How was your week

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: January 30, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, hockey, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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It looks like Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans will eventually part ways. There have been talks more or less since the start of the season that the Pelicans might be interested in trading Davis and apparently the feeling is now mutual. On Monday Rich Paul who is Davis’ agent went public with Davis’ trade request. After the trade request was made public the NBA fined Davis $50,000 for going public with it.

It is quite interesting on how we got to this point though. Davis changed representation this season and he’s now with an agency that is linked to LeBron James. Then when New Orleans made a trip to Los Angeles to face the Lakers James and Davis went out to dinner together. Can you say tampering.

New Orleans has actually asked the NBA to investigate the situation and see if there was any tampering, but I think we all know what they’re going to find. What’s better for the NBA; having Davis play in a big market like Los Angeles with James where they can contend for a title or stay in small market New Orleans and not make the playoffs. I think it’s obvious that nothing will be done about this.

Of course with a payer like Davis there are quite a few teams interested in acquiring his services and while there’s no real rush for the Pelicans to trade him I think we all know in the end barring the NBA stepping I that he’ll be with the Lakers when this is all said and done.

If you’ve ever listened to the Sports Time Radio podcast you know that I’m not a big fan of the NBA and this is part of the reason why. It seems as though star players no longer want to beat each other. It appears as though they’d all rather join up and play together.

It makes me question how teams that are bad right now going to get good. Now of course they can improve through the draft, but there are only so many star players in a draft. How many draft picks do you have to hit on for a team to improve?

There’s no chance that a top free agent is going to sign with a non-playoff team. Now don’t even try to sell me that James went to the Lakers when they where bad. Everyone should know by ow that he signed with the Lakers because he wanted to be closer to Hollywood. I believe he owns a production company and also has a television show on I think it’s Showtime, but I might be incorrect about that.

Now it’s not against the rules for James to talk to Davis unless he was doing it through the Lakers. I’m not sure if the NBA would go into that deep of an investigation to see if James reached out to someone in the Lakers front office about meeting with Davis. I have a feeling that even of the NBA did find out there was tampering in this situation they’d just fine the Lakers. If there was actually tampering I think the NBA shouldn’t let Davis be traded to or sign with the Lakers, but we all know that isn’t going to happen.

What do you think the NBA should or will do about the James/Davis situation?

What will the Columbus Blue Jackets do with Artemi Panarin as the February 25th trade deadline approaches. It seems clear that Panarin won’t be getting a contract extension.

On Monday Panarin’s agent Dave Milstein released a statement saying: “We have informed the team that we are willing to discuss Artemi’s future after the season. Our priority now is to focus on the rest of the season; trying to win a Stanley Cup for the Columbus Blue Jackets and their fans. No additional comments will be made.”

Panarin is making $6 million dollars this season and is in the final year of his contract. Panarin scored 82 points for the Blue Jackets last season and through 46 games this season he has 53 points. With those kind of scoring numbers and at 27 years old Panarin is on for a big raise.

Interestingly the Blue Jackets acquired Panarin from the Chicago Blackhawks in June of 2017 because the cash strapped Blackhawks knew that a Calder Trophy winner like Panarin would end up with a contract that they just couldn’t afford.

The Blue Jackets appear to be in a difficult position as Panarin and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky will both be free agents at the end of this season. It’s possibly that one or both of these players could get dealt before the trading deadline, but Columbus is in 3rd place in the Metropolitan division just 4 points out of 1st place.

What do you see the Blue Jackets doing with these two players? Will they trade one or both of them? Do you think they’ll re-sign one? If so which payer do you think they re-sign? Or do you possibly see them bringing both players back which would be tough to do with the NHL’s hard salary cap.

Are the Tampa Bay Lighting the best team in the NHL right now? The Lighting are in 1st place in the Atlantic division and their 76 points are 5 points better than the Calgary Flames and 10 points better than the Winnipeg Jets for the President’s Trophy. Of course having the most points in the regular season doesn’t guarantee playoff success, but maybe the Lighting can buck that trend.

Brayden Point leads Tampa Bay in goals with 30 while Nikita Kucherov leads the Lighting in assists with 56 and points with 78. Steven Stamkos is second on the team with 26 goals while Point is second on the team in assists with 35 and points with 65. Tampa Bay has seven players who have scored 11 or more goals and they have 13 players with 10 or more assists.

In goal Andrei Vasilevskiy is 20-6-2 with a 2.50 GAA in his starts while Louis Dominque is 16-4 with a 2.99 GAA in his starts. Edward Pasquale made one start in goal for Tampa Bay and did get a win even though his GAA was 4.62.

Vasilevskiy is the Lighting’s #1 goalie, but it’s nice to have a back up like Dominque who can pick up wins I place of the starter.

How do you like Tampa Bay’s chances come playoff time?

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 whenever you want at TuneIn.com.

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

NFL Pro Bowl

Posted: January 28, 2019 by Daniel Kupres in sports
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I tried.  I really tried to watch the Pro Bowl yesterday but just could not sit through it.  First off, I really do not know the reason why they moved it from Hawaii to Orlando.  Nor do I understand why it is not held in a dome.  I know the panel that included one of my favorites, Randy Moss did a great job on trying to get you excited on why you should watch it.  The list of players that are there to play goes on.  We all know it is the best of the best with a different QB slotted for each quarter.  With all this, I barely made it through the 1st quarter and gave up.  I saw the great throws that Kansas City Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes and then I saw the spectacular defense that went along with it.  That’s what made it even harder for me to watch.  But I get it, no one wants to get injured in the Pro Bowl.  But this game means more and more less each year which is really no different than the other leagues especially the NBA.

Maybe I am just not that into because I am not a huge NFL person.  I am sure there are people who are all about it and I am not going to knock them one bit.  I do have some alternative options that maybe in a fantasy world could happen.  First, just put it in a dome.  There is nothing more depressing than watching that game yesterday in a drury rainy day.  The Super Bowl is basically only played in a dome each year so why not the Pro Bowl.

Saturday morning I was at my daughter’s dance class and I was talking to one of the other dads, Alex, about it.  He threw out there, why not make it Flag Football.  He proposed that everyone would play just a little harder because they would be grabbing that flag instead of tackling each other.  I thought this was a great idea.  There are many flag football leagues around the country for kids and adults.  I agreed that maybe the competition level would increase but not only that, it would promote the game of Flag Football.

But then again what do I know.  Was I talking out of my ass?  Do you have any better ideas that could make the Pro Bowl  more exciting to watch?

Here’s a link to yesterday’s stats for the Pro Bowl 2019.

Dan the Man

How was your week

Posted: January 26, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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I seem to be at the point where I’m done and over winter. I can’t seem to shake this feeling no matter what I do. Now normally I turn to sports and that will help me shake this feeling, but for some reason that’s not working for me this year.

As you know we’re at the point where football season is more or less over and baseball season hasn’t started yet. That of course leaves me with basketball and hockey to watch and I’m not sure why, but that just hasn’t been enough for me.

I’m also started to wonder if it’s the struggle of the local NBA and NHL teams that is contributing to my issues.

In the NBA the Chicago Bulls are 11-38 and have lost 12 of their last 13 games. Last night the Bulls dropped a 106-101 contest to the Los Angeles Clippers. Maybe the Bulls will have a chance to pick up another win this Sunday as they’re playing the team with the worst record in the NBA the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland is currently an NBA worst 9-41.

Now over in the NHL the Chicago Blackhawks aren’t in a much better situation than the Bulls are in.

The Blackhawks are currently 18-24-9 for a total of 45 points. There are currently only three teams in the NHL with a lower point total than the Blackhawks. The Los Angeles Kings have 44 points while the New Jersey Devils and the Ottawa Senators it at 43 points. While the NHL is currently on their All-Star break at least the Blackhawks won 2 games in a row heading into the break.

Oh well; I guess I just have to look forward the Super Bowl and then pitchers and catchers reporting to shale these winter blues.

On Wednesday we where talking about some of the interesting free agents left on the market and we stopped when we got to the outfielders.

Now of course Bryce Harper hasn’t been signed, but another top outfielder did ink a deal. A.J. Pollock signed a four year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Pollock’s deal is reported to be for $60 million dollars.

Even with Pollock off the board and not including Harper there are still some quality outfielders out there for teams to take a look at.

There are a couple of former Colorado Rockies teammates who could still fit in as corner outfielders for a team. Carlos Gonzalez and Gerardo Parra are still on the free agent market.

Gonzalez has had his share of injuries though his career, but the last four seasons he has played in at least 132 games. If Gonzalez found his way to an American League team the opportunity for him to be used as a DH at times could lower a teams concern of injury his risk.

Parra is a top outfielder defender and has won two Gold Gloves. Even while playing half of a season in Coors Field Parra has never been a big home run hitter. In his three seasons with the Rockies Parra reached double digit home runs just once. In today’s game where home runs are everything this could be held against Parra by teams looking to fill an outfield spot.

Going over the free agent outfielders list I think there’s only one player left that could be an everyday centerfielder for a team and that’s Adam Jones.

Jones has been with the Baltimore Orioles for the last 11 seasons. He’s picked up 4 Gold Gloves as a centerfielder and last season spent time at all three outfield positions. Jones power numbers did drop last season as he hit 15 home runs, but it’s possible that as one of the few threats in the Orioles line up that he was pitched around quite a bit.

Besides Gonzalez, Parra and Jones I’m not sure if there are any other outfielders that would be looked at as a significant contributor on a contender, but maybe some team will take a chance on them.

Melky Cabrera hit .280 with the Cleveland Indians and could be a solid 5th outfielder and bench player for a team. Cameron Maybin has always been looked at as a player with potential, but he’s 32 now and may never get that chance to play everyday. However he can play all three outfield spots and can still run. Could he be a solid bench player? Denard Span has been a solid player though his 11 year career, but he’s turning 35 soon and you have to wonder if a team will take a chance on him. Span could fill in at all three outfield spots and while speed isn’t as prevalent in his game he can still steal a base for you. Hunter Pence battled injuries last season and his numbers suffered for it. Pence has stated that he’d like to play in 2019, but as a soon to be 36 year old is their a team out there that might be willing to take a chance on him. I am curious to see if Jose Bautista will be on someone’s roster in 2019. Bautista sent time with the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies last season. Bautista also played five different positions last season. Overall he hit .203 with 13 home runs.

Do you see any of these outfielders finding jobs for the 2019 season?

I guess while we’re talking about baseball free agents I’d be interested to know when you think Bryce Harper and Manny Machado will sign. I was kind of under the impression that neither guy would sign a new deal until possibly late February and that’s not all that far away. Do you think we’ll see one or both of them sing sooner than that? Or are we still about a month away from either guy finding a new team?

I haven’t heard much new on the Harper front, but there are some reports that the San Diego Padres have shown interest in Machado. I guess will have to watch and see if that goes anywhere.

Don’t forget that the Sports Time Radio podcast can be heard live on BlogTalkRadio.com. If you miss the podcast live you can just head over to TuneIn.com and listen to it whenever you’d like.

Feel free to look me up n Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

No Big Time Signing

Posted: January 22, 2019 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, fantasy, sports
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Okay, I am a day late but wasn’t a dollar short for parking on my commute this weekend. I was really hoping that by this weekend we would have the contracts/signings for Harper and Machado. But noooo!
My prediction is that he will go or stay in DC. Under Armour is headquartered there. I don’t think any team is going to match the supposed 10 year $300 million offer and if they get close, I’m positive the Nationals will counter to keep him. I know, I know but he’s posted on Instagram once a picture of he and Kris Bryant with #backtoback or what about the picture with him wearing a Chicago Bulls hat. He’s not coming to Chicago. I of course would like to see it just like everyone else here but it’s not happening. Tom Ricketts, despite the cancellation of the owners panel at the Cubs Convention shut down that topic as well as Joe Maddon. Cubs fans I ask, who gets left off this roster to make room for Harper? There’s a thousand different scenarios but he’s still not coming here. The one thing I found most interesting is the lack of positioning on behalf of the Scott Boras agency this year as opposed to last years off season. There has not been reports of Boras handing out a 75 page document on why you should sign Harper. The one team aside from the Nationals to be in position to sign Harper, the Dodgers. They opened up right field with the trade that sent Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig to the Reds.
For me personally, his performance in the postseason was a real turnoff. What i saw was a guy swinging for his next contract and not looking at winning a World Series. Of course, I don’t know him, so I could be wrong. He obviously not going back to Baltimore and with the Dodgers already having their short stop, he’s not going there either. With all the buzz surrounding him and what information we have, I think it is narrowed down to the White Sox and the Phillies. I am not a fan of a Mystery Team because every team should be looking at themselves and trying to figure how he works in their system. I would be surprised if a Florida team signed him, but that’s a whole other topic. The Phillies have come out and said they are willing to spend “stupid money.” Which would make it really interesting if in the next two weeks they signed Harper then Machado. They have a relatively young staff and after last year, they look like they are ready for a post season run over the next few seasons. The White Sox are almost their mirror image on the AL side with the hitting being a little subpar. For either team, I think 7 years would be ideal, but then again I don’t think a 10 year contract makes much sense. Options could be added to the end of the 7 years that are incentive based and of course you’ll have to have at minimum one opt out. With the financial position both teams are in, i can see them front loading as much of his contract as possible, especially in this upcoming season, to the tune of minimum $35 million because entering the 2021 season is when both teams will have to re-evaluate team and their contracts going forward. This would also make it slightly easier toward the end of the contract to be able to move him if necessary.
What do I know though, maybe the Tampa Bay Rays will sign Machado and the Miami Marlins will sign Harper.

​

How was your week

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: January 16, 2019 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, football, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Lebron James has now missed 11 games with a groin injury. It looks like he’ll be returning to the Los Angeles Lakers line up very soon, but is it too late?

The Lakers are 4-7 without James and they’ve lost some games to some teams that they where expected to beat even with James out injured.

The Lakers beat a bad Chicago Bulls team 107-100 last night, but their schedule is going to get much more difficult. The Lakers have road games against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets before heading home for three games against the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns. While the Suns are at the Bottom of the Western Conference the Thunder, Rockets and Warriors are three of the top four teams in the Western Conference. The Timberwolves have a winning record since trading Jimmy Butler, but I’m not sold on them just yet.

If James has to sit out these five games; how many will the Lakers win? You’d have to think that they’d beat the 11-34 Suns without James, but would they win any of the other four games?

To wrap up January, the Lakers host the Philadelphia 76ers before being the road team against the Los Angeles Clippers. I’m not sure that counts as a road game, but it’s the Lakers turn to be the visitors in that series.

The Lakers are currently 24-21 and are tied with the Utah Jazz for the 8th and what would be the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. If they struggled through this next stretch of games or if James has to sit out there’s a chance that the Lakers could actually miss the playoffs this season.

The Western Conference is tough. While the Lakers and the Jazz are tied for that 8th spot the Sacramento Kings are just 1/2 game behind them. After the Kings the Timberwolves and the New Orleans Pelicans are 2 1/2games out of the 8th spot. The Dallas Mavericks roll in just 3 games out of the 8th spot and the Memphis Grizzlies are hanging around 4 games out of that final playoff spot. A losing streak of any length could easily drop one of these teams out of the playoff race.

How do you feel about the Lakers? Do you think they’ll end up hanging onto a playoff spot? Do you see them being on the outside looking in on the playoff this season?

 

Now I can’t be the only one who thought that the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs was hard to watch. Three of the four games where blowouts and it was difficult to stay interested in them. I was kind of surprised that those three games where so easily won.

The Indianapolis Colts where one of the hotter teams coming into the playoffs, but the Kansas City Chiefs made them look like they didn’t even belong in the playoffs. I know there are people out there who thought the Dallas Cowboys played a close game with the Los Angeles Rams and while the score might suggest that the outcome of the game was never in doubt. I understand that their where a lot of people hoping it might be the year for Phillip Rivers and the Los Angeles Chargers, but that ended quickly as the New England Patriots easily eliminated them from the playoffs.

To be fair I did have the Chiefs and the Patriots winning their games, but I thought that the Cowboys would be able to upset the Rams. When the Rams last faced a top defense in Week 14 they where manhandled by the Chicago Bears. Now the Cowboys have one of the best defenses in the NFL, but you wouldn’t have known that by the way they played. Both Todd Gurley (115) and C.J. Anderson (123) where the first set of teammates to rush for over 110 yards in a playoffs game which helped lead the Rams to a victory. It was a complete surprise to me that the Rams where able to just run the football pretty much at will against the Cowboys defense. You can tell me it was just an 8 point game, but honestly did you think the Cowboys had a chance to win that game?

Now it’s time to move on to the Conference finals and we have a set of rematch games.

In Week 9 the New Orleans Saints beat the Rams 45-35. This game just like the Conference final game will be in the Superdome. Now the Saints did lose two home games this season. Week 1 they got beat by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48-40 and then they dropped their Week 17 home game 33-14 against the Carolina Panthers, Now remember in that Wee17 game, the Saints sat most of their starters. Can the Rams go into New Orleans and get a win? Or will we get a repeat of Week 9?

Back in Week 6 of the NFL regular season the Patriots beat the Chiefs 43-40, but that game was played in Gillette Stadium while the Conference final the game will be played in Arrowhead Stadium as the Chiefs are the home team. It appears as though it’s going to be quite cold for this game and you have to wonder if this will affect either team. Do you think that the Patriots will be able to go on the road and repeat their Week 6 victory? Or do think the Chiefs get some revenge with a win at home?

As for our Divisional round picks. Schaumburg Stu went a perfect 4-0. Dan the Man and I both went 3-1 and believe it or not Mr. Fantasy picked every game wrong as he had another 0-4 week. Through the two playoff rounds Dan the Man is in the lead at 7-1. Schaumburg Stu and I are both sitting at 5-3. Now as hard as it might be to believe Mr. Fantasy is actually 0-8 through two weeks of playoff picks.

After making eight straight incorrect picks Mr. Fantasy went on vacation; so we won’t be broadcasting this Sunday. As for our Conference finals picks; I will post the ones I have in the Saturday blog. If you’d like to pick along with us feel free to leave your picks in the comment section.

Don’t forget that 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 anytime you want at TuneIn.com.

Look me up on Twitter @Burketime

Destination G-Rate Field?

Posted: January 14, 2019 by Daniel Kupres in sports
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In 1981, Bill Veeck sold the Chicago White Sox to Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn. Shortly after they commissioned studies on renovations to Old Comiskey Park or build a new stadium. What I found most interesting was that the City of Chicago, offers up land by the Chicago River to build a 50,000 seat stadium. I’m still researching but would love to sees where that plot of land is/was and why it was turned down by Reinsdorf.

Around 1991, the White Sox felt the remodeling the park to give it a more retro look would attract more fans. To me this statement doesn’t necessarily to attract more White Sox fans but baseball fans in general. To be honest, this is where they completely failed. I live in the Chicagoland Area, am a Cubs fan but as far south as I am, Sox games are easier to get to and much more affordable these days. But I try to put my self in the mindset of a fan from out of state and is GRate Field high on the priority list. A few years back on Derek Jeter’s farewell tour, there was tons of Yankees fans but, it’s the Yankees and it was Jeter’s last trip to Chicago. Last season, I attended a game against the A’s. If it were not for Sean Manea’s friends and family, there wouldn’t have been that many people besides me in A’s gear.

When the Sox had a nationally televised game last year, the commentators got on the topic of why the stadium faces the Dan Ryan Expressway and not the City Skyline. That really got me thinking. When you enter the ballpark and head up to the top bowl, as they call it, and once you reach the top of the ramp, you get this beautiful shot of the Skyline. Everybody including locals stops, admires and takes pix.

Why didn’t the build the park that way? Does it have to do with the sun? Wind conditions? Does it give the White Sox an advantage? Why?

If I were a billionaire and was able to pry the White Sox away from Reinsdorf, I would immediately build a new stadium and try to redevelop the surrounding area. By no means would I make it anything live Wrigleyville.

Now of course this is fantasy land but humor me for a moment and try to visualize. My new stadium would be a retractable dome the likes of Chase Field in Phoenix or Miller Park in Milwaukee.

At new Comiskey, the walls in left field would have to be clear so that in April, with 30-40 degree cold rainy 6:50 start, everyone is inside in a cool, comfortable 75 degrees, our background would be a spectacular backdrop of the City skyline that visiting teams and national broadcasters would rave about. And With clear dome panels, we would maintain the infamous fireworks scoreboard but our new scoreboard would be the largest video board in the MLB blasting off fireworks every Friday night as well as every Sox home run, no matter the weather.

Bullpens would be moved, opening up both left and right field. Bleacher seating would remain from foul pole to the center field batters eye. However, the right field patio would extend from the foul pole to the batters eye. In left field, the five rows would be the premium bleacher seats with bar top tables with app enabled food and drink ordering.

The bullpens would be moved underground with access to the dugouts allowing relief pitchers to sit in the dugout but quickly able to get warmed up. This would even align with Rob Manfred’s Pace of Play initiative. I was one of those “Old School” baseball guys who was not happy/excited about the Cubs moving the bullpens off the field and out of sight. At the time, if it were up to me, every ballpark would be set up that way. After the move at Wrigley, I can see that removing the bullpen from out sight, it doesn’t take away from the game but enhances the fan experience.

From foul pole to foul pole including the premium scout seats behind home plate, overall would have the same appearance.

GRate Field would be torn down as soon as New Comiskey is open and turned into a parking garage. The entire side facing 35th Street would be available for commercial use, ideally for bars and food in hopes to create an area fans would love to be at before and after games. Of course, we would have to keep the outside parking lot for tailgating and would make it even more tailgate friendly.

What I envision, would benefit the City and the team but most importantly the experience for the fans with the anticipation that the new stadium would attract more fans from around the country from all teams.

Hopefully, I’ve implanted some sort of vision for the future of the White Sox and their stadium but unfortunately, none of this can take place until after 2029 and/or they finally get new owners.

Go check out Ball Parks of Baseball. It’s a must!

Dan The Man

How was your week

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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