This Week on the Blog

These are crazy times. Be safe. Our teams are still prevented from playing.  So, aside from the Giants signing another DL and brought back a TE, nothing else happened. Let's take a look at what could happen this week.

Yankees: It's brutal. I hope when the Yanks and our other teams get back, we take a few moments to appreciate just how much they mean to us. MLB is talking about moving their draft and having it only last 5 rounds. I wonder if they will then be able to sign from among te hundreds of UDFA a 5 round draft would create. This seems nuts.

Giants: The Giants signed TE Eric Tomlinson, who had been with them before. He's another block first type. They also signed DL Austin Johnson who was a 2nd round pick a few years ago. He was highly regarded coming out of Penn State where he was coached by new Giant DL coach Sean "Captain Chaos" Spencer.  So there could be some ringeristical special knowledge and upside with this player. Also, it could mean they are going to trade Dalvin Tomlinson or another DL at the draft.

Rangers:The Rangers don't seem to have signed anymore collegiate FA's. Of course they can, they just didn't pull the trigger last week.

Knicks: Rose hasn't done anything.

So there it is. We miss them and a lot of things, like crazy, but don't go crazy. This, too, shall pass.  God bless you.

Giants Signings

The  Giants have apparently come to terms with RB Dion Lewis and on a new deal for Corey Coleman. Lewis has been around and will turn 30 in September. He's had a pretty productive career for a shorter back.  He's short, not small if you remember Tuna's distinction about about Joe Morris.  Lewis has rushed for 2,310 yards (4.3 ypc) caught 172 passes for another 1,281 yards, and also posted 1.307 yards as a returner. We'll see what's left in the tank. Coleman will be another big part of Special Teams if he is recovered from the ACL tear he suffered last pre-season. Both deals are for one year only.

This Week on the Bog

No games this week, but that didn't stop the Giants and Rangers from adding players.  The Yanks and Knicks did nothing. Let's take a look at what's coming up.

Yankees: They're talking about cancelling the season and maybe the draft. That would be awful, so let's hope this national panic ends soon and a successful protocol can be confirmed.

Giants: The Giants went into free agency with a bunch of cap room. They used it to get a leader for their young CB's, improve specials, sign inside and outside LB's, a blocking TE and a swing tackle.  They haven't brought in any weapons of Jones or anything more than a rotational pass rusher, or a starting tackle or C. They can not screw around in the draft. They have to fix the OL.

Yesterday, it was announced that the NFL draft could be moved to a TV studio, with no fans, and perhaps no players.  Getting rid of the fans is fine, but unless the pundits have learned not to over bash a pick, like they did last year with Daniel Jones, it will still be hard not to be embarrassed for them.

Rangers:  The Rangers have used this time to sign K'Andre Miller and NCAA FA Austin Rueschhoff - so if nothing else - they have gotten bigger. Let's see who else they sign.

Knicks - Leon Rose hasn't made a move yet.

So there it is. Not much, as all of our teams are dealing with massive uncertainty at this time. Stay safe.

Rangers Sign Austin Rueschhoff

The Rangers have signed 6'7" power forward Austin Reuschhoff.  He's a collegiate free agent from Western Michigan. He's supposed to be tough, and he adds needed size to an organization that cane use some more. Still no word on Morgan Barron.

Giants Sign Colt McCoy

The Giants have signed well travelled back up Colt McCoy to back up Daniel Jones. Hopefully, this means the end of Alex Tanney's time on the Giants, and the Giants can start a QB program by drafting another QB or signing a priority UDFA QB, to develop and trade. McCoy is a legend in Texas, but undersized and weak armed, but of such a high character and winning nature, that the Browns made him a 3rd round pick in 2010. Good pick. He's now 33.

Giants Hire Vols Craig Fitzgerald to Coach Strength

After losing former strength Coach Wellman to Indiana, the Giants snapped up the Tennesseeworkout warrior Craig Fitzgerald to be their new strength czar.  He's had quite a career, working his way up to PSU strength coach under Bill O"Brien and then followed O'Brien to Houston before heading back to the NCAA with Tennessee. He had also worked at South Carolina, so there may or may not be a connection to Judge's first coaching staff. Though Judge probably has O'Brien's number.

Giants Add ST Ace Nate Ebner

The Giants took advantage of the expanded roster spaces to add a second Special Teams star to Cody Core. Nate is 6' 220 and 31 years old, and is surely very familiar with Joe Judge.He's apparently someone Judge does like. And it will be nice to have stronger Special Teams again,.

One thing that's pretty clear from the short deals given out is that the Giants seem to want to start really building through the draft again. A trade down would really help toward that end,

Giants Sign Cam Fleming

The Giants have come to terms with OT/G Cam Fleming on a one year deal. Garrett and Columbo already know him and the Pats had originally drafted him - out of Stanford. He can stop gap RT or either Guard spot, but it looks like the Giants will be searching for starting OL's in the Draft.  Solid signing and depth or stop gap option.

Giants Stuff

The Giants have signed Edge Kyler Fackrell to a cheap one year deal. He's coming off a down year but in 2018 under Graham he had 10.5 sacks.  He's 28 and we'll see if a change of scheme can help him.  They also signed Gunner Cody Core, he could be even more valuable in the new scheme.

Thus far, the Giants have been front loading their new deals and have given out roster bonuses instead of big signing bonuses that could be spread over 5 years.  This will give them more room in a year or two when they might want to sign Saquon and Jones. Nifty. Under the new deal, they can also now spread dead money, so guys like, Nate Solder might be cuttable this year instead of having to do it next year. He's owed 3M later today, and we'll have to see what happens.

Giants Shop at Stanford

The Giants have come to terms with two former Stanford Cardinals. Blake Martinez is a 6'2" 240 inside linebacker who can not only tackle, but get the defense lined up correctly - like Pierce used to do for the Giants. He's not much in coverage, but he really can tackle and they won't as him to do what he can't.  Levine Toilolo is an enormous blocking TE 6'8" 270. He graduated Stanford 3 years before Blake did, and both were originally 4th round picks.

Giants Lock Down CB James Bradberry for 3/45 (32M)

A picture is starting to emerge. The Giants just signed 26 year old James Bradberry to a 3 year deal.  That's pretty short and will make him a free agent again at 29, though he will be 27 in August and turn 30 in the first months of his next deal. Bradberry it 6'1" and 212. That's good size for a corner.  He was a second round pick out of Samford, so a bit of a small school gem. He can catch the ball better than Mark Collins could and has 8 career INT's.  He physical and can tackle.  He was not the Top CB in the market - that was Byron Jones and he got 16.5 over 5 years. This makes sense for the Giants because they have spent 4 picks on CB's over the the past year and a half.  Beal in the supplemental then Baker in the first, Love in the fourth and Corey Ballentine in the 6th, last year.  Taking Jones might be overkill as these 4 kids still have upside, especially in a better scheme, which we better hope they have.  So, we wondered earlier if the Giants would be using their SB 35 rebuild strategy and the answer is - looks that way so far.

Giants to Tag Williams, Non-Tender Halapio

Word is that the Giants will tag Leonard Williams.  This should prevent other bids. He probably won't sign it and the Giants will probably sign him to a long term deal after the new league year starts. In other news, they have non-tendered Jon Halapio, which signifies that they feel like we do about the Center position. Probably need a UFA and draft pick there.  They've also tendered Alrick Rosas at a round 2 level.

UPDATE: Williams has been tagged - 16.126.  They better get that down in the overall.

This Week on the Blog

All our teams are shutdown, but stuff is still going on  Let's take a look.

Yankees: While the Yanks await team activity allowances from MLB, one of their minor leaguers has tested positive for the corona virus. He felt sick, Friday, tested positive, and is now feeling better, so he's kicked its ass like it was a cheating Astro.  Rings of harmony around all of our teams and leagues.

Giants: Free agency will start this week, and the new CBA just passed.  Seems like that puts their available cap space to around 87M. And they can still make more.  They've re-signed FB.  Eli Penny and LB David Mayo. Mayo was an elite run stopper, with little versatility against the pass, so he'll really be a role player. Penny might get more work, as Garrett has liked using FB's and TE's so the Giants could be looking for more of both. It will be interesting to see how they now handle FA.  Will they give out any huge contracts? Or will they use the old SB 35 model of getting second tier free agents and hitting more needs - which is where Belichick got the idea for building his championship teams.

Rangers: the Rangers have signed K'Andre Miller and will probably get Morgan Barron signed during the pause, and maybe a few other  NCAA free agents, or overage minor free agents. This pause is brutal to all of the young Rangers and prospects who had their first playoff pushes nulled.

Knicks: Nothing cooking.  Leon Rose could start making sweeping changes any minute now.

So there it is, big week for the Giants, everyone else on hold. Wishing you all the best.  Stay calm and use your common sense.

Rangers Sign K'Andre Miller

So, during the shutdown, the Front Office is still working, today they signed University of Wisconsin LHD K'Andre Miller.  Miller had a great freshman year at Wisconsin but finished the season early because of injury. This year he looked great in prospect camp but not as good at Wisconsin or for Team USA in World Juniors.  The though here is that Wisconsin misused him by putting him in front of the net on power plays instead of at the point.  It also seems that last fall's Ranger Prospect Camp really turned his head and he had spent his Wisconsin season preparing to be a pro rather than an NCAA champ.  Years from now, that incredibly stacked Wisconsin team that failed to qualify will have people shaking their heads. Here's hoping K'Andre becomes a star.

MLB Shuts Down ST, Giants Call Personnel Home

There's some problem, that's not allowing me to add pictures at this time.  Weird. Anyway, baseball shutting down Spring Training, will give, at least some of, the Yankees a chance to recover from their injuries.  The other news of the days is that the Giants have called back their scouts and coaches from the road. It's unclear if they will just use their visits or if the NFL will grant more visits per team since the Pro Days will have to be transmitted. Or perhaps everyone will just calm down.

NHL joins NBA in Shutting Down Their Seasons

While this situation is merciful to the Knicks it is brutal to the Rangers who are still in the hunt. And if the AHL follows suit, it will be even more brutal, because those kids were going to the playoffs and that would have aided their development.

In the Knicks, case, you have to wonder if this break will kickstart the Rose plan.  Whatever THAT is.

Rangers Win as Kakko Scores 2

The Rangers flashed their Road Warrior Cred in Dallas tonight. Just 19 seconds in Adam Fox scored his 8th on a beautiful pass from Panarin.  Around the midway point of the first, Mika Zibanejad scored his 40th.  In the second period, Kaapo Kakko who'd been flying scored a pair of goals.  The first was a snap shot from Howden and Fast. The second goal was a backhander from Mika and Fox.  Shesterkin was perfect through 2 but gave up a power play goal in the third, as well as another one after the mid-point. Dallas was helped by the refs all night, but the final remained 4-2.  Kakko, Fox and Mika were the three stars.

They have 13 games left and are a point or 3 out of the final spot.

Giants Awarded Pick 99 and 2 more 7ths

The NFL finally awarded it's compensatory picks today, and the Giants got pick 99, in the third round, and two more 7th rounders, including the last pick in the draft. Pick 99 is right around where the Giants snagged Oshane Ximines last year, and this is supposed to be a deeper or even much deeper draft class.  Even more picks would be nice in this draft, so a trade down from 4 still seems like the best plan.

Rangers Signing MSU C Patrick Khodorenko

During the Gorton Era, signing collegiate FA's has become one of the rites of Spring - or almost Spring - in this case.  Khodorenko is a typical Ranger score. He's a senior signing, but won't be 22 till October.  He lead the Spartans in scoring with 33 in 36 games. He's not a physical specimen per se, but he is a rock solid 6 footer at 207. He's not the kind of great skater the Rangers look for in the draft, but he is a handsy forechecker who has always been productive on O. Morgan Barron and K'Andre Miller might also be on the way, soon, and who knows who else.

This Week on the Blog

This was a weird week. The Yanks kept getting injured, the Giants came home from the combine, the Rangers got a monster game from Mika and continue flirting with a playoff spot, and the Knicks were  just the Knicks. Let's see what's coming up.

Yankees: Aaron Judge has a stress fracture in his upper right rib. It's partially healed, and they will check it again in two weeks.  No updates on Stanton, so there we are.  It's unclear if the Yanks are looking to acquire a 5th starter - they've certainly been loaded up for a trade - or whether they think they can use system arms to cover both the 4 and 5 spots till Paxton is back. Cole got shelled the other day, so twitter melted down. Yeesh,  Still have a little more than three weeks left till the trip North and the real games. Rings of harmony around their health.

Giants: Free agency starts a week from Monday. There's a rumor going around that they have already agreed to terms with Leonard Williams. That's been suspected since the deal was swung and there's not reason to give up a future 4th when they can give up a future 5th by waiting till the league year starts.Williams is still 25 and offers the kind of versatility that Joe Judge and Patrick Graham, and now the scouts, have all been talking about. Also, when they cut Ogletree and Martin, it created 13M in new cap space, and that's probably Leonard's cap number in the new deal.

Rangers: The Rangers started the night 3 points out of a playoff spot and ended it the same way.  Shesterkin came back and was rusty, and the Rangers had a huge letdown, just like they did after Murdoch and Pavelich had their 5 goal games. Weird. Though Quinn may be a great coach, he may be mishandling Kaapo Kakko. He demoted the kid to the 4th line because he was on ice for 3 Cap goals the other night. Kakko also had an assist and Quinn might have been better served by trying to build on that and not knock the kid after a win.

Knicks: The Leon Rose show is boring so far. Same old Knicks, though RJ Barrett is getting better and Mitchell is still awesome.  In fact Barrett is getting so much better that the rent-a-vets are freezing him out in fourth quarters. They're all looking for new deals, so why help the kid develop?  It's a bad situation and Rose really needs to clean house.

So there it is, all 4 teams in a bit of flux or expected flux. Hope your lives are all stable.  Have a great one.

Mika's Big Night

Just as the Rangers were reeling from the Kreider injury and the three game losing streak, Mika Zibanejad score 5 goals - including the game winner - to give the Rangers a 6-5 overtime win against the Caps. The Rangers are now just 2 points out of a playoff spot.  Huge, huge game and win.  Devils tomorrow.

Knicks Officially Acknowledge Leon Rose

The endless wait is over. The Knicks have acknowledged that Leon Rose is their new President. What is unsaid is that he has 2 years to make a go of it or be replaced by Masai Ujiri. It's like that.  So we'll see what he does for an executive staff, a coaching staff and a GM.  And of course, with all that cap room and we'll see if he has lottery luck.

This Week on the Blog

It was a tough week. The Yanks lost Sevy to TJS, the Giants checked prospects at the Combine, the Rangers lost Shesterkin and Kreider, and the Knicks were still the Knicks. Let's take a look at what could be coming this week.

Yankees: The Yanks have been short Sevy, Judge and Stanton but have still been handling everyone in ST. It means nothing, but when you're as loaded as the Yanks are, it's reassuring to see them come out with an edge. They have one. This season we should start to see the Briend effect around the system. And hopefully that will lead to a lot better performances through biomechanics and improved sequencing. Also by other teams not cheating. So far, Jordan Montgomery looks like he's back and Clarke Schmidt looks like he could arrive soon. And Happ, who spent the offseason in Tampa seems to have fixed his mechanics. We'll see how that turns out.

Giants: the Giants took a huge contingent to the Combine, including all the coaches and scouts. We''re finding out that Coach Judge runs a tight and highly efficient ship. While in Indy and between player meetings and watchings, Judge has been installing the offense and defense with the coaches.  They can't coach the players till April 6th, so they should have it pretty well boiled down by then, and  perhaps, this time around, Graham and his assistants can actually install a defense where the players never wonder what they're supposed to be doing - like in the Philly OT game.

Rangers: Crazy week for the Rangers.  Sunday night, Shesterkin and Buchnevich were in a car crash in Brooklyn. Buch is back, Shesty's still out. Monday, at the deadline they extended Kreider, and traded Skjei for another first in a great draft.  They beat the Islanders and Montreal, the Kreider broke his ankle in the first period of back to back Flyer games. and now they've lost 2 in a row. They are 2 points out of a playoff spot, with 17 games left. Today Hank started and was either rusty or toast. He looked slow. Anyway, they won the 3rd period today, and that could lead to good things. With Kreider out, they need other players to step up, because Panarin and Mika can't do it all by themselves.  So Buch, Strome Chytil and Kakko have to really step up on O, and it would be nice if Trouba could play these last games like #1 D.

Knicks: Leon Rose has taken his seat as President of the Knicks and he's getting the fully Satherian control of the team and its personnel. Been nice knowing you, Scott Perry. It will be interesting to see who he hires, though between our 4 teams we've been in too many of the searches of the last 4 years. Hopefully they'll have an introductory press conferences, like the one they had when the Rangers hired John Davidson. We'll see.

So there it is, the Yanks need to get healthy, the Giants need to stay the course, the Rangers need to regroup and the Knicks need to introduce us to the new guy!  Have a great one.