Nevermind

So never mind on the Rafael Soriano article I was going to put up. I typed it up, was going to post it today, but he signed with the Nationals (on a great deal for them by the way). The Nationals were 1 of 3 teams that I did mention in the article I was going to put up. They sign him for about the price I felt he could be signed for, with an even better deal for them with deferred money. The Nationals are a couple of left handed relievers away from being possibly the favorites to win the World Series. They have multiple avenues to pursue this and I expect that they will address that issue at some point soon. Meanwhile, the Tigers and Blue Jays are left with question marks in the back of their bullpen. The Tigers plan on going with top prospect Bruce Rondon. He throws 100 mph, but its unknown if he can jump up to the big leagues and immediately provide the team with a shut down closer. The Blue Jays will rely on a tandem of Sergio Santos coming off of an injury and Casey Janssen, who at 31 years old is coming off of arguably the best year of his career, when he accumulated 22 saves. It is not known if he can continue and perform like that for a full season. Santos, who has proven himself as a closer before, may take a setup role while he continues to recover from his injury. Brad Lincoln, Steve Delabar, and (if he doesnt retire) Darren Oliver look to have prominent roles in the middle to late innings. There are still options out there, but none the caliber of Soriano. It should be interesting to see how this signing will effect these 3 teams in particular

NBA 2012-2013 Preseason Predictions

Pre Season Picks (2012-2013)

EAST                              WEST
1. Miami Heat                 1. Oklahoma City Thunder
2. New York Knicks        2. LA Clippers
3. Boston Celtics              3. Denver Nuggets
4. Indiana Pacers              4. San Antonio Spurs
5. Philadelphia 76ers        5. LA Lakers
6. Chicago Bulls               6. Memphis Grizzlies
7. Brooklyn Nets              7. Utah Jazz
8. Atlanta Hawks              8, Dallas Mavericks
9. Milwalkee Bucks          9. Minnesota Timberwolves
10.Toronto Raptors          10.Golden State Warriors
11.Cleveland Cavaliers    11.New Orleans Hornets
12.Orlando Magic            12.Phoenix Suns
13.Washington Wizards    13.Houston Rockets
14.Detroit Pistons             14.Portland Trail Blazers
15.Charlotte Bobcats         15.Sacramento Kings

Eastern Conference Finals        Western Conference Finals
Miami Heat def. Boston Celtics    Oklahoma City Thunder def. LA Clippers
               
                                NBA Finals
          Miami Heat def. Oklahoma City Thunder   
           
            2013 NBA CHAMPIONS
                      MIAMI HEAT   

These were my preseason picks. I originally had slightly different choices for different spots, but after John Wall, Andrew Bynum, Danny Granger, and other players were injured, those changed. Obviously, many things have changed since the season started, including more injuries and a couple of teams playing worse than I might have thought they would. Amusingly, some of what has happened actually was in my original preseason picks. This year was very tough for me. It was hard to figure out who wouldnt be a decent team. The league is really deep and I didnt think there was going to be that one terrible team this year, barring injuries. I figured that there would be more teams closer to .500. The Western Conference was especially hard to figure out from 3-15 and I had a hard time separating some of the teams more than a game or 2. I wanted to put Memphis higher, but couldnt figure out who to put lower, so I went with this saying that the teams finishing in the 3-6 range would be close together. A similar thing can be said for the Eastern Conference as well. I didnt think the Celtics would finish too high in the regular season, but also didnt know where I would put them. I also thought Atlanta would be somewhere around the 5th or 6th seed, but didnt know who to drop. I felt like there was going to be a close range of games separating a lot of teams. Updated picks will come out during the All-Star break.

I'm Back (sort of)

After not posting for almost a year, I decided to put up 2-3 posts and go from there. I actually did write up a few things that I didnt post since my last posts, including NBA predictions for this year. The reason that I didnt put those posts up is that I didnt see any real need to. I decided that I dont wish to format my thoughts in formal write-ups, so my posts here will most likely be limited. My vision is the main hindrance in all of this and because of those issues, I have a hard time proof reading. I generally comment on everything that is going on in sports, but I do so on facebook so I dont have to organize everything too much and can ramble on about the topic. The Hall of Fame post I made was not very well organized, and I literally wrote down my thoughts in a few minutes. I'm not sure that the next 2 articles I put up will be like that, but it is still possible that it will be the direction I go in. The next 2 articles will be about the Marlins and a possible Giancarlo Stanton trade, and what I think about it as a Marlins fan (which I think will surprise everyone), and who I think should sign Rafael Soriano and why it might put them over the top as a contender. I've spoken about these topics more than several times and decided that they might be good topics to bring up here. I expect to put them up at some point in the next couple of days.

2013 Hall of Fame (non)Selection

Later today, the results of this year’s Hall of Fame voting will be in, and for the first time since 1996, it looks like nobody will be getting in. We have heard every reason thinkable from the many different writers who decided not to vote for certain players, or anyone at all. Those reasons range from “his stats aren’t good enough” to “he had a lot of back hair, so he was probably taking some kind of PED.” We’ve heard certain writers say that they would be handing in blank ballots as a protest for the players of PED use. This is my problem with the situation. How can we say with total certainty who did or didn’t do something, when there isn’t any evidence against them? How do we know who else was doing it during that era, whether it be a bench player, the starting pitcher giving up those HRs or anyone on the field? Personally, I think that there are at least 13 players on the ballot this year that deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, and none of them getting in would be a disgrace. To me, it makes the Hall of Fame a joke if these players don’t get in, just as it looks like a joke with Pete Rose not being in the Hall of Fame, but that’s a different story for another time. The Hall of Fame is supposed to be one of the greatest foundations of story in sports. How can you have a Hall of Fame without its greatest players to tell your kids about. When I visited the Hall of Fame a few years back, I had an amazing time, and wished I went back for a second day b/c there wasn’t enough time to see everything before closing. I loved the experience, and it is something that I would think I could share later on in my life. Unfortunately, I don’t know what I would say if I’m asked why Barry Bonds isn’t in the Hall of Fame. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Craig Biggio, Tim Raines, Mike Piazza, Jack Morris, Rafael Palmeiro, Jeff Bagwell, Alan Trammel, Curt Schilling, Fred McGriff, Edgar Martinez, and Mark McGwire all should get in. You can only vote for 10 per year, so 3 of these would have to be left off for another year. Still, they all should get in at some point. Those that speak of Bonds’ and Clemens’ PED use do so without merit in my opinion. Bonds was a no doubt, first ballot Hall of Fame player before he ever did any of it. He still would have hit over 600 HRs regardless, and some argue that he is the greatest player they ever saw play the game. Clemens also has a similar case. The accusations against Clemens suggest that he did his PED use in Toronto. Before his stint in Toronto began in 1997, Clemens had pitched for 13 years and accumulated 3 Cy Young awards, an MVP award, and an additional 2^nd and 3^rd place finish for the Cy Young award. He was already a Hall of Fame pitcher. Clemens is likely the greatest pitcher that I have ever seen and it would be a travesty if neither he nor Barry Bonds got into the Hall of Fame. There is also new speculation about Jeff Bagwell and Mike Piazza that has absolutely no merit and is only being brought on because of who their peers were. Mike Piazza is arguably the greatest offensive catcher in the history of the game. If he isn’t a Hall of Famer, then I don’t know what is. The argument against McGriff is ridiculous. Some say that he shouldn’t get in because he didn’t hit 500 HRs. HE HIT 493! Are you really telling me that you aren’t letting “The Crime Dog” into the Hall of Fame because of 7 HRs?! He could have easily hit those HRs if it wasn’t for the strike shortened season in 1994, and regardless, 7 HRs is such a small number to keep someone away from the Hall of Fame. Biggio came up as a catcher, moved to 2^nd base, to center field, and back to 2^nd base, and all he did during that time was collect more than 3000 hits and put his name in history as an all time Houston Astros great.. He played the game the right way and for him to be part of this whole “protest” is an absolute shame. Tim Raines is probably the 2^nd greatest lead-off hitter of all time, and to leave him out because he played at the same time as Ricky Henderson, is just plain stupid. Jack Morris was probably the greatest pitcher of the 1980s and is synonymous with winning. He was dominant during his time and just because his ERA is where it is, shouldn’t deny him his rightful spot in the Hall of Fame. This is a guy that averaged 7 1/3 innings per start. That means he literally pitched into the 8^th inning every time he pitched. If the objective of baseball isn’t winning, then what is the object of the game? I don’t think he should be held out for going out on the mound and trying to win every time he went out there. Curt Schilling’s big time moments also speak for themselves, and he should be a Hall of Fame pitcher. Palmeiro and McGwire also deserve to be in, even with the PED use. Palmeiro didn’t just have the HRs. He also has more than 3000 hits, and that gets him in the Hall of Fame for me. Meanwhile, McGwire wasn’t one-dimensional. He was always a high OBP guy, along with the HRs. As you can tell, I would be OK with putting PED users into the Hall of Fame because we don’t know, and will never know, enough about the whole situation. We don’t know who did or didn’t do them before or during this period of time. We don’t know how which specific PED effected things either.  Its just the way the game was and I don’t think we should keep the greatest players to play this game out of the Hall of Fame because of it. If you want to put up a wing dedicated to just this era, then that’s fine. Put up information explaining everything, so we can walk through those halls in Cooperstown and read about these players. On their plaques, “admitted or found PED user” can be written to show that they might not have done everything cleanly. Do whatever you have to do, but don’t rob the fans of seeing the greatest players in the Hall of Fame.

*Please excuse the lack of paragraphs in this write-up. It was meant to be a quick assessment of some of the issues in Hall of Fame voting this year, and who I think should get in on this year’s ballot. Other articles will generally be in a more professional format, with better organization.