Posts Tagged ‘New York Jets’

How was your week

Posted: December 17, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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So Thursday night we had another uninteresting NFL game as the Seattle Seahawks easily handled the Los Angeles Rams 24-3. Unless you’re a Seahawks fan it had to be a tough game to watch. Jared Goff was 13 of 25 for 135 yards and was sacked 4 times in the game. Goff was actually knocked out of this game and is in the NFL’s concussion protocol. With the won the Seahawks clinched the NFC West and are in line to get a 1st round bye in the playoffs.

Goff is now 0-5 as an NFL starter, but he appears to have made some progress even though the team hasn’t won with him under center. The Rams have two games left on their schedule and they’re both at home. In Week 16 they host the San Francisco 49ers and then in the final week of the season they host the Arizona Cardinals. There is a chance that the Rams could win one or even both of these games, but really that doesn’t matter. What has to matter to the Rams right now is to continue to have Goff improve and then try to find a head coach or a quarterback coach that can develop him into a quality NFL starting quarterback. The Rams don’t even have to hire an offensive minded head coach they just have to get the right guys under him that can work with Goff. The Rams gave up 6 draft picks to get Goff. Los Angeles gave the Tennessee Titans four 2016 draft picks; a 1st round pick, two 2nd round picks and a 3rd round pick. Los Angeles also sent a 2017 1st round pick and a 2017 3rd round pick in this deal. Besides the 1st overall pick the Rams used to select Goff they also got two 2016 draft picks in the trade a 4th round pick and a 6th round pick. Now Goff may never develop into a guy who should’ve been taken #1 overall, but he’s a quarterback and that’s where they get drafted at. Don’t forget Sam Bradford was also a #1 overall pick. The biggest question the Rams need to answer is; was Goff the right choice? While I don’t expect Goff to turn the Rams around by himself and lead them to a Super Bowl, but he can be a quality NFL quarterback on a playoff team with the right help. Where can the Rams look to help Goff. Well he’s been sacked 15 times I his 5 starts; so maybe an offensive lineman or two could help. Quick name the Rams leading receiver. Did you guess Kenny Britt? Britt has 67 catches for 987 yards and 5 touchdowns. Britt was a 1st round selection (#30 overall) by the Tennessee Titans in 2009 and was considered a bust for them. This is the most receptions and yards Britt has ever had in a season, but is he a #1 wide receiver? Those are just a couple of things the Rams can do to help Goff improve. Of course without a 1st round pick in next years draft they might have to find another way to get Goff that help. So let me know what you think. How do you see Jared Goff’s career going?

There’s also an NFL game tonight as the league moves into the Saturday market with the college football regular season wrapped up. Tonight will see the 8-5 Miami Dolphins at the 4-9 New York Jets in an AFC East match up. The Dolphins are tied with the Denver Broncos for the final AFC wild card spot, but the Broncos hold the tiebreaker; so Miami has to find a way to pass them in the standings. The Dolphins go into this game without there starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill sprained two knee ligaments in last weeks win over the Arizona Cardinals. Matt Moore will take over under center for Tannehill. Moore has been with the Dolphins since 2011, but that was also the last time he started a game. Counting coming in for Tannehill last week Moore has played in 7 games in 5 seasons. It’s a tough spot for Moore to be put in, but maybe it helps that his first start is against the Jets. New York seems to be having trouble on both sides of the football. The defense is ranked 19th overall; 17th against the run and 22nd against the pass. The offense is ranked 22nd overall; 10th running the football, 26th in passing. Ryan Fitzpatrick came back on a one year deal to quarterback the team, but has been inconsistent to say the least. Geno Smith took over and got hurt and is out for the season. It seems to be Bryce Petty’s turn and you have to wonder if we’ll see Christian Hackenberg before the season ends. Maybe the weather in East Rutherford will give the Jets an advantage as snow is in the forecast. Now I haven’t received Mr. Fantasy’s pick for the game, but Dan the Man and Schaumburg Stu have picked the Dolphins to win this game. I actually did go with the Jets to win tonight.

The Miami Marlins weren’t able to sign Kenley Jansen, but they have added two relievers to there bullpen these last two days. First the Marlins announced the signing of Junichi Tazawa to a two year $12 million dollar deal. Then it was reported that Miami has signed Brad Ziegler to a two year $16 million dollar deal. Interestingly both of these pitchers finished last season pitching out of the Boston red Sox bullpen. Tazawa has spent his entire 7 year career with the Red Sox. Last season he was 3-2 with a 4.17 E.R.A, in 53 games. Ziegler started the 2016 season with the Arizona Diamondbacks before being traded to the Red Sox. Combined Ziegler was 4-7 with a 2.25 E.R.A. with 22 saves in 69 games. These two signings add some more depth to a Marlins bullpen that loss Mike Dunn this week. Dunn signed a 3 year $19 million dollar deal with the Colorado Rockies earlier in the week.

If you where hoping your favorite team would add some bullpen time is running out. The relievers seem to be coming off the free agent board very quickly. Will have to see who the next reliever is to sign.

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Let’s call it Wednesday

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

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

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

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

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How was your Week?

Posted: November 14, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, football
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It’s almost unbelievable how many times Dan the Man, Mr, Fantasy, Schaumburg Stu and I have all taken the same team to win a game in the NFL and that team has lost. I should’ve known something was up when we all picked the New York Jets to beat the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night. While it was a closer game than most of the Thursday night contests by no means was it a good football game. I’m sure the most interesting part of the game for some people where the uniforms the team where wearing. Buffalo wore all red while the Jets went with all green for a very Christmas kind of a look. I did hear an odd stat; 9% of people have what’s called Red/Green Color Blindness and if they would’ve tried to watch this game they would’ve only seen gray. In the end the Bills got a 22-17 victory and we all start off Week 10 with an 0-1 record.

If you where invested in this game fantasy wise it may be a long week for you. There where 3 touchdowns scored and they all came through the air; so hopefully you didn’t have a running back going in this game. Let’s see what we can find for fantasy owners. Tyrod Taylor went 17 for 27 for 158 yards and 1 touchdown for Buffalo; he was also sacked 4 times, but did add 6 rushing attempts for 12 yards. On the Jets side Ryan Fitzpatrick was 15 for 34 for 193 yards; he threw 2 touchdowns and was intercepted 2 times as well. Fitzpatrick was sacked just 1 time and had 3 rushing attempts for 30 yards.

LeSean McCoy put up good rushing numbers for the Bills with 19 carries and 112 yards, but didn’t get into the end zone. McCoy also had 5 receptions for 47 yards. Karlos Williams was a popular add while McCoy was battling injuries and I did see a couple of fantasy experts say he was “The Play” in this game. Williams ran the football 7 times for 24 yards, but he did add 1 reception that went for 26 yards, but more importantly it was a touchdown catch. Chris ivory led the Jets ground game with 18 carries for 99 yards; he also added 2 receptions for 36 yards and did fumble. Numbers wise it was a good rushing night for both teams as their main backs averaged 5.5 yards a carry or better, but the fact that neither found there way into the end zone will hurt fantasy owners.

Tight End Charles Clay was Buffalo’s top receiver with 5 catches for 52 yards. The Bills wide receivers didn’t contribute much to their fantasy teams this week as both Robert Woods and Sammy Watkins each caught 3 passes. Woods went for 19 yards while Watkins went for 14 yards. Jets wide receiver Eric Decker was the best pass catching fantasy option on the night as he had 6 receptions for 85 yards and 1 touchdown. Brandon Marshall caught 3 passes for just 23 yards, but one of them was good for a touchdown. Devin Smith (22 yards), Tommy Bohanon (18 yards), Jeremy Kerley (7 yards) and Kembrel Thompkins (2 yards) all had 1 catch on the night.

The best fantasy option in this game may have been Buffalo kicker Dan Carpenter. Carpenter did miss and extra point going 1 for 2 on the night, but he made all 3 of his field goal attempts with his longest being from 47 yards. The Jets regular kicker Nick Folk was placed on season ending injured reserve with an with a Quad injury; so Randy Bullock was signed to do the kicking for the Jets. Bullock made all his kicks hitting 2 extra point attempts and a 29-yard field goal.

On defense Preston Brown led the Bills with 8 tackles. Marcell Dareus had the Buffalo sack on the night. Corey Graham had an interception while Bacarri Rambo had an interception and a fumble recovery; Duke Williams also recovered a fumble for the Bills. David Harris led the Jets defense with 9 tackles and had a sack on the night. Demario Davis added 8 tackles and a sack and Muhammad Wilkerson had the other 2 sacks for the Jets defense.

Craig Kimbrel was dealt for the 2nd time in his career this time going from the San Diego Padres to the Boston Red Sox. It was talked about that the Red Sox would be looking to add starting pitching and with Koji Uehara in place as closer this move is a bit of a surprise. Of course Uehara will turn 41 at the start of next season and injuries did limit him to just 43 appearances last season. Kimbrel is one of the top closers in baseball, but he is coming off a season where he had his highest ERA at 2.58. It’s still a very good ERA but when you’ve put up 1.61, 1.21 and 1.01 in the seasons before that it’s noticeable. Kimbrel also had career lows in saves at 39 and innings pitched at 59 1/3rd, but you have to factor in that the Padres where 74-88 in 2015. In return for Kimbrel San Diego gets  outfield prospect Manuel Margot, shortstop Javier Guerra, infielder Carlos Asuaje, and lefty Logan Allen make up the return. All four players rated among the thirty best Red Sox prospects. Don’t forget that San Diego trade away most of their top prospects last season to get the likes of Kimbrel, Justin Upton and Will Myers; so this deal will help rebuild the farm system. While the Padres appear to have gotten some quality prospects in return the question now becomes who closes games for them next season. Kimbrel’s in Boston and Joaquin Benoit was dealt to the Seattle Mariners earlier in the week, Before Kimbrel was acquired before the start of last season there was some talk that Kevin Quackenbush would close; so maybe he gets the first shot at the job.

When I first heard this rumor they said the Atlanta braves where just “listening” to offers for shortstop  Andrelton Simmons.  Just a few hours later Simmons and minor league catcher Jose Briceno are headed to the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim for shortstop Erick Aybar and two of the Angles top pitching prospects lefthander Sean Newcomb and right handed pitch Chris Ellis. Simmons is considered by many not only the best defensive shortstop in baseball, but the best defensive player in the game regardless of position. Simmons offense hasn’t caught up to his defense yet, but a lot of experts think it will get there. Simmons did put up his best batting average (.265) for a full season in 2015. After a 17 home run season in 2013 his power number have been way down; 7 home runs in 2014 and just 4 last season. Simmons did win the Gold Glove in 2013 and 2014 and this week Wilson named him the Defensive Player of the Year for 2015. Aybar has 1 year left in his contract and the Angeles sent about $3 million to help cover part of his 2016 salary in the deal. Simmons signed a long term deal last off season; so the Angels pick up his remaining 5 year and the $53 million left on that deal. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Aybar is with the Barves for just the one season he has remaining on his deal as they  have a highly-regarded young shortstop in Ozhaino Albies in there minor league system. This looks like a deal that really favors the Angels, but remember Atlanta is building towards 2017 when they open there new ballpark; so this move appears to be another in that future.

There was a little bit of history made in baseball yesterday as Colby Rasmus (Houston Astros), Matt Wieters (Baltimore Orioles) and Brett Anderson (Los Angeles Dodgers) became the first players to ever accept a qualifying offer from there teams. They all get 1-year deals worth $15.8 million. Instead of the qualifying offer Marco Estrada and the Toronto Blue Jays where able to agree to a 2-year deal. If I understood this the qualifying offer is determined by taking the average salary of the top 125 players salaries from the previous season. The players that didn’t accept the qualifying offer are now free agents, and can sign with any team. However the team that signs a player who was extended a qualifying offer has to send it’s 1st round draft pick to his former team unless it’s a Top 10 pick. Who else is confused?

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Let’s call it Wednesday.

Posted: August 12, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball
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With all the NFL training camps open you may have already seen a video of two players fighting in practice. Most of the time it’s two big lineman battling it out and no one is getting hurt except for maybe the guy who lands a punch to the other guys helmet. The New York Jets had one of these incidents except it was in their locker room and it will cost them starting quarterback Geno Smith 6-10 weeks. Smith was punched by teammate Ikemefuna Enemkpali in the locker room Tuesday morning and will require surgery to repair the injuries. He hadn’t yet undergone the procedure as of late Tuesday afternoon. Enemkpali an outside linebacker in his second season, was immediately released by the Jets. Smith will be sidelined for the rest of the summer and likely for the first few games of the season. Enemkpali apologized to the team and fans, but really what else was he going to do. It’s an interesting start to Todd Bowles 1st season as Jets head coach. Don’t forget that he already had to deal with defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson being suspended four games by the NFL for violating the league’s substance abuse policy and then was charged with resisting arrest after a high-speed road race in Missouri 12 days later. Richardson could face additional discipline by the league for violation of the personal conduct policy when the legal process plays out. With Smith out it looks like the Jets starting quarterback job will go to veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick. Rookie Bryce Petty would be the best bet to back up Fitzpatrick until Smith returns, but rookie Jake Heaps is also on the Jets roster. Smith hasn’t been the answer at quarterback like the Jets thought he might be when they selected him in the 2nd round with the 39th overall pick of the 2013 NFL draft. Smith started all 16 games as a rookie, but threw 21 interceptions to just 12 touchdowns. Last season Smith started 13 games and played in 14 games. He had 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions last season. In his first two seasons Smith has completed 57.5% of his passes.

So your looking for a front office job in Major League Baseball; well get your resume updated and send it to the Milwaukee Brewers. It was announced yesterday that Doug Melvin will step down after 13 years as Milwaukee’s general manager.  Melvin will continue to fill the general manager duties until the team hires a replacement, with Melvin then serving as adviser to the team The Brewers officially launched a search for a new general manager Tuesday with the hiring of executive search firm Korn Ferry. The Brewers are 48-66 and currently in last place in the National League Central. It will be an interesting situation for a new general manager to walk into. The Brewers have 7 players under contract for the 2016; this isn’t counting the players that are still under team control. Sadly though 2 of those 7 players are starting pitchers Matt Garza and Kyle Loshe. The Brewers are a pretty young team as Ryan Braun and Adam Lind are the only two regulars over 30 and they’re both just 31 years old. If the double play combination of Scooter Gennett and Jean Segura can hit major league pitching the Brewers could be set at those two positions for years to come as they are both just 25 years old. If Lohse and Garza could stabilize the back end of the Brewers rotation Milwaukee has 3 young starters in Taylor Jungman, Jimmy Nelson and Wily Peralta who could fill out the top of their rotation. Francisco Rodriquez (K-Rod) can’t close forever, but the Brewers might have their closer in waiting  with Michael Blazek. Blazek is 5-2 with an E.R.A. of 2.26 appearing in 44 games covering 55 2/3rd innings. Will Smith and Jeremy Jeffress have been solid out of the bullpen and could become set up men for Blazek. Smith has been more of a situational lefty pitching 41 2/3rd innings in 53 appearances. Smith does have 59 strikeouts and a strikeout per 9 innings rate of 12.7; so he can come in with runners in scoring position and get that big strikeout. The big plus for the Brewers with these pitchers is that Jeffress is the oldest of the group and he’s 27. While it looks like the Brewers have some pieces to work with they still have a long way to go to compete in the NL Central which may actually be the toughest division in baseball. Milwaukee is calling it a reboot not a rebuild; that seems to be the new term as the Detroit Tigers used it when they dealt David Price and Yoenis Cespedes at the trade deadline. How far away are the Brewers from contending in the NL Central?

Is Tristan Thompson threatening the Cleveland Cavaliers or is he trying to hold them hostage? Thompson’s agent Rich Paul has said that his client will leave the Cavaliers following next season if he does not receive the long-term contract offer he desires. Thompson has the option of signing a one-year qualifying offer for $6.8 million; should he do so, he will sign elsewhere next summer. Thompson is seeking a five-year max contract worth around $94 million. Thompson was a sixth man for much of last season, but emerged in the postseason once Kevin Love suffered a season-ending injury. Thompson averaged 8.5 points and and 8.0 rebounds in 26.5 minutes per game in the regular season, but upped his points (9.6), rebounds (10.8) and blocks (1.2) in the playoffs while pulling down incredible 4.4 offensive rebounds per game. He is also Cleveland’s best defensive big man. Signing the qualifying offer as an exit strategy is necessary because Thompson is a restricted free agent and the Cavaliers can match any offer another team sends. Thompson could not be traded this year without his consent if he does sign the qualifying offer. Cleveland has been unwilling to sign Thompson to a long term deal because it will put them well over the salary cap and the team will be looking at a large luxury tax bill. On the other side of this is the fact that Thompson shares and agent with another Cavaliers player by the name of LeBron James. James has came out and said that he’d like the Cavaliers to pay Thompson and get him back into the fold, but James has spent quite a bit of Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert’s money this off season and you have to wonder how much is left for Thompson. Will we see James try and say that he’d consider leaving if the Cavaliers don’t sign Thompson to that 5-year max deal. Maybe if James would pitch in and pay some of the luxury tax for Gilbert he’d be more willing to give Thompson the long term max deal he’s looking for. Is Thompson a must have for the Cavaliers or does the resigning of Kevin Love make Thompson’s threat less veiled.

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