Sports Time Radio

We’ve got two NFL playoff games today to kickoff wild card weekend. Now when we get playoff games on Saturday we get different start times.

The first game is the Indianapolis Colts at the Houston Texans with a scheduled start time of 3:35 p.m. cst. I’m still waiting to see who Dan the Man and Mr. Fantasy are picking to win this game, but I can tell you that Schaumburg Stu and I are on opposite sides of this game. Schaumburg Stu is going with the Texans while I have the Colts.

The second game today is scheduled for primetime as it has a 7:15 p.m. cst start time and it features the Dallas Cowboys hosting the Seattle Seahawks. Just like the first game I have no idea who Dan the Man or Mr. Fantasy will end up picking, but Schaumburg Stu and I went the opposite way on this game as well. Schaumburg Stu has the Cowboys winning this game while I have the Seahawks moving into the next round.

The Sunday games have start times closer to what we’re use to for Sunday NFL games. The first game has the Baltimore Ravens hosting the Los Angeles Chargers. This game has a scheduled start time of 12:05 p.m. cst. The second wild card game on Sunday has the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles visiting the Chicago Bears. this game is scheduled to start at 3:40 p.m. cst.

Now I do have Schaumburg Stu and my picks for these two games, but if you want to know who we’re picking and hopefully find out who Dan the Man and Mr. Fantasy not only picked for Saturday’s games, but who they’re picking in Sunday’s two games you’ll have to tune in to the Sunday morning edition of Sports Time Radio.

The Sports Time Radio podcast airs live from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. cst on Sunday’s through that BlogTalkRadio.com. website. If you miss the podcast live you can head over to TuneIn.com and listen to the podcast any time you’d like.

While the Philadelphia Phillies where one of the teams interested in signing Bryce Harper or Manny Machado they had some other issues to address; one of them being their bullpen. the Phillies address the back end of their bullpen when they signed David Robertson to a two year $23 million dollar deal.

Robertson spent last season as a set up man for the New York Yankees, but does have closing experience. Robertson closed for the Yankees in 2014 and recorded 39 saves. He signed with the Chicago White Sox after that season and posted 34 saves in 2015 and 37 saves in 2016. He had 13 saves with the White Sox in 2017 before they dealt him back to the Yankees.

With Robertson holding down the closer role it allows the Phillies to move future closer SerAnthony Dominquez into a set up role. Dominguez will also have the opportunity to learn from the veteran Robertson. Dominguez will also be the guy the Phillies call on if Robertson is unavailable.

Behind Robertson and Dominguez the Phillies have a veteran core of set up men to get them game to their big relievers. Pat Nesek and Tommy Hunter return from last season. The Phillies added Juan Nicasio in a trade with the Seattle Mariners and left-hander Jose Alvarez in a trade with the Los Angeles Angels. It appears as the bullpen will round out with former closer Hector Neris and former starter Adam Morgan.

I know the Phillies came into this off season with the intention of landing Harper, Machado or possibly both, but if neither player ends up wearing a Philadelphia uniform coming into the 2019 season they’ve still had  quality off season.

Besides the additions to the bullpen the Phillies added Andrew McCutchen via free agency. Jean Segura was the main player in that trade with the Mariners that brought Nicasio over.

If the Phillies don’t end up signing Harper or Machado, but say they add a top starting pitcher like Dallas Keuchel would their fans look at it as a good off season or would the disappointment of not landing one of the big two free agent prizes override the signings they made?

I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but I am incredibly tired of all of the Harper and Machado talk. Even though it was reported that Machado got a formal offer from the Chicago White Sox I doubt that either of these guys will sign a contract until February. You know that both of these guys agents wants to have their guy sign last; so unless a team just blows one of these guys minds with an offer don’t expect either of them to be signing soon. It’s also been reported that Harper’s agent Scott Boras wants to set a record with Harper’s contract. Now I’m not sure if that means he’s looking for a deal bigger than the one Giancarlo Stanton signed with the Miami Marlins or if he wants Harper to have the highest salary per season which Zach Greinke currently s at $34 million a season.

I am interested to see if either guy would be willing to sign with a team that is still rebuilding and isn’t ready to win. The White Sox fit into that mode and it would be interesting to see if he’d take that offer. There are some other teams that are in the same spot as the White Sox who’s names have came up as being interested in signing Harper or Machado.

Could you see Harper or Machado signing with a team like the San Diego Padres or San Francisco Giants? These are two of the teams that have come up with some interest in trying to sign one of these two guys. The address seem like they’ve been rebuilding for a very long period of time and it appears as though the Giants where getting ready t start a rebuild.

I know the New York Mets have been mentioned as interested in Harper, but I’m not sure that I’d call them a rebuilding team with the starting pitching staff they have. Unless the Mets decided that they’re going to deal a starting pitcher or two I don’t think you can call them rebuilding. Just about any of the Mets starters can shut a team out in any given game.

Do you have a landing spot for Harper or Machado? If so let me know where you think they’ll sign in the comment section.