Tag Archives: Luis Castillo

January 17, 2021 · 7:25 pm

Sunday Morning mailbag January 17, 2021

Another fake mailbag ball bags. As always these are fake questions from real people. Leggo!

  1. With Kluber and DJ Lemehiu signed are the Yanks done?- Brian C from the Bronx

Brian that’s a great question and the answer is no. There are two factors here- roster construction and roster subtraction. Let’s start with the latter.

As Lindsey Adler of the Athletic pointed out the Yankees will have to subtract two players before adding Kluber and DJ Lemehiu. Which means a move or two are coming. We’ll get to that in a moment.

Let’s all agree DJ wasn’t going anywhere despite the long wait. The surprising, and frankly brilliant, part was that the deal was for 6 years which allowed the Yankees to bring the AAV down. As was pointed out multiple times, the average value of the deal is what’s counted for payroll purposes when staring down the luxury tax. So getting DJ for $15M a year is a bargain….for the next 4 years where he can play almost every infield position. I’m not going to argue about the Yankees signing him through his 39th birthday since DJ’s main skill is his ability to hit and hit for average which every Yankee fan will tell you was what was missing for the last few years.

It was also not surprising the Yankees signed Corey Kluber who was rehabbing in the Cressey Sports Performance Training Center. That center is run by Eric Cressey who the Yankees hired a year ago to oversee their training and strength/conditioning departments. Cressey still works at his center and trains other players like Noah Syndegaard (interesting for Mets fans I’m sure) and Max Scherzer among others which I’m not sure how that isn’t a conflict of interest but hey what do I know.*. So it wasn’t surprising that Kluber would want to sign a one year deal with the Yankees. But Yankees slotting Kluber in ink as the #2 starter behind Cole is hopeful rather than realistic.

*= yes that is my Mets self esteem issues still around from the Pre-Wilpon days. I’m still working through them.

Kluber threw one inning in his last comeback attempt with the Rangers last year, but the Yankees felt comfortable outbidding others for his services. They signed all of their arbitration eligible players and now GM Brian Cashman knows he has ~$4M to spend on starting pitching depth, and another OF.

With some subtractions required to fit the two acquisitions on to the 40-man roster, some have already begun fitting current-Reds starter Luis Castillo into pinstripes. There are a number of enticing young players on the Yankees roster that could work but here’s another way- the Yankees could flex their big city muscle like their counterparts in Flushing have begun to do so and take on some of the heftier contracts in return for a lighter prospect load. So instead of Clint Frazier, Clarke Schmidt AND another top Yankee prospect, the Yankees could send only Frazier and Schmidt and perhaps trade a lesser prospect for Castillo and either Mike Moustakas or someone I think would be better- Nick Castellanos.

This is only if the Yankees are prepared to go past the luxury tax this season. Castellanos can play 3B and LF and he’s going to be 29 this year and he’s tied through his age 34 season. He’s rough defensively at both positions but again can be a useful offensive bat if it means the Yankees hold on to their better prospects and allows them to acquire Luis Castillo who played the role of Ace #2 behind NL Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer. Castillo is in the first year of arbitration entering the 2021 season, so he’s cost controlled for the next 3 years and would provide the Yankees or any team attempting to trade for him the kind of ace level production anyone would love to have. This option also means they go past the luxury tax which many have predicted they want to stay under for this year.

What we don’t know is whether Cashman has the stomach to make this kind of trade. The Reds are said to be asking for a ransom in return for Castillo and even if you added a bloated contract this move will likely cost them Frazier and Schmidt at minimum. Cashman has hesitated in dealing prospects the last few years but may view this as one of those special circumstances where the cost is warranted. There are other trades to be made but Castillo has reportedly been shopped and it would be criminal if Cash didn’t make an attempt to shore up a rotation that other than Gerrit Cole, has 800 career innings pitched behind him (note this means Clarke Schmidt and his 6 career innings, Luis Severino who is coming back from Tommy John, Deivi Garcia and his 30 IP and Jordan Montgomery). I’m not including Domingo German who as of now still has a job but it will be interesting to see how the Yankees tightrope his suspension and a return if at all.

Adding Castillo would instantly put the Yankees rotation on par with the top 5 rotations in all of baseball. Montgomery isn’t flashy but he’s solid as a 5th starter. I like Deivi Garcia alot. I think he has the stuff to be really good in two to three years. But until then he would be a good four in this rotation. Kluber would slot in as a three which is a necessity since Severino wouldn’t be expected to be back until June at the earliest and the Yankees would want to bring him in slowly. The Yankees would be giving up Clarke Schmidt in this deal for Castillo.

The Yankees have Michael King, Albert Abreu, and Luis Medina as options as well. Now, what that means for them this season is something else altogether.

To me the line up is stacked but the Yankees have been linked to Michael Brantley as well. If they added Brantley at LF, while trading for Castillo how can anyone pick against this team come October? Or even Marcell Ozuna for that matter. There are a number of reasons to believe Trevor Bauer won’t be wearing a Yankee hat outside of his free agent Youtube videos. There’s that thing with Gerrit Cole which may or may not have been squashed and Trevor’s penchant for stirring up the interwebs with his outspoken antics which for the straight laced, clean shaven Yankees may be too much. Plus he’s just too expensive.

Do they go after Joc Pederson who can play every OF spot defensively? Want a cheaper SP option? What about Taijuan Walker or Jake Odorizzi who are at the top of most peoples lists for back end depth options. You can argue both are probably a tinker or two away from becoming good pitchers and incredible value. The Yankees don’t have exciting options outside of the Castillo trade and given their 40 man situation, where this roster is currently, a Castillo trade makes a ton of sense for the Yankees to pursue. Get it done Cash.

Why would the Mets sign everyone but hold the line for JD Davis and what does that mean for what the Mets do next – JD from Flushing

Most people don’t understand why the Mets want to go through arbitration hearings when all that separates both sides is $400K but a deeper look could tell you where the Mets are looking at upgrading. Alot of people think the Mets next buy is Brad Hand to help the Mets bullpen. The Mets keep talking about using money to upgrade since the Mets don’t have the kind of prospect depth to swing the kind of trade they need. So CF will likely need to be a FA acquisition but Alderson has said multiple times that in lieu of a DH in the national league he doesn’t want to see Dom Smith or JD Davis play LF.

The reality is getting a true CF, whether its Springer or Jackie Bradley Jr or Albert Almora Jr helps the OF situation by moving Nimmo to left and you either learn to live with Davis at 3b or you work him in a platoon with Luis Guillorme. His value is tied to how that situation plays out. If Davis is a platoon guy then paying more than they want to for Davis makes little sense even for a team that is actively spending like the Mets.

The fans are all over about what the next priority should be as long as they close Brad Hand. They’ve been linked to Kris Bryant although you can’t envision them trading for and giving him an extension unless the cost to acquire him came down. The Mets have around $21M now that all the arbitration numbers are in. Some have argued that going the Lemiehu route on Springer (signing him for a longer contract to bring the AAV down) makes sense but the Mets will likely be negotiating with both Lindor and Conforto on long term extensions at the same time.

In my previous mailbag I predicted the value on Lindor and Conforto extensions. The Mets are locked in at $68M in commitments. Fitting a Springer at a lower AAV could be done but the question is whether the Mets want to do that over the other options. Much of that won’t be answered until we know whether Lindor and Conforto can be signed long term. That’s why I think the Springer offer is a take it or leave it offer until the Mets know where the other two are in terms of contracts. So my prediction is Springer could wait this out to keep the Mets in it to try adn get the Mets the most money possible.

My prediction: Davis opens the season as their 3B but the Mets could look to trade for Bryant at the midpoint of next season when the ask would be lower. This is a make or break season for Davis and his future on this franchise given the line the Mets decided to draw in the sand in arbitration. Davis would be the fourth Met in the last 28 years to go to arbitration.

Is anyone going to take the BlueJays money? Mark S from Toronto 

You have to believe someone will. The Blue Jays have an enviable $116M in in luxury tax space this year and don’t have more than $33M in commitments next year with Bo Bichette, and Cavan Biggio still in pre-arb years and Vlad Jr entering his first arb year next year. Theoretically the Blue Jays could meet Bauer’s price and Realmuto’s price and Springer’s price IF they chose to do so but the bet here is that only one will take their money.

The recent news that Springer would like to play close to his Connecticut home is half negotiating tactic aimed at keeping the Mets involved, and half truth. We will know soon if Springer is just trying to extract additional monies from the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays offered a higher AAV for Lemeihu with their reported 4 year $78M offer but they weren’t willing to extend beyond that number to rob Lemiehu from the Yankees, if that was even something DJ was considering.

At some point the Blue Jays will have to make an aggressive offer for somebody. So it makes sense for Springer to stay in for as long as possible. Im wondering if the Blue Jays who so far haven’t been linked too close to Bauer or Realmuto shift energy into signing both.

Jayson Stark of the Athletic reported the Phillies made a 5 year offer for $100M recently. Would the Blue Jays be motivated to go big for Realmuto? They have Danny Jansen at the position now, and don’t have a prospect within 3 years of making the big league club so there’s an opportunity to massively upgrade the position and then spend big on shoring up the rotation and bullpen.

To me Bauer is a fit since Ross Atkins their current GM and and President of Baseball Operations Mark Shapiro both were in Cleveland when they traded for Bauer. They know what they are getting but do they want to sink $30M+ on a pitcher who just turned 30? Tough to know.

If I had to predict one would sign I’m guessing its Springer. The Mets priorities will be to re-sign Lindor and Conforto and at the minimum engage Syndegaard on a contract extension as well. Until they know what they are working with for the next few years its hard to figure on Springer. You get the sense that the Blue Jays will want to have one big contract expense to point to when discussing their offseason so its not a total failure even if it means overpaying for one of the guys.

Are we still going to start baseball on time? Rob M from NYC

No Rob. No we won’t. There isn’t any evidence that we are at the stage of vaccine deployment where enough of the population will get it so that we can get back to some amount of fans at all ballparks this year to begin the year.

My prediction is that we start Spring training in mid March with May being a scheduled start so we can have a 140 game schedule. I also predict many of the rules that existed last year will be in effect next year including expanded playoffs, 7 innings for double headers, runners at 2nd for extra inning games and most importantly the DH in the NL.

Why is Thibs continually going to Elfrid Payton over Immanuel Quickley? Immanuel Q from Midtown

Finally a basketball question!

I couldn’t tell you other than Thibs wants to ease Quickley into the expanded role that he should be playing. He’s a rookie and looks like the future at backcourt for the Knicks.

https://twitter.com/ThomasCDee/status/1350496597336010754

 There isn’t a basketball reason for keeping Payton in at PG and playing him meaningful minutes. There’s an energy, skill and IQ (pardon the pun) uptick as soon as Quickley comes into the ballgame. Thibs isn’t dumb and has to manage this team through its first rough stretch. They’ve lost their last 5 games and are now playing the Celtics which will most likely be their sixth loss removing most of the optimism from their 5-3 start.

I said most because its clear that some good things have happened. Quickley is proving to be a steal. Obi hasn’t played and will be a boon with his ability and athleticism. Randle is playing at a 3rd team All NBA level which could result in what will surely be a healthy should we or shouldn’t we trade Randle for assets discussion among Knicks fans.

Most importnatly Kevin Knox, the guy who was on the outs in most Knicks fans eyes has begun to see life. He’s hitting 44% from deep, attempting the same amount while seeing his highest PER in his young career. Speaking of developments, it turns out putting the ball as much as possible in RJ Barret’s hands is a good decision.

Barrett is making the type of statistical leap in year two that most players are making although the wins aren’t adding up. Barrett’s 3P shooting aside (he’s at 20.7% for the year), his PER is up and so is his confidence. He’s the guy on this team and entrusting him in those situations can only help as the year goes on and for his development. If we are trashing the Knicks for faulty draft pick decisions we have to atleast see them in extended periods to make a true judgement and incremental improvements in most areas show that Barrett could be on the cusp. The threes will start to fall and as a ballhandler once the defense doesn’t sag off him from beyond the arc, his opportunities to drive and set up teammates or himself will increase and he’s a natural ball handler for a guy his size.

Quickley’s emergence can help both players. Knox doesn’t have to justify his draft slot and can be the hustle guy who drains the occasional three. Barrett has options with the ball in his hands, since Quick is a natural catch and shoot guy and as a guy who can set up Barrett from deep. But its incumbent that both players can take advantage of the opportunities. When the Knicks had their four game win streak all three were playing well along with Randle. They will need that again if the Knicks plan on being the fun team again.

Is James Harden the final piece to the puzzle or the beginning of the end of this current Brooklyn Nets run? Sean M from Brooklyn 

My answer to the Harden trade is you trade for the talent, and worry about the fit later. Harden is a top 5 player in the NBA. Those players don’t come along often and he and KD get along. The Brooklyn fit with Kyrie is everyone’s big question mark but the pick and roll with Bruce Brown that Harden ran is terrifying if they can run that with Kyrie and KD on both ends and Joe Harris in another corner. This team will have to outscore every other team but the good news is that outside of Anthony Davis and Lebron James they have two of the most unstoppable offensive weapons in the game in Harden and KD and Kyrie who when mentally in, offers a luxury that no other team outside of the 2017 Warriors could match.

Of course there’s concern that this could blow up in their face but kudos to Sean Marks for making this trade. This is why you stockpile assets. Think about where this franchise came up from to now. This is NOT the Paul Pierce/KG trade where you are trading for washed up players well past their prime. KD is playing like like he never left. Harden posted a triple double in his first game with the Nets and we haven’t even seen Kyrie yet play with them.

Defense is a concern of course but not many teams can offer the offensive firepower the Nets do. Now its on Steve Nash to earn his keep as a coach. Much of Steve Kerr’s value in 2015 was unlocking the style of play the Warriors played that took them from a playoff team to a world champion and then in 2016 to the greatest regular season team ever. But he also excelled in the intangible part of coaching which was coaxing the most out of the team. Having guys like Steph Curry and Klay Thompson who are not the reported headcases that Kyrie and Harden are help but many pointed to Nash’s excellent reputation as a communicator as the reason why they moved on from Kenny Atkinson who oversaw the development of the Nets pre-KD and Kyrie acquisitions.

Now we will know if Nash has hte chops to be a head coach. Can we manage these personalities? Marks is doubling down on his Nash bet by giving him the kind of combustible team that could either win spectacularly or flame out spectacularly but they will for sure take up plenty of national coverage real estate. The talent is too great to ignore so I think its a great idea to trade for one of the top 3 best offensive players of his generation, but also a risk that much of what makes him great could erode the trust the franchise/team have.

All three superstars have the option to jump ship after next year. All three are not going to just shut up and play for the sake of it. Lesson here Knicks- this is why you spend time developing young players and the team. This is why you don’t trade away valuable commodities like first round picks for guys who don’t fit or semi-stars. Sean Marks turned no first round picks and a crappy cap situation into Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden.

You can see why the Rockets chose the Nets offer. Forget the rumor that Tillman Fertita ordered the Rockets front office not to discuss a trade with Daryl Morey and the Sixers who would have reportedly discussed Ben Simmons. If this doesn’t work out the Rockets will have extremely valuable assets moving forward into 2027. Assets, if used right and it flames out, they could use to build the next great team in Houston.

Of course stranger things have happened. I mean judging by pictures Harden lost nearly 40 pounds in the last week. This Nets team could win the next 3 titles and put KD up their with Lebron and MJ in the GOAT discussion. Their success could force teams like the Celtics to make the usually frenetic Danny Ainge to consider taking drastic steps to open a title window by swinging for a big move. Will this Nets team success challenge the Greek Freak’s loyalty?

Remember, the Warriors title teams made Daryl Morey trade for CP3 and then Russell Westbrook which eventually forced its own destruction. It made Lebron face his own mortality and plan the team up with Davis in LA. The Celtics probably figured they could wait the Warriors run out with their young studs Tatum and Brown. How patient can they afford to be if this new big 3 plays well?

There’s a lot riding on this trio. EIther it flames out or teams begin to reconsider whether their roster is good enough to compete in the short term. It could make for interesting subplots leaguewide. There could be more trades. Bradley Beal will be traded. There are only a few teams that can take him on knowing they have a legit chance of beating the Nets if everything falls into place.

You do this trade everytime and figure it out later.

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March 21, 2011 · 3:38 pm

Monday Morning something or the other

After a one week hiatus, I’ve come back locked and loaded.  Ok, so maybe I’m being a bit over emphatic about my return but since the sports world waits for no man, I figured neither did you.

 

SO LONG LUIS; OLLIE NEXT?

Why the likely delay of Perez release, you ask? A team official suggests it would be callous to do morning after bad outing.

@SurfingTheMets

I think its safe to say that this day was one that most saw coming and even Luis Castillo did as well.  The most concerning part of cutting Castillo had nothing to do with performance as many saw him as the best second baseman the Mets had in camp.  It had more to do with what he was in the eyes of fans which brings me to what I feel is the most obvious storyline that the Mets face this upcoming season. What moves can this new regime make to build up enough goodwill with the fans that when they ultimately make the unpopular ones, (for example trading Jose Reyes or letting him go in free agency) that they will point to the overall changes and say “see, we listened to you and we did what we could.”

Mike Vaccaro wrote a pretty interesting piece yesterday which called the Mets on what he feels their strategy is and his own suggestions on what they could do to bridge the divide that exists between the fan base and ownership.  The Mets ownership situation being what it is, will find it ridiculously difficult to win the fan base over if Oliver Perez finds himself on the opening day roster.  It would be a death sentence on a team that already faces charges of willfully ignoring repeated warnings about the operation Bernie Madoff was running.  This would inevitably lead to the sale of the Mets franchise, something that the Wilpons stubbornly refuse to admit is an option for them.  They have only publicly announced that they are looking for investors to take on 20-25% of ownership.

This season will be very interesting to watch from a business standpoint as this may be the final season that the Wilpons can hold on to the Mets.  If the team flounders and sales of season tickets continue to lag behind, the decision of selling the team will no longer be under their control and it will HAVE to be sold.

But there are still baseball decisions to be made.  The Mets refused to answer any questions relating to the inevitable release of Oliver Perez which all but seems certain after his latest shellacking.  He allowed 2 home runs on his first 5 pitches which even for him is a remarkably difficult thing to do.  I find it funny that I was about to write a piece on the Mets allowing fans to run their team and make their decisions which seems eerily familiar to what the Minaya regime did.  I said that perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to see more of Oliver Perez and try to recoup some kind of value for a 28 year old lefty who can get other lefties out.  His numbers last year, if only used as a lefty specialist, project very well.  But now it seems that after this latest fiasco in which the fans actually cheered when he gave up the two home runs, that it no longer seems likely that he has a future with the Mets.

Perhaps the Mets are looking to purge the old regime and its mistakes.  Luis Castillo is a good player but never meshed with the team the way many thought he would.  He’s a stand up guy who always faced the music and vitriol from the fans like myself who screamed many a times for Castillo to be sent to Siberia or anywhere far from Citi Field.  As of this morning, rumor was that the Phillies had signed him to a minor league contract which lead me to two thoughts:

1. The Phillies are really concerned about Chase Utley and don’t trust that he will be back anytime soon which would be terrible for an already questionable line up.

2. He will be a good fit on that team.

Why would I say he’d be a good fit?  A fresh start would be great for him because he needs one, but also because the locker room in Philadelphia has one of the better reputations in all of baseball and they will support him and do a good job of keeping him in good spirits even when the Philly fans eventually turn on him like the Met fans did.

One final story about Luis Castillo that I must share and yes, it has to do with the dropped pop up.  I was vacationing with friends in the Dominican Republic when the Mets and Yankees played in the now infamous “Castillo Dropped Pop Up” game and the resort was filled with a mix of Yankee fans and Yankee haters, not necessarily Met fans.*  As A-Rod popped up and slammed his bat to the ground for what surely seemed like the last out and K-Rod threw his right hand in the air to point to the pop up, I got up and turned my back to the television.  Mind you, I had taken enormous amounts of heat from Yankee fans and I was going to have the last laugh on what was a very close game.  I don’t remember what I said but I do remember the cheer I saw from the Yankee fans, and I quickly turned around.  Right in time to see Luis Castillo pick himself up, and throw a weak throw to home that Mark Texieira beat.
*= There were Red Sox fans there, and a Manny Ramirez fan who didn’t like the Red Sox but rooted against the Yankees.  Go figure.  In the Dominican Republic, who would have thunk it that I would find baseball fans.

Two thoughts on that:

1. Tex is not a speedy runner so for him to beat that throw showed you how absolutely flustered Castillo was at that present time.  A normally sure handed defensive infielder, he wrote his death sentence with Met fans on that night.  Nine times out of ten, he makes that play.

2. I went back and saw the replay from the time that Castillo knew that the ball was coming to him and he NEVER looked confident.  He seemed to lose sight of the ball in mid flight and spent the next 5 seconds trying to find it in the stars.  He never looked confident and never possessed the wherewithal to recover from it after that.  Fans turned on him and never gave him a second chance to win back their affections and frankly he never did anything to win it back either.  He was losing range as a second baseman and what little power he had to begin with, he lost along with his confidence after that night.

I think this move is for the good of both the Mets AND Luis Castillo and will allow him to finish his career in a place that won’t hold one play against him.  He was never a power hitting second baseman and he lost his range as he got older with the Mets, a phrase that Met fans have grown sick and tired of hearing.

There remains one last move for the Mets to make to fully extricate themselves from the former era: cutting Oliver Perez and I’m sure however loud that cheer was for his two homeruns will pale in comparison to the collective cheer of Met fans when news spreads that they have finally separated themselves from the talented but clueless lefty.  Yes, I still consider him talented.

Jalen Rose and Uncle Tom

I’ve never been a fan of Jalen Rose’s.  He says very little on TV that make him worthy of the title “analyst”.  Nothing he says makes me sit up and take notice.  But people like him continue to find a way to stay on the air because the players who WOULD have made good analysts don’t want to be one or they just don’t get hired because they refuse to do anything beyond their jobs.  Guys like Jalen Rose know how to market themselves and create an air of importance that everyone else except the big wigs find engaging enough to listen to.

So when the Fab Five documentary was being spoken about by ESPN even before airing I sensed that its executive producer, Mr. Jalen Rose, probably had something to do with it.  Wouldn’t you know, he did.  In fact, it was his comment that created a semi controversy.  Except I saw the documentary and came away with the same feeling that Deadspin writer Jack Dickey had: what controversy?

First of all, the article does a great job exploring the timeline of events which clearly place the onus on this bit of cooked up controversy squarely at the feet of both the Worldwide Leader and Jalen Rose.  Rose is their employee.  Rose was part of the Fab Five.  ESPN’s 30 for 30 chronicled the impact of the Fab Five.  The message of the documentary was that none of these kids, especially Jalen, did not benefit financially as much as the university did and the NCAA did from their accomplishments which were two Final Fours, and zero championships.

Of course, there’s a bit of a problem with that logic.  While it may be true that the Fab Five did not immediately benefit from their popularity, their hype multiplied their status among NBA scouts who grouped all of them as one collective body of talent.  Juwan Howard was a number 5 draft pick in the 1994 NBA draft.  Jalen Rose was the 13th pick in the NBA draft.  He got his money.  And then some.  Not only from their obvious talent but also from the hype that his group of rogue super freshmen group created.

One major voice missing was Chris Webber who did not appear for reasons still yet unknown.  His involvement with a booster, Ed Martin,  caused Michigan to relinquish any accomplishments that the university had from that era.  Maybe he did not want to relive moments like the timeout heard round the world.  Maybe he just grew tired of hearing that question.  Maybe he likes Jalen Rose as much as I do and found it unappealing to help Jalen in any conquest to recoup money.

Whatever the case may be, I found the documentary to be insightful yet completely one sided.  Jalen Rose made himself and his band of brothers out to be victims when one could hardly call them that.  They were rockstars.  They got more attention for a team who’s collective record would normally draw a yawn.  They had talent yes, but failed to bring home the gold and more often than not THAT is what made them great.  You either wanted to see them fail OR you wanted them to win and give a big middle finger to the critics.  Either way, the Fab Five were a polarizing group of players who wore baggy shorts and black socks.

Michigan had two major things going for them:

The timing of their fashion sense was impeccable.  Hip Hop was emerging as a major form of urban expression and for white America they didn’t understand the opinion of young black males who looked at their well to do white friends and saw a system corrupt and unwilling to allow them access. White America at the time did not understand that position.  They believed the “everyone has equal rights” line and America once again refused to have a full fledged discourse on race.  The Fab Five were young freshmen who came in and after being covered nationally became symbols of that hip hop generation with the way they wore their basketball shorts and openly praised hip hop music.

2.  They had a perfect opponent in Duke.  Naturally they played in the one and only national championship game that group went to against Duke who represent the elitist tradition in our culture.  Duke are more than just Blue Devils, they are Blue Blood and stand for everything that Michigan, with the Fab Five were not.  Jalen Rose harped on this subject.  He felt they were all uncle Toms.  They thought Christian Laettner was soft.  That Duke only recruited black players with the wonderful family that Grant Hill came from.  They were the perfect foil for the dream story that Michigan wanted to write.

I think, like anything, our memories provide a much more glossy look at that team than what actually happened.  We put too much weight on their affect on society and tend to remember the legend more than the actual product which didn’t really amount to much.  That group took more away from Michigan than it brought.  True, it brought a lot of attention to the Wolverine basketball program, but it also put too much pressure and warranted much more attention from the NCAA investigators who tend to shut down programs like the Wolverines for reasons that they say have nothing to do with race.

There are two ways to look at this.  One is to understand Grant Hill’s side which was placed as an op ed in the NY Times.  Or you can agree with ESPN and Jalen Rose by reading this.  Either way, my take on it is this.  The thoughts and opinions about Duke and its players were that of an 18 year old Jalen Rose and he made that very clear when he said that.  While some may feel that Grant Hill didn’t need to defend himself, I think his letter still served a purpose.

Society as a whole continues to look at race as a subject that has the cooties.  We better not touch it because it would begin a long debate that we don’t feel comfortable in.  By we, I mean everyone.  Black people and white people and yellow people and brown people.  Nobody wants to really talk about a subject that they find hard to put into words without it looking like they are racist.

Grant Hill’s upbringing was great, but it also represents a stark contrast to what Jalen Rose grew up in.  Those two worlds are whats at fight here, not Jalen Rose and Grant Hill.  While its sad that Rose grew up knowing who his father was yet never meeting him, it goes to show you that he rose from those surroundings and became a well to do person with a successful career.  My opinion of his skills in that career may not be the most flattering but I don’t begrudge his success.  He’s good at making himself feel wanted and THAT is a skill that even I find hard to master.

The ends are most important, not the means.  Jalen Rose’s story is inspirational and one that many kids can look at as something to aspire to- it shouldn’t be one that brings conflict.  The sad part of all this is that it once again brings to the forefront the problem with race discussions.  They aren’t looking for solutions, they want their voices and opinions heard.  That’s all.

I didn’t think the documentary was as awesome as people thought, and maybe it had something to do with the direction of the discussion after.  Its sad.  That group does deserve a place in history.  Maybe not where Jalen Rose thinks they belong but a spot nonetheless.

NFL’s Ridiculous Discussion

Have we mentioned that the ill will between players and owners is not going away? Sigh

@judybattista- New York Times NFL Writer Judy Battista.

The Twenty first century has come to everyone BUT the NFL apparently.  Over the weekend as discussions went absolutely nowhere, the NFL through Roger Goodell and the NFLPA exchanged letters, typed up on Microsoft Notepad probably, expressing their sides view on why a deal did not get done.  While there isn’t an internet copy of Roger Gooddell’s letter, there is one of the players response and here it is.  In it, they outline the proposal that Goodell said the players should have taken and go point by point as to why they could not.  The opening to the letter says it all:

“We start by reminding you that we were there at the negotiations and know the truth about what happened,”

Listen, I dont know what happened during the negotiations that have made this a disaster, but what I do know is that the first I heard about the owners making an offer was during the 11th hour of negotiations which made it so that the players had to rush to make a decision and the players did the right thing by reeling it back and taking their time.

Look, I’m not picking sides but if those facts are accurate, the owners tried to pull a fast one and couldn’t get away with it.  All I know is that the fans are the ones losing out here as millionaires fight billionaires and no one seems to consider that.  Neither side is willing to negotiate on good terms because there’s too much money involved.

I’m still maintaining my original premise that the NFL will have a longer hold out than the NBA does because there’s too much money in the NFL and not enough in the NBA.  Simple as that.

March Madness

“NCAA officiating boss John Adams was asked on CBS/Turner what he’d say to Pitt fans: “Don’t foul with hardly any time left on the clock.”

@sportswatch- Neil Best writer, Newsday

Ok, so my bracket is basically in the toilet and so is most of America’s.  There was a stat that said that at the beginning of the NCAA tournament 3.9 million brackets had been filled out and by the end of the first day only a few people got it all right.  That’s the FIRST DAY!

Incredibly I had the Morehead State upset over Louisville but have since seen half of my Final Four go kaput.  But I dont want this to be about that.

The dumbest argument has been one carried out by most of America’s talking heads that the Big East is overrated.  That the Big Least didn’t deserve to have as many teams as they did make the tournament.  I find it funny because it really had legs once Charles Barkley said it.

Charles Barkley.  The NBA analyst who admirably has not tried to pass himself off as an NCAA expert and has admitted to not knowing a thing about college sports but has been dispatched by the higher ups in Atlanta to help in their coverage of the tournament.

I get why he’s on, but for him to pass this opinion off as fact is misleading and downright stupidity on his part which, let’s face it, isn’t something new.  Barkley likes to say things without thinking which has created for him a pretty nice niche out there and has made him a very likeable funny person who everyone enjoys hearing and from time to time he expresses opinions we wish some of the analysts would say but are afraid to.  Barkley knows that he has untouchable status at this point and will get a slap on the wrist as opposed to being fired if he says anything remotely controversial.  He’s the breadwinner for TNT/TBS and so has the right to run his mouth.

But let’s just say for argument’s sake that we take Charles Barkley up on his argument.  IS the Big East overrated?  For me it isn’t.  The tournament is not exposing the Big East, its just proving that the hottest team wins, not necessarily the better team.  If you were to have some of these mid majors play Big East teams in a best of 7 series, how many of the would win?  I’m waiting.  Yeah.  I didn’t think so.  So let’s stop that argument right then and there.  The Big East IS a better conference than most because it produces more talent, it recruits more talent and it plays a physical style of basketball that most other conferences don’t play.  Losing one game does NOT mean that this team sucks or that team sucks.  There’s a reason why everyone talks up George Mason as this major Cinderella story or VCU or Gonzaga in years prior- because they were not EXPECTED to beat the teams they beat.  So if you are assigning favorites in a game, losing in a one game playoff means that for that one game, that team was better.  For that ONE night.  Not overall.  Let’s begin to use our heads here people.  Let’s come off the anti-Big East bandwagon.

Sir Charles is just mad that he never won a national championship because the Big East teams were kicking the SEC’s ass EVERY YEAR in the tournament.  Suck on that Sir Charles.

______________________________________

I just had to post this for those who were not there for it or didn’t hear about this.  First off, Butler’s head coach Brad Edwards is starting to resemble the second coming of Coach K.  What a brilliant coach who is leading yet another deep run into the NCAA’s.  Who knows where this will lead, perhaps a rematch of last year’s classic game that went down to the last shot?  But let’s break down this last 7.1 seconds in the Butler/Pitt game.

7.1- Butler out of the timeout calls a fantastic play that ends with Drew Smith putting in an easy lay up that left 2.2 seconds on the clock.

Now, comes the fun.

2.2- Pitt throws in the ball to Gilbert Brown who runs to get the pass but at the same time Sheldon Mack is coming with his arms raised and lands on him and gets the foul called.  Now, at this point I originally thought it was a terrible call but when you look at the replays its clear that Mack made a horrendously stupid play.  An overzealous play by a guy who had done everything in this game to help Butler win scoring 30 points.  Originally there were .009 seconds left.

At 1:01 in the video the announcer suggests that there should be more time on the clock.  While the refs sort it out, Sheldon Mack tries to work some mind games on Gilbert Brown and lines up right next to him on the free throw line.  As the refs take their time Mack is trying to talk Brown out of being the hero.  By the way, I LOVE when guys do this.  I remember when Lebron went up to Gilbert Arenas (any correlation between the Gilberts?) and whispered something and Arenas missed the free throw.  I thought, wow, what a great move by Lebron.  Here was no exception.  Mack was going to do everything in his power to make sure that Brown’s head was not clear for the two biggest free throws of his life.

Refs put 1.4 seconds on the clock.  Brown hits the first one.  No timeouts for Butler. He misses the second one, Matt Howard comes up with the ball and immediately throws up a shot as he’s being held on to by Nasir Robinson and a foul gets called.

Unbelievable.  Howard makes the first, and purposely misses the second one and the rebound goes to Pitt and even though the shot happened after the buzzer sounded his 3/4 heave almost went in.

Why did I select this particular game?  Because afterwards Seth Davis echoed a sentiment that undoubtedly many feel: refs have to swallow the whistle with 1.4 seconds unless its such an eggregious foul and in my mind I was like: WHAT?!??!?!

That makes absolutely zero sense.  I dont get how you could make the case that its ok for referees to not make certain calls because of the amount of time left on the clock.  If anything there’s more impetus for them to make the right call at that time than anything.  Mind you, Davis made this opinion AFTER admitting that he thought those two calls WERE fouls.  Referees have one job: to call the game fair.  We’ve seen plenty of games in which the refs have made terrible calls late in games and been hammered for it, and fairly I might add.  So how can someone make the case that its ok for referees to swallow their whistle with that kind of time left in such an important game?  That non call on the Howard foul may have helped Pittsburgh and Butler would’ve cried foul at the NCAA for abusing their Mid Major brethren.

I realize its a never ending battle but let’s end the hypocrisy and keep it real.

The Links and things you sing about bring em out.

– The anti-bully PSA for those who haven’t seen it.

– Probably one of the best posse shows I’ve seen.  GOOD MUSIC afterparty with Nas, Mos Def, De La Soul, Will I Am, and others in the background.  Love it.

What’s coming down the pike:

Carmelo Anthony said yesterday that the Knicks may take some time to gel before they make any noise.  That is an honest assessment from a guy who naturally fears the backlash that inevitably will come from a fan base that suddenly has a lot more expectations from its talented yet inexperienced with each other bunch.  I’m not saying that Melo is at fault.  As a matter of fact, I think Melo has plenty of reason to believe what he believes, I just think that the nature of this team has changed now with two superstars and other players may not feel as much a part of what the Knicks are trying to do.  I will explore more in depth about that chism that clearly exists.

– A podcast soon?  Me thinks its a possibility.

– Have a great week.

As usual we leave you with another inspiring thought from the very wise Ron Artest:

 

ronartest Ron Artest

“My basketball players who take charges r soft n half female”

 

 

 

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April 16, 2010 · 2:58 am

Mets 5- Rockies 0

Phew.  And I mean that.  You have no idea how relieved I am to be talking about a Mets win but don’t worry doomsday fans, I have some negative Nancy stuff too but worry not optimists, nothing too much like the last few days.

– First things first and much kudos and respect goes to Mike Pelfrey.  7 innings, 6 K’s, and 0 walks.  Ok, so he had one balk*, but to his credit he didn’t lose his marbles and kept his cool.  Let’s be honest, the Mets needed this like the Houston Astros needed a win.**  Maybe this is what the Mets needed to get to start things going and get a winning streak started.

*= Here’s a guy that led the league last year with 6 and threw 3 in one game.  But this time the balk wasn’t his fault, Melvin Mora called time and the umpire didn’t grant time and Pelf stopped in mid pitching motion.  He saw a sports psychologist in the offseason to fix whatever was ailing him and for two starts it seems as though its paying off.  Remember a few nights ago that someone called in and asked if the Mets need to see a sports psychologist?  Well I think that answers that doesn’t it?  LET THE HEALING BEGIN!

**= I had a few dirty analogies but I figured I’d stay away from them.  Who knows if the kids are reading this?

– The Mets made Pelfrey add a pitch to his repertoire and I know I’ve been saying over the last few days about going away from the strength of the pitcher.  But Pelfrey mixed in the split finger effectively.  Its becoming an out pitch instead of solely relying on the sinker.  The sinker I suppose is a very useful pitch in the air with the humidor effect as Rockies hitters were getting good slices on the ball later on, but the hits either hung up there or just died at the warning track.  It seemed as though that luck that had eluded the Mets were repaying them back.

– The last two nights the Mets have been terrorized by really athletic Rockies pitchers who flashed some power.  Well today Mike Pelfrey did it all even getting a hit and drawing a walk.  Not only that, Pelfrey scored a run* and drove in a run which of course always helps.  I suppose it was all in the cards for him today.

*= Last night Aaron Cook took advantage of Mike Jacobs’ mental error and scored a run as Jacobs forgot to check him at 3rd.  So it was nice to see some shoddy defense by the Rockies which benefited the Mets.  Its about time some bad stuff happened to another team.  Geez!

– Don’t mean to be a negative nancy but during the 3rd inning after Pelfrey scored to make it 2-0, David Wright came up to bat with Jose Reyes on 2nd and Luis Castillo on 1st and no outs.  Well, you’d think that Wright drew a walk or grounded into a double play right?  No.  Would you believe that Wright somehow made 3 outs?*  Well, not exactly but let me explain.  Its not quite sure what happened but based on the field it looked like Reyes faked the steal and Castillo jumped thinking he was stealing and tried to go double steal which is a great idea given both of their speed.  Unfortunately Reyes wasn’t going and just stood there as Castillo got caught in a run down.  That is one out.  The second out came when Reyes tried to steal 3rd and got caught**.  Which of course makes two outs and Wright struck out three pitches later.  Yes.  Somehow Wright put a cap on that rally with a punch out. ***

*= I know I’m tough on him but come on.  COME ON!  He’s the franchise, if he doesn’t like it, too bad.

**= Its clear Reyes still isn’t at full speed and while the Mets like to see him run and try to steal a base its clear he isn’t going all out and i’m noticing the drastic reduction in his speed which is troubling.  Its not like he’ll lose it completely but as he gets older, it only gets worse.

***= No, I refuse to be nice.  I hate watching Wright in situations like this because I feel bad looking at him struggling through it.  Its as if he is hearing the entire Met fan base screaming at him to come through and him worrying about letting them down.  He plays so tight in these situations and it s sad and frustrating all at the same time to see it happen.

– It was the Rockies B-team with Melvin Mora playing 2nd and Giambi playing 1st but a win is a win and I’ll take it.

– The best thing about today’s game was how patient the Mets were.  Once again, they didn’t let a guy who clearly didn’t come out with his A stuff to beat them.  They were patient at the plate, especially David Wright who’s OBP right now is somewhere in the ridiculous .500 range.  He’s still striking out a lot but he comes up and makes sure to see a lot of pitches.  That plays well because if most of the line up is starting to be patient then the Mets can get quicker to the bullpen and take their chances with them in a close game.  The Mets have been using that approach this season and its helped a lot.  The best thing about this is that its been happening all season for the Mets, not just today so its a habit that’s sinking in and more often than not the Mets will be successful.

– You’re not going to believe me if I told you but Fernando Nieve, Hisanori Takahashi and Ryota Igarashi never stepped foot into the game.  That’s right.  It was Pelf for 7 shutout 5 hit innings and then Pedro Feliciano with a scoreless 8th and then K-Rod for a solid ninth.  Yes sir, if the season continues to go like this the Mets will be fine.

– The Mets desperately needed this victory for morality more-so than anything else.  You can talk about this being the beginning of the season but playing here, in NYC, its a completely different ball game and to be honest those who aren’t from here will never understand it.  The season is young but the seat that Jerry Manuel is sitting on didn’t get that much cooler with today’s victory.  His job is on the line this early in the season and obviously if the team doesn’t produce the Mets will end up replacing him and while I don’t completely agree with it, I think that it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.  His job, GM Omar Minaya’s job is also on the brink of being lost had the Mets lost this game which would’ve made it 5 straight.  But this victory cemented in the Mets heads that they do have some semblance of pitching and can beat good teams.  Good teams battle adversity and live long enough to tell about it.  Again, last year who knows how this game would’v ended, but it seems as if the team unity and all the bonding that guys did and having a better, more lively clubhouse has something to do with it.  I like this group because they seem to like each other genuinely and support each other the same way.  Can’t wait to see how this victory helps Pelfrey gain some confidence and also for the Mets.

– Tomorrow’s game will be the first regular season on WB 11 so make sure you get tuned in for that.  While there was some debate over whether to put Johan Santana tomorrow night the Mets instead decided to stick to script and have Santana pitching the national game on FOX on Saturday.  It doesn’t get any easier for the Mets as they are slotted to face both Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright this weekend which always is interesting.  The Mets need this momentum to keep going.

SEASON: 3-6

MY PREDICTION: 5-4

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