Giants Sign Logan Ryan

The Giants have seriously addressed their defensive backfield issues by adding CB/S Logan Ryan on a one year, 7.5M deal. They will like start him off at CB, and they'll have to cut another player to fit him, but the big cuts are coming this week, anyway. Maybe they're serious about this year.

Yanks Seem to Stand Pat

The non-waiver deadline has passed, and the Yanks seemed to stand pat. We'll know for sure in the next ten minutes or so

If they have, it's far from the end of the world or of this irregular season. Lately, Clint Frazier has finally been producing, and yesterday Deivi Garcia made a statement. And guess what? Those are the players everyone asked for. The Yanks will be getting players back down the stretch and that's just like making trades.

Rangers Hire Jacques Martin as Assistant Coach

Jacques Martin must be French for Lindy Ruff. Instead of sticking with Gord Murphy, the Rangers have brought in another former head coach with tons of experience. Lately, he had been assisting with Pittsburgh. We'll see if he can help Foxy, Lindgren, K'Andre, Nils and the others. It would also be useful if he could get Trouba to play like a number 1 D.

Yanks Win a Pair

The Yanks just won a pair from the Mets to give them a 3 game winning streak. And boy did they need all three of them. Today's first game featured an insane 4 run walk off win in game one, featuring a game winning single by Gio Urshela. The second game was won in extras after Deivi Garcia started and pitched 6 innings of 4H, 6K 0ER ball. He looked like fricking Pedro at times.  Anyway, they couldn't score for him but took care of business in extras.  Huge.

The trade deadline is just under 23 hours away. We'll see how "all in" the Yanks are prepared to go. The pitching help may already be on the team.

Giants Cut Javon Leake and Christian Angulo

In a bit of a surprise, and a day after RB Javon Leake broke a big run in the scrimmage, he was cut!  Also, DB Christian Angulo, who had erased a Carter Coughlin sack with a defensive hold last night was cut. They've both been replaced by DB's Brandon Williams and Kei'Varae Russell. Gallman had a good scrimmage last night, but they can't be fooled by that, can they?

This Week on the Blog

Rough week, but remember Alexis Lafreniere is only 41 days away. That said, let's hope things improve in the meantime. This week the Yanks lost every game, the Giants collected injuries, the Rangers did nothing and the Knicks hired some coaches. Let's take a look at what could be next.

Yankees: The Yanks are finding new ways to lose every single day. Losing 8 in a row in a 60 game season might be the biggest chunk of season a Yankee teams has ever lost in a row before.  Aaron Boone is not Billy Martin when it comes to game manager and hasn't been able to make the bullpen moves to protect leads or even steal a game or two during this humiliating stretch. When all is said and done, will the Yankees be giving out mulligans for everyone during this strange year? Or will they continue to evaluate.  In any event, Stanton could be back soon, and we'll have to see if the teade deadline offers any relief.

Giants: The Giants held their second scrimmage last night, and it seems like the offense is still behind the defense. Also, there might be a scheme issue on O as Lorenzo Carter was able to rack up the first monster performance of his career. Though it would be great if the light is finally on and this is the harbinger of a big career, it seems more likely the O didn't adjust. That said, there were no more apparent injuries from the action and the back ups are getting plenty of chances to state their cases. In a regular preseason, not everyone gets a chance beccause of the shape of the games -with 3 and outs and what have you. This is more managed, but it's also a lot more fair to the people trying to make the team.

Rangers: The Rangers have already zoomed with Lafreniere, and now, are hopefully making a great plan for the draft, trades and UFA periods. Around the NHL, Kasperi Kapanen was recently traded back to Pittsburgh for the number 15 overall pick, and some prospects. Nice return and has set a prety fancy market for Buchnevich if they decide to trade him. Still not sure what the second first rounder will be, but 24 is the worst it can be, and 20 the best.

Knicks: the Knicks hired Mike Woodson and two guys who have previously worked with Thibs. So that makes  5 assistants, including 2 who had to be swiped from other situations and 3 who were just available. We'll see how it shakes out.  They might also hire a development staff, but nothing about that has come to light yet. Let's hope they have a great plan for the use of their 3 picks in a seemingly crappy draft.

Alright. let's go Yanks! And let's hope our other teams just keep getting ready for this madness to end.  Hoping for all of us that it's soon.  Take care.

Knicks adding Woodson and Others to the Staff

Mike Woodson is becoming a latter day Herb Williams in terms of Knicks service and roles.  The Knicks are also adding former Thibodeau aids, Dice Yashimoto and Andy Greer. It's unknown if these three hires will complete the staff, or if there will be additional coaches added. There's also supposed to be a separate development staff, and they still need a coach for Westchester.

Giants Cut WR Tony Brown Sign RB Tavien Feaster

The Giants signed itinerant back Tavien Feaster today and cut recently signed WR Tony Brown. Feaster is 5'11" and 221.  He seems one cutish but can catch. He was at Clemson, and then spent time at South Carolina as a graduate. Jags signed him after the draft - now the Giants have him. It feels like the talent level at WR is settling out with Board, Sills, Bauchman and Mack showing. Maybe the same can't be said for RB after Saquon and Lewis. Stay tuned.

Yankee Stuff

Aaron Judge has been activated from the IL and could play in game 2 today.  Cole is getting blasted in game 1. Also the Yanks have bought catcher Rob Brantley from from the SF Giants for cash considerations and sent RP David Hale to the Philles for something else.

Xavier McKinney Out with a Broken Foot

In tough new for the Giants, the promising Xavier McKinney will be out for at least awhile with a broken foot. This is tough because he was being trained up to be a swiss army knife in the defensive backfield and was playing like the first rounder the Giants had graded him as during the draft. Prayers for a speedy recovery.  Next man up.

In other tough news, ILB David Mayo has meniscus issues in one of his knees and will also miss time. He was surprisingly good against the run last year, and may have had some other upside in the new D.

Had hoped the lack of preseason action would have spared the Giants some injuries. The McKinney foot is a tough one.

The Possible Kakko/Lafreniere Combo

If the Rangers have any brains at all, and I think they do, they will stand pat and select Alexis Lafreniere with the first pick of the 2020 NHL Draft on October 9th. Lafreniere is the supermely talented left wing, who will either replace Kreider on line one, or become the LW on the second line with Kaapo Kakko at RW.

In this situation, Kreider would probably move to right win on line one with Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibenejad. They were putting Bread with Mika a lot in big situations, and now that they'll have another big talent for the second line, Lafreniere, they can keep them together on a super powered first line.

That will make it possible to put Lafreniere and Kakko on the same line.  Offensively, they are very similar players, as you can notice in the video tapes.  Like Panarin, both Kakko and Lefreniere are strong on the puck and thus should be tremendous puck posssession assets.  They both play with good power, and could still be growing. Lafreniere is currently 6'1" 193, and Kakko is 6'3" 199, though he looked bigger than that during the play-in round.  Both are very creative passers and can score from anywhere.  Both have strong shots, and lethal backhands.

Lafreniere was more physical this past season, than Kakko was while figuring out the NHL. We must also remember that Kakko was physically dominant in the World Juniors, and suprisingly, against men in the World Championships - so it's in there.  Enouragingly, too, Kakko was the best player for the Rangers during the recent 3 game sweep, so it's very possible he's finally made the transition and ready to be the star the Rangers drafted.

So far, Lafreniere seems to have better defensive awareness, the Kakko is will to play defense, too, and is till learning how to on the smaller rinks.  They can both steal pucks and either score or create a great chance for a teammate.

Meanwhile the Rangers need to develop or acquire is a Center who's good enough to maximize the production of their stereo stars. Hopefully, that would be Chytil, but idiotically the Rangers have played Chytil at Wing at least as much as they have at C over his early career and he may not be quite ready to Center Laffy and Kakko, yet.  As for Strome, he could price himself out and even if he returns, they'd need a more creative C to go with Kakko and Laffy, so, they'll have to trade for one.

You'll notice I don't see Buchnevich in the top 6.  I think he'll be traded with the Hurricanes pick and something else to get a top second line C.

The best is yet to come.

Kravstov Loaned to the KHL

The Rangers are loaning Vitali Kravstov to the KHL where he will play for his draft year coach again.    This is fine, since the Rangers have the right to recall him whenever the NHL starts back up. This feels proactive, he's not going to get his head right by sititng around and a lot of NHL teams are sending their young Euros back over to keep them playing,

Kravstov needs some success. He looked amazing in prospect camp and in Traverse City last year, then something happened, and instead of making the Rangers he bounced around from the AHL to Russia, then back to the AHL. I don't think the Wolfpack did Kravstov any favors by dropping him down to the 3rd or 4th line.  It's organizationally stupid to put high skill prospects behind career AHL guys. When someone like Karavstov, or, god forbid, Lafreniere, goes down, he has to play on the first line and in all situations.  His ice time has to be maximized, not limited. By the way, tough love isn't love, and rarelry succeeds without pushback.

So let's hope Kravstov can get his mojo back, then come and replace Buch.

This Week on the Blog

This week, the Yankees played poorly,  the Giants scrimmaged, the Rangers laid low, and the Knicks got boofed in the lottery again. Let's take a look at what's next.

Yankees: They are really starting to miss  Judge and Stanton. They blew a Cole start and were not terribly competitive in other games this week. I don't know if it's raining Covid in NYC, but this weekend Yanks/Mets series has been postponed. Hopefully, the Yanks can use the three days to catch their breaths and recommit to winning. Also, the trade deadline is looming, and it will be interesting to see if the Yanks make any moves and, in a larger sense, if anyone does because they can't really scout minor leaguers right now. We'll see.

Giants: The Giants held a scrimmage yesterday, and the defense seemed to be making most of the plays. What's exciting about that is that the defense played with high energy and seemed to be executing an actual defense that allowed them to make plays. The Giants haven't really had an effective defense since Spags 1, and the splurge year of Spags 2. Young players Julian Love, TJ Brunson, Dexter Lawrence, and Darren Holmes where making big plays.  On offense, there seemed to be no bad snaps between Gates and Jones, and  second year wideouts Alex Bachman and David Sills both continued to shine. In any event the team finally seems like it's coached again, and they really seem to be coming together.

Rangers: The Rangers have some housekeeping to do. First, they have to decide if they are comfortable with Gord Murphy as their defensive guru, or they have to find a new one. If they keep Gord, they have to replace him on their AHL staff.  They also have to develop a versatile plan that allows them to add what they need: a 2nd line C, and a first pair LHD, while keeping their cap in order for all of the kids they'll have to extend in the coming years. That probably does mean trading Buch and maybe Tony Deangelo. It could be a little painful, especially with Tony D, but they have more RHD's coming, and Nils Lundkvist, for example is a great 2 way defender who'll be arrive in 21. And K'Andre Miller is a potential monster, and he'll arrive some time this coming season,

Knicks: The Knicks fell the number 8 in the draft on Thursday Night. That's suboptimal, but this is a pretty crappy draft on the face of it, so if the Knicks and their new scouting base can out scout some other teams, they could end up with three effective players at 8, 27 and 38, or maybe even a weapon or two. Interestingly, after the Rangers won their lottery, MSG almost immediately had media with Gorton, JD and Quinn. When the Knicks got number 8, MSG got Wally and Pidto but couldn't even get Alan Hahn, let alone, Rose, Perry or Thibs. Interesting. The good news is that the Knicks will be allowed to practice starting 9/14 and continuing into October. So this will give Thibs, Payne, Bryant and whoever else they can poach to coach. Also, they've only got 6 guys on the roster as of now, so maybe they can host some tryouts.

So there it is, Yanks need to get players back, the Giants need to keep growing, the Rangers need a great, big picture plan, and the Knicks need to prove they're not the same old Knicks. Have a great one.

The Knicks Get Screwed Again

The Leon Rose draft era has started out with an OOF.  He seemed to be doing so many things right, but even earnest and proper effort couldn't bring them the lottery luck they've been missing since 1985.  They will pick 8th whenever the draft occurs.  They'll either take a crappy C from Arizona or PG Cole Anthony or someone. They've had no luck anywhere past 6 or so. What a kick in the guts.  They're not even gonna get a player that can excite the fan base. What a frigging disaster.

Knicks Lottery Day

The balls or whatever it is drop at 8:30 est. It would behoove the Knicks to win, too. It's an unimpressive draft and part of that impresssion might be based on the fact that there was no March Madness - and therefore - no new heroes. Also, there was no combine, so no one's pure athleticicism has been able to elevate them. This draft will be a "taster's choice" situation with players probably coming off the board in completely diffferent orders based on who moves up tonight, and what every team has been able to identify from limited exposures to the players. A few different players could go number one depending on how the balls bounce. Here's hoping the Knicks get lucky for the first time in 35 years and pick the right guy.

Rangers Stuff

The Hurricanes have been eliminated. So the Rangers will recieve their first round  pick which will fall anywhere for 20-24 depending on other outcomes. Getting pick 20 would be great and make a move up for a targeted player like Wisconsin's C Dylan Holloway all the easier, especially if he's falling. That said, there should be interesting C's and snipers available in the 20-24 neighborhood if they decide to stay put. They could also, and I think this is pretty likely, trade that second first rounder in a Trouba like deal for either a star Center to upgrade that position group and facilitate the talents of Kakko and Lafreniere, or a left handed D that they can pair with Trouba. Trouba seemed really inconsistent this year and a big part of that was not having an equal partner on the other side.

Btw, any C or goal scoring sniper the Rangers would pick in that 20-24 range would probably need a year or two in the minors, college or overseas - which is fine and what they should be doing with late first rounders and late rounders.  For example, they have 2 third rounders and it would make a lot of sense to pick 2 prep, junior or foreign defenenseman they can stash in college, the minors or overseas while they're growing.

A few months ago, the Athletic published an article which cited research that teams are more likely to get get offensive stars in round 1, while they can, generally find good NHL defensemen in rounds 2 and 3.  So, the Rangers should always swing for the fences in round one and look for D's in rounds 2 and later.  So far, they don't have any 2's this year so, they should think about spending both 3's on D as it's far more likely to find defensive value than a future offensive star in those middle rounds.

Knicks Hire Johnnie Bryant

In another intriguing move, the Knicks are hiring Coach Johnnie Bryant away from the Utah Jazz with an "Associate Head Coach" title. Just as Coach Kenny Payne is known for his work with bigs, Bryant is well known for his work with guards and wings. He's a young coach who played collegiately for Utah before joining the Jazz as a player develeopment assistant in 2012. From there, he moved on to becoming a full time member of the coaching staff in 2014. This is another coach with a level of developmental expertise, like Payne. Now the Knicks should be looking for a shooting coach and a defensive coordinator to help Thibs insteall and maintain his Ice Defensive or anything new he develops.

Giants Cut Catanzao and Sing Daylon Mack

So much for the kicking competition, the Giants have opted, instead, to grow more gigantic. The 6'1" 340 (!) pound Daylon Mack has apparently passed their physical and joined the roster.  He was a highly touted HS recruit before going in the 5th round of last year's draft. Some of these big run stuffers take a little time, perhaps Mack's time is now.

Giants Sign K Graham Gano

It seems like there'll be a kicking competition, afterall.  Gano has had some good years, but I think he's also had some injuries. He's 33. We'll see if he can help.

I other Giant moves, they released WR Cody White and claimed WR CJ Board.

This Week on the Blog

Okay, this past week saw the Yanks start winning again, the Giants getting close to padded practices again, the Rangers get luckier, and the Knicks get a great Assistant Coach. Let's see what's coming up next for our teams.

Yankees: Gerrit Cole is good. He moved to 4-0 last night, and Tanaka, Paxton and Monty seem to be rounding into form. It would be nice to get Stanton and Judge back, but August Gary seems to be showing up, and not a minute too soon. It seems there is a trade deadline on the horizon, and it will be interesting to see if the Yankees pursue another starter or promote one.

Giants: the Giant coordinators and assitants spoke to the media this week. Unfortunately, the local media wanted to ask Coaches Bielema  and Coach Kitchens about other jobs, so we didn't learn much about the outside linebackers or tight ends that are on the 80 man roster. Still the Coaches themselves were impressive and energetic and that was refreshing. Seems like they are using Saturdays to bring in UFA's. Today it's massive DT Dalyon Mack. He just flunked a physical with the Lions, so we'll have to say if he can pass one here. The Giants do seem very organized amid this current sea of insanity.

Rangers: Woo hoo! The Rangers got swept last week then won the lottery this week. Hopefully, by now, they have spoken to Alexis Lafreniere and realize they cannot trade the pick. As has been pointed out, Lafreniere is a stronger, more physical Panarin. And Panarin as is, is a top 5 player in the NHL And what many have forgotten is just how similar Kaapo Kakko is also to Panarin, in terms of playmaking and creativity. Lafreniere will already be 19 when he debuts and won't have to adjust to to the smaller NHL ice.

The Rangers now need wait for the Canes to eliminated so they know where their second first rounder is and make a plan to make the pick or use it to move up for a falling target or in a trade for a beter 2C than Strome. Maybe one who can make Panarin and whoever the other wing is, look better, instead of counting on Panarin to drag the C up.

They also have to figure out their separation from Hank. Hopefully, the league allows an amnesty buyout or two, to balance their flat cap.

Knicks: The NBA Draft Lottery is Thursday. Should Leon Rose ask Jeff Gorton to represent the Knicks?  Rumor has long been that the Knicks love LaMelo Ball, and vice versa. The cheapest way to get him would be to win the lottery, like the Rangers just did. They might also continue to fill out their coaching staff this week.

So there it is, Yanks need to keep winning, the Giants need to stay healthy and organized, the Rangers  need the Canes to lose, and the Knicks need to get lucky.  Hope all of your are lucky, too.

Giants Sign CB Prince Smith

The Giants have signed UDFA CB Prince Smith, who was originally signed by the Eagles back in April and released at some point. He went to the University of New Hampshire, which is in the American East Conference. He's 5'10" 191, so solid but not big. He didn't have a pro day because of the Covid Overkill. But, the Giants must like him at least a little. They'll probably keep looking since things fell through with Cockrell.

The Rangers Hadn't Talked to Lafreniere

Gorts revealed Monday night that the Rangers had not yet zoomed with Alexis Lafreniere because Gorton hadn't wanted to waste Alexis' time. Yesterday, whern  Ranger President John Davidson and Jeff Gorton spoke with the media, Gorts had been playing phone tag with Lafreniere's agent and even got a call during the media session. Hopefully, they've got that scheduled by now. Though they are paying lip service to due diligence, and probably perfforming it, they cannot hide their excitement about this prospects, already referencing his leadership and the way he "drags" everyone along with him. Davison said hadn't seen him play in person, but the Ranger scouts are always at the World Juniors and watched Alexis take them over - live. This is the no-brainer of no-brainers.

Also, it seems clear that the Rangers have to let Fast walk as a UFA, but they should also trade Buchnevich once they've picked Lafreniere. Buch is a good win, but Kakko, Lafreniere and Kravstov are all going to be better - to much better - and the kids won't develop on lines three and four. Plus, veteran that Buch now is, he sure took dumb penalty again the Canes in The Nightmare.

One thing that is a little disconcerting about the Rangers post lottery is that they are still chewing on the 3 game sweep, under unustual conditions, and thinking less about the 70 games the young and emerging Rangers had played under regular conditions.  Let's hope that's just hard feelings that will heal as they get deeper into the draft and their offseoason plans.

They should probably ask Vic Hadfield and Mark Messier to make the zoom pick and hold up a Lafrenierre #11 shirt as they do.

Knicks Make Kenny Payne Official

Kenny Payne has decided to leave Kentucky and join the Knicks as an assistant coach. It's unclear if he will be on the bench or running the development team of coaches they intend to hire.We'll see, but Payne is a great get for the Knicks and a reassuring get. They seem to be fishing in the right stream.

Take Alexis

The Rangers cannot screw around with this. Alexis Lafrentiere is a rare talent. Having said that, he's not an incomporable talent if you can imagine and much more physical Panarin. He's that. Grelinat vision, geeat hands, great passing and 2.15 points a game. In a lot of ways, he's like Kakko was in his draft year, but a better representation because he was playing against peers in the Q and in U18 and the other junior showcases and Kakko was playing against men, though he also dominated and scored the winning goal in the U18 last year. But there is power in both bodies, vision and hands and those translate to passing and shooting.  Both are left shots, but Kakko play RW so they can play on the same line. I'm hoping the Rangers let that happen.

Kakko didn't play enough top 6 this year and it stifled him a bit.  And Jespter Fast who is a UFA and Pavel Buchnevich shouldn't have been blocking him in the top 6. Hoping that the Rangers let Fast leave and be "glue" eslewhere and trade Buch during the draft or UFA period, to clear the way for Lafreniere, Kakko and Kravstov.

Rangers Win the Lottery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It actaully happened! The Rangers have won the NHL Draft Lottery part 2 and will pick first in October's draft!!!! This was the only acceptable case after they got swept last week and the forces of good came through. The Rangters will most likely pick LF Alexis Lafreniere, and put him on a line with Kaapo Kakko for the next dozen years or so. Let's hope they don't outsmart themselves and go with Byfield. Nothing against the kid, but in the first round youve got to pick scoring and Byfield doesn't seem like a great scorer yet. Anway, they are in the driver's seat for the first time in their existence.

Knicks Pursuing Kenny Payne

This would be good. And the pursuit of Payne speaks well of Thibodeau's search for asssitant coahes.  Payne, who won an NCAA title with Pervis Ellison at Louisville, would be the player development coach for the Knicks. It's a tricky situation  because Payne is Calipari's right hand man, and Payne's son is currently a walk on at Kentucky. So it's tough get, but Payne really connects with young players in ways the Knicks haven't been able to in 20 years.Think of him as the "good cop."

Giants to Sign WR Cody White and OL Jacksoin Dennis

The Giants are patching the holes created by the recent opt out and are signing Michigan State WR CodyWhite, who is 6'3" and 217, he's big but neither fast nor quick. He has a good vertical and good hands, so, we'll see. OL Jackson Dennis played RT for Holy Cross. Most list him as 6'7" and 308. He'll have to add weight if he wants to compete at T of G for the Giants, but that's true of most young players. White, who is the son of former Giant Sheldon White was originally signed by the Chiefs, while Dennis was signed by Arizona. Years ago the Giants signed another Patriot League OL named Jim Goff - from Lafayette. He hung around on the P-Squad for awhile and may have even been actice for SB 35. We'll see what happens here.

Giants Are Bringing Back CB Ross Cockrell

Former Giant, and Bill, and Steeler and Panther CB Ross Cockrell will be signed if he passes the Covid protocols. He started opposite Bradberry last year with the Panthers, so maybe he has improved since his first go round with the Giants. Anyway, with the bad Baker and Beal news they had to do something - hopefully they're still on the prowl for an upgrade.

This Week on the Blog

This week sort of sucked. The Ranger were swept. The Yankees lost a few, Beal bailed out and Baker got charged, and the Knicks had nothing to announce on the assistant coaching side. This coming week should start off with a bang, let's take a look.

Yankees: The Yanks got 5 good inning from Tanaka last night but they pulled him after 5 and short of 100 pitches.  Otavino then blew it. Cole remains the Yanks only reliable starter, though if Tanaka stays healthy and sequences like he did last night - that makes 2. Paxton and Happ are still disasters and Jordan Montgomery pitched a stinker last time out. Pundits already want the Yanks to trade for pitching, but the cupboard is not bare, and with the new system in place, the homegrowns should have an advantage over anyone they'd acquire. Abreu is up today as the 29th man for the double header. This would be a great time for Abreu to put it all together and their could be big opportunities coming.

Giants: The Giants are off today, then back at practice tomorrow. The culture there is obviously changing as the players they interviewed this week were straight forward and boring, like the Dynastic Yankees used to be. They really seem to be rowing in the same direction here in the early going. Daniel Jones looks jacked, by the way.

Rangers: Monday, the Rangers will either win the lottery or fall somewhere between 9 and 15. If they win the lottery they can have Lafreniere, but if they lose they can probably still get a future star Forward or Center. It's an even deeper first round than last year's. The Rangers also have to make some decisions on RFA's and Hank. A Hank trade seems unlikely, and most think he won't retire, so they will probably end up buying him out.

Knicks: The Knicks won't know their draft position for a few more weeks. It would be nice if they had a coaching staff in place and not just a coach. Though, on the other hand, it does seem like due dilegence could be going on again, so as long as the hires make sense, they should take their time and be thorough. Bubble games for the 8 teams that didn't qualify seemed less likely this week, so it's unclear when Thibs will be able to start coaching them.

So there it is, Yanks need to start winning again, the Giants need to keep getting better everyday, the Rangers need to get lucky and plan carefully, and the Knicks need to assemble a great staff.

Yanks Split a Pair

LukeVoit homered and the Yanks won the night cap.  Man, that first game was the worst game the Yanks have played all year, and they are not going to get where they should when only Gerrit Cole is contributing quality starts.  They scored 7 runs in the game they lost, and that still wasn't enough. So this is ridiculous. Btw, Tommy Kahnle had his TJS yesterday, so we'll see him late next season - or posibly early next season if this unjustified insanity continues.

Joe Judge Speaketh

So, Joe Judge had his second presser from camp today, and the most interesting revelation was that Coach Colombo was spending extra time with Nick Gates and Brendan Lemieux to train that up at Center to compete with Spencer Pulley. Hopefully, Kyle Murpy is also in that tutorial as he actually started a game at C while at URI. This shows that the Giants would like a better C, and are hoping to build one. That said,  they'll clearly be watching the waiver wire and perhaps working the phones.

Judge also said they wanted Gates to focus on Center so he can compete to star and Tackle, right now, but that he can play all 5 positions on the line. His new contract, no doubt, reflects their appreciation of his versatility.

UPDATE: Sam Beal has opted out of the 2020 season. That's insane. Anyway, we've really got to hope Baker is available now.

Rangers Eliminated But Not From Lafraniere

Okay, that was brutal. The Rangers stars didn't shine and the kids like Kakko, Chytil and Fox outplayed everyone on a second deal. The Rangers scored first tonight, but that was all they got.  Chytil was robbed at one point and it was all downhill from there. It doesn't feel like they would move on from Quinn, but, they shouldn't discard their rolodex.

That said, because of the crazy system this year, the Rangers still have a chance to move up in the lottery and get Alexis Lafraniere. Lefraniere is expcted to be drafted first, even though he is a winger and not a C. That means he can play of the same line as Kakko someday, and maybe with Kakko and Chytil and maybe next year.

The Rangers also have another first rounder - the one they got for Skjei, so it would be nice if the Canes lose their next series.

Yanks Sweep Sox

Sorry to keep using this pic, but what can you do when a guy has homered 5 games in a row including two tonight and the second one was the game winner in a nutty back and forth Paxton start. I think Paxton's talent is still seems to be in quarantine. Clearly, he's not all the way back from surgery, but sheesh, there was extra time.Voit also homered.  Judge also had a walk and a homer and was almost safe at first on a ball no man his size should be able to beat or tie. This is what we expected after Aaron's amazing rookie year. But he's had injuries the last two seasons, but the real Judge is finally back, now, can he please tell Gary it's August.

Giants Get to 80

Perhaps pertinent to the physicals and protocols the Giants have been doing, they have apparently decided to get to the 80 man limit earlier than they had originally intended to, when they said they'd be taking the 90 man split squad option. To get there they cut  RB John Hilliman, LB Chris Peace, S Rashaan Golden, and, recently claimed CB Shakial Taylor. They also waived three more UDFA's QB Case Cookus, LB Oluw Beitiku Jr,  and FB George Aston.

The Cookus cut is another monument to the Tanney problem. Not that Cookus was ever going to start for the Giants, but they might have developed him into a cheap backup or a trade chip. Taballnney is neither.  Betiku was the kid that was a 5 star recruit at USC, where he flopped, then when to Illinois and had a 10 sack season. It's clear he only showed the Giants his USC self.

WR De'Mari Scott has opted out of the season.

And Leonard Williams has a non-football hamstring injury.

So the upshot is, no split squad and Coach Judge can address the entire team for the first time on Tuesday. This is probagly for the best, but the Tanney talent tax has struck again.

Giants Stuff

To make room for Markus Golden, the Giants are releasing UDFA Dana Levine, from Temple. Levine had some good tape, and it's a shame he won't get a chance in this weird league.  After the draft, Chris Pettit believed they had hit some homeruns with this year's UDFA class. In the early going two of them, Levine and DB Malcolm Elmore, have alrerady been cut. There are ten or 11 left, so, still some chances for homeruns.

Yanks Move to 6 and 1

Aaron Judge homered for a career best 4th consecutive game and Gio Urhsela hit a grand slam and that was all the offense the Yanks needed.  Matsui was rusty, and got touched up for 2 run. But Nick Nelson debuted and he sharp and got the win,  Hale got the save. This must be what the 30s or 50s were like.

Giants Extend OL Nick Gates

The Giants today announced that they have extended versatile OL Nick Gates for another two years.  It will be interesting to see if they still have him competing to C or want to keep him in the tackle mix. Needless to say, he's been a development success since he was first signed as an undrafted free agent two years ago.

UPDATE: Giants claimed WR Tony Brown on waivers.

UPDATE 2: Markus Golden reported.

This Week on the Blog

This week saw the Yanks return to game action, the Giants sign their picks and begin their protocols, the Rangers finish their final paces before resumption, and the Knicks introduce their new coach. Let's take a look at what's next.

Yankees: The Yankees won again last night and Jordan Montgomery probably gave them their third best start of the season - following the two Cole. Nice. On the flipside, Tommy Kahnle may need TJS - and when they may need it they seem to always hace it. Both Judge and Stanton are hitting the ball hard, and last night they also got homers from Gardy and Urshela chipped in. Gleyber didn't end up missing any time. Chapman has returned to the team following his covid scare, and Tanaka will statrt tonight following his concussion protocol.

Giants: the Giants rookies, QB's and injured guys made it through the new protocols and hit the field, so there's some nice tape of them running around. The vets have all reported (save Baker) and will be cleared to go on Monday or Tuesday. Joe Judge held his first camp presser yesterday and it seems like they'll be doing everything possible to get the team ready. Fortunately, several of the new coaches have collegiate coaching experience, so they know how to get teams ready to start a seasons, and should be able to lend their insights - of course, there was no Spring Football either.

Rangers: the Rangers will begin their best of five win or go home series in a few hours. Yesterday, they signed one of their top prospects and they just keep doing things right. Let's hope they can hit the ice hard and go on a run in this irregular format. Hopefully, the young guys like Kakko, Chytil, Shesty and Fox were able to process their true rookie years and are ready to step up in this strange coda. Hockey in August like Christmas in July? Here's hoping.

Knicks: So the Knicks had a zoom conference the other day to introduce Tom Thibodeau as their new coach. Rose and Perry were on the call, as well as Thibs, and one of the takeaways is the World Wide Wes, is absolutely the number 2 guy in the organization after Rose. What's striking about that, is that Rose has hired a full front office, neither Jackson nor Walsh nor Thomas ever loaded up like Rose has, and given the fears Knicks carry about Dolan interference, a big front office may mitigate some of that. As for Thibs, he's focusing on hiring asssitants like Judge was several months ago, and seems extremely commited to player development. And to him that clearly means the fundamentals. I wanted the Knicks to hire Hardy or Mosley, but Thibs is commited to the right things. They need a great plan - let's see what the new brain trust can do

So, there we are, all 4 teams either playing games or team building right now. Not too bad after this ridiculous pause.  Let's go Rangers, let's go Yanks!  Have a great one.