Play ball!

We finally have a baseball season after much bickering and brawling between the MLBPA and the MLB. They’ve finally agreed to a season. And the patient fans finally have baseball again.

It’s definitely not ideal, actually, far from it. Rob “Bozo” Manfred proposed a 60-game season. 60 games!?!? It’s really not like they could’ve done better, there’s not much time. But after Czech Table Tennis was the most exciting “sport” on television, or, would you like to indulge in the 2007 Week 7 Game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Miami Dolphins (Dolphins and Steelers fans, that was rhetorical, but even you wouldn’t want to watch that), huh?

I mean, the Nationals were horrible at 60 games, but look where they ended up. In a little less than a week, Spring Training will start, but where does that leave the minor league players? Do they play in Spring Training; do they play at all? Do they play their season? I can imagine crazed people going to major league baseball games, but minor league games, no way! Minor league games are fun, but nobody is going there to endanger their lives.

My point is that minor leagues are going down the drain and will probably never get out of this major hole. There is one rule that is interesting but clearly points out that there are no minor leagues. There will be three taxi squad players that can tag along with the team, much like calling people up from the minors. This rule I don’t really understand but I see both sides of the argument: the Injured List – IL will be 10 days for pitchers and hitter and the 60-day IL will be now 45 days. So, are the players supposed to turn into Super Men and rehabilitate faster?

I don’t think that’s how nature intended injuries and coming back to happen. But the powers that be did do this because the 60-day IL is literally the length of the season. The trade deadline will be August 31 so only about a month to play with the new players. And finally, probably my favorite rule, is that there will be universal DHs. Finally the NL will have something do with all the no defense and all offense players, like JD Martinez. I love this idea. I think it’s the best deal possible given the circumstances but the only thing I don’t like is that all this had to have been done earlier.  

Pitcher: For this series of baseball pitchers I’m doing the number one starter, I’ll do relievers next and so on and so forth around the diamond.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Robbie Ray is a good pitcher, he made the All Star Team last year and he finished with a 12-8 record last season but with an over 4 ERA, that’s the troubling part of this. Ray has a good arsenal and he’s a solid starter to hold your team’s lead but he just hasn’t proved himself yet and I don’t think he will. Ray is good and will probably solid or good in his career.

Atlanta Braves: Mike Soroka, the Braves have a great starting rotation but Soroka stands out to me because I watch him a lot when the Braves are playing the Mets, and I see that he’s young and he has potential. Mike went 13-4 last season and finished with a sub 2.50 ERA, elite numbers for a man in his first full season. He was an All Star and he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting, second, behind Pete Alonso, which wasn’t really all that much of a competition, but still, second? With a tall frame and weighing 225 lb. he could throw the ball well and hard. Mike is good now and will be elite in the future.

Baltimore Orioles: Yeesh, their starting rotation is saaaaaaaaaaaad. Alex Cobb is their best starter? Alex Cobb? Alexander Miller Cobb went 0-2 and had a 10.95 ERA in three games, people are going to say, three games, oh, that’s nothing. Ah, but as Phil Jackson said on the Last Dance, “You’re only as good as your last season,” even if your “season” is three games long. Cobb is near the end of his career and now the pitching staff of the Orioles is going to be atrocious, they’re going to be bad for at least the next three years because then Adley Rutsctman will come and “save” them. Cobb is bad and will be bad for the rest of his career.

White Sox: Lucas Giolito is great. He should definitely be one of the guys that they should build around looking into the future. Giolito is a fiery pitcher who is really consistent, he went 14-9 with a 3.41 ERA, he had 3 complete games and two shutouts, both league leaders. Lucas is at the beginning of his career with a really bright future and the Sox have a really bright future as well.

Chicago Cubs: Jose Quintana is the starter I’m choosing. It’s weird because most rotations have one outlier that’s great and the rest are average, on the Cubs, every single one starter is average or solid, not better, not worse, completely average. Quintana had a 13-9 record and a 4.68 ERA, he has a great pitch combo. He’s someone I would trust with taking Game one of the World Series if I’m the Cubs. Quintana is solid and will probably stay there or be good.

What’s up with Basketball?

We’re going to skip around sports now and offer some thoughts on basketball. We’re starting with the point guard, the 1 spot.

Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young, “Ice Trae,” he’s a beast. He can break ankles like Kyrie Irving, shoot like Steph Curry (or maybe even better, he has more threes in his first two seasons than Steph) and finish like Russell Westbrook. Overall, he’s a beast, probably should’ve gotten picked first in the 2018 draft. He’s the cornerstone for this franchise, if the Hawks are going to make a run for the playoffs or even the Finals in the next few years, Young is going to be the cornerstone through and through. Right now, Trae is elite, and he’s going to be the best soon enough.

Boston Celtics: Kemba Walker is getting a little old, but still he’s a solid player. I would want him on my team because he’s a veteran presence, he’s a great passer, and still a great all-around scorer. I wouldn’t want him on my team because he’s prone to injury, and why take on $32 million in salary for a guy who’s on the verge of retiring.

Brooklyn Nets: Kyrie Irving is getting old but he’s a beast, performing at his peak – when he’s on the court. He crosses people up to make space and then when he’s setting up for a shot, boom, blows by him and floats it right above the center’s head for a Net bucket. He could shoot, finish, pass (when he wants to) and defend (but he’s not the best). Kyrie is great now, and he’ll probably regress to being “good.”

Charlotte Hornets: Devonte’ Graham in my opinion is a bud, he hasn’t bloomed yet and won’t for maybe a year, maybe two years. But, know this, Charlotte, Graham is going to be good, just give him the time. Graham can shoot, and that’s about all he can do, maybe a little dribbling.  Give him until 2021 and he’ll be really good. If I were Charlotte I wouldn’t build upon their back court, but rather try and play down low and physical basketball. Graham is average right now and he’ll be good and maybe great.

Chicago Bulls: Coby White is supposed to be good, I think he’s pretty much Devonte’ Graham except less dribbling but more passing/playmaking. He was the seventh pick in the draft, I think he was drafted a little too early, I mean the Bulls did address a big need in their organization. He averaged 13 points per game, which is good for a rookie playing limited minutes in a limited season. The Bulls need to work on development, they have good young talent in Lauri Markannen, Wendell Carter Jr., Zach Lavine and Coby White. The jury is still out on Coby but I think that he’s going to be good or maybe even great. 

Stay tuned for the players’ vote on resuming the season tomorrow.

Baseball Negotiations Reach 9^th Inning

All sports in America have been all constructively planning or have already finalized plans for starting or resuming their playing seasons except for Major League Baseball.

The parties to America’s pastime haven’t been able to reach an agreement, perhaps pushing this logjam into extra innings. If you’ve been following this frustrating issue then you’d know that what was true yesterday is no longer true today. Actually, a decision is supposed to be reached by the close of business today or else.

The MLB and the Player’s Association have been throwing numbers at each other for weeks. The key issue is that the MLBPA would gladly play if they were given the money the players believe they deserve. MLB – the owners – keeps suggesting pay cuts. I see both sides of the story. It’s not the MLB’s fault that COVID-19 changed our lives on and off the field, so the players should get the money they want.

However, the MLB says it doesn’t have enough money to give to the players. Really? Look around, sports fans, baseball is a major industry.

Let’s recall some of the events that have happened and some of the comments that were made. The MLBPA wants a longer season (for the MLB) and full salaries (for the players), then the MLB wants a shorter season (for the players) and smaller salaries (for the MLB). According to Yahoo Sports, MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark said: “Since March, the Association has made it clear that our No.1 focus is playing the fullest season possible, as soon as possible, as safely as possible. Players agreed to billions in monetary concessions as a means to that end, and in the face of repeated media leaks and misdirection we made additional proposals to inject new revenues into the industry – proposals that would benefit the owners, players, broadcast partners, and fans alike.”

Let me clean that up for you: Tony Clark speaks for the whole MLBPA. Players want to play, and he’s saying that the players want their money and that the MLBPA has agreed to keep coming towards the MLB’s expectations in further negotiations. But, as we see what happened today, with the MLB proposing a 72-game season and the players bringing in about 83 percent of their prorated salaries, the MLBPA rejected this idea and doesn’t want to negotiate anymore. Now, we’re going to get a season soon because all the MLB has to do is fill in the blanks with how many games the season will have and paychecks and health assurances.

The commissioner, Rob “Bozo” Manfred did promise a season (and the season is looking good). The MLB does have the power to throw the player’s association’s thoughts down the drain, but it probably won’t do that yet. If they did, the player’s association could go on strike and what good will that do?

We’re hearing things like former MLB player Mark Teixeira saying “…players won’t be getting a cent, they should rather be getting cents on the dollar.”

I’m not a player but I do agree with him. I would rather make some money than no money, I would rather have one cookie than no cookies. Now we’re just looking at the details of the season: like the duration of the season, the salaries and the playoff format (that will be interesting) and if the NL could finally have a DH!

All American sports were suspended due to coronavirus. But I have this to say, when all the other players are playing, and baseball isn’t, there will be something wrong, something won’t feel right, something will be missing. Baseball has had so many disturbing and great moments, football and basketball have had these moments, but baseball is America’s pastime, American sports need baseball, it just feels right with it, so make an effort to bring back baseball!

The situation is desperate for all concerned. As Buster Olney, ESPN senior writer, wrote in his column today, “The house of baseball is burning and somebody needs to put out the fire immediately.” I totally agree with Olney. Someone bigger than everyone involved in the negotiations needs to step up to the plate and will hit a walk-off homer that will save the game. The MLBPA dropped the ball so now we’re only left with the MLB to crunch the numbers so the fans finally hear “Play Ball!” after such a long silence.

If not, baseball fans will be stuck with repeats (I’m actually sick of them, the 2000 Home Run Derby? Really?) and the Japanese and Korean baseball leagues.

Let’s look at the other two sports that I cover. The NBA has a set date to play in Disney Land, “This is Anthony Davis, and you’re watching the NBA playoffs on Disney Channel!” on a tentative date of July 30 with 22 teams playing and the teams will start training on July 9-11. The NFL is planning to make all 32 teams go to training camp and act as if COVID-19 never happened, (not the way you should be going). Coaches have started coming back to their stadiums to practice – but not all. Their wives aren’t letting them, ha-ha. The NFL might be the only league not worrying. Their preseason starts in August, so they have more than enough time to start and end their season. The NBA will go on, with them planning to have a 22-team tournament to see who gets in and then have normal playoffs.

It will be interesting to see what happens after this long coronavirus break and then having everyone playing at full speed.

Reviewing NFL Quarterbacks

As we yearn for our beloved “live” sports to come back (I emphasize live because I don’t really like watching the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals – which is fine – and the 2015 Super Bowl again like in “Groundhog Day”), I have created this series in which I rate every NFL team’s quarterback on a scale of elite, great, good, average, trash. I will do this for every position that you play in fantasy football (QB, RB, WR, TE, D/Special Teams) and will continue for each sport. Away we go:

Dallas Cowboys: Dak Prescott is so bad, like he only has accuracy downfield. Dak can’t run, can’t throw like a quarterback is expected to throw. I’ll give him a little credit in slinging the rock, but enough to ask to be the most paid quarterback. The highest paid player in a league is usually the best, not in the NFL, Kirk Cousins, Carson Wentz and Jared Goff are the most paid, and they are horrrrrrible. He is good, at most, and he’ll probably never get better.

Denver Broncos: Drew Lock is good. Being not the greatest rookie, this guy’s a beast. Drew can run, is accurate and can’t really throw deep I think he’s going to get there. The hype around Lock is not fake, or overhype. Everyone overhypes Lock, and they’re right to do that. The Broncos have to build around this guy. Lock’s going to lead them to the playoffs. He’s average right now, but this man will be great.

Detroit Lions: Matthew Stafford, yeesh, this man isn’t the best, he’s a little underrated. He can run like Dak, has accuracy and has an arm. What’s preventing him from being good is his age. He’s old, and he won’t be good again. My guess is the Lions will try to make a playoff run when Stafford retires, not that he should yet. I mean, heck, the Pats when to the Super Bowl and the playoffs with Tom Brady, he was in his upper 30s – lower 40s, and their D carried them. The Lions could to the same. He’s good right now, and he’ll probably be average.

Green Bay Packers: I don’t know what you want me to say. Aaron Rodgers or Jordan Love, they’re both competing for the same job. Matt Lefleur has a tough decision to make. Start Rodgers, who’s gaining years and play him until he retires and waste solid Jordan Love’s time to develop him. Or Love, that would be mean to Rodgers, because he’s carried them to so much, and to develop Love, whose potential is amazing. Rodgers is elite right now, and will probably continue to be elite or great but it depends on how they play him. Love is average right now, and will be great or average, depends on how they play him.

Houston Texans: Deshaun Watson has it all. An arm, accuracy and scrambling outside the pocket. Now that they traded away Deshaun Hopkins, Watson is going to have Brandin Cooks to throw to, “elite” receiver. Here is an audio clip from a game in the upcoming season: “Oh, Watson has Cooks deep, Watson unloads, Cooks running, aaaaaaaaaand… Cooks couldn’t get there, surely there was someone in the stands, right Bill?” Cooks has speed but he’s just not great. Watson is great, and he’ll be elite.

Indianapolis Colts: Philip Rivers is old, doesn’t have an arm, can’t run and I guess the only thing he has is accuracy. What were they doing in free agency? Philip Rivers is not the cream of the crop and is way past his prime. This man isn’t good and won’t lead them to a playoff berth. Jacoby Brissett is? Philip? No. Luckily they drafted well, so Rivers has weapons. Philip is average and will always be average.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Gardner Minshew is a meme for the NFL. Everyone thinks this guy is great, like come on. Minshew is bad, scrambling isn’t everything. The Jags could hopefully get a QB in the draft, and that would be an improvement over Gardner. If he’s so good, why didn’t they make it to the playoffs? Minshew is average, and good at best.

Kansas City Chiefs: What can I say about Patrick Mahomes, he’s so good. He has the strongest arm in the league, accuracy, can throw on the run and can scramble. If he didn’t have Tyreek Hill, he would be bad. But hey, Patrick would be nothing without Spongebob. So Mahomes is good because of himself, and because he has his partner in crime, Hill, who also beats up his kids (just thought I’d add it there). Mahomes is elite and he’s reached his full potential, eliteness, this man’s a beast.

More next time.