Monday, July 30, 2012

Weekly Awards 7/30/12

Best Player in BaseballMike Trout
Win/Win Deadline Deal- The Angels and Brewers made a very good trade on Friday night. The Angels bolstered their rotation, which was supposed to be very good, but has been hurt by the fact that Ervin Santana has been terrible and Dan Haren was hurting until last week. Locked in a tight race with the Rangers and even the Athletics, the Angels need ways to get ahead. Zack Greinke is obviously one of the best pitchers in baseball, and he will help push the Halos upwards in their division. The Brew Crew were able to take back two highly regarded prospects. Jean Segura and Ariel Pena are considered to have above average futures ahead of them, so this trade is good for both sides.
Impressive Minor Leaguer of the Week- He's been in a lot of trade rumors lately, so I'd like to get him in here before he's jettisoned out of Texas. Mike Olt can be a very good third baseman for years to come. He's very good defensively with a lot of raw power at the plate. Hitting .291 with 27 homers in AAA looks good to me. I watched him in the Futures Game earlier this month and he has a very good approach at the plate and considering the lack of depth at the third base position in baseball currently, he can be in the Top 5 in a couple of years.
Amar'e Stoudemire/Javale McGee Stupid Act of the Week- I'm just going to say, Hope Solo, respect your elders.
Fix Your Bullpen- Better over the past week, but the trade deadline is tomorrow at 4 P.M. Let's Go Mets.
Stop It! Stop It! Tebow is a Backup!- Hey ESPN and the Jets, no one cares about Tebow running in the rain.
Skip Bayless Annoying Analyst Award- Now that I don't have to go to work during the day for the rest of the summer, I get to watch First Take everyday. Skip Bayless really has to stop his Tebow love. It's annoying.
Birthday of the Day- NBA Hall of Famer Chris Mullin (honor of the Dream Team)
Mike Trout Award- I get to watch him tonight on ESPN. Yes!
NL Version of Mike Trout- Andrew McCutchen

Saturday, July 28, 2012

The Future Has Arrived

**NOTE** Posting issues, written on Friday, posted on Saturday

Last night was the most excited that I have been for a Mets game in a while. It was the debut of the second best prospect in the Mets farm system (behind Zack Wheeler), Matt Harvey. It was very interesting to watch him pitch yesterday, especially since the Mets rotation has been decimated this season. Only Jon Niese and R.A. Dickey remain from the Opening Day rotation, and Jeremy Hefner is starting every fifth day. Harvey was the 7th overall pick in the 2010 draft and the Mets had big plans for him. They probably didn't want to bring him up this early, since he isn't completely Major League ready, but he is the best option that they have currently.

His ceiling is an ace starter but the most likely peak for him is a very good 2 or 3 starter. He's meant to be a big part of the team for years to come.

His debut, was very encouraging. While he's been coming through the system, the biggest issues that I've heard are; his control issues and his secondary pitches. I expected his fastball to be great, but I wasn't sure about everything else. With the spotlight on him, the biggest moment of his career to this point, he actually delivered.

His fastball averaged 95 MPH, and he was able to blow it by people to get ahead in the counts early. The pitch that has always been considered to be his worst, his changeup, was good when he actually used it. He only threw it 5.7% of the time, but it was a good way to slow down the bat after his powerful fastball. The breaking stuff looked nice, and he was able to get people to chase his slider out of the zone for strikes.

My biggest problem with him is that he threw way too many balls. He walked 3 and out of his 106 pitches, only 65 were strikes. To be successful in the majors, he needs to throw more strikes. He should challenge hitters with his 98 MPH fastball and his above average slider. Eventually the book on him will get out. People will see that he throws his slider out of the zone a lot and it could hurt him. That was the issue with Trevor Bauer (of the Diamondbacks) when he came up earlier this year. He kept trying to force people to chase pitches and most major league hitters are too disciplined to keep fishing. Harvey has good stuff and he has the ability to be successful by throwing a lot of strikes.

He got a double and and single at the plate too! (Silver Slugger?)

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

That's Enough Sandy

The Mets need help and they need it fast. They also needed it a long time ago, like in June or early July. I don't see why up until now, July 25th, the Mets have yet to make a trade.

The Mets bullpen is beyond terrible. Every time that the starting pitcher leaves the game, I fully expect the Mets to lose. Whether it be Pedro Beato, Jon Rauch, Bobby Parnell (my boy), or Miguel Batista, usually somebody gives up a run (and many more), putting more pressure on the offense to score (in fact, they don't score enough).

The Mets are the third team in MLB history to lose by 5 or more runs in extra innings in two consecutive games. The bullpen is starting to create ways to screw up the game. Honestly, it's hard to give up 5 runs in an inning, and it happened in extras, when the pitchers have to focus even more and make sure that they don't give up any runs let alone 5. They found a way to do this two games in a row. Completely unacceptable.

It's not Sandy Alderson's fault that Frank Francisco, Ramon Ramirez, and Jon Rauch didn't help to shore up the weak bullpen. Okay, I accept that, but the bullpen has been the worst in the MLB all season long. The Mets were in contention at the All-Star Break, and buying was the best option for the team. Now that they have gone ahead and lost 12 of 13, getting help for this year is stupid. That could have been avoided by getting a reliever.

Now it's time to get a reliever who can help in 2013.

Seriously, make the trade already.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Weekly Awards 7/23/12

Best Player in Baseball- Mike Trout.
David Kahn Stupid Free Agent Signing of the Week Award- The winner of this award is more for the lack of a signing more than the actual signing. The Knicks letting go of Jeremy Lin it was stupid on so may levels. I explained in my previous post.
Impressive Minor Leaguer of the Week- Anthony Gose and Matt Harvey. Gose came up last Tuesday and Harvey is set to make his debut on Thursday. Gose is a very good defender, and when I watched him in the Futures Game, he made a really impressive diving grab in center. He is also very fast and he was getting on base in AAA. Once he gets on base, his speed is very helpful. He can be a good leadoff hitter. I'm a Mets fan, so Matt Harvey has to be here. He is most likely going to be a very good 2 or 3 starter but his ceiling is very high. He can be an ace and interesting to see what he does. Let's Go Mets.
Amar'e Stoudemire/Javale McGee Stupid Act of the Week- The Mets for starting Miguel Batista on Saturday. We've already seen what he can do this season. He's bad out of the bullpen and he's bad as a starter. Harvey could have easily made his debut against the Dodgers on Saturday instead of against the Diamondbacks this Thursday, for many different reasons; he could have made his debut at home, the Dodger's offense isn't very good (other than Kemp and Ethier), and oh yeah Miguel Batista is terrible. Thank goodness he was designated for assignment after his start. Good riddance.
Fix Your Bullpen- This is getting ridiculous. 5 runs given up by Ramon Ramirez in the 12th inning yesterday. All games that the Mets lost over the past week have been due to the lack of pitching. Even the starting pitching has been terrible. I'm just angry with this team and this pitching staff. Make a trade Sandy!
Stop Putting so Much Effort for a Backup- I'm not saying the name of that backup, but it's the Jets again. Oh hey, they finally got a right tackle to replace Wayne Hunter! Welcome Jeff Otah! Mark Sanchez will appreciate not getting attacked from the right side of the line.
Skip Bayless Annoying Analyst Award- Jason Page, I listened to him for 5 minutes and was able to correct him 4 times and realized that he was too lazy to read something that was right in front of him.
Birthday of the Day- Brandon Roy. He's still good even with a year off and a bum knee. He was the third best SG in the NBA last time he played and he's a game changer. Playing alongside a Top 5 player in Kevin Love will reduce his role and allow him to be a good piece.
Mike Trout Award- He went 4-for-6 last week. Mike Trout
NL Version of Mike Trout- Actually having as good of a season or arguably a better season than Trout, Andrew McCutchen.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Why Now Dolan?

Originally, once the Jeremy Lin offer sheet came out and I was able to digest the giant final year of the deal, I decided that there is no way that the Knicks should even consider matching the offer. Bye-bye Linsanity.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Trout for MVP

Mike Trout is the best player in baseball but, if you've read my Weekly Awards over the past two weeks, you already know that. Let me explain why:

What to Expect

Not exactly back full-time, but not gone either. I have a few posts lined up to publish, so I'm ready to jump back into this.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Issues

I cannot charge my laptop anymore so I will post when I can, but posting will return to normal when I get this issue fixed.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Nash and Mamba. '96 Draft Represent!

Steve Nash, who is in the conversation of Top 5 PGs ever, will be teaming up with Kobe Bryant, who is in the conversation of the second best SG ever. Add in the second best C in the league in Andrew Bynum, All-Star PF Pau Gasol, and a defensive wizard in Metta World Artest.

Is this a championship team?

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

The Truth About the Brooklyn Nets, Without Dwight Howard

Last season, with both Gerald Wallace and Deron Williams on the court, the Nets had an amazing record of 6-6. They were a .500 team.   Out of those 6 wins, a grand total of 1 of them were against playoffs teams, or even teams that had a .500 record. The Wallace/Williams Connection went 1-5 against playoff teams.

Bye Bye Landry

Landry Fields has agreed to a deal with the Toronto Raptors for 3 years worthy $20 million. The Knicks have until July 14th to match this offer, but I doubt that they will.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Weekly Awards 7/2/12

Best Player in Baseball- It's still Mike Trout, he can do everything!
David Kahn Stupid Free Agent Signing of the Week Award- Now that Free Agency is starting, this award is given the the worst acquisition through free agency for the past week. The signing period actually starts on July 11th, but between yesterday and today, we have a winner. Omer Asik has been given a 3 year $25 million deal by the Houston Rockets. That's not the worst part. The first two years are at $5 million each with a heavily backloaded 3rd year of $15 million. Fifteen million dollars for Omer Asik for a year. He can't score. He can't hit layups. He's been a backup center for his whole career. He's offensively worse than Kendrick Perkins, and that's hard to do.
Impressive Minor Leaguer of the Week- Speed is the word to think about with Billy Hamilton. I don't even know what to say about him. His speed is freaky. He has the chance to match and even surpass Rickey Henderson's record of 130 stolen bases in a season. Why? He's currently on pace for 178 stolen bases. He has 98 in 77 games so far in the California League which is in Class A+ (they only play 140 games in the California League). Don't think that he's inefficient when he takes off. He's stolen 98 and has only been caught 21 times for a steal success of 82.35%. Wow, I am so excited to see him in the All-Star Futures Game this year.
Amar'e Stoudemire/Javale McGee Stupid Act of the Week- San Francisco Giants fans. The two leaders in batting average in the National League, Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz (CHOOOOOOOOCH) catcher for the Phillies and Mets third baseman David Wright are not starting in the All-Star Game.Who's in front of them? Pablo the Panda Sandoval who suspiciously made up a 400,000 vote difference in the past two to three days and Buster Posey starting at catcher. Both Sandoval and Posey are All-Star players, and they should be on the team, but they shouldn't be starting ahead of the two guys currently leading the race for the batting title.
Fix Your Bullpen- New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. They both actually can make the playoffs if they acquire one or two relievers. The Phillies finally rid themselves of Chad Qualls.
Stop Putting so Much Effort into a Backup- New York Jets, two-time winner of this award.
Skip Bayless Annoying Analyst Award- I didn't hear anything outrageous in the past week of basically listening to ESPNRadio all day long. So, it's still Skip Bayless.
Birthday of the Day- Angel Pagan, so sad the Mets traded him. Shout out to Rhett Bomar turning 27, he might actually throw a pass in the NFL one day. Maybe.
Mike Trout Award- Michael Nelson Trout