Posts Tagged ‘david price’

How was your week?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: December 2, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports
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Week 12 in the NFL ended up being our best week of picks so far. Schaumburg Stu and I went 13-3 while Dan the Man was 11-5 with Mr. Fantasy going 10-6. Dan the Man is still in first place overall with a record of 104-72. I’ve moved into 2nd place a game behind Dan the Man with a record of 103-73. Schaumburh Stu has made his way out of the cellar with a record of 98-78; so that means it’s Mr. Fantasy who has found his way to the bottom of the standings with a record of 97-79. Will have to see if we can carry some momentum going into Week 13.

During the Monday Night game the Cleveland Browns lost their starting quarterback Josh McCown to an injury. Austin Davis was the back up quarterback for the game as Johnny Manziel had been demoted to the #3 quarterback spot. Davis was solid in relief of McCown going 7 of 10 for 77 yards and 1 touchdown. Davis also ran the football 1 time for 7 yards. Now as it turned out McCown has a broken collarbone and is done for the season. What do the Browns do? Do you play out the string with Davis as your #1 quarterback? Or is it time to turn the remainder of the season over to Manziel and see what he can do. It appears as though Browns head coach Mike Pettine isn’t a big fan of Manziel. Now if for some reason Davis starts any of the Browns final 5 games at quarterback it’s time for them to trade Manziel. On the Tuesday edition of Sports Time Radio I boldly predicted that Manziel will be wearing a different uniform next season. While there are quite a few teams in the NFL that could use a quarterback the best landing spot for Manziel is with the Dallas Cowboys. Don’t forget that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wanted to draft Manziel in the 1st round of the 2014 draft. Dallas had the #16 pick; Manziel went #22 to Cleveland who traded up to get him. Jones was talked out of picking Manziel and the Cowboys selected offensive lineman Zack Martin with the 16th pick. Cowboys quarterback is out for the season and as he’s getting older (35) he seems to be getting hurt more often. If Romo is healthy it gives Manziel the opportunity to learn behind him and then take over when Romo retires. The question would be; what would the Cowboys have to give up in a trade for Manziel? At this point I’m thinking the Browns might take a 3rd or possible a 4th round draft pick for Manziel. Maybe it takes a combination of lower round draft picks to get the deal done, but it’s a move the Cowboys need to make. Unless you’re under the impression that Matt Cassell is the Cowboys future starting quarterback. Of course at 33 Cassell isn’t much younger than what Dallas has now in Romo. This may be the first time I’m rooting for Jerry Jones.

Also on the Tuesday edition of Sports Time Radio Dan the Man predicted that the Philadelphia 76ers would get their 1st win of the season and they did. The 76ers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 103-91 to improve there record to 1-18. The Lakers had a 7 point lead 33-26 after the 1st quarter. Los Angeles went into halftime with an 8 point lead 58-50. The 76ers outscored the Lakers by 13 points in the 3rd quarter 30-17 to take the lead at 80-75 after 3 quarters. Philadelphia was able to extend their lead by outscoring the Lakers again in the 4th quarter 23-16 to get the game to it’s final score 103-91. Robert Covington led the 76ers with 23 points. Jerami Grant and Nerlens Noel (off the bench) scored 14 while Isaiah Canaan, Jahlil Okafor and Hollis Thompson (off the bench) each had 12 points. Noel also grabbed a team high 9 rebounds while T.J. McConnell led the 76ers in assists with 6. This was Kobe Bryant’s last trip to Philadelphia and he led the Lakers with 20 points, but didn’t shoot very well. Bryant was 7 of 26 on the night and 4 of 17 from behind the 3-point line. Jordan Clarkson scored 19 points. Julius Randle had 12 points and a team high 11 rebounds while D’Angelo Russell also had 12 points to go with a team high 4 assists. The Lakers didn’t get a lot of help from their bench. There bench scored 23 points in 72 minutes of play. In comparison the 76ers got 40 points from there bench, but to be fair the Philadelphia bench played 25 more minutes than the Lakers bench did. This was the first of back to back games for Philadelphia. Tonight the 76ers are on the road against the New York Knicks. Will it be 2 in a row for the 76ers?

First it was Jordan Zimmerman getting a 5 years and $110 million from the Detroit Tigers. Then yesterday David Price signs a deal for 7 years and $217 million with the Boston Red Sox. Who’s the next free agent pitcher to sign? There are some reporting that Zack Greinke will make his decision by this weekend. Most reports have Greinke getting a deal similar to Price’s. It’s also being reported that Greinke has narrowed his choices down to the Los Angeles Dodgers or the San Francisco Giants. Could a 3rd team sneak in with a bigger money offer and sign Greinke? Or is he going to stay in the National League West? If Greinke does make a decision and signs with a team this weekend and with Price already locked up will teams start to panic and over pay some of the other top pitchers. Johnny Cueto turned down a 6 year 120 million dollar deal from the Arizona Diamondbacks, With Price and Greinke signed is Cueto in line to cash in big. Then after Cueto; how much extra money could pitchers like Mike Leake, Jeff Samardzija, Scott Kazmir and Wei-Yin Chen end up getting. I guess we’ll have to wait and see who cashing in with what team.

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

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Blue Jays ahead

Posted: October 25, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball
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The Toronto Blue Jays season ended Friday night with a 4-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series. It was Toronto’s first playoff appearance since 1993 and it ended the longest drought by any team of not making the playoffs. As the Blue Jays look to the 2016 season you have to wonder what they’ll look like.

Team President Paul Beeson had announced that he planned on retiring at the end of the 2015 season and Mark Shapiro has been hired to take his place. Shapiro has been a member of the Indians front office since 1991, serving as GM for the 2002-2010 seasons and then being promoted to president prior to the 2011 season. Even though the Blue Jays had a 93-69 season and won the American League East a new President may want his own people with him. Everything points to General Manager Alex Anthopoulos returning next season you can never be sure. That’s where the questions have to start for the Blue Jays.

There are some easy decision; at least they look easy. 1st Baseman/Designated Hitter Edwin Encarnacion has a $10 million dollar option for 2016 you’d expect the Blue Jays to pick up. Jose Bautista has an option for next season to at $14 million. I’m pretty sure we’ll see both these guys in the Toronto line up next season. Catcher  Dioner Navarro is a free agent as is shortstop Cliff Pennington; I don’t think either player will be back with the Blue Jays next season. The rest of the position players are either under contract or will go to arbitration. The position players aren’t too big of a deal for the Blue Jays to deal with, but the starting Rotation is another story. David Price is a free agent and you’d have to think he’s looking at $30 million a season from whoever he signs with. Toronto has said that they intend to try and resign Price, but really what else did you think they would say. Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey has an option for nest season at $12 million or the Blue Jays can buy him out for $1 million. Dickey is 41 and went 11-11 with an ERA of 3.91 in 33 starts. I have a feeling the Blue Jays buy him out at $1 million and try to bring him back at a lower salary. He may not be the same pitcher who won the 2012 Cy Young for the New York Mets, but he does eat innings and a staff could use a guy like that as a #3 or #4 starter. While Dickey has an option year for the Blue Jays to deal with Mark Buehrle and Marco Estrada are just free agents like Price. Buehrle went 15-8 with an ERA of 3.81 in 32 starts last season, but wasn’t used in the post season. Buerhle will turn 37 before the start of the 2016 season and he hasn’t said if he plans to retire or not. Estrada went 13-8 with an ERA of 3.13 over 28 starts. Estrada also made 6 appearances out of the bullpen.. Estrada is 32 and those 28 starts was the most he’s ever made in a season. Toronto does have a pitcher to build around even if they lost all of these starters. Marcus Stroman is 24 and won’t reach free agency until 2021. Stroman looked very good returning from a knee injury and may have been the Blue Jays best post season starter. You’d also have to think that Drew Hutchison figures into the 2016 rotation. Hutchison who’s 25 did have a ERA of  5.57 over 30 games; 28 of which where starts he did go 13-5. The Blue Jays could be set at closer for a while as 20 year old Roberto Osuna seems to have fit into that role. Another question may be will 22 year old Aaron Sanchez continue to set up for Osuna or will he be moved into the starting rotation. Sanchez did make 11 starts in 2015; so Toronto will have to decide where his future is. The main set up core of Liam Hendricks, Brett Cecil and Aaron Loup should be back in 2016, but 42 year old LaTroy Hawkins is retiring. While Hawkins struggled greatly in the post season he was a very reliable during the regular season. Trade deadline acquisition Mark Lowe will hit free agency; so Toronto will have t make a decision on him as well.

It should be interesting to watch the Blue Jays off season and see who they try to bring back, who they decide to let go and who they try to bring in. There are reports that Toronto has money to spend this off season, so maybe some of the bigger free agents end up north of the border.

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: July 22, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball
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The non-waiver Major League Baseball trade deadline is coming up July 31st. In what may be a bit of a surprise the Detroit Tigers may be sellers this season. The Tigers find themselves in 3rd place in the A.L. Central; 10 1/2 games behind the 1st place Kansas City Royals. The Tigers are just 4 games out of the 2nd A.L. wild card spot, but there are 3 teams ahead of them and that’s quite a few teams to get past even with 69 games left. If the Tigers are going to be sellers at the trade deadline you can look for them to attempt to move outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and starting pitcher David Price; both of whom will be free agents at the end of the season. Alfredo Simon and Joakim Soria are set to be free agents at the end of the season as well and while I’m sure the Tigers would be more than willing to deal either one Cespedes and Price are the more interesting players. Now it’s also being reported that Cincinnati Reds, President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Walt Jocketty has been giving the go ahead to strip the Reds down which might mean dealing Johnny Cueto. If Price and Cueto are added to the trade market you have to wonder if the Philadelphia Phillies overplayed their hand with Cole Hamels. I believe that most teams would take Price over Hamels and Cueto isn’t far behind Hamels either. Philadelphia has made some outrageous demands when it came to possibly dealing Hamels, but if he’s still on their roster when the 2015 season ends the first thing Andy MacPhail needs to do when he takes over as President is fire General Manager Rueben Amaro Jr. There is still some talk out there that the Houston Astros and the Los Angels Dodgers are still interested in Hamels, but will Amaro Jr. bring his asking price down enough for either team to make that deal. I’m sure there are those people out there who might think it’s not such a big deal if the Phillies end up hanging onto Hamels into the off season. The problem them becomes there are a lot of high quality starting pitchers that will be in the free agent market this coming off season. The names Price and Cueto have already come up, but you can add Jordan Zimmermann and Zack Greinke who can opt out of his deal with the Dodgers and with the season he’s having probably will. So then a team has to decide if they want to send a whole bunch of their top prospects to Philadelphia for Hamels or try to sign Price, Cueto, Zimmerman or Greinke. Even if you miss out on those top tier free agent pitchers there’s also Jeff Samardzija.  Scott Kazmir.  Hisashi Iwakuma, Wei-Yin Chen and possibly Clay Buchholz if his option isn’t picked up by the Boston Red Sox. With this flood of pitching possibly going into the open market this pretty much kills any off season trade value Hamels will have because let’s face it no team is going to give up 2 or 3 of their top prospects for Hamels when all these names are out there in free agency. One of the huge reasons the Phillies are were they are right now is because Amaro Jr. gave out some really bad contracts and then sat by and watched the team get old. If Hamels isn’t dealt by July 31st there’s a better than average chance that he opens the 2016 season in the Phillies starting rotation.

I haven;t heard much talk about it, but the race for Rookie of the Year (RoY) in both leagues is interesting. I know there’s been a lot of talk about the Dodgers Joc Pederson who does lead all rookies with 20 home runs, but he’s hitting just .227. Then after the Chicago Cubs brought Kris Bryant up a lot of experts thought this race was over. While Bryant has done well; a .260 average with 12 home runs and 52 RBI’s which leads all rookies. Are those numbers good enough to win RoY? The San Francisco Giants have a couple of rookies that haven’t gotten a lot of press that are in the running for RoY. Matt Duffy took over everyday at 3rd base for the Giants and is hitting .298 with 8 home runs and 41 RBI’s and Chris Heston is 10-5 in 19 starts with an E.R.A. of 3.18. Don’t forget that Heston also threw a no-hitter earlier this season. Now the set up guys don’t draw much attention, but Michael Blazek of the Milwaukee Brewers is having a very good season even though his team isn’t. Blazek has appeared in 37 games covering 46 innings. He is 5-2 with an E.R.A. of 1.76 on a team that is 42-52. Yasmany Tomas of the Arizona Diamondbacks is leading all rookie qualifiers with a .303 batting average. The American League has some interesting rookies as well and the best may be Billy Burns of the Oakland A’s. Burns leads all A.L. rookies with a .304 batting average and 19 stolen bases. Now the name you always hear is Carlos Correa the Houston Astros rookie shortstop and he’s right there is the running. Correa is hitting .291 with 8 home runs, but just 25 RBI’s; so far. Devon Travis of the Toronto Blue Jays of having a very solid rookie campaign hitting .299 with 7 home runs and 33 RBI’s, but his teammate Roberto Osuna maybe the bigger surprise. With the Blue Jays bullpen in flux Osuna has 4 saves in 5 tries with an E.R.A. of 2.14; he’s appeared in 40 games covering 42 innings and has a 1-3 record. As good as Osuna has been out of the Bullpen for the Blue Jays;  Carson Smith has been better for the Seattle Mariners. Smith has converted 8 saves in 9 chances with an E.R.A. of 1.86 in 38 2/3rd innings over 40 games. I hope when it comes time to vote for RoY that the people who get to vote for this award dig into the stats and look at the p[layers and not just the names the mainstream media throws out at them.

It looks like Richard Jefferson is going to try and chase an NBA title next season as the free agent forward has agreed to terms on a one-year deal for next season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Jefferson will receive the veteran’s minimum salary of roughly $1.5 million. With the Dallas Mavericks last season the 35-year-old averaged 5.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in 17 minutes per game and shot a team-leading 43 percent from 3-point range. He had been expected to return to the Mavericks, but he may have become expendable when the club signed shooting guard Wesley Matthews. It looks like Jefferson will fill the roster spot created by the retirement of Shawn Marion. it’s being reported that the Cavaliers remain interested in re-signing free agent J.R. Smith, who declined his $6.4 player’s option when free agency opened. Smith is expected to meet with the team later this week. Cleveland also continues to have talks with restricted free agent forward Tristan Thompson and guard Matthew Dellavedova. Thompson had a strong postseason with the club and could land a deal worth over $15 million per season. Dellavedova’s popularity soared when he performed well while filling in for Irving, and the Cavaliers love the Australian’s energy and attitude. Have the Cavaliers done enough to win and NBA title next season?

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8/2/14 How was your Week?

Posted: August 2, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Uncategorized
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If you’re an Indiana Pacers fan the worst possible thing happened last night in the scrimmage for Team USA basketball. George’s leg landed and then buckled at the base of the basket stanchion after he fouled James Harden on a drive to the basket just 27 seconds into the fourth quarter. George suffered a open tibia-fibula fracture and had surgery on it last night. George is expected to remain hospitalized for about three days. One of the reports that came out said that while there didn’t appear to be additional damage besides the fractures, doctors believe George likely will miss all of next season, though no official prognosis has been given. The White team led George’s Blue team 81-71 in the scrimmage at the time of the injury, but the rest of the game was cancelled after George got hurt.

The Indiana Pacers had the best record in the Eastern conference last season before losing in the conference finals to the Miami Heat. George is the Pacers best player averaging 21.7 points per game, 3.5 assists per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. In 19 post season games last season George’s scoring average increased to 23.6 points per game. With the majority if not all of the top NBA free agents signed by now the Pacers don’t really have to many options to try to replace George outside of the organization. Remember the Pacers lost Lance Stevenson as a free agent in the off-season. I guess will see if the Pacers male a move and try to add a player like Shawn Marion or Al-Farouq Aminu to fill some of the void left by George’s injury.

The MLB non-waiver trading deadline was July 31st and a lot of teams made moves before the deadline. The day start with the Boston Red Sox making their 1st of s couple trades they would make by sending Jon Lester, Jonny Gomes and cash to the Athletics for Yoenis Cespedes and a Competitive balance pick. The day ended with the Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays making a three team deal. The Tigers landed the big prize in this deal getting David Price. The Mariners got the right-handed bat a lot of experts say they needed in Austin Jackson and Tampa Bay came away with three players Nick Franklin, Drew Smyly and top shortstop prospect Willy Adames. The Red Sox also sent John Lackey, minor league pitcher Corey Littrell and Cash considerations to the St. Louis Cardinals for Allen Craig and Joe Kelly. By far the busiest team at the trade deadline Boston made two other trades sending Andrew Miller to Baltimore for minor league left hander Eduardo Rodriguez and then trading Stephen Drew and cash to New York Yankees for Kelly Johnson. It was a year where major league players were traded for major league players, but as always there was a share of prospects moved in deals. The Yankees added another infielder getting Martin Prado from the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor league catcher Peter O’Brien and a player to be named later. The Diamondbacks also Gerardo Parra to Milwaukee Brewers for two minor leaguers Anthony Banda and Mitch Haniger. The A’s sent Tommy Milone to the Minnesota Twins to get back outfielder Sam Fuld. The mariners did land a 2nd right-handed hitter getting Chris Denorfia from the San Diego Padres for Abraham Almonte and minor league pitcher Stephen Kohlscheen. The Houston Astros had said earlier in the week that they would be willing to trade a starting pitcher and they did sending Jarred Cosart, Enrique Hernandez and Austin Wates to Miami Marlins for Jake Marisnick, Colin Moran and Francis Martes. If you where listening to the show yesterday (Friday) you heard us talking about the Cubs trade to get another prospect. The Cubs traded Emilio Bonifacio, James Russell and cash to Atlanta Braves for Victor Caratini.

I think I got through all of the trades from deadline day and now will see if these deals work out for the stretch run. Of course there will be questions out there. Did the Rays get enough in the David Price deal? If Jon Lester is just a rental for the A’s; do they have to win the World Series to validate this trade? As this plays out the last couple months of the season will get these answers.

Did your favorite team make a move? Did they make themselves better or did they ship off players from their major league roster for prospects?

So how was your week?

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

7/23/14 Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: July 23, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports, Uncategorized
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Every time I heard someone talk about the New York Yankees making a trade they ta;l about how they need to add pitching. Well the Yankees made a trade yesterday and it was for a third baseman. The Yankees dealt infielder Yangervis Solarte and minor league pitcher Rafael De Paula to San Diego in exchange for Chase Headley. Headley has been struggling this season in San Diego. In 77 games Headley was hitting.229 with 7 home runs and 32 RBI’s. Headley’s big season was 2012 where he finished 5th in the MVP voting. He’s battled injuries since then and hasn’t regained his form. Maybe a move to New York helps Headley find that 2012 form again. Solarte had been getting regular playing time for the Yankees, but was sent to the minors a few weeks ago. Solarte appeared in 75 games for the Yankees hitting .254 with 6 home runs and 32 R.B.I.’s. De Paula was pitching in Class A ball for the Yankees. He was 6-5 in 17 starts and had an ERA of 4.15. Will the Yankees go out and try to get more pitching like people say they need. The Yankees have talked to the White Sox about left-handed starting pitcher John Danks, but it never got farther than talks.

It looked like the biggest pitcher that would be on the trade market would be Tampa Bay Rays lefty David Price. You have to wonder if he’s even available right now. Tampa Bay is 5-3 in their last 10 games and are currently on a 6 game winning streak. Tampa bay is 48-53 and 8 games out of 1st place in the American League East. With 60 games left Tampa Bay can easily make up those 8 games, but I don’t think they could do that without Price. Will this winning streak be enough to get Tampa Bay to hold onto Price or is there a team out there that can bowl the Rays over with an offer they can’t pass up. It’s going to take quite an offer to get Price and you have to wonder if someone even has the prospects Tampa Bay would want in a deal for Price. Will find out in 8 days if Price is going anywhere.

I saw an interesting segment on which teams should’ve trading players and who they should be trying to trade. The thing I found interesting about this was the two experts they had in this segment had the Philadelphia Phillies moving quite a few players. They had the Phillies dealing or trying to deal 1st baseman Ryan Howard, second baseman Chase Utley, shortstop Jimmy Rollins, outfielder Marlon Byrd, staring pitcher Cliff Lee and closer Jonathan Papelbon. Some of these players may be dealt by the Phillies, but all of them I don’t think that will happen. The Phillies are 13 games out of 1st place and in last place in the National League East, but if these players were traded it may be the biggest in season make over of a major league team. As nice as it is to talk about these players being traded you must have a team that’s interested in them for that to happen. While pitching always draws interest and I could see Papelbon and Lee being traded. Do you want any of the other Phillies listed? Byrd is the one player I’ve actually heard talked about. It’s been said the Seattle Mariners might have an interest in Byrd. Seattle is looking for right-handed hitting power and Byrd has 19 home runs and 21 doubles so far this season. I haven’t heard any of the other names Howard, Utley or Rollins being mentioned in any trade talks. I guess it is fun to speculate and think about what a guy could do for a contending team if he was traded there.

Are you ready for some football? All the NFL teams training camps will be up and running by this weekend. Are you ready for your fantasy season? How do you think your favorite team will do this season? Can the Seattle Seahawks repeat? Slowly but surly these questions should start to get answered as we see more and more of these teams. We have two twenty team fantasy leagues that Mr. Fantasy, Dan the Man and I play in. One is an auction league; so you have to figure out what you’re willing to pay for who. Our other league is a regular snake style draft set up. You need to start two running backs every week in this league and with twenty teams it can be tough to find a good mix of backs. They come off the board pretty fast and I think I know who the first five or six picks will go. Not in exact order, but the players that will be picked. After that it’s tough to figure out who’s going where. Hopefully I’m picking in the Top 5 in this years draft.

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.