Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: March 6, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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I’m trying to figure out how much blame LeBron James should get for this Los Angeles Lakers season. While I don’t think they where going to be a championship team just by signing him. I’m not sure how much he helped their cause this season.

It seems pretty clear that James doesn’t enjoy playing with young talent; so the Lakers brought in some veteran on one year deals to play with James. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was re-signed. While veterans Rajon Rondo, Lance Stevenson and JaVale McGee where signed to one year deals. The Lakers also added Tyson Chandler after he was waived by the Phoenix Suns. This may not of been the best group of players to sign, but James had won a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers with players similar to this group.

The issue may not have been bringing in veteran players, but the Lakers had some young players that appear like they had good futures ahead of them, but these signings made it tougher for them to get minutes.

Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball should’ve been allowed to develop alongside of James this season, but have had to share time with the veterans that James prefers to play with. To be fair Ball has been injured and has played in just 47 games this season. Kuzma is dealing with a mild ankle sprain that will cost him about a week, but he has played in 60 games this season. Ingram is listed as day to day with a shoulder injury and did sit out Monday nights loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Ingram has appeared in 52 games this season.

I’m not sure how much of an affect this had on these three young players, but it was made perfectly clear by James that he was willing to have the team deal all three of them to acquire Anthony Davis. It seems like the trade talks with the New Orleans Pelicans for Davis had some affect on the Lakers and James did nothing to stem the tide of that happening. You would’ve thought a leader like James should be would’ve stepped in and spoke with the young players, but he seemed more intent about complaining in his interviews about the younger players even though he didn’t use their names.

James is clearly one of the best players to ever play the game, but it might be time to start questioning what kind of a leader he actually is. It may seem like a daunting task, but the Lakers are just 5 1/2 games out of the 8th spot in the Western Conference.

The Lakers have 18 games left this season, but the start to get into the playoffs isn’t going to be easy. Tonight they play the Denver Nuggets, but at least it’s a home game. The Lakers next game after tonight is another home game, but this one is against the Boston Celtics Saturday night. After these two home games the Lakers head out on a five game road trip; so the path to the playoffs isn’t going to be an easy one for them.

So do you think that the Lakers will make the playoffs? With the way the Lakers season has gone. How much Blame should James get for it?

I believe the Boston Celtics where 7 point underdogs going into last nights game against the Golden State Warriors. It seemed like that line made sense. The Celtics where 38-26 coming into the game and holding down the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference. They where also traveling across the country for this game and Boston had lost five of their last six games.

Golden State had some issues coming into this game at well, but being at home you can understand why they where the favorite. Golden State was 44-19 coming into last nights game and they had moved in the top spot in the Western Conference. After winning 16 of 17 games the Warriors have went 3-4 in their last 7 games. They where coming off of a win last Saturday night against the Philadelphia 76ers.

With everything set up for the game it looked like it might be a close contest that Golden State would end up winning. Well what actually happened? The Celtics ended up blowing out the Warriors by 33 points 128-95.

Gordon Hayward had what may of been his best game in a Celtics uniform. Heyward came off the bench to score a game high 30 points. Hayward went 12 of 16 from the floor going 4 of 6 from behind the 3-point line. Hayward also grabbed a team high 7 rebounds. Four other Celtics scored in double figures. Kyrie Irving had a double-double scoring 19 points and handing out 11 assists. Jaylen Brown had 18 points, Jayson Tatum had 17 points and Marcus Morris added 10 points.

Steph Curry led the Warriors with 23 points, but only two other Warriors reached double figures in points. Kevin Durant scored 18 points, but had a rough shooting night. Durant went 5 of 16 from the field and missed all 5 of the 3-point shots he took. DeMarcus Cousins was in the Warriors starting line up last night. Cousins scored 10 points and grabbed a game high 9 rebounds. Draymond Green led the Warriors in assists with 5.

Golden State played without Klay Thompson for the second consecutive game with a knee injury. Shaun Livingston was also held out of last nights game against the Celtics due to neck spasms.

The Warriors have a 1 1/2 game lead over the Denver Nuggets for the #1 seed in the Western Conference, but Golden State doesn’t seem to be as dominant as they have been the last few seasons.

Now the Warriors have been to the playoffs the last six seasons and have been all the way to the NBA Finals the last four seasons winning three of those. That’s a lot of extra games for a team to have to play even with the extra days off that have been added to the schedule. Are these extra games finally catching up to the Warriors? Or come playoff time will Golden State be able to find there groove and make it to another NBA Finals and win the title?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but if you miss the podcast live all you have to do is head over to TuneIn.com and you can listen to the podcast any time you want.

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

 

How was your week

Posted: March 2, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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So I have a question for you. Would you take a contract for 4 years and $180 million dollars or would you go with a contract for $330 million dollars over 13 years?

MLB

This was the decision Bryce Harper had to make. As we know he took the long term 13 year $330 million dollar deal to join the Philadelphia Phillies. I don’t think Harper could’ve lost I either of these situations as both contracts have some merit to them besides the money. Let’s take a look.

I’ve heard people say that Harper took lifetime security over a shorter term deal. Honestly could you spend $180 million dollars? So I don’t think you can apply that here.

The 4 year $180 million dollar deal was offered by the Los Angeles Dodgers. So Harper would’ve been joining a series World Series contender on a short term deal. This deal would’ve also allowed Harper to go back out onto the free agent market as a 30 year old and he shouldn’t be past his prime by the end of this deal. Obviously, Harper wouldn’t have been offered 13 years on a deal as a 30 year old but it wouldn’t have been a surprise if a team offered him 6 or 7 years. The deal with the Dodgers would’ve given Harper the highest yearly salary of any player by quite a distance. Zack Greinke is currently the highest paid player this season with a salary of $34.5 million dollars. On average Harper would’ve made $45 million dollars a year.

Harper decided to sign with the Phillies for 13 years and $330 million dollars which is the largest deal in total money ever signed by any player. Most people think that the Phillies are on their way to being a contender. However, they’re in a much tougher division than the Dodgers, so it’s going to be a much more difficult road to the playoffs. Philadelphia and Harper did work his salary out so there’s room for the team to still add some players down the road. It also looks like Harper will be with the Phillies for all 13 years. He has a full no-trade clause and there are no opt outs in his deal. It will be interesting to see what kind of a player Harper is when he gets to the end of his deal.

I was always under the belief that Harper’s agent Scott Boras wanted to set the record for the largest contract ever signed by a Major League player. But I am a little surprised that Harper wasn’t willing to bet on himself and take the shorter term deal the Dodgers offered.

What would you have done?

Harper reports to the Phillies spring training camp in Clearwater Florida today and it’s been reported that he’ll wear #3 for Philadelphia. They haven’t said if Harper will work out with his new teammates today since you have to figure he’ll be tied up with multiple media obligations today. Since he is a little behind this spring, you have to figure he’ll be on the field if not today then tomorrow.

NBA

I don’t watch too many NBA games as I just don’t find the style they play very interesting anymore. I will, however, flip over to get a score of a game and watch a minute here or there to see what’s going on. Last night I did this with the Chicago Bulls/Atlanta Hawks game.

I flipped over with a little under two minutes left in regulation and since it was a close game, I figured I could watch the final two minutes even though I knew it would take close to 30 minutes to finish. Luckily the game went much quicker than I thought it would as there weren’t to many stoppages of play.

The game ended up tied after regulation and I thought, what the heck I’ll watch overtime and see who wins this game. What a mistake that was for me as the game ended up going four overtimes before the Bulls managed to win the game 168-161.

I’m not going to say that this was a must watch game, but there where some interesting stats that came out of it. The 329 combined points was the 3rd most in NBA history. In March of 1982 the Milwaukee Bucks and the San Antonio Spurs combined for 337 points which is the 2nd highest scoring game in NBA history. The highest scoring game ever played in the NBA was in December of 1983 when the Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets combined to score 370 points in triple overtime.

Trae Young led the Hawks with 49 points. He also added 16 assists and 8 rebounds in 56 minutes. Young is now just one of four rookies to have 45 points, 10 assists and 5 rebounds in a game. Young is also the first rookie to score 120 points in a three game span since Allen Iverson did it in April of 1997.

The Bulls where led by Zach Lavine who scored 47 points, but they had three players put up double-doubles. Otto Porter Jr. had 31 points and 10 rebounds. Lauri Markkanen also scored 31 points and grabbed 17 rebounds while Robin Lopez scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Besides Young two other Hawks players had double-doubles. Alex Len put up 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Dewayne Dedmon scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Nine of the ten players who started the game scored in double figures. Three players ended up fouling out while two other picked up five fouls in the game. Even with all of the minutes logged in this game there where three payers that didn’t get into this game per coach’s decision. The teams combined to take 242 shots with 108 of those shot attempts being 3-pointers. Neither team shot very well from the free throw line as they went 52 of 73 (71.2%). Normally the home team shoots more free throws than the road team in an NBA game but in this game the Bulls actually shot 48 free throw to just 25 for the Hawks.

This was the first game of a home and home series, so these two teams will take Saturday off before they face off again Sunday afternoon in Chicago.

Do you think we’ll get another overtime game?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but if you miss the podcast live you can head over to TuneIn.com and listen to the podcast any time you want.

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: February 27, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Free agency doesn’t appear to be anywhere near over in baseball for this coming season but one of the marquee names that would have hit the free agent market after the 2019 season will no longer be available.

It looks like Nolan Arenado will be with the Colorado Rockies for a while. Before he could get to arbitration the Rockies and Arenado agreed on a 1 year $26 million dollar deal, but yesterday that deal was null and void as Arenado and the Rockies came to terms with an 8 year $260 million dollar deal. Until Bryce Harper finally signs, Arenado’s deal is the highest annual salary for a position player. The only player with a higher yearly salary is Zach Greinke of the Arizona Diamondbacks who gets $34.4 million dollars this season. Right now Arenado’s deal is the 4th largest in total money of any contract. Only Giancarlo Stanton; 13 years $325 million dollars, Manny Machado; 10 years $300 million dollars and Alex Rodriguez; 10 years $275 million dollars have had higher guaranteed money.

Arenado will turn 28 years old in April but he’s won a Gold Glove in all six of his major leagues seasons. Arenado has also won the Silver Slugger each of the past four seasons. Add in four straight All-Star appearances as well as four consecutive Top 10 finishes in the National League MVP voting as well as leading the National League in home runs three of the last four seasons. Arenado has also driven in 110 runs or more in the last four seasons.

Of course, the first thing that any detractor is going to say is that Arenado plays half of his games in Coors Field. It’s no real surprise that Arenado’s numbers are better at home that on the road but that’s true for a lot of players. Don’t forget to add in the fact that the other three teams in Arenado’s division, the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres play in what would be considered pitcher friendly ballparks.

Personally I like the fact that Arenado should be in a Rockies uniform for most of if not all of his career. Not only is it something that we don’t see much in baseball these days with superstar players but also think about the value Arenado has not only to the Rockies, but to their fan base.

Arenado wasn’t the only player to sign a long term deal instead of testing the free agent market after the 2019 season.

Aaron Hicks signed a 7 year $70 million dollar contract extension to stay with the New York Yankees. The deal also includes a club option for an 8th season. This contract takes Hicks through the age of 35.

Hicks was a 1st round pick; 14th overall by the Minnesota Twins in 2008. It was looking as though Hicks was going to just be another 1st round draft pick to wash out until he got to the Yankees.

With a little more regular playing time in New York than he had been getting in Minnesota, Hicks started putting up some numbers.

In three seasons with the Yankees, Hicks has hit 50 home runs and driven in 162 RBI’s. Most of those home runs came last season as Hicks notched a career high 27 home runs.   Hicks has never hit for a high average and he’s not afraid to take his walks. In 137 games last season Hicks walked 90 times which was tied for the 11th most in baseball last season.

By signing Hicks, the Yankees locked up there outfield long term. Hicks is signed through 2025, Giancarlo Stanton is signed through 2027 and Aaron Judge is under team control through 2022. Brett Gardner was resigned for the 2019 season and don’t forget that Jacob Ellsbury is still under contract until 2020.

The Yankees are also considered to have two top outfield prospects. Clint Frazier was sidelined by a concussion last season but has been a on the verge of finding his way into the major league line up for the last two seasons. New York also has Estevan Florial who his ranked in the Top 45 in all three of the top prospect rankings. Now Florial hasn’t played above Class-A ball, so it will be a few years before he’s ready for the major leagues.

Arenado and Hicks did something that most players haven’t done. Both of these players took long term deals with their current teams instead of playing out the final year of their contracts and testing the free agent market. Now it’s very possible that both players could’ve gotten more money had they went out on the free agent market.

You have to wonder if it’s the way the free agent market has played out these last two off seasons that made these two players sign extensions or if they just liked where they were and wanted to stay there. I guess we’ll never know. What do you think?

After spending four years pitching in Japan, Miles Mikolas came back and went 18-4 in 32 starts with an ERA of 2.83 for the St. Louis Cardinals last season. It appears as though it looks like the Cardinal would like Mikolas to stay a little longer.

Mikolas was already signed for the 2019 season and it’s being reported that the Cardinals and Mikolas are finalizing a four year extension that will keep him with St. Louis until 2023.

While I haven’t seen the final contract, it’s being reported that Mikolas will receive a $5 million dollar signing bonus with the annual salary is being reported at $15.75 million dollars. There are also $2 million dollars in an escalator clause with full no-trade protection.

When the Cardinals signed him in the off season, there where some questions that came with that signing. Mikolas had never proven himself at the major league level but St. Louis was right about him last season. Now we will have to see if the Cardinals are right about him long term.

What do you think about the Cardinals signing Mikolas long term? Do you think he’ll be able to put up similar numbers to last season? Or is it possible that he was just a one season wonder?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but if you miss the podcast live you can listen to the podcast anytime you want at TuneIn.com.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Burketime

White Sox still on track

Posted: February 25, 2019 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, sports
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As we all know by now Manny Machado signed with the San Diego Padres for 10 years at $300,000. The White Sox were allegedly the “runner up” until Manny came out and said that he always intended to go to San Diego. Was I surprised that he went there? No. Was I surprised he did not end up in Chicago? No.

The Big Jack and I had discussed in several occasions that Manny fit with both of these teams but we also had no reservations that he could fit with every team in the MLB with the exception of the Dodgers and Baltimore. The Dodgers have a young superstar short stop in Corey Seager and third base is locked with Justin Turner. I think it was plain fully obvious that he wasn’t returning to the Orioles.

Like I said, he would have fit well on the south side of Chicago, whether it was at short or third. The White Sox “did all the right things” with signing and trading family and friends that are in his inner circle. However, I think that was the bigger mistake rather than not signing Machado. Saturday morning as I listened to Chicago’s, the Score and Inside the Clubhouse, Bruce Levine, who covers the Sox & Cubs for the station, alleged that the White Sox offers was for 8 years at roughly $250,000.00 with options for the following two years and with incentives that could get him up to $350,000.00. He of course went with the guaranteed $300,000.00 that has an opt out after 5 years, which to me, the Padres better hope that he performs at high level where he chooses to opt out, otherwise they’ll be in the same boat as the Angels, Tigers and Mariners.

I unlike most White Sox fans and media, do not think the Sox dropped the ball one bit. Did they miss out? Currently, yes. But I have been a proponent of incentive based contracts. After watching what the Yankees had gone through and even now with the Tigers and Miggy’s contract, I have been a big believer in incentive based contracts. I’m all for players getting what they are worth but when a player is getting payed $20 million plus a year to essentially come off the bench, how does that help the team? It is a TEAM sport. It’s not tennis. It’s not Greco Roman wrestling. Even if the team just lets the player go, the team is still responsible for that contract.

I know what I am saying is not popular but I truly believe that the White Sox made the right decision. I know that this decision wasn’t easy to take but if you want to hear it directly from Rick Hahn himself, give his interview a listen from The Score.

@DanZeeeMan

How was your week?

Posted: February 23, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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How different will the Pittsburgh Steelers look next season?

Now everyone knows that there’s turnover on an NFL roster between every season but when was the last time a team had to replace it’s top two offensive weapons? I’m trying to think when was the last time an NFL team lost two players as important to their offense as it looks like the Steelers will this off season. What will the Steelers do to replace these players?

As I’m sure you figured out, I was talking about Le’von Bell and Antonio Brown. It does appear as though the Steelers have the players they think can help fill the void when these two players leave but are they correct?

Of course the Steelers had to figure out how to replace Bell this past season as he sat out the entire season after being franchised tagged for the second season in a row.

James Connor stepped in for Bell at running back and I believe he ended up putting up better numbers than most people thought he would. Connor played in 13 games last season starting 12 of them. He carried the football 215 times for 973 yards and 12 touchdowns. Connor also caught 55 passes for 497 yards and 1 touchdown. Missing three plus games with injury prevented Connor from putting up a 1000 yard rushing season. So it looks like he’s a capable replacement in the running game for Bell but can he fill his shoes as a receiver?

The passing game is where Bell’s biggest contention in his pay seems to be. Bell is one of the few running backs in the NFL that a team doesn’t have to take off the field in obvious passing situations and in the NFL receivers are paid much better than running backs are. Bell wanted to be paid not only as a top tier running back but also as the top receiver that he is. In 2017 Bell caught a career high 85 passes for 655 yards and 2 touchdowns. In his 5 year career Bell has caught 312 passes and that’s including 2015 where he played just 6 games due to injury.

Bell was second on the team with those 85 receptions in 2017 behind only Antonio Brown but to be fair to Connor, he was 3rd on the Steelers in receptions last season behind Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Bell appears to be a special combination of a running back who has top flight receiving skills. Do you think that this will get high the contract he wants? Where do you think he’ll end up playing next season?

Of course the other offensive star who wants out of Pittsburgh is Brown, but will be able to force his way out vis trade? Brown has a large social media presence and has already said goodbye to the Steelers fans on that platform. He also had a meeting with Steelers owner Dan Rooney and it appears that both sides seem to think that trading Brown is the teams best options.

Brown will have some big receiving numbers to replace. He has caught at least 101 passes in a season since 2013. Over those six seasons he’s led the NFL in receptions twice and yards twice. Last season his 15 touchdown receptions led the league. Brown has seven 1000 yard season in his nine year career.

Brown’s numbers last season where very good again as he caught 104 passes for 1297 yards and those 15 touchdowns, but for the first time in six seasons Brown wasn’t the Steelers leaders in receptions or yards. JuJu Smith-Schuster led the team with 111 receptions and 1426 while adding 7 touchdowns.

After Brown and Smith-Schuster the next wide receiver; Ryan Switzer had 46 receptions. Of course tight ends Vance McDonald with 50 receptions and Jesse James with 30 receptions also help in the passing game.

It doesn’t appear that Switzer would be the guy to take over for Brown as a starting wide receiver though. There have been reports that if the Steelers don’t use a high draft pick on a receiver, that James Washington would be the guy they turn to take over as the starting wide receiver opposite Smith-Schuster.

The Steelers took Washington in the 2nd round, 60th overall of the 2018 draft. Washington played in 14 games starting 6 of them. He caught 16 passes for 217 yards and 1 touchdown.

Can Washington step up as a second year player and help shoulder the load that Brown carried in the Steelers offense? Or could he at least provide enough help so that Smith-Schuster can ascend to the top eschelon of NFL receivers.

What do you see the Steelers doing; will they go with Washington as their #2 receiver next season? Will they use a high draft pick on a wide receiver? Or is it possible that they’ll try to sign a free agent to help replace Brown?

One thing is for sure if the Steelers want to return to the playoffs next season which they missed out last season for the first time in five years. They’re going to need both Connor and Smith-Schuster to take that next step into NFL superstardom.

We didn’t even get into the Ben Rothlisberger discussion and I’m not talking about the stories that have come out in the media this week but the fact that Rothlisberger is in the final year of his contract and he’ll turn 37 years old in March.

Rothlisberger himself has mentioned retirement the last couple of off-seasons and you have to wonder if the offense struggles next season with new pieces being put in place for Bell and Brown if Rothlisberger might just walk away.

The Steelers do have three other quarterbacks under contract. Do you think that Mason Rudolph, Joshua Dobbs or Brogan Roback is the heir apparent to Rothlisberger?

Without Brown and Bell the Steelers will look different on offense next season. If Rothlisberger walks away after the 2020 season imagine how much change the offense will go through.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com. If you miss the live broadcast of Sports Time Radio the podcast is available for you to listen to any time you want at TuneIn.Com.

Feel free to look me up on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: February 20, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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MLB

Finally one of our baseball free agent nightmares is over as Manny Machado signed with the San Diego Padres yesterday. Not all of the details of the contract where released but it’s reported to be a $300 million dollar deal over 10 years. It’s also been reported that there is an opt out clause after 5 years and the contract has a limited no trade clause.

The Padres ended up being a bit of a surprise team in the Machado negotiations as they didn’t show any interest in him until last month. I think the fact the Machado didn’t receive the offers a lot of teams thought he would that allowed the Padres to join in the negotiations. It appears the only other team to make Machado a serious contract where the Chicago White Sox.

It was reported that the White Sox last offer to Machado was 8 years at $250 million dollars with 2 option years. In the end that wasn’t enough and Machado signed with the Padres.

Machado has to pass a physical before the contract is official but as long as that goes well there should be a press conference tomorrow or Friday to introduce him as the newest member of the Padres.

So it’s one down and one to go, but who knows how long it will be before Bryce Harper signs. While Machado’s deal didn’t surpass in total money; he will earn more per season. Giancarlo Stanton’s deal was 13 years for $325 million dollars. Since Scott Boras doesn’t represent Stanton I think he’s going to try and get Harper a deal bigger than Stanton’s. Which means we could still be waiting a while before we actually see Harper sign with a team.

I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am that one of these guys signed and I wish they would’ve both signed on the same day. I am just completely over listening to every single baseball show be it on television or on the radio only talk about these two players even though pitchers and catchers have reported and we’re not too far away from all players reporting to spring training.

I’ve said this once and I’m going to say it again. There needs to be a signing deadline in the off season. I get tired of agents like Boras keeping his players out as long as he can thinking that they’ll get a better deal than if they would’ve signed earlier.

At least Boras and his corporation managed to get one of his clients signed as Mike Moustakas will be returning to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Moustakas signed a one year $10 million dollar deal with a $11 million dollar option for the 2020 season. There is a $3 million dollar buyout if the Brewers decide not to pick up the option year.

The Brewers acquired Moustakas in July of last season from the Kansas City Royals and he played in 54 games for them in 2018. He hit .256 with 8 home runs and 33 RBI’s with the Brewers last season.

Bringing Moustakas back will make it interesting to see how the Brewers line up defensively. Now last season when Moustakas came to Milwaukee it was Travis Shaw who was displaced as the everyday 3rd baseman and 39 games at 2nd base; 36 of them he started at 2nd base. After the signing was announced there was some talk that it would be Moustakas that will be moved to 2nd base.

Having Moustakas for a full season will really help the Brewers offense, but he’s never played 2nd base in the major leagues. Even if the Brewers decide to put Shaw back at 2nd base he’s only played those 39 games in the majors at the position; all last season.

It won’t come as a surprise to me at all if whichever one of them ends up being the full time 2nd baseman that they’ll commit more errors than any other 2nd baseman in baseball. The only thing that may save them is you have to wonder what kind of range they’ll have and how many balls they’ll actual get to.

NBA

Of course over the All-Star break Anthony Davis was badged by reporters about being traded. Interestingly when Davis answered, he made a point that I think every team but the Los Angeles Lakers should be aware of if they’re interested in trading for him.

During his interview he mentioned that all 29 NBA teams where on his list of teams he’d be willing to be traded to. Of course the New Orleans Pelicans would be the one team not on that list. Davis who has one year left on his contract after this one went on to point out that no matter where he’s traded he’ll be testing free agency.

What this more or less means is that if he doesn’t get his wish and is traded to the Lakers he’ll play out his contract with whichever team he’s dealt to and then sign with the Lakers as a free agent. Even if the team Davis is traded to wins the NBA title with him he’ll still be signing with the Lakers as a free agent.

Now I know there are a lot of teams interested in acquiring Davis and the Pelicans have been asking for a lot in return for him, but after listening to his interview can you really mortgage your future for what will be just one year of Davis.

Do you think that Davis lowered his trade value with what he said in his interview? Or do you think that a team is still going to pay the Pelicans asking price? When healthy Davis is one of the top players in the NBA, but what is one year of him worth?

Now remember that you can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast six days a week live on BlogTalkRadio.com. Now if you miss the podcast live all you have to do is head over to TuneIn.com and you can listen to the podcast any time you want.

Don’t forget to look me up on Twitter @Burketime

How was your week

Posted: February 16, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Is Klutch Sports Group ruining the NBA? In case you don’t know Klutch Sports Group is run by agent Rich Paul who just happens to be a long time friend of LeBron James and is headquartered in Cleveland Ohio.

Let’s take a look at some of the things that have been associated with Klutch Sports and it’s clients.

Anthony Davis

This off season Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans switched his representation to Klutch Sports. Then soon after a dinner meeting with James, Davis came out and said that he’d like to be traded with his preferred destination being the Los Angeles Lakers. It was quite clear that there was tampering involved here. However to no one’s surprise, the only thing the NBA found when they investigated was that Davis broke a rule by announcing to the media that he was seeking a trade. Davis was find $50,000 but don’t feel to bad for him as he’s scheduled to make $25 million dollars this season.

The NBA trade deadline came and went without Davis being dealt to the Lakers. I believe that the Lakers claimed the Pelicans didn’t negotiate in good faith. There were some other reports that the Pelicans were never going to trade Davis to the Lakers at this point in time as their could be some other teams that would like to have a chance to trade for him and could make better offers this coming off season. There was also a report that the Pelicans where just trolling the Lakers as a way of getting even with them.

Davis was injured at the trade deadline and the Pelicans actually considered just shutting him down for the season. This is were the NBA stepped in and informed them that the team would be fined if they made that move. Instead the Pelicans tried to manage Davis’ minutes and with the exception of one game against the Memphis Grizzlies where ha played 34 minutes Davis hadn’t played more than 25 minutes.

Then on Thursday as the Pelicans where facing the Oklahoma City Thunder Davis got injured. After an MRI Davis was diagnosed with a muscle contusion in his shoulder. It’s unclear if or how long this injury would keep Davis out. It has been reported that he plans on being at the All-Star game this weekend, but it wasn’t made clear if he would play in the game.

Now after Davis was injured things got a little interesting. Now it’s pretty common place for an injured player to stay in the locker room until the game is over or return to the bench to support his team unless there’s a trip to the hospital needed. In this case Davis just left the arena. To even add to the intrigue he was led out of the building by Rich Paul.

Ben Simmons

Simmons is the 76ers point guard and was interested in learning more about playing the position. This led to someone in the Philadelphia front office reaching out to the Lakers and Magic Johnson who was one of the best point guards to ever play the game and like Simmons, did it as a taller point guard.

Of course the problem here is that Johnson is the President of Basketball Operations for the Lakers, while Simmons is under contract with the 76ers for a couple of more seasons. Once this story came out, Philadelphia’s General Manager Elton Brand said that Simmons wouldn’t be meeting Johnson for any workouts.

Simmons will become a restricted free agent after the 2020-21 season. As a restricted free agent the 76ers would have the right of first refusal and can match any offer a team could make to Simmons. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if the Lakers make an offer to Simmons when he becomes a restricted free agent.

College Basketball

With James having a day off from his NBA schedule he and his agent, or partner depending on how you look at it, Paul decided to take in a college basketball game. They traveled to Pittsburgh to see the Panthers  play the Duke Blue Devils. Of course Duke has multiple players on their team that could possibly be #1 draft picks in the next NBA draft and rumors started that this was a recruiting trip for Klutch Sports.

This report seemed to upset James. Is it at all possible that he and Paul attended the game to put a bug in the ear of Duke players Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett. Of course it would be against NCAA rules for Williamson or Barrett to sign with any agency now. As soon as the Blue Devils season is over they’ll be looking for representation.

Now to be fair a lot of NBA players attended college basketball games, but I’m not sure how many of them go to them with their agent and are partnered in a sports management company.

Those are the three most interesting Klutch Sports stories that I think could affect the way the NBA is shaped.

Well we’ve already seen Davis try to force his way to the Lakers and join James. Is it at all possible that Simmons could try to pull the same type of power play and end up with the Lakers? Then if Williamson, Barrett or both sign with Klutch Sports there’s a chance that they could come out and say they’d only play for the Lakers. I don’t think both of them could do this, but it could be possible for one of them to try and force that move if they sign with Klutch Sports.

Imagine a Lakers starting line up of James, Davis, Williamson or Barrett along with any other Klutch Sports clients you want to add to this line up.

Maybe I’m on the wrong side of this and I’d like to know if you think something like this would be good for the NBA? It’s always been said that the league is better when the Lakers and the Celtics are good. Well the Celtics seem to be good, but so far the Lakers even with James haven’t really been good. If something like this happens through Klutch Sports we might see the Lakers be not good, but great.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is also available for you to listen to any time you want at TuneIn.Com.

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: February 13, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Pitchers and catcher are reporting, so the baseball season is right around the corner and yet we still have some top name free agents that are still unsigned. I guess the teams and the agents didn’t learn anything from last off season.

Now I don’t think a late signing affects a hitters as much as it affects a pitcher. J.D. Martinez signed later than most free agents last season and he still had an MVP caliber season. Now as for the pitchers, it took Jake Arrieta a little while to get into a groove and Alex Cobb never found a groove last season. Of course both of these pitchers where two of the later free agents signed. Arrieta and Cobb are just two examples, but I’m sure I could dig up a few more if I needed to.

While we wait for the Manny Machado and Bryce Harper free agent derby to come to an end. You have to start to wonder how long it will be before Dallas Keuchel or Craig Kimbrell sign contracts. I believe they’re the two biggest name left on the free agent market for pitchers. Both have been rumored as possibilities for the Atlanta Braves, but it doesn’t seem like the Braves have shown any interest in either pitcher.

We’ve never had a top reliever like Kimbrell sign this late; so I’m not sure what kind of affect signing late will have on him. You have to figure that Kimbrell’s demand for a five year contract has scared a lot of teams off. Kimbrell turns 31 years old in May and I can understand a team not wanting to be tied to a big contract for an aging closer. You have to wonder if Kimbrell and his representation are to the point where they’re willing to take a shorter deal or even a one year kind of prove it deal, so he can go back out on the free agent market again next season.

Now Kimbrell does have the numbers to ask for big years and money as he’s never had a long stint on the disabled list and has appeared in at least 57 games since becoming a full time closer in 2011. It does appear as though most of the top contenders are set at closer except for possible the Boston Red Sox. Could it be possible for Kimbrell to end up back in a Red Sox uniform this season?

Now I’m not sure why Keuchel is still unsigned. I’m not sure what kind of money or years he’s looking for. Maybe that’s the problem but there are still a lot of teams who could use a top left handed starting pitcher.

I have heard some people say that Keuchel is coming off a down year. Now he was just 12-11 with 34 starts and an ERA of 3.74 while pitching 204 2/3rd innings which was tied for 7th most last season. It’s difficult to not only find a pitcher to make 30 plus starts but to also pitch 200 plus innings and Keuchel has done both. Not to mention that he’s a former Cy Young Award winner.

There are a lot of teams where Keuchel would fill a big need but now you have to start to ask yourself if getting into camp late is going to affect him like it did the late signing starters last season.

How many of you remember Daisuke Matsuzaka? Maybe the name would’ve rung a bell had I called him “Dice-K”. Now does it sound familiar?

The Boston Red Sox won the bidding for Matsuzaka services back in 2007. He had two good years for them winning 15 games in 2007 and 18 games in 2008 before injuries caught up to him.

After going 1-7 in 11 starts with an ERA of 8.28 Matsuzaka was released by the Red Sox after the 2012 season. The Cleveland Indians signed him but he never pitched for them at the major league level. Matsuzaka ended up finding his way to the New York Mets where he spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons. In two seasons he pitched in 41 games for the Mets, 16 of which were starts. He went 6-6 with a 4.06 ERA and 1 save in his two seasons with the Mets.

After not pitching in 2015 Matsuzaka returned to Japan. He’s made 21 starts over the last three seasons; 11 of which came last season. He has a 6-10 record with an ERA of 6.37.

Matsuzaka is currently with the Chunichi Dragons in the Japanese Central League and I’m sure by now you’re wondering why I’m writing about him.

Well at a spring training event the team was holding Matsuzaka ended up getting injured but it’s how he got injury that’s a little odd. At this event an overzealous fan pulled on Matsuzaka’s throwing arm and injured him. Matsuzaka was diagnosed with inflammation in his right shoulder after the meet and greet with that fan. Luckily Matsuzaka’s injury doesn’t appear to be serious and the Dragons are hoping that some rest will clear up the inflammation.

Jorge Posada will be teaming up with Derek Jeter again but this time it will be in the front office of the Miami Marlins.

It’s being reported that Posada will become a special advisor to Jeter, the Marlins CEO.

Posada just like Jeter spent his entire 17 year playing career with the New York Yankees. Since retiring after the 2011 season Posada’s primary residence has been in South Florida; so it’s a natural fit for him to join the Marlins.

Posada will be the fifth former Yankee to join the Marlins organization. Posada joins manager Don Mattingly, Vice President of Player Development Gary Denbo, Director of Player Personnel Dan Greenlee and Director of Amateur Scouting DJ Svihlik.

Don’t forget that Sports Time Radio airs live 6 days a week. On Monday through Thursday we’re live from 5:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. On Friday we’re live from 5:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. and then on Sunday the podcast is live from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. You can hear these live podcasts on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that if you miss the live podcast all you have to do is go over to TuneIn.com and you can listen to Sports Time Radio any time you want to.

@Burketime

 

How was your week

Posted: February 9, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Well the NBA trade deadline came and went and Anthony Davis is still a member of the New Orleans Pelicans.

Now that Davis will be with the Pelicans for the rest of this season the question became if New Orleans would play him. Now the NBA does have a rule regarding “rest” of a player and they reminded New Orleans that a violation of that rule carries a $100,000 fine.

Davis player for the first time since January 18th and had played well as the Pelicans beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 122-117 on Friday night. Davis played 25 minutes in the game, but sat out the entire 4th quarter. In his return Davis ended up scoring 32 points. Davis shot 11 of 15 from the floor; missing the only 3-pointer he took. He was also 10 of 11 from the free throw line. Davis added 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocked shots to his stat line.

I’m sure with Davis on is way out the door at the end of the season that the Pelicans would prefer to land in the draft lottery and take their chances there, but sitting at 25-31 New Orleans is just 5 games out of the 8th and final Western Conference playoff spot. Now I don’t expect the Pelicans to make an actual effort to get into the playoff, but they do have a chance to get into them. my guess is if they start to trend upwards that Davis minutes will decline, but will have to wait and see how they play that and him.

So who was the biggest star traded at the deadline? I guess you’d have to pick between Tobias Harris or Marc Gasol unless you’re an Otto Porter Jr. guy.

Harris was the first one in that group dealt. Harris went to the Philadelphia 76ers along with Boban Marjanovic and Mike Scott. In return the 76ers sent Landry Shamet, Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala, a lottery protected 2020 1st round draft pick, a 2021 1st and 2nd round pick and a 2023 2nd round pick.

The Washington Wizards where able to move Porter Jr. and his big contract to the Chicago Bulls for Bobby Portis, Jabri Parker and a 2023 2nd round pick.

The Memphis Grizzlies had talked about moving their top two players before the trade deadline expired, but in the end they only moved one of them. Memphis sent Gasol to the Toronto Raptors for Jonas Valanciunias, CJ Miles, Delon Wright and a 2024 2nd round pick.

While he was playing on Wednesday night Harrison Barnes was traded by the Dallas Mavericks to the Sacramento Kings for Justin Jackson and Zach Randolph.

Now depending on which report you want to believe either Barnes was notified by the Mavericks that this could happen and he wanted to pay or he was caught completely by surprise while have was playing. Now it’s not the first time a player has ever been traded during a game, but for some reason LeBron James decided to chime in about the situation on his Instagram page.

Here’s what James wrote: “So let me guess this is cool cause they had to do what was best for the franchise right???”. He added: “Traded this man while he was literally playing in the game and had ZERO idea. I’m not knocking who traded him because it’s a business and you have to do what you feel what’s best but I just want this narrative to start to get REAL/CHANGE and not when a player wants to be traded or leaves a Franchise that he’s a selfish/ungrateful player but when they trade you, release , waive, cut etc etc it’s best for them! I’m ok with both honestly, truly am. Just call a ♠️ a ♠️!!”

Now it’s clear that James wasn’t defending Barnes in any way shape or form, but was trying to get his point across about Anthony Davis. Is there actually anyone out their that thought this post was about Barnes?

Since about the July 31st trading deadline last season there has been speculation that the Miami Marlins would be trading catcher J.T. Realmuto and while it took about 7 months it finally happened.

On Thursday the Philadelphia Phillies acquired Realmuto from the Marlins for catcher Jorge Alfaro and two pitching prospects Sixto Sanchez and left hander Will Stewart. The Marlins also picked up an International signing slot worth $250,000.

Realmuto is coming off a season where he posted a career high in home runs with 21 and RBI’s with 74. With the move to a more hitter friendly Citizen’s Bank Park for 81 games this season he may post another career high in home runs this season.

Sanchez was the top pitching prospect in the Phillies organization, but has had injury issues. Sanchez pitched 46 2/3rd innings last season due to injury and has never thrown more than 95 innings in a season. He did go 4-3 with a 2.51 ERA in high Class A last season. Sanchez is just 20 years old and is headed into his fifth season; so the Marlins have time to develop him.

Stewart is 21 years old and doesn’t seem to be considered a prospect, but he went 8-1 with an ERA of 2.06 over 20 starts in Class A last season. Stewart threw 113 2/3rd innings last season and had 2 complete game shutouts. I’m not sure why Stewart isn’t considered a prospect, but if he keeps putting up numbers like he did last season he’ll find his way into the big leagues.

By dealing Realmuto the Marlins needed a catcher; so Alfaro was put into this deal. Alfaro played in 108 games last season. He hit .262 with 10 home runs and 37 RBI’s. The issue with Alfaro like a lot of players today is that he strikes out a lot. Last season he struck out 134 times in 344 at bats. Alfaro is looked at as a good defensive catcher and he threw out 26% of runners trying to steal last season.

Of course the first question that came up was; did the Marlins get enough for Realmuto. It seemed as though the Marlins where asking for a lot more than the other teams looking to deal for Realmuto than they ended up getting from the Phillies. I guess will have to wait and see how this deal turns out.

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

Look me up on Twitter @Burketime

 

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: February 6, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Out of all of the sports that I watch baseball is my favorite. Now I don’t have a problem with the games like a lot of people do, but I’ve now developed an issue with the off season and I believe I have a way to fix it.

It’s time that Major League Baseball and the players union get together and come up with a an off season deadline that players have to be signed by. With pitchers and catchers reporting next week we should be focusing on the 2019 season, but instead will still be stuck with talk of the two big free agents that don’t look like they’ll be signed by then. Would it really be that difficult for either the top two guys on the free agent market or any other unsigned player to make a decision by next week?

Now this seems like it would be pretty easy to implement. Give teams a week after the World Series has ended until the day pitchers and catchers report to spring training to sign players. If there’s an agent who thinks it would be a good idea to not have his guy sign then allow that player to sign after the deadline, but the first year of his contract must be spent playing in Triple-A. I understand that is a pretty hardline stance and I also know that Major League Baseball and the owners don’t have a big enough set of you know what to do that, but I’m tired of agents drawing this out.

I’m quite surprised that the agents and the players they represent didn’t learn anything from last season, but I guess “stupid is as stupid does”.

I think a deadline like this might be more important for pitchers than it is for hitters. Last season pitchers like Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn had down seasons. I guess you could even throw Jake Arrieta into this mix even though he pitched better as the season went on. What do these three pitchers have in common? They all signed after spring training had started.

Dallas Keuchel is the only bigger name starting pitcher left on the free agent market. Could he have a sow start to his 2019 season if he’s not signed by next week? Craig Kimbrell is also unsigned, but he’s a closer and I can understand why he’s still available. Kimbrell’s demands are pretty high and unless he’s willing to make some concessions he may not be signed until well after spring training has started.

Now on the hitters side we still have the big two out there in Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, but there’s also Mike Moustakas, Josh Harrison, Adam jones and Carlos Gonzalez who could also help some teams.

If a team signs one or more of these players after spring training has started; will they get enough at bats for the start of the regular season? Now both Harper and Machado are expected to get very large contract offers; would the team they signed with fan base turn on them if they got off to a slower than expected stat? Remember Harper had a down first half of the season in 2018 and he had a full spring training. Imagine how the Philadelphia Phillies fans would react if they landed one of the two big time free agents and the guy didn’t produce right out of the gate.

Now I know that the owners and the players association has spoken about making some changes, but I didn’t see this on the list that I read. I hope that it was just left off of that list, but their is a chance that they don’t think this is an issue. Well I’m here to tell you that it is.

I’m not sure where you stand on this, but I am actually to the point where I won’t even bother to turn on the MLB Network. I don’t have to turn over there to know what I’m going to get. Right now there’s not much going on with the stagnant free agent market; so all they’re going to be talking about is where they think Harper and Machado will end up.

I hope there’s someone out their with a lot more power than I have that realizes this is a problem not only for teams, but for fans. Someone make a change; please.

Now I think ever sports fan knows that when it’s all said and done Anthony Davis will be wearing a Los Angeles Lakers uniform. That’s why I thought it was hilarious yesterday when there was a report that came out saying the Lakers are no longer negotiating with the New Orleans Pelicans on a trade for Davis. Is there anyone who actually believed this report? If you did I have a nice piece of swamp land to sell you in Florida.

I’ll buy that the Lakers are a little upset with what the Pelicans want in return for Davis, but there’s no way they’re put of these negotiations.

I think the Lakes where under the impression that since Davis has expressed his desire to leave the Pelicans that they would panic and more or less give him away. It appears as though the Pelicans realize what kind of player they’re going to be dealing and they’re looking for a lot of compensation in the deal and you can’t blame them for that.

Reports are the Pelicans would like Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball along with four 1st round draft picks and four 2nd round draft picks. That sounds like a lot to give up, but let’s take a closer look.

Right off the bat the 2nd round draft picks are a throw away part of the deal. How often does an NBA team hit on a 2nd round draft pick? You can even say the same thing about the 1st round draft picks. If the Lakers are a playoff team these picks would be farther enough down in the 1st round that New Orleans probably couldn’t find an impact player.

As for the actually players. Ball is clearly a 1st round bust. While he is at distributing the basketball he can’t shoot it. Ball is shooting 40.6% from the floor and 32.9% from behind the 3-point line, but the problem comes when he get s to the free throw line. Ball is shooting just 41.7% from the foul line that’s embarrassing no matter what his father says.

Kuzma played pretty well when LeBron James was out with his groin injury and even had a 41 point game, but since James has returned Kuzma’s numbers are down. It’s clear the Lakers don’t have any idea what to do with him, but if he’s dealt and given the minutes maybe he could turn into a solid NBA player.

Ingram like Kuzma showed something when James was out injured, but Ingram has been able to continue to play well with the return of James. Ingram has scored double digit points in 22of the last 23 games he’s played in. He did struggle last night putting up just 12 points as the Lakers where blown out by the Indiana Pacers; so will have to watch the next few games and see if he gets back on track.

What do you think? Are the Pelicans asking too much for Davis?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is available for you to listen to any time you ant at TuneIn.com.

 

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