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Let’s call it Wednesday 8/13/14

Posted: August 13, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in football, sports, Uncategorized
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If you listen to Sports Time Radio you know that we play in two 20 team fantasy leagues for baseball and football. One of the leagues is done using an auction format style draft while the other uses a more common snake style draft. Well the football drafts are coming up at the end of the month and it’s time to get ready for them. The auction league is much, much easier for me to get ready for. The snake league on the other hand can be difficult. How many of you have wanted a player and he goes a pick or two before you where going to take him and then you have to scramble and find another player at the last second? To add a little more pressure when that happens we run the leagues through Yahoo and there is a time limit on how long you have to make a pick. What’s given me trouble the last few seasons has been the running back position. We have to start two running backs each week and of course you’d like at least one running back on your bench to cover your bye weeks. That means that 60 or more running backs can be selected in our draft and if you don’t get a quality guy early on your in trouble. I’ve been trying to get running backs in order and here’s what I’ve come up with; maybe it will help you out as well.

If you happen to be drafting in the top four picks you’re going to get a top quality running back. You could put the names of Adrian Peterson, Vikings, LeSean McCoy, Eagles, Jamaal Charles, Chiefs and Matt Forte, Bears into a hat and as long as that player stays healthy you’ve got your guy. I have them ranked with Charles #!, Forte #2, Peterson #3 and McCoy at #4. Charles is on top because he doesn’t have the weapons around him that Forte has and that’s a good thing in fantasy football. Peterson has never really been involved in the Minnesota passing game and that can hurt his value especially in PPR (Points Per Reception) leagues. I think McCoy will be hurt be the addition of Darren Sproles this off-season more than people think he will be. There are four guys who aren’t quite to the level of the top 4 but you’d like to have. Marshawn Lynch, Seahawks, Eddy Lacy, Packers, Le’Veon Bell, Steelers and DeMarco Murray, Cowboys. Most experts would’ve included Lynch with the top-level guys, but look for his carries to be cut down this season. He;s also added up quite a few carries the last couple of seasons and that will wear on a running back. Bell and Lacy are kind of the same back. Both of them are coming off of solid rookie seasons where each of them missed games due to injuries. When healthy though they’ve proven they can get yards and touchdowns for fantasy owners. If there was a guarantee that Murray would play all 16 games this season he would be right up there with the top guys, but he always seems to be injured. If you take him this season and he stays healthy you could have a fantasy star on your hands. For me it’s Lynch at #5, Bell at #6, Lacy #7 and Murray #8. As we move along it gets tougher to rank guys as it’s guys coming off of injuries or guys who haven’t reached their potential yet. Montee Ball, Broncos, Doug Martin, Buccaneers, Arian Foster, Texans, Alfred Morris, Redskins, Andre Ellington, Cardinals, Giovani Bernard, Bengals, Reggie Bush, Lions and C.J. Spiller, Bills. For me I have Ball at #9; he had surgery for an Appendectomy, but all signs point to him being ready for Week 1 and he’s got Peyton Manning as his quarterback. #10 is Martin; he’s coming back off of an injury, but his new head coach s Lovie Smith and old school guy who likes to run the football. #11 I’m going with Spiller. There’s so much talent there and you think sooner or later he’s going to have that breakout season. I have Morris at #12 and Foster at #13. These are two guys in new systems with new head coaches that had great success in their old systems. Will that carry over? Bernard is #14; if he was the only back in the Cincinnati system he;d be ranked higher, but you have to wonder how much time he’ll share. Bush is #15; another guy in a time share situation and that’s to bad. He might out up big numbers if he played every down. Ellington lands at #16 for me. His head coach has praised him and said he’d be the every down back; you’ll just have to take that chance. We’re headed towards what would be the end of our 1st round; so if you reach a little here I can understand that. This next group could reward your choice. Ben Tate, Browns, Ryan Mathews, Chargers, Rashad Jennings, Giants and Toby Gerhart, Jaguars. Tate is #17; this is his first shot at being a teams every down back. He has had some injury issues; so there may be some risk reward with this pick. Jennings is at #18 another running back who needs to prove he can stay healthy, but if he does the Giants like to run the ball and if he’s their guy you’ll get the fantasy points. Gerhart would be that “sleeper” pick at #19. He’s the every down guy on a bad Jacksonville team, but he is effective in the passing game; so he should score points for you even on a bad team. Mathews split time last season, but got the majority of the carries; so I have him at #20. He’s another guy who needs to stay healthy for his fantasy owner. Remember you’re going to need to start two running backs every week. Zac Stacy, Rams, Frank Gore, 49ers, Chris Johnson, Jets and Ray Rice, Ravens. #21 Stacy could be a guy who ends up being better than this draft positions. The thing that may hold him down is the division he plays in. #22 Rice is in a new system run by Gary Kubiak and backs in that system do well. Remember though he’s suspended the first two games of the season. Johnson at #23 is with a new team that has a young quarterback and may rely heavily on the running game. That would be a huge plus for Johnson’s fantasy owner. Every year they say that #24 Gore’s carries are going to be cut or he’s going to play less and every year he puts up solid numbers. There’s always a chance that could happen; so there’s some risk with this pick. Bernard Pierce, Ravens is way up my board at #25. He’ll get to start the first two games of the season and Kubiak’s system has always featured two running backs. #26 Stevan Ridley, Patriots. you know he’s going to split time when you draft him, but he’s the rushing guy in that split. He should also be the guy getting the goal line carries. #27 Joique Bell, Lions maybe the best of the time share running backs out there. He should get those short yardage goal line carries. #28 Trent Richardson, Colts They seem dedicated to giving him carries. Will produce some numbers based on opportunities, even if he doesn’t wow you while doing so. #30 Steven Jackson, Falcons At one time a top-tier fantasy running back, but those skills appear to be gone. He should still get the bulk of the carries in this offense. #31 Darren Sproles, Eagles he goes from one offense where he fit in well to an offense where he might be a perfect fit. This is a pick that may pay off big for you. #32 Bishop Sankey, Titans should be the first rookie running back off of the board. The concern may be that he doesn’t get the goal line carries. #33 DeAngelo Williams, Panthers he’s been a let down for me before and I’ll try to stay away from him, but it’s that time of the draft. #34 Pierre Thomas, Saints he should get the most playing time out of their three headed backfield. With Sproles gone he could be used in the passing game more. #35 Danny Woodhead, Chargers had a good season last year and you’ll be looking for him to repeat that. #36 Shane Vereen, Patriots is mostly used in the passing game, but from time to time will get a carry. #37 Fred Jackson, Bills he’s Spiller’s back up, but if there’s an injury or if Spiller doesn’t produce Jackson could be a value pick. #38 Knowshon Moreno, Dolphins was the breakout running back last season, but left Denver. Had minor knee surgery recently. #39 Chris Ivory, Jets they like to run the football and someone has to carry it when Johnson doesn’t have it. #40 Mark Ingram, Saints I bought the hype that he would breakout last season and it cost me, but here I am again making him my last ranked running back. Here are a few more names in no particular order if you;re still looking for running backs. Khiry Robinson, Saints, Lamar Miller, Dolphins, Maurice Jones-Drew, Raiders, Andre Williams, Giants, Terrance West, Browns.

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

How was your Week? 8/9/14

Posted: August 9, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Uncategorized
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Are you surprised that Tiger Woods missed the cut yesterday at the PGA Championship? I think I was more surprised that he decided to play than I am that he missed the cut. It was the last tournament of the season for Woods and I wonder if that played into his decision to go out and try to play. Woods played in just seven PGA tournaments this season and won’t qualify for the Fed Ex Cup playoffs that start in two weeks. There was some talk of Woods playing in the Ryder Cup, but you’d have to think that right now it’s better for him to rest and try to recover. I just kind of have a feeling that we’re not going to see Woods in a tournament for a while.

Rory McIlroy is leading the PGA Championship at -9 and has a one shot lead over Jason Day and Jim Furyk. Ryan Palmer, Rickie Fowler and Mikko Ilonen are just two shots back at -7 under. Phil Mickelson is tied for 7th place going into Saturday’s round and is three shots behind McIlroy at -6 under par. McIlroy has been the hottest player on the tour lately and will see if he can add a second major win in a row during these next two rounds.

Kevin Durant left Team USA this week citing mental and physical exhaustion. Durant likely would have split his time between the two positions, starting at small forward. Now Team USA’s best options there are first-timers Gordon Hayward, Chandler Parsons and Kyle Korver, none of whom have made NBA All-Star teams. Anthony Davis, a 21-year-old, is the only All-Star frontcourt player left for Team USA, unless Love decides to play now that his trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers is agreed upon. I have to wonder if the Paul George’s injury had anything to do with Durant’s decision. Durant plays a lot of basketball and you can’t blame him for wanting some time off. His team; the Oklahoma City Thunder goes to the NBA playoffs every season and that adds games to his year as well as these tryouts and basketball camps. You can see where it could get mentally and physically draining on a player. Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gay has been added to Team USA’s roster to replace Durant.

The NFL pre-season got up and running last night. I know there’s been a Hall of Fame game then the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens played Thursday night. Friday had more of a full slate of games. Just some quick take a ways from last nights action. The Chicago Bears defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 34-28, but Bears tight end Martellus Bennett did not participate do to his suspension. Blake Bortles was solid in his preseason debut Friday night, throwing for 117 yards and leading a second-half drive for a field goal in a 16-10 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bortles went 7 for 11 for 117 yards in the game. Matt Cassel outplayed rookie Teddy Bridgewater in the Minnesota Vikings’ opener a 10-6 win over the Oakland Raiders. Cassel went 5-6 for 62 yards while Bridgewater was 6-13 for 49 yards. Derek Carr went 10-16 for 74 yards on the Raiders side, but did throw and interception. Carolina Panthers Pro Bowl quarterback Cam Newton did not play in Friday night’s preseason-opening 20-18 victory over the Buffalo Bills. This is not a setback for Newton, who underwent surgery in March to tighten tendons in his left ankle, as much as it is precautionary. In St. Louis Michael Sam got an extended look at defensive end in the St. Louis Rams’ pre-season opener in a 26-24 loss to the New Orleans Saints. Just a quick little NFL pre-season wrap up from last night.

Did you have the Baltimore Orioles leading the American League East by 5 games at this point in the season? Well that’s right where the Orioles are. A 5 game lead over the New York Yankees. I guess you could see the Orioles in 1st place being led by first base man Chris Davis; no. Davis has had some injuries this season and is having a down year coming off of 2013. Davis does have 20 home runs and has driven in 55, but he’s hitting .198 for the season. Then you’re thinking catcher Matt Wieters is having a break out season; no. Wieters is on the disabled list having playing in just 26 games for Baltimore this season. So how have the Orioles gotten themselves into 1st place. Adam Jones and Nick Markakis lead the offense as full-time players and a great free agent signing of Nelson Cruz have helped. Makakis is hitting .287 with 10 home runs and 39 RBI’s and has been a great defender in right field. Jones is hitting .284 with 22 home runs and 70 RBI’s while being a top defensive center fielder as well. Cruz is supplying the big power numbers for Baltimore this season with 29 home runs and 77 RBI’s. Shortstop J.J. Hardy;s power numbers have been down, but he’s gotten his average up to .281 and leads the team in doubles with 25. Wei-Yin Chen is leading the pitching staff in wins with 12, but Bud Norris and Chris Tillman have 9 wins apiece. After Tommy Hunter’s injury Zach Britton has stepped in and locked down the closer role. Darren O’Day has been a top set up guy with 18 holds and the Orioles went out and added left-handed pitcher Andrew Miller at the trading deadline. Will see if the Orioles can hold off the Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays down the stretch in the A.L. East.

So how was your week?

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

8/6/14 Let’s call it Wednesday.

Posted: August 6, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Uncategorized
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It’s looking more and more like Tiger Woods won’t be playing in this weeks PGA Championship. Woods aggravated his back injury hitting a shot and almost falling into a bunker. He managed to get through a few more holes before having to withdraw from last weeks tournament. There has been no official word from Woods on if he’ll be playing this week, but it would take a miraculous recovery for him to do that. With Woods out injured the media is scrambling to find a face to put on television. They’ve tried this a few times and I’m guessing they’ll turn to Rory McIlroy. McIlroy won last week and won the last major played; The Open Championship a few weeks ago. I seem to remember the media has tried this before with McIlroy and it didn’t work out, but who knows how things will go this time. I don’t know why they have to try to put a face on every tournament instead of just running the best golfer out there as the tournament is going on. I guess they figure no one will watch if they can’t find a guy to out into Tiger’s spot. Besides McIlroy here are 5 other golfers who might be holding the Wanamaker Trophy after Sunday’s final round. Watch Adam Scott, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, J.B. Holmes and as a wild card this week Hideki Matsuyama. Just a few guys I think the course fits well and have good chances to win.

I just heard a report that Woods has shown up at the golf course and is going to play a practice round today and see how his back is. I bet every reporter covering this tournament is hoping Woods back holds up.

Well I heard the start of my favorite debate yesterday. What debate you ask. Well it’s time for everyone to start figuring out how to give Mike Trout the American League MVP this season. Miguel Cabrera has won the award the last 2 seasons, but his stats are a little down this season and if they’re going to give Trout the MVP this may be the year to do it. Now you’re going to hear them push Trout’s Wins Above Replacement (W.A.R.) so be ready for that. The biggest issue I have with this stat is it’s estimated. You don’t estimate a players batting average, home runs, RBI’s or stolen bases. Again I’ll say that Trout is the best position player in baseball, but has he had a MVP season to this point? Right now Trout is 12th in Batting average, 5th in home runs, 4th in RBI’s Remember they pushed the fact the last two 2 seasons that Trout stole bases and Cabrera didn’t. Trout is tied for 23rd in stolen bases this season. So while there is no clear-cut candidate for MVP right now, but there are still a couple of months to go in this season. Will someone break out and win the award or will the experts get their way and finally get to give Trout the MVP. Who are some of the other candidates for MVP in the American League. You know the MVP is going to come off of a playoff team; so let’s see who’s out there. The Baltimore Orioles best player this season is Adam Jones. Jones has 21 home runs, 69 RBI’s and is hitting .285. The Toronto Blue Jays might be a wild card team with Jose Bautista being their best player, he has 21 home runs, 65 RBI’s and is hitting .292. The New York Yankees are hanging around the wild card race; it looks like Brett Gardner is having the best season for New York. Gardner has 15 home runs, 50 RBI’s and is hitting .283 and is in double digits for stolen bases at 18. Detroit should win the American League Central barring some type of collapse. Victor Martinez is having the best season for the Tigers. Martinez has 23 home runs, 66 RBI’s and is hitting .324, but remember he’s a full-time (DH) designated hitter. The Oakland A’s should find a playoff spot, but who’s their best everyday player? How about Derek Norris? Norris has 9 home runs, 41 RBI’s and is hitting .295 but has only played in 84 of the A’s games this season. Brandon Moss and Josh Donaldson both have hit 23 home runs this season. Donaldson has 78 RBI’s while Moss has 72 RBI’s but Donaldson is hitting .244 while Moss is hitting .251. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim look to grab one of the wild card spots. No argument with Mike Trout being their best player. The Seattle Mariners still have a chance at a wild card spot and Robinson Cano is their best player. Cano is hitting .329, but his power numbers are down. He has 8 home runs and has driven in 62 RBI’s this season. Did any of those numbers jump out at you? I mentioned that these guys still have a couple of months to add to these stats and see if someone can win this award. Let’s face it even though he won’t win the MVP. This season the award should go to Houston Astros 2nd baseman Jose Altuve, who is hitting .337 this season and has 4 home runs with 33 RBI’s this season. Altuve isn’t a power hitter and those numbers will be much lower than everyone else’s, but he does lead the American League in stolen bases with 44. We all know Altuve has 0% chance to win the MVP and the Astros aren’t good enough and he isn’t even on a lot of people’s radar. I’d be surprised if he even found his way into the top 5 of the voting, but right now he’s the best player in the American League. See what happens to me when they start talking about this stuff. Have I ever told you how much I hate the WAR stat?

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

8/2/14 How was your Week?

Posted: August 2, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Uncategorized
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If you’re an Indiana Pacers fan the worst possible thing happened last night in the scrimmage for Team USA basketball. George’s leg landed and then buckled at the base of the basket stanchion after he fouled James Harden on a drive to the basket just 27 seconds into the fourth quarter. George suffered a open tibia-fibula fracture and had surgery on it last night. George is expected to remain hospitalized for about three days. One of the reports that came out said that while there didn’t appear to be additional damage besides the fractures, doctors believe George likely will miss all of next season, though no official prognosis has been given. The White team led George’s Blue team 81-71 in the scrimmage at the time of the injury, but the rest of the game was cancelled after George got hurt.

The Indiana Pacers had the best record in the Eastern conference last season before losing in the conference finals to the Miami Heat. George is the Pacers best player averaging 21.7 points per game, 3.5 assists per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. In 19 post season games last season George’s scoring average increased to 23.6 points per game. With the majority if not all of the top NBA free agents signed by now the Pacers don’t really have to many options to try to replace George outside of the organization. Remember the Pacers lost Lance Stevenson as a free agent in the off-season. I guess will see if the Pacers male a move and try to add a player like Shawn Marion or Al-Farouq Aminu to fill some of the void left by George’s injury.

The MLB non-waiver trading deadline was July 31st and a lot of teams made moves before the deadline. The day start with the Boston Red Sox making their 1st of s couple trades they would make by sending Jon Lester, Jonny Gomes and cash to the Athletics for Yoenis Cespedes and a Competitive balance pick. The day ended with the Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays making a three team deal. The Tigers landed the big prize in this deal getting David Price. The Mariners got the right-handed bat a lot of experts say they needed in Austin Jackson and Tampa Bay came away with three players Nick Franklin, Drew Smyly and top shortstop prospect Willy Adames. The Red Sox also sent John Lackey, minor league pitcher Corey Littrell and Cash considerations to the St. Louis Cardinals for Allen Craig and Joe Kelly. By far the busiest team at the trade deadline Boston made two other trades sending Andrew Miller to Baltimore for minor league left hander Eduardo Rodriguez and then trading Stephen Drew and cash to New York Yankees for Kelly Johnson. It was a year where major league players were traded for major league players, but as always there was a share of prospects moved in deals. The Yankees added another infielder getting Martin Prado from the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor league catcher Peter O’Brien and a player to be named later. The Diamondbacks also Gerardo Parra to Milwaukee Brewers for two minor leaguers Anthony Banda and Mitch Haniger. The A’s sent Tommy Milone to the Minnesota Twins to get back outfielder Sam Fuld. The mariners did land a 2nd right-handed hitter getting Chris Denorfia from the San Diego Padres for Abraham Almonte and minor league pitcher Stephen Kohlscheen. The Houston Astros had said earlier in the week that they would be willing to trade a starting pitcher and they did sending Jarred Cosart, Enrique Hernandez and Austin Wates to Miami Marlins for Jake Marisnick, Colin Moran and Francis Martes. If you where listening to the show yesterday (Friday) you heard us talking about the Cubs trade to get another prospect. The Cubs traded Emilio Bonifacio, James Russell and cash to Atlanta Braves for Victor Caratini.

I think I got through all of the trades from deadline day and now will see if these deals work out for the stretch run. Of course there will be questions out there. Did the Rays get enough in the David Price deal? If Jon Lester is just a rental for the A’s; do they have to win the World Series to validate this trade? As this plays out the last couple months of the season will get these answers.

Did your favorite team make a move? Did they make themselves better or did they ship off players from their major league roster for prospects?

So how was your week?

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

Let’s call it Wednesday 7/30/14

Posted: July 30, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports, Uncategorized
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Is there another sports league that gets more negative publicity than the National Football League (NFL)? It seems like almost daily there’s another NFL player arrested for something or failing a drug test. There’s the ongoing storyline with Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice and his now wife. ESPN’s Steven A. Smith was suspended over the comments he made about the situation. There’s the suspension of Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon. Gordon not only failed a drug test, but then got arrested for DUI. Just a month ago Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman John Abraham was arrested for DUI. Just in the month of July besides Gordon; Jimmy Smith of the Baltimore Ravens, Keelan Johnson of the Philadelphia Eagles, Jo-Lonn Dunbar of the St. Louis Rams and Jacksonville jaguars wide receiver Justin Blackmon have all been arrested for different offenses. There was also Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay’s arrest for DUI and I didn’t even mention that former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez is still in jail awaiting trial for murder. I also left out former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe. I thought Kluwe was trying to do something good when all of this first started with him, but more and more it’s starting to seem like he’s just out for himself.

Even through all of this the NFL remains the most popular sport in the United States. If you’re reading this I’m guessing you have at least one (1) if not more NFL fantasy drafts coming up. I myself actually have 3 (three) fantasy drafts coming up. I have a money league team that I share with Mr. Fantasy. Then there are the 2 (two) Yahoo fantasy football leagues we have. There’s the Sports Time Radio league which is an auction style draft and then there’s the league we’ve had for years titled Next Year is Here; which is a more traditional snake style draft. If you’re interested in joining either of our leagues they are free and run through Yahoo sports; email me at Sportstimeradio@hotmail.com

The Major League Baseball (MLB) trading deadline is tomorrow or at least the first trading deadline is tomorrow. Is your favorite team a buyer or a seller this season? David Price looked like he was going to be the big pitching prize on the market this season, but then his team the Tampa Bay Rays began to play better. Now the talk has turned to Boston Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester. Lester is a free agent after this season and the Red Sox look to be out of it in the American League (A.L.) East. Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington has said he’d need to be blown away by an offer to move Lester as the Red Sox hope to resign him in the off-season. It looks like the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers and Seattle Mariners are the primary suitors for Lester heading into Wednesday. The Miami Marlins aren’t entirely out of the Lester sweepstakes. However, the Marlins won’t part with top prospect Andrew Heaney in a Lester deal or a deal for any rental player. Last night, Lester was scratched from his scheduled start tonight. A clear indicator that the Red Sox are looking to deal there ace. Lester may not be the only Red Sox starting pitcher headed out of Boston at the trade deadline. John Lackey’s name has come up in trade rumors with the Kansas City Royals and the Los Angeles Dodgers showing the most interest right now. Lackey’s five-year, $82.5MM contract with the Red Sox contained a clause that gave Boston a 2015 club option at the league minimum in the event that he missed significant time with an elbow injury. A torn ulnar collateral ligament that required Tommy John surgery triggered that clause, making Lackey a highly appealing trade chip even to teams with the most modest of payrolls. It seems as if the Dodgers are in on even big name pitcher or just pitcher whose name comes up on the trade market. They’ve been linked to Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres closer Joaquin Benoit. Benoit got the Padres closer job when Huston Street was trade to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It seems like teams are looking for pitching, pitching and more pitching. Will have to wait and see if any of these big names pitchers changes teams and how much a team will have to give up to get one. If your favorite team could land a Lester, Price or Hamels in a deal it could lock up a playoff spot for that team and maybe get them into the World Series.

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

How was your week 7/26/14

Posted: July 26, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports, Uncategorized
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Now that NFL training camps are open fantasy football drafts should start happening. Yesterday (Friday) on Sports Time Radio we spent the entire show discussing football. There’s also suppose to the first Mr. Fantasy mock draft coming soon; so look for that. The conversation of who would be the #1 overall pick in our league came up. I believe that it will be Philadelphia Eagles running back LeShom McCoy or Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles. Mr. Fantasy added in Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. While any of these 3 would be good choices I think Charles is the pick here. Out of these 3 running backs Charles is the only one with an experienced NFL quarterback in Alex Smith. While Nick Foles had a break out season last year for the Eagles there are still some questions about him and remember he didn’t play a full season. Even though Peterson is used to have what you would call a below average quarterback under center it allows teams to stack the line of scrimmage against him and it does hurt his numbers. Can you just imagine the kind of numbers Peterson might out up with just an average quarterback. Does Peterson having Matt Cassell, Christian Ponder or rookie Teddy Bridgewater handing him the ball make you think teams won’t be keying on him. Top running backs always need help from a quarterback and while McCoy will get some help from Foles I don’t think Peterson will get enough from his quarterback and Charles will get the most from Smith. If you don’t end up with a top 3 pick; what do you do? Well with the Marshawn Lynch hold out Matt Forte clearly looks like the next best running back on the board. After Forte there are a group of players that could have great seasons for you or could leave you looking at your team asking yourself why you drafted this guy in the 1st round. In our league you have to start 2 running backs a week; so we have to hunt up other guys as well. I have three running backs that I’m looking at and wondering if I get them as my 2nd running back will they be worth that spot. Toby Gerhart is with the Jacksonville jaguars now and all reports are saying they like him as a 3 down back. If this is the case even on a bad team Gerhart might be worth a shot. This is the first time Gerhart will be the #1 running back for a team and that may have him trying to prove something. Another running back who hasn’t really been under the radar the last few seasons, but has changed teams and is that teams #1 running option is Ben Tate. The Cleveland Browns signed Tate to be their #1 running back and take some pressure off of Brian Hoyer to start and then Johnny Manziel, Tate has put up good number before as Arian Foster back up with the Houston Texans, but in Cleveland he’s the clear-cut #1 running back. The 3rd guy on my list is Rashad Jennings now with the New York Giants. David Wilson is coming off a serious neck injury and even when healthy was a disappointment last season. Jennings has some injury concerns of his own, but the Giants like to run the football and this could increase his numbers for you. Jennings should be the Giants #1 running back and it’s nice to have the #1 running back on a year that likes to run the football. If your that Fantasy football guy who likes to try to find the best rookie running back this may be a tough season for you to do that. Off the bat it seems like the only one who might get a reasonable amount of playing time would be Bishop Sankey of the Tennessee Titans. While Sankey is scheduled to split time with Shonn Greene; Sankey is the receiving back out of the pair. This should help Sankey pick up points from 20 yard line to 20 yard line, but it’s Greene who the Titans will use in-goal line situations. That means Greene will steal some touchdowns that belong to Sankey and of course points from your team. As always it’s still early in the NFL season and injuries change things in a big, big hurry. Will have to see how pre-season plays out, but it’s always fun to talk about it.

It seems like when Dan the Man wasn’t looking the San Francisco Giants took the National League West division lead from his Los Angeles Dodgers. While the Giants only have a half of a game lead over the Dodgers as I’m writing this a lot of baseball experts had the Giants as dead when the Dodgers went past them into 1st place earlier in the season. In pre-season picks we all went with the Dodgers to win the West, but a lot of people made that choice. I did have the Giants in the playoffs as one of the wild card teams. As the trade deadline draws closer you wonder if either team will make a move to try to separate themselves in the division. There has been some talk that Matt Kemp would be okay with being traded by the Dodgers and you have to wonder what they could get in return for him. Kemp is signed through 2019 for around $20 million dollars a season. I guess the question I would ask is would Kemp the right combination of prospects and a whole bunch of money be enough for the Dodgers to land David Price. Dan the Man’s ears just perked up. Yes I said David Price. While the Tampa Bay Rays have worked their way back into the pennant race in the American League East you have to wonder if a deal like that could happen. Would the Dodgers be willing to deal a Joc Pederson, Julio Urias, Corey Seager or Alexander Guerrero in a package to bring back Price. It would be a lot to give up, but it could give the Dodgers a World Series. Without a deal by either the Giants or the Dodgers will have some fun watching the N.L. West these last couple months of the season.

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

7/23/14 Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: July 23, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports, Uncategorized
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Every time I heard someone talk about the New York Yankees making a trade they ta;l about how they need to add pitching. Well the Yankees made a trade yesterday and it was for a third baseman. The Yankees dealt infielder Yangervis Solarte and minor league pitcher Rafael De Paula to San Diego in exchange for Chase Headley. Headley has been struggling this season in San Diego. In 77 games Headley was hitting.229 with 7 home runs and 32 RBI’s. Headley’s big season was 2012 where he finished 5th in the MVP voting. He’s battled injuries since then and hasn’t regained his form. Maybe a move to New York helps Headley find that 2012 form again. Solarte had been getting regular playing time for the Yankees, but was sent to the minors a few weeks ago. Solarte appeared in 75 games for the Yankees hitting .254 with 6 home runs and 32 R.B.I.’s. De Paula was pitching in Class A ball for the Yankees. He was 6-5 in 17 starts and had an ERA of 4.15. Will the Yankees go out and try to get more pitching like people say they need. The Yankees have talked to the White Sox about left-handed starting pitcher John Danks, but it never got farther than talks.

It looked like the biggest pitcher that would be on the trade market would be Tampa Bay Rays lefty David Price. You have to wonder if he’s even available right now. Tampa Bay is 5-3 in their last 10 games and are currently on a 6 game winning streak. Tampa bay is 48-53 and 8 games out of 1st place in the American League East. With 60 games left Tampa Bay can easily make up those 8 games, but I don’t think they could do that without Price. Will this winning streak be enough to get Tampa Bay to hold onto Price or is there a team out there that can bowl the Rays over with an offer they can’t pass up. It’s going to take quite an offer to get Price and you have to wonder if someone even has the prospects Tampa Bay would want in a deal for Price. Will find out in 8 days if Price is going anywhere.

I saw an interesting segment on which teams should’ve trading players and who they should be trying to trade. The thing I found interesting about this was the two experts they had in this segment had the Philadelphia Phillies moving quite a few players. They had the Phillies dealing or trying to deal 1st baseman Ryan Howard, second baseman Chase Utley, shortstop Jimmy Rollins, outfielder Marlon Byrd, staring pitcher Cliff Lee and closer Jonathan Papelbon. Some of these players may be dealt by the Phillies, but all of them I don’t think that will happen. The Phillies are 13 games out of 1st place and in last place in the National League East, but if these players were traded it may be the biggest in season make over of a major league team. As nice as it is to talk about these players being traded you must have a team that’s interested in them for that to happen. While pitching always draws interest and I could see Papelbon and Lee being traded. Do you want any of the other Phillies listed? Byrd is the one player I’ve actually heard talked about. It’s been said the Seattle Mariners might have an interest in Byrd. Seattle is looking for right-handed hitting power and Byrd has 19 home runs and 21 doubles so far this season. I haven’t heard any of the other names Howard, Utley or Rollins being mentioned in any trade talks. I guess it is fun to speculate and think about what a guy could do for a contending team if he was traded there.

Are you ready for some football? All the NFL teams training camps will be up and running by this weekend. Are you ready for your fantasy season? How do you think your favorite team will do this season? Can the Seattle Seahawks repeat? Slowly but surly these questions should start to get answered as we see more and more of these teams. We have two twenty team fantasy leagues that Mr. Fantasy, Dan the Man and I play in. One is an auction league; so you have to figure out what you’re willing to pay for who. Our other league is a regular snake style draft set up. You need to start two running backs every week in this league and with twenty teams it can be tough to find a good mix of backs. They come off the board pretty fast and I think I know who the first five or six picks will go. Not in exact order, but the players that will be picked. After that it’s tough to figure out who’s going where. Hopefully I’m picking in the Top 5 in this years draft.

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

7/19/14 How was your Week?

Posted: July 19, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Uncategorized
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The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have acquired Huston Street from the San Diego Padres in a 6 player deal. Prospects Taylor Lindsey, R.J. Alvarez, Jose Rondon and Elliot Morris will head to San Diego while the Angels will also get right-hander Trevor Gott. Street has 24 saves and has only given up 4 earned runs in 33 appearances for an ERA of 1.09. Ernesto Frieri started the season as the Angels closer and did get 11 saves, but had his issues along the way and was eventually dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Joe Smith moved into the closer role after the Frieri deal and picked up 15 saves to this point for the Angels. Street is in his 10th season and the Angels will be his 4th team. He has closed for the Oakland A’s, Colorado Rockies and of course the Padres before the trade. Street has 258 career saves with his high water mark being 37 saves for the A’s in 2006. The back-end up the bullpen was the Angels weakness going into the season, but with the trade for Street they get an experienced closer who should help keep them in the American League West race. The Angels are 1 1/2 behind the A’s in the West and would claim a wild card spot right now. The top two teams in the A.L. West the A’s and the Angels have made big trades. Does this mean the Seattle Mariners have to make a deal to stay in the A.L. West race? The Mariners are currently 9 games behind Oakland, but would be the 2nd wild card team right now.

I’m not sure how many of you where rooting for the New York Yankees this season. With it being Derek Jeter’s last season I thought they might get themselves into the playoffs and Jeter would go out that way. Now with the pitching injuries the Yankees have had I don’t think will get to see Jeter in the playoffs one more time. Masahiro Tanaka has issues with the ligament in his pitching elbow. No one has said the magic Tommy John word when it comes to Tanaka, but you have to wonder if that surgery is down the road for him. The Yankees have also announced that CC Sabathia’s season is officially over. Sabathia is scheduled to have arthroscopic debridement surgery this coming Wednesday. No team can lose it’s top two starting pitchers and hope to compete; so sadly for Yankees fans and Derek Jeter fans it looks like his career will end at game 162 this season.

As you’ve known for a week or so now LeBron James signed a 2 year deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Well now James wants Kevin Love to be a Cavalier and the trade rumors have started. Unlike James’s situation when he went to Miami, Love has a contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves; so Cleveland just can’t sign him. The trade rumor I’ve heard the most has Cleveland sending this year’s #1 overall draft pick; Andrew Wiggins, last years #1 overall draft pick Anthony Bennett and a 2015 1st round draft pick to Minnesota for Love. It’s being reported that the Timberwolves want more than this for the Cavaliers for Love. James must realize that the way the cavaliers roster is right now that they’re too young and inexperienced to win and NBA title and adding a player like Love brings the Cavaliers closer to that title. Don’t forget though that the Golden State Warriors have long had an interest in Love. The Warriors are offering a package that includes David Lee and Harrison Barnes. Minnesota would like Klay Thompson in any deal they make with Golden State, but right now the Warriors have been hesitant to include Thompson in any deal. The Chicago Bulls where the 3rd team that had major interest in Love, but with the signing of Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic signing the Bulls are out. I mentioned earlier that James only signed for two seasons with Cleveland. Will we have to go through “Decision 3” with James? I don’t think that will happen. Two years is a good signing by James and his people. After that 2nd season the new television contract kicks in for the NBA and the salary cap should go up allowing James to get more money in a couple of seasons. I don’t think Cavaliers fans should panic about the short-term deal for James; I think it was just a smart business move by his agent.

So how was your week?

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

Let’s call it Wednesday? 7/16/14

Posted: July 16, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, sports, Uncategorized
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So this may be the slowest sports week of the year. Major League Baseball is on their All-Star break. Most of the big name free agents in the National Basketball Association have signed with teams. National Football League training camps don’t open until next week for most teams. The National Hockey League gets pushed to the side unless they’re actually playing games. Even the World Cup has ended; oh what to do.

If you’ve been following NBA free agents and where they ended up signing, did you notice that the Los Angeles Clippers didn’t sign any players? Could that be because Donald Sterling still owns the team? This is going to be the case right into the regular season unless something big happens. Even though Sterling was offered a unbelievable $2 billion dollars for the Clippers I don’t think he wants to sell the team and will do everything he can legally to hang on to them. While I don’t side with Sterling or the comments that he made he is allowed due process like any other American is and we have to deal with this. I don’t know why he didn’t take that offer and run; since it was way over what the team is worth, but he didn’t. It looks like his family would like him to take that offer, but that might end up being decided in court as well. As it looks, this will drag out into the NBA regular season and how will this affect the Clippers? Would you go to a Clippers game if Sterling still owns the team? Why would Sterling hang on to this team if attendance drops and the Clippers start to lose money. Who knows when this will wrap up as it looks like Sterling is going to go through every and any legal channel he can find to some how try to hang onto the Clippers. It’s a tough spot for the NBA and new commissioner Adam Silver to be in to start the season.

Did you watch the MLB All-Star game last night? I think the MLB All-Star game is far and away the closest to an actually game than any of the other sports. The American League defeated the National League 5-3. Max Scherzer was awarded the win while Pat Neshek took the loss. Glen Perkins of the hosting team the Minnesota Twins got the save for the American League. Mike Trout won the Most Valuable Player award. Trout was 2 for 3 with a triple and 2 RBI’s in the game. While Trout was a good of choice as any, weren’t you secretly rooting for Derek Jeter to win the MVP in his last All-Star game? I can honestly say that I was and Jeter did enough to win the award, but Trout did a little more. Jeter went 2 for 2; leading off the bottom of the 1st with a double and scored the 1st run for the American League. Maybe it would’ve been overkill had they given Jeter the MVP award, but hey Mariano Rivera won it last season pitching just one inning. Jeter got his moment to say goodbye after 6 innings as Alexei Ramirez came out to replace Jeter after the American League had taken the field. It was a nice moment for the 14 time All-Star as Jeter waved to the fans and tipped his cap. Jeter waved multiple times at the National League dugout and I think he hugged everyone in the American League dugout.

The British Open starts tomorrow (Thursday) or as it’s just being called now The Open. ESPN has the coverage and you know they have to be jumping up and down that Tiger Woods has decided to play. While I think it would be a bit of a surprise if Woods ended up winning this tournament, but it would be a great scenario if it happened. Woods isn’t that far removed from being injured and you have to wonder if he’s 100% healthy. I’m sure Woods is most people’s pick to win this weekend, but there are some other golfers to watch. Lee Westwood should’ve won The Open last year at Muirfield and he may bounce back and win this year. How about Bubba Watson? He can play big in big tournaments or he could go out and double bogey the front nine, but he’s fun to watch. Graeme McDowell may surprise some people this week. He’s from Northern Ireland and should be familiar with the course; so don’t be surprised to see his name high on the leaderboard though the weekend. So there are a couple of other names other than Tiger Woods to look out for over the weekend for you.

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

How was your Week 7/12/14

Posted: July 12, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Uncategorized
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So LeBron James made a decision without us having to watch a decision special and I’m very happy about that. Not a real surprise move by James; he’s going back to Cleveland. You pretty much had to figure he was either going to stay with the Miami Heat or go back home to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers. I did throw out the Houston Rockets as a dark horse team in the show, but that was a long, long shot at best. I have no issues at all with LeBron going back to Cleveland; my biggest issue was the way this was covered. ESPN cancelled their regular programming to cover this story. Was it really that important? While I understand James is the best basketball player in the world and him switching teams is a big sports story with the way it was covered you would’ve thought the Messiah had returned to Earth. I was trying to find sports highlights last night and every show had the LeBron signing as the lead story; which it should’ve been, but did half to three-quarters of the show have been about it. I even ended up seeing the shot you always get of LeBron”s home in Cleveland. The weird thing though was all of the media outlets knew he wasn’t there and they still went to his house; so we could see the end of his driveway and the security gate. Was this really necessary coverage since James himself announced he was going to Brazil to watch the World Cup final. To be fair basketball is my least favorite of the 4 major sports and I’m sure that played into the fact that I thought this was incredibly stupid coverage. Let’s break this signing down into a sports perspective and not the major media garbage they turned it into yesterday. By signing James the Cavaliers automatically become a contender in the Eastern conference and to a lesser extent a contender for the NBA title. Remember the Cavaliers are a very young team and young teams don’t normally win NBA titles. James will play with point guard Kyrie Irving (22 years old), but Irving has had some trouble staying healthy. Also on the Cavaliers roster 2014 1st round draft pick Andrew Wiggins (19), 2013 #1 overall pick Anthony Bennett (21), Dion Waiters (23) and Tristan Thompson (22); Cleveland does still have veteran center Anderson Varejao on their roster with these young players. Now this roster and players I listed could all change through trades and there are already rumors of those out there, but if this roster stays intact this is a very young team with no playoff experience. Even with the greatest basketball player in the world on it can they win a championship. There three rumors I heard yesterday where. 1) a trade with Minnesota for Kevin Love. Love did say he would sign a long term with Cleveland if traded there. 2) Ray Allen would be signed as a free agent to rejoin James and 3) Mike Miller would be another free agent signing. There where some other NBA free agent moves yesterday even though you wouldn’t know it from the media coverage; remember only LeBron matters to them. I’ve been saying for weeks now that Chris Bosh needed to get out of James’s shadow and see if he’s still a top player in the NBA. While he didn’t sign with the Houston Rockets like I suggested he do he did get a 5 year $118 million dollar contract to stay with the Heat. While no one see Miami as the top team in the eastern conference they’re still a playoff team and now it’s up to Bosh and Dwayne Wade to keep them relevent. One of the under the radar free agents appears to be on the move as well. Isaiah Thomas agreed to a 4 year $28 million dollar deal and will be sent to the Phoenix Suns in a sign and trade. The next big NBA free agent show to drop will be Carmelo Anthony and while I bet he stays with the New York Knicks there where reports last night that the Chicago Bulls where still in the running to sign him. The Bulls are also the front-runners to sign Pau Gasol, but they both can’t be signed by the Bulls. If your favorite team hasn’t made a move yet there are still some quality players still out there as free agents besides Anthony and Gasol. Greg Monroe is a restricted free agent and while the Detroit Pistons could match any offer he gets a team could make him an offer to good to refuse; or that Detroit just can’t match. Paul Millsap is an unrestricted free agent and a good NBA big man if your team needs some inside help. Swing man Luol Deng is out there as well as Lance Stephenson. So your favorite team could still find a guy to help them this off-season.

It seems to be major injury week in Major League Baseball (MLB). The St. Louis cardinals lost starting Catcher Yader Molina for 8-12 weeks with a torn ligament in his thumb. The New York Yankees put Japanese import Masahiro Tanake on the disabled list (DL) with what turned out to be a tear in his UCL ligament. Also the Cincinnati Reds lost 2nd baseman Brandon Phillips for 6-8 weeks with a torn thumb ligament. It always hurts to lose a quality starting pitcher like Tanaka I’m not sure the Yankees where a playoff team with him, but in the cases of Molina and Phillips their teams are in the race for 1st place in the National League Central. St. Louis finds itself 1 game out of first place going into today’s game and Cincinnati is just a 1 1/2 games out of 1st. Molina is the best catcher in baseball and while his offense has been down this season there no way to replace what he does behind the plate. St. Louis is going to try to fill Molina’s spot from within the club, but you have to wonder if the recently designated for assignment A.J. Pierzynski might get a look from them. Cincinnati has Ramon Santiago who can fill in for Phillips for now and they also have Skip Schumaker who has plated 2nd base at the major league level before. Schumaker did just go on the 7 day DL for a possible concussion, but I still don’t think Cincinnati goes outside of the organization to fill Phillips’s spot.

So how was your week?

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

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