Items deserving of mention

There are some thing I wont be able to get to. I usually will make a mention of them on facebook, but when I get the chance, I will try to talk about them here. Chris Carpenter's career might be over. If it is, its been a great career. I believe in Chris Carpenter though. If anyone could come back, I have no doubt that its him. Bruno Sammartino is going to be going into this year's WWE Hall of Fame, and he will be joining, and way outshining, a star studded class. Lebron had the best shooting night of his career the other night and his numbers simply speak for themselves (they're unreal). There was a weird trade in the AL West the other day with The A's giving up a lot for Jed Lowrie. Lowrie has always been a player that I have rooted for (I'm a Red Sox fan as well as a Marlins fan). If he could just stay healthy, he would be really valuable. The A's gave up a lot for 2 years of the risky Lowrie in shipping part of their 1b platoon in Chris Carter (ridiculous power), top pitching prospect Brad Peacock, and a high upside young catcher to the Astros

KING FELIX STAYS IN SEATTLE

Congratulations to King Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners on agreeing to a deal today. Essentially , its a 5 year/$135.5 million extension, making his contract 7 years/$175 million which would keep him in Seattle through his age 33 season. Pretty Awesome and they get to keep him on a discount from what I thought would happen. I really thought King Felix could easily get a 7 year extension at $198 million making it a 9 year/$237 million deal. Great deal by the Mariners to keep him for cheaper and to take less risk with 2 less years. At the end of the contract he will still only be 33 so we'll see what happens. Its a great deal for both. Even though Felix took less, he gets to stay in Seattle, where he wants to be, and gives himself security 2 years away from free agency. It also opens him up for one more decent sized contract at the end of this one if he stays healthy and productive throughout (which I personally have no doubt he will do). The Mariners pitching rotation moving forward looks to be really promising. It would be really broken if they would have kept Pineda (though he did end up getting hurt). Can you imagine King Felix, Pineda, Walker, Hultzen, Paxton, Ramirez, Maurer, Iwakuma+? Their bullpen is also pretty nasty with guys that throw in the high 90s like Pryor, Capps, Wilhelmsen (who could also start). They could also put Noesi in the pen where I personally think he would be better. Furbush is a good lefty option and even Oliver Perez has been really good for them out of the pen. They actually just designated Shawn Kelley for assignment to make room on the 40 man roster. That was pretty surprising considering how good he has looked and the fact that there were 3 other options I thought would easily go before him. He likely wont fall all the way to the Marlins in a waiver claim, but I would like to see the Marlins trade for him b/c he would be a really nice piece for the pen.

The Mariners have a lot of good, young talent coming up and now have a true ace to build around for years to come. They have made some interesting moves this off-season and that might lead to more free agents being willing to come there. Even though they lost long term on a couple of deals, they could surprise people this season. They played really the last couple of months of the season. Whatever happens, King Felix is staying on his throne in Seattle, where he belongs

The Lakers Should Be Better

First I want to mention that I have been talking about this all season, and this is one of those times where I wish I would have taken the time to post something here earlier. This is a quick version of my thoughts on their team this year, but I dont see them making the playoffs this year unless they make a move and even so, it would take serious problems from multiple other teams for that to be a real possibility. They need to go 27-5 in their final 32 games to have a legit shot at making the playoffs in the West. This isnt likely.

The Lakers obviously have been a mystery this year. I did pick them to be the 5th seed in the West this year, but this level of issue is even more than I expected.  Dwight should be able to score 10 points a game just by running down the center of the floor to the basket. Gasol could arguably score 6 points a game the same way. Kobe has finally figured out that he isnt Michael Jordan and shouldnt be isolating as much anymore. If Kobe took less shots, he would be much more efficient and they would be really hard to guard. Kobe can have an easier time if he shared ball handling duties with Nash and played more off the ball, on cuts to the basket and coming off screens to spot up. Both Kobe and Steve Nash could run plays in the pick and roll with multiple different players like Artest, Antwan Jamison, Earl Clark, Jody Meeks, Dwight, Gasol, setting up shots or points down low. They need to run the floor. They've been lazy the whole season and that was evident before D'Antoni came in and it hampered them from running the offense to its best extent. You have options to score in transition, off pick and rolls, in the post with Kobe, Gasol, Dwight, Jamison, Artest, and with offenses involving Gasol as a facilitator from the top of the Key and even in post situations. This would also leave room for Gasol and Dwight to work together in many capacities, similar to part of Memphis' offense with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. In short, they have a couple of 1 on 1 players including Kobe to bail them out in situations where they cant find a shot, but these other options should be utilized more, and they need to work more as a collective group than having any one or two players lead the way. Kobe taking something like 15-18 shots a game would be a much better number for them as a team, and with Kobe getting less of a workload offensively, he may get some more energy on the defensive side of the ball. Their defense is a serious issue. Dwight cant be the only one doing it. They also have to help the helper b/c if Dwight comes to block the lane, his guy is wide open. They still cant guard the quick point guards off pick and rolls. They'll get destroyed by Westbrook, Chris Paul, Ty Lawson, Lillard, etc. Their rotations need to be better and they have a few players that should be capable.

Side note on the Stanton article. If I get the chance, I'll upload that and hopefully a couple of other things in the coming days. Have been busy. I still have been writing my thoughts on everything sports wise on my facebook page, but I intend to put up a couple of things here when I have some more time.

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.