And it's very possible tha the Yanks will have more high end talent below Charleston than they do above it.  Should be a fun summer.

This Week on the Blog

Alright, this week so the Yanks keep on keeping on, the Giants start participating in their annual OTA's, the Rangers introduce John Davidson, and the Knicks not do anything stupid. One month from now, the Yanks, Rangers and Knicks will all have had their drafts. So fun stuff on the way. Let's take a look at this week.

Yankees: The banged up Yanks have been the beasts of baseball since about game 15. A lot of it has dad to do with the pitching, and the heroics of analytic pick-ups like DJ and Voit. But, really, what we are seeing is 22 year old Gleyber Torres break out, and Gary Sanchez bounce back. Those two have been amazing, and Gleyber isn't just hitting jacks again't the O's. he getting on base and holding his own at shortstop, which isn't very good news for Didi Gregorious. Didis starting his rehab assignment this will and could be back soon, But when he does, he'll have to play really well to stay a Yankee - or be huge trade bait at the deadline.  Speaking about the deadline, Clint Frazier has been mixed up in trade talks for the past two years. But when he is right, which he seems to be now, he's showing a little too much to consider moving him.

Don't forget, the draft is a little early this year, running from 6/3 to 6/5 and the Yanks do have an extra pick.

Giants: OTA's have been pretty businesslike, as reports of DJ's talent and athleticism keep growing. With the OL pretty settled, the Giants may be looking for another rotational pass rusher., like Nick Perry ex of the Packers and of USC.  He might be the fit they are looking for for Bettcher's amoebic 3-4.  In sort of surprising news, Corey Ballentine was able to do position drills as the week progressed.  He may be the most athletic of all the young corners, and we should have all of them going by training camp. And if you're not having visions of long armed CB's Beal and Baker manning the corners, you're not seeing the full picture.

Rangers: the Ranger FO should be back from the World Championship this week just in time to attend the NHL Combine.  In the Clark/Gorton scouting era, the combine has been a part of the building process going all the way back to the Gomez trade, which netted the Ranger Ryan McDonagh - who'd lit it up at the combiner, as did Chrise Kreider and K'Andre Miller.  So it's a big deal for the Rangers, who already know what they are going to do at 2, but have 8 more picks as well as veteran players like Kreider they can trade to get pick betweeen 2 and 20,  So they really have to see what the want. It's going to be a big offseason for the Rangers and, as we've seen, it already started.

Another thing they might do is hire a new AHL coach. They parted with thos old staff a few weeks ago and it's a surprise they haven't named a new staff yet. A big part of what they want to do involves player development and Hartford hasn't been pulling its weight. We saw this when Libor Hajek was havinga sort of nothing AHL season, before coming up and looking damn good before he got hurt.  Why wasn't there a system in place that would have let him show that at Hartford. I'm hoping Quinn knows a division 2 collegiate coach who's looking for a fresh challenge who can come in, echo Quinn's system and really focus on player development.

Knicks: The Knicks continue scouting and looking at trade a free agent options.  I don't much trust these guys yet, so we'll have to see what happens. The wheel of free agent targets seemed to spin toward Kemba Walker this week. I think you'll remember that that's who I thought they'd end up with after the KP trade. That would still be sub-optimal - especially now that he's qualified for a SuperMax deal. That seem like's it's right up David Mills's alley. This could get awful again.

So there it is, Yanks defying the odds, Giants business as usual, Rangers headed to the combine, and we should be nervous about the Knicks.  Have a great one!

Rangers Introduce JD

So the Rangers just held John Davidson's introductory press conference. A few things were apparent. First, JD is overjoyed to be home.  Second, he likes what the Rangers have been doing, and the way Quinn kept them playing hard. Third, while appreiating everything, JD did not name check Gorton or Clark. Now, this could be a product of emotions or losing his place in his prepared statement, but I did not expect this to be the case.  Whether the ommision was accidental or intentional, we have to assume that Gorton and Clark are on a shorter leash than thay they have been recently.  Also, JD referenced "our group" a few times when describing his experiences with the Blues and Blue Jackets (now he's back with the Blueshirts, where are the Jayhawks?), so perhaps he will be bringing in some of his own execs and scouts.  We'll see. A month from now, we'll be on Day 2 of the 2019 NHL Draft.

Also, I hope the Giants were watching this: JD spoke clearlly, leaving no room for misinterpretation.  Thus, the reporters' questions were all simpe and direct. This was a far cry from the Giants typical press and all the attempted "gotcha's" they launch every time Gettleman confuses them.

Big Mitch Makes All NBA 2nd Rookie Team

The pick of Mitchell Robinson is the high point of the Scott Perry Era. Let's hope he keeps making great picks and doesn't waste them on Anthony Davis. But, this award is a great achievement for Mitchell, and you have to wonder how much more he would have had to play to make the first team. His playing time was limited early by fouls and injuries. Can't wait to see his development continue.

Sam Beal Shines in OTA 1

So the Giants had their first OTA today, and that represents the first time that the vets could pur on helmets, though they're still in shorts and contact is a no-no. Anyway, Sam Beal started at Left CB opposite Jackrabbit. Everyone seems impressed with his length and movement skills. At one point, he tipped a pass to Jabril Peppers who would have scored had that occured in a game. So let's hope this going, and that one of the rookie CB's can make Janoris Jenkins expendable.

Rangers Announce Yegor Rykov

So, what was unofficial over the weekend was made official today. This is more good work for the Rangers and "The Rebuild."  While, more and more the Rangers have collected right shot D's, Rykov is a big, strong lefty, who could anchor a top 6 spot for a decade.  Think of Staal when he was good. While the good Ranger teams have always had a player like Adam Fox (Park, Greschner, Leetch), they've also always had good, solid defensive defensemen, like Harry  Howell,  Rod Seiling, Jeff Bookeboom and Marc Staal, before his early decline. Yegor is 22, 6'3" and 225, and he could really be a long term solution to one spot.

Knicks Dangling Frank for a Pick

As if we couldn't guess, rumors that the Knicks will look to trade former first round PG Frank Ntilikina for a late first or early second in June's draft, started circulating today.  Not only will this represent another draft/development failure, but it will pretty much erase Phil Jackson's executive tenure from Knicks History. I think Jackson was personally unstable when he needed to be stable, but this costly repudiation of all that he wrought is idiotic. If you want to assign real blame for the last 5 years, look at David Mills.  He's far greater screw-up than Jackson ever was. Jackson immaturely dangled KP on his his final Knick Draft Night, creating a rift that would eventually contribute to his and KP's ouster.  But Mills impecuniously re-signed Tim Hardaway Jr to a "market price" deal for a shooting guard. He did that on his own - before hiring Scott Perry. Perry hasn't done anything nearly as tumultuously idiotic as the Hardaway deal that directly wrought the KP deal. But other than the Mitchell Robinson pick, he hasn't flashed brilliance, either. We'll see how they handle this offseason, because as long as Mills is around there is every chance something stupid will happen - and we don't yet know if Perry or Perry and Fizdale - can keep him in check.

UPDATE: Frank is changing agents.

This Week on the Blog

The reconstituted Yanks came back again last night, the Jets made the Giants look stable, the Rangers hired JD, and the Knicks fell to 3rd in the NBA Lottery. Quite a week. Let's see what's coming up, now.

Yankees: Yanks have had some rousing wins during this period when they could have folded their tents.  Now it's looking like Didi Gregorius is now only weeks, not months, from rejoining them.  He has a sim game early this week, and if that goes well, he's off to the races. Having another lefty slugger in the fold, couldn't hurt. They have still been missing tons of homers with Judge, Stanton, Didi and Andujar out. And they probably lost some when Jorge was out. Andujar's gone for the season but hopefully Stanton and Judge can soon join Didi.

The MLB draft is sneaking up on us.  It will take place for 6/3 to 6/5. I'm sure I'll write more about it, but let's start with this: are they getting any benefit at all from picking Prep Pitchers? There are college pitchers and IFA pitchers popping up all over the season - but no preps, and the Yanks have spent some premium picks and money on these kids. Anyway, they should be looking for College and JuCo arms in the draft and Yankee Bats, whether prep, collegiate or JuCo.

Giants: Heh, heh, heh. The Giants looked pretty stable this week, as they made Remmers official and just went about their offseason business. OTA's start Monday, and we're already hearing the trickle out of how fast Daniel Jones is picking things up. I really wonder if they will let him compete for the starting spot. We'll see what happens during OTA's and the veteran mini-camp. It bears watching.

Rangers: Yesterday, the Rangers brought home JD. This is a perfect fit, and if the goal was to enhance rather than disrupt The Rebuild, I don't think it could have gone any better.  Oh and by the way, Davidson does have the Ranger cred and personal capitol to revisit the rebuild with Hank.  It won't be easy trading Lundqvist, but the Rangers have Georgiev and Shesterkin, and they shouldn't have to sit behind a big contract, and neither should be traded because of an immovable object. Of course, if Hank refuses to waive his NMC, the Rangers should see what they can get for Georgiev, who is once again beefing up his value at the World Championships.

Speaking of the World Championships, Chris Kreider scored his 3rd goal of the tournament early today.  Having John Davidson in the fold, might give the Rangers a leg up in going after Artemi Panarin, but they should only do that if they have traded Kreider and, perhaps, dealt a few more, to really develop meaningful cap room.  Btw, this year Vitaly Kravstov lead the KHL in points by an under 20 year old, He tied for 9th place all time with, none other than, Artemi Panarin. Who could be a better mentor?

And also, the Rangers have signed big Russian D Iegor Rykov to a 2 year ELC. He has an European out, which will allow him to return to the KHL if he can't hack it.  So he's not exactly voting for himself in that clause, but he really emerged this past year, and probably has a good chance of making it in the NHL.

Knicks: The Knicks ended up with the #3 pick in the NBA Draft. Good thing it really is a 3 player draft - at least in the top tier. There are a few other players, who could eventually pop up from this daft, but the safe picks are 1-3. And a team would be lucky to have any of these 3 players.  Zion, Ja and RJ are really terrific kids and have been demonstrably good teammates. Zion is a force of nature. Ja is a deeply soulful and explosive playmaker, and RJ is an explosice scoring machine who can also facilitate offense for his teammates. I think there's just a slight chance Memphis passes on Ja, but, getting RJ would still be a blessing for the Knicks, and they really should NOT trade the pick.

So, there we are, the unlikely Yanks just took over First, the Giants are getting out on the field, the Rangers are taking care of business, and the Knicks are formulating their offseason plan. Hope you have a great one.

Breaking: Davidson Set to Return to the Rangers

Once in awhile, you've got to hire a guy who's done the Hockey Sock Rock.  And according to the owner of the Cleveland Blue Jackets, he's been released from his CBJ contract to come back home. Of course John Davidson was a much beloved broadcaster before heading onto a third career as a team exec, but back in his first career, he got hot as the Ranger Goalie and, in 1979, they went to the finals. The 1979 Rangers hold a special place in a lot of hearts. By the mid 1970's the Rangers had traded off Brad Park, Jean Ratelle, and Rick Middleton to the Boston Bruins, where they hit the ground running, but it took the new Rangers like Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais till `79 to work their way into the hearts of Ranger fans and deep into the playoffs again.  Adding the Swedes and Don Maloney sure helped, too.  But JD was a big part of that team, and has always been one most lovable Rangers.

So what will this mean for the current set up.  In his comments today the owner of the Blue Jackets said the Rangers had sought and received permission to speak to JD. So the departure of Schoenfeld yesterday now looks like a product of those talks. And we'll have to see what happens.  The Rangers are post their organizational meetings and over at the World Championships, so there'll be scant time between their return and the NHL Combine, which leads to the draft and FA. So they probably discussed all off season plans with him.  Should be smooth sailing.

UPDATE: It's Official!

A Duke Watcher Looks at Zion and RJ

Here's a seasoned Dukie breaking down the two future stars. I'm starting to think that the best thing that can happen for the Knicks is that Anthony Davis decides to stay in New Orleans. Check it out.

Rangers: Jim Schoenfeld Steps Down

Longtime Satherian functionary, Jim Schoenfeld has stepped down from his NHL/AHL perch after 17 years in the organization.  His 'decision" comes just days after the annual organizational meetings,  He was with the Rangers for what was their second or third greatest era, and he must've helped because they kept him for so long.

As to what this means, I again look at timing. Sather is stepping down this summer and the Rangers are overtlylooking to hire a new President.   So, either they know who the President is and he doesn't want Schoenfeld around.  Or, they're creating extra space in case the new President has people he wants to bring in - or Schoeneld just doesn't want to break in a new Prez. We'll see what what happens.

Miguel Andujar Opts for Season Ending Surgery

It's just been announced that Miguel Andujar will have season ending surgery on his torn labrum on Monday.  This is really disappointing but seems necessary given what he couldn't do once he returned.  He'll be back next Spring. Rings of harmony around his perfect recovery and return.

Knicks Also Met with Ja Morant

After meeting with RJ Barrett this morning, the Knicks turned their attention to Murray St. PG Ja Morant. Morant, who, it could be argued, might be even more valuable than Zion Williamson going forward, seems destined to be a Memphis Grizzly, but you never know.  Williamson is reportedly very disappointed that the Pelicans have the first pick, that he's even considering going back to Duke. This sort of profound unhappiness for a drafted star is troublesome to leagues.  See Elway, John and Manning, Eli in the NFL, and all sorts of consternation between the ABA and the NBA and the AFL, then WFL and the NFL. So thing's might get a little more dramatic as this progress with this year's draft.

Getting back to Morant, he is also sensational and a natural lefty, who, like Barrett, hasn't been challenged to adapt by any competition he has run across so far. Also, like Barrett, he explodes to to rim and is bouncey just walking around. If Zion does agree to go first, Memphis will have to decide if they want to back up Conley with Ja -- or go for it with Conley and Barrett for a year or two. In other words, it was abolutely necessary and responsible for the Knicks to meet with Morant today.

Interestingly, the beats are reporting that the Knick Brass have not made themselves available to them in Chicago.  Now, if we were hearing this about the Yankees, Giants or Rangers, it mean something is up.  With the Knicks, I have no idea what it means.

Knicks to Meet with RJ Barrett Today

Wasting no time, the Knicks will be meetings with RJ Barrett in Chicago, today.  The Knicks will be sitting down with their possible pick, I guess, to see if the explosive, lefty super 2 makes sense at pick 3. Barrett and Ja Morant, the consensus 2 and 3 or 3 and 2 players in this draft, are the Knicks most likely picks if they keep the pick, come June. Barrett should not be seen as a consolation prize.  He's a pure scorer, and less selfish than Carmelo was. He needs to work on his shooting, but the stroke is smooth. Jordan had the same issue coming into the league. Steve Nash is his godfather, and can probably give him some pointers. And remember, just 12 months ago,  Barrett was the #1 recruit in this college class -- and he had a great year - averaging 22.6, 7.6 while dishing out 4.3 dimes per game. That's impressive, and he's much more aggressive than Knox or Frank or some of the other kids the Knicks had had. He could be a superstar in New York.

One last point about Lottery Night, Zion Williamson really wanted to be a Knick.  And that's a good sign for a team with abundant picks and cap room coming right up.

Knicks Will Pick 3rd

The Knicks just got the ever loving shit screwed out of them again. I love Patrick, but send a Knick with a Ring or two and not anyone who witnessed 0-17. What a disaster.  This is a 2 player draft and the Knicks are picking third. I don't know why the league keeps fixing it against them, but this is ridiculour. The Pelicans won again. And their such a joke their last first overall is demanding a trade. 3, 4 and 5 are all bad picks.  Can't believe we sat through that season for this result. Fire everyone again.

Knicks Tonight

We do this just about every year, and haven't gotten lucky since 1985 when the Knicks picked Pat Ewing, who exempted them from the lottery or about 15 years. We thought we had a franchise player with KP, but...  So tonight we get another shot. Let's get it.

Kaapo Kakko Scores Again

He just turned 18 and he is dominating the World's Best Men (hockey players).  We're going to get a great player!  I must have missed one earlier because he now has 4 goals in 2 games against MEN.

UPDATE: He has a hat trick!

Giants Add Mike Remmers

Mike Remmers' agent is reporting that, as sorta expected, Mike has agreed to terms with the Giants.  He is not Kareem McKenzie, but he has had average to above average success playing Right Tackle on Gettleman's Panthers and Shurmur's Vikings. He was moved inside to Guard where he struggled and got injured - then cut. Average is way the hell above where Wheeler has been when he's played, so even though this is not Kareem, it's vast improvement. I was interested in Shurmur as a coach because of his power spread O that created lots of easy runs for a back. They can run that now, with this OL. They still need to find some young OL depth, but they signed some in UDFA, and it's possible that one or two might stick, along with Big George.

The Giants have a Right Tackle.  I might finally get some sleep.

This Week on the Blog

Here we go. Yanks continued to win with their C squad, the Giants added a back up RB, the Rangers headed to the World Championships and the Knicks FO made the talk show round ahead of this coming week's Lottery. So let's take a look at what's next.

Yankees: the Yankees should get Aaron Hicks back any day now, and Didi is also on the mend. No uptates on Judge and Stanton, and, amazingly, they'be been doing alright without them, though things would be a lot easier with them. Gio Urshela was sort of the big hero this week, and worked wonders with both his bat and his glove.  Andujar has been coming back, but hasn't gotten red hot yet.  The Yanks will have a problem once they're both hot at the same time. They want Miguel to become a better 3B, but Gio is already playing like a gold glover over there, and the Yanks really need every win they can get.. We'll see what happens when Gio cools off - if he ever does.

Giants: The Giants still don't have a viable Right Tackle on the roster. Let's hope that changes before mini-camp. The Giant rookies will return to the offseason conditions program on Monday.  There, they will get their first exposure to the veterans and vice versa. Wait till the vets get a load of Dexter Lawrence II.  He's about as big as any two other guys on the team. This is important as the Giants tend to do really well when they have oversized guys who can play. Like Brandon Jacobs. We'll see what happens with Big Dex, but they were moving him all over the line during roookie camp, and I don't expect that to stop when he's with the full team. This way, they eventually be able to find huge mismatches for him on some OL's.  I think his eventual impact has been greatly underestimated.

Rangers: The Rangers seemed to have wrapped up their annual organizational meetings in La Quinta, and are off the watch the World Championships.  Yesterday, they saw likely #2 overall pick Kaapo Kakko score an insane goal to open the Championships against Canada, then he scored on an empty netter to make it 3-1 and ice the win or Finland. Kreider, Skjei and Fox became teammates for the first time in Team USA's loss. They also got to play with possible teammate Jack Hughes.  This coming week, it's possible they will add a new Team President, and that is likely to be John Davidson.

Knicks: This is a big week for the Knicks - just like every NBA lottery has been lately.  They have the worst record, so hopefully will just stay in place, unlike the Rangers who moved up to #2 in their lottery, and the lowest they can fall to is #5. This is a two player draft, and I'm not sure they should even keep the pick if it's 3, 4 or 5. It's a star league, and they need a star, not more role players. Go Knicks!

So there it is, Yanks need to keep getting guys back and winning, the Giants need to keep building that fresh culture, and find a Right Tackle, the Rangers need to stay lucky, and the Knicks need to GET LUCKY!  Hope you're lucky, have a great one!

Kaapo Kakko Goes Off

Likely Ranger #2 overall pick scored two goals as Finland beat Canada 3-1 to open the World Championships.  Kaapo's first goal was this beaut, then he later scored an empty netter.  Look at his hands!  He just turned 18 and he's playing against men on the world stage,  Pretty exciting.  We haven't had a guy who could consistenly bang in the empty netters since Mark Messier. And that was awhile ago. The Rangers cannot go wrong with either kid the Devils don't take.

Rangers Stuff

With Colorado's loss tonight, the Rangers are locked into picks 2 and 20 in the first round and picks 48 and 58 in the second round of the 2019 draft, then they have 1 third.  So, as of now, 5 picks in the top 100, after already using their own second round pick in the deal for Adam Fox.  Even with the teams they needed to win losing last night and today, they are still in really good shape. And they could be in even better shape by draft night.

Hank told a Swedish paper that he wasn't sure he would finish his career with the Rangers. In order for him to leave before his contract ends in two years, he'd have to waive his NMC, which he was unwilling to do at the beginning of this rebuild. If he's willing to move, it'll be interesting to see what the take back is.  He's a sure-fire Hall of Famer, but coming off a less than Hankish year.  Anyway, that's one possibility.  Or the Rangers could move Georgiev for a top 10 pick, and that's probably more likely than Hank dropping his NMC.  This draft has a superb top 2, but the rest of the top 10 or 12 is also really impressive and have all shown internationally. So in a perfect world the Rangers will pick Kako or Hughes at 2, then jump back into the top ten for Cole Claussen or one of the other superb prospects, while staying at 20 and grabbing another prospect.  I don't think any of the preumptive top 10 will fall all the way to 20, but it would be awesome if one did, regardless of whether or not the Rangers can pick up another high pick by trading Georgiev or Georgiev +.

Meanwhile the Rangers brass are at their annual La Quinta organizational meetings where they generally settle on a FA plan and discuss trade options.  Any minute now they are likely to name former Ranger John Davidson as team president. It's kind of touching that John Davidson has had it in his contract that he can leave Cleveland if the Rangers come calling.  And of course, we'll only like him if he stays to course and doesn't try to "win now." Keep doing the rigtht things and the winning will never stop.

Giants Stuff

Today was the first day the Giants could sign UFA's without having it effect their comensation formula for the 2020 draft. The Giants wasted no time and added Rod Smith, a big RB from Dallas who'll give the Giants a different look. Might remember him scoring a long TD against the Giants after a short reception a couple of years ago. Different guy than Saquon, Perkins and Gallman. We'll see what happens. Btw, the UFA rules don't apply to Mike Remmers who was cut by Minnesota. He just has to be able to pass a physical.

Today was also the Spring day when the Giants let the coordinators and positions coaches talk to the press.  And we learned some interesting things,  Offensive Coordinator Mike Shula said that Daniel Jones showed a better arm and quicker release than he had remembered.  Shula had been at DJ's pro day as well as his Giants workout. And those were in  March.

This is interesting because it jibes with a lot of other peoeple's opinions of how Jones just kept getting better since the season. There might be a reason for this. Jones graduated college with an econ major in December.  Then, it seems he focused on football exclusively, and started working with a pro QB coach, he started improving.  He looked like a new guy in his bowl game, which he won.  Then at the Senior Bowl, where he won the MVP, then at his Pro Day, where people said he was rifling the ball, and just now when he was impressive at his rookie camp.  Way the hell better than El had been in 2004. Interesting.

Bettcher talked about Jabril Peppers as an ascendent player whom he had scouted at Michigan. He also talked about getting Dexter Lawrence and how his movement skills were amazing for his size.  He also talked about Deandre Baker as the best cover corner and tackling corner available in the draft. He also said Jones was in the mold of the other Franchise type QB's he'd been around. Reminded everyone than Marcus Golden had been a premiere pass rusher before his injury and that he liked the way he's moving around in Phase 2.

Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McCaughey was excited about the rookie class and the rookie free agent class. He also said Jabril Peppers would return kicks and punts. Mentioned that he was a great athlete who he had known since Jabril was 16. Seemed excited about Carlocks long snapping.  He also said the P Ryan Anderson had really improved and that's why they signed him. So he's expecting competition at P and LS during camp. He's a pretty likable guy, btw, and not that it matters.

The positions coaches pretty much echoed what the coordinators were saying about the players.  Though OL coach Hal Hunter did allow that his son works for Kentucky, and thus they had some inside info on George Asfaro-Adjei.  Meantioned he had started some rookies in other spots in his career, like Marcus McNeil who became an all pro as a rookie.

Giants Rookie Camp

In the next few hours the Giants will wrap up the 2019 edition of the annual Rookie Mini-Camp. Traditionally, the draft picks and signed UDFA's attend, as well as a plethora of tryout players looking for a chance to keep playing.  Every few years the NFL changes the rules about who can attend the camps, so, this year Sam Beal couldn't attend (because he was on injured reserve) but Victor Salako, who'd been on the team for awhile, was allowed. Figure that.

There are at least three important elements of these camps.

First it's nice, though not essential, so see the drafted players flash. To wit, Daniel Jones, showed he can walk and chew gum, and quiet a bit more. The defenders all looked active, and George Asfaro-Adjei was kept at Right Tackle - no Guard snaps. What's also nice is when UDFA or tryout players flash.  The Giants are still below the 90 player offseason limit, so they will be able to sign anyone that flashes. They can also cut UDFA and street players who didn't flash, so there could be significant roster movement as a result of these events.  And that is significant because that's how the Giants find Victor Cruz's and Richie Seuberts. Let's hope lightning strikes again.

Second, the mini-camps give us a window into what the coaches might have planned for the coming season. For example, the Giants intriguiningly moved 340 pound + Dexter Lawrence up and down the defensive line during the practices. This guy is huge, but athtletic and is worth trying at more than just the nose. Good stuff.

Before the draft, we thought the Giants might take one of those S/CB combo DB's during the draft.  Instead they took 3 more corners (4 if you count Beal).  But, during this weekened's mini-camp they had their 4th round pick, CB Julian Love, play both slot corner and safety. Jabrill Peppers has done stuff like that over his career, and now they're developing another guy who could have positional versatlity within a series. That's particularly valuable if the coaches have a blitz coming from somewhere  So we're seeing the D might be blitzier.

On offense, I don't know if Syracuse QB Eric Dungy is signed or a tryout, but they listed him as QB-TE, which screams trick plays. Two of the better plays last season occured when Eli flipped it to OBJ and then Odell threw a bomb.  OBJ is gone, but Dungy can throw bombs, and maybe learn H-back.  Intriguing.

Finally, I think it's important that the draft picks and signed players bond, and start becoming enculturated to the idea of being Giants. When they were wining Super Bowls, the Giants had the best "room" in the business. Not so much since, so it's got to begin on weekends like this.  Back around 2005 when Chris Snee was a second year player and Justin Tuck was a rookie out of Notre Dame, they started going to Yankee games together whenever they could. You can still see Tuck at Knicks and Rangers games from time to time. Anyway, during the Fassel years, it had sort of been D versus O. And Snee and Tuck, and their teammates changed that, and won. So these early relationships are key.

Other than that, it's key to avoid injuries - which they haven't been able to do (two UDFA/tryout guys got "knees").  And that's about that.

Let's see who they sign.

UPDATE: At camp conclusion the Giants signed P Ryan Anderson, DE Alex Jenkins, and DB Tenny Adewusi.  No new Victor's or Richie's yet, but it's fluid.

MORE ROSTER MOVES: The Giants signed Guard Austin Droogsma and waived LB Ukeme Eligwe, DE Myles Humphrey and DB Michael Hunter.  That opens up two more spots of the  90.

This Week On the Blog

It was interesting week as the Yanks started getting players back, the Giants welcomed their rookies, the Rangers continued their hot streak, and the Knicks kept scouting the playoffs. Let's take a look at what might be coming this week.

Yankees: the Yanks are getting Andujar and LeMahieu back today, and more are on the way.  That's the good news. The bad news is that Paxton's left knee was barking last night and they decided to take him out after 3 innings of the Yankee win. They'll do an MRI today, but Boone seemed to think it was just weather related, so he may not miss a start. We'll see. Gary Sanchez is special. He's hit 10 homers in first 18 games this year, and I believe he's slightly ahead of his rookie pace. Wow.  I think Frazier may be the next back.

UPDATE: They just put Paxton on the 10 Day IL.

Giants: the Giants are hosting their annual rookie camp.  The invitees include the draft picks, the signed UDFA and a ton of tryout players. I'll probably do a post on the even later today or tomorrow, but a lot of the pundits are already starting to walk back their "scouting reports." In other news, come this Tuesday, the Giants can start signing UFA's without the new conctracts effecting the 2020 draft comp picks calculus. I assume they'll bring in a right tackle, perhaps a passrusher and another safety.  Still a lot of guys out there, all of whom are better than Wheeler.  Could buy the Giants some time till they can find some young tackles to develop for Jones.

Rangers: the Rangers had one of their biggest weeks since winning the cup in `94.  First, the traded for 21 year old D Adam Fox. He'll be playing for Team USA in the World's if you want a preview. Then they signed Kravstov and Shersterkin, so there's every chance they'll play for the team this year.  Then, without lifting finger, their 2nd first rounder in June's entry draft, went from #21 to #20. And if the Stars advance to their conferenct finals, they'll pick up yet another one.  So expect it.  I guess it's possible that they'll sign Rykov this week, but I have no idea of what great thing will happen next.  They deserve this.

Knicks: the Knicks have been sending their pro scouts to work the playoffs. I guess that's because they have cap room. I'd still prefer they build through the draft.  Same for all these teams. But it seems they'll blow their cap on two max contracts. It's importaant that they have some lottery luck come May 15.

So there it is, Yanks getting guys back, Giants trying guys out, Rangers on a roll, and Knicks determined to spend.  Have a great one!

Rangers Sign Kravstov and Shesterkin

The Rangers continued their offseason hot streak today by signing their top prospects, Vitaly Kravstov and Igor Shesterkin. They join Adam Fox, who signed yesterday as kids who can contrbute in the coming season - along with whomever they pick at 2. This brings us to a tough situation. In a perfect Ranger worlkd, Henik Lundqvist would either retire or waive his NMC. But he hasn't said he'll due either.  That's unfortunate because Georgiev and Shesterkin are both coming off of tremendous years and should be rotation going foward. Shesterkin has an out in his contract that stipulates a return to Russia if he's sent to Hartford for a meaningful amount of time. The Rangers probably won't keep 3 goalies, so Georgiev will likely be traded. That's too bad. Oh, and they better get a lot

UPDATE: With the Carolina win tonight, the Winnipeg pick the Rangers own can be no worse than 20th overall. Winning.

The Rangers Got Their Shiny Back

When you look at the afairs of the four teams we cover here, it's clear that some have mastered the fun rebuld (the Yanks and Rangers) while others have struggled more (the Giants and ugh Knicks).  After selling off talent at the 2018 and 2019 deadlines for picks, the Rangers startled the fan base by turning two of their plethora of picks into D Adam Fox, the highly skilled and much sought right handed shot from Har vard.  And suddlenly they've got someone to run their PP for a generation.

Earlier this month, they finally got some lottery luck and will be picking second overall in the 2019 draft. Fortunately there are two superstars, Jack Hughes and Kappo Kakko at the top of the draft and they'll get one.  Amazingly, their acquired picks are mostly top loaded (unlike the Giants who recently had 2 4's, 3 5's, 1 6 and 2 7's when their draft began a week ago) so, come draft night the Rangers will easily be able to move up after making their first pick at 2.

First, they have at least one more first round pick, and could still get another depending on the playoffs. Then, even with the Fox trade, they'll have at least one more two or maybe two.  Plus they have the expoding Georgiev (who, in a no movement clauseless universe would be kept) but could be dangled to get back into the top 5 or 10,  where if they take Kappo they  might want to get the best C still available and if they take Hughes they might want to get the best winger still available.  And they could also trade Kreider, or keep him and let him lead.

Anyway, like the Yankees did with their 2016 sell off, the Rangers have used their double sell off (which because you can trade any pick in the NHL, unlike MLB) to creat an avalanche of options which they started cashing in on Monday.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

UPDATE: And it's official, Adam Fox is signing his ELC with the Rangers.

Giants Draft: The Quarterback

It's been 6 days since the Giants rattled egos and ignited irrationality by picking Duke QB Daniel Jones with a 6th pick of the 2019 NFL Draft.  Tomorrow, he will arrive at Met-Life Stadium, take his rookie physical and his career will begin.  Friday he'll show that he can throw a football, and the the big back off will begin, the inanity will stop and perhaps rationality will finally reign. The truth is, if the Giants really got a "Franchise QB" using just one pick - #6 overall - it will go down as one of the greatest picks in NYG history.

Seriously, since the sent many assets to go get Eli in 2004, the Giants have spent precious little on QB's.  Over that same span, the Jets have spent pick after pick and pick chasing Franchise types all over the first rounds of drafts. That's quarterback hell. What Washington has is QB hell, too.  What the Giants have is not quarterback hell, at all.  In fact, they still have their 2004 Franchise Guy in Eli, they have their 2019 low cost replacemet, and then last year's fourth round gamble on goodness. They also have Alex Tanney, which really is the inexplicable one.

But the Giants are chill at QB, and what they'll get a load of this weekend is a much more athletic version of Eli, who can read defenses, run surprisingly fast and had the quickness to post a 7 flat 3-cone at 6'5" and 225. That's sick for a QB.

So, hopefully everyone has calmed down and realize it's time to raise another Franchise Guy.