This Week on the Blog

This week we saw the Yanks keep winning, the Giants staying quiet, the Rangers lock up Trouba and the Knicks lose one of their savvy veteran signings to surgery. A lot should change this week. Let's take a look.

Yankees: This year, 7/31 is the hard and fast trade deadline. and there's no waiver trade period. So the Yanks have 11 days to accomplish a few things. First, they have to move some players for more IFA dough, so they can sign the rest of their class.  Next,  this should still only be optional, but the Yanks seem hell bent on getting more pitchers. Last night they had Jim Hendry looking at Marcuis Strohman.  Now,  Strohman is one of those AL East guys I've long suspected of being a future Yankee. In fact, I was surprised when they traded for Sonny Gray instead of Strohman. That said, I don't think he's a number one playoff starter. He might get away with it,  Jimmy Key did. But I'm not sure he's that top tier starter that would make a difference.  Yes, Strohman makes the Yanks deeper through the rotation and yes he's having a great year, but he's not the guy you want matching up with Verlander.  And Madbum wasn't what he was, and the Giants might not be sellers,  Bauer might be the guy, but that would be a tough deal. So we'll see what they do.  Don't need another Kevin Brown or Randy Johnson. Ace everywhere but with the Yanks.

They also have to find more IFA money.

Giants: Rookies report Monday and the Vets join them on Wednesday,  I thought the original plan was to have the rookies in a full week earlier. Oh well. The Giants didn't make any roster moves during the break and I think Daniel Jones and Oshane Ximenes are still unsigned.  Although they are both reported to have reported already, So physicals and contracts? An annoiuncemtne should come by the start of camp.

Saw some articles this morning positing the idea that the Giants D might be worse this year.  I have a hard time believing that.  I don't think those reporters are realizing the effect that Dexter Lawrence will have. He's a mismatch up front and should create a lot of lanes for pass rushers all on his own.  Likewise, Jabrill Peppers is much better than the Landon Collins of `17 and `18.  And S Antoine Bethea can really get them lined up. So, the expectation here is that the Defense will be improved.

Rangers: Yesterday, the Rangers signed Jacob Trouba to a big deal, 6 days before they had to. This should indicate that they have a handle on their cap crunch. We'lll see when the next moves come.
They also really need to hire an AHL Coach and staff. I'd assume they'd want whoever it is involved with the Traverse City team. And speaking of Traverse City, who's gonna play C?  All the C prospects are either Swedish and in Sweden or at Cornell. Are Kravstov and Kaapo going to be prevailed upon again or are they going to ATO some guys to play C in the tourney. Anyway, there are still some mysteries here.

Knicks: So Bullock signed this week, then had surgery. No worries. All of these veterans are on easy contracts and surgery for one means an opportunity for a kid. No worries, and the Knicks should be more competitive out of the shoot especially if Smith or Peyton can establish something early. We have to see if the tank is finally off. Let's hope it's easy to discern.

So there it is, the Yanks are rolling, the Giants are back, the Rangers have to get cap compliant, and the Knicks can just kick it for awhile,  They can't trade any of their just signed players till December. have a great one!