Archive for the ‘baseball’ Category

How was your week

Posted: March 5, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, basketball, sports, Uncategorized
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With the start of the baseball season less than a month away spring training is up and running at full speed. This week 3 teams suffered their first injuries where players will miss regular season time. The defending champion Kansas City Royals lost outfielder Jarrod Dyson for 6 weeks with a Grade 2 strain of his right oblique. Dyson is going into his 7th season with the Royals, but has been used mostly as a defensive replacement and pinch runner. This season the Royals where hoping that Dyson would be part of there right field platoon with Paulo Orlando. With Dyson out Travis Snider might be given the first chance to fill his role at the start of the season. Snider was signed as a free agent this off season. The Detroit Tigers also lost and outfielder as Cameron Maybin was hit by a pitch and suffered a non-displaced fracture of his left wrist and is expected to miss the first couple of weeks of the regular season. After struggling through most of his career Maybin seemed to find something with the Atlanta Braves last season hitting .267 with 10 home runs while stealing 23 bases in 141 games. The Tigers sent 2 pitchers Gabe Speier and Ian Kroll to the Braves this off season for Maybin so he could compete with Anthony Gose for playing time in center field. Gose should be the full time center fielder while Maybin tries to recover from his wrist injury. The first pitcher to go down with a serious injury was Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Brett Anderson. Anderson was found to have a bulging disc in his lower back that will require surgery. The time frame for Anderson return has been set between 3 and 5 months. Anderson has had various injuries tough his career, but stayed healthy during the 2015 season making 31 starts. Anderson went 10-9 with a 3.69 Earner Run Average (ERA) last season. Even with Anderson out and Brandon McCarthy not scheduled to return from his injury until the All-Star break the Dodgers still have some depth in there staring rotation. Of course Clayton Kershaw is at the top of the rotation. Hyun-jin Ryu is returning from injury and looks like he’ll be ready to go for the start of the season. The Dodgers signed Scott Kazmir as a free agent as well as Japanese free agent and Kenta Maeda this off season. The Dodgers also have Alex Wood and Mike Bolsinger as 5th starter options. Will have to see which pitcher ends up filling Anderson’s rotation spot. There are always injuries in spring training you just have to hope that it’s not a key player who gets hurt or that your team has a player who can fill his role on the team.

Have there been two more disappointing teams this NBA season than the Houston Rockets and the Chicago Bulls? The Rockets are 30-31, but are holding onto the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Bulls are 30-30 , but are 1/2 game behind the Detroit Pistons for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. As the schedule would have it these two disappointing teams are the marquee match up for NBA Saturday night. What are we going to get on a national telecast with these two teams playing. Each team has shown flashes of the team people thought they might be at the beginning of the season, but haven’t shown enough to make people think they could be a factor in the playoffs. At this point right now if both of these teams end up as the #8 seeds in their conferences do you think they’d have a shot at all of beating the #1 seed. They better question might be would they even win a game in that series or would they just be swept out of the playoffs.  The Rockets where so bad at the start of the season that there head coach Kevin McHale lost his job. The coaching change hasn’t made a whole lot of difference with the Rockets. The Rockets feature James Harden along with Dwight Howard. Harden leads the team in scoring with 28.7 points per game and dominates the basketball. Harden does also lead the team in assists averaging 7 a game. Howard is the team leader in rebounds grabbing an average of 12 a game. Howard can still block shots; he’ll block 1.5 per game on average. Howard is also averaging 14.9 points per game. Harden and Howard are the Rockets top two scorers. The Bulls had been a playoff team under defensive minded head coach Tom Thibodeau, but the front office wanted to go another and replaced Thibodeau with a more offensive minded coach in Fred Hoiberg. As the Bulls attempt t adjust to a new system the defense hasn’t been what it was and the offense isn’t where it’s suppose to be. The Bulls are fighting some injuries, but there’s a chance that their best player Jimmy Butler will return tonight. Butler is the Bulls leading scorer averaging 22.4 points per game. Pau Gasol has shown he can still play offense averaging 16.9 points per game and is the tam leader in rebounding at 10.9 rebounds per game. Derrick Rose has played more this season, but still misses games with injuries that wouldn’t keep other players out. Rose is the Bulls 3rd leading scorer at 16.5 points per game, but does lead the team in assists averaging 4.8 assists per game. Rose and Butler have had some issues working together on the court, but it seems as though one of them has always been out injured; so that hasn’t been a huge issue yet. Will we get a good game tonight or we will get a game where two disappointing teams show up.

Just a reminder Chris Olmstead from http://www.BeyondtheFlag.com will join the Sports Time Radio podcast to preview The Kobalt 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch won the pole in qualifying with a speed of 196.328 miles per hour. Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keslowski and Austin Dillion round out the Top 5 qualifiers. Will one of these drivers be in Chris’ 3 drivers to look for in victory lane? You’ll have to listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com to find out who Chris is going with.

Listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: February 24, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, MMA, sports, Uncategorized
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There have been a few projections and predictions released for the upcoming Major League Baseball season even though spring training has just started. From what I’ve seen a lot of people are back on the Cleveland Indians again. The Indians where a trendy pick last season and I believe it was Sports Illustrated that picked them to win the World Series. The Indians finished 81-80 last season good for 3rd in the American League Central, but  13 1/2 games behind the world champion Kansas City Royals. I’m trying to figure out what moves the Indians have made this off season to propel them into the playoffs. I’m not really into breaking teams down here, but let’s take a look at the Indians.

one through four in the starting rotation for the Indians is as good as just about any other team out there. Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar and Trevor Bauer should give the Indians a chance to win just about every time they make a start. It should come down to Cody Anderson, Josh Tomlin or possible T.J. House for the 5th starter spot in the rotation. Cody Allen is a solid closer and Bryan Shaw is a good set up man, but getting the baseball to these two is where some of the bullpen issues may come up. Zach McAllister may have found a home in the bullpen, but he’ll need help in the middle relief role from Jeff Manship and veteran signings Tom Gorzelanny, Tommy Hunter and Joba Chamberlain. While pitching seems to look good for the Indians what about there everyday line up. The best player on the Indians and one of the more under rated ones in baseball is outfielder Michael Brantley and he’s injured. I’ve heard reports that Brantley might be ready for opening day and then there are reports that he’ll be out until May. Collin Cowgill looks to be the guy in line to fill in for Brantley, but Rajai Davis was signed as a free agent this off season and he may see some time in left field as well if Brantley is out. Abraham Almonte is scheduled to be the starting centerfielder. Almonte has played in 166 games over the last 3 seasons in the majors. Almonte is a career .244 career hitter, but did put up his best numbers with Cleveland at the end of last season. Almonte hit .264 with 5 home runs and had 5 triples in 51 games for Cleveland last season. Lonnie Chisenhall is going to be given a chance to be the everyday rightfielder. Giovanny Urshela is scheduled to be the everyday guy at 3rd base, but Juan Uribe was signed this week as insurance. Urshella got an 81 game look last season, but hit just .225. I don’t think Uribe can play everyday; so the Indians will have to get something out of Urshella to make something out of this position. Up the middle the Indians appear to be set. Francisco Lindor hit better at the major league level than he every did at any minor league stop. Can he do that again? Jason Kipnis bounced back after a down 2014 hitting .303, but his power number where still down as he hit just 9 home runs. The 1st base/Designated Hitter role looks like it will be split in some way shape or form between Carlos Santana and Mike Napoli. Santana looked to be on an upward career path, but the last 2 seasons he’s hit just .231, but his power numbers are still good. Santana has had 100 plus RBI’s the last 2 seasons and should be a 20-25 home run guy. Napoli struggled greatly wit the Boston Red Sox last season, but after being dealt to the Texas Rangers he hit much better. Napoli is a career .253 hitter, but he should give Cleveland another player who can hit 20-25 home runs. Catcher Yan Gomes is trying to comeback from a knee injury that limited him to just 95 games last season. Gomes was able to put up 12 home runs in his limited playing time, but his batting average fell to .231. Cleveland needs Gomes to get his average closer to his 2014 number of .278 when he was the full time catcher. Now this isn’t really an offense that should scare anybody and if Brantley misses the first month of the season they could start off in a hole. The pitching should be able to keep them in games, but will they win more games 2-1 or lose more games 3-2? If you’re an Indians fan out there reading this help me out and give me your take on the team.

Denny Hamlin won his first Daytona 500 and it was by the closet margin ever. Hamlin beat out Martin Truex Jr. by one-hundredth of a second. Sadly Hamlin wasn’t one of Chris Olmstead’s picks on the Sunday morning edition of Sports Time Radio. If was a rough week for Chris’ picks. Two of his picks Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Chase Elliott were involved in accidents and finished 35th and 36th respectively. His 3rd pick Jimmie Johnson got shuffled back on the last lap and finished in 16th place. Now it’s on to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. Chris will join us again Sunday morning to preview the race and make his picks.

The UFC had to do some juggling when Rafael dos Anjos had to withdraw from the main event against Connor McGregor after breaking his foot in training and the pay per view just a couple of weeks away. McGregor who is the champion at 145 was moving up to 155 to fight dos Anjos. Now McGregor is going to move up two weight classes to fight Nate Diaz at 170 pounds. While the fight will be non-title; it will be the main event for UFC 196. Diaz is 18-10 in his career but is coming off a win in his last fight. Diaz won a decision against Michael Johnson on December 19th. Had the dos Anjos bout held up, McGregor would have attempted to become the first fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold titles in multiple weight classes. He had expressed interest in eventually fighting for the promotion’s welterweight title as well. Diaz is a former lightweight title challenger. Diaz lost to then champion Benson Henderson by unanimous decision in December 2012. The other featured bout on UFC 196 is women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm facing off against Miesha Tate. It will be Holm’s first title defense since her stunning second round knockout of Ronda Rousey on November 15th.

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

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How was your week

Posted: February 13, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Uncategorized
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It’s NBA All-Star weekend or I guess I should say All-Star week. I find it a little odd that the NBA of all the major sports has the longest All-Star break. If you remember last season LeBron James cried quite a bit about how the All-Star break wasn’t long enough and he couldn’t spend time with his family. Of course this is the same guy that when he had time off ended up in Miami. If I remember right his family lives in Cleveland. I think he used the excuse that he was in Miami to see a certain doctor, but I don;t think anyone believed that. Now in no way am I saying that that basketball isn’t a physical sport. With all the running and the jumping has to be tough on the knees and ankles. I’m just not sold on it being tougher than playing in the NHL which got just 3 or 4 days off for their All-Star break. I have to wonder if it’s even as tough as playing Major League baseball with the long season and the fact that you play in the heat of the summer. Baseball also gets just 3 or 4 days off for their All-Star break. The NBA season is long enough as it is; do they really need an extended All-Star break?

Like I said it is All-Star weekend for the NBA and it kicked off yesterday wit 2 games I could care little or nothing at all about. The first game is the celebrity game which has a few former players mixed in along with a couple of WNBA players as well. All this game really proves is that all the entertainers playing in it made the right career choice. I was actually a little interested to see the Rising Stars Challenge until I turned it on. I thought the format might be interesting with the best young American players against the best players from the rest of the world. Now the game is just for first or second year NBA players, but when I turned it on I quickly realized that even these players knew they where n an All-Star game. Just like the All-Star game that will be played on Sunday there was ZERO defense played in this game was the World team won 121-112. I thought maybe the young players would try and play an actual game of basketball and not just let guys dunk at will and throw up 45 foot 3-pointers; sadly I was very, very wrong. It took me about 2 minutes of actual game action to realize this game was a joke and went and found something else to watch. So Friday is a complete waste of time for the NBA All-Star weekend and everyone knows that the game on Sunday will be a joke; so the only hope is the Saturday night events will be worth watching.

All-Star Saturday night kicks off with the Shooting Stars event. I was unable to find out who’ll be competing in this event, but if I remember right it’s a former NBA player teamed up with a current NBA player and a current WNBA player and they have to make a series of shots from different areas of the court ending with a half court shot. The team that makes all their shots in the fastest time wins this event. Then they move on to the Skills Challenge which features the players skills in ball handling, passing and shooting. This is the first season that more than just guards will compete. Patrick Beverly (Rockets) is the defending champion, but he is injured and won;t be in this seasons competition. Here’s the list of the players competing. DeMarcus Cousins (Kings), Draymond Green (Warriors), Anthony Davis (Pelicans), Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves), Jordan Clarkson (Lakers), C.J. McCollum (Trailblazers), Isaiah Thomas (Celtics) and Emmanuel Mudlay (Nuggets). Dan the Man is picking Cousins to win this event. Next is the 3-point shootout with Stephen Curry (warriors) back to defend his title. Curry is up against Devin Booker (Suns), J.J. Reddick (Clippers), Kyle Lowry (Raptors), James Harden (Rockets), Khris Middleton (Bucks), C.J. McCollum (Trailblazers) and Klay Thompson (Warriors). Dan likes Thompson to unseat his teammate Curry in this event. With what the NBA game has turned into I’m a little surprised that the Slam Dunk contest still wraps up All-Star Saturday night, but it does. Zach LaVine (Timberwolves) is back to defend Slam Dunk his title against Aaron Gordon (Magic), Andre Drummond (Pistons) and Will Barton (Nuggets). Dan likes the big man Drummond to win this event. Tune into Sports Time Radio 5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. live at http://www.BlogTalkRadio.com and we’ll review how Dan the Man did with his picks. Do you agree with Dan’s picks? or do you have someone else winning these competitions.

Major League Baseball made history on Friday and not in a good way. Jenrry Mejia of the New York Mets became the first player to receive a lifetime ban for failing 3 drugs tests. Not only was this Mejia’s 3rd positive test, but his 3rd positive test in a year. It was reported that Mejia tested positive for Boldenone, which athletes have used to increase muscle mass and once was popular for use in horse racing. He is just the 2nd player to ever test positive for Boldenone and he’s done it twice. Mejia is just 26 years old and may apply to commissioner Rob Manfred for reinstatement in one year. If reinstated, he would have to sit out a minimum of two years before being able to pitch again in the majors. If an application is made and denied, Mejia could ask baseball’s arbitrator to end the ban, claiming the penalty is without “just cause.” The arbitrator cannot reduce the ban to less than two years. MLB suspensions are honored by affiliated leagues in other countries, such as in Japan, South Korea and Mexico. However, suspended players are allowed to compete in winter leagues, such as in Mejia’s native Dominican Republic. Independent leagues are not compelled to honor MLB suspensions but may choose to do so.There are a few comparable cases, but nothing quite like Mejia’s. Josh Hamilton who was in the minor leagues at the time had some issues and was suspended several times for drug abuse from 2003-05, but was allowed to return each time. During a time when there was not a drug agreement, Steve Howe was suspended for life by Commissioner Fay Vincent in 1992 after the pitcher’s seventh drug- or alcohol-related incident. Arbitrator George Nicolau said doctors concluded Howe suffered from attention deficit hyperactive disorder and cut the suspension to time served, which was 119 days. I’m not sure what Mejia was thinking, but he has talent and I’m sure will get another chance if he’s reinstated. You just have to wonder how a player can be so, so stupid to fail 3 tests in a year.

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

 

This Old Stub

Posted: January 29, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio
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It all started with a Facebook post and an airline deal of $49 to Denver. Late one night, last January, I was studying when my wife interrupts, she hadn’t seen a deal like that and thought we should go. I gave her the two weeks I’d be able to travel and she booked it. The sale was ending that night and we wouldn’t be able get that deal on the weekends. I should have researched it a little because the Blackhawks were in town the Saturday before we arrived and the Cubs helped the Rockies open Coors Field for the season but of course we arrived the day after. I did how ever schedule a tour of Coors Field which was hosted by a really nice old lady that took us on the mile and a half journey above sea level and back down below below home plate. The only other visitors, were two fireman from Atlanta up there to see the Firefighter Muesum they also saw, which of course I was jealous of, the previous day’s contest between the Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs. Now some people may see this as bad indicate but it makes it a much more personal experience. What made things even better was the fact that the other two guys that were there, tuned into little kids for that time period also. I’m sure if she would have let us, the three of us would have been out there running the bases.

The tour begins at the gates on the southwest corner of the stadium…Forgive me I forget the gate, as we walk the tunnel to the field the starting line is presented above with banners of each player. This tunnel leads to the concourse and opens up to a beautiful view of the field. We were lucky to get a day with clear skies and a bright sun. After absorbing the view from behind home plate, the tour guide explains to us the recent upgrade to Coors Field. The top tier seats in right field were removed and leveled; creating the new Roofdeck. Now, I’ll be honest, when it comes to tour guides, I don’t have the longest attention span, so I’m not sure if she said it or not but I’m assuming this new rooftop setting was inspired by the rooftops of Wrigleyville. Which was our next stop on the tour, which also explains why she asked if we were ready for some exercise? As we begin to ascend towards the Roofdeck, we made a pit stop about half way there at the corner of the 22cd and Blake Street, the Blue Moon Brewing Co. She told us the story, just like you see on tv about the orange garnish. I’d love to tell you so much more but I’m not really into beer, so I didn’t really pay much attention but it opens to ticket holders 90 mins before the game but they do open it up to the public during the regular season and is open in the off season also. Being that it was before lunch, it wasn’t open, so my wife and the guys couldn’t have a taste test. We finally make it to the top and the view is just breath taking from the top. I’m sure come game time, the 400 plus feet distance from home plate, still doesn’t generate a bad seat in the house.

The rooftop has two full service bars, the Tavern Ballpark specializes in local craft beers and the Tuaca Terrace Bar features cocktails, spirits, wines and craft beers. But for me, I can’t wait to get back to is CHUBurger, a local “Craft Casual” dining experience which its ingredients that are farm fresh from Longmont, CO. But I’m not telling you anything, you can read it on their website. The view from below would lead you to believe that is all that’s going on, is up front, but it’s behind the bars are lounge areas to well relax. This is where I see the inspiration from the rooftops in Wrigleyville. Now for me, I don’t need all the extra amenities but to have seats up there would be great in case say my wife gets tired of the game or “annoyed” with the people, there is a place she can take off to get away. Now as you look out onto the field and up in the stands, there is a row of blue seats that signifies 1 mile above sea level. With my knees, I don’t think I’d leave my seat. Now I know what you’re thinking, it’s The mile high city wasn’t the lack of oxygen killing you? For my wife and I, we didn’t notice it one bit. The only downside of the tour of course, is that nothing is open inside the park, I know it was an off day but still just four people on the tour and you couldn’t stage the tour a little. I’m being sarcastic of course but I still think they could add a stop at the gift shop despite it being an off day.

On with the tour, our next stop is the Wells Fargo club. Basically, the tour guide told us that since we are customers of Wells Fargo, to call to get the privilege of sitting in this gourmet luxury type bar sitting behind home plate. It had a great view and was full of memorabilia and on one of the tables were old programs and souvenirs for the taking. Out the door and around the corner, to the press box we head. It’s just as it appears when it’s captured on tv, countertops from wall to wall with assigned seats by media source. Nothing more than a workspace and outlets with I’m sure wifi.

The tour ends behind home plate but to get there, we go through the banquet area that can be rented out for corporate events or even weddings. The view is not of the field but of the street which amazingly is only a couple stories from street level (somethings you really have to see yourself to understand). Now we end up going down it seems forever and go through a couple tunnels and into the visiting players locker room. It’s just as seen in any post game interview but a lot nicer in person and larger. Sunflower seeds and Forbes magazines to go around. We spent sometime in the clubhouse going through every square inch, it was off to the dugout but before reaching that point we stopped to take a few swings in the batting cage, we wished, we were lucky she let us go down there. We head up the stairs to see the sunlight flooding the tunnel making it impossible to see until you reach the top of the stairs opening to a glimpse in the eyes of the visiting team. Just standing there in the dugout makes you relive that childhood dream of sitting on the bench spitting sunflower seeds shells everywhere, waiting to step in the batters box. As we ascend the steps to the field, we learn that we are not allowed to go behind the warning track. We’re given enough time to enjoy and capture the moment before its farewell from this short mile and half stroll through Coors Field exiting from behind home plate, climbing back to the concourse and farewell. It’s a great expierence to get to go behind the scenes but I would loved to have seen Coors Field alive.

At the end of the day, I cant wait to get back to Denver and back to Coors Field and see the Rockies in action but with so many seating options, I’m not sure where I’d sit!

@DanZeeeMan

How was your week

Posted: January 16, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, sports
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The NBA season is just about to it’s halfway point and I heard an interesting comment about the league the other day. I wish I could remember who I could attribute this to, but sadly I can’t. Anyway this NBA analyst went on to say that there are only 3 teams that are serious NBA championship contenders. So if you’re not a fan of the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs or the Cleveland Cavaliers your season is over. Is that tough for you to hear? Golden State has the best record in the NBA at 37-3 while San Antonio is 35-6. Neither team has lost a home game so far this season as the Warriors are 19-0 at home and the Spurs are 23-0 at home. Cleveland is 28-10, but is far and away the best team in the Eastern Conference. While the Cavaliers may have the easiest road to the finals they have lost both of their games against the top to teams in the west. On Christmas Day Golden State beat the Cavaliers 89-83 and then just this Thursday Cleveland was beaten by San Antonio 99-95. To be fair both of these match ups where on the road and now the Cavaliers will get to host Golden State this coming Monday, but they don’t host San Antonio until January 30th. Cleveland’s only loss at home was on December 1st; a 97-85 defeat by the Washington Wizards. The Toronto Raptors are 25-15 and look like the 2nd best team in the Eastern Conference, but are they a threat to beat the Cavaliers for a trip to the NBA Finals. In the Western Conference the Oklahoma City Thunder are 19-12 and the Los Angeles Clippers are 26-13 and look like the 3rd and 4th best teams in the Western Conference. Are the Thunder and the Clippers a threat to go to the NBA Finals? If someone besides the Warriors or the Spurs is going to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals they’ll have to beat both of those teams in a 7 game series. Say a team like the Thunder or the Clippers did manage to get past both the Warriors and the Spurs during the playoffs. How much would they have left for an NBA Finals match up against a team like Cleveland?

Remember when there was nothing but complaining about the Eastern Conference and the fact that they had teams with under .500 records getting into the playoffs. I don;t think I’ve heard as much complaining now that all 8 of what would be the Eastern Conference playoff teams would be over .500 and the Western Conference would have a team just 1 game over .500 sneak in and another team that is under .500 make the playoffs. Where did all these guys go who where saying the playoffs needed to be re-seeded and these terrible under.500 teams would ruin the playoffs by making it. Did those teams ruin Golden State’s run to a championship last season by making the playoffs. Yeah; I didn’t think so. Maybe it would affect the NBA if one of these under .500 teams actually made a playoff run and won a championship. It could also attract more casual fans to the NBA as a team that shouldn’t be there is there and that can draw a crowd. The playoff system the NBA uses seems to get good result as I don’t remember a team with an under .500 record win a championship over even go to a conference finals and while it might be tough to see a team with a better record than another team out of the playoffs that’s the way the conferences are set up. What will they say this season if there’s a team with a record above .500 that doesn’t make the playoffs, but it’s in the Eastern Conference this season.

There was a little bit of controversy when the NHL held an online vote to name captains for the All-Star game and John Scott of the Arizona Coyotes won one of those spots. Scott has played in 11 games this season for the Coyotes. Scott has 1 assists in those 11 games, but does have 25 penalty minutes. Now yesterday the Coyotes made a couple of trades. The first trade had Arizona sending defenseman Stefan Elliott to the Nashville Predators for defenseman Victor Bartley. Arizona then turned around and sent Bartley along with Scott to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Jarred Tinordi and minor league winger Stefan Fournier. It looks like just an even swap of players; no big deal. Well the Canadiens assigned Scott to their minor league affiliate  St. John’s of the AHL. Now accord to NHL rules Scott has to be on an NHL team to play in the All-Star game. I’m sure the players association will go back and forth with the NHL on this, but Scott himself said he’d follow the league rules. What this is all leading me too and this is normally Dan the Man’s thing on Sports Time Radio, but was this a conspiracy? I’m sure the NHL saw Scot being voted an All-Star captain as embarrassing and while both teams are saying the right things; you have to look at this and wonder.

After the rumors yesterday that the Baltimore Orioles had offered free agent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes a 5-year $90 million dollar contract I was surprised to see that there are reports that say the Orioles and free agent Chris Davis have agreed on a 7-year $161 million dollar deal. Maybe the contract offer to Cespedes was to try and get Davis’ camp moving as they seemed to be dragging their feet in negotiations with Baltimore. Davis hit a league high 47 home runs last season to go with 117 RBI’s and hit .262. Could the Orioles bring Davis back and still sign Cespedes?

The World Series champion Kansas City Royals also added a free agent overnight as it’s being reported that the Royals and Ian Kennedy have agreed on a 5-year $70 million dollar contract. Kennedy spent the last 3 seasons with the San Diego Padres where last season he was 9-15 with a 4.28 ERA in 30 starts.

In our picks for the wild card round Schaumburg Stu, Dan the Man and I went 3-1 while Mr. Fantasy was 2-2. The divisional round kicks off this afternoon with the Kansas City Chiefs at the New England Patriots and then tonight it’s the Green Bay Packers at the Arizona Cardinals. While I didn’t receive Mr. Fantasy’s picks in time to add them to this I can tell you that Dan the Man, Schaumburg Stu and I are all picking New England to win today’s first game, but Dan the Man and Schaumburg Stu have Green Bay winning tonight;s game while I have Arizona getting the win. Sunday’s games are the Seattle Seahawks at the Carolina Panthers to start the day and then the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Denver Broncos in the afternoon to wrap up the divisional round. Tomorrow on the Sports Time radio podcast I’ll give you are picks for the Sunday games as well as a review of how today’s games went. Mr. Fantasy should be their and he’ll be able to adjust his picks to go 2-0 on Saturday. You can find the podcast on http://www.BlogTalkRadio.com live from 10:00 a.m. until Noon.

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: January 13, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports, Uncategorized
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Have you ever seen a worst weekend of playoff football? The last game of the set of four featuring the Green bay Packers beating the Washington Redskins was a decent game, but the other 3 stunk. The Kansas City Chiefs/Houston Texans game was over after the opening kickoff; we just didn’t know that yet. Even though the Chiefs went in leading at halftime 13-0; it seemed like Houston had no chance to get back into the game. There are obvious reasons the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Cincinnati Bengals game was terrible. Besides the 2 penalties decided the game there was the fact that these 2 teams combined to score just 34 points. I thought for sure that one of these teams would score 34 points; in no way did I think it would take both of them to get to that number. The Seattle Seahawks vs. the Minnesota Vikings game was 3-0 at halftime with Minnesota in the lead. They saved all the excitement for the last field goal attempt by the Vikings when Blair Walsh missed a 26-yarder to allow Seattle to hang on to a 10-9 victory. It was just bad football from start to finish on wild card weekend; so here’s hoping that the divisional round this weekend has some better games. Kansas City gets to start the weekend off again, but this time they are on the road to play the New England Patriots. It’s schedule to be a 3:35 p.m. kickoff on Saturday. Game 2 has the Green Bay Packers against the Arizona Cardinals with a kickoff time scheduled at 7:15 p.m. It’s the first meeting this season for the Chiefs and the Patriots, but the Packers and the Cardinals met in Week 16 when Arizona dominated the game and handed Green Bay a 38-8 loss. The Sunday games are both rematches. The first game has the Seattle Seahawks at the Caroline Panthers. In Week 6 the Panthers went into Seattle and won the game 27-23. This game is scheduled to be the Noon kickoff on Sunday. The second game is a scheduled 3:40 p.m. kickoff has the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Denver Broncos. These two teams played in Week 15 in Pittsburgh and the Steelers came away with a 34-27 victory. After last week I’m just not sure if any of these will be good match ups or if they’ll turn ingot good games. Of course like everyone else I’ll be sitting in front of the television watching even if it’s bad football; again!

Who had Gerardo Parra coming off the free agent market before Justin Upton or Yoenis Cespedes? Yesterday Parra got a 3-year $27.5 million dollar deal with from the Colorado Rockies. It was a bit of a surprise that the Rockies made this signing since their outfield looked set. Colorado has Carlos Gonzalez in right field, Charlie Blackmon in center field and Corey Dickerson in left field. Now quite a few teams use a 4 man outfield, but right after this signing the rumors started that one of the Colorado outfielders would be traded. There have been some rumors about the St. Louis Cardinals and Gonzalez, but nothing solid. It seemed that yesterday Blackmon’s name came up more and more with the Detroit Tigers seeming to be the team interested. Of course these are all just rumors right now. I thinking ti also could lead to Gonzalez playing some 1st base to help him stay in the line up. Gonzalez stayed healthy last season playing in 153 games and hit 40 homers. If Blackmon or Gonzalez is dealt you’d have to think that the Rockies would like to get some quality young pitching in return. So with Parra off the board how much longer will it be before Upton and Cespedes sign deals?

In what I think you could say is another surprise signing it was the Miami Marlins who stepped up and signing left-hander Wei-Yin Chen to a 5-year $80 million dollar deal. Chen’s deal does have an opt out after the second season. Last season Chen went 11-8 with a 3.34 ERA over 31 starts. Chen did go 16-6 in 2014. One of Chen’s most impressive stats is the fact that over 117 career starts he has walked just 172 hitters; 4 of which where intentional. The Marlins needed someone to fill the #2 spot in the rotation behind Jose Fernandez and you have to wonder with the Chen signing if will hear anymore about a possible Fernandez trade. There was a report out yesterday that the Marlins are no longer interested in trading center fielder Marcell Ozuna. The Marlins also added veteran infielder Chris Johnson yesterday. Johnson was let go by the Cleveland Indians after the 2015 season. Johnson should add some left handed as a back up at 3rd and 1st base. Terms of Johnson’s deal were not disclosed as the Indians are on the hook for $7.5 million this season and $9 million next season. Who knows if these moves will be enough for Miami to contend on the N.L. East next season, but remember no one had the New York Met winning that division last season.

The NBA is coming up on it’s halfway point and the Chicago Bulls find themselves at 22-15 in 4th place overall in the Eastern Conference. This is pretty much right where the Bulls found themselves last season under coach Tom Thibodeau. Now the Bulls front office team of john Paxton and Gar Foreman couldn’t wait to get rid of Thibodeau after last season. They even managed to set things up so Thibodeau was pretty much closed out of any other head coaching position for the 2015-16 season. With Thibodeau gone Paxton and Foreman went out and got their guy Fred Hoiberg. Now is Hoiberg the guy to lead this team t an NBA championship? He’s suppose to be an offensive coach, but the Bulls are only 11th in scoring averaging 102.1 points per game. The Bulls used to be a top defensive team under Thibodeau, but now they give up 100.8 points per game. That ranks right in the middle or 15th overall for the average of points given up. So under Hoiberg the Bulls aren’t a top offensive team and they’re no linger a top defensive team. After a 6 game winning streak the Bulls have now looked bad in 3 straight losses. Chicago lost 120-105 to the Atlanta Hawks; a team that is ahead of them in the standings. Then they turned around and played very poorly in a 114-100 loss to the Washington Wizards. To add to it last night the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Bulls 106-101. Now the Wizards are 17-19 and the Bucks are 16-24 with neither team being in the Top 8 of the Eastern Conference. The Bulls take the court tomorrow (Thursday) against the 4-36 Philadelphia 76ers. With the way te Bulls have played these last 3 games and with the game being in Philadelphia; could the Bulls become the 76ers 5th victory of the season?

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: January 6, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, sports, Uncategorized
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The NFL regular season wrapped up on Sunday and so did our pick competition. Week 17 saw Schaumburg Stu, Mr. Fantasy and I all go 10-6 for the week. Dan the Man was 8-8. For the regular season I won with a record of 158-97. Mr. Fantasy was able to come all the way back and tie Dan the Man for 2nd place at 147-108. Sadly it was Schaumburg Stu who ended the regular season in the cellar at 145-110. As we move into the playoffs we’ll wipe the slate clean and see how our playoff picks go.

The last game of the NFL regular season featured the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers. The winner of the game would take 1st place in the NFC North while the other would get a wild card spot and be seeded #5. Minnesota won the game 20-13 and will get to host a playoff game. The Packers as a wild card team will go on the road to play the Washington Redskins. The Vikings get to host the other wild card team the Seattle Seahawks. Looking at this did the Packers get the better end of the scheduling? Even though they have to go on the road. The Redskins did win their division, but we’re talking about the NFC East which may have been the worst division in football. For winning there division the Vikings get to play the team that has represented the NFC in the last 2 Super Bowls. In Week 13 the Seahawks went into Minnesota and beat the Vikings 38-7. Now I am in the camp that you should get something for winning your division; even if it’s a bad decision. The Redskins did go 9-7 on the season and where 6-2 at home; so maybe the match ups aren’t as one sided as they seem. If you’re a Vikings fan; who would you rather play this Sunday the Seahawks or the Redskins? These 2 NFC games will be played on Sunday with the Seahawks/Vikings game kicking off at Noon and the Packers/Redskins game scheduled to start around 3:40 p.m.

It’s the AFC who gets to get the wild card weekend started on Saturday. The Kansas City Chiefs are at the Houston Texans to get things started. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:20 p.m. Kansas City is the hottest tam in the NFL entering the playoffs. Kansas City started the season 1-5 and I had cast them off. The Chiefs then proceeded to win their next 10 games to finish 11-5 and grab #5 seed in the AFC. The Saturday night wild card game features a AFC North match up as the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Cincinnati Bengals. In Week 8 the Bengals went into Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers 16-10. Then in Week 14 the Steelers returned the favor by going into Cincinnati and beating the Bengals 33-20. Even though the game is in Houston the Chiefs opened as a 3 point favorite. Kansas City isn’t the only team coming into this game on a winning streak. While it’s not as long as the Chiefs winning streak Houston did win their last 3 games to close out the regular season and win the AFC South. The deciding factor in the Steelers/Bengals game might be which injured players make there return for the game. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton had the cast removed from his thumb yesterday, but Cincinnati is still saying they’re preparing like A.J. McCarron will be the starter. For Pittsburgh DeAngelo Williams exited Sunday’s game with an ankle injury. Williams was due to have an MRI on that ankle, but the results haven’t been released and his status is unknown. Now Dalton has struggled in the playoffs; do you think it would be better for Cincinnati to stick with McCarron? Dalton could be rusty since he hasn’t played since Week 14 loss to the Steelers. Cincinnati started off as just a 1 point favorite for the game.

In the Saturday blog I’ll reveal our picks for the Saturday games. Well I should say I’ll let you know who Schaumburg Stu, Dan the Man and I are picking in these games. If Mr. Fantasy gets me his picks for Saturday in time for the blog I’ll include them.

Today they’ll announce the new members to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. It appears as Ken Griffey Jr. is the only lock t get in. Mike Piazza is the top returning player on the ballot. Piazza got 69.9% of the vote last year. You need 75% of the vote to get into the Hall of Fame. There are a couple other players still on the ballot who might get in or closer to getting in this time around. Jeff Bagwell had 55.7% of the vote last time and Tim Raines was at 55% last year. It’s Alan Trammell and Mark McGuire, but it doesn’t look like either will get to that 75% mark. Trammell was at 25.1% last year and McGuire was at 10% last year. In their first year on the ballot Jim Edmonds, Trevor Hoffman and Billy Wagner should get quite a few votes, but I don;t think any of them will get enough to get in on the first try. Of course the big question when it comes to the Hall of Fame ballot is what about Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Bonds received 36.8% of the vote last year while Clemens got 37.5 % of the vote. With the changes that have been made to who if doing the Hall of fame voting now it will be interesting to see if Bonds and Clemens pick up some more support. There were 100 voters remove this year. The where voters who haven’t covered baseball in over 10 years. At least I believe that’s what I heard. You would think as the voters become younger Bonds and Clemens will find more support and may find there way into the Hall of Fame. I’m still in the camp of I don;t think they belong in the Hall of Fame or if they do go in there should be an asterisk or something that explains what they did or accused of doing. They where both great players and you have to wonder why they choose to go the route they did. Would you put Bonds and Clemens in the Hall of Fame?

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: December 30, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports, Uncategorized
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There’s only one week left in the NFL regular season; so that means there’s only one week left for us to make picks. Well I guess that’s not totally true as we will try to pick the winners in the playoff games. Anyway Mr. Fantasy won Week 16 with a record of 12-4. Schaumburg Stu was 2nd with a record of 11-5 while I was 3rd at 10-6. Dan the Man picked a bad time t go into a slump as he finished with an 8-8 record for the week. Overall I am hanging onto 1st place with a record of 148-91. Dan the Man is holding on to 2nd with a record of 139-100, but Mr. Fantasy is gaining ground with a record of 137-102 and Schaumburg Stu is still in the running with a record of 135-102. There’s no Thursday night or Monday night games; so the Sunday night game the Minnesota Vikings at the Green Bay Packers will end the regular season.

The playoff picture in the NFC has taken shape for the most part except the NFC Central. The reason that Vikings/Packers game was moved to Sunday night is because the winner goes int the playoffs as the #3 seed and NFC North champion while the loser of the game goes into one of the wild card spot. If Minnesota loses they would actually fall to the 6th seed; I’m not sure where the Packers go as a wild card, but I believe they would be the 5th seed. All the NFC teams are set it’s just which seeds will they end up in. Over in the AFC there are still two playoff spots open. The Houston Texans hold a 1 game lead in the AFC South over the Indianapolis Colts. So for Houston it’s simply win and there in. If the Colts win and the Texans lose it will come down t to a tiebreaker. The teams split the season series 1-1 and I have no clue what the next tiebreaker the NFL might use is. They have quite a few to choose from. The New York Jets also have a win and your in set up. The Jet have a 1 game lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers for the last AFC wild card spot. The Steelers where in control of that last wild card spot until they choked last week against the Baltimore Ravens. The AFC will also have to shake out their seeding after this week, but the teams are narrowed down.

One game short of 3 seasons and the Philadelphia Eagles decided to relieve Chip Kelly of his coaching and player personnel duties. In 2013 Kelly’s Eagles went 10-6 and won the NFC East. They did lose in the wild card round to the New Orleans Saints. In 2014 the Eagles again finished 10-6, but didn’t make the playoffs. Through 15 games this season the Eagles are 6-9 behind Kelly and while they are in 2nd place in their division, but nowhere close to being a playoff team. Kelly took over all player personnel decisions last off season and made whole sale changes to the team. Judging from this years 6-9 record maybe Kelly the player personnel director should of been let go, but Kelly the coach might’ve been alright to keep. I’m not going to go through all the moves Kelly made as personnel director, but what I’m interested in is how tough will he be to replace. Kelly and the Eagles play a style that no one else does in the NFL on a full time basis. Whoever ends up with this head coaching job will have to have a completely new system in and will they have the personnel to fit it. You’ll hear a lot of the same names that you always hear when a head coaching job opens up. I’d bet money that someone has already said Jon Gruden’s name. I’d be shocked if this is the team that brings Gruden back to the NFL sideline. Maybe this is a landing spot for Sean Payton. There’s a lot of talk that this may be Payton’s last season in New Orleans and if wants to continue to coach this could be the place. Maybe Josh McDaniels would like to take another shot at being a head coach. You’d have to figure he’s the coach in waiting in New England, but this job is open now; so maybe. There will be a ton of other names that will come up for this job, but look out for Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase. Gase was a pretty hot name last off season and after having success with Jay Cutler this season Gas’s stock has to have went even higher. Whoever gets the job will have some talent to work with, but that question will be can the new system fit the players Kelly has brought in.

How long after the New Year do you think it will take for one of the top free agent outfielders to sign? Yoenis Cespedes and Alex Gordon seem to be the most talked about, but don’t forget about Justin Upton. Upton is the youngest of the 3 at 28 while Cespedes is 30 and Gordon is 32. While Cespedes has played the other outfield positions they are all at their best defensively in left field. It seems as though just about every team has been linked to these guys; so it will be interesting to see who ends up where and how much money they end up getting. Once these 3 players find homes it should open up the market for players like Dexter Fowler, Gerardo Parra and Dan the Man’s guy Denard Span to find teams. Besides the big outfielders 1st baseman Chris Davis is still out on the free agent market. Davis got the big money long term deal from the Baltimore Orioles that he turned down or was taken off the table depending on who you believe. If your favorite tams starting 8 are all set and it’s starting pitching you’re looking for there’s still a couple of I guess you’d call them second tier free agents out there. Scott Kazmir, Wei-Yin Chen and Japanese free agent Kenta Maeda are all still available. There always seems to be a bit of a break in signings between Christmas and New Year’s; so maybe next week things will heat up on some of these players as we’re just a couple of months away from spring training opening.

Have a safe and Happy New Year.

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: December 9, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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It’s tough for me to get to watch the Golden State Warriors with my work schedule unless they’re playing on the weekend. Luckily for me last night they had their game against the Indiana Pacers shown on NBA-TV; so I got to sit down and watch 3 quarters of the game. The Warriors actually struggled shooting the basketball early in the game before finding their shot and putting up a 44 point 1st quarter. Golden State had a 16 point lead after the 1st quarter 44-28. Golden State out scored Indiana 35-32 in the 2nd quarter for a 79-60 lead at halftime. Golden State came out after the half and added 9 points to their lead by out scoring the Pacers 32-23 in the 3rd quarter. Golden State had a 111-83 lead at the start of the 4th quarter and this is where I had to stop watching.  What I missed was the Pacers putting up a 40 point 4th quarter while Golden State only managed to score 20 points in the 4th quarter. While Indiana was able to take a big chunk out of the Warriors lead it was still an 8 point Golden State win 131-123 for their 23rd straight win to start the season.

Klay Thompson led Golden State in scoring with 39 points. Thompson went 13 of 21 from the field. Thompson picked up the bulk of his points from behind the 3-point line where he went 10 of 16 in the game. Stephen Curry had a double-double with 29 points and a team high 10 assists. Andrew Bogut also had a double-double for Golden State with 14 points and a team high 10 rebounds. Brandon Rush (13) and Festus Ezeli (12) also scored in double figures for Golden State. Golden State shot 44.4% from the 3-point line going 16-36.

Paul George led the Pacers in scoring with 33 points and also handed out a team high 6 assists. C.J. Miles added 24 points while George Hill and Chase Budinger (off the bench) scored 12 points apiece. Jordan Hill came off the Pacers bench to score 12 points while Solomon Hill grabbed 9 rebounds to lead Indiana. The Pacers also shot well from behind the 3-point line going 14 for 33 (42.4%) in the game.

Golden State is 5-0 on this road trip and 13-0 on the road which is a new record. They’re off until Friday when there road trip takes them to Boston to face the Celtics. They have a back to back over the weekend after Friday in Boston the warriors turn right around Saturday and face the Milwaukee Bucks to wrap up this road trip. Will one of these games see the end of the Golden State winning streak? Or will they return to California 25-0?

We’ve seen quite a bit of player movement during the baseball winter meetings in Nashville Tennessee and the meetings aren’t over. We’ve covered most of the teams moves on the Sports Time Radio podcast, but after we went of the air last night a couple of more deals where announced.

The Arizona Diamondbacks where finally able to work out a deal with the Atlanta Braves involving Shelby Miller. The Diamondbacks will send outfielder Ender Inciarte along with right handed pitcher Willie Blair and last years #1 overall pick shortstop Dansby Swanson to Atlanta. In return the Diamondbacks receive Miller and left handed pitcher Gabe Speier. The Braves where able to pick up and outfielder they seemed to have been looking for. They also got a couple of young prospects to work towards their goal of being a contending team when they open that new ballpark in 2017. The Diamondbacks add a young starter for their rotation that features the newly signed Zack Greinke and the returning Patrick Corbin. I’ve heard this question thrown out there a couple times after this deal was made so I’d like your answer. Are the Arizona Diamondbacks the best team in the National League West?

The other 2 deals made last night feature the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs turned out to be the surprise team in the Ben Zobrist free agent derby as he inked a 4 year $56 million dollar deal last night. Most if not all reports had the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets and the Washington Nationals being the main team interested in Zobrist services. With the signing of Zobrist the Cubs made a corresponding move by trading Starlin Castro to the New York Yankees for pitcher Adam Warren and infielder Brendan Ryan. Looking at this deal it appears that the Yankees real got the better of it and you have to wonder if the Cubs just wanted to ship Castro anywhere once they signed Zobrist. Don’t forget that I actually predicted last year that Castro would end up with the Yankees. Does it count a year late? The Yankees get a 3-time All-Star and a career .281 hitter who seems to have found his position at 2nd base. In return the Cubs get a journeyman infielder (Ryan) who’s a career .234 hitter and the right handed throwing Warren who is 13-15 over his 3 seasons in the majors, but does have a very good ERA of 3.39. Will the Cubs try to force Warren into their rotation or did they give up a quality player for a middle reliever?

There are a couple of deals we may see get done today. The Seattle Mariners are trying to make another deal as reports are they are very close to working out a deal with the Milwaukee Brewers for left handed hitting 1st baseman Adam Lind. I’ve also seen multiple reports that the Chicago White Sox are having “serious” discussions with the Oakland A’s on 3rd baseman Brett Lawrie. Maybe one or both of these deals get done or possible we get a free agent signing or two.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com

You can also follow me on Twitter@Burketime

How was your week?

Posted: December 5, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, football, sports
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It looks like the Top 2 free agent starting pitchers are going to be off the market before the winter meetings even start. Earlier in the week Price signed a 7 year deal worth $217 million to pitch for the Boston Red Sox. Then last night news broke that Zack Greinke will sign a 6 year deal worth $206 million to pitch for the Arizona Diamondbacks.  It had more or less been decided that when Greinke made a decision on who to play for he would either return to the Los Angeles Dodgers or sign with the San Francisco Giants. The Diamondbacks where able to sneak in last minute and make Greinke the offer he liked. Like all the deals top pitchers get in free agency it’s a lot of years and a lot of money for a pitcher, but that’s the going rate and you have to pay this price if you want to add this type of pitching. At first the big pitching signing on Friday was the Chicago Cubs signing John Lackey to a 2 year deal worth $32 million, but then the Greinke news broke and that deal took center stage.

Now the question has to be do these signings make Boston and Arizona contenders to win the World Series. The Red Sox finished 2015 78-84 and in last place in the American League East. The Diamondbacks where 79-83 in 2015, but that was good enough for 3rd place in the National League West. Boston finished 15 games out of 1st place while Arizona was 13 games of of 1st. While both Price and Greinke will be the “Ace” of their new pitching staffs will there new teams be able to put together a good enough 2 through 5 spots in the starting rotation to contend. The Red Sox went into last season without a real #1 starter and it showed. Price fills that role and he’ll pitch with Rick Porcello, Wade Miley, Joe Kelly, Clay Bucholtz or maybe Eduardo Rodriquez and Henry Owens in some form of a pitching rotation. Will the Red Sox look to trade a veteran starter to make room for one of their younger starters or will the pair of 22 year old (Owens & Rodriguez) start the season in the minors. Greinke joins a much younger starting rotation in Arizona. Rubby De La Rosa led the Diamondbacks in wins last season with 14; so he looks to slot in behind Greinke in the rotation. Patrick Corbin made 16 starts in 2015 after returning from Tommy John surgery; so he’ll be ready for 2016. Then we’ll have to see if Arizona fills the rotation with Chase Anderson, Robbie Ray or Archie Bradley, but there where some reports that the Diamondbacks may still be looking to sign another free agent for the starting rotation.

You have to think that other teams will start to scramble and try to get a pitcher signed. I mentioned Lackey got a deal with the Cubs and there have been multiple reports that Jeff Samardzija was offered a deal worth $90-$100 million, but the team that made the offer was never disclosed. Starting pitchers like Johnny Cueto; who turned the Diamondbacks offer of 6 years $120 million down, Mike Leake and Scott Kazmir should be very popular at the winter meetings this week. Wei-Yin Cheng has been kind of an under the radar player, but with the Top 2 pitchers now off the market his name should start to come in play as well. There is still a decent amount of quality starting pitching on the free agent market and this week should give us an indication of where some of these pitchers are headed.

Hey; we finally got a great finish to a Thursday Night football game. The Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions 27-23 on a 61-yard hail mary from Aaron Rodgers to Richard Rodgers with no time on the clock. Now we’ve all seen the highlights by now and everyone knows that the Packers shouldn’t of even gotten the play that won the game for them. The play before the game winner the Packers completed a short pass and then the laterals started as this looked like Green Bay’s last chance. The football ended up in Aaron Rodgers hands and there didn’t appear to be anyone behind him to pitch the football to and he was tackled high around the head area. When you look at the play going full speed it appears that Rodgers is taken down by his facemask and a penalty flag was thrown. When the play was looked at in slow motion you can clearly see that Rodgers facemask was never grabbed, but just brushed by the Detroit player. Of course penalties aren’t reviewable and the Packers got 1 last offensive play with no time on the clock and that play was Rodgers to Rodgers for the 61-yard game winner. Now the referee is at fault for missing the call and he’s getting his share of abuse for it you can’t tell me at full speed you didn’t think it was a facemask. While this call stinks for the Lions and there fans it may actual save the Packers season as it allowed them to stay in control of there playoff hopes.

Fantasy wise Rodgers was 24 of 36 for 237 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. Rodgers was also the Packers leading rusher on the night running 4 times for 27 yards and a touchdown. Matthew Stafford was 23 of 35 for 220 yards and 1 touchdowns. Stafford also ran the football 2 times for 22 yards.

There wasn’t much to the Green Bay running game on the night. John Crockett carried the football 5 times for 22 yards. James Starks had 9 carries for 15 yards, but added 5 catches for 45 yards while Eddie Lacy had 5 carries for 4 yards. Lacy also had 1 reception, but it went for -4 yards Detroit’s Ameer Abdullah had the most success running the football. He had 13 carries for 67 yards in the game. Joique Bell had 8 carries for 5 yards along with 2 catches for 25 yardrs and Theo Riddick got 1 carry for 4 yards while catching 5 passes for 27 yards.

Richard Rodgers had a big night in the Packers passing game. Rodgers caught 8 passes for 146 yards and that 1 touchdown. Randall Cobb had 4 catches for 29 yards and 1 rushing attempt for -1 yards. DaVonte Adams caught 4 passes for 21 yards, but did have a touchdown. James Jones had 1 catch 19 yards and Jared Abbrederis also had 1 catch for 16 yards. Golden tate led the Lions with 8 catches for 63 yards and he also had a rushing attempt that went for -3 yards. Calvin Johnson caught 3 passes for 44 yards and a touchdown. T.J. Jones caught 2 passes for 37 yards while Eric Ebron also caught 2 passes for 9 yards, but had a touchdown. Corey Fuller also had 1 catch for 15 yards.

Jake Ryan led the Packers in tackles with 10 while Julius Peppers, Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix and Micah Hyde all recorded a sack.  Isa Abdul-Quddus was the Lions leading tackler with 11 while Devin Taylor had 2 sacks and Ezekiel Ansah added a sack as well.

It wasn’t the best of fantasy games, but if you had a guy who found his way into the end zone that always helps your team. Hopefully Richard Rodgers was in your starting line up.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com

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