I’m Baaaack …

I was away for a while, high school’s really something, isn’t it? Well, here are 4 and half months of my observations about three sports:

Baseball:

Playoffs:

The Wild Card games were decently surprising, the Yankees got toasted by the Red Sox for some reason, don’t know why. In the NL, the Dodgers matching up with the Cardinals in the Wild Card game might’ve been the best matchup in a while. The Dodgers totally should’ve won the division, as they proved against the Giants, winning in 5. The Braves easily cruise by the Brewers, there wasn’t any contention there from the beginning of the round. The Red Sox continued to cruise, beating the Rays (what a feel-good story shot down by the Red Sox, everyone was rooting for the Rays because their total payroll is a few cents) and the Astros beat the White Sox. The Astros really had a high-powered offense, now it might fall apart, if Carlos Correa leaves in free agency, Houston might hit the reset button on their team. The only surprise we had in the playoffs was the Braves beating the Dodgers, on the other side, the Astros obviously beat the Red Sox. Then, the Braves become champions by beating the Astros. They have so much depth; it’s really hard to beat them.

Free Agency is always exciting. My New York Mets went haywire, and Saint Steve Cohen opened up his checkbook for a lot of players. Mark Cahna can play many positions, which is exactly what teams need when sports are nearing position-less play. We also picked up Eduardo Escobar, who will definitely see the starting lineup, as he had a career year last year. Starling Marte will also arrive in New York, probably playing left field or right field, depending on where Cahna will play (center is reserved for Brandon Nimmo). These signings probably mean that Michael Conforto won’t be coming back. And then we also signed Max Scherzer, to create something that hasn’t been seen much throughout sports’ history, the pairing of two dominant, perennial Cy Young candidates, Scherzer and Jacob DeGrom. Then, the Mets signed a new manager. Seeing that Luis Rojas is incapable of doing simple baseball tasks his time was up. And Cohen made the right decision, he went with the seasoned veteran, Buck Showalter, previously of the Orioles. I guess he got tired of being at the bottom of divisions. He has 20 years of experience as a manager, and he’s managed before in New York, having New York experience is great, as New York is different than any other market. To top it off, he has a career winning record, 1551-1517, even with being dragged down by the Orioles for nine years. Back to players, this season’s AL Cy Young winner, Robbie Ray and Kevin Gausman (who was widely projected to be the NL Cy Young) both signed with the Seattle Mariners. Corey Seager and Marcus Semien both signed with the Texas Rangers, and they got paid over $500 million combined. That’s insane, especially for a smaller market team. Then, with tons of great talent left, something much unexpected happened in the baseball world, a lockout. The owners of baseball and the MLBPA are arguing over something or other, nobody really knows. And this really sucks for the free agents, they want to know where they’re playing, and now that we’re quickly approaching when pitchers, catchers and eventually all other players must report, this needs to end.

Basketball:

To think how the Knicks started out (5-1 at one point), how did everything go downhill so quickly? During the offseason, we had a few great signings, Evan Fournier and Kamba Walker; and a great draft, Miles McBride and Quentin Grimes. Everything else stayed the same, and we made the playoffs last year, so why not go back with an even better team? That’s all Knicks fans’ thinking. Then everything started going downhill. Kemba got taken out of the rotation (that’s a bizarre move, not only should he be in the rotation, he should be a starter). We’re currently sitting at 12^th in the East. Obviously, we don’t have a superstar, so maybe we should trade for one. We all knew the Pistons were going to be bad, but they exceeded our expectations, winning 4 out of 28. Good job, guys!! The Hornets being the sixth seed shows me that they have the potential to make the play-in, but with their team right now, with just rookie Lamelo Ball at the helm, and no other significant talent, they aren’t going to go very far. On the flip side, I do believe that the Raptors will go far, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes? They’re going to make a nice little run, and I’m not talking play-in. Imagine the Cavaliers with Collin Sexton, sadly he’s out for the year with a knee injury but imagine him on the three seeded Cavs, they would finish the year higher than this, potentially knocking off the Bucks as the one seed. The Warriors and the Suns are fighting for the one seed out West and that should show you that Stephen Curry is the best basketball player on the planet right now. With literally no supporting cast (don’t say Draymond Green, don’t do it) he’s competing with Chris Paul, 1/3 of Devin Booker (because he’s injured), Deandre Ayton, and Mikal Bridges. When Klay Thompson comes back, they’re not going to lose again. The Grizzlies have been straight up hoopin’, without Ja Morant they’ve gone 10-1. I’m making a prediction right now, at the end of the season, the Warriors are the one seed and the Grizzlies are the two seed, if Ja comes back in a reasonable time frame. I’m confused about how the Pelicans are the 14^th seed, they have Brandon Ingram, who by himself should lead the team to at least the 10 seed. There’s so much stuff going on with Zion Williamson, that I’m just sorry for this team right now. The Mavs sitting at .500 is interesting, is Luka Doncic really not that good, or are his teammates selling him?

Award Predictions:

MVP: Wardell Stephen Curry Jr., Golden State Warriors

DPOY: Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz (Jarrett Allen is a sleeper)

ROY: Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors

MIP: Mikal Bridges, Phoenix Suns

COY: Monty Williams, Phoenix Suns

Football:

This season so far has been pretty normal. A few notes: this season went by lightning fast, like weeks 1-15 flew by and the Jets still suck, what’s new? Also, there seems to be a lot more injuries this year than last year. A ton more, and it’s not the superstar players like years past, it’s the role-star players that are getting the worst of it. Maybe the league should make a new tackling rule, because this is encroaching on being detrimental to the entertainment of the games and the long-term safety of the players. Now COVID is making it worse, the practice squad needs to be expanded or I’m going to get signed (probably not a great idea because I’ll get injured).

Something I learned was never, ever, doubt Bill Belichick, everyone was clowning him for cutting Cam Newton for Mac Jones, but now they’re the two seed and Mac Jones is gunning for offensive rookie of the year. The one seed, the Chiefs, are now better than ever. Remember earlier in the year, all of you were saying that the Chiefs are out of it? Yeah, I remember, well never doubt Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce and the Walmart baggers on the defense. Don’t count the Dolphins out either, with their team that their genius GM, Chris Grier, stitched together, have won 6 in a row. The Raiders sitting at 6-7 is a miracle, with how depleted and all over the place their team is. The AFC North remains up in the air, that will be such an exciting finish, except for the Steelers, might have to count them out. Because Derrick Henry is out, the Colts might outrun the Titans and make a run at the end of the season and win the division, but the Titans are a Wild Card team nonetheless. The Cowboys sitting at 10-4 is surprising, Trevon Diggs said that the Cowboys have the best defense, that’s probably the reason that they’re great, Dak Prescott and Zeke Elliot haven’t been great. Both Washington and Philly are sitting at 6-7, that’s so confusing to me, the NFC East should’ve been so much closer than this. The 49ers totally caught me off guard at 8-6 (I don’t study the standings, this is one of, probably my first, in-depth look at the standings this season), they seem like a team that’s in the middle of the road but they’ve had a really low key season. They’re two games out of the division, and with the Cardinals stumbling without Deandre Hopkins, they might take their spot, but it’s the Cardinals. Along the same path, the Rams might be division leaders, with Cooper Kupp going berserk, Matt Stafford playing at an MVP level and a somewhat easy schedule for the rest of year, they probably will. The Packers staying at the top of the division this year with so many injuries and Aaron Rodgers’ vaccine problems is so amazing, 10-3 is great. The Bears are a year or two away, considering this is the Bears, they might need more than that, hopefully they don’t mess up and draft another Mitch Trubisky over another Patrick Mahomes. The Buccaneers are Super Bowl contenders, I really don’t want another Super Bowl with Tom Brady in it, right now, it’s a Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady rematch. Nah, let some exciting players go at it, like Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray. The Saints sitting at 6-7 shows us how important Drew Brees was, then Jameis Winston, a decent back up went down, it’s been really unfortunate for them. It also pains me to see Christian McCaffrey go down with an injury again, this man can’t stay healthy, don’t draft him next year in Fantasy Football. 

Continuing My 32-Team NFL predictions right now.

On to the AFC North:

The Ravens built their offense on a strong run game. Now, if I wrote this blog a week ago, I would’ve dubbed the Ravens a team that could go very far into the playoffs. Their run game just took a massive hit because their young running back, JK Dobbins just went down with a torn ACL. The Ravens also wanted their offense to catch the defense off guard, to keep them guessing. Dobbins was a huge part of that, will QB Lamar Jackson hand the ball off? Or take it and make a few defenders miss. Another reason why their offense was so good was because they also had a very above-average passing game. One of the most underrated TEs in the league, Mark Andrews is on their team, and he’s also a great blocker. TE Nick Boyle went down with a gruesome injury last year and getting him back in offense (a two TE offense can be deadly) is huge for them. Also catching passes are speedy WRs Marquise Brown and Sammy Watkins. The defensive line is still anchored by Calais Campbell, a freak of nature standing at 6’8” and 300 lb. They also have Patrick Queen, one of the best young linebackers in the NFL. Also, Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters are on this team making it one of the best defenses in football. Imagine if they had Dobbins for this year.

The Bengals have a very under the radar team. In the modern NFL, a high-powered offense makes up for an average or even poor defense (for proof, look at the Chiefs). The Bengals are using that to their advantage and building their team around it. They have Joe Burrow, taken first overall in the 2020 draft  Joe Mixon is one of the best running backs in football and the Bengals have three great, young WRs: Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins, and Ja’Marr Chase (Boyd and Higgins were taken in the second round of their drafts and Chase was taken in the first round of this year’s). Their offensive line still remains at the bottom of the barrel; they passed up on Penei Sewell in the draft which would help them monumentally. Even without Sewell, they would still have a great offense. Mark my words, CJ Uzomah (their TE, bet you never heard of him) is going to be a stud this year. I think they want to use him more and to have a quick TE that can block moderately or be a dangerous offensive weapon never hurt anyone. Their defense really only has Jessie Bates, one of the best safeties in the NFL. In a weak division, they could make second or third, but in the AFC, they’re buried in fourth place.

The Browns are going to be shockers this year. I’m hearing a lot of buzz about QB Baker Mayfield having a breakout year this year. He was already pretty good, but a breakout year could put make him elite. Let’s say Mayfield doesn’t have the breakout year. They have RBs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt in the backfield for the whole year (barring no injuries), we’ve never seen that before. Some fantasy owners may be concerned with, potentially, how many touches RB1 Chubb could have because they have a pretty good RB2. I say he’s going to get a lot, because the Browns like running the ball and using the RBs in the passing game (that just goes to show how much a breakout year from Baker would help). Great WRs Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry make this offense one of the best in football. Now, I’m concerned about the number of catches each of them would get. Let’s break it down. Two WRs means more competition for catches. The QB would never just throw to one of them and leave the other. Now, these two WRs are in a run-oriented offense with TWO above average running backs. So, FF players, stay away from Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry because there are way better options available and because that’s a wasted roster spot.

The Steelers are a very make-or-break team. No one knows how QB Ben Roethlisberger will perform this season. He’s 39, pretty fat, has personal/family issues, doesn’t have a great arm, can’t scramble (because he’s 39) and doesn’t have outstanding options to throw to. WR Diontae Johnson is a small WR who’s only good for short routes like drags or slants (search up the two routes if you don’t know them). WR Juju Smith-Schuster was never a great receiver, no blazing speed, no crazy abilities, doesn’t have imposing size but he does have a lot, a lot, a lot of TikToks. TE Eric Ebron is nothing special as a TE, he’s a big guy, but not a Travis Kelce or a George Kittle. Amid all of these questions and concerns is where rookie RB Najee Harris slides in. Harris is a versatile running back who’s speedy as well as strong and could muscle his way through. Harris is going to get tons of touches because he’s the farthest thing away from a question mark on this team (he’s not that far because he’s a rookie) and the Steelers are going to lean on that. In my most competitive fantasy league, he’s my RB1 and he’s going to stay there for the whole year (except if he gets injured, I’m not that stupid). Their defensive line remains the scariest in the NFL and you can’t tell me otherwise. Cameron Heyward and TJ Watt (who’ll win DPOY this year) are both blitzing the QB and you won’t find them anywhere else. Electric third-year player Devin Bush and veteran Joe Schobert are going to be the middle linebackers for the Steelers and I'm going to love to see them play off each other the whole year. Underrated defensive backs Joe Haden and Terrell Edmunds are overshadowed in the secondary by safety Minkah Fitzpatrick but this defense wouldn’t be remotely as good as they are without Haden and Edmunds.

Continuing My Football Predictions

AFC West:

For the Broncos to be good, they need to figure a few things out. And they’re pretty major. Teddy Bridgewater or Drew Lock at QB? Rookie Javonte Williams or Melvin Gordon at RB? Second-year player Jerry Jeudy or Courtland Sutton at WR1? Yes, this is a question because why not start giving Jeudy a bigger role earlier than normal to develop him further? I think Drew Lock starts because he has a strong arm, and when playing in Denver where the ball travels further (because of the altitude and the air thinness), send one of your receivers on a deep route and let Lock unleash his arm. I think that Melvin Gordon should be the running back for the first part of the season, but Williams should be the goal line back, where they give the ball to him on the goal line and let him muscle his way into the endzone. And I think that they should give Courtland Sutton the WR1 position because Sutton is the better receiver, but as I said, I think it’s still up in the air. Their defense remains one of the top ones in the league. All of this doesn’t matter when you’re in one of the toughest divisions in the league, though.

The Chiefs might be the first 17-0 team in history. Yes, that is false advertising as this year, the NFL is putting in an extra game so the Chiefs would be the only team in history that might be 17-0. If all of the chips fall their way, like, QB Patrick Mahomes playing at an MVP level, WR Tyreek Hill having a historic season (again) and TE Travis Kelce being amazing again (see how good this team’s offense is?). If they incorporate RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire into the gameplan more, then the defense would be left guessing – and when Patrick Mahomes can throw a sidearm pass 30 yards downfield while looking the 350 lb. pound man chasing him, defenses cannot be guessing. The O-line is way above average as they signed Orlando Brown Jr. to the team in the offseason. The D-line remains great, and if Tyrann Mathieu can be one of the best safeties in the league, 17-0 is gift-wrapped for them, but everything needs to go their way, and more.

The Raiders are a very pass-oriented team, and they designed their roster to fit that plan perfectly. They have an above-average QB in Derek Carr, a budding superstar WR in Henry Ruggs III, a top-3 TE in Darren Waller, and an above-average O-line. They also have a young, star running back (last year, at least), in Josh Jacobs. Although, he’s going to be overlooked heavily this year because as I said, it’s a pass-oriented team, and their receivers and tight end are just going to get better. Do not draft Josh Jacobs in fantasy, he’s not going to perform as well as you would like him to. To tell you the truth, the Raiders only have good linebackers on their team. Everyone on their D-line was never good or is past their prime. The secondary is very similar, except for Casey Hayward Jr., everyone is either too young to make an accurate comment on, or just will never be good.

The Chargers are going to be one of the most exciting teams in football. If someone’s starting to be a fan of the NFL, I highly suggest you start being a fan of the Chargers, this team is exciting, talented, young, brimming with potential, and just all-out amazing. First off, Justin Herbert was a top-5 QB in the NFL last year, as a rookie. In my opinion, he’s poised for an even greater season this year (and I’ll tell you why), draft him in all your fantasy leagues (obviously, if Patrick Mahomes or Kyler Murray or someone better than Herbert is available, draft them). Last year, Herbert didn’t have star running back Austin Ekeler for most of the year and WR1 Keenan Allen for some of the year. This year, he has both (if none get injured). Also, the best WR2 (correct me if I’m wrong), Mike Williams, is on this team as well and he receives a ton of targets. And the defense, Joey Bosa, one of the best pass rushers in the NFL is on this team and he’s bound for another great year (because he’s Joey Bosa, check out his stats, a 3-time Pro Bowler averaging 9.5 sacks per season). Also, Linval Joseph is a very solid nose tackle that’s great on the goal line. Next, you have Kenneth Murray Jr. as a linebacker who is a lesser Devin White of the Tampa Bay Bucs (meaning he could rush the QB and cover the pass). Then, both Chris Harris Jr. and Derwin James Jr. are both defending the pass and James can hit like a tank. This team is going to be something special. The race for the AFC West is going to be legendary.

Final Standings:

Chiefs

Chargers

Broncos

Raiders

Are the Mets Playoff Chances Evaporating?

With each Mets loss, I lose more and more hope about our chances for the playoffs. Now I don’t mean playoffs for 2021, I mean playoffs ever. And with each Mets win, I never get my hopes up because the Mets don’t know the definition of a streak, especially a winning one.

The Mets are seven games back of first place in their division, keep in mind, the red-hot Braves, who are cutting through everyone like a hot knife through butter, are in first, and the Mets are seven games out of the Wild Card. To even think about getting to the playoffs, the Mets need to get a better record than the Phillies, because they’re in front of them in the NL East and the Wild Card.

Then there are the Cardinals and the Padres in their way, both of them are first place teams if they weren’t in such a tough division. Finally, the Reds and Dodgers hold the Wild Card spots as of now. The Reds have one of the most potent offenses of this decade and as the Mets saw in 7 games against the Dodgers, they’re pretty good, as the Dodgers took 6 of 7.

For now, let’s rule out the Wild Card as a path to the playoffs. Ah, better now, right? The Braves are tearing through the league right now, but that could stop very soon. The Braves have an extremely tough schedule to finish August, and to begin and finish September. With games that consist of the Giants, Dodgers, Phillies, Nationals and Padres. Sadly, the Phillies have an easy schedule, consisting of the Diamondbacks, Rockies, Marlins, more Rockies, and Pirates. The Mets have a schedule leaning towards difficult, consisting of the Nationals, Yankees, Red Sox, and Cardinals.

In between these games, they have intra-division games and Wild Card opponents. We NEED to capitalize on those games.

Let’s take a look at the team.

The Offense: (Oops, scratch it)

Pete Alonso is our best offensive player, but one who lacks stardom in clutch moments. 12 of his 28 homers have been solo shots, he would have a lot more if his teammates would start getting on base. On 8/25, Alonso came up with the bases loaded. He worked the count to 3-2 and then hit the weakest ground ball ever to third base. If Kris Bryant hadn’t made an errant throw, we wouldn’t have gotten anything. He was standing on first base, not happily, the word to describe that would be sheepishly. Later in the game, the bottom of the 9^th inning, down by one, guess who comes up with the bases loaded and two outs again? Yup, you guessed it, Pete Alonso. In a 1-2 count, he sees a pitch he could square up, he takes a mammoth swing and hits and a grand slam! Ha, I wish, he lined out softly to the second baseman to end the game.

Each loss also makes me realize that we need a rebuild to come to Flushing. Personally, I believe that no one is tied down. Everyone is available, except for Fransisco Lindor, for obvious reasons, and Brandon Nimmo, because we have to keep him. This starts with firing our manager. Would you take out your All-Star starting pitcher, Taijuan Walker, after he threw just 74 pitches and allowed one run? I definitely wouldn’t. Luis Rojas did. Fire him. He makes the worst decisions. A four year old punching buttons on an Xbox controller in his sleep could make better decisions than this guy.

When Jonathan Villar is second on your team in home runs, you know you’re in trouble. He’s known for speed and decent defense, not hitting at all, really. “Fraudsisco” Lindor has only hit 11 homers and has a .224 batting average. Sure, he was injured for a while but 11 homers?? He also has the audacity to cry to the media about how fans are booing him. We’ll boo you more, you bum, if you keep performing like this.

Why did Dom Smith cool off? Why can’t he keep hitting? We need him to perform, Mets fans are calling for him to be traded in the offseason. I don’t agree with it, but if it means we get a better replacement or a consistent hitter, I’ll drive him to wherever he gets traded. Brandon Nimmo is amazing, he gets on base consistently and he’s a sparkplug for our team. On the day Javier Baez was traded to the Mets, non-Mets fans immediately warned Mets fans that he had way too much “swing and miss” in his game.

We were too enchanted by Baez’s presence that we didn’t care. Yeah, he hit a home run in his first game as a Met, but how many hits in general has he had as a Met after that? 4? 7? It’s actually been eight and he has 16 strikeouts, I can’t even begin to digest what I just wrote. And he has a .195 BA with us. Don’t extend him, leave him, don’t bring him back. We would be doing just fine without him.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Baez and Lindor, they’re great leaders in the clubhouse and as a fan, you can’t not like these guys, but they need to perform on the field, not just in the clubhouse. We need to sign Michael Conforto to a “prove it” deal, where we give him around $8 -$12 million and if he doesn’t “prove it”, he’s gone. Same thing with Jeff McNeil, the same type of deal, with less money. Also, we made one of the worst signings in history when we signed James McCann. I thought it was a good idea but now I see it wasn’t. We have the #10 prospect in baseball just a few years away (1 or 2 actually), Fransisco Alvarez, and, Tomas Nido is playing just fine as the backup, so give him the starting role for two years, then let Alvarez take the reins. You wanna hear a joke? The Mets offense.

The Pitching:

Not all hope may be lost for this season, as a few days ago, Noah Syndergaard (forgot about him, didn’t you?) started his rehab assignment and Jacob DeGrom (you definitely didn’t forget about him, right?) has started throwing again. If Carlos Carrasco could be pitching slightly better, then we could have assembled the Avengers in our starting rotation. Jacob DeGrom, Marcus Stroman, Taijuan Walker, Carlos Carrasco, Tylor Megill (or Rich Hill), and then Syndergaard coming out of the bullpen just for this year. That would be ideal.

Now if our offense would start producing, we could actually do something this year. Jeurys Familia has been really good lately, he hasn’t had a bad outing in a few weeks, and now I could feel comfortable watching him pitch. Also, Aaron Loup needs to be re-signed. Loup is a lockdown pitcher. Put this guy in any situation and he’ll work out of it. He deserves that beer with the boys now. Search up Aaron Loup/Anthony Banda beer comment and you’ll get it. The same thing applies to Miguel Castro and Trevor May. Even Edwin Diaz hasn’t been all that bad lately!

Wow, things are starting to shape up for the Mets bullpen, right? Now if our makeshift starting rotation can hold it together until reinforcements come in, we could keep games close enough for our offense to claw their way back into games. 

Will Topps Baseball Cards Hit the Bottom?

That's me at Don's Collectibles -- it's a baseball & sports card collector's heaven on earth.

Topps will be losing their rights to make baseball cards. After 70 years and countless memories, Topps will be losing their rights to Fanatics. Fanatics make sports apparel. Any sports apparel nowadays. But their clothing is the most generic anyone has ever seen. It’s literally the sports logo on a shirt of the team’s color. Snazzy, right?

I bet their baseball cards will be a picture of the bust of a player on a gray background. No team, no name, no stats on the back, just a gray card with the bust of each player. They’ll also get the rights from Panini to do NFL and NBA cards. Not to completely slander Fanatics, they deserve it, it is reported that Fanatics offered 10 times more money than the MLBPA and MLB ever saw from the baseball card department. Also, this is a great way for Fanatics to reach more people and expand their business.

While on a family vacation, driving home, my family and I decided to stop by a town called Strasburg in Pennsylvania. My father and I went a store called Don’s Collectibles. I was immediately enchanted by the store. Memorabilia of all sorts was packed into this store from the floor to the ceiling and back. Signed baseballs, posters, baseball cards, old baseball cards, gloves, framed photos and more baseballs. Among the memorabilia, I saw a signed baseball by Tommy Lasorda, and, if you’re a reader of this blog, you know I met Lasorda at a baseball game a couple of years ago. While buying five packs of baseball cards, because, you know, you gotta, I had a great conversation with Don about the Topps situation. It lasted a few minutes and it gave me a lot of insight which I included in this blog. His address: Don's Collectibles at 13 E Main St, Strasburg, PA. Great store. Visit it when you get the chance.

What Fanatics is doing is what pretty much all of us saw Jeff Bezos and Amazon do. They’re wiping out the competition. If the person who’s behind all of these brilliant moves goes even further, for example, sponsorships of sorts or deals with video games, which could propel business even further.

Topps did the latter when it was still thriving. A baseball video game, MLB the Show puts things called moments in the game each week, and when you complete the objective in these moments, they give you a player or players. These moments are short, like, “Tally one hit” or “Hit one home run” or “Strike out 3 batters.”

Topps is definitely not going to hand over this contract so easily unless Fanatics already has this through the deal with MLBPA and MLB. A question that’s begging to be answered is “Where do Topps and Panini go after this?” Without baseball cards, Topps is a name that will fade quickly. Don’t even talk about Panini, taking away football and basketball is like throwing them in the gutter unconscious, they’re gone unless someone throws them a lifeline, but it needs to happen fast because I know that about 50% or more of the readers reading this blog didn’t know that Panini was anything more than a meal. Unless Topps wants to create bowling, cornhole throwing, and underwater basket weaving cards, and that’s a huge success, then a miracle would have to happen. Some may believe that throwing a wallet at a problem will solve it, some don’t.

Me? I believe that it depends on the problem, and I also believe in salvaging what you can, so you don’t lose all of it. I think a fat cat should waddle over, consider the Topps situation, and throw their wallet at it. Look what Bezos did with Whole Foods when they were sinking. He waddled over and threw a lifeline. Now look at them – business is booming! A little advice? I believe that all smart people should invest in Topps baseball cards. Look at cards from the ‘50s, one card, of an average player is going for at least $5 or $10. That’ll get you some money in the future. Everyone wants Topps to persevere through this (mainly because I’m scared of what Fanatics is going to do to baseball cards) but because Topps made countless memories and because everyone loves a legacy. If everything stays as it is now with Topps, then they’ll complete 75 years of the leading baseball card brand. I hope they’ll go for another 75. 

Continuing with My NFL Predictions

Sorry, I couldn’t post for the last week or so, it was because I was on vacation.

But, here I am, ready to continue my predictions of all of the NFL teams.

AFC East:

The Bills are rightfully Super Bowl contenders, because of two guys. You probably who I’m talking about, but don’t think that they can make the Bills Super Bowl contenders, right? Well, Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs are those guys and that QB-WR tandem is going to be making a case for best in the NFL. Emmanuel Sanders and Cole Beasley are both potentially number one receivers on some teams, they’re numbers 2 and 3 on the Bills. I feel as if you were to sum up this team and create a theme for it, it would be young players. Josh Allen, Zack Moss, Dawson Knox, pretty much their whole O-line, Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde are all studs early in their careers. Another point this team is trying to make is that it’s going to be the next Patriots, except a little west of them.

The Dolphins also have youth as the focus of their team, with future star hopeful Tua Tagovailoa at the QB spot. Miles Gaskin is another player who showed signs of stardom last year before his season-ending injury. And new Miami Dolphin Jaylen Waddle, who has blazing speed and great fundamentals, will create the next Big Three out of South Beach. Now, Will Fuller, Devante Parker and Mike Gesicki are also on the offense, covering all of them will pose a problem. The defense has Xavien Howard, Byron Jones and Jason McCourty in the secondary and a decent Front 7. This team is something like the Bills, with less known talent but with about the same potential.

This Patriots team has just begun the downfall. It is a scientific fact that wherever Tom Brady goes, winning follows, and where he was, winning disappears. It’s happening right now in Foxborough and in Tampa Bay. Damien Harris is genuinely the only player on this who that has some sort of potential. Harris is looking at a breakout year as the RB1, and be sure to get him on your fantasy teams. Cam Newton is regressing and Mac Jones has a number of questions surrounding him because he was the fifth QB taken in the draft, obviously showing he’s not amazing. The receivers are nothing special. The O-line is decent. The defense lost its best performers because they left one way or another or because of age. Damien Harris needs to get out of there if the Pats don’t turn it around to salvage his career. But they won’t be last in the division because of the next team.

The Jets are a dumpster fire. A new coach, Robert Salah, and number two overall pick Zach Wilson will hope to turn some things around in East Rutherford. But, Zach Wilson can’t create for himself, he’s not Lamar Jackson. He needs weapons that he doesn’t have. When Tevin Coleman is your starting running back, you know you’re in trouble. Also, when your third WR is Keelan Cole (have you heard of him? I haven’t), you also know you’re in trouble. Tyler Kroft is also our starting tight end; I don’t know what to say, I’m out of witty comments at this point. The O-line is young and promising, so they have that going for them. When an average NFL fan looks at the Jets defense, he (or she) recognizes 3 names out of 11 starters, Quinnen Williams, CJ Mosley, and maybe Marcus Maye. That’s it, I’m not saying unknowns can’t do anything, what I’m saying is that I’d love to have a known name rather than a no-name. I believe in Zach Wilson, although I don’t know how much he can do this year.

Final Standings:

Bills

Dolphins

Patriots

Jets (will they even win a game?)

More Predictions about the Upcoming NFL Season

Here is part two of my season predictions for all 32 NFL Teams. NFC North and South Edition.

NFC North:

The Chicago Bears didn’t make too many adjustments in the offseason, all they really did was draft Justin Fields. Now, since the Bears don’t have a QB1 set in stone, they should start Justin Fields. He has a lot of young weapons to play with, David Montgomery, Allen Robinson, Darnell Mooney, and Cole Kmet. Also, the Bears have an above-average defense. This team has a very, very bright season up ahead, I’m excited to see what they do.

The Detroit Lions got worse over the offseason (is that possible?). They lost Matt Stafford, Romeo Okwara, Marvin Jones Jr, Kenny Golladay, Jarrad Davis and Matt Prater. Their 2020 5-11 season seems like a dream right now, I give them a 4-13 at best. They can’t even develop their youngsters, RB D’Andre Swift can’t even run normally because his O-line is really bad, what's new? At least their new head coach, Dan Campbell, wants to win and also bite off kneecaps. Really. Type his name and “kneecaps” in Google and you’ll get the full story. Maybe that’ll fire up the whole team, or maybe it won’t because they’ll think their skipper is a psycho, no in-between.

The Packers’ dumpster fire of an off season was put out a little bit. MVP Aaron Rodgers and best WR in the league Davante Adams both went MIA during the offseason, scaring and intriguing everyone in the NFL community. Without those two, they would have a distraught coach, Matt LaFleur a rookie QB, Jordan Love, WRs that never got more than 50 yards in a game, Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdez-Scantling, an up and down TE, Robert Tonyan, and a lockdown defense. Still a pretty good roster, but, if they want to go back to the NFC Championship, then they would need Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams to be satisfied with every square inch of the Packers. Well, they aren’t, and Rodgers again got nothing this offseason. Let’s say you, the reader, were Aaron Rodgers, considering all of the circumstances, would you want to go out, every game and pass for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns? I wouldn’t. Some might say that he wants to prove to the Packers that he can do this on his own. Why would he want to prove anything, it’s the end of his career, a very decorated one. Well, there goes another offseason, try again next year, right? When Rodgers will be 38.

The Vikings are one of those scary teams. Minus the Lions, this is a very tough division, and they have a great team. I just wish Kirk Cousins wouldn’t be there. For this team, you need a solid top 10 QB and Cousins just isn’t that. Cousins is getting way too much money each year and he’s not producing. Imagine if this team would have a modern QB, a scrambling deep passer, like Justin Fields. They could’ve traded up but decided to stick an OT, a good choice, but imagine Justin Fields on that team. The defense is great too. I’m interested to see what Dalvin Cook does this year. I hope he does amazing because that’ll really propel the Vikings.

Final Standings: Bears, Packers, Vikings (all within 2 games of each other), Lions.

NFC South:

I feel like the Falcons didn’t get better or worse over the offseason. Obviously, they lost Julio Jones, but that uncovers Calvin Ridley as WR1 (who I think will slide right in as Julio 2.0) and they got Kyle Pitts. Their defense, again, is really good. The only problem I have is Matt Ryan. He is way past his prime and didn’t have a crazy high peak (like he wasn’t at a prime Aaron Rodgers level, ever). Also, the Falcons can’t experiment with a young QB as the 49ers or Packers can. This team has mediocrity or worse in front of it.

The Panthers are on the path to a very successful rebuild. They have the best running back in the league, Christian McCaffrey, they have a young QB who has potential, Sam Darnold, two stud receivers, DJ Moore and Robby Anderson, and a very young and good defense. They need to fix up their O-line, not screw up in developing Sam Darnold, and get established defensive pieces and they’ll be set. But, realize this, this season is going to go down the drain if Christian McCaffrey doesn’t have a good year (this includes injuries). If CMC goes down, then they’re clueless. Darnold is not amazing yet, so the receivers won’t play to their max. This team does have a bright future, just not right now.

The Saints have a make-or-break team and year. If they succeed, they will build on what they have. But if they flop, then hello rebuild mode. Drew Brees, a really, really, really, great QB, just retired. Jameis Winston cannot do what Brees did, but he’ll try, and he’ll probably fail. Michael Thomas and Tre’Quan Smith are both out for the start of the year, MT for at least four weeks after that. Their defense will keep things close and interesting. Alvin Kamara has to have a record-breaking season for them to even think about first place. If he, God forbid, went down, then the Saints’ season is over. Saints will have to bless the Saints for them to squeeze into first.

The Bucs -- usually, when you bring a championship-winning roster back (at least 90% of the players back), usually that means good things will happen. Playoffs at least. When one of those players is the Greatest Player to ever step onto a Football field, even better things will happen. They’re playing with a fantasy roster. They have one of the best WR duos ever in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, they have a solid running back in Leonard Fourtnette and the best defense in football. Included in that defense, they have the best linebacking trio in the NFL, Shaq Barrett, Lavonte David, and Devin White. A really young secondary that has unlimited potential as of now and some of the best defensive linemen in football. ALL of this is happening when the Bucs also have a brilliant mind in Bruce Arians at the helm. Great stuff coming out of Tampa.

Final Standings: Bucs, Saints, Falcons, Panthers

From the Baseball Diamond to the Gridiron

Let’s take a pause from baseball and look at football. The season opener is September 9. I’ll make my predictions for the NFC East and West in-general season.

NFC East:

The Cowboys have an average schedule in terms of toughness but their history of mediocrity has to make me put them in second or third place. Now, there are a lot of reasons why they should win the division, like, a great, young offense, Dak Prescott coming back after looking dangerous before his injury last year, and a great defense. But, a weakened O-line and D-line and Ezekiel Elliot playing on the heels of a tough year make this season interesting.

The Giants have a great young core that has probably progressed over this offseason and they have a relatively easy schedule this year. The Giants don’t have the most talented roster but they do have some studs. What they have most of are questions. Saquon Barkley (who I would stay away from in Fantasy Football) and Kenny Golladay are two cornerstones of their offense, but they’re injury-prone. Will Daniel Jones make the leap to being at least good? Will their old defense step up? Questions, questions, questions.

The Eagles are the team that could finish in first or in last. They have too many young players on their team to do anything other than that. The players on their team were streaky last year, they were good for a few weeks then barely anything. Their defense will still keep games close, but the Eagles need to have a better offense to do something this year.

The Washington Football Team have a pretty tough schedule, and their roster is not that talented. But they won this division last year, so they could do it again this year. They need to win their divisional games and they’ll be set. Pretty much, the season lies on the shoulders of Ryan Fitzpatrick, if this guy has a good season, they’ll be in second or third place, but, if he doesn’t have a good season, then they’ll fall to third or fourth place. Their running game is not good enough to compensate for the passing game. But then again, if everything’s working, running, passing, defense (even if it’s working 50%), they could be scary.

Standings: WFT, Giants, Cowboys, Eagles

NFC West:

The Cardinals won’t be scary this year. Their offense doesn’t seem too good, except for Kyler Murray, and my spidey senses are sensing that DeAndre Hopkins will take a major leap down this year. Their run game is non-existent, not because of their lack of good running backs, but because their O-line isn’t good. They’ll have a good enough defense to keep games close, they have a lot of talent on that side of the ball. Who knows, the youngsters could explode, like Chase Edmonds, but if they want to do something, this is their last year before regression of some of their key players hits.

The Rams are a make-or-break team. They have a medium schedule in terms of toughness but their offense isn’t there. They can’t hope for the breakout of Cam Akers because he’s out for probably the whole year. They got a veteran QB, in Matt Stafford, from the Lions, who finally got some weapons to play with (he didn’t have any weapons in Detroit). Darrell Henderson Jr. could be a stud this year, we saw hints of it last year and now that Cam Akers is out, we can see him make the jump. Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp both had great seasons last year and both of them were great in fantasy last year. Also, Matt Stafford is a better and more seasoned QB than Jared Goff. The defense stays good.

The 49ers have built a really good team. They have a great running game and a great play-action game (in layman’s terms: when the QB fakes the run and passes) and they have a pretty easy schedule. Raheem Mostert and his backup Trey Sermon are two really reliable options in the run game, the WRs on this team are all sleepers (players who no one thinks could be good but turn out great) and could be sneakily good this year. The O-line stays really good. Most of their lockdown defense comes back for another dominant year. The cherry on top for this team is that they drafted Trey Lance, who has an extremely similar skillset to Patrick Mahomes, in my opinion. A glaring question that the brilliant coaches have to answer before Week One is: who starts? Jimmy G or Trey Lance. I have to say Jimmy G but if he plays bad or even average, put Lance in and see him have a season similar to Jalen Hurts last year.

The Seahawks have a great roster and a great coach in Pete Carroll. Their offense is amazing and that carried them to the Wild Card round in last year’s playoffs. Chris Carson is a very up and down player but my friend says he’s the biggest sleeper this year. Their O-line is very average. Their secondary (the front 7 are the D-line and the linebackers, the secondary is everyone else, usually defending the pass and staying back) is again the strongest part of this team, with Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs, and Tre Flowers being the best there. They have a few really good linebackers and their D-line is also very good. This team has a defense I would rate a 6 and an offense I would rate a 9 or 10, that’s a sign of a very good team.

Final Standings: Seahawks, 49ers, Cardinals, Rams

 Rounding Out the Trades

Wow, I wrote a blog before the deadline thinking that there weren't going to be any more moves. But, wow, was I wrong.

So, Anthony Rizzo went from Chicago (where he loved it) to New York, where everyone would like to play. Great move by the Yankees. Except now Luke Voit has nowhere to go. Great trade piece, right? A lot of teams would take him, but now he will be confined to second fiddle. Rizzo is a great lefty bat who showed that by getting on base 8 out of his first 9 plate appearances with two homers with his new team. Also, he provides leadership, great baseball IQ, and a great glove at first.

The Dodgers were already playing in a video game. They had a roster straight out of fantasy land. Even more so with Max Scherzer and Trea Turner coming over to California. Now, yes, the Dodgers had to give up a substantial payment, two top prospects, and two other prospects. Now, they have Will Smith (for the long run because one of the prospects shipped was a top catching prospect), Max Muncy at first, Trea at second, Corey Seager at short, Justin Turner at third, Chris Taylor (or AJ Pollock) in left, Cody Bellinger patrolling center, and Mookie Betts in right. Oh, did I talk about the starting rotation? Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Max Scherzer, Julio Urias, and David Price. Also, they would have Trevor Bauer but he decided to look at teens as his next potential girlfriend.

I love when teams in tough divisions make big moves, it spices things up. The Blue Jays did just that. They traded for an ace, Jose Berrios. He has a lot of sharp pitches and he’s a very smart player.

The White Sox bullpen got a lot better. They got Ryan Tepera and Craig Kimbrell. Two relievers that are on lockdown mode this year. Great move to help them late in games.

Kris Bryant also went to the Giants in a move that made the Giants scarier. You thought the NL West was already scary? Well, several big names moved to California over this deadline, Kris Bryant, Max Scherzer and Adam Frazier to name a few. Bryant is a great hitter with a great glove who can play all over the field, literally, all over the field.

And yes, the Mets traded for Javy Baez. This is a huge move that will boost an already tight Mets locker room. But it can also lessen it because I get the feeling Baez is selfish and doesn’t want to be in New York. I see this from photos taken of him in Wrigley hearing the news, walking into the Mets locker room and rounding the bases on his first home run. I’m not saying it’s a bad move, I love this move. He brings a great glove, a great bat, and great leadership and friendship skills with him. His first three days with the Mets have been lackluster as he went just 1-8, including a two-run homer. I hope he can work his magic like his nickname, El Mago, implies.

Wow, this was a great deadline. Not a lot of teams got worse (except for the Cubs and Nationals), and a lot of teams got better and races got tighter. Now let’s watch August and September unfold. Also, in addition to the Cubs cleaning house, all three of the superstars that were traded from Chicago homered in their debut: Anthony Rizzo against the Marlins, Javy Baez against the Reds and Kris Bryant against the Astros. Hug a Cubs fan today, will ya?

 MLB Trade Deadline 2021

 The MLB trade deadline is upon us, the last time the Mets did something was six years ago, wait, six years is a long time. But it also helped them make the World Series.

The Mets have the same situation now, we have a glaring problem in the offense, (you were expecting me to say a position, right? NO! The whole offense sucks). Let’s run down the team.

Catcher: Wouldn’t make sense, we didn’t spend 40 million in the off-season just to trade him.

First base: No, Pete’s there.

Second base: Jeff McNeil is a great bat to have, so that isn’t a spot I’m looking at improving, but if the opportunity presents itself, I’m fine with upgrading at second or even trading McNeil.

Shortstop: Interesting position. We have a top prospect, Ronny Mauricio, coming up the pipeline at short. But we also have Francisco Lindor there. Lindor’s not going anywhere because, in sports, you have 100% confidence in your money. So, no.

Third base: This is the position we need to attack. With Joey Gallo and Adam Frazier off the board already, we’re left with Kris Bryant and Trevor Story. Trading for either one of these players will certainly mean trading Ronny Mauricio or JD Davis, another prospect or major leaguer, and some cash. Apart from trading for one of these players, we could develop Mauricio at third or second.

Left field: If Dom Smith was producing like he was in 2017 or 2018, I would trade him first. But he’s not, he’s one of the studs in our lineup offensive-wise. So, no.

Center field: Brandon Nimmo is not going anywhere.

Right field: I have faith in Michael Conforto, and he’s not going anywhere.

Starting pitcher: I’m totally fine with getting another starting pitcher. The only reason I’m saying this is because I’m betting on injuries. That sounds so morbid but with what’s going on this year, you have to. But then again, we have DeGrom, Syndergaard, Stroman, Carrasco and Walker in a healthy rotation. Syndergaard isn’t coming back until August but it’s stupid trading for a starter for a month, especially when Tylor Megill is pitching as well as he is.

Relief Pitcher: I’m always down for relief pitching options. Our bullpen has been great but very shaky. So if we can get a stabilizer, like a veteran or a fireballer, I’d love it.

Now, let’s run down the remainder of baseball and the trade deadline.

The Rays acquired Nelson Cruz and I’m happy for them. Even though that defeats the purpose of a low payroll, getting a beefy bat will help them in the dangerous AL East.

The Mets got that pitcher that they need, Rich Hill to help stabilize the rotation.

The Padres acquiring Adam Frazier makes their infield arguably the best in baseball: Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Adam Frazier and Eric Hosmer.

Andrew Chafin and Kendall Graveman were both traded and I totally support that move for the recipients, not so much for the teams that traded them. I totally support moves for relief pitching, relievers are underrated.

The A’s trading for Starling Marte, they came into the deadline looking for a medium bat and they got exactly that if not more. Also, the Marlins shed some salary by acquiring Jesus Luzardo which makes their bullpen very young and very scary.

I feel like if Kris Bryant doesn’t go to the Mets, he might go to the Giants because they’re in the same position the Mets are in.

As I’m writing this, it is reported that the Padres are close to acquiring Max Scherzer from the Nationals. This is a perfect fit for the Padres as they’re trying to include themselves in the NL West race. Also, the Dodgers might get Scherzer because they want to solidify themselves as the main threat in the NL West.

Trevor Story isn’t going to the A’s because I feel like the A’s have expended their deadline juice. I don’t know where he’s going but not the A’s. Maybe the Yankees. But he’s going somewhere because the Rockies want to get something for him. If they don’t, then he suffers until the end of the season and leaves that dumpster fire of a team.

Where could Craig Kimbrel go? The Astros or the Red Sox would be perfect. That would make Astro pitching so much better or create the two-headed monster of Matt Barnes and Kimbrel. Like what I was talking about above, this is exactly what the Mets need. A good veteran pitcher who will make the bullpen more trustable.

I will do another blog after the deadline. 

A July Review of The Mets

How are The Mets holding on to the top of their division? Any other team in the top 3 of their division in baseball (minus NL East – obviously) would absolutely D-O-M-I-N-A-T-E it. Mind you, we’re also doing this with a shaky offense and a bullpen that occasionally goes on a figurative strike. If their fellow little league opponents in the NL East are at least moderately aggressive by the trade deadline, to quote Ralph Wiggum from The Simpsons, “Ha, ha, I’m in danger.”

Mets Offense: Starting at the top of the Mets offense, Pete “Polar Bear I strike out with the bases loaded in a 3-0 game against a reliever way past his prime” Alonso. He has 15 homers this year. Great! He’s on pace for 30, nobody else on the Mets is on pace for more than 18. Alonso has a .257 batting average this year, most on the Mets among qualified players (players who average 3.1 PA/game).

Brandon Nimmo and JD Davis are two un-qualified players batting .330 and .390 respectfully. Nimmo just came back and Davis is on his way back.

Francisco Lindor is mixing highs with lows this season, with more lows than highs but hopefully, he could hit upwards of 15 homers in the second half. Dominic Smith is the best offensive player on this team. He’s the most consistent and clutch. He could give you anything. Single, double, triple (only if it’s hit in Fenway Park or the Polo Grounds), and yes, the nuke.

Somehow James McCann hit 7 homers this season. Did YOU know that? I didn’t. When did he do that? HOW did he do that? It’s a shame to see Jose Peraza and Jonathan Villar not in the everyday lineup anymore. Jeff McNeil came back and Luis Rojas gave Luis “the Bearded Wonder” Guillorme the third base job half the time. I wanna see McNeil outta there, but more on that later.

Another player who had his moments is Billy McKinney, he’s a great player, mostly because he has the power-speed combo. Probably just a bench bat for the Mets, because I don’t see an opening in the lineup right now. Even with an injury, we have Kevin Pillar there. Again, I hope Tomas Nido gets red hot again but James McCann is just not great. I value an offensive catcher (preferably with a strong arm) more than a defensive catcher by far, that’s what we thought we were getting with McCann, well, that didn’t work.

Mets Pitching: The one bright spot for the Mets, wait, no, only sometimes, wait, no, only the starting rotation actually and Edwin Diaz, wait, no, no Edwin Diaz there, only the starting rotation, wait, no, only Jacob DeGrom, Marcus Stroman and Taijuan Walker. All of them have a sub 2.60 ERA and all of them should get All-Star nods, how many did? Just one. When I read this stat, I had to do a double-take: Marcus Stroman has 78 strikeouts this season, which is already really good, then I read Taijuan Walker has 87 strikeouts, which is even better, and I then I read – Jacob DeGrom: 146 Ks. That is out of this world amazing, oh yeah, with a 1.08 ERA. The bullpen has all been really solid, all middle relievers have been shutting opponents down lately. Jeurys Familia, Aaron Loup, Miguel Castro and Drew Smith are those relievers. Castro has the highest ERA at 4.01 but that largely reflects early this season and a few homers given up here and there. Edwin Diaz is a really good closer, although I don’t know why Luis Rojas puts him in for non-save situations. He has a 6.39 ERA in non-save situations and a 0.90 in save situations. I understand if once or twice over the course of the whole season that there are no more arms that are rested in the bullpen, but when two or three guys are rested, and Diaz comes in during a tie game or something, he’s bound to be unsuccessful.

Now, something has happened with Jacob DeGrom. You’re probably reading this thinking “WHAT??” and even though his 1.08 ERA in 92 IP this year don’t show it, his last three starts do. He had given up a total of 4 earned runs over his last 12 starts. But, he had given up 7 earned runs over his last 3. Just to put all the facts on the table, he had had short stints on the IL over the season and he is subject to the kind of media pressure that Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were during the 1961 season, when Maris hit 61 homers. Yes, DeGrom may be used to this because he is and was the best pitcher in baseball for the last four seasons, but he is on pace for a historic season, this is different. Your guess is as good as mine but I think that there’s some injury bugging him but he wants to continue this season. There are no kinks in his windup but that may be part of his masterful act. He will sit out for the All-Star Game, and in his starts where he had the gas to go an inning or two more, he was pulled. When a pitcher is dealing as well as DeGrom, a manager simply cannot bear to take out his once-in-a-generation talent after 6 or 7 innings and 80 or 90 something pitches. Now, I think he’s scheduled for one more start before the All-Star break and that will be monumental to prove my theory or not.

The All-Star Game will be a very needed break and potential recovery period for him. I hope he gets on the mound and pitching at his level soon because even the team he’s carving up loves to see Jacob DeGrom pitch.