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Let’s Call it Wednesday

Posted: August 3, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, NASCAR, sports, Uncategorized
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Baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline ended Monday afternoon and there where a lot of players that ended up changing teams. Now I’m not going to try and breakdown every trade that happen, but I want t talk about the way the trade deadline was rated. As you know by now they either rate a team as a trade deadline winner or losers. The one team that everyone seemed to continue to jump on and make sure everyone knew they lost at the trade deadline was the Chicago White Sox. Now the White Sox did trade set up man Zach Duke to the St. Louis Cardinals for minor league outfielder Charlie Tilson. This deal was not enough for the experts or anyone breaking down the trade deadline moves and the White Sox got the brunt of it.

The reason the White Sox where being considered the biggest loser at the trade deadline is the fact that they didn’t trade starting pitcher Chris Sale. This of course is just a huge joke. Sale is one of the top pitchers in baseball and to trade him you’d have to get quite a bit in return. There’s no way the White Sox should’ve traded Sale anywhere unless they could’ve gotten 5 prospects Double-A or higher who are major league ready. Now you’re really limiting which teams you can deal with by handling it that way, but you have to get value if you’re going to move a talent like Sale. So the White Sox couldn’t get a deal done for Sale and I don’t know why it’s such a bad thing for them to hold on to him.

The White Sox are 51-55 and find themselves 10 games behind the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central. They are 7 1/2 games out of a wild card spot, but they have 5 teams they’d need to jump to get one of those spots. It’s starting to look like the White Sox will not be a playoff team; so it’s a viable option to deal Sale, but if and only if your asking price is met. Sake is just 27 years old. He is 14-4 with an ERA of 3.17 in 20 starts. He has 3 complete games this season with 1 of them being a shutout. He has placed in the Top 6 of the Cy Young voting the last 5 seasons and he’s sure to end up there again. He led the American League in strikeouts last season and is currently 2nd this season with 133 strikeouts. So Sale is the best player on the White Sox and would easily bring the most in return if traded, but since the White Sox didn’t trade him they’re losers.

How about a team that is 10 games under .500 at 48-58. They’re 13 1/2 games out in their division and 10 games out of a wild card spot. Now this team didn’t trade it’s best player and they could’ve gotten a lot in return for him maybe even more than the White Sox would’ve gotten for Sale, but I didn’t hear this team lambasted like the White Sox where and put into the loser bracket. Why did no one jump up and down on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for not trading Mike Trout? Aren’t the Angels farther away from competing than the White Sox are and couldn’t a rebuild really get started by dealing Trout for a boat load of prospects. Let’s keep looking for another team.

How about the 43-64 Arizona Diamondbacks. They are probably the most disappointing team in baseball this season. Now they paid big, big money for Zack Greinke in the off season and they also have Paul Goldschmidt on their team. Even though the Diamondbacks are going nowhere this season Greinke and Goldschmidt are still both with the Diamondbacks. It was just laughable that the White Sox where expected to move Sale, but these other under performing teams aren’t expected to move their best players to fix there teams. Are these guys just upset because Sale had that clubhouse freak out and cut up those throw back uniforms and that’s why he has to be moved. Either that or they where secretly rooting for Sale to be dealt to a team they want to see win and he could be the piece that puts them over the top. Anyway the guys breaking down the trade deadline where way, way out of line putting the White Sox where they did and expecting them to just more or less give away a top pitcher in baseball. Stupidity just plain and simple stupidity.

On Sunday the NASCAR race was postponed do to weather and moved to Monday. There where just 21 laps left when the Monday race had to be red flagged because of fog with rookie Chris Buescher in the lead. Buescher had to wait 80 minutes as the NASCAR officials decided what to do. With threats of severe weather and no lifting of the fog, NASCAR decided to end the race and Buescher had his very 1st Sprint Cup victory. Buescher along with 3rd place finisher Regan Smith hadn’t made their final pit stops when the caution flag came out for that fog at lap 132.  The drivers stayed on the track under caution for 7 laps as NASCAR decided to throw the red flag at lap 139. While there was some rain in the area the majority of the drivers pitted either because they needed fuel or because they thought the race would go longer. No one could predict the fog rolling in and ending the race. Buescher became the first rookie to win a Sprint Cup race since Joey Logano did it in 2009. What can be considered an odd win for Buescher had to use an odd Victory Lane. They moved Victory Lane into the garage since NASCAR couldn’t use the real Victory Lane because of the threat of lightning. While Buescher did get the win he hasn’t yet qualified for The Chase for the Sprint Cup. Buescher sits six points behind 30th-place David Ragan in the Sprint Cup standings. A driver has to be in the top 30 to qualify for the Chase via a race victory. Buescher has 5 races to make up those 6 points and get himself into the Top 30 in points and qualify for The Chase. NASCAR Schedule

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How Was Your Week?

Posted: July 30, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Major League Baseball’s trade deadline is tomorrow July 31st. After that teams will still be able to make trades, but for a player to be traded he’ll have to go through the waiver process. From my understanding waivers woks more or less like this. A team places a player or players on waivers and every team has a chance to claim them. The teams with the worst records get the first chance all the way to the team with the best record. If a player clears waivers meaning no one claimed him he’s free to be traded to any team in baseball. If a player is claimed by another team his current team has a couple of choices. They can actually just turn him and his contract over to the team that claimed him and he’s theirs.  They can also try to work out a trade with the team that claimed him, but only that team is allowed to make a trade for him. Or they can just pull that claimed player off waivers and keep him. 

Some years teams have put their entire roster through waivers; so don’t be surprised if some bigger names with bigger contracts not only be put on waivers, but make it through the process. We’re not past the trade deadline yet, but I’m not so sure we’re going to get the flurry of activity that a lot of experts where predicting. There was a big 7 player deal yesterday along with a good old fashion one for one trade as well. Let’s take a look at who went where.

The San Diego Padres found a new home for Andrew Cashner. Cashner along with pitcher Colin Rea and minor league pitcher  Tayron Guerrero  where traded to the Miami Marlins for pitcher Jarred Cosart, who at 26 will be joining his 4th teams. Along with Cozaart the Padres received relief pitcher Carter Capps. Capps had Tommy John surgery after injuring his arm in spring training and won’t pitch this season. San Diego also gets minor league Luis Castillo and the Marlins 2015 1st round pick the 12th selection overall in the draft 1st baseman Josh Naylor.  As I’m sure you can guess since the Marlins move a top prospect all the experts went nuts over this deal for San Diego, but lets see what they received.

Miami needed a solid back of the rotation starter and Cashner certainly fits that bill. Cashner was 4-7 with a 4.76 ERA in 16 starts for the Padres. With Wei-Yin Chin just going on the disabled list Cashner will slot into the 3rd spot of the Miami rotation behind Jose Fernandez and Adam Conley. Cashner won’t eat a ton of innings for you and you’ll probably only get 5 or 6 innings per start out of him, but with the better defense behind him in Miami he can keep them in games. Will Rea be a starter for the Marlins or is he headed to the bullpen?  With the Chin injury Tom Koehler and Jose Urena are pitching in the 4th and 5th rotation spot for Miami Could Rea take one of those spots until Chin returns? Or will he go straight to the bullpen as a long man? 26 years old Rea, appeared in 19 games for the Padres this season making 18 starts. He was 5-5 with an ERA of 4.98 this season. Guerrero is a 6’8 25 year old right handed pitcher who has appeared in just 1 game pitching 2 innings in the major leagues. Guerrero has split time between Double and Triple-A this season. He appeared in a combined 32 minor league games, all in relief. He was 0-3 with an ERA of 5.30 in the minors this season. So it looks like the Marlins got a major league starting pitcher along with possibly a second starting pitcher plus a bullpen arm.

San Diego was looking to get young and rebuild a team that tried to go for it last season. Cosart was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies before being sent to the Houston Astros as part of the Hunter Pence trade. The Astros traded him to the Marlins at the 2014 trade deadline and now the Marlins have sent him to San Diego. Cosart has spent most of this season at Triple-A doe Miami. He has made 4 starts this season going 0-1 with an ERA of 5.95. Cosart is just 26 years old and it will be interesting to see if San Diego gives him the time to try and develop the skills that made him a Top 100 prospect early in his career. The injured Capps is an interesting piece t this deal and not only because he was dealt while being hurt. Capps started to break out last season and  there was quite a bit of controversial about his unorthodox delivery. There are even questions of the legality of Capps’ delivery and that came into question on multiple occasions in 2015. Capps appeared in 30 games in 2015 going 1-0, but posting an ERA Of 1.16. Over 31 innings he struck out 58 and walked just 7 posting a WHIP of 0.806. Capps could be a future closer for the Padres as long as MLB doesn’t make a ruling that would change his delivery. Castillo is a 23 year old minor league pitcher who was in High Class-A for Miami. He appeared in 20 games making 18 starts and has a record of 7-3 with an ERA of 2.25. Castillo has hit 100 mph on the radar gun this season.  If he doesn’t work out as a starter maybe he goes to the bullpen as a power arm. 

The Top prospect Naylor being included in this deal is what caught all the experts attention. As you know you’re NEVER supposed to trade your prospects. Naylor was the 12th overall pick in the 2015 draft by the Marlins. At just 19 years old he has made it to Class-A in the South Atlantic League. In 89 games Naylor is hitting .269 with 9 home runs and 54 RBI’s He also has 24 doubles and has stolen 10 bases even though that wasn’t suppose to be part of his game. Naylor’s stats at mid-season Baseball America included Naylor in their Top 100 prospect list. At just 19 years old we may be waiting a few years to see how this trade actually plays out.

The other trade saw the Minnesota Twins send infielder Eduardo Nunez to the San Francisco Giants for minor league left-hander Adalberto Mejia. Nunez is a shortstop by trade, but can also play 3rd, 2nd and even some outfield. He seems exactly like the type of player the Giants would add. Nunez appeared in 90 games for the Twins this season; 51 at 2nd base, 33 at 3rd base and 6 as a DH. Nunez hit .296 with 12 home runs and 47 RBI’s along with 27 stolen bases for Minnesota. He’s on his way to setting career highs in all three of those categories and don’t forget he made his 1st All-Star team this season. With 3rd baseman Matt Duffy still out with an injury and 2nd baseman Joe Panik just returning from the disabled list it gives Giants manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility on the roster. Mejia is 23 years old and has split time between Double and Triple-A this season. Combined he is 7-3 with an ERA of 2.81. He had better success at Double-A (1.94 ERA) then he has at Triple-A )4.20 ERA) so far. He made 18 starts covering 105 2/3rd innings this season. Mejia is projected as a back of the rotation starter and if he reaches that this could end up being one of those trades where people say it helped both teams.

Will we see a big move before the trade deadline is still the question. Will players like Jay Bruce, Jonathan LuCroy or possible an Andrew Miller find new teams soon? Some of these names we’ve heard all season long and they’re still with the team they started the season with. So let me know; who makes the move?  

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: July 27, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports, Uncategorized
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I really use to have an interest in inter-league play. Remember I said use to. Inter-league play is just a shell of it’s former self and a lot of the time I don’t even notice that a series is an inter-league match up until it’s over. I always wanted to know who was going to DH for a National League team and watching the American League pitcher bat could be entertaining. Now there’s an inter-league series pretty much everyday and it’s really just taken the luster off of it. This week we have the Chicago teams matching up in what they call the Crosstown Cup. At least I think that’s what they’re calling it now. To me now it’s just a 4-game series between two teams. Is there anyone out there that still is interested in an inter-league series or are you like me and it’s just another series in a 162 game season. I would love to get your point of view on inter-league play. Are you like me and you’re no longer interested because of the oversaturation of games or is there another reason you’re down on inter-league play. Also if you’re on the other side and you still enjoy inter-league play let me know why you still enjoy watching it. Feel free to leave your comments here or e-mail me SportsTimeRadio@Hotmail.com.

As NFL teams get ready to open camp one of the biggest question still out there is; who’s going to be the New York Jets quarterback. Last seasons starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Jets remain stalemated in contract negotiations as training camp opens on Wednesday. The sides have not talked about a contract recently and remain far apart. The Jets and Fitzpatrick appear to be far apart on what Fitzpatrick’s value is. In February, the Jets offered Fitzpatrick a three year, $24 million dollar contract, according to sources. It included $12 million in the first year, but only $6 million in each of the last two years. Fitzpatrick is 33 and made $3.25 million last season. He ended up having his best season as a pro. He threw for a career-high 3,905 yards and a Jets team record 31 touchdowns against 15 interceptions. The Jets went 10-6 last season after going 4-12 in the 2014 season. If not Fitzpatrick then who. Geno Smith appears to be the first quarterback in line. Smith appeared in one game last season going 27 for 42. He threw two touchdowns and one interception while throwing for 265 yards. Bryce Petty was drafted in the 4th round of the 2015 draft; so could he be an option at quarterback. The Jets also have this years 2nd round draft pick Christian Hackenburg in camp; so is there a chance that he might win the job. The Jets have stated that they don’t expect Hackenburg to be the teams starting quarterback, but if Fitzpatrick and the Jets can’t come to a contract agreement you’d think they’d go with whichever quarterback gives them the best chance to win. Who’s the Jets starting quarterback Week 1?

Amar’e Stoudemire signed a contract with the New York Knicks so he could announce his retirement as a member of the Knicks. Stoudemire came into the NBA straight out of high school. He was the 9th pick in the 1st round by the Phoenix Suns and went on to win the Rookie of the Year award with the Suns. Stoudemire averaged 18.9 points and 7.8 rebounds in 846 career games over 14 seasons for Phoenix, New York, Dallas and Miami. The 6-foot-10 forward/center was named an All-Star six times and selected to two All-NBA first teams. In Phoenix Stoudemire teamed with Steve Nash to form a formidable pick and roll tandem. Stoudemire may go play overseas. He has lucrative interest from China or he could join Hapoel Jerusalem, which is the Israeli team he co-owns. Stoudemire spent 8 seasons with the Suns. 4 1/2 seasons with the Knicks. He spent half of the 2014-15 season with the Dallas Mavericks and he played 52 games last season for the Miami Heat.

We’ve had a couple of deals in baseball this week. The Cubs made a big move and acquired relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman from the New York Yankees for pitcher Adam Warren and three minor league prospects. They Yankees received minor league shortstop Gleyber Torres, minor league outfielders Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford. Both Torres and McKinney are Top 100 rated prospects. Warren was trade by the Yankees to the Cubs last off season for 2nd baseman Starlin Castro, but Warren struggled to find a spot with the Cubs and had just been optioned to Triple-A Iowa before being sent back to New York. Chapman will be a free agent at the end of the season and had express interest in signing an extension wit the Yankees while he was there; so could he return in the off season? Chapman should solidify the back end of a Cubs bullpen that has had some issues this season. The other deal saw the San Diego Padres send outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. to the Toronto Blue Jays for Hansel Rodriguez a 19 year old right handed pitcher. Upton value increased this season. His batting average was just .256 with the Padres, but he’s hit 16 home runs and had driven in 45 runs. Upton has also stolen 20 bases this season. The Blue Jays did make another deal as they swapped relievers with the Seattle Mariners. Toronto had designated relief pitcher Drew Storen for assignment over the weekend and they where able to work out a deal with the Mariners to send Storen and cash considerations to Seattle for relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit. Details There are quite a few rumors out there and we’ll have to see which teams are going to make moves and which teams are just talking about making moves. Will the teams that are rebuilding like the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves or the Minnesota Twins start to deal some players as we move closer to the trade deadline?

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Southside Won, Northside Zero

Posted: July 25, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Jake Arrieta enters the season series against the White Sox looking for win lucky number 13.  He takes on Miguel Gonzalez who is looking for win three of the year.

Miguel would open up the game getting the first two batters to flyout but walks Anthony Rizzo.  Ben Zobrist ends the inning with a ground out.  Javier Baez would be the next base runner getting a single but an error by right fielder Adam Eaton would allow him to make it to second.  Baez try’s to score on Kris Bryant’s single to left field, but Melky Cabrera guns Baez down at home.  The 4th inning sees Zo walking and Wilson Contreras reaching on an error but no one would score.

Jake has been not so great lately but gets through the first two innings with just a walk to Melky Cabrera. He would get the first out in the 3rd inning but gives up a double to Tyker Saladino and scores the first run of the game on Adam Eaton’s single to right field.

Miguel Montero would leadoff the 5th with a single but no one scores.  With two outs in the 6th, Contreras singles and makes it to third on Jason Heyward’s double to right field.  Addison Russell steps into the box and gets called out on strikes.   Montero leads off with a double and reaches on Javier Baez’s line drive home run to left field.  Gonzalez gets the next two outs but Robin Ventura decides to bring in Zach Duke to close out the inning.

Jake makes it through the 4th and 5th only allowing Justin Morneau to reach on a single.  He gets the first out in the bottom of the 6th but walks Melky.  Jose Abreu reaches on a single.  However, Jake strikes out Morneau for the second out of the inning.  With two outs and one strike, Todd Frazier takes Jake deep to center field for a three run dinger.  He gets out of the inning by getting  J.B. Shuck to ground out.
Justin Grimm enters the 7th and makes it quick with a ground out and two K’s.  Grimm gets the first out but gives up a double to Melky and that would be enough for him as Carl Edwards, Jr enters the game walking Jose Abreu but gets Morneau to line out.  Carl strikes out Frazier to end the 8th.

Duke opens the 8th walking Zo and that brings in Matt Albers. Wilson grounds into a force out, as he’s forced out by Heyward. Russell walks but Montero strikes out to end the 8th.  Albers stays in for the save opportunity with lead off man Baez who doubles to right.  Fowler steps in the box, and Baez steals third.  Fowler would send a line drive th first that deflects off of Abreu allowing Baez to score.  With no outs, Kris Bryant sends one to Melky driving Fowler to third but gets gunned down at second for the first out for the top of the 9th.  Lefty Dan Jennings enters the game to take on Rizzo.  Rizzo drops one into left with just enough on it to score Fowler and reach first.  He stays at first as Zo flys out to right.  Wilson Contreras knock one righting the hole between first and second for a single.  Jason Heyward gets himself into a full count and strikes out to end the inning.

We go into a tie game in the bottom of the 9th and Mike Montgomery enters the game with the possible win on the line.  He gives up a single to Shuck who makes it third on Navarro’s sac bunt right on the first base line.  Tyler Saladino steps into the box and sends one right back at Mike that bounces off the mound and takes off for center scoring Shuck for the walk off win by the White Sox.  

Jake Arreita seemingly has come back to earth but we’ll let the Southsiders have this one as they’ll be watching the Cubs from their couches in October!

Go Cubs Go!

Dan the Man

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How was your week?

Posted: July 23, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, hockey, Uncategorized
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Derrick Rose is a member of the New York Knicks. Now I’m not sure if Knicks fans should take Rose’s last interview as confidence in his new team or if he needs to be drug tested. Rose implied that the Knicks are a “super team” in the same class as the Golden State Warriors. Rose never specifically says who has put the Knicks in that class and uses terms like “some people” and “they’re” when mentioning who has the Knicks in that class. Golden State set a record for regular season wins with 73. The Warriors went to the NBA Finals for the second season in a row. After winning the NBA title in 2014-15 season they did lose last seasons finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers. So what did the Warriors do to try and help ensure a trip back to the NBA Finals. They signed the top free agent on the market Kevin Durant. Last season the Knicks won 32 games and didn’t qualify for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Now besides Rose the Knicks have added Brandon Jennings to back up Rose, Joakim Noah and Courtney Lee in free agency. Rose, Noah and Lee should join Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis in the Knicks starting line up. While it looks like a solid starting line up for the Knicks and Jennings can score off the bench I think Rose may have put up too high of expectations for his new team. If the Knicks are going to get anywhere close to the “super team” rose has said they would be, he’ll have to stay healthy and play close to the form that won him the NBA MVP award in 2010-11. Rose played in and started 66 games for the Chicago Bulls last season. Those where the most games he’s played in since his MVP season. Rose’s scoring average fell to 16.4 points per game last season. Rose has never been a great shooter especially from behind the 3-point line. 29.3% last season and for his career he’s shot 30.2% from behind the 3-point line. Are the Knicks a super team? I’m not so sold on that, but they should improve on the 32 win team they where last season and may find their way into the Eastern Conference playoffs next season. Derrick Rose Stats

It’s that time in the baseball season where everyone is trading everyone to everybody. Outside of the talk there was actually a trade this week as the Seattle Mariners and the Chicago Cubs came to an agreement on a 4-player deal. The Mariners sent left handed pitcher Mike Montgomery and and minor league right hander Jordan Pries to the Cubs for minor league 1st baseman Dan Vogelbach and and right handed minor league pitcher Paul Blackburn.

Montgomery will give the Cubs some immediate help out of the bullpen. Montgomery has appeared in 32 games for the Mariners; 2 of them being starts. He has and ERA of 2.34 on the season. Lefties are hitting just .164 against Montgomery this season. Pries is a 26 year old pitcher who was pitching in Triple-A for the Mariners before the trade. He was 2-1 with an ERA of 3.85 in 7 games. Pries has spent 6 seasons in the minors and is 40-24 with an ERA of 4.41. He’s appeared in 109 career games with 93 of those as a starting pitcher.

Vogelbach was moved up to Triple-A for the Cubs. He got just 32 at bats there and was hitting just.125. Vogelbach has spent 6 seasons in the minors. He is a career .281 hitter and has 60 home runs. Vogelbach was blocked at 1st base with the Cubs by Anthony Rizzo; so turning him into a solid bullpen piece was a smart move. Reports have also said that Vogelbach is a below average defender. Now in the American League he’ll be able to spend time as a DH. Blackburn was one of the top rated pitchers in the Cubs  organization.  Blackburn is 22 years old and has been pitching in Double-A for the Cubs. He’s made 18 starts and is 6-4 with a 3.17 ERA. Over 102 1/3rd innings Blackburn has 72 strikeouts to 26 walks.

This looks like a deal that could benefit both teams. The Cubs needed bullpen help especially left handed bullpen help. Montgomery should supply that for the Cubs and down the road there’s a chance he could move into the starting rotation, but right now his value is in the bullpen for a World Series contender. The Mariners find themselves 4 1/2 games out of the wild card and the A.L. West lead. While it’s a reasonable total and the Mariners could move up they have to jump 4 teams to get a wild card spot and that’s a lot even with 66 games left in the season. Being that the Mariners got prospects you just never know, but Vogelbach has hit at every level and will get a shot in the majors with Seattle. Blackburn is young and has good numbers, but you just never know as a pitcher. We might have to wait and see how this deal turns out for Seattle.

The Toronto Maple Leafs signed the #1 overall pick in the draft Austin Matthews to a 3-year entry level contract. Matthews 18-year old from Scottsdale, Arizona, immediately became the face of the Maple Leafs’ franchise when they selected him first in last month’s draft. Matthews deal includes the maximum entry level salary of $925,000 per year plus potential bonuses that could add up to an average annual value of $3,775,000. Matthews says he will spend most of the summer at home in Arizona, preparing for the season and the World Cup of Hockey, where he will play for the North American under-23 team in September. The Leafs also signed 23- year old forward Josh Leivo to a two-year contract. Leivo was a third round pick in the 2011 draft. The Maple Leafs are coming off a season where they won 29 games and accumulated 69 points. The 18-year old Matthews and the 23-year old Leivo are part of Toronto’s youth movement as they try to rebuild their team. Will it be enough to get the Maple Leafs into the playoffs or are they still a year away from making there?

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Cubs Crank Colon

Posted: July 20, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, post season, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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It’s a hot one in Chicago as the Cubs take on the Mets with Kyle Hendricks on the mound searching for his ninth win of the season as is Bartolo Colon. Both teams are searching for the win to take the series at Wrigley as the Cubs need this series after being swept in New York earlier this year.

Kyle would start off strong striking out the first three batters in the top of the first inning.  He would make it all the way to the top of the 7th inning giving up his first and only walk, his seventh hit of the day but gets the first out of the inning.  He would not give up a run in the game but it would be enough and Maddon would bring Carl Edwards, Jr for relief.

The Cubs would strike first and fast in the bottom of the 1st, with the bases loaded on Kris Bryant’s single and the back to back two out walks to Wilson Contreras and Jason Heyward, Addison Russell would send a line drive to left field driving in the first two runs of the game.  Cubs 2-0

After Kyle strikes out the top half of the 3rd inning, Anthony Rizzo would send a fly ball to right center field for his 23rd home run of the season.  This would put the Cubs up by 3.

Keeping with the every other inning of scoring, Kris Bryant would lead off the 5th with his 22cd double of the year.  No outs and Rizzo in the box, he takes the first pitch for a ball but gets a slider on the next pitch and takes Colon to right center field again for his 24th home run of the season.  The Cubs are now up by 6.

Carl Edwards, Jr would get Alejandro De Aza to ground out for the first out in the top of the 8th but walks Jose Reyes.  Maddon would visit the mound with the double switch, Travis Wood enters the game to get the second out of the inning.  His next two pitches to Wilmer Flores would be balls.  The third four-seam fastball, Flores would take to deep to left field for his tenth home fun of the season.  He does get out of the inning but the Cubs lead is dropped to four, Cubs 6, Mets 2.

Hector Rondon enters the 9th looking to not lose another game like he did last night, and gets off to quick start with two pitches gets the first out.  Kelly Johnson would swing on the first pitch cranking his fourth single of the day.  After a wild pitch, Juan Lagares would strike out.  Michael Conforto would foul off the first pitch.  He puts the second one into play for the third out to end the game and the Cubs take the series from Mets.

The Cubs are off Thusday and head up to Milwaukee for the weekend with Jason Hammel starting on Friday.

Dan the Man

The Podcast now on Tunein.com, Download the app today and follow us or Apple users can download us in the Podcast app today!

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: July 20, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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So the rumors started yesterday that the Los Angeles Dodgers are seriously interested in trading Yasiel Puig. We heard these same rumors last season, but Puig is still with the Dodgers. Is this the season the Dodgers deal him? While it seems as though he’s been around longer this is just Puig’s 4th season in the majors and he is just 25 years old. Remember Puig came out of the gate like a sure fire superstar. Puig came in and played 104 games in 2013. He hit .319 with 19 home runs and 42 RBI’s and added 11 stolen bases. There are some people out there who have identified him as the Rookie of the Year, but he actually finished 2nd to Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins. Puig also picked up some MVP votes that season and finished 15th in that voting. In 2014 Puig played 148 games hitting .296 with 16 home runs and 69 RBI’s and making his first All-Star team. He also picked up some MVP votes after that season and finished 19th in the voting. Puig was injured for much of the 2015 season. He played in just 79 games. He hit .255 with 11 home runs and had 38 RBI’s. The Dodgers where hoping a healthy Puig would bounce back t numbers more like his first two seasons, but he hasn’t. In 76 games Puig is hitting .256 with 7 home runs and 32 RBI’s this season. If the Dodgers do find a taker for Puig; which player will they get? Let’s take a look at some landing spots for Puig.

How about the New York Yankees? Take it easy Yankees fans I don’t think you’ll be getting Aroldis Chapman for Puig, but there are some options for these teams to deal. A more likely trade that could happen between these two teams is Puig for Carlos Beltran. Beltran is 39 years old, but is having a good season. He’s hitting .301 with 19 home runs and 58 RBI’s. If Clayton Kershaw’s return is pushed back with his injury the Dodgers are going to have to find a way to stay in contention for a wild card spot and adding some offense might help. Beltran has been able to stay healthy this season and has appeared in 88 games this season for the Yankees. Another plus for the Dodgers is Beltran is in the last year of his contract and with the young outfielders they have in their system he won’t be in the way. Beltran is owed about $8 million for the rest of this season while Puig is under contract for two more years at $7 million apiece. It’s two teams with plenty of money; so swapping salaries shouldn’t be an issue. The Dodgers could get some offensive help to put between Corey Seager and Adrian Gonzalez while the Yankees can get a young outfielder they can build around.

Another possible landing spot for Puig could be the rebuilding Atlanta Braves. It might sound odd to some people as the Braves are on their way to losing 100 plus games this season and possibly next season as well. It would actually give the Braves a chance t look at Puig and decide if he could be part of their rebuilding as his contract was coming to an end after the 2018 season. If so they could try to resign him or if not they could just let him go into free agency. The tough part would be figuring out what the Braves could send back in return. I don’t think the Dodgers would be interested in Nick Markakis. With the Braves rebuilding they’d want to hang on to their young players. Could the Braves out together a package featuring someone like Chase D’Arnaud or Jace Peterson with a pitcher or two thrown in be enough to get the Dodgers to send them Puig. It’s a deal that the Braves need to look into the question will be can they find a player or players that would interest the Dodgers enough to trade them Puig.

Could another rebuilding team like the Milwaukee Brewers be a team that could step up and tried to add Puig. It could be an easy deal if the Dodgers where willing to accept Ryan Braun and what’s left of his contract for Puig. Braun is signed through 2020 with an option for 20121. He’ll receive $20 million next season and in 2018, $19 million in 2019, $17 million in 2020 with a $15 million dollar option for 2021. Braun is 32 years old and it seems as though his power has been in decline. While Braun is still a home run threat he’s not the same player who hit 41 home runs in  2012. In 77 games this season Braun is hitting .313 with 13 home runs and 44 RBI’s. If the Brewers are going to truly rebuild they need to find a way to move Braun’s contract and this could be the answer they’ve been looking for. The issue may be will the Dodgers who have some talented young outfielders be willing to tie themselves down with Braun until 2020. Don’t forget that the Dodgers are going to be paying off Carl Crawford’s contract for the next couple of seasons.

Let’s reach out for one more team here and add the Toronto Blue Jays to the list of teams that could be a good spot for Puig. Jose Batista is injured and in the last year of his contract. Don’t forget that Batista is looking for a big payday at the end of the season and adding Puig could allow the Blue Jays to let Batista walk. Edwin Encarnacion is also in the last year of his contract and has been recruited by David Ortiz to sing with the Boston Red Sox and take over his role with them next season.  At 25 Puig along with Devon Travis would be the youngest player on the Blue Jays roster. The difficult part again here is finding someone to send back to Los Angeles in a deal. Ezequiel Carrera has had a solid season for the Blue Jays; so maybe they could add him into a deal with a young pitcher like Drew Hutchinson and a couple of bullpen pieces for Puig. This is the tough part about making a deal. While it looks as though Puig would be a good fit for the Blue Jays and their future it’s difficult to fin the right set of players to send back to the Dodgers to make a deal.

There are four interesting options for Yasiel Puig. Do the Dodgers finally go through with their plan to deal Puig or will he still be there at the end of the season? Remember this is a different front office talking about trading Puig this time; so maybe he ends up being dealt this time. Would you like to see your favorite team acquire Puig? Or do you have a better landing spot than the four I picked for him. If you do let me know.

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How was your Week?

Posted: July 16, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Yesterday (Friday) was the last day for NFL teams to sign players they had placed the Franchise Tag on to long term deals. If a deal couldn’t be reached then the player would go through the 2016 season playing for what the Franchise Tag ranks his position at. If I remember correctly it’s the average of the Top 5 salaries at the position. One player who looked like he wouldn’t be able to come to an agreement with his team and even threatened to sit out the entire season was Von Miller of the Denver Broncos. Miller won the Super Bowl MVP award and until yesterday was unable to come to contract terms with the Broncos. Apparently Miller was so unhappy he even cropped Broncos General Manager John Elway out of a photo he posted on social media. Yesterday the Broncos and Miller agreed to 6 year $114.5 million dollar deal with $70 million dollars in the deal being guaranteed. This deal makes Miller the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history based on guaranteed money, as well as the highest-paid player in Denver franchise history.It’s being reported that Miller gets a $23 million signing bonus and $42 million guaranteed at signing, $61 million guaranteed after the first year and $70 million guaranteed after the second year of the deal. The guaranteed money was the biggest hurdle the two sides needed to clear to get the deal done. A lot of the big money contracts handed out to defensive players haven’t really worked out. Just ask the Miami Dolphins about Ndamukong Suh’s contract. It’s a big time deal for a Super Bowl MVP so now he has to play up to it.

Miller wasn’t the only player to receive a new contract yesterday. The Baltimore Ravens agreed to terms wit their kicker Justin Tucker on a 4 year $16.8 million dollar deal. Tucker’s deal includes $10.8 million fully guaranteed, with a $6 million signing bonus. The New York Jets and defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson reach a contract agreement yesterday. Wilkerson’s deal is for 5 years and $86 million dollars. The deal also includes . $36.75 million of the deal guaranteed at signing. The contract also  includes a $15 million signing bonus. The contract, which averages $17.2 million per season, also includes an injury guarantee of $53.5 million. The Oakland Raiders signed cornerback David Amerson to a 4 year contract extension worth a maximum value of $38 million dollars. Amerson wasn’t a Franchise player for the Raiders, but they still worked out a contract extension with him.

There where four players who didn’t agree to new deals with their teams and can no longer negotiate long term deals again until after the season. Each is tied to his team for one year on a franchise player price. Those four players are; Kirk Cousins, quarterback Washington Redskins. Eric Berry, safety Kansas City Chiefs. Alshon Jeffery, wide receiver Chicago Bears and Trumaine Johnson, cornerback Los Angeles Rams. In a few of these cases it may actual be in the teams best interest to have these guys player under the Franchise Tag for a season. There are still plenty of questions about Cousins as a quarterback and now the Redskins get a chance to look at him for one more season before deciding if they want to make a long term commitment to him. There are a lot of experts who think Jeffery is a #1 receiver in the NFL, but he’s had his share of injuries. The Bears now have the entire season to see if he can stay healthy and be their top receiver. Berry returned to the Chiefs after going through treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma 2014. After being declared cancer free, Berry came back for the 2015 season and was named to the Pro Bowl, the AP All-Pro team, and was named the 2015 AP Comeback Player of the Year. While it’s not the happy ending to the story that people will want; it’s not a bad idea for the Chiefs to let Berry play under the Franchise Tag and make sure he stays healthy. Johnson led the Rams with 7 interceptions last season. He had never had more than 3 in any season before 2015 and I don’t believe the Rams had any injury concerns with Johnson. It may have been more of a case of him having his best season in 2015 and the Rams may want to see if he can repeat that or if it was an anomaly.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss this week’s NASCAR race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway because of concussion like symptoms. Earnhardt Jr. mentioned he wasn’t feeling well going into last weeks races in Kentucky, but thought it might be a sinus infection or allergies. After the medication that Earnhardt Jr. was given by a family doctor didn’t help he met with a neurological specialist. After that evaluation was done it was decided that it would be best for Earnhardt Jr. to sit out this week. Now there is no timetable for Earnhardt Jr’s return and this maybe end up being more than a one race absence. Remember Earnhardt Jr. missed two Sprint Cup Series races in the 2012 season after suffering two concussions in a six week stretch. It’s a difficult time for Earnhardt Jr. too miss, but it’s better for him to sit out than try to drive with those symptoms. Earnhardt Jr. currently sits 13th overall in the driver standings, but does not have a win. Depending on how many races he’ll have to sit out there’s a chance that Earnhardt Jr. will fall out of The Chase. Alex Bowman is going to fill in for Earnhardt Jr. in the #88 car for the New Hampshire race. Bowman drives part-time for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. JR Motorsports is owned by Earnhardt Jr. It was announced yesterday that if Earnhardt Jr. is going to be out for the July 24th race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Jeff Gordon will take the wheel of the #88 car as the fill in driver. This type of injury will be a day by day thing to deal with and hopefully it won’t keep Earnhardt Jr. out to long. Of course it’s better to wait and make sure he’s 100 % before he gets back behind the wheel. There;s no reason for him to put his life at risk or possibly something happening to another driver. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Jimmie Johnson won the pole for Sunday’s New Hampshire 301 with an average speed of 133.971 m.p.h. Johnson will share the front row with Kyle Busch who’ll start 2nd. Martin Truex Jr starts 3rd while Kyle’s brother Kurt Busch is starting 4th. Denny Hamlin starts 5th to round out the Top 5.   

 The Big Jack Follow me on Twitter!

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Let’s Call it Wednesday

Posted: July 13, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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On Monday Tim Duncan retired from the NBA after 19 seasons. Now after a career like Duncan’s you might expect a little fanfare to announce his retirement. There was no gigantic goodbye press conference called. There was no cool Instagram video posted. There was no picture on Twitter making the announcement. As a matter of fact I don;t think social media was involved in making the announcement at all. So how did Duncan go out; the San Antonio Spurs out out a simple press release announcing his retirement. It’s almost the way you’d expect Duncan to go out. While Duncan wasn’t looking for the spotlight as he was retiring and didn’t seem interested on having one more retirement type season, but after the career he had if he would’ve wanted that who could’ve blamed him.

San Antonio selected Duncan with the #1 pick in the 1997 draft. Duncan entered the NBA after winning 3 player of the year awards in college. He was named AP Player of the Year, Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year and he also won the John R. Wooden Award. Duncan then went on to win the 1997-98 NBA Rookie of the Year award. That was just the start of the awards that Duncan would win throughout his career. He won 5 NBA Championships with the Spurs and was named Finals MVP. 3 times. He won 2 NBA MVP. awards and he did it in back to back seasons; 2001-02 and 2002-03. Besides winning the MVP twice Duncan finished in the Top 5 of the voting 9 other times. Duncan also made 15 All-Star teams and was named MVP of the 1999-00 game. Duncan played in 1392 games; he averaged 19.0 points per game, 10.8 rebounds per game and 3.0 assists per game while playing an average of 34 minutes a game. Duncan should go down as one of the best to every play the game and I’ve even heard some experts mention he should be in the Top 5 all-time. One of the things I found more interesting about Duncan’s 19 year career was the fact that he played all 19 of those seasons with one team and he had the same head coach Gregg Popovich for all 19 of those seasons. By comparison Kobe Bryant just wrapped up a 20 year NBA career that saw him play for 10 different head coaches. That begs the question; will we ever see a player with this long of a career play for just one head coach?

Now there is no better All-Star game than the Major League Baseball All-Star game. It’s far and away the closet to the actual game that is played during the regular season. While the National Hockey League did improve their game last season and it was a lot more watchable than it had been. Of course it is a three on three game and it’s different than what they do in the regular season. The National Football League Pro-Bowl is a huge joke. In a way it’s almost understandable. Football is a very physical game and the last thing a team or even a fan base needs is for it’s Pro-Bowl player to get injured going all out in an All-Star game. The biggest joke out of all the All-Star games has to be the fiasco the National Basketball Association puts on. There is absolutely no defense played and you have to believe sooner or later we’re going to see an NBA All-Star team score 200 points in the game. Baseball is so different because it’s difficult to fake. In the other All-Star games you can make it look like you’re trying without really trying. In baseball though there’s still a pitcher on the mound and unless he’s willing to serve one up t the hitter and make himself look bad he’s going to pitch to that batter like it’s a regular game. Ever now and then you get a blowout in the MLB All-Star game, but the majority of the time you get a close well played game like last nights.

Tuesday on the Sports Time Radio podcast Dan the Man selected the National League  to win the All-Star game. Of course we know by now that he was on the wrong side of that pick as the American League  picked up a 4-2 victory to claim home field advantage in the World Series. What I still don’t know and I haven’t been able to find out is; why was the NL the visitors? I thought for sure with the game being played at Petco Park in San Diego that the NL would be the home team. I’ll have to do a little more research and try to figure it out. Now the NL got off t a quick start as Kris Bryant hit a solo home run in the Top of the 1st off of Chris Sale to give the NL a quick 1-0 lead. The A.L. turned it around in the bottom of the 2nd inning getting a solo home run by Eric Hosmer to tie the score and then a two-run home run by Salvador Perez put the AL up 3-1 and it turned out to be a lead they would relinquish. Hosmer and Perez both hit their home runs off of their former teammate Johnny Cueto. The AL added a run in the Bottom of the 3rd inning. David Ortiz drew a walk and then Edwin Encarnacion came into to run for him and allow Ortiz to walk off the field to a big crowd reaction in his last All-Star game. Xander Bogaerts doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd for the AL It was Hosmer again who came through for the AL with a single to left field off of Jose Fernandez to bring Encarnacion home and put the AL up 4-1. The NL did get a run back in the Top of the 4th inning. Buster Posey drew a one out walk. Anthony Rizzo singled moving Posey to 3rd base. Marcel Ozuna singled to center off of Aaron Sanchez to drive in Posey and cut the AL lead to 4-2. The NL got 10 hits in the game with Daniel Murphy being the only guy with 2 hits. The AL got 8 hits in the game with Hosmer and Jackie Bradley Jr. each getting 2 hits. The AL used 10 pitchers in the game with Corey Kluber getting the win and Zach Britton picking up a save. The NL used 9 pitchers in the game with Cueto being the pitcher who took the loss. Hosmer was voted the games MVP.

The Big Jack Follow me on Twitter!

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Great Start to the All Star Break

Posted: July 10, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, fantasy, Minor League Baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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John Lackey looks to stay above .500 with another win to go into the All Star break on a good note.  Jonathon Niese would get the start for the Pirates and immediately get the ball rolling for the Cubs with singles to lead off man Ben Zobrist, then on one out to Anthony Rizzo and to load the bases Wilson Contreras.  Addison Russell would also smack a single but this one gives him two RBI’s.  Lackey would only give up one single in the bottom half. After the 1st, Cubs 2-0.

Cubs would go down quick in the top of the 2cd but Lackey would allow a solo home run to star off the bottom half to Sean Rodriguez.  Adam Frazier singles and scores on Eric Fryer’s one out double to left.  With two outs, John Jaso sends a line drive to right scoring Fryer.  The Pirates are now up 3-2.  

Kris Bryant stars off the 3rd with a walk and advances to third on Rizzo’s double to right.  Contreras would ground out to first but drives in Bryant to tie the game at 3.  Andrew McCutchen would lead off the bottom half of the 3rd with a solo home run to take the lead.  

The back and forth of leads would stop in the top of the 4th, after Albert Almora, Jr launches his 2cd home run of the season driving in Baez to take the lead, 5-4.  Niese would then give up back to back singles to Bryant and Rizzo prompting his removal for Arquimedes Caminero to end the inning.  

Lackey would make it to the 7th walking Josh Bell and giving up a single to John Jaso.  With no outs, Maddon brings in Pedro Strop.  He gets the first out and the second out from McCutchen but is scored as a sac fly to tie the game at 5.  

Pirates set up man, Tony Watson enters the game and immediately strikes out Almora but gives up a double to Matt Szcuzr.  Zo pops out on a bunt.  With two outs Bryant’s sends a line drive to left scoring Szczur for the Cubs to take the lead again giving Watson a blown save.  

Carl Edwards, Jr and Hector Rondon take the last two innings of the game for the hold and save as Strop is awarded the W with a blown save.  Lackey would go six innings giving up five runs on seven hits but strikes out nine only walking two.  Not the greatest outing but with the bats hitting and the bullpen holding, the Cubs take a game from the Pirates putting their lead at 7 above the second place Cardinals.   
Go Cubs Go!

Dan the Man

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