Archive for the ‘NFL picks’ Category

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: April 8, 2020 by Sports Time Radio in football, hockey, NFL picks, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Now the NFL draft is right around the corner and this year for the first time it’s going to be a virtual draft. With everything going on in the world right now this makes perfect sense, but of course there where people in the media who complained about it. I guess that’s just what the media does any time the NFL makes a decision.

If you’re a fan of the NFL I’m sure you’ve looked at one or more mock drafts to see who they have your favorite team picking. I’ve noticed a new trend when it comes to these drafts. It seems that someone wants every team with an early 1st round pick to trade down in the draft to acquire more picks. I’m not sure why or how they think this would work and I’m sure there are a few teams looking to trade down, but not every team with a Top 10 pick can do that like it’s been suggested.

The Cincinnati Bengals hold the first pick in the draft and they appear to need a lot of help, but what they really need is a franchise quarterback to build around and it seems that the Bengals are sold on Joe Burrow being that guy. If the Bengals have done their research and they’re convinced that Burrow has a chance to be their starting quarterback for the next 10 years or more why would they want to trade that pick?

You can apply the exact same logic to the Washington Redskins who have the #2 pick in the draft. There are a lot of people who think that Chase Young is the best player on this draft and the Redskins have a chance to take him and start to rebuild their defense around him. Why should they give up the opportunity a once in a lifetime defense lineman to get a few extra picks down the road in the draft?

This seems to make very little sense, but there are quite a few people out there trying to sell this. Is it really smart to give up player who are at the top of the draft for a reason to try and find players later in the draft to fill the roles that these top players would fill.

Now as always there will be teams trying to trade up in the draft and to be fair if one of these teams in the Top 5 or Top 10 are blown out of the water by a deal when then they should make it. Of course that’s not going to happen to often; so you have to ask yourself if moving down to get possibly swap 1st round picks this year with a team and then pick up maybe that teams 1st or 2nd round pick next year; is it worth that wait?

Now remember you’ll have no idea where that draft pick the following year might fall; so that would be part of the gamble in a deal like this. It seems like it would be better to stick with what looks like a quality player than move down and take a chance, but it could happen.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a team like the Detroit Lions trade out of the #3 spot in the draft and acquire some more draft picks. There’s a good possibility that a team like the Miami Dolphins who have the 5th pick in the 1st round or the Los Angeles Chargers who have the 6th pick in the 1st round might be looking to move up to try and draft Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Remember the Dolphins have three picks in the 1st round #5, #18 and #26. Would they possibly give up two of these picks to move into the 3rd spot and draft Tagovailoa? There is no team that can match what the Dolphins could give up to move up in this draft; so they seem to be the team to watch.

The San Francisco 49ers also have two picks in the 1st round #13 and #31, but it doesn’t appear as San Francisco is looking to trade up and would that be enough to get them into the 3rd spot of the draft.

What do you see happening at the top of the draft? Will the Bengals and the Redskins keep their picks? What do you think the Lions will do with the 3rd pick? Keep it or trade it?

We’ve been wondering what the NBA and the NHL might do when it’s clear to begin playing games again. Now the NBA has made a couple of statements and there have been some idea floated around, but for the most part the NHL has stayed mostly quiet until yesterday.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman came out and made some statements on what may happen with what’s left of the NHL regular season and where games might be played.

Bettman mentioned that the NHL make skip the rest of the regular season to allow more time for the Stanley Cup playoffs. The NHL last played on March 12th; so there are 189 regular season games remaining.

Bettman also acknowledge that the NHL has looked into possibly having games played in neutral site arenas. Now this has to be done just in case a NHL team can’t get back into their own building because it’s booked for another event. It’s not like these arenas just sit empty when the NHL isn’t playing games; so it may actually be difficult for certain teams to book their own building for games.

Bettman also mentioned that these are just a few of the options that the NHL is looking at and it appears as though the NHL is hoping like a lot of us that they’ll have a clearer picture of how the Coronavirus pandemic is affecting the 31 NHL markets.

Would you be okay with the NHL not playing anymore regular season games and moving right into the playoffs when play resumes?

Don’t forget that the Sports Time Radio podcast is still up and running over at BlogTalkRadio.com. You can also head on over to TuneIn.com and listen to the podcast any time you want to.

Feel free to look me up on Twitter @Burketime

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How was your week

Posted: January 11, 2020 by Sports Time Radio in football, NFL picks, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Today starts the divisional round of the NFL playoffs and just like last weekend there will be two games on Saturday and then two games on Sunday. Let’s see who plays when and where.

The Minnesota Vikings are at the San Francisco 49ers and it has a scheduled kickoff time of 3:35 p.m.

Minnesota is coming off of an upset of the New Orleans Saints in the wild card round while the 49ers are the #1 seed in the NFC and have been able to try and get healthy with their week off. This game has a chance to be a big of a slugfest as it seems as tough both teams will try to establish their running game. The biggest issue for the Vikings maybe be the health of their wide receivers. Stephon Diggs missed some practices during the week and Adam Thielen had stiches in his ankle. Both are expected to play today. Now San Francisco may be on the opposite end of the injury situation. The 49ers are expecting linebacker Kwon Alexander and defensive end Dee Ford returning. Of course will look to see how Jimmy Garappolo he does in his first playoffs start.

This should be a good game to start off the divisional round and will have to see if the close run of playoff games continues.

The second Saturday game also has the #1 seed playing as the AFC’s #1 seed the Baltimore Ravens host the Tennessee Titans. This game has a scheduled kickoff time of 7:15 p.m.

There where a lot of people on the Tennessee bandwagon last week as they went into Foxboro and beat the New England Patriots. It doesn’t seem as though as many people believe the Titans will be able to pull off the upset this week against the Ravens, but they do have the NFL’s leading rusher Derrick Henry to try to pull it off. Mark Ingram is dealing with a calf injury that has limited him in practice, but he is expected to play. If Ingram is limited in what he can do look for Gus Edwards to pick up his carries. Of course the Ravens are going to go as Lamar Jackson goes. Jackson has looked like a completely different player than the quarterback that started for Baltimore in the playoffs last season, but it may take him a series or two to settle into the flow of the game.

Now I haven’t heard anyone go out on a limb and take Tennessee to win this game and I can’t say I’m surprised by that. Do you think the Titans have a chance tonight?

We move into the Sunday games with the Houston Texans at the Kansas City Chiefs. This game has a scheduled 2:05 p.m. kickoff time.

Back in Week 6 of the regular season the Texans went into Arrowhead and beat the Chiefs 31-24. It’s difficult to judge how much weight to give that won, but it should give the Texans some type of confidence coning into this game. What should also help Houston’s confidence is the return of wide receiver Will Fuller. All signs are pointing to Fuller playing in this game, but it’s going to be a game time decision. What could also have a big affect on this game is the health of Travis Kelce. A sore knee has kept Kelce out of practice this week and while it appears that he will play you have to wonder how much of an affect this injury will have on his performance. Kelce was the Chiefs leader in receptions with 97 and yards with 1229.

This is another game where I haven’t seen anyone say the Texans can repeat what they did in Week 6. Do you give Houston a chance to upset Kansas City?

The divisional round of the playoffs wraps up with the Green Bay Packers hosting the Seattle Seahawks. This game is schedule to kickoff at 5:40 p.m.

Will have to see if the weather has any thing to do with how this game goes. There’s a big storm system that has a chance of dropping a foot of snow in and around Lambeau Field. The Packers have actually asked for volunteers to come out and help shovel the snow at Lambeau Field. We won’t know if weather will play a part in this game until game time, but it could be something that the teams will have to deal with. Both quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers have a similar skill set; so I don’t think the weather will have any affect on how they play. The key to this game may be if and how effectively Seattle can run the football. While the Packers will have to keep a clean pocket for Rodgers to work out of.

This is another game that looks like it might be close. Can Seattle pull off a playoff upset? Or will the Packers hold serve on their home field?

Yesterday on the Sports Time Radio podcast Schaumburg Stu made his picks for these games. Now Stu went 2-2 in the wild card round and here’s what he has for this weekend. Stu likes San Francisco to beat Minnesota on Saturday. In the other Saturday game Stu has Baltimore beating Tennessee. Kicking off Sunday Stu likes the Kansas City to beat Houston. In the final game of the divisional round Stu is taking Green Bay to beat Seattle.

In case you didn’t notice Stu selected all the home teams to win this weekend and he also took all of the favorites to win. Do you agree with Stu? Or do you have one of the road underdogs finding a way to pull off an upset?

There was a lot of talk about the hit Jadeveon Clowney put on Carson Wentz that eventually knocked Wentz out of last weeks games. Clowney came down on Wentz’s upper back and then made helmet to helmet contact as they where going to the ground. There was no penalty on the play as Wentz was ruled a runner and wasn’t giving himself up by the referees. After seeing it in slow motion there where quite a few people who thought it was a dirt hit, but apparently the NFL didn’t see it that way as Clowney was not fined for the hit.

“It was a bang-bang play,” Clowney said. “I don’t intend to hurt anybody in this league, let me just put that out there. I’ve been down the injury road; it’s not fun. My intention was not to hurt him. I was just playing fast.”

Do you think the referees for Sunday’s game will watch Clowney more closely than normal?

I mentioned the Sports Time Radio podcast a little earlier, but in case you don’t know you can listen to the podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but if you miss the podcast you can just head on over to TuneIn.com and you can listen any time you want.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Burketime

 

 

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: January 8, 2020 by Sports Time Radio in football, NFL picks, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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I get the impression that there weren’t as many NFL head coaching openings as the pundits thought there would be. It actually started during the regular season when the Carolina Panthers and the Washington Redskins parted ways with their head coaches. At the end of the regular season the New York Giants and the Cleveland Browns decided they’d ne making a change at the head coaching position as well. Then finally this week the Dallas Cowboys finally made their decision on Jason Garrett, but they used the term “moving on” instead of firing.

Interestingly it didn’t take very long for four of these five teams to find new head coaches. The Redskins quickly made a move and hired Ron Rivera who was just let go by Carolina. Then even though Dallas was the last of these teams to decide to change head coaches it didn’t take them long to hire a new one. The Cowboys interviewed just two head coaching candidates and they decided that Mike McCarthy the former Green Bay Packers head coach would be their new head coach. Then yesterday the Panthers and the Giants made their choices for head coach. Carolina was the only team so far to reach into the college ranks for their new head coach as they hired Matt Rhule away from the University of Baylor. The Giants made what has the be the hiring that surprised most people as they went with Joe Judge who was the New England Patriots Wide Receiver/Special Teams coach. So we’re just waiting for Cleveland to hire a new head coach and they’ve said they’d like to have someone in place by Saturday.

Coming into the off season it looked like Cleveland was the best of the open positions with Dallas not far behind; so it’s a bit of a surprise that Cleveland is the only team in the NFL without a head coach. There have been a lot of names banded about and it doesn’t seem like there’s a front runner for the job right now. Who do you think the Browns will end up hiring as their new head coach?

The other interesting thing we might see in the NFL when free agency starts is who might be available. It’s actually possible that Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Philip Rivers could all be on the open market.

Tom Brady is 42 years old and is coming off what may have been the worse year of his career. Now it did come out yesterday that Brady was dealing with foot and elbow injuries; so you have to wonder how much those injuries had to do with his down year. Patriots owner Bob Kraft has already come out and said that they’re interested in bringing Brady back. Remember with the way Brady’s contract was structured the Patriots can’t use the franchise or transition tags on him. It would be weird to see Brady in another uniform besides the Patriots, but it looks like that may actually happen.

Drew Brees will turn 41 years old in a week. He set the record for most passing yards in a career this season, but there have been some questions lately about his arm strength. Brees averaged 7.9 yards per passing attempt and while that down a little from his last two seasons it’s actually better than his career average. If the Saints can’t workout a new deal with Brees they could use either a franchise or transition tag on him if they do want to keep him. Even though Brees did start his career with the San Diego Chargers; he’s a Saint and like Brady it would be odd to see him in another uniform.

Philip Rivers just turned 38 years old last month and not only are we waiting to see if the now Los Angeles Chargers have any interest in bringing him back, but if Rivers is interested in continuing to play in the NFL. Rivers has thrown for 4200 or more yards in each of the last seven seasons, but this season he only threw three more touchdowns 23 than interceptions 20. Rivers has played in and started all 16 games for the Chargers since 2006 and someone else under center for the Chargers would look strange. Out of these three veteran quarterbacks Rivers seems to be the only one who’s team isn’t sure if they’d like him back.

If these three quarterbacks do change teams; where would they go? Would one of the teams that are going to be drafting a quarterback be interested in bringing one of these quarterbacks in to mentor their rookie quarterback? How many teams that have quarterbacks would be willing to bring in one of these guys and give them the starting quarterback job over the guy they have? There should be a couple of teams that have an opening at the quarterback position and you’d have to think that if they think there in a position to win they’d be interested in one of these three quarterbacks.

Where do you think these three veteran and probably Hall of Fame quarterbacks end up? Do they all end up back with their teams? Or is it at all possible that one or more of them could be wearing a different jersey next season? Whatever happens with these three quarterbacks it will add some intrigue to NFL free agency when it starts.

As far as Schaumburg Stu’s picks went for wild card weekend. Well he ended up spitting his picks going 2-2. On Saturday he correctly picked the Houston Texans, but he also had the New England Patriots on Saturday. His Sunday didn’t start well as he had the New Orleans Saints, but he got his record back to .500 by picking the Seattle Seahawks in late Sunday game. On this Friday’s edition of Sports Time Radio Stu will make his picks for the divisional round.

Speaking of Sports Time Radio you can listen to it live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but if you miss it live just head over to TuneIn.com and you can listen when you want to.

You can also follow me on Twitter @Burketime

 

How was your week

Posted: February 2, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, football, NFL picks, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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On Thursday it was announced that LeBron James would miss his 18th straight game with a groin injury, but after this announcement came out something changed and James ended up playing.

The Lakers went 6-11 with James on the shelf, but got off to a good start in his return as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Los Angeles Clippers 123-120 in overtime.

James played 40 minutes in his return and just missed a triple-double. James scored 24 points to go with 14 rebounds and 9 assists. Not surprisingly James led the Lakers in all three of those offensive categories.

James was 9 for 22 from the field and did struggle from behind the 3-point line where he was just 1 for 6. You have to think there was a little rust in James game since this was the first time he has been in a game since Christmas day.

The Lakers really needed James to return and to return at 100%. While James was out the Lakers fell into the 9th spot overall in the Western Conference; so they’d be out of the playoffs. Now even with the win on Thursday the Lakers are still in 9th place, but they’re just 1 game out of the 8th spot and just 2 1/2 games from being in the 6th spot. As long as James is and can stay healthy you have to figure the Lakers will be a playoff team, but I don’t think they would be without him.

James returns just in time for the Lakers marquee match up against the Golden State Warriors Saturday night. The game will be telecast in prime time on ABC with a scheduled tip off of 7:30 p.m. cst.

Golden State will be hosting the Lakers, but the Warriors did just have their 11 game winning streak snapped at home by the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night 113-104. Is it possible that the Warriors saw that James had returned and where looking ahead to their Saturday night match up? Of course Philadelphia isn’t the type of team anyone should be looking past and if that’s what the Warriors did it cost them their wining streak.

Both teams had Friday night off: so there should be no scheduling issues as they face off tonight. Can the return of James give the Lakers the momentum to beat the Warriors? Or does the Lakers winning streak with James quickly end at 1 game?

Even though we didn’t end up talking about it much this week on Sports Time Radio and to be honest I didn’t hear as much buzz about this game as I normally do the Super Bowl is going to be played on Sunday.

Just like we do for ever NFL game we have made picks and I even reached out to a couple of knowledgeable sports fans and got their picks as well. With the exception of Mr. Fantasy who’ll make his pick on the live edition of Sports Time Radio Sunday morning from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. cst. Anyway; here’s what we came up with.

Now for the Super Bowl we not only pick the winner of the game, but the score and who we think will win MVP.

Dan the Man likes New England 42-34 with Tom Brady winning the MVP.

Schaumburg Stu likes New England 27-14 with Rob Gronkowski winning MVP.

I am also going with New England 39-30 and I also have Gronkowski as my MVP.

Here are the picks from the two friends I reached out to.

Ken is on the New England bandwagon and has them winning 40-30 with Brady as MVP.

Right now Hank is the only one going with the Rams. He has it 34-30 with Todd Gurley winning the MVP.

That’s what we’re going with for tomorrow. Feel free to leave your pick in the comment section and let me know who you think will win with the final score and your MVP pick.

In non-Super Bowl football news I’m pretty sure we had a future Hall of Fame player retire on Friday as Julius Peppers called it a career at 39 years old after 17 NFL seasons.

Peppers spent 10 seasons with the Carolina Panthers four seasons with the Chicago Bears and three seasons with the Green Bay Packers. Carolina made Peppers the 2nd pick in the 2002 draft and h played there the first 8 years of his career. The Bears lured Peppers away from the Panthers with a 6-year $91.5 million dollar deal when he was a free agent. After four season in Chicago the Bears cut Peppers and the Packers quickly signed him to a 3-year $30 million dollar deal. After his contract with the Packers expired he returned to Carolina for the final two years of his career.

Now I called Peppers a future Hall of Famer and it starts with the fact that he has 159 1/2 sacks in his career which is good for 4th all-time in NFL history. Peppers finished just 1/2 a sack behind Kevin Greene for 3rd. Peppers also has 11 career interceptions; four of which he returned for touchdowns. He also recovered 21 fumbles in his career and scored on two of those recoveries. Peppers played in 266 games and started 244 of them. He finishes with 724 combined tackles, 557 solo tackles, 167 assists on tackles and 175 tackles for loss. Peppers also recorded 186 quarterback hits which is a stat they just started keeping in 2006. You can add the 2002 AP Rookie of the Year award, 9 Pro Bowl selections and 3 All-Pro selections to Peppers resume.

Do you think Julius Peppers will be in the NFL Hall of Fame?

Who do you think will be the most sought after NFL free agent this coming off season? Do you think pass rushers Ezekiel Ansah or Demarcus Lawrence will be hot commodities? Or could a running back looking for a full-time work load like Latavius Murray or Mark Ingram be a guy teams target? Maybe you think that Golden Tate is the best wide receiver on the free agent market and he’ll be the player to cash in.

Of course their will be players added to this list as teams make adjustments to their rosters, but right no these payers look like they could be some of the top players on the upcoming free agent market.

Follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: January 23, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, NFL picks, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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We’re less than a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting and besides the top two free agents there are still quite a few players out their looking for work. Let’s see if we can find some of these guys some jobs.

There aren’t a lot of top flight catchers left on the free agent market, but there are a few that should still get some work. Devin Mesoraco has good power and could fit in with any teams platoon at catcher. Martin Maldonado has always been a very good defensive catcher and also handles a pitching staff well. Caleb Joseph is another solid defender behind the plate, but Maldonado may be a little better hitter. Matt Wieters was looked at as one of the top catchers in the game until the injury bug hit him. If he’s healthy you have to wonder if he could get back to that top form.

It may be difficult for a team to sign one of these catchers if they think that they’re in the mix to acquire J.T. Realmuto from the Miami Marlins; so we’ll have to keep an eye out and see if and where these catchers sign at.

1st base is another position where there aren’t any really big names left on the free agent market, but there are some quality veterans who could fill a platoon role at 1st base or possible DH.

Logan Morrison is coming back from injury, but if healthy could add power to a line up. You could add Lucas Dida and Mark Reynolds into that mix to as they both are solid power hitters, but probably aren’t everyday players at this point. Hanley Ramirez is still hanging around since no one picked him up after the Boston Red Sox released him last season.

At 2nd base it looks like Josh Harrison is the biggest name left on the free agent board. There was some talk early in the off season that the New York Mets where interested in Harrison, but that never ended up happening and there really haven’t been any other teams attached to Harrison.

Besides Harrison here are a couple of veterans still out on the free agent market. Neil Walker had a bit of a down year with the New York Yankees last season, but has had a solid career. Logan Forsythe is another veteran still available.

Besides Manny Machado the best shortstop on the free agent market is probably Freddy Galvis. Galvis is just 29; so he still has some quality seasons left in him. Jose Iglesias is also 29 and is a top defender who has hit better as his career went on. Iglesias has battled some injuries the last couple of seasons, but you’d think he’s healthy now. There are some proven guys like Alcides Escobar and Adeiny Hechavarria out there. Neither is a big time threat at the plate, but both play excellent defense at shortstop.

Mike Moustakas is clearly the best 3rd baseman left in free agency, but you have to wonder if he’s hurt his chances by saying he was waiting for Machado to sign before he does. The Texas Rangers had a need at 3rd base with the retirement of Adrian Beltre, but it looks like Asdrubal Cabrera will fill that role. The Rangers signed Cabrera yesterday. Remember Moustakas ended up going back to the Kansas City Royals on a low money deal when he couldn’t get a bigger offer anywhere else last off season. Could he be putting himself in that spot again waiting for Machado to sign.

A couple of other options at 3rd base could be Matt Davidson or Chase Headley. Davidson is just 28 and is a legitimate power hitter. There actually has been some talk of teams looking at Davidson as a possible pitcher as well as a 3rd baseman. Maybe someone will sign him as a duel threat. Headley is 35 and may be at the end of his career, but could give a team that veteran off the bench they could use to spell their everyday 3rd baseman.

There are also a couple of utility guys still on the free agent market with the biggest name being Marwin Gonzalez. You do have to wonder if teams are waiting on these utility guys, but Gonzalez was thought to be a notch above the other utility players available, but he’s still unsigned. Sean Rodriguez is also available to fill that utility role for a team. Derek Dietrich cold also be an option as a utility player, but I’m not sure if he could handle playing shortstop regularly. All three of these guys could easily fit into any corner outfield spot as well; so they’re not just limited to being used in the infield.

Now there are quite a few outfielders that we can go through; so I think I’m going to save them for the Saturday blog and we’ll take a look at them then.

As for our football picks. I managed to be the only one to get both games right as I had the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots to meet in the Super Bowl and they will after winning their Conference Championship games. Dan the Man, Schaumburg Stu and believe it or not Mr. Fantasy went 1-1 with their picks. That win by Mr. Fantasy stopped his eight game playoff losing streak.

Overall our playoff picks heading into the Super Bowl look like this. Dan the Man is 8-2, Schaumburg Stu and I are 6-4 while Mr. Fantasy is 1-9.

Now for our Super Bowl picks we not only pick who we thin will win the game, but also what the final score will be and who will win the MVP. I encourage everyone to not just pick the quarterback of the winning team as their MVP, but that is an obvious choice.

Feel free to make some picks with us. Just leave what you think is going to happen in the comment section.

Remember that you can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTallkRadio.com. If you miss the podcast live you can head over to TuneIn.com and listen to it any time you want to.

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

How was your week

Posted: January 19, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, NFL picks, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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With the existing roster they had and the additions they’ve ae this off season are the New York Yankees not only the favorite to win the American League East, but also the favorite to win the World Series?

The Yankees everyday line up didn’t need too many adjustments, The two biggest question where who’d be the everyday 1st baseman and how would the fill in for the injured Didi Gregorius. Gregorius is scheduled to return from Tommy John surgery by late July or possibly early August.

Right now it appears that Luke Voit will be given a chance t be the Yankees everyday 1st baseman. Voit has never had the chance to play on a full time basis at the major league level, but he played well for the Yankees after they acquired him from the St. Louis Cardinals on July 29th last season. Voit played in 39 games for the Yankees last season. He hit .333 with 14 home runs and 33 RBI’s. With those numbers it looks like Voit will go into the season as the Yankees 1st baseman.

At first it looked like the Yankees where going to go with oft injured Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop. I didn’t understand why everyone was so excited about Tulowitzki being the everyday shortstop, but I didn’t think that was the route the Yankees where going; so it was no surprise to me when the Yankees added free agent 2nd baseman DJ LeMahieu. Oddly there are people out there that think LeMahieu will become a utility infielder with the Yankees, but I believe that he’ll be the everyday 2nd baseman and Gleyber Torres will move over to shortstop.

LeMahieu is coming off a down year where he hit .276 with 15 home runs and 62 RBI’s in 128 games. While the 15 home runs was a career high for LeMahieu the 128 games is the lowest number of games he’s played since his first season with the Colorado Rockies in 2012. LeMahieu has won three Gold Gloves and was the National League batting champion in 2016 with a .348 average.

Now their will be people out thee who say that LeMahieu’s numbers where inflated by playing 81 games a year in Coors Field, but what about Tulowitzki. Since Tulowitzki was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays he’s hit .250. Don’t forget that Tulowitzki didn’t played a game last season and in 2017 he played in just 66 games. While Tulowitzki has an impressive resume; two Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers and four All-Star appearances. His Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers where won in 2010 and 11 and he hasn’t made an All-Star team since 2015. At one point Tulowtzki was one of the top players in baseball, but right now the Yankees would be better of with LeMahieu playing everyday and Tulowitzki being the utility player.

Could their be some at bats for Tulowitzki as a 1st baseman?

As for Torres; he played 21 games at shortstop as a rookie last season, but through his minor league career he played 321 games at shortstop through 5 minor league seasons. Torres will have to prove that he can played quality defense at shortstop I the big leagues. Last season he committed 5 errors in his 21 games at the position. With some regular playing time at the position he should settle in.

While the Yankees didn’t have too may questions in their everyday line up they had some decisions to make in their starting rotation and bullpen.

The Yankees address the starting rotation by making a trade with the Seattle Mariners for James Paxson. Then the Yankees resigned J.A. Happ who they acquired from the Blue Jays last July. Then to round out the rotation the Yankees brought back veteran C.C. Sabathia for one more season.

Paxson has had some health issues through his career, but last season he made a career high 28 starts. Paxson also pitched a career high 160 1/3rd innings last season. Happ made 11 starts for the Yankees after the acquired him. He went 7-0 with an ERA of 2.69. Sabathia also had a solid 2018 season. He was 9-7 with a 3.65 ERA in 29 starts.

Adding Paxson, Happ and Sabathia to Masahiro Tanaka and Luis Severino should give the Yankees one of the better rotation in baseball.

In the bullpen the Yankees appeared to be in a good position with Aroldis Chapman closing and Dellin Betances as the main set up guy, but they added a couple of quality pitchers to the mix.

The Yankees acquired Zach Britton from the Baltimore Orioles in July of last season and while Britton hasn’t quite found the form he had in 2016 when he was the best closer in baseball he did post a 2.88 ERA with 3 saves in 25 games for the Yankees last season. The Yankees resigned Britton where he’ll be the main left handed set up man for Chapman and if he’s need can close games as well.

Just bringing Britton back gives the Yankees a big three in the bullpen that most teams covet, but they went a step further and added another big arm to that bullpen.

Earlier this week the Yankees added free agent right hander Adam Ottavino to their bullpen. Ottavino was one of the top free agent relievers on the free agent market and now he’s part of the Yankees bullpen. Ottavino appeared in 75 games for the Colorado Rockies last season. He was 6-4 with a 2.43 ERA, but the stat that stands out for Ottavino is his strikeouts per 9 innings ratio which was 13 last season.

It looks like Chad Green who was 8-3 with a 2.50 ERA in 63 games last season and the hard throwing Tommy Kahnle who was 2-0 with a rough 6.56 ERA in 24 games last season will also be part of the Yankees bullpen.

There is one more bullpen spot to fill and barring a trade it look like Sonny Gray will be the final piece in the Yankees bullpen. If Gray is traded and there are three or four teams interested in him the final spot in the Yankees Bullpen could go to Jonathan Holder. Holder pitched in 60 games last season; he went 1-3 with an ERA of 3.14.

Do you think that these moves make the Yankees the team to beat coming into the 2019 season?

The NFL Conference Championships are tomorrow and I didn’t want to forget to give you are picks. As always I don’t have Mr. Fantasy’s picks as he likes to wait until the last minute to make them.

The NFC kicks off first with the Los Angeles Rams at the New Orleans Saints. Dan the Man and I are taking the Rams while Schaumburg Stu is going with the Saints. In the AFC the New England Patriots are at the Kansas City Chiefs. In this one Schaumburg Stu and I are taking the Patriots while Dan the Man is going with the Chiefs. Feel free to leave your picks in the comments.

Now the Sports Time Radio podcast is going to be off the next two Sunday’s as Mr. Fantasy is in Disney World, but we’re still on Monday through Friday live on BlogTalkRadio.com. The podcast can also be heard on TuneIn.com.

 

 

How was your week

Posted: January 12, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, NFL picks, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Believe it or not we did make picks for the Divisional round NFL playoffs game and here’s what we’re going with.

The AFC starts off today’s playoff action as the Kansas City Chiefs are hosting the Indianapolis Colts. As I’m sure you’ve guessed I don’t have Mr. Fantasy’s game picks as he likes to wait until the last minute to make his, but Dan the Man, Schaumburg Stu and I have all taken the Chiefs to win this game.

The NFC gets to play in primetime again this weekend as the Dallas Cowboys are visiting the Los Angeles Rams in today’s late game. We do have a difference of opinion in this game as Dan the Man and Schaumburg Stu are taking the Rams to win wile I like the Cowboys to get the win here.

Now as for the Sunday games if you want to know who we’re picking tune in to Sports Time Radio tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. to find out. Mr. Fantasy and I will be broadcasting for to hours and we’ll not only let you know who we’re picking to win the Sunday games, but will break down the Saturday games as well as putting together a fantasy line up for the Sunday games as well.

You can listen to Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but the podcast is also available for you to listen to any time you want at TuneIn.com.

I’m sure that Dan the Man is happy about this. Adrian Gonzalez is getting ready to put on a showcase for major league teams as he’s like to continue his baseball career. Gonzalez is 36 years old, but has been reported to be in “excellent shape” coming into his showcase. It hasn’t been reported how many teams might attend his showcase, but you have to think there’s a team out there looking to add a left handed bat to their bench.

For 13 seasons Gonzalez was one of the most consistent hitter in baseball, but after he was limited for just 71 games in 2017 he hasn’t been the same hitter.

Gonzalez hit .242 in his final season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. That off season the Dodgers traded him to the Atlanta Braves who released him. The New York Mets decided to bring Gonzalez as it appeared worth the risk as the Braves and the Dodgers where picking up his salary and the Mets where able to sign him for the league minimum.

Gonzalez struggled with the Mets though and after hitting .237 in 54 games with 6 home runs and 26 RBI’s he was released in released in June.

Even with two down years Gonzalez is still a career .287 hitter with 317 career home runs. In his career Gonzalez has won 4 Gold Gloves been to 5 All Star games and has won 2 Silver Slugger Awards. He has also finished in the Top 20 of he MVP voting 8 times with his best finish being in 2010 when he finished 4th as a member of the San Diego Padres.

Do you think that there’s a team out their who’ll sign Gonzalez after his showcase? If you do please let me know in the comments where you think he’ll end up signing.

So is Sonny Gray still going to be with the New York Yankees when the 2019 season opens? Or will they finally find a trade partner and deal him?

After Gray had some struggles last season Yankees General manager Brian Cashman came out and said that he wouldn’t be with the Yankees when the 2019 season came around.

Now the Yankees have added James Paxton to the rotation in a trade with the Seattle Mariners. They also resigned left handers C.C. Sabathia and J.A. Happ. Masahiro Tanaka and Luis Severino should round out the Yankees starting rotation, but yet Gray is still in Yankee pin strips.

Now in today’s game you almost need 6 or in some cases 7 starting pitchers and you wonder if that’s why the Yankees haven’t moved Gray yet.

Paxton is coming off of a career high 28 starts and 160 1/3rd innings last season. He has had his injury issues throughout his career; so it wouldn’t hurt to have an extra starter hanging around. Sabathia was just cleared to return to baseball activities and he is also 37 years old. Another reason to have another starter handy. Tanaka also seems to miss a start or two as the season moves along; so it would be nice to have a starter with a quality resume to fill in then.

Maybe injury concern is the reason that the Yankees still have Gray on their roster or it could be something as simple as they just haven’t found a deal that they like. Reports are that the Cincinnati reds and the Milwaukee Brewers are the top two teams interested in acquiring Gray; so there’s still a chance that he’ll be pitching somewhere else besides New York when the 2019 season starts.

While we’re talking about the Yankees it’s good to see that the people running the team are much, much smarter than the people reporting on the team.

I didn’t understand all of the excitement when the Yankees sign Troy Tulowitzki, but most if not everyone had him penciled in as the Yankees starting shortstop. Remember Tulowitzki didn’t play a game last season and played in just 66 games in 2017. Tulowitzki has also seen his batting average drop in his final two seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2016 Tulowitzki hit .254, but everyone will over look that since he hit 24 home runs, but in 2017 Tulowitzki hit .239, but with just 7 home runs.

After looking at Tulowitzki’s declining numbers and his injury history I couldn’t figure out why everyone thought that he’d be the full time replacement for the Yankees at shortstop until Didi Gregorius came back from injury. Gregorius probably won’t be back until at least July or possibly August. Gregorius is coming back from Tommy John surgery and you have to wonder if it will take him a little time after coming back to be able to make the throw from shortstop to 1st base.

It seems like the Yankees may have agreed with me as hey signed DJ LeMahieu yesterday to a two year $24 million dollar deal. It appears as though LeMahieu will be the Yankees starting 2nd baseman and Gleybar Torres will move over to shortstop; a position he played coming up though the minor leagues.

So now you’re asking; where does that leave Tulowitzki? How about a move to 1st base. It appears that the Yankees are ready to move on from former top prospect Greg Bird; since he can’t stay healthy and while Luke Voit did a nice job for them last season he a bit of a mystery. At 34 years old and with hi injury history a move to 1st base might be just what Tulowitzki needs. He could also spell the other infielder if and when they need days off.

What do you have the Yankees infield looking like when the 2019 season opens?

 

Digital Ticket Is The New Black

Posted: January 7, 2019 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, NFL picks, sports, Tickets
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On December 28, 2018, an old friend of the show, Al Yellon of Bleed Cubbie Blue wrote “Going to all-digital tickets is a bad idea for the Cubs and here’s why”.  This article details why he is in agreement with Kelsey McKinney from Dead Spin (F^*K Digital Tickets).  Neither is in love with major sports eliminating paper tickets and going digital.  Al, a season ticket holder was informed that they, the season ticket holders will no longer receive hard tickets and if they want them, it could cost up to $150.00.  Both view these tickets as a souvenir that is free, essentially because today the only thing I have personally found below $5 are the team reusable bags in the gift shop, which I by at every game I attended because I generally try to go to a bobblehead game for my “free souvenir.”   

Me personally, I have no issue with it all.  I am all for it.  Sure, I have file cabinet with an overstuffed folder full of old tickets, scorecards and programs but since the evolution of smart phones and apps, having the box score on my phone and being able to upload my pictures from the games I have attended into the Ballpark app, I am as content as can be.  While I have yet to let go of those old tickets, but I have done what all are doing today and Pinned some ideas for a project to display all my tickets in a framed sort of way.  Time will tell when or if I ever get around to it.   

Years ago, I started traveling to see the Cubs play at different ballparks across the country but to be honest the last Hard Copy tickets I have received was back in 2006 for a Cubs/Cards game.  But since then it has been all Print-at-Home tickets.  Sitting 1st row in front of the tarp and being able to interact with Andrew McCutchen in his rookie season before the Cubs beat them was a cool experience or when I stuck my hat out to catch his fly ball during batting practice at Wrigley only to have hit smack my wrist and bounce down to Francisco Liriano are memories that I will always have. 

One complaint that both have are about the scanners that the teams use to check your digital tickets and what if they go down.  What I think they have forgotten is that whether it is a digital ticket, print-at-home or a hard copy, they all get scanned at the gates now.  So, no matter what ticket you have, lets hope those scanners do not go down or lose power.   

Al gives us reasons why the Cubs want to go to an all-digital ticket system which pretty much aligns with why the NFL went to an all-digital ticket.  Basically, it allows the Cubs to track every ticket and who the season ticket holders are selling them to and how many and if they are violating any agreements between the team and season ticket holder.  The Cubs of course package it must nicer 

While Al and Kelsey, which I do encourage you to read their articles, may not be excited about digital tickets, I seriously doubt either will stop attending games because of this.  If they do, it sounds just like my Uncle Bob – he stopped attending Cubs games when they started the presale of bleacher tickets but of course, since they won the World Series, he’s back on the wagon.   

When I used to blow my entire tax returns on Cubs tickets while I was living with my parents, it was never about the hard copy tickets, it was about the game and experience.  I embrace the digital ticket and encourage you to download the Ballpark App.  However, I do not understand why the other major sports leagues have not created this type of app.  

How was your week

Posted: January 5, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, NFL picks, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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We’ve got two NFL playoff games today to kickoff wild card weekend. Now when we get playoff games on Saturday we get different start times.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Week 17 game picks

Posted: January 1, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in football, NFL picks, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Even though we’re taking a holiday break from doing the Sports Time Radio podcast we  still have to make our picks for Week 17 in the NFL. Here’s who we’re going with this we.

We all have:

The STEELERS over the Browns.

The VIKINGS over the Bears.

The PATRIOTS over the Dolphins.

The CHIEFS over the Chargers.

The SEAHAWKS over the 49ers

The FALCONS over the Saints.

Here’s how we have the rest of the games.

Dan the Man likes Cincinnati. Schaumburg Stu, Mr. Fantasy and I have Baltimore.

I have Philadelphia. Stu, Dan and Mr. Fantasy have Dallas.

Dan has Carolina. Stu, Mr. Fantasy and I have Tampa Bay.

Dan has the Jets. Stu, Mr. Fantasy and I have the Bills.

Mr. Fantasy has Jacksonville. Stu, Dan and I have Indianapolis.

Mr. Fantasy has Los Angeles. Stu, Dan and I have Arizona.

Dan has the New York Giants. Stu, Mr. Fantasy and I have Washington.

Stu has Detroit. Dan, Mr. Fantasy and I have Green Bay.

Stu and Dan have the Texans. Mr. Fantasy and I have the Titans.

Stu and Dan have the Raiders. Mr. Fantasy and I have the Broncos.

Going into Week 17:

Schaumburg Stu is 158-82

Mr. Fantasy is 148-92

Dan the Man is 147-93

The Big Jack is 142-98

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