Boston Red Sox Eulogy

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:30:00 -0400

After losing 5-2 to the Baltimore Orioles last night, the Red Sox find themselves 7 games back of the Rays for the AL Wild Card. The Sox, who lost 2 of 3 to the Rays last weekend in St. Petersburg, stand at 74-58, 7 games back of the Rays, who stand at 81-51, a game back of the Yankees for best record in the majors. Even if the Sox were to play .700 ball the rest of the way (21-9) and the Rays were to play .500 ball (15-15), the Sox would still be a game back at season’s end. We’re looking at the Sox having to play better than .700 ball for the last month of the season and the Rays having to play .500 ball for the last month of the season in order for the Sox to make the playoffs.

I can’t see the Rays being just average for a month and, even as a Red Sox fan, I can’t see them going 22-8 or 23-7 this last month of the season, not with their roster as it currently is. Ever since Youk went down, this team has been struggling to score runs, no surprise since Youk was arguably their best offensive player. Pedroia’s not coming back. Ellsbury’s not coming back. The middle of their lineup is pretty solid with Victor Martinez, David Ortiz, and Adrian Beltre, but outside of that lineup, there’s simply too many players who are either journeymen or rookies that weren’t supposed to be part of the team this year. Guys like Ryan Kalish, Daniel Nava, Jed Lowrie, Bill Hall, Mike Lowell, and Darnell McDonald have played well, but none of them were supposed to play significant amounts of games this year, and none of them are Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Kevin Youkilis.

Their starting pitching is very strong. Clay Buchholz might be the best pitcher in the world. Jon Lester’s a very strong #2 starter that I can always count on to win big games. Dice-K, John Lackey, and Josh Beckett have their issues, but for 3-5 starters, you could do a whole lot worse. However, starting pitching alone isn’t going to win you 23 games in 30 days with the offense not hitting, the bullpen giving up leads, and the defense allowing unearned runs left and right.

It is sad to have to write this eulogy this early. I know this team would be about 10 games better with a decent bullpen, a competent 3^rd base coach, and a reasonable amount of injuries. This team was playing so well, even with Ellsbury and Beckett out, in mid June, before Pedroia went down. Just before he was about to get back, Youkilis went down, and then once he came back, he got hurt again, after 2 days, and is now likely out for the year. Even with all the injuries, this team stayed in the race in the toughest division in baseball for 5 months, and still have a good enough record to be tied for the lead in the AL West with the Texas Rangers, if they were in that division. In the NL, they’d still be leading the Wild Card. This eulogy is not so much a result of a bad team, but bad luck and a bad situation, division wise. That’s what makes this so tough.

Next year will be better. The Rays are sure to lose either one or both of Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford, and possibly their stud closer Rafael Soriano as well. All of the Sox injured players will be back and hopefully the team will stay healthy. They discovered decent young players like Ryan Kalish and Daniel Nava this year, who will hopefully be part of their team next year in some way. As long as they don’t lose a big chunk of the team in free agency, guys like David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre, and Victor Martinez, they should be very competitive next year.

With the Sox out of the picture, here’s a look at how I see the MLB playoff picture playing out.

AL East: Tampa Bay

AL Central: Minnesota

AL West: Texas

AL Wild Card: NY Yankees

NL East: Atlanta

NL Central: Cincinnati

NL West: San Diego

NL Wild Card: Philadelphia

ALDS

Tampa Bay over Texas in 5

NY Yankees over Minnesota in 4

NLDS

Philadelphia over San Diego in 4

Atlanta over Cincinnati in 5

ALCS

Tampa Bay over NY Yankees in 7

NLCS

Atlanta over Philadelphia in 6

World Series

Tampa Bay over Atlanta in 5

Matt Leinart's Explanation

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:54:00 -0400

It is looking like Derek Anderson will be the Cardinals starting quarterback to open the year, barring any major changes. Anderson was given the nod at starter for the 3^rd preseason game, after Matt Leinart started the first 2 games, and Anderson has been given the nod for their 4^th and final preseason game. It’s highly unlikely, though Coach Ken Whisenhunt has not officially named a starter, that he changes his mind between now and their season opener. Leinart obviously knows that he’s unlikely to change his mind as he has been quoted as saying this.

“For me, this goes beyond the football field. You always want the best 11 guys to play and I feel I have proved that with my performance in training camp and preseason. I don’t really know what else this could probably be. This probably goes beyond football, beyond the field. I’m not making excuses, I’m not going to complain, I’m just going to keep working. For me, I really want an explanation and I haven’t been given one.”

Leinart obviously wants an explanation, so I’ll be a good person and try my best to explain it.

Leinart likely is citing his 18 for 22 completion percentage as the reason why he feels he deserves the job, but what he seems to be conveniently forgetting is that he’s only led one scoring drive this preseason and before the 3^rd preseason game, when he was benched, he didn’t complete a single first down. Yeah, he’s got a great completion percentage, but what he’s completing are short throws that don’t get you anywhere. At the end of the day, you don’t care as much about your quarterback’s completion percentage as you do how well the team did while he was on the field. When he has tried to make something happen downfield, he’s often underthrown the receiver. In fact, in one of these cases, he actually chewed out the receiver for not finding the ball on an obvious underthrow, something that could be seen easily by anyone watching the game on TV.

For Leinart, the big issue is leadership, whether it be leading scoring drives, which of course is the name of the game, or with his attitude. Blaming receivers for something that’s your fault, that’s not the attitude of a leader. Having a bad game in which you don’t lead a first down in 3 drives, and then, in a post game interview, blaming it on the other team blitzing you, which of course happens all the time in the NFL, that’s not the attitude of a leader. Derek Anderson, as mediocre as he’s been statistically this preseason, and as horrible as he’s been statistically in the past, has been a solid leader. He is leading scoring drives. He’s making some mistakes and overthrows, but at least he’s actually taking chances and throwing the ball down field. As the old quote goes, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more. He also isn’t complaining about his teammate or the blitz and overall, the team seems to play better when he’s on the field, which, at the end of the day, is the most important thing.

The fact that Leinart doesn’t seem to realize this, is further proof that he is not fit to be the starter for this team. The fact that’s he’s not taking responsibility for his poor play, the poor play that cost him his job, and is saying that it must go “beyond the football field” insinuating that his coach has some sort of grudge against him and just doesn’t like him personally, that’s further proof that this shouldn’t be his job. Leaders take responsibility for their actions. Leinart doesn’t.

Leinart’s future probably is not in Arizona. I don’t see him being a starter anywhere, but certainly not in Arizona where the relationship between him and his coach (for good reason and probably some of the reasons I named above) has deteriorated significantly. Leinart’s name has been the subject of trade rumors in the past 24 hours, with teams like Buffalo, Oakland, and the New York Giants reportedly interested. Even if he did go to one of those 3 teams, he would likely be a backup. The Giants badly need a backup for Eli Manning, after backup Jim Sorgi was recently put on IR with a shoulder injury, ending his season. Oakland traded for Jason Campbell to be their starter this offseason so Leinart would likely be a backup there with Bruce Gradkowski. Buffalo has some quarterback issues, but Trent Edwards has been decent this preseason so I don’t expect them to be looking to trade for Leinart to make him their starter, especially with the way Leinart has played this preseason.

Reports say he could be traded to one of those 3 teams, likely for a late round pick, possibly a conditional late round pick that could improve to a mid round pick if Leinart performs well. This is absolutely the right move for the Cardinals. Leinart is making a lot of money this season. Leinart is probably a team cancer at this point. Plus, if Leinart were to stay, the Cardinals would likely have to cut one of their 2 rookie backups, Max Hall undrafted out of BYU, and John Skelton a 5^th rounder out of Fordham. Both of those two quarterbacks have shown flashes of being solid quarterbacks in mop up time this preseason so they probably want to hold onto both for the future, as Anderson might not be the longterm solution.

MLB Trade Deadline Winners/Losers

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:03:00 -0400

Winners

Yankees

They didn’t NEED anything, but this was simply the Yankees saying to the world, hey, we’re the New York Fucking Yankees and we can do whatever we want. If we want to take a player whose been the face of his franchise for at least the half decade and add him to our bench because we need someone to DH versus lefties, we will. Berkman is an experienced vet who was extremely cheap and can be a valuable, backup 1^st baseman, DH, pinch hitter, and occasionally corner outfielder for them down the stretch. Austin Kearns was probably one of the 2 or 3 best hitters on the Indians, but the Yankees add him to, to strength their bench and flex their muscle, and he too was very cheap. Kerry Wood might not be much better than any of their other options in the 8^th, but then again he might be, but again it doesn’t matter because they didn’t really give up much. The only thing they lost really was money, but we all know they have plenty of that.

Rangers

I’m no economics expert, but something tells me that a team that has filed for bankruptcy shouldn’t be allowed to add 4 players to their team in the span of a few weeks, but that’s exactly what the Rangers did. It started with Bengie Molina, who solidifies the catcher position for them, and then Cliff Lee for 30 cents on the dollar, who was the ace/best player alive they desperately needed. Then, in the past few days they added infielder Cristian Guzman, who will play second while Ian Kinsler is on the DL, as well as Jorge Cantu, who will play 1^st to replace the promising, but struggling Justin Smoak, who went to Seattle as the 25 of the 30 cents to Cliff Lee’s dollar. They’re currently running away with their division and with all of their moves, they’re trying to position themselves to compete with teams like the Rays and Yankees in October.

Angels

They may be out of it now, but the Dan Haren deal was very clearly made with 2011 in mind. Haren is no rental and with the Rangers having key players hit the free agent market this offseason and with Angels star Kendry Morales expected to be good to go for the start of next season, the Angels felt they were a Haren away from being the favorites in the AL West once again in 2011 and they got him for relatively cheap, a backend starter and some middle of the road prospects.

Phillies

Roy Halladay. Cole Hamels. Roy Oswalt. That is what opposing teams will have to face 1-2-3 in the playoffs. Isn’t that scarier than Roy Halladay. Cole Hamels. Joe Blanton. I thought so. The offense still needs to come together and of course they still need to make the playoffs, currently trailing the Braves for the division and the Giants for the wild card, but once they get there, they should be in pretty good shape to make a 3^rd straight run to the World Series.

Nationals

Well, first they traded the closer that they signed in the offseason for almost nothing to the Twins for their top hitting prospect, catcher Wilson Ramos, the same Wilson Ramos that the Twins were hesitant to give up for Cliff Lee. Then, they kept Adam Dunn. Many places will say that’s a bad move. This is not one of them. Dunn is their best hitter. He is secretly one of the best hitters in the entire world with 6 straight seasons of 38 or more homeruns and 340 career homeruns at age 30. His average is seeing its best days in Washington and even his strikeouts are getting less and less frequent. For any of the amounts I’m hearing that Dunn wants from Washington in an extension, Dunn would be a steal. Dunn enjoys it there and Dunn, with guys like Ryan Zimmerman, Josh Willingham, the world’s top prospect Bryce Harper, as well as Stephen Strasburg, and now Wilson Ramos, this team has the core to become an NL powerhouse in a few years.

Cardinals

Ryan Ludwick is a solid player, but he won’t be missed. The Cardinals have rookie John Jay who is hitting very well this season in limited action. I expect Jay to offer comparable production to Ludwick for the rest of the season. However, Jake Westbrook is perfect for this team. With Westbrook, the Cardinals now have a rotation, with Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, and Jaime Garcia, that is not only one of the best in baseball, but is playoff good. In the playoffs you need 4 good starters. They have 4 good starters. That 5^th guy becomes a reliever in the playoffs, meaning he’s not all that important. Westbrook is the type of pitcher the Cardinals and pitching coach Dave Duncan love to work with. To make things sweeter, the Padres also sent back a prospect to St. Louis in the deal.

Astros

Astros fans may not see it this way, but I see them as winners. As they were built before, they stunk. By getting J.A. Happ, who has done nothing but impress me and many others, for Roy Oswalt, they actually got more for Oswalt than the Mariners got for Cliff Lee. Happ is still young at 27 and is 15-5 with a 3.03 ERA in his career. He’s a solid #2 or #3 starter and he’s significantly cheaper than Oswalt. Remember this is the same Happ that the Phillies refused to send to Cleveland last year for Cliff Lee. They also got some decent prospects back for Lance Berkman. I’ve seen teams rebuild by selling their top players way cheap. This team did not do that. The haul they got back for Oswalt and Berkman give their team a much better chance to compete in the future than if they had kept Berkman and Oswalt and let them leave as free agents or get worse due to age.

Padres

They weren’t supposed to be good this year. They are. They weren’t supposed to be buyers at the deadline. They were. They may be a cash scrapped franchise, but they got two nice additions and showed the world that, by the way, they are here to compete this year. Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick don’t jump off the page, but they’re better than what they had in right and at shortstop before and they add some needed pop to what is probably the weakest lineup of any of the true NL contenders.

Dodgers

How is it the teams with the most issues in terms of ownerships got the most players at the deadline? The Rangers filed for bankruptcy and the Dodgers ownership is going through a messy divorce. However, the Dodgers and Rangers both added 4 players. The Dodgers got Scott Podsednik. He’ll fill in for Manny Ramirez until he returns and he’ll be a very valuable 4^th outfielder down the stretch. He can run. He can play the field and he’s been there before winning it all with the White Sox in 2005. He also can be a solid pinch hitter. They got Octavio Dotel, who wasn’t the best bullpen arm on the market, but he’s a much needed power righty and can be the setup man that George Sherill was supposed to be. They got Ted Lilly, who adds a true veteran #3 starter to the rotation behind Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw, and solidifies a rotation that, at times, was calling multiple random pitchers from Triple-A every week to make spot starts. They also added Ryan Theriot, who will be a solid replacement for the underachieving Blake DeWitt at 2^nd. DeWitt went to the Cubs in the Lilly deal. And by all indications, they didn’t make a single Carlos Santana for Casey Blake mistake, even though they got a lot of their trade partners to eat salary.

Losers

Rays

The Yankees added Lance Berkman, Austin Kearns, and Kerry Wood because they did. The Rays needed to make a move even before they did that. They didn’t make a move, unless you count trading for Chad Qualls and his 8.15. They needed a bat for the lineup and an arm for the ‘pen and unless you count Qualls, they didn’t really do either. They needed Adam Dunn or, at the very least, Lance Berkman, and got neither.

White Sox

They needed someone like Adam Dunn, Prince Fielder, or even Lance Berkman. They got none of them. They didn’t need Edwin Jackson. They got him. I’m not sure Jackson is an upgrade for the rest of the season over 23 year-old Daniel Hudson, one of the White Sox top prospects, who they sent to Arizona for Jackson. In 4 starts this year, Hudson was 1-1 with a 4.56 ERA, 18 strikeouts, and 12 walks.

Twins

So they were hesitant to trade Wilson Ramos to Seattle for Cliff Lee, but they’ll send him to Washington for Matt Capps. Capps doesn’t even really fill a need. Jon Rauch has converted 21 of 25 saves and has a 2.97 ERA in 39.1 innings. They may have needed a late inning reliever, but they didn’t need to trade their top prospect for a closer and convert their closer to a late inning reliever. I know they didn’t need Ramos, with Joe Mauer at the big league level already for many, many years, but they could have swapped him for a bat, maybe a guy like Adam Dunn, or a starter or just keep him until the offseason and see who opens up on the market. Ramos was a highly sought after prospect and they sold him way too cheap and they still didn’t add a starter to the rotation, which was extremely necessary for them.

Tigers

With the injuries they’ve had in recent weeks, including most notably Magglio Ordonez, this team needed to add another bat to the mix and they didn’t. They’re currently 52-52 and 7 games back and it’s not looking good for them this season.

Blue Jays

They have a guy in Jose Bautista whose value will never be higher. He was a perfect sell high candidate for them. He’s likely a one year wonder as a result of playing in Toronto, where he is hitting 70 points better and hitting homeruns twice as frequently as on the road. They could have gotten a ton for him, but they didn’t want to move him. They also had huge asking prices for two late innings relievers, including Scott Downs, one of the most sought after arms on the market, and ended up getting nothing for them.

Orioles

Trading Miguel Tejada was good, but they needed to trade a few other players. This team is currently farther out of 4^th place than any team in the league is out of 1^st. They stink. Ty Wigginton was one of the most sought after bats on the market, but they didn’t want to move him. Jeremy Guthrie was also a valuable 4^th starter type pitcher for a contender and they weren’t listening to offer for him either.

Mariners

What they got back for Cliff Lee was ridiculous. Justin Smoak and some spare parts. Smoak has potential, but at the same time he’s batting .198 this year and is having some major issues at the plate. They almost might have been better off letting Lee go this offseason for draft picks.

Brewers

The Brewers aren’t in any position to win right now and they needed to move one or both of Corey Hart and Prince Fielder, not because they will become free agents in the next few years, but because their farm system at pitching is horrible. They have some decent hitting prospects that could come up and take Hart’s spot or Fielder’s spot, but they have no hope really in the farm system in terms of pitchers and they’re already struggling to get outs.

Giants

They’re kind of the anti-Brewers right now, only they’re actually in position to contend for a playoff spot right now. However, they needed a Prince Fielder or Corey Hart to add to their lineup and they could afford to part with a starting pitcher. With Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Madison Bumgartner, and top pitching prospect Zach Wheeler, as well as Barry Zito under contract for a few more years, they could trade one of them and still have 5 good pitchers for the future and 4 good pitchers for this year, which is all you really need in the playoffs. With a good hitter, they could have been a World Series contender this year. Keeping their team as it currently is, they are a playoff contender and will likely stay that way for a while as they have to pay their pitchers and won’t have enough money to ever add to the lineup and take their team to the next level.

All- NFL Team

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:21:00 -0400

The object is simple. Build a 53 man roster out of active (non-injured) NFL players. Each team must be represented at least once. So, anyone want to play us?

Starters in Bold

QB Drew Brees Peyton Manning Tom Brady (3)

RB Chris Johnson Steven Jackson Adrian Peterson Ray Rice (4)

FB Le’Ron McClain Leonard Weaver (2)

WR Andre Johnson Larry Fitzgerald Calvin Johnson Miles Austin (4)

TE Dallas Clark Antonio Gates Jason Witten (3)

OT Joe Thomas Jake Long Jared Gaither Damien Woody (4)

G Jahri Evans Chris Snee Carl Nicks (3)

C Nick Mangold Jeff Saturday (2)

DT Jonathan Babineux Kevin Williams Vince Wilfork (NT) Jay Ratliff (NT/3-4 DE) (4)

DE Jared Allen Dwight Freeney DeMarcus Ware (3-4 OLB) Elvis Dumervil (3-4 OLB) Justin Smith (3-4 DE) (5)

OLB Daryl Smith Thomas Davis Brian Cushing (3)

MLB Patrick Willis (3-4 MLB) Ray Lewis (3-4 MLB) Lofa Tatupu Brian Urlacher (4)

CB Darrelle Revis Charles Woodson Brandon Flowers Leon Hall (4)

S Troy Polamalu Nick Collins Jairus Byrd Tanard Jackson (4)

K Sebastian Janikowski

P Shane Lechler

KR Joshua Cribbs (WR)

PR DeSean Jackson (WR)

The case against the lengthening of the NFL season

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 22:28:00 -0400

Many people around the NFL whose reports I believe and opinions I respect say that there is an almost 100% chance that the NFL’s schedule will expand from 16 to 18 games in the near future, with some saying it could happen for as soon as the 2011 or 2012 season. Accompanying the expansion would be the shortening of the NFL’s preseason from 4 games to 2. We all know the reasons why this is potentially a good thing, more money, more football. Even as a huge football fan, I wouldn’t like this move and here are some reasons why.

More stress on a player’s body- I know what you’re thinking, but there aren’t anymore games being added, just two games now count. That’s not the case. You’re taking away the two games from the preseason where starters only play about a quarter or two, and turning them into regular season games, where starters play four quarters. They also play them a lot harder and a lot more physically because they do now matter. It’s going to shorten careers, increase injuries, and increase potential post-retirement injuries more than you think and this is already a sport where careers are short, injuries are widespread, and post-retirement injuries are already a huge issues, especially when you consider head/neck injuries. Going along with this, players may play each game with less intensity, to avoid injuries, and/or we will see more tired players in the playoffs, leading to worse performances in the playoffs.

Cheapens accomplishments- 4000 yards passing, 30 passing touchdowns, 10 receiving touchdowns, 10 rushing touchdowns, 1000 rushing yards, 1000 receiving yards, 2000 rushing yards, these are all impressive NFL milestones. If we add an 17^th and 18^th game, suddenly those accomplishments are easier to achieve, cheapening the value of the accomplishment. This is a major slap in the face to everyone who has achieved those accomplishments in the past, in 16 game seasons, or even back when there were only 14 games. 16 games to 18 games is an increase of 12.5%. Making the season 12.5% longer makes it that much easier to reach any given milestone.

1972 Miami Dolphins- It’s bad enough that the 1972 Dolphins got to pop champagne in 2007 when the Patriots lost in the Super Bowl, even though the Pats did match and surpass (at one point) their record of a 17-0 undefeated season. With an 18 game regular season, that would mean you’d mean 21 wins in a row for a perfect season. Forget it. That’s not happening. Lengthening the season would have a reverse effect on teams like the 1972 Dolphins as opposed to the effect it has on 2000 yard rushing seasons like Chris Johnson’s. It’s going to make it seem like the accomplishment is actually greater than it is, however great it already is. Lengthening the season makes the 12.5% harder to go undefeated in the regular season and 10.5% harder to do it through the playoffs, and this doesn’t even account for the fact that the Miami Dolphins did it with 14 games in the regular season. I hate to take shots at the 1972 Miami Dolphins, but it makes it that much harder for anyone to do what they did and that’s not really fair to today’s players.

Messes with the scheduling process- It’s a minor one, but I love how the NFL’s schedule process works. 2 games against all 3 of your division opponents, 8 games against teams in two other divisions, randomly chosen, and the other 2 games against teams in your conference that finished in the same spot in their respective division the year before. I love it. How can you add two more games? It messes it up.

Each game counts for less- With 18 games, each and every game is going to count for less. Each win becomes less valuable. I love how the NFL makes sure every game counts with a 16 game schedule. It’s not like the NBA with 82 games or the MLB with 162. There are 16 NFL games and each and every one of them is about as important as a playoff game. Adding 2 more games hurts that. Each game now is 12.5% less important.

Overall adding 2 more games will water down the NFL. It will make milestones that once meant something mean less. It could make players approach each game with intensity, both to avoid injuries and because each game now counts for 12.5% less. It will also increase the likelihood of major injuries and potentially lead to sloppier playoff performances from even more exhausted players. It changes the meaning of a perfect season. Oh, and it ruins the symmetry in the scheduling that I love about the NFL, but that’s not as important as the other stuff.

Boston Red Sox Rant

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:35:00 -0400

The Red Sox fell to 4.5 games back of the Wild Card today with a 6-4 loss to the Oakland Athletics. I don’t often talk about baseball on here, but the Red Sox are my favorite baseball team and the only sports team I really follow religiously. I am also a fan of the Patriots and Celtics but because I feel I need to stay as unbiased as possible for this site and because I am disappointed with some of the actions the franchise made in the past few years (Spygate), I would definitely not call myself a huge Patriots fan. Because I am not a huge basketball fan, I would not call myself a huge Celtics fan either.

The Red Sox are my team. I don’t like it when they fall 4.5 games back of the Wild Card. I don’t like it when they lose to a .500 team (especially when I’m in attendance). 4.5 games back starts to be pushing the envelope a bit in terms of how far out they can be to give themselves a solid shot to make the playoffs once their injuries are cleared up. 4.5 games back is the farthest back they’ve been in over a month. 4.5 games back doesn’t please GM Theo Epstein either as reports have come out that he is planning to make significant additions (in addition to the players they’ll soon get back from injury) at the trade deadline. The names thrown out there, relievers like David Aardsma and Scott Downs, catchers like Chris Synder or Chris Iannetta.

I definitely wouldn’t mind adding another reliever. Their bullpen era is 4.51, 3^rd worst in the AL. I would love to add Scott Downs. He’s a solid set up man and a lefty, which is even more important because Hideki Okajima has failed epically as their left handed set up man. I would rather have him than trading for a closer because closers normally cost more in terms of salary and prospects and they sometimes have issues adjusting to new roles like the 7^th or the 8^th (see Gagne, Eric). Downs has been pitching well in the 7^th and 8^th all year with a 2.52 ERA for Toronto. Aardsma I don’t want. It seems silly to trade for a closer with a 5.04 ERA, try to make him into a set up man or middle reliever, even though the last time he was a middle reliever for the Sox (a whole 2 years ago), he had an ERA of 5.55. The fact that his price tag in terms of prospects would be equal or higher to Downs’ is ridiculous.

Catcher I can sort of understand. Both Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek are hurt right now and while Martinez could be back in a few days, Varitek could be out a few more weeks, leaving them with a choice between Kevin Cash, Dusty Brown, and Gustavo Molina as their backup catcher for a significant period of time. V-Mart is horrible defensively so the Sox need a solid catcher to use as a defensive replacement late in games, as well as to catch every 5^th or 6^th day, and also to catch when Martinez moves to DH or 1^st, on Ortiz’ or Youk’s off days. Plus if Martinez misses more time than expected or gets hurt again, they’d be in trouble.

Jayson Werth is the one guy I don’t want. I will list a bunch of reasons why.

Slumping- Werth is hitting .241 with 0 homeruns and 3 RBIs this month. In fact, since his hot start in April where he batted .325, he is batting a mere 64 for 238 (.269) and has 4 homeruns and 17 RBIs in June and July. Who wants a slumping hitter?

Ballpark bloats stats- Philadelphia is probably the best hitters park in the bigs. Jayson Werth can probably thank a lot of his recent success to his park. The last season he wasn’t a Phillie, he batted .234 with 7 homeruns and 43 RBIs. There’s a reason the Dodgers let him go. This year in road games, Werth is batting .264 with 3 homeruns and 18 RBIs. At home, he’s batting .302 with 10 homeruns and 32 RBIs. He might not find Fenway nearly as friendly as Citizens Bank.

New league- Werth has 94 career at bats in the AL, and none (other than interleague) since he was a Blue Jay in 2003. Regardless of which league you feel has the better pitchers, there’s no denying this, going to a new league is unfamiliar and unfamiliarity is always the pitcher’s advantage.

In a contract year- Pretty self explanatory, there’s a chance he’d only be a 2-3 month rental, either that or they overpay him after the season.

Don’t need him: When everyone is healthy, this is their outfield. They have Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Cameron, Jeremy Hermida, Darnell McDonald, Daniel Nava, JD Drew. Eric Patterson can also play the outfield. Patterson is as good as gone once they get either Dustin Pedroia or Jacoby Ellsbury back. McDonald is probably toast as well.

When I got the idea to write this rant, I also wanted to say this. Getting Werth would mean getting rid of Nava who actually is hitting better than Werth, albeit in less action, with a .286 average compared to Werth’s .280. Nava also has the higher on base percentage, though Werth leads in slugging and OPS. However, Nava is cheaper. Nava isn’t slumping. Nava knows the pitchers in the AL and Nava has proven himself in the Sox home park. Werth isn’t worth a top pitching prospect like Michael Bowden, no matter how many issues Bowden is having at this stage in his career.

However, the Sox just went right ahead and sent Nava down as I was writing this, to activate Jeremy Hermida. He was sent down over guys like Darnell McDonald and Eric Patterson. Let’s compared Nava to Hermida, McDonald, Patterson, and hell, I’ll even throw in Jayson Werth’s stats in there as well, for comparisons sake.

Hermida: (avg/obp/ops) .217/.268/.384

McDonald: .263/.322/.402

Patterson: .204/.257/.430

Werth: .280/.371/.500

Nava: .286/.381/.451

I hate to sound like I feel that I’m smarter than people with more baseball experience, but I can’t help but feel that I’m smarter than people with more baseball experience. One of the worst feelings as a fan is feeling more competent than your front office, even if it may not be entirely true. After all, I did criticize both the Lackey and Cameron signings, and suggested that the Sox sign Adrian Beltre back in December.

Homerun Derby Curse

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:57:00 -0400

There is always a lot of talk around this time about a potential Homerun Derby curse where a player who wins the Homerun Derby messes up his swing for the second half. The talk mostly comes from fans, but also recently it has been coming from the players, players like Albert Pujols who don’t want to compete. There have certainly been several prominent cases where a player has had a significantly worse 2^nd half after winning or doing extremely well in the Derby (Josh Hamilton, Bobby Abreu), but, overall, is there a trend, or are there just a few cases we all remember? Let’s look at everyone who has won the Derby, as well as those players who did well in the Derby but did not win, since 2000. We’ll call 20 homeruns good.

2000

Sammy Sosa- 1^st place 26

Pre all-star: .305 batting average 23 homeruns/338 at bats (1/14.7)

Post all-star: .338 batting average 27 homeruns/266 at bats (1/9.9)

Verdict: Significantly better 2^nd half

Comments: None

2001

Luis Gonzalez- 1^st place 16

Pre-all star: .355 batting average 35 homeruns/330 at bats (1/9.4)

Post-all star: .290 batting average 22 homeruns/279 at bats (1/12.7)

Verdict: Significantly worse 2^nd half

Comments: None

Jason Giambi- 3rd place 20 (14 first round)

Pre-all star: .322 batting average 19 homeruns/283 at bats (1/14.9)

Post-all star: .367 batting average 19 homeruns/237 at bats (1/12.5)

Verdict: Significantly better 2^nd half

Comments: None

2002

Jason Giambi- 1^st place 24

Pre-all star: .318 batting average 22 homeruns/314 at bats (1/14.3)

Post-all star: .309 batting average 19 homeruns/246 at bats (1/12.9)

Verdict: Slightly better 2^nd half

Comments: BA dropped a slight bit, but I think the increase in power is a little bit better than the dip in batting average

2003

Garret Anderson- 1^st place 22

Pre-all star: .316 batting average 22 homeruns/370 at bats (1/16.8)

Post-all star: .313 batting average 7 homeruns/268 at bats (1/38.3)

Verdict: Significantly worse 2^nd half

Comments: Not actually as bad as it looks. Anderson was never a big power hitter and some of the difference we see here can be attributed to Anderson hitting 12 homeruns in June of 2003. That being said, it is hard to ignore those mere 7 homeruns.

Albert Pujols- 2^nd place 26 (14 2^nd round)

Pre-all star: .368 batting average 27 homeruns/348 at bats (1/12.9)

Post-all star: .346 batting average 16 homeruns/243 at bats(1/15.2)

Verdict: Slightly worse 2^nd half

Comments: A tough one here, but if you hit a homerun in every 15 at bats and have a batting average of .346, it’s hard to say the Derby significantly hurt you, even if your BA did drop 22 points and your homeruns slowed down by a rate of 2.3 at bats.

Jason Giambi- 3^rd place 23 (12 1^st round)

Pre-all star: .267 batting average 26 homeruns/318 at bats (1/12.2)

Post-all star: .226 batting average 15 homeruns/217 at bats (1/14.7)

Verdict: Significantly worse 2^nd half

Comments: Another tough one, the power didn’t really drop, but that .227 BA is ugly. I gave Pujols a slightly so I’ll give Giambi a significantly worse in this borderline call to make it fair.

2004

Miguel Tejada- 1^st place 27

Pre-all star: .311 batting average 15 homeruns/344 at bats (1/22.9)

Post-all star: .311 batting average 19 homeruns/309 at bats (1/16.3)

Verdict: Slightly better 2^nd half

Comments: None

Lance Berkman- 2^nd place 21 (10 2^nd round)

Pre-all star: .299 batting average 16 homeruns/284 at bats (1/17.8)

Post-all star: .335 batting average 14 homeruns/260 at bats (1/18.6)

Verdict: Slightly better 2^nd half

Comments: Power dropped a bit, but the 36 point increase in batting average counters that.

2005

Bobby Abreu- 1^st place 41

Pre-all star: .307 batting average 18 homeruns/323 at bats (1/17.9)

Post-all star: .260 batting average 6 homeruns/265 at bats (1/44.2)

Verdict: Significantly worse 2^nd half

Comments: Simply put, he sucked. There’s a reason he’s the poster child for the “Derby Curse.”

Ivan Rodriguez- 2^nd place 20 (8 2^nd round)

Pre-all star: .292 batting average 6 homeruns/292 at bats (1/48.7)

Post-all star: .252 batting average 8 homeruns/208 at bats (1/26)

Verdict: Slightly worse 2^nd half

Comments: Another borderline one, his average dropped pretty significantly, but the power did pick up. However, Pudge has never been a homerun hitter and even when the power picked up, it didn’t pick up to the one where he was hitting a homerun every 15-20 at bats.

David Ortiz- 3^rd place 20 (17 1^st round)

Pre-all star: .314 batting average 21 homeruns/328 at bats (1/15.6)

Post-all star: .282 batting average 26 homeruns/273 at bats (1/10.5)

Verdict: Slightly better 2^nd half

Comments: Another borderline one, the BA dropped, but the power went up significantly and since this is ultimately a homerun derby, I’d say the derby helped his swing. Papi’s never been a big BA guy either.

2006

Ryan Howard- 1^st place 23

Pre-all star: .278 batting average 28 homeruns/316 at bats (1/11.3)

Post-all star: .355 batting average 30 homeruns/265 at bats (1/8.8)

Verdict: Significantly better 2^nd half

Comments: The anti-Bobby Abreu. This guy destroyed the baseball in the 2^nd half.

David Wright- 2^nd place 22 (16 1^st round)

Pre-all star: .316 batting average 20 homeruns/339 at bats (1/17.0)

Post-all star: .305 average 6 homeruns/243 at bats (1/40.5)

Verdict: Significantly worse 2^nd half

Comments: None

2007

Vladimir Guerrero- 1^st place 17

Pre-all star: .325 batting average 14 homeruns/311 at bats (1/22.2)

Post-all star: .323 batting average 13 homeruns/263 at bats (1/20.2)

Verdict: Slightly better 2^nd half

Comments: The increase in power by a rate of 2 at bats makes up for the 2 point drop in BA, which isn’t really anything.

2008

Justin Morneau- 1^st place 22

Pre-all star: .323 batting average 14 homeruns/365 at bats (1/26.1)

Post-all star: .267 batting average 9 homeruns/258 at bats (1/28.7)

Verdict: Significantly worse 2^nd half

Comments: A tough one, but it is hard to ignore a drop in BA of 56 points, even if the power didn’t get too much worse.

Josh Hamilton 2nd place 35 (28 1^st round)

Pre-all star: .310 batting average 21 homeruns/377 at bats (1/18.0)

Post-all star: .297 batting average 11 homeruns/247 at bats (1/22.5)

Verdict: Slightly worse 2^nd half

Comments: This may be controversial since Hamilton is hyped as having a horrible 2^nd half, but the numbers don’t lie, 13 point BA drop isn’t horrible and neither is the drop in power from one every 18 to one every 22.5. This is also a slightly makeup call to balance the borderline slightly/significantly with Justin Morneau.

2009

Prince Fielder 1^st place 23

Pre-all star: .315 batting average 22 homeruns/308 at bats (1/14)

Post-all star: .283 batting average 24 homeruns/283 at bats (1/11.8)

Verdict: Slightly better 2^nd half

Comments: The batting average did drop, but Prince has never been a BA guy and the power in his 2^nd half was pretty amazing. When a guy hits a homerun in every 11.8 at bats in the 2^nd half, you can’t really say the derby hurt him.

Nelson Cruz 2^nd place 21 (11 1^st round)

Pre-all star: .263 batting average 22 homeruns/297 at bats (1/13.5)

Post-all star: .255 batting average 11 homeruns/165 at bats (1/15)

Verdict: Slightly worse 2^nd half

Verdict: Cruz actually saw a decrease in playing time in the 2^nd half, but he didn’t produce too much differently when he did play.

Totals:

Significantly worse: 6

Slightly worse: 4

Slightly better: 6

Significantly better: 3

I think these numbers really suggest that there isn’t a ton going on in terms of a Derby Curse. Yes, more players had worse stats than better (10 to 9) and more players had significantly worse stats than significantly better (6 to 3), but the numbers don’t really jump out at you like you would expect. Yopu also have to consider that players probably do a little worse in the 2^nd half anyway, with their bodies tiring, so that may be the reason for part of the slight difference in statistical production we are seeing.

Interesting pattern I picked up on and it makes sense, of the significantly worse group 4 of the 6 hitters I can classify as line drive type players, players whose swing is not designed to hit for power (Luis Gonzalez, Garret Anderson, Bobby Abreu, David Wright). All 3 of the significantly better group have uppercut homerun swings (Sammy Sosa, Jason Giambi, Ryan Howard). It makes sense. If you don’t have to alter your swing to swing for the fences in a Derby, the Derby can’t really mess up your swing. If you do have to make your swing less short and more uppercut, it can mess you up.

David Kahn's mistakes

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:38:00 -0400

I don’t know a ton about basketball or the NBA, at least not in comparison to football and the NFL, that’s why this site is not called footballandbasketballfanspot (plus it sounds ridiculous). However, I’m pretty sure I’d make a more competent Team President than Minnesota Timberwolves GM David Kahn. I know what you’re thinking, he’s in the NBA, he must know what he’s doing. He doesn’t. Plus, look at his background. He doesn’t have anything in his background that would make him competent at running an NBA front office.

Kahn was a sports writer in Portland from 1983-1989. He got a law degree and later worked in the front office of some good Pacers teams from 1993-2002, though I don’t know how much of their success could be attributed to him. The Pacers success in the late 90s is widely attributed to team president Donnie Walsh and of course Reggie Miller, who Donnie Walsh drafted. Kahn then went and sold real estate in Portland, led the failed effort to move the then Montreal Expos of Major League Baseball to Portland. He also purchased a few NBDL teams, before getting rehired as the front man in Minnesota. Since then, well, everything’s been a big mess.

Kahn’s tenure in Minnesota started on a bit of a high note as he acquired another top 6 pick, from Washington in a deal for a few guys who the Timberwolves probably wouldn’t have missed, sharpshooter Mike Miller and 6^th man sparkplug Randy Foye. However, with the 5^th and 6^th picks in hand, he probably should have done a lot more.

With the 5^th pick Kahn, did what many expected of him and drafted international superstar point guard Ricky Rubio from Spain. However, with the 6^th pick, he went point guard yet again drafting Jonny Flynn. In a move that may or may not be related to the fact that Kahn drafted another point guard right under him, Rubio decided he didn’t want to go to Minnesota. It makes sense that either he felt insulted by the selection of any point guard, he felt that Minnesota’s team did not have enough talented weapons to work with as a result of the selection of another point guard, or he felt that Minnesota’s front office was too incompetent to build a winner. Either way, he stayed in Spain. Flynn was solid in his first year, but when the kid that everyone was expecting them to take, shooting guard Stephen Curry, finished 2^nd in Rookie of the Year voting this season, it just made the Timberwolves look even worse.

Kahn would add one more point guard in the offseason, signing Ramon Sessions to a 4 year 16 million dollar deal. Sessions actually turned out to be a decent part of their team this year, but only because Ricky Rubio refused to come over from Spain, freeing up some playing time for the backup guard. Despite having 4 first round picks, all Kahn got out of it was a future first rounder, a point guard, another point guard who refused to come over to the States, and a shooter in Wayne Ellington. They still lacked a perimeter scorer who could take the ball to the basket off the dribble, which many called their biggest need going into the offseason, after the trade of Randy Foye. He also failed to add a shot blocking big man to the mix.

In the 2010 offseason, after the Timberwolves finished 15-67 in 2009-10, 9 games worse then 2008-09, Kahn was back at it again. The 2010 NBA Draft started off normal enough with the Timberwolves drafting Wesley Johnson to fill their need at small forward. I would have preferred to see Kahn try to move up to get Evan Turner, who can create his own scoring and possibly attract Ricky Rubio to the states to play for Minnesota, but maybe that just wasn’t possible. Johnson was best player available at their position of greatest need. However, Kahn wasn’t done. He then traded Ryan Gomes to the Portland Trailblazers for Martell Webster. Gomes and Webster had similar stats and played the same position, though Gomes can also play power forward and Webster is younger. It looked like an interesting, but unnecessary move for the Timberwolves, until you saw that the Timberwolves also threw in the 16^th overall pick to Portland, just like it was nothing. Kahn then picked up two more small forwards, Lazar Hayward and Nemanja Bjelica.

Around draft time, Rubio also said that he would come to the states in 2011, but was not sure whether or not he’d want to play for the Timberwolves. I’m betting he wants to see them win some games first, which doesn’t look likely. Kahn is still refusing to trade Rubio’s rights to get any sort of value out of him, which may or may not be a smart move in 12 months.

After the draft Kahn signed Darko Milicic for 4 years 20 million dollars and then compared Milicic to a young Chris Webber. Yes, that Darko Milicic. Yes, that Chris Webber. Wow.

Kahn looked like he had made a smart move when he acquired Michael Beasley from the salary cutting Miami Heat for a 2^nd round pick, until I found out that the trade gives the Heat to swap future first rounders with the Timberwolves. Considering the Heat will probably be picking in the late 20s and the Timberwolves will probably be picking in the top 5, that looks pretty stupid for Kahn. Beasley may have been worth a top 5 pick when he was drafted 2^nd overall and appeared to be the next Kevin Durant. However, in two NBA seasons, Beasley has averaged 14.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game while providing very little defensively. Beasley has also had off the court issues. He appears, at this stage of his career, to be destined to be a soft power forward in this league. Plus, with Al Jefferson and Kevin Love at power forward already, where would Beasley play. Love has already been playing out of position at center his entire career, but what about Jefferson?

Kahn would answer the Jefferson question by getting rid of him. Kahn traded his best player to the Utah Jazz for a trade exception worth 14 million dollars, as well as two future first round picks and Kosta Koufos, who is averaging 3.3 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks per game in his career. That trade looked puzzling enough, trading your best player Al Jefferson, who is 25 years old, and averaged 17.1 points 9.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game last year, when you’re trying to attract Ricky Rubio to your team. However, when you consider that the trade exception they acquired would probably be used on bad contracts and the draft picks, which should be in the 15^th-25^th pick range, will probably be used on the wrong players who play the same position, it gets a lot worse. But, hey, at least Kahn acquired another point guard this offseason, signing Luke Ridnour to a 4 year 16 million dollar deal after he cleared cap with the Jefferson deal.

Some MLB All-Star Game Fixes

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:02:00 -0400

As coach Herm Edwards once said, “you play to win the game.” That being said, I don’t like the idea that the All-Star Game should decide home field advantage in baseball. Charlie Manuel picked guys like Arthur Rhodes, Hong Chih Kuo, Evan Meek, Michael Bourn, and Omar Infante for the All-Star team, three middle relievers, a pinch runner, and a utility man. And you know what, those moves were pretty smart. Manuel knows his Phillies could get back to the World Series this year and wanted home field advantage when they got there so he did what it took to win, even if it was unorthodox, taking guys who specialize in the 7^th or 8^th inning, rather than taking closers and forcing them into different roles. He took a guy like Bourn to pinch run and possibly steal a base he took Infante because of his versatility.

The issue with this, it makes for a pretty boring game. In my opinion, players should be picked for the All-Star game off of three criteria, in order, the quality of their first half production, their popularity with the fans, and three and finally, to help you win the game. While it could be argued that those three middle relievers had a solid first half, it’s tough to argue that Omar Infante, who isn’t even a starter on his own team, and Michael Bourn who is batting .255 with 1 homerun and 22 RBIs this season, statistically were worthy of being there. Plus, none of those five generate much buzz with the fans at all.

Another issue with the game counting, we don’t see everyone play. Some guys are kept on the bench because the manager feels his team has a better shot of winning with someone else in the lineup. Where’s the fun in that? What’s the point of them even being there?

Another issue, it just gives too much power to one game. If Brian McCann strikes out last night instead of hitting a 3 run double, the AL likely wins. One swing of the bat deciding homefield in the World Series, when the man swinging the bat could very well not even be a part of the World Series in a few months, that doesn’t make any sense. Home field in the World Series should be decided in one of four ways. Whoever has the best record of the two teams playing, whichever league had the better record in interleague, whichever teams has the best record in interleague, or simply whichever team wins their CS first, with any ties being broken by regular season record, individual team interleague record, or league interleague record. If the All-Star game continues to decide homefield advantage, winning will continue to be more important than the fans and having fun during the All-Star game.

A few more issues with the All-Star game, the rosters are way too big. 34 players?! What’s wrong with 25 players, with the option to put players that you’ve taken out before back into the game if the game goes into extras and you need more players. 34 really cheapens being named an All-Star.

Speaking of cheapening being named an All-Star, I think the whole thing were every team needs to be represented needs to be done away with. You shouldn’t get an All-Star pick simply because you’re the best player on your team, but rather because your one of the top 25 players in your league. A few more things I would like to see all involve increasing fan involvement. What’s wrong with letting the fans pick the starting pitcher too, or even some of the backups.

NBA Free Agency: Winners/Losers

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:49:00 -0400

With all of the biggest names off the free agent market for now, I think I can officially pick some winners and losers for free agency 2010.

LeBron James- Loser

Yeah, he gets a better shot to win a title, but at what cost? The city of Cleveland absolutely hates him for the unclassy way he went out. Other fans hate his selfishness. Others see him as a cop out who doesn’t want the pressure in the last two minutes. Plus, are the Heat even favorites next year? Yeah, the 4 players they have on their roster now (James, Bosh, Wade, Mario Chalmers) plus the 4 2^nd round picks they have and 4 random fans out of the stands could win 60 games next year, but to win in the playoffs, you need role players. You can argue the Celtics don’t win in 2008 without James Posey. Plus, what if one of the big three get hurt? What if there are chemistry issues? A lot can go wrong.

Miami Heat- Winner

This team won 47 games last year. They’re winning a whole lot more than that this year. My estimate is somewhere between 61-67 wins depending on what they do to fill out their roster. This team wasn’t going to win a title with just Wade and a supporting cast led by Michael Beasley. They can certainly win one with this supporting cast.

Dwayne Wade- Winner

He wanted help and he got help and tons of it. Plus, this is still his team. He is going to get the most credit if they win and he still is going to be the guy in the last 2 minutes for this team.

Chris Bosh- Winner

He wasn’t going anywhere in Toronto. Bosh is not the type of player who can win 45 games with no help or win a title with a strong supporting cast. He was always destined to be the 2^nd best player on a championship team. Now he’s the 3^rd best player on a team that could very well win the championship. Not a bad deal.

Cleveland Cavaliers- Loser

This team, in their current state, is not going to win 40 games next year. Antawn Jamison and Maurice Williams are not the type of players who can be the best players on playoff teams. Plus, their management was essentially broken up with over Facebook or answering machine message when LeBron went on national television to announce his decision, without telling his former team first.

The city of Cleveland- Loser

They can’t catch a break can they? Well, at least there’s baseball season…oh wait. Well, at least there’s football season…oh wait. Actually, the Cavs might still be the best team in Cleveland. That’s not good.

New York Knicks- Loser

They gutted their roster and gave up countless lottery picks and took on countless seasons of losing just for this offseason. They figured if they couldn’t get LeBron, they could get Wade, and if not Wade than Bosh, and if none of those three than Joe Johnson. Bron, Wade, and Bosh all went to Miami, Johnson resigned in Atlanta, so they had to settle with plan F, overpaying Amare Stoudamire. Amare is not the #1 player on a championship team. Hell, I’m not even sure he’s the #2 player on a championship team after what we saw with him and Nash in Phoenix over the past few years. Plus, what was with them trading David Lee to Golden State for spare parts? Was that their best offer for him? If Carmelo Anthony is not a Knick sometime in the next 12 months, the last 5 or so years of this franchise will have been a complete fail with a capital F a capital A a capital I and a capital L.

Chicago Bulls- Winner

They didn’t get LeBron, but unlike the Knicks they didn’t gut their entire roster trying to get him. They simply had the cap space. They made the playoffs last year so adding Carlos Boozer to the mix is hardly a failed offseason. They have some cap space left over, but they can use it to add role players (they need a shooting guard) and now they can give Derrick Rose an extension, in a year or so, without hitting the luxury tax.

New Jersey Nets- Loser

This team won 12 games last season. So far this offseason they’ve overpaid Travis Outlaw, drafted Derrick Favors, and adding Avery Johnson as coach. Not bad, but they’re trying to build a “dynasty” in New Jersey. I don’t think they’ll win more than 30 games next year. Favors is a good player, but he’s a bit raw and won’t help them a ton right away and even if he fulfills his potential, he’s not going to be the type of player who can lead this team to a championship, let alone a dynasty.

Toronto Raptors- Loser

What’s the over/under for this team next year, 15 wins?

Boston Celtics- Winner

There was a lot of uncertainty for team following their Finals loss. Would Doc Rivers be back? Would Paul Pierce be back? Would Ray Allen be back? Who is going to replace Rasheed Wallace. Those three are all back, and they got Jermaine O’Neal to fill Wallace’s void. O’Neal is a younger and better version of Wallace. They may be old, but this team was just 6 minutes away from an NBA Championship. You could even argue that they would have won it if it wasn’t for an injury to Kendrick Perkins. Their window of opportunity is closing, but it’s not quite closed and that’s a win in my book.

Utah Jazz- Loser

Always tough to lose a player like Carlos Boozer.

Phoenix Suns- Loser

Always tough to lose a player like Amare Stoudamire.

Golden State Warriors- Winner

This team didn’t look in the mix for a big name free agent at all, but they were able to convince New York to send them David Lee in a sign and trade for spare parts. Anthony Randolph is paper thin, Ronny Turiaf is a solid role player, and Kelenna Azubuike is a solid starter, but nothing else.

ESPN- Winner

Can't blame ESPN for taking on LeBron's show. As egotistical as it was for LeBron, it was a shrewd business move for ESPN. The LeBron show was the highest rated program on television last night. That's a lot of $$$.

NBA- Winner

People are talking about the NBA again. People are going to tune in to see Miami play next year. In otherwords, basketball is once again very relevant in America.

Me- Loser

Unless Shaq signs in Oklahoma City (still a possibility) I will have only gotten 5 out of 11 free agency predictions right, Wade to Miami, Pierce to Boston, Allen to Boston, Dirk to Dallas, and Amare to New York. And only one of those was a player going to a new team.