Archive for the ‘baseball’ Category

How was your week

Posted: April 22, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, hockey, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Since they run at the same time against each the NBA playoffs and the NHL playoffs will always be compared to each other. While the NBA is more popular and the NHL is regulated to second tier status as a major sport their playoffs especially the 1st round is so much better it’s not even funny. Let’s take a look.

The top teams in the NBA the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers are both undefeated in their series. Golden State has had two very easy wins. The Cavaliers are up 3-0 in their series, but it hasn’t been easy. Of course neither of these teams are in danger of being eliminated from the playoffs. In the NHL the top two teams where the Chicago Blackhawks and the Montreal Canadiens. Well the Blackhawks where easily swept out of the playoffs by the 8th seeded Nashville Predators and while the Canadiens are up in their series 3-2 they’ve had their hands full with the 8th seeded Toronto Maple Leafs. To be fair the Cavaliers are the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference, but they’re everyone’s pick to get to the NBA finals from that conference. There’s even a #2 seed in trouble in the NHL playoffs. The St. Louis Blues currently have a 3-1 lead in their series against the #2 seeded Minnesota Wild. The only thing close to this in the NBA is the 8th seeded Chicago Bulls having a 2-1 lead in their series against the #1 seeded Boston Celtics.

If you’ve been watching both of these playoffs; what has been more interesting and or exciting to you?

While I made a quick mention of where some of the series are, but here’s here they all currently stand.

In the Eastern Conference the Celtics are down 2-1 to the Bulls. The Cavaliers are up 3-0 on the Indiana Pacers. The Milwaukee Bucks are up 2-1 on the Toronto Raptors and the Washington Wizards are up 2-0 on the Atlanta Hawks. In the Western Conference the Warriors are up 2-0 on the Trailblazers. The San Antonio Spurs are up 2-1 on the Memphis Grizzlies. The Houston Rockets are up 2-1 on the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Clippers are up 2-1 on the Utah Jazz.

Over in the NHL the Capitals are up 3-2 on the Maple Leafs in  their Eastern Conference series. The other Eastern Conference series look like this. The New York Rangers are up 3-2 on the Montreal Canadiens. The Pittsburgh Penguins swept the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 to advance to the 2nd round. While the Ottawa Senators are up 3-2 on the Boston Bruins. In the Western Conference you know the Nashville Predators have moved into the 2nd round knocking out the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1st round 4-0. The St. Louis Blues are up on the Minnesota Wild 3-1 in that series. The Anaheim Ducks advance to the 2nd round by sweeping the Calgary Flames 4-0 in their series and the Edmonton Oilers lead the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in that series.

For the first time in his career Madison Bumgarner will be making a trip to the disabled list. Now it’s never a shock to see a pitcher go on the disable list and now with the new 10-day version of the list teams seem to be using it more and more for everyone including pitchers. Oddly though Bumgarner’s injury didn’t happen while he was pitching for the San Francisco Giants. Yesterday the Giants announced that Bumgarner would be heading to the disabled with because he was injured in a dirt biking accident on Thursday the teams off day. It’s being reported that Bumgarner injured his ribs and sprained his left (throwing) shoulder. Bumgarner’s ribs are said to be bruised, but the injury to his shoulder is said to be a Grade 1 or Grade 2 sprain. San Francisco has set no time table for Bumgarner’s return. The only thing the Giants have said is that Bumgarner is out of the hospital and is resting at the teams hotel. The Giants plan to re-evaluate Bumgarner next week, but early reports are saying that the pitcher will be out 6 to 8 weeks. Bumgarner is not expected to speak about his injury until the Giants return home from their current road trip on Monday. Giants manager Bruce Bochy and pitching coach Dave Righetti both did comment on the situation. Bochy said “He’s a young guy like a lot of us and he thinks he’s invincible. He’s just having fun that day hit a slippery spot and went down. I’m sure looking at it now Madison wishes he wouldn’t have gotten on the bike . He was very remorseful in talking to him. Unfortunately an accident happened.” Righetti went a little different way with his comments saying. “Off days are the freaking worst. We don’t get many and when we do guys want to go do those things that they’re missing out on. Things like this do happen; unfortunately.”

Bumgarner has made four starts this season. He is 0-3 with an E.R.A. of 3.00 over 27 innings this season. He has struck out 28 batters while walking just 4. To fill Bumgarner’s roster spot the Giants called up right-handed pitcher Chris Stratton. Stratton has been pitching for the Sacramento River Cats in Triple-A. Stratton has pitched in 2 games both in relief covering 10 1/3rd innings. Stratton has stuck out 2 while walking 1 and has an E.R.A, of 7.84. Stratton did pitch out of the Giants bullpen in 2016 appearing in 7 games covering 10 innings. Stratton was 1-0 with a 3.60 E.R.A. out of the Giants bullpen last season.

San Francisco hasn’t announced who will fill in for Bumgarner in the starting rotation, but since they called up a reliever you have to think that left-hander Ty Blach may get the first look. Blach made the team out of soring training, but has been working out of the bullpen so far this season, but Blach did make 2 starts for San Francisco last season. Blach was a 2012 5th round draft pick of the Giants. Blach made 98 minor league starts before pitching out of the bullpen at the major league level.

Is Bumgarner’s injury the weirdest one you’ve heard of? Please post in the comments if you have one that’s stranger.

You can listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com as well as at TuneIn.com You can also find me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: April 19, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, Minor League Baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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I’m sure most if not all people know this, but when a team wins a World Series it’s not just the players who get rings. In the case of the Chicago Cubs it was reported that they bought 1908 World Series rings and pins. Now in a lot of cases employees have turned around and sold these rings on the secondary market. There are reports that the rings the Cubs just received could go for $80,000 or more if they where to be sold. Now the Chicago Cubs and the Ricketts family are trying to avoid that by making everyone who got a ring except the players sign an agreement saying that if the owner of the ring tries to sell or transfer your ring you must notify the Cubs in writing of the proposed transaction and a complete accounting of the terms. This is according to a memo obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. The memo goes on to say “If the Cubs elect not to purchase the ring, then you may transfer it according to the terms you provided to the Cubs; however, each subsequent owner shall also be bound by these terms in the event of a subsequent proposed sale or other transfer.” Rings may also be given as gifts, but the same terms apply. How much would you get if the Cubs decide to buy your ring back? $1! Now players are expected to pay taxes on their ring while the Cubs will pick up the tax bill for the lower level employees.

Now the Cubs may be the first World series winner to do this, but this is not the first major award that has this type of stipulation. The Heisman trophy comes along with a set of rules after you win it and so does an Oscar.

Do you think it’s fair for the Cubs to make their employees do this? In some cases the ring could be worth more than that employee makes in an entire year. Please let me know what you think.

It appears as though former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has committed suicide in prison this morning. Hernandez was serving a life sentence for a murder conviction and just days ago was acquitted of double murder. The report says that Hernandez died in his prison cell after hanging himself with his bedsheet.

While it’s sad to see a 27 year old man with a young daughter take his own life. You have to remember that he was convicted of killing a man and that’s why he was in prison.

The New England Patriots drafted Hernandez in the 4th round of the 2010 draft. Hernandez played in 38 games over three seasons with New England. He caught 175 passes for 1956 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Pittsburgh Pirates centerfielder Starling Marte was suspended 80 games by Major League Baseball for testing positive for a performance enhancing substance. Marte tested positive for nandrolone, which violated MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The suspension is effective immediately. Marte is eligible to return in mid July. Marte addressed his teammates in a closed door meeting Tuesday afternoon, but he did not meet with the news media.

With Marte out until after the All-Star break; who will play centerfield? Pirates manager Clint Hurdle came out yesterday and said that Andrew McCutchen will move back to that position. At the beginning of this season McCutchen was moved to rightfield so Marte could play centerfield.

I thought that the Pirates would bring up top outfield prospect Austin Meadows, but it was outfielder Jose Osuna who got the call up from Triple-A Indianapolis. Osuna is the Pirates 28th ranked prospect. Meadows is off to a very slow start at Triple-A. Meadows is hitting .146 with 1 home run and 5 RBI’s in 11 games at Triple-A. In 10 games for Indianapolis Osuna is hitting .250 with 1 RBI. In last nights game Adam Frazier started in rightfield.

While he is out Marte will not be paid, but even more interestingly if the Pirates make the playoffs Marte will not be eligible for them.

Are the Washington Nationals considering a change at closer? After Dusty Baker had to take current closer Blake Treinen out of the game in the 9th inning Monday night he used the term “this ain’t working” when speaking with reporters after the game. The Nationals bullpen has been struggling. Coming into last nights game they had the 4th worst bullpen E.R.A. in baseball at 6.25. Treinen lasted 1/3rd of an inning last night giving up two hits, two walks and a run before giving way to Shawn Kelley. Kelley got the final two pouts to pick up a save in Washington’s 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves. While nothing is definite the Nationals could turn to Kelley or Koda Glover as the closer if Baker decides that he wants to make a change.

In other Nationals pitching news Joe Ross will be called up from Triple-A Syracuse to start Wednesday’s game against Atlanta. The Nationals wanted Ross to start the season at Triple-A to limit his innings, but that blew up in their face when Jeremy Guthrie’s start went off the rails. Guthrie lasted just 2/3rds of an inning in that start. He gave up 10 earned runs on 6 hits and walked 4 for an E.R.A. of 135.00. Guthrie was designated for assignment after his start. Ross has made two starts in Triple-A covering 9 2/3rds innings. Ross is 0-1 with a 3.72 E.R.A. while striking out 9 and walking 3. Ross has to be an upgrade over Guthrie almost by default.

Here’s some better news for the Nationals. It appears as though starting shortstop Trea Turner will be returning from the disabled list soon; possible as early as today. Turner went on the disabled list April 8th with a hamstring injury, but he ran sprints, took grounders and batting practice before Sunday’s game and looks ready to return. Turner’s return could be big for the Nationals as one of the players trying to replace him Stephen Drew is also having hamstring issues leaving just Wilmer Difo as the only healthy option for the Nationals at shortstop. The Nationals face the Braves at 6:35 p.m. c.s.t. so you’ll have to check their line up and see if Turner is starting.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com or you can listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: April 12, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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It’s the last day of the NBA regular season and there are three games that still have playoffs implications. The Chicago Bulls host the Brooklyn Nets while the Miami Heat will host the Washington Wizards and the Indiana Pacers host the Atlanta Hawks. The Nets are the worst team in the NBA record wise at 20-61 while the Wizards and the Hawks are locked into a playoff spots; so there isn’t much of anything for these teams to play for tonight. Now it hasn’t been announced if Washington plans to sit any of it’s players out of tonight’s game, but Brooklyn has already said that they’ll sit six players against the Bulls tonight. Trevor Booker, Jeremy Lin and Brook Lopez will all skip the game for rest. Quincy Acy will miss the game with an ankle injury. Joe Harris will miss the game the a shoulder injury and Sean Kilpatrick will be out do to a hamstring injury. Someone is goin to have to explain to me how a team that isn’t going to be in the playoffs needs to rest three players the last game of the season.

The Bulls and the Pacers have simple paths to get into the playoffs. All they have to do is win and they’re in. Now if either the Bulls or the Pacers where to lose and Miami wins the Heat would go into the playoffs and either Chicago or Indiana would stay home. So out of the 14 games o the NBA schedule tonight these are the three games that matter the most.

Now players taking a game off for rest in the NBA is becoming a bigger and bigger issue as the season goes on. Now with no possible chance of improving their playoff spot the Milwaukee Bucks left four players at home for their game on Boston against the Celtics tonight. Tony Shell, Khris Middleton, Matthew Dellavedova and Giannis Antetokounmpo all stayed behind as the Bucks traveled to Boston. The Cleveland Cavaliers had announced earlier in the week that LeBron James would miss the final two regular season games to rest up for the playoffs. Even M.V.P. candidate Russell Westbrook sat out the Oklahoma City Thunder’s final regular season game Tuesday night. Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott and Andre Roberson also skipped the final game for rest. So there are quite a few players who are taking the final game or more off to get ready for the playoffs.

Now I understand that the ultimate goal of any NBA team is to win the title, but as a ticket buying fan these rest days are tough to swallow. NBA tickets are expensive and if you take your family to a game between tickets, parking if you drive there and then if you buy souvenirs for you or your children you’re going to spend quite a bit of money. Now imagine this is the only game you’ll be able to afford to attend this season and you get there and find out that your favorite player or the one player your kids really wanted to see play is sitting out because he needs to rest. This isn’t going to sit well with the man or woman who’s at their job 40 plus hours a week just so they can afford a ticket to this chosen game. Sadly there isn’t an NBA player out there who is going to care that a family bought tickets so the kids could see him play and he took the night off for rest.

Now NBA commissioner Adam Silver has address this situation, but there’s really nothing he can do about it. If you noticed what the Cavaliers did for their game on Monday against the Heat was list James out with an injury. It would be very easy for an NBA team to just announce that a certain player is going to  miss a game with a very minor injury. It would work the same way as giving the player a might off for rest without having to announce it that way. The only way the NBA or it’s players union will find a way to fix this issue is when it starts to affect the leagues attendance.

Now if you’ve listened to the Sports Time Radio podcast or I’m sure that I’ve written about it here before, but I’m a fantasy sports player. I participate in both daily and season long fantasy leagues. I play on FanDuel and on the two hour Sunday podcast Mr. Fantasy and I actually go over the FanDuel rankings and put a line up together and discuss who’s a good play, a bad play and who might be that sleeper kind of player for that day. Now I’m not a big bettor on the site. I don’t think I’ve ever played in more than a $2 or possibly $3 dollar tournament. It’s more a fun activity for me than a way of me trying to make a living. Now this season Mr. Fantasy has taken a more Sabermetic approach to how he’s building his line up and he’s off to a good start. I always try different methods of putting a line up together; especially early in the season. I’ve had some success with my line ups so far this season. I know no one likes to give away their secrets, but I’m always interested in listening to how other people put their daily fantasy line ups together. If you feel like sharing just go ahead and leave it in the comments or feel free to e-mail me at SportsTimeRadio@Hotmail.com

Speaking of daily fantasy; I hope when you put your line up together for yesterday you included New York Mets outfield Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes went 4 for 6 with 5 RBI’s and 3 runs scored. 3 of his 4 hits where home runs and his other hit was a double. On the night Cespedes was worth 69.1 points on FanDuel. That may be the highest total a position payer has ever put up since I started playing on the site. I’m sure if you had Cespedes in your daily fantasy line up last night you at least got your money back.

You can listen to the Sports Time radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com or you can listen to the podcast any time you want @TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: April 5, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Major League Baseball season started on Sunday with three games, but I’m a little confused if that was considered opening day or not. It seems as though it’s open to your interpretation, but I’m not sure if the fans, the experts and the reporters should be allowed to make that choice. It use to be very simple; there was a parade in Cincinnati and the Reds played the first game of the season. It was also a school holiday ion Cincinnati; which I’m sure the kids miss. So we had the three games on Sunday and then I saw an article about a writers take from opening day and all he talked about was the Monday games. Now it was the first game of the season on Monday for the teams that where playing; so it was their opening day, but it wasn’t baseballs opening day like this writer said it was. Now the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers game got delayed; so they didn’t start the season until Tuesday and while that was opening day for those teams no one implied that it was the opening day of the season. I was always under the impression that opening day was the day that the first games of the season was played. Now maybe it’s just me being picky about the wording they use for this, but it bothered me that they where trying to stretch out opening day to try to make it seem special. Now this isn’t necessary as a teams first home game is always special no matter if it’s played on the first day of the season or if they have to wait a day to get started. As you know I’m not a professional reporter or a television personality, but it almost seems like they’re trying to get something past you by trying to describe everything as opening day. Maybe this is just another situation where it’s just me.

Now I’ve been under the weather this week and I’ve been having trouble sleeping; so I’m up in the middle of the night trying to find something to watch on television. Naturally I gravitate to the sports channels and since baseball started I look for baseball highlights. Now what would’ve technically been early Tuesday morning I was watching some highlights and the game with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Oakland A’s came up. Now I get it this isn’t a marquee game; so I didn’t expect a ton of highlights. Now this was a game that the A’s won 4-2, but the highlight they chose to show was a Mike Trout home run. Interestingly in the game Khris Davis of Oakland hit two home runs, but I didn’t get to see either of them in the highlight package. I only found out Davis hit two home runs when I looked at the box score. This make absolutely no sense to me at all. I understand that everyone loves Mike Trout and they’ll be looking for ways to give him the M.V.P. award no matter what kind of a season anyone else in the American League has, but really you couldn’t mention a player who hit two home runs. When you think about it; it’s kind of sad. It seems as though networks will push their own agenda over showing what went on in a baseball game. Now I’ve said this and have wrote this a million times Mike Trout is the best player on baseball, but he wasn’t the M.V.P. last season. Trout had a very good 2016, but it wasn’t better than the season Mookie Betts or Jose Altuve had and both of their teams made the playoffs. Now how many times have you heard someone dissuade a great season a player is having because he’s on a losing team. I guarantee that you didn’t hear that one time last season even though the Angels where under .500 and nowhere close to being a playoff team. In a sense it cheapens the game of baseball, but sadly this is another one of those situations where I’m the only one on this bandwagon and I just don’t have the platform to get my point across. Even if I did I’m sure they would just make up another sabermetric stat to disprove me.

We’ve already had two games cancelled today. The White Sox and the Tigers are cancelled for the second time in their three game series and the other Chicago team the Cubs have been cancelled as well. The Cubs where suppose to wrap up a three game series against the St, Louis Cardinals this afternoon. The Kansas City Royals at the New York Yankees is the only game now with a Noon start time; so we’ll have to wait and see if they get all of the night games in.

With the NBA season winding down it looks like there could be up to four teams with an under .500 record that will make the playoffs. It appears as though the final two teams that get into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference will be under .500 and the final team in the Western Conference will be under .500. There is an outside chance that the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference will be an under .500 as well. The Atlanta Hawks are currently that 6th seed and they’re 39-38 on the season; so it will be close.

Does it bother you to see teams with losing records make the playoffs? I don’t have too much of an issue with this as the first round of the NBA playoffs is pretty much a joke anyway. When was the last time we saw a first round upset that wasn’t a 5th seed beating a 4th seed. It’s not the ideal situation when these type of teams make the playoffs, but in the scheme of the playoffs does it matter? I think the bigger problem with the NBA playoff is the fact that all of these series are now seven games.

You can listen to Sports Time Radio live on BlogTalkRadio.com or you can listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com

I’m on Twitter @Burketime

Our 2017 MLB predictions

Posted: April 1, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Major League Baseball season opens tomorrow afternoon; so we’re going to take a look at our predictions for the 2017 season. I almost got all four of us to make predictions; so here’s what we came up with.

A.L. East

Schaumburg Stu has: 1) Boston Red Sox 2) Baltimore Orioles 3) Toronto Blue Jays 4) New York Yankees 5) Tampa Bay Bays.

Mr. Fantasy has; 1) Red Sox 2) Blue Jays 3) Orioles 4) Yankees 5) Rays

Dan the Man has: 1) Red Sox 2) Blue Jays 3) Yankees 4) Orioles 5) Rays

I have the A.L. East like this: 1) Red Sox 2) Yankees 3) Blue Jays 4) Orioles 5) Rays

A.L. Central

Schaumburg Stu has: 1) Cleveland Indians 2) Detroit Tigers 3) Kansas City Royals 4) Minnesota Twins 5) Chicago White Sox

Mr. Fantasy has 1) Indians 2) Tigers 3) Royals 4) White Sox 5) Twins

Dan the Man has 1) Indians 2) Tigers 3) Royals 4) White Sox 5) Twins

I have the A.L. Central like this: 1) Indians 2) Tigers 3) Royals 4) Twins 5) White Sox

A.L. West

Schaumburg Stu has 1) Houston Astros 2) Texas Rangers 3) Seattle Mariners $) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 5) Oakland A’s

Mr. Fantasy has 1) Rangers 2) Astros 3) Mariners 4) Angels 5) A’s

Dan the Man has 1) Astros 2) Mariners 3) Rangers 4) Angles 5) A’s

I have the A.L. West like this 1) Mariners 2) Astros 3) Rangers 4) Angels 5) A’s

N.L. East

Schaumburg Stu has 1) Washington Nationals 2) New York Mets 3) Miami Marlins 4) Atlanta Braves 5) Philadelphia Phillies

Mr. Fantasy has 1) Nationals 2) Mets 3) Marlins 4) Braves 5) Phillies

Dan the Man has 1) Mets 2) Nationals 3) Braves 4) Phillies 5) Marlins

I have the N.L. East like this 1) Nationals 2) Mets 3) Phillies 4) Braves 5) Marlins

N.L. Central

Schaumburg Stu has 1) Chicago Cubs 2) Pittsburgh Pirates 3) St. Louis Cardinals 4) Milwaukee Brewers 5) Cincinnati Reds

Mr. Fantasy has 1) Cubs 2) Pirates 3) Cardinals 4) Brewers 5) Reds

Dan the Man has 1) Cubs 2) Pirates 3) Cardinals 4) Brewers 5) Reds

I have the N.L. Central like this 1) Cubs 2) Cardinals 3) Pirates 4) Brewers 5) Reds

N.L. West

Schaumburg Stu has 1) San Francisco Giants 2) Los Angeles Dodgers 3) Arizona Diamondbacks 4) San Diego Padres 5) Colorado Rockies

Mr. Fantasy has 1) Giants 2) Dodgers 3) Diamondbacks 4) Padres 5) Rockies

Dan the Man has 1) Dodgers 2) Giants 3) Diamondbacks 4) Rockies 5) Padres

I have the N.L. West like this 1) Giants 2) Dodgers 3) Diamondbacks 4) Rockies 5) Padres

Wild Card teams

Schaumburg Stu has in the A.L. Baltimore Orioles & Detroit Tigers in the N.L. Los Angeles Dodgers & Pittsburgh Pirates

Mr. Fantasy has in the A.L. Toronto Blue Jays & Houston Astros in the N.L. Dodgers & New York Mets

Dan the Man has in the A.L. Blue Jays & Seattle Mariners and in the N.L. Washington Nationals & St. Louis Cardinals

My wild card teams in the A.L. are Tigers & Astros and in the N.L. Cardinals & Dodgers

In the World Series Schaumburg Stu has the Cubs and the Red Sox with the Cubs winning.

Mr. Fantasy has the Giants and the Indians with the Indians winning.

Dan the Man has the Dodgers and the Red Sox with the Dodgers winning

I have the Giants and the Red Sox in the World Series with the Red Sox winning.

As for the individual awards; here’s what we have.

MVP winners

Schaumburg Stu N.L. Anthony Rizzo A.L. Mike Trout

Mr. Fantasy N.L. Kris Bryant A.L. Jose Altuve

Dan the Man N.L. Kris Bryant A.L. Gary Sanchez

My MVP’s are N.L. Paul Goldschmidt A.L. Mookie Betts

Cy Young

Schaumburg Stu N.L. Kyle Hendricks A.L. Corey Kluber

Mr. Fantasy N.L. Noah Syndegaard A.L. Corey Kluber

Dan the Man N.L. Madison Bumgarner A.L. Chris Sale

My Cy Young winners are N.L. Johnny Cueto A.L. Justin Verlander

Rookie of the Year

Schaumburg Stu N.L. Dansby Swanson A.L. Yoan Moncada

Mr. Fantasy N.L. Hunter Renfroe A.L. Jharel Cotton

Dan the Man N.L. Dansby Swanson A.L. Andrew Benintendi

My Rookie of the Year’s are N.L. Manuel Margot A.L. Aaron Judge

Manager of the Year

Schaumburg Stu N.L. Joe Maddon A.L. John Farrell

Mr. Fantasy N.L. Bruce Bochy A.L. Terry Francona

Dan the Man N.L. Dave Roberts A.L. John Farrel

My Manager’s of the Year are N.L. Pete Mackanin A.L. Scott Servais

This season we’ve added Comeback Player of the Year.

Schaumburg Stu N.L. Bryce Harper A.L. Pablo Sandoval

Mr. Fantasy N.L. Matt Harvey A.L. Mike Moustakas

Dan the Man N.L. Andrew McCutchen A.L. Felix Hernandez

My Comeback Player of the Year’s are N.L. Clay Bucholtz A.L. Yu Darvish

There you go; that’s what we came up with for the 2017 season. Join in; e-mail us at SportsTimeRadio.com or just leave your picks in the comments.

Listen to Sports Time Radio live on BlogTalkRadio.com or find the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.Com

How was your week

Posted: March 25, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, fantasy, sports, Uncategorized
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What do Wilt Chamberlain, David Robinson, David Thompson, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant and Devin Booker all have in common? Well if you where paying attention to last nights Phoenix Suns game you know that all of these players have scored 70 points in an NBA game. Booker joined this list of Hall of Fame players and of course future Hall of Fame player in Bryant’s case when he scored 70 points on the nose against the Boston Celtics on Friday night. It was the 11th 70 point game in NBA history.

Even with the 70 point effort by Booker the Suns still lost to the Celtics 130-120. Phoenix is 22-51 on the season and are just one game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for last place in the Western Conference standings. While the Suns are obviously in rebuild mode Booker has to be one of the bright spots I a down season. Booker is in his 2nd season in the NBA and is the Suns leading scorer averaging 21.6 points per game. Eric Bledsoe is right behind Booker in scoring average at 21.1 points per game. Bledsoe is 27 years old while the Suns 3rd leading scorer is 23 year old T.J. Warren who is averaging 13.8 points per game. So the Suns have a young core of players to try and build around.

Booker played 45 minutes on Friday night to get his 70 points. He was 21 of 40 overall from the field going 4 of 11 from behind the 3-point line. He was however 24 of 26 from the free throw line. Along with his 70 points Booker grabbed 8 rebounds and handed out 6 assists.

Now throughout the 4th quarter Suns coach Earl Watson used his timeouts and had his players intentionally foul which aided Booker’s quest to reach that 70 point total. The fans at TD Garden didn’t seem to mind as they cheered Booker’s scoring outburst and it was almost as they where embracing what he was trying to do. Of course it was much, much easier for the Celtics fans to do with their team ahead by double digits. On the other hand the Boston players seemed less than enthusiastic about the way the Suns ran up Booker’s scoring total. Booker scored 28 of his 70 points in the 4th quarter.

Now no matter which side of this you might come down on it’s still a great accomplishment for a player to do.

We are just eight days away from the start of the Major League Baseball season. On Sunday April 2nd ESPN will televise three games to get the season started. At Noon the New York Yankees are at the Tampa Bay Rays. Masahiro Tanaka gets he opening day start for the Yankees while Chris Archer will get the honor for Tampa Bay. The second game scheduled to start around 3:00 p.m. will feature the San Francisco Giants at the Arizona Diamondbacks. Madison Bumgarner will make the start for the Giants while Zack Greinke will be the Diamondbacks starter. Opening day wraps up with an 7:30 p.m. game that has the World Series champion Chicago Cubs at the St. Louis Cardinals. Jon Lester will get the start for the Cubs while Carlos Martinez is the Cardinals starter.

Now as opening day draws closer and closer that means it’s time for our two fantasy drafts. There are 20 teams on both of our leagues. One league is just your standard snake draft style league while the other league we have is an auction style draft. While I still enjoy the snake style draft more than the auction draft the last few seasons my auction draft team has done better in the standings.

Now there’s a lot that goes into drafting your fantasy team. The way your league is set up and which stats are important to your league. Both of our leagues are category leagues; so you can look for all around players or you can try and get players who produce big numbers in a category or two. Now as anyone who’s been in a fantasy league before knows how difficult it is to find players who can put up stats in every category. Start thinking; how many players are out their that combine power and speed and still hit for a high batting average. When you’re trying to come up with these players; what is your acceptable stolen base total for these players. Remember there where just nine players who had more than 30 stolen bases last season. Of course in total there where 72 players who had 10 or more stolen bases. Now in most cases fantasy owners will trade 47 home runs or 133 RBI’s for a single digit stolen base total. Now it’s very easy to sit at the top of your fantasy draft and find the right player. What will win your fantasy league is finding that player or pitcher who will give you numbers in the categories you need help in. That’s why the best thing you can do is look at your league settings and use that to your advantage in the later rounds of your draft. I don’t remember how long ago it was, but when we started playing fantasy baseball Mr. Fantasy use to make fun of me because I would always pick Livan Hernandez in the late rounds of our drafts. Now Hernandez was past his prime and was no longer a top pitcher, but he was an innings eater and we have a minimum numbers of innings are pitchers have to throw a week. Finally last season Mr. Fantasy came around to my way of thinking as he selected R.A. Dicky late in our draft. With the way pitchers are handled in baseball today it’s tough to find a pitcher that will log a lot of innings for you; so if your league has a minimum number of innings you need to pitch a week don’t be afraid to take an innings eater late in your draft. That’s really the best advice I can give not knowing what your league settings are. If you’ve had your draft please let me know how you did, but if your draft is coming up feel free to share your strategy that you use in your league. Good luck!

You can listen to Sports Time Radio live on BlogTalkRadio.com but don’t forget you can listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com

You can also find me on Twitter @Burketime

How was your week

Posted: March 11, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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NFL free agency started this week and as there always seems to be a lot of player movement took place right at the beginning. Quite a few players have new teams including some quarterbacks; so let’s look and see where some of these quarterbacks ended up.

The San Francisco 49ers brought in two quarterbacks as they signed Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley. Oddly Hoyer and Barkley where both members of the Chicago Bears last season as Jay Cutler’s back up. Now Cutler was finally released by the Bears as they signed Tampa bay Buccaneers back up Mike Glennon as their new starter. Robert Griffin III was released by the Cleveland Browns after one season with the team. Cleveland did add a quarterback as they sent a 2017 4th round pick to the Houston Texans. In return the Browns get quarterback Brock Osweiler, a 6th round pick in the 2017 draft and a 2nd round pick in the 2018 draft. It doesn’t appear as Osweiler is in the Browns quarterback plans as they’ve said they will try to deal Osweiler or just release him before the season starts. A couple of back up quarterbacks got new deals as Landry Jones re-signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Aaron Murray has signed with the Los Angeles Rams. Kirk Cousins also signed his franchise tender with the Washington Redskins.

Now with all of the quarterback movement you might have noticed that there’s a name missing that most people thought would be on the free agent market. Tony Romo is still a member of the Dallas Cowboys. It was thought and reported that the Cowboys would be releasing Romo allowing him to become a free agent, but then rumors broke that Romo could be traded. The Houston Texans and Denver Broncos had been the front runners to sign Romo if he had been released and they where the first two teams named when trade talk started. You can’t figure it would take any more than a 6th or 7th round draft choice to get Romo from the Cowboys, but there are some questions with dealing for him. Romo is due $14 million dollars in base salary. Plus there’s a $5 million dollar signing bonus and a $5.7 million dollar restructuring bonus. So Romo would be a salary cap hit of $24.7 million dollars for any team that would trade for him. That’s a large salary for a quarterback who’s played 5 games total the past two seasons. Maybe Denver or Houston is trying to get Romo to re-do his contract, but no reports of that have come out. You do have to wonder why a team would give up a draft pick; even a late round draft pick for a player they could possibly get  on there own terms.

The New England Patriots aren’t normally big players in the free agent market, but this year they did sign a top free agent. New England signed cornerback Stephon Gilmore away from the Buffalo Bills. Terms of Gilmore’s deal were not disclosed, but it is being reported the deal is for 5 years. Now the Patriots did re-sign two of their own free agents. They brought back defensive lineman Alan Branch on a 2 year $12 million dollar deal. New England also re-signed safety Duron Harmon to a 4 year $20 million dollar deal. Now you might not see signing one top cornerback and two of your own free agents as big moves, but the Patriots also made three trades this week. First New England sent a 2017 4th round pick to the Indianapolis Colts for tight end Dwayne Allen and a 20017 6th round pick. The Patriots then traded their 2nd round pick in the 2017 draft to the Carolina Panthers for defensive lineman Kony Ealy and a 2017 3rd round pick, but New England wasn’t done. The Patriots finally completed the long rumored trade with the New Orleans Saints for wide receiver Bradin Cooks. New England will send their 2017 1st round pick; #32 overall and the 3rd round pick (#108 overall) which is the compensatory pick they got from the Cleveland Browns for linebacker Jamie Collins. In return the Patriots will receive Cooks and the Saints 4th round pick (#118 overall) in the 2017 draft. So ask yourself; did anybody do better during the first week of free agency than the defending champions?

Now there where some other free agents signings involving some top players. Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery is joining the Philadelphia Eagles. Defensive end Calals Campbell and cornerback A,J, Bouye are joining the Jacksonville Jaquars. Wide receiver Terrelle Pryor signed with the Washington Redskins while former Redskins receiver DeSean Jackson signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tight end Martellus Bennett signed with the Green Bay Packers. These are just some of the top ranked free agents that signed this week.

Interestingly there are some big name free agent running backs available, but none of them where signed at the start of free agency. There are names like Adrian Peterson, Eddie Lacy, Jamaal Charles, Latavius Murray and LeGarrette Blount on the open market. Now Peterson, Lacy and Charles are all coming back from injury; so that may hold up there signings as teams look at their medical reports. How long do you think it will be before one of these top running backs is signed?

The Chicago White Sox are in rebuild mode for the 2017 season. Now one of the players that the White Sox haven’t traded, but has drawn a lot of interest is Jose Quintana. Now the White Sox have been looking for a big return for the 28 year old Quintana and that case may have just been made for the White Sox. Quintana made a start for Team Colombia in the World Baseball Classic against Team U.S.A. Quintana faced a line up of major league players and held Team U.S.A. to 1 run over 5 2/3rd innings. Quintana stuck out 4 while walking 1 throwing 63 pitches. Quintana got the first 17 Team U.S.A. batters he faced out before the last batter he faced in the game Brandon Crawford singled to rightfield. Now Team U.S.A. did go on to beat Team Columbia 3-2 in 10 innings, but Quintana was the star of the game and if a team was interested in trading for him the price may have just went up.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but you can also find the podcast anytime you’d like at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: February 22, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports
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The NBA trading deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m. and while there hasn’t been a lot of player movement just yet; there are a ton of rumors out there. It should be interesting to see who goes where or if it was just a bunch of talk.

The one official deal we have right now has DeMarcus Cousin and Omar Casspi going to the New Orleans Pelicans. While the Sacramento Kings will receive Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, a 2017 1st round pick and a 2017 2nd round pick.

Now it is being reported that the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets have made a deal. The reports have Lou Williams going to the Rockets while the Lakers will receive Corey Brewer and a future draft pick.

Now the Lakers did make some big changes in the front office earlier in the week. Magic Johnson has taken over as President of basketball operations. Johnson’s first move was the fire General Manager Mitch Kupchak and Vice President of Public Relations John Black. Now Jim Buss will also leave his position as Executive Vice President of basketball operations. Since Buss is part owner of the team I’m not sure if this qualifies as him being fired, but wither way he won’t be making basketball decisions any more. Since Johnson pretty much cleared out the Lakers front office it looks as he’ll be in charge of any trades the team will make between and Thursday’s deadline.

Let’s take a look at some of the trade rumors out there. The Utah Jazz have talked top the Dallas Mavericks about guard Deron Williams. Williams is averaging 13.1 points per game and handing out 6.9 assists per game for the Mavericks this season. Williams was originally drafted by the Jazz in 2005 when he was the #3 pick.

The Indiana Pacers have spoken to the Philadelphia 76ers about Jahlil Okafor. The 76ers have quite a few front court players and there has been a lot of talks about them moving one of them. Since Joel Embiid has been the break out big man for Philadelphia you’d have to think that Okafor or Nerlens Noel would be traded.

The Boston Celtics have had talks with the Los Angeles Clippers about acquiring Blake Griffin. While this could be an interesting deal the Clippers are asking for quite a haul. The Clippers are looking for draft picks along with Jae Crowder and either Marcus Smart or Avery Bradley in return for Griffin. While Boston does have the draft picks to trade that would be a lot to give up for a player who’s contract expires at the end of the season.

The Brooklyn Nets are the worst team in the NBA and they don’t have the draft picks to rebuild the team with. They’ve made it known that they’re willing to trade there best player Brook Lopez. At first the Nets wanted two 1st round draft picks for Lopez, but they made it known this week that they would accept a 1st and a 2nd round pick in exchange for Lopez. Everyone is saying that the 2017 draft is one of the strongest draft in recent years and the more picks the Nets could get in it the better off they are.

Jimmy Butler’s name has come up multiple times in trade rumors, but now it seems as though the Bulls have decided to hold onto him. There are reports out there that the Chicago Bulls have made the entire roster available, but most of the stories I’ve heard have them looking to deal Nikola Mirotic. Taj Gibson’s name has also been mentioned in some trade talks; so maybe he’s the Chicago player traded.

Another deal that has come up had Derrick Rose reuniting with hos former head coach Tom Thibodeau as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. In return for Rose the New York Knicks would receive Rickey Rubio from the Timberwolves. Rubio’s name has been mentioned a few times in different trade rumors, but this is the first time Rose’s name has come up. Rose is also in the final year of his contract; so he’d come right off the books for any team that would deal for him.

While we’re on the Knicks. There hasn’t been a lot of Carmelo Anthony trade talk; so it appears as though he’ll be staying with New York at least through the end of this season. Once the Cleveland Cavaliers said they had no interest in dealing for Anthony there wasn’t really another good match up for the Knicks out there. Now if Rose is dealt they could send Anthony to the Clippers for Griffin, but that’s only if Anthony would accept that deal. Remember Anthony has a no trade clause in his contract.

I guess will have to wait until Thursday to see if any of these plyers have new teams or who else might get traded by the deadline. Sometimes it’s the smaller moves that can really help teams. There’s also the teams that are looking for some salary cap relief and might try to move some guys so they could be a player in free agency this coming off season.

Rob Manfred the commissioner of Major League Baseball held a press conference yesterday to discuss speeding up the pace of play in baseball. Now MLB was unable to make a lot of the changes they where talking about because they couldn’t come to an agreement with the players union on them, but they did make one change. The intentional walk rule is going from the traditional four pitch walk to a dugout signal. I’m not sure how much of a difference this will make, but by getting rid of the old fashioned intentional walk would eliminate about a minute of dead time per walk. Last season in MLB there where 932 intentional walks. So that means there was 1 intentional walk for every 2.6 games played. I’m not sure how big of an impact this rule change will have, but it’s looks to be the start of baseball making changes to try and make the games faster.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com or you find it anytime you want at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: February 15, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports
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With pitchers and catchers just reporting the St. Louis Cardinals got some bad news already. The Cardinals top pitching prospect and the #6 rated minor league prospect overall Alex Reyes needs Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2017 season. An MRI revealed a complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.Reyes had the MRI on Tuesday after letting the Cardinals of elbow discomfort. The scan was examined by team physician Dr. George Paletta; who confirmed that Reyes requires Tommy John surgery. The images have been sent to Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion, but the Cardinals do not expect the diagnosis to change. Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said Reyes will likely have the surgery on Thursday. It will be performed by Paletta. Reyes first notified the Cardinals of arm discomfort late last week, and the club recommended the imaging scan after running Reyes through a physical exam at their spring training complex. Reyes has been pitching with a compromised ligament in his right elbow since at least 2013; when he was diagnosed with an elbow strain. Reyes will no longer pitch for the Dominican Republic team in next month’s World Baseball Classic. Reyes pitched in 12 games last season for St. Louis making 5 starts. He pitched a total of 46 innings going 4-1 with an E.R.A. of 1.57 and getting 1 save. Reyes was expected to contribute at the major league level this season, but his role hadn’t been decided yet. While it was never announced you have to believe there was a plan in place to limit his innings this season be it as a starter or out of the bullpen. Not that you ever want to lose a player for the season this early, but the Cardinals do have Lance Lynn returning from Tommy John surgery which cost him the entire 2016 season. St. Louis also has 23 year old prospect Luke Weaver who made 8 starts for them last season to help in the rotation if needed. Weaver was 1-4 in those 8 starts with an E.R.A, of 5.70 over 36 1/3rd innings. Weaver did make one relief appearance last season.

Kyle Schwarber has said that he wants to continue to catch and the Chicago Cubs cane out yesterday and said that they will allow him to do some catching this spring. Schwarber  tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee in the third regular season game in 2016 was examined by the Cubs medical staff yesterday and if they clear him he’ll catch one or two days a week this spring. Schwarber miss all but those first three games of the regular season, but he did return to serve as the Cubs designated hitter in the World Series. Schwarber will have to wear a brace on his left knee this season and possibly the rest of his playing career. The Cubs are working on creative ways for Schwarber to work with the catchers and not put any unnecessary stress on his knee. Coming into the 2017 season Wilson Contreras looks to be the Cubs starting catcher with Miguel Montero being his back up. If Schwarber can catch he could be a very valuable 3rd catcher for the Cubs.

Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star forward Kevin Love will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and is scheduled to miss 6 weeks. Love began suffering from a sore left knee Saturday against the Denver Nuggets and sat out from the Cavaliers game Tuesday. An MRI on Sunday didn’t reveal any structural damage, but Love sought out a second opinion. If Love is out the 6 weeks he should be able to return at the start of April and that would give him 7 games to get ready for the playoffs. That actual should give Love enough time to test the knee out and get back into game shape. Love is currently 3rd on the Cavaliers in scoring averaging 20 points a game. He is the teams leading rebounder grabbing 11.1 per game. Love is also one of the Cavaliers best 3-point shooters making 38.4% from behind the 3-point line. Cleveland is 38-16 and have a 2 1/2 game lead over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference. Will they still be in 1st place when Love returns? More importantly does it matter at all where the Cavaliers are seeded come playoff time? You have to think that even if the Cavaliers fall into 2nd or even 3rd place they would still be the clear favorites to win the conference and go to the NBA Finals.

The Anaheim Ducks beat the Minnesota Wild 1-0 last night, but they may lose Antoine Vermette to a suspension after he slashed linesman Shandor Alphonso. After losing a face off with 7:33 left in the 3rd period Vermette slashed the leg of the linesman. This earned Vermette a 10 minute penalty for game misconduct and an ejection for abuse of an official. NHL Rule 40.3 explains that a player will receive a 10 game suspension for deliberately applying physical force to an official in any manner. Vermette’s slash fits into this category. Just last season Dennis Wideman of the Calgary Flames received a 20 game suspension for cross-checking a ref on his way back to the bench. Wideman’s suspension was later reduced to 10 games through an appeal. Vermette is in his 13th NHL season, but this is his 1st one with Anaheim. In 58 games this season Vermette has 22 points on 8 goals and 14 assists, but is a -10 for +/- this season. There is no timetable for an NHL ruling on Vermette’s slash, but you have to think there will be a suspension involved with this incident.

For the Super Bowl the Atlanta Zoo had a bet with the Rhode Island Roger Williams Park Zoo that the loser would name a baby animal after the winning team’s star quarterback. The Atlanta Zoo paid off there bet by naming a Madagascar hissing cockroach Tom Brady. The animal to be named had been agreed upon between the two zoo’s since it was expected the loser of the bet would be bitter. The zoo introduced a whole family of cockroaches in a video Monday, including a tiny Tom Brady.

You can listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com or you can listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

 

How was your week

Posted: February 8, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports, Uncategorized
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So the Super Bowl actually did turn out to be super. I am wondering how many people turned the game off when the Atlanta Falcons took a 28-3 lead early in the 3rd quarter. Of course as we all know now the New England Patriots scored the final 31 points of the game including the game winning touchdown in overtime to comeback and win the game.

In there comeback Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and running back James White set some new Super Bowl records. Brady set records for most passing attempts with 62. Most pass completions with 42 and most passing yards with 466. White caught more passes than anyone else in a single Super Bowl game with 14. His 110 receiving yards was also the most ever for a running back in a Super Bowl. The Patriots as a team set some new records as well. They had the most first downs with 37, most passing first downs with 26 and most offensive plays in a game with 93.  Plus there was the record-setting 19 point fourth quarter comeback and 25 point second half rally. The teams also combined to set three new records. Most 1st downs in a Super Bowl by both teams with 54, most passing 1st downs in a Super Bowl by both teams with 39 and most combined passing yards by both teams with 682. The Patriots now have the most Super Bowl appearances by a team with 9 while Bill Belichick is now the head coach with the most Super Bowl appearances at 7 and wins with 5. Tom Brady now also has the most career passing touchdowns in Super Bowl history with 15.

There where also five records tied in this Super Bowl. Most Super Bowl wins; Tom Brady with 5. Most sacks in a Super Bowl; Grady Jarrett with 3. They started keeping this record in 1982. Most 2-point conversions in a game with 2 and most 2-point conversions by teams combined with 2 and most 1st downs by penalties with 4 by the Patriots.

Now as a whole the NFL playoffs weren’t that great to watch. Did this type of a Super Bowl make up for it? These where the two top offenses in the playoffs and that did show through in this game and that made it fun to watch. There was some talk that this was the greatest Super Bowl of all time. While it was a good game to watch I’m not sure if it’s the greatest Super Bowl ever, but I’d love to know what you thought of the game. Feel free to leave me your comments about the Super Bowl.

With all the complaining LeBron James has done about his team this season you have to wonder if he’s concerned about a NBA Finals rematch with the Golden State Warriors or if he thinks there’s a team in the Eastern Conference that the Cleveland Cavaliers have to worry about. The Cavaliers have a 2 1/2 game lead over the Boston Celtics for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with the Toronto Raptors 4 1/2 games out of 1st place and the Washington Wizards 5 1/2 games behind the Cavaliers.

Now we’ve seen the Raptors take a run at the Cavaliers the last few seasons; so I’m not sure anyone would consider them a challenger in the East.

The Celtics are currently on a 7-game winning streak and they try to make it 8 in a row as they face the Sacramento Kings tonight. The Celtics are led by Isaiah Thomas who is averaging 29.9 points per game and has proven that he is one of if not the top player when the 4th quarter rolls around. Thomas is also the team leader in assists per game with 6.4. Can a team with a point guard as there leading scorer take down the Cavaliers in a 7-game series? Now the Celtics do have some big men who can score and shoot the 3-pointer. Al Horford averages 15.1 points per game and makes 34.1% from behind the 3-point line. Jae Crowder averages 14.2 points per game and shoots a team high 42.2 % from behind the 3-point line. Now the Celtics are a young up and coming team, but are they ready to take that step and take the Cavaliers out in a seven game series. If we get this match up in the playoffs we might get the chance to see where the Celtics stand.

Now how about the Wizards. Remember this is the team that started the season off 5-10 and there was talk of what a disappointing season this was going to be. Washington is now nine games over .500 at 30-21. The Wizards just had there 7-game winning streak snapped on Monday by the Cavaliers. Cleveland won that game 140-135 in overtime, but the Wizards had to get an idea that they could play with the Cavaliers. Is an close overtime loss enough to build confidence in a team that can be up and won at times. I’m sure you’ve heard the reports that John Wall and Bradley Beal don’t always get along. That would be alright as long as they both continue to play well. Wall leads the team in scoring at 23 points per game while Beal is right behind him averaging 22.2 points per game. Wall is also handing out 10.4 assists per game. Both are shooting well from the field. Beal shoots 46.9% from the field and 39.1% from behind the 3-point line. Wall is shooting 45.8% from the field and 31.4% from behind the 3-point line. Otto Porter is shooting a very good 46.7% from behind the 3-point line and Marcin Gortat is grabbing 8.3 rebounds per game. The Wizards are run by there backcourt tandem and the team will go how they go, but they do have some pieces that could help them in a series against the Cavaliers. Could Washington be the team that gives the Cavaliers trouble in a playoff series?

We had a couple more free agents come off the market yesterday. Chris Carter signed with the New York Yankees for one year at $3 million dollars while Mike Napoli agreed to return to the Texas Rangers on a one year $8.5 million dollar deal with a club option. Carter’s deal does have incentives where he can earn an extra $500,000. With pitchers and catchers reporting next week you have to wonder how many more deals will get before then.

You can listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com or you can listen any time you want at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

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