Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Primarily Football with a Dash of Baseball

G-Men back to the Super Bowl. What a great NFC Championship. They've had to get through the best offense, certainly what I"d say was the best defense, if not one of the top - so it'd be a disappointment at this stage to lose to the Pats.

It is a great match up - high profile, Boston vs. NY - it'll be a circus and I love it!

Props to Eli for backing up his statement at the start of the season to be considered a top QB. He's been a top 5 QB all season long.

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Joe Paterno - I'm kind of indifferent on his passing. He lived what appears to be a good life. He was a grate coach, and got so many things right, just perhaps got maybe one of the most important things wrong - and that shows he was human. Very curious to see how/if Penn State is able to recover from the scandle as well as the leadership transition of the football program.

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No surprise that an overweight power hitter would opt for the American League as he ages - as is the case for Prince Fielder signing with Detroit.

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On Jorge announcing his retirement - he was a great Yankee, glad he spent the career with the team. Will he be in discussion as a HOF'er or as an all time - probably. Is he? Let me emphatically say: NO NOT EVEN CLOSE.

As far as a Yankee: I'd rather see O'Neil's number retired than Jorge.

As far as an HOF'er: His hitting was above average for most of his career, his defensive skills pretty much sucked. There are several post season games that come to mind where his laziness of not getting in front of a ball cost the Yanks a run that cost them the game. When You're a catcher - the writers are supposed to look at more than you're hitting numbers - they look at your fielding and defense and command of a game - and frankly he comes up way short in my opinion.


- Mid

21 comments:

old professor said...

Mid, it is obvious when you take some time off between posts, you have way too much time to think. The Giants getting to the Super Bowl by winning the NFC can be linked to two items: (a) a defense that bent, but did not break and (b)a large number of dropped passes by both the Packers and
49ers. In both games, receivers had found the wide open seams in the secondary and could not hang on to the passes. This problem was more evident in the Packers game where there were eight critical passes dropped.

If the Giants secondary gives Brady those kinds of openings, they will be chasing receivers all day long.

As for Posada - you better take a look at all of his statistics before saying no to the HOF. He ranks in the top three of Yankee catchers in: hits, walks, home runs, doubles and games played (and in some of the categories he is ranked first). The two Yankee catchers that he is ranked with are both in the the hall.

While the last couple of years have been a decline: only Yogi Berra has more championship rings in Major League History than Posada; Posada has caught more games iin the post season than any other catcher in post season history and has more hits than any catcher in post season history. He deserves a serious consideration for the Hall.

As for Fielder, he replaces V-Mart in the line up so there will be a couple of homer runs more. Fielder went back on his word from early in the post season when he indicated he would not sign with any team his father played for. Apparently it dawned on him that the market for someone looking for a large number of years and a contract in excess of $200m was a really small window.

Tigers will be looking at some serious financial problems with three players now over 20 million per year.

Crash said...

Giants should win this Super Bowl with ease...that being said they'll probably be forced to win it in the final 2 minutes. The Patriots remind me a lot of the Yankees, they will destroy mediocre & below average teams, but struggle against good/great teams. All the games against weaker teams inflates the offensive numbers and W-L record, but when faced with a tough defense all of sudden the offensive that was hanging 45 on Denver will struggle to get half that against the Giants. Look at NE stats against the league and then against teams like Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Giants. Brady's 3rd Down Conversion goes from over 40% down to around 20%.

Didn't see Prince to Detroit. It doesn't make a lot of baseball sense considering you essentially have 3 DHs after this season when V-Mart gets back. Everyone in Detroit is printing World Series tickets already. They should have invested in their pitching. Their rotation isn't great and their bullpen struggled in the playoffs.

Crash said...

One last thing...Posada is not a Hall of Famer. He should get more votes than Bernie, but he won't come close to getting in.

Crash said...

Forget about CC staying, forget about the blockbuster prospect trade, or even Jorge's retirement made official...the biggest Yankees offseason news is this: Kim Jones will not be back with YES for the 2012 season. I'm so disappointed by this. She actually mad listening to Kay tolerable.

Crash said...

Cespedes officially a free agent. If the Yankees can move AJ it would be interesting if they make a play for him. Otherwise I think the Yankees stay out of it.

old professor said...

I believe the Yankees will enter into the negotiations with whoever the agent for Cespedes is. Whether they eventually sign him remains to be seen. They seem more enthused about the young ptcher from Cuba. Only time will tell. I believe the Steinbrenners are on a course to get younger and not break the bank.

The team is intent on getting under the 189 million threshhold by 2014. (Which happens to coincide with Jeter's contrack expiing.

Team signs Martin for 7 million for one year. One has to wonder if they are going to try and work out a multii-year deal. I don't believe ZRomine will be ready to assume fulltime by 2013.

old professor said...

It is interesting to look at the free agents that are left and still looking for contracts. Oswalt is rumored to be going to the Red Sox. But another interesting name that is still out there is Zach Duke. Yankees tried to trade for him a few years ago, but the Pirates were not interested. He eventually ended up in Arizona last year were he appeared in 21 games and went 3-4. He is still only 29 and throws from the left side. Could be someone who might be willing to sign a minor league contract and be ready should there be a need.

Eric Chavez is still sitting home waiting for the phone to ring. I would have figured when the Yankees could not get the contract finalized with Nakajima that Chavez was going to be in pinstripes.

Crash said...

First...my work internet server is now blocking this site...I called my admin (who I'm buddies with) and told him to allow it, he asked if it's work related, I said the Yankees are a client of course it is...he didn't buy it.

Now, while I like Martin as a catcher and I thought the Dodgers were incredibly stupid for letting him go, I think the guy is now way overpaid. He had real hot streaks at different points last year and for a while was hitting in the .280 range but he finished the season at like .237...$7.5MM for a .237 catcher is way overpriced. And this is coming from the "fiscally responsible" Yankees? Maybe there is a quiet handshake agreement where this is his big pay day, and next season he's in the $4-5MM range. I fully expect Romine to be at AAA, with Cervelli being the backup. Romine needs to show he can hit at the next level. I think he was around .290 at AA, but didn't do much in his short stop in AAA and MLB. If he can hit above .270 with a handful of HR's and be great behind the plate then that's what you do in 2013.

I can't see the Yankees making a play for Zack Duke. Cashman is already trying to trade pitching. Why sign a lefty that couldn't cut it in the Mexican league.

And I can't figure out why the Yankees haven't gone after Eric Chavez, instead Cashman is dead set on trying to trade AJ or Hughes for a bat. I think that's a mistake. Hughes will put it all together this season. He is going to come into spring training in shape and with a mean attitude to make the rotation. Bold Prediction Hughes wins 20 from the #5 spot if he makes the rotation.

old professor said...

Regarding Martin, he was hot at the beginning of the season and then a series of nagging injuries including back and knee hit him. He toughed it out but could not hit with any consistency due to the lingering injury problems. If you play anyother position than catcher you can compensate for knee and back issues.

The Yankees have maintained they don't care how much offense the get from the catching position as long as the catcher can call a good game and has good skills defensively. Romine may see action with the Yankees later in the season. He will be a place holder for Sanchez (if Sanchez can ever get his head on straight) who projects better offensively than Montero and is better defensively.

There is also a kid they are very high on in the lower minor leagues - JR Murphy - who I don't know anything about.

I believe Burnett goes before Hughes - problem being the Yankees won't get much in return for Burnett and they will have to eat a lot of his salary.

Crash said...

I think Sanchez is a better all-around player than Montero...but he is NOT on the same level offensively.

Yankees previously said they would eat $8MM of AJ's contract, I'm hearing if they go to $12MM teams may be interested. If Theo can move Zambrano, who now lacks stuff and is a headcase and a cancer in the clubhouse, there has to be someone out there to take AJ at the right price. From all indications he's a good teammate. He's very much like Edwin Jackson. I think if AJ starts hot like he has done the last 2 seasons, someone will take him at that point. It's July-September where he struggles.

Main I wish the Super Bowl was this weekend...can't wait for this game!

old professor said...

Well, the last individual the Yankees received in the Gary Sheffield trade a few years ago has just been designated for assignment.

None of the players the Yankees received for Sheffield panned out which makes this a trade that helped the Tigers and hurt the Yankees. The team received: Russ Olendorpf - now eith the Pirates (at least he was last year)Kevin Whalen - player that was just designated for assignment and another individual whose names slips my mind but was released or traded two years ago.

I find it hard to believe that the Yankees are considering looking at Ibanez. The guy will be forty years old, they just let a switch-hitting ex-catcher go who turned 40 and had a higher average than Ibanez but not as many homeruns.

It is interesting that they trade Montero to bring in a pithcer that "could" be an ace (if he holds up), and increase their rotation to seven starting pitchers, and are now concerned about the DH position.

Crash said...

A report has the Yankees in serious discussions with Bill Hall.

That move doesn't make sense.

old professor said...

Bill Hall?????? Did not think he was still in baseball. (That may be Mel Hall).

If I am not wrong, Hall was a reserve third baseman/reserve outfielder. Did play for one season with the Red Sox. If they are looking at him it means two things: (a) the Yankees have reached the end of their budget and cannot afford anyone else (b) Nunez or Pena or both are about to be moved.

Crash said...

Yeah I agree Old Prof. My initial thought about Bill Hall was that it immediately makes Nunez expendable.

Crash said...

As a side note, I believe Hall would be a minor league deal. Yankees just signed Manny Delcarman to a minor league deal.

old professor said...

Manny D has not pitched in the majors since 2010. Last year he pitched for two organizations at Triple A and ended up with an ERA above 5.

Apparently signing Hall to a minor league deal is being viewed as insurance should they not be able to sign Chavez. I am not sure what the hangup with Chavez is, but the team needs to move on it.

They addressed their first need - resign CC; their second need - fixing the rotation to the extent they now have seven starters, but still need to find a DH and an additional infielder for the bench.

It is odd, but when all is said and done, this team with the exception of two new faces for the rotation will be pretty much the same team that took the field last year: Tex, Cano, Jeter, A-Rod, Gardner, Granderson, Martin, and Swisher are all back in the line-up. CC, Burnett, Garcia and Nova are in the rotation. Mo, Robertson, Soriano in the Pen. Cervelli is back behind the plate as the backup, Nunez is penciled in as the backup at ss, 3rd, and possibly the outfield. Even Adruw Jones is back. It would appear there are only three slots open on this team: (1) who will be #5 in the rotation, (2) who will be the lefthanded DH (3) who will be the additional backup infielder.

The team except for the addition the pitcher from the Mariners have not gotten any younger and are now a year older and slower.

Crash said...

Edwin Jackson agrees to terms with the Washington Nationals. 1 year deal. The Nationals have a rotation that will compete in the NL East this year. They have a shot at the Wild Card this year.

They may look to trade someone to make room for Jackson, most likely Lannan, who I believe they just won their arb case, he's schedule to make $5M.

old professor said...

The Nationals may do more than compete for a wildcard spot. They are solid in the rotation (actually have more of a surplus than the Yankees), their bullpen is sound and they have a defense that is above average. With some of the younger talent in their farm system they may also improve offensively.

The NL East is going to be interesting to watch. The Phillies are the favorite (because of their rotation), Atlanta is good, the Marlins have vastly improved with their signings, and now the Marlins are making some moves. The only team out of the discussions is the Muts who look to be destined to finish in the basement and in bankruptcy.

Crash said...

I am jacked about this football game Sunday. I have a really good feeling about it. I don't think the Patriots defense has enough to stay with any of the Giant receivers, I don't think they will get any pressure on Manning. Giants need to be able to run it though.

Conversely the Giants defense is playing real strong and should make Brady very uncomfortable by getting plenty of hits on him.

I would be shocked if the Patriots score more than 20 points.

That being said, the Giants offense needs to come out and score early. Too often they start slow and dig themselves a little hole. They can't do that against the Patriots.

I'm calling a Giants victory. 31-17.

old professor said...

Sad story coming out of Texas. Apparently Josh Hamilton has fallen off the wagon and was in a pub drinking. Teammate Ian Kinsler was present apparently in an attempt to get Hamilton to leave and go home. How much he consumed or what his condition was, is not known at this time. But based on the fact he is tested three times a week, as required by his reinstatement to the league, he could be facing some serious consequences. It is sad to see an individual with the talents and abilities as Hamilton have a relapse.

Crash said...

I don't care if Hamilton relapses and I certainly don't need a press conference about it. The guy has been given multiple opportunities. He wants to throw it away then let him. The game will go on without him. The guy wants to go to a bar in the offseason and have a couple drinks then let him.

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