Posts Tagged ‘san diego padres’

White Sox still on track

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

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

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

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

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

@DanZeeeMan

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We played 2!

Posted: May 11, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, Sports Time Radio
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Thanks to the Big Jack for recapping game 1 of the double header.  Game 2 pitts easily rattled John Lackey vs Drew Pomeranz.  Now earlier on The Podcast I picked the Cubs to take game 2.  I really haven’t heard much out of Drew for awhile, so to my surprise he pitched a great game as did John Lackey.  

Lackey would start the game off and retire the first 14 batters he faced through 5 innings.  Pomeranz would give up a single in the first to Jason Heyward and Kris Bryant but would get out of the inning with a double play ball.   He would walk Baez in the second but would cruise through 4 and put two base runners on in the top of the fifth. As I said, Lackey would retire his first 14 batters but on an 0-1 count to catcher Christian Betancourt would give up a monster home run to left.  Betancourt’s eye on the ball out of the playing field would rattle Lackey to give up a single to Pirela but would get out of the inning with out anymore damage.  

Lackey would come into the 6th and strike out the first two batters and get Will Meyers to fly out.  The seventh inning would also be a 1-2-3 inning for him.  Now the Cubs did get a couple base runners in these innings but no one crossed the plate.  Lackey would go into the eighth and give up a leadoff single to Betancourt but would get out of the inning.  

Brad Hand would come into the bottom of the eighth and strikeout the first two batters but would walk Heyward.  With two outs, Kris Brysnt would send one high into the sky shortstop, Alexi Ramirez would at the last second drop it.  Anthony Rizzo would walk to load the bases!  Two outs, bases loaded, Jorge Soler has the chance to put the Cubs in the lead but goes down swinging.  

Travis Wood started the 9th getting Jon Jay to fly out but Maddon would seize the opportunity to bring in Hector Rondon.  He would strikeout Meyers and get Matt Kemp to ground out to end the inning.  Former Cub, Fernando Rodney would come in for a possible save and would give up a lead off single to Javier Baez.  With the infield in, LaStella would send a sharp groundball to third with an opportunity to turn two, they only get the force out at second.  Ryan Kalish would pinch hit for Ross and would ground out to second but with Tommy running the double play is broken up.  Zobrist with two outs and Tommy on second, he can tie the game.  Rodney feeling the pressure goes to a full count but gets former Rays teammate to ground out to him.  What a game!  Now I know the Cubbies lost but you’ve got to love a pitchers duel.  

Lackey would go 8 innings with only 3 hits, 1 run, no walks and 7 strikeouts.  Combined for the 9th inning, Wood and Rondon would put no runners on and close out the game.  Again they didn’t win, but still a great game to watch.  Today just wasn’t thier day and it’s the first time they’ve lost consecutive games this season.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’ve never seen a Cubs team like this! 

@danzeeeman
The Podcast

It’s a day-nighter (Game 1)

Posted: May 11, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The San Diego Padres used a couple of Javier Baez errors and a 3-run home run by Brett Wallace to end the Cubs 8-game winning streak with a 7-4 victory in Game 1 of a day night doubleheader.

After extended use of their bullpens last night both teams where hoping to get some innings out of there starting pitcher this afternoon. Kyle Hendricks struggled early on for the Cubs, but settled down to pitch 6 2/3rd innings. Hendricks racked up 8 strikeouts with 1 walk while giving up 6 hits. 2 of the 3 runs Hendricks gave up where earned. Colin Rea lasted just 5 innings for San Diego. Rea gave up 7 hits while allowing 4 runs all of which where earned. He struck out 3 while walking 4. Neither starting pitcher figured in the decision. Former Cub Carlos Villanueva picked up the win in relief for the Padres and another former Cub Fernando Rodney picked up the save. It was Villanueva”s 1st win of the season and for Rodney it was his 9th save this season. Pedro Strop struggled for the Cubs out of the bullpen. He didn’t record an out while giving up 3 hits, 3 runs and walking 2. Strop also took the Game 1 loss.

Ben Zobrist and Addison Russell each had 2 hits for the Cubs. Zobrist and Russell along with Anthony Rizzo and  Tim Federowicz where credited with RBI’s. Russell Federowicz and Jorge Soler each had a double in the game. Derek Norris had 3 hits in the game for San Diego while Will Myers and Adam Rosales each had 2 hits. Since 2 of the Padres runs where unearned Brett Wallace drove in 3 runs with his 2nd home run of the season and Matt Kemp picked up the other 2 RBI’s for the Padres.

The Cubs will look to start a new winning streak behind John Lackey in the night cap. San Diego counters with Drew Pomeranz on the mound. Fist pitch is schedule for 7:10 p.m.

@burketime
The Podcast

How was your Valentine’s Day?

Posted: February 14, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, hockey, sports
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2/14/15

If you’ve listened to the Sports Time Radio podcast or caught some of the blogs here you know I’m not a fan of All-Star games. I do however enjoy some of the events that the NBA has during its All-Star weekend. Last night (Friday) they had two games that I didn’t have a lot of interest in. The Celebrity game kicks off the weekend followed by the Rising Stars Challenge. This year they had the World vs. USA with the World winning 122-112. Andrew Wiggins of the Minnesota Timberwolves playing for the World team was the MVP of the game scoring 22 for the World team. There are four events held today (Saturday) starting with the Shooting Challenge. Then it’s the Skills Challenge followed by the 3-point Shooting Contest and ending with the Slam Dunk Contest. The Shooting Challenge features four teams of three players. The teams are; Team Bosh with Captain Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat, Dominique Wilkins is the team Legend and Swim Cash of the New York Liberty is their WNBA player. Team Curry; with Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry as the team captain, his father Dell Curry is their Legend and Sue Bird of the Seattle Storm is their WNBA player. Team Westbrook captained by Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder with Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway as their Legend and Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever as their WNBA player. Team Milsap is captained by Paul Milsap of the Atlanta Hawks. Milsap is replacing the injured Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans. Milsap’s teammates are Legend Scottie Pippen and W.N.B.A. player  Elena Delle Donne of the Chicago Sky. I’ll take Team Curry to win this event. The Skills Challenge features eight NBA players who compete in a bracket-style tournament for the first time. The format calls for two players to compete simultaneously on an identical course with the fastest finisher reaching the next round.  The players will be tested in an obstacle-course competition that tests dribbling, passing, agility and shooting skills. Trey Burke of the Utah Jazz is back to defend last year title and he is joined by Brandon Knight of the Milwaukee Bucks, Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors. Isiah Thomas of the Phoenix Suns, Jeff Teague of the Atlanta Hawks and his teammate Dennis Schroder who is replacing Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls. Elfrid Payton of the Orlando Magic is taking the place of Michael Carter-Williams of the Philadelphia 76ers and Patrick Beverly of the Houston Rockets is taking the place of Washington Wizards guard John Wall. I’ll take Teague to win this competition. A lot of experts think that this will be the best 3-point shooting challenge ever. The eight guys in the 3-point shooting Contest are defending champion  Marco Belinelli of the San Antonio Spurs, James Harden of the Houston Rockets, Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kyle Korver of the Atlanta Hawks, Wesley Matthews of the Portland Trailblazers, J.J. Reddick of the Los Angeles Clippers and teammates Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors. It seems like most experts think that one of the Golden State players either Thompson or Curry will win this contest, but I’m taking Wesley Matthews to win. The Dunk Contest has lost most of its luster from when it was a must see event, but this season they are returning to their classic format. That means it will be a two-round event in which the four participants can perform any dunk they choose without time limits. The players will have a maximum of three attempts to complete each dunk in both the first round and the final round. Five judges will score every dunk on a scale of 6 to 10, resulting in a high score of 50 and a low score of 30. The four players in the Dunk Contest are Mason Plumlee of the Brooklyn Nets, Victor Oladipo of the Orlando Magic, Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. I’m taking LaVine to win the Dunk Contest. To me these events at least feature players skills while the All-Star game itself is just players watching other players score. Will you watch?

The first interview on the podcast last night had Scott Andes from LasordasLair.com to talk Los Angeles Dodgers baseball we followed that interview with Billy Brost from FriarsonBase,com for some San Diego Padres talk. On the field the Dodgers and Padres are rivals and both play in the NL West. While the Dodgers have had the better of this rivalry for years now the Padres have made a ton of moves this off-season to try to close that gap. There are questions on both sides as teams get ready for spring training to start. The Dodgers will be brand new up the middle with Yasmani Grandal catching, Howie Kendrick at 2nd base, Jimmy Rollins at shortstop and rookie Joc Pederson in centerfield. The Padres will have a new starting outfield with Matt Kemp in rightfield, Will Myers in centerfield and Justin Upton in leftfield as well as Derek Norris catching. Both teams still have some questions though. While Kenley Jansen is a solid major league closer posting 44 saves in 49 chances. The question is who gets the ball to him? Is the biggest question I think the Dodgers have to address. In San Diego the Padres have to decide if Yonder Alonso is the right player at 1st base? The Padres also have a glut of outfielders with  Cameron Maybin, Carlos Quentin and Will Venable on the 40 man roster. Are the Padres done dealing? With the addition of James Shields the extra outfielders and Philadelphia Phillies General manager Ruben Amaro Jr’s interest in Andrew Cashner could Cole Hamles be on the radar. One of the best things was listening to Scott and Billy’s take on each others team.

The NHL trade deadline is March 2nd; so which players may be switching teams. Will the Ottawa Senators trade Chris Neil? Will the New York Rangers try to deal J.T. Miller and clear some salary cap space? Will the  New Jersey Devils trade Jaromir Jagr? Since the Carolina Hurricanes haven’t been able to reach extensions with forwards Jiri Tlusty and Jay McClement, will they be dealt before the trade deadline? There’s a couple of names that might move before March 2nd for you. Which Stanley Cup contenders need to add what to win it all? We should get some of these answers soon.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Burketime and remember you can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast at BlogTalkRadio.com

So how was your week?

Let’s call it New Year’s Eve

Posted: December 31, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, sports
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12/31/14

The NFL regular season has come to and end and sadly so has the Greg vs. Mr. Fantasy challenge. I’m hoping both guys will be willing to do this again next season. I have some ideas that will make it a little tougher for them and much more interesting to fantasy players. Anyway let’s take a look and see how Week 17 worked out for them. At quarterback Greg thought Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers would be the highest scoring while Mr. Fantasy liked Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons. Newton scored 20.38 points and finished 5th among quarterbacks. Ryan scored -0.95 points which was 35th or dead last among all the quarterbacks that played in Week 17. If you played Geno Smith of the New York Jets this week or at all during the season it finally paid off for you. Smith scored 26.96 points and led all quarterbacks in Week 17. For running backs Greg liked Matt Asiata of the Minnesota Vikings while Mr. Fantasy went with C.J. Anderson of the Denver Broncos. Asiata scored 17.67 points which was good for 16th among running backs. Anderson on the other hand scored the most points out of all the running back in Week 17 with 33.45 points. At wide receiver Greg picked Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants while Mr. Fantasy went with Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons. Beckham Jr. finished 2nd in wide receiver scoring for Week 17 with 33.75 points. J. Jones scored 8.80 points which was good for 40th for the week. The only wide receiver to finish ahead of Beckham Jr. was the New York Jets Eric Decker with 35.85 points. At tight end Greg went with Heath Miller of the Pittsburgh Steelers while Mr. Fantasy went with Mychal Rivera of the Oakland Raiders. Miller scored 6.35 points which was good for 22nd among tight ends in Week 17. Rivera scored 4.10 points which ranked 37th among tight ends in Week 17. Coby Fleener of the Indianapolis Colts was the leading scorer in Week 17 for tight ends with 21.35 points. At kicker Greg went with Steven Hauschka of the Seattle Seahawks while Mr. Fantasy went with another Atlanta Falcon; kicker Matt Bryant. Hauschka scored 10 points which was good for a 7th place tie for the week. Bryant scored 3 points which was put him tied for 15th place among kickers. Hopefully you had Connor Barth of the Denver Broncos who led all kickers in scoring with 18 points in Week 17. Greg sleeper pick of the week was New Orleans Saints wide receiver Nick Toon while Mr. Fantasy’s sleeper for Week 17 was Buffalo Bills running back C.J. Spiller. Now you wouldn’t call Spiller a classic sleeper pick, but he’s been injured most of the season and I don’t think anyone was expecting him to put up big numbers; so that slides him into the sleeper pick category. Toon caught one pass for 24 yards and a point total of 3.15 which put him 87th among wide receivers for the week. Spiller carried the football five times for 17 yards and caught one pass for two yards and a point total of 3.90. That point total was good for 69th place among all running backs in Week 17. That wraps up Greg vs. Mr. Fantasy for this season.

As you know Mr. Fantasy, Dan the Man, Schaumburg Stu and I have been trying to predict the winners of the NFL games every week with limited success. Mr. Fantasy had a three game lead going into Week 17; did he hang on? Schaumburg Stu and Mr. Fantasy tied this week with a record of 12-4. I was 3rd at 10-6 while Dan the Man was 9-7 for the week. So the season totals look like this: Mr. Fantasy finished 1st with a record of 170-84-1, Schaumburg Stu was 2nd with a record of 167-87-1, I ended the season in 3rd place with a record of 164-90-1 and Dan the Man was at the bottom with a record of 159-95-1. We’ll wipe the slate clean and make playoff picks; so we’ll see how that works out.

With all the deals the San Diego Padres made this off-season everyone was wondering what they where going to do with all of those outfielders. Yesterday they dealt outfielder Seth Smith to the Seattle Mariners for right-handed pitcher Brandon Maurer. Smith signed an extension with the Padres last season and I believe they told him he wouldn’t be dealt, but with a new general manager being hired I’m guessing that deal was off. The left-handed hitting Smith is expected to be part of a platoon set up with Justin Ruggiano. Ruggiano was acquired two  weeks ago from the Chicago Cubs. Smith hit .266 with 12 home runs for San Diego last season. Maurer appeared in 38 games for the Mariners last season; starting seven games. His ERA was 4.65 last season over 69 2/3rd innings. There may be more deals coming from the Padres as they still have a couple of extra outfielders they could move if they choose to do so.

The NHL has their Winter Classic game tomorrow in Washington as the host Capitals take on the Chicago Blackhawks. Even if you’re not a fan of the NHL you should take a look at this game. It’s fun to watch these guys play outside like they used to do when they where kids. You’ll also get to see some stars of the NHL. Alex Ovechkin or “The Great 8” has been with the Capitals since the 2005-06 season and has always been considered one of the top players in the NHL. Ovechkin has 17 goals and 13 assists this season. Washington is 18-11-7 good for 43 points and 3rd place in the Metropolitan division. The Blackhawks 25-10-2 good for 52 points and 1st place in the Central division. On the ice you’ll get to see Blackhawks leading scorer Patrick Kane, 18 goals and 22 assists and captain Jonathan Toews 13 goals and 18 assists and don’t forget defenseman and two time Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith. Even if you can’t make it through the entire game take a look at it and see some professional hockey players outside on the ice like you could do if you wanted to.

The Cleveland Cavaliers (18-13) lost to the Atlanta Hawks (23-8) 109-101 last night. I’m not sure the loss is as big of news as the fact that LeBron James missed the game with knee soreness. I haven’t seen any reports on this injury; so I don’t know if it will keep James out more than just the one game. James has been one of the high-profile NBA players who’ve complained about the schedule. After the complaints James made about the All-Star scheduling last season the NBA changed it to where the players have almost a full week off. It was also James birthday; so maybe it was just a planned day off, but if you’re a Cavaliers fan; are you worried? Not only did James sit out last nights game, but the talk has started of him leaving Cleveland; again when he can opt out of his contract after next season. It’s a little earlier for that kind of talk to start and I’d like to know more about his health than where he might play a couple of seasons from now.

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

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

How was your Week?

Posted: December 20, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, hockey, sports, Uncategorized
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12/20/14

Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks went out and got themselves an early Christmas present trading for Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo. The full deal went like this; Boston traded Rajon Rondo and Forward Dwight Powell to Dallas for Guard Jameer Nelson, Forward Jae Crowder, Forward-Center Brandan Wright, a 2015 first-round draft pick and a 2016 second-round draft pick. While this deal may give the Mavericks the best starting five in the NBA it doesn’t guarantee them anything in the tough Western conference. Rondo was entering his 9th season with the Celtics and is coming off of two injury shortened seasons. He played 38 games in the 2012-13 season and then 30 games in the 2013-14 season. Rondo was playing a little under 32 minutes per game for the Celtics this season and has looked like he’s past his injuries. The knock on Rondo has been his shooting. In 22 games this season Rondo is shooting 44% from the field, 25% from behind the three point line and just 33% from the free throw line. Rondo has always been a good rebounder for a guard and some experts believe that he’s the best rebounding point guard in the NBA. Rondo is averaging 7 1/2 rebounds per game along with handing out an average of 10.8 assists per game; which is leading the NBA right now. Rondo is added to the Mavericks starting line up of Dirk Nowitzki, Monta Ellis, Tyson Chandler and Chandler Parsons. While that will be an impressive starting line up with Wright going to New York in the deal the bench has been weaken especially when it comes to big men. Does Charlie Villanueva become the first big man off of the Mavericks bench with Wright being traded? While dealing for Rondo is the kind of move that will make Dallas one of the favorites to come out of the Western conference if they can’t find a solid big man coming off the bench they might not get to the end of the rainbow and win that NBA title.

The wheeling and dealing continues in Major League Baseball with the San Diego Padres being the team that grabbed center stage. The Padres went out and got themselves a new starting outfield as the Matt Kemp trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Will Myers trade with the Tampa Bay Rays where finalized and then making a trade with the Atlanta Braves to acquire Justin Upton. The final deal has Justin Upton and right-handed pitcher Aaron Northcraft going to the Padres for left-hander Max Fried, second baseman/shortstop Jace Peterson, third baseman Dustin Peterson, outfielder Mallex Smith, and international bonus compensation. The Padres then went out and made a deal with the Oakland A’s as catcher Derek Norris, right-hander Seth Streich and an international signing slot are on the way to San Diego. with right-handers Jesse Hahn and R.J. Alvarez going to Oakland. The Padres still weren’t done making deals as they had ab extra catcher in the roster; so they sent catcher Ryan Hanigan to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for third baseman Will Middlebrooks. It looks like the Padres aren’t done dealing as they have a glut of outfielders on the roster right now. Besides Upton, Myers and Kemp they have Will Venable, Seth Smith, Cameron Maybin and the oft injured Carlos Quentin on the roster. It’s possible that one of these players ends up at 1st base as Myers and I believe Venable have played some 1st base at the major league level. We had Billy Brost on Sports Time Radio yesterday (Friday) from Friars On Base and he wrote an article suggesting that Quentin might be the best choice to try to move to 1st base. With his injury history Quentin doesn’t have a whole lot o value on the trade market, but a move to 1st base might help him stay healthy and get another bat in the Padres line up. The Padres may also have some starting pitching to deal as well. With Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross, Ian Kennedy, Odrisamer Despaigne, Robbie Erlin, the recently signed Brandon Morrow and the resigned Josh Johnson looking like candidates for the rotation. There’s even a chance that the Padres trade closer Joaquin Benoit as they have the hard throwing Kevin Quackenbush possibly ready to take over the closer role. You’ll need to keep an eye on San Diego and see what their next move is.

Not to be out done, the Miami Marlins kept their off-season activity going as they made a pair of deals. In the first deal the Marlins traded right-handed pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, 1st baseman Garrett Jones and right-handed pitcher Domingo German to New York Yankees for right-handed pitcher David Phelps and Martin Prado. With Prado’s ability to play all over the diamond it looked like Miami might use him as a super utility type of player. That wasn’t the case as Prado will be the Marlins everyday 3rd baseman as last season 3rd baseman Casey McGehee was traded to the World Series champion San Francisco Giants for young righties Kendry Flores and Luis Castillo. McGehee will replace Pablo Sandoval at 3rd base for the Giants. As most of you know by now Sandoval signed with the Boston Red Sox earlier in free agency. McGehee was the National League Comeback Player of the Year last season for the Marlins.

There where also some minor transactions made that will affect your favorite team. A couple of veteran players were released by their teams as the Oakland A’s released infielder Nick Punto and the Dodgers released relief pitcher Brian Wilson. The Kansas City Royals traded 2nd baseman Johnny Giavotella to Los Angeles Angels for right-handed pitcher Brian Broderick. The Chicago Cubs have signed Jon Lester’s personal catcher David Ross to a two-year, $5 million contract. They look like minor moves for teams right now, but you never know how it will affect a team or where some of these guys will end up.

Both mine and Dan the Man’s fantasy hockey teams are off to good starts in the Sports Time Radio league. Dan’s team is the #1 ranked team overall for the season and I am ranked 6th out of the 18 teams. Vladimir Tarasenko the St. Louis Blues right-winger has been a big surprise and is the #1 ranked forward/defenseman in our league right now. Tarasenko was rated as the 157th player starting the season, but with 20 goals, 17 assists and a plus/minus rating of +19 he’s moved to the top of the rankings. Tarasenko is actually the #2 overall ranked player in our league, but the top offensive one. The #1 overall ranked player in the Sports Time Radio league is Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne. Rinne has 20 wins against 6 losses with a Goals Against Average of 1.76, a Save Percentage of .937 and three shutouts so far this season. Sadly neither Dan or I have either of these players, but are teams are doing well just the same.

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

So how was your week?

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.

7/19/14 How was your Week?

Posted: July 19, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Uncategorized
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The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have acquired Huston Street from the San Diego Padres in a 6 player deal. Prospects Taylor Lindsey, R.J. Alvarez, Jose Rondon and Elliot Morris will head to San Diego while the Angels will also get right-hander Trevor Gott. Street has 24 saves and has only given up 4 earned runs in 33 appearances for an ERA of 1.09. Ernesto Frieri started the season as the Angels closer and did get 11 saves, but had his issues along the way and was eventually dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Joe Smith moved into the closer role after the Frieri deal and picked up 15 saves to this point for the Angels. Street is in his 10th season and the Angels will be his 4th team. He has closed for the Oakland A’s, Colorado Rockies and of course the Padres before the trade. Street has 258 career saves with his high water mark being 37 saves for the A’s in 2006. The back-end up the bullpen was the Angels weakness going into the season, but with the trade for Street they get an experienced closer who should help keep them in the American League West race. The Angels are 1 1/2 behind the A’s in the West and would claim a wild card spot right now. The top two teams in the A.L. West the A’s and the Angels have made big trades. Does this mean the Seattle Mariners have to make a deal to stay in the A.L. West race? The Mariners are currently 9 games behind Oakland, but would be the 2nd wild card team right now.

I’m not sure how many of you where rooting for the New York Yankees this season. With it being Derek Jeter’s last season I thought they might get themselves into the playoffs and Jeter would go out that way. Now with the pitching injuries the Yankees have had I don’t think will get to see Jeter in the playoffs one more time. Masahiro Tanaka has issues with the ligament in his pitching elbow. No one has said the magic Tommy John word when it comes to Tanaka, but you have to wonder if that surgery is down the road for him. The Yankees have also announced that CC Sabathia’s season is officially over. Sabathia is scheduled to have arthroscopic debridement surgery this coming Wednesday. No team can lose it’s top two starting pitchers and hope to compete; so sadly for Yankees fans and Derek Jeter fans it looks like his career will end at game 162 this season.

As you’ve known for a week or so now LeBron James signed a 2 year deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Well now James wants Kevin Love to be a Cavalier and the trade rumors have started. Unlike James’s situation when he went to Miami, Love has a contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves; so Cleveland just can’t sign him. The trade rumor I’ve heard the most has Cleveland sending this year’s #1 overall draft pick; Andrew Wiggins, last years #1 overall draft pick Anthony Bennett and a 2015 1st round draft pick to Minnesota for Love. It’s being reported that the Timberwolves want more than this for the Cavaliers for Love. James must realize that the way the cavaliers roster is right now that they’re too young and inexperienced to win and NBA title and adding a player like Love brings the Cavaliers closer to that title. Don’t forget though that the Golden State Warriors have long had an interest in Love. The Warriors are offering a package that includes David Lee and Harrison Barnes. Minnesota would like Klay Thompson in any deal they make with Golden State, but right now the Warriors have been hesitant to include Thompson in any deal. The Chicago Bulls where the 3rd team that had major interest in Love, but with the signing of Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic signing the Bulls are out. I mentioned earlier that James only signed for two seasons with Cleveland. Will we have to go through “Decision 3” with James? I don’t think that will happen. Two years is a good signing by James and his people. After that 2nd season the new television contract kicks in for the NBA and the salary cap should go up allowing James to get more money in a couple of seasons. I don’t think Cavaliers fans should panic about the short-term deal for James; I think it was just a smart business move by his agent.

So how was your week?

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