Posts Tagged ‘Yasiel Puig’

How was your week

Posted: September 3, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in NASCAR, sports
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We had the first of two Sports Time Radio fantasy football drafts last night. This was the traditional snake style draft. Dan the Man got the 1st pick in the draft and used it to select Antonio Brown the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver. Brown has pretty much been the #1 ranked player; so it was a good choice by Dan. I ended up with the 16th pick and Mr. Fantasy ended up picking 19th out of 20 teams. It’s always fun to get that first draft out of the way. Now tonight we have out suction style draft. It took a while, but I’ve gotten the hang of these auction drafts. When we first started doing them I would end up with quite a bit of money left over. There are still times I look at the prices and just can’t believe that someone is paying that for whatever player is on the board. So we had a Friday draft, a Saturday draft and then Mr. Fantasy and I have a draft on Monday morning. Yes you read that right we’re doing a fantasy football draft on Labor Day.

In case you where wondering how the 1st round fell for me I took Dez Bryant the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver with the 16th pick. I had to decide between Bryant and New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks. It was a tougher choice than I thought it would be. I think Bryant is still one of the top receivers in the NFL and I know he might suffer a little bit without Tony Romo, but I think he was the better choice. Cooks is a good receiver as well, but I think he’s more a function of the Saints offense. I know there where a lot of people who liked Dak Prescott. I just hope he throws the football to Bryant.

It was announced yesterday that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss the remainder of the NASCAR season. Earnhardt Jr. has missed the last 6 races and will skip the final 12 as well due to the concussion like symptoms he’s suffering from. It’s believed that Earnhardt Jr. suffered the concussion when he was involved in a crash June 12th at the Michigan International Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports announced that Jeff Gordon will drive the #88 car this week at Darlington. Gordon along with Alex Bowman will finish the season behind the wheel for Earnhardt Jr.In addition to Sunday’s race, Gordon will be behind the wheel of the No. 88 for races at Richmond (Sept. 10), Dover (Oct. 2) and Martinsville (Oct. 30). Bowman will drive at Chicagoland (Sept. 18), New Hampshire (Sept. 25), Charlotte (Oct. 8), Kansas (Oct. 16), Talladega (Oct. 23), Texas (Nov. 6), Phoenix (Nov. 13) and the series finale at Homestead (Nov. 20). With the missed races Earnhardt Jr. fell out of the Top 16 in points and even if he was to return for this weeks race at Darlington or next weeks race at Richmond he’d have to win one of those two races to get into The Chase. Earnhardt Jr. has been undergoing regular evaluations at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program and is being treated for issues related to balance and focusing on objects that are at a distance while moving his head. On August 5th at the Watkins Glen race Earnhardt Jr. spoke with the media and said he wants to continue racing. Earnhardt Jr. is under contract with Hemdrick Motorsports for the 2017 NASCAR season. He is son of seven-time Sprint Cup champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt, Earnhardt Jr. has never won a Sprint Cup title, with a best finish in the season standings of third in 2003. After missing The Chase for two consecutive seasons, he has enjoyed a career resurgence with five consecutive Chase appearances from 2011 to 2015.

At first it didn’t look like the Los Angeles Dodgers would be bringing Yasiel Puig back to the majors as a September call up. Now they did decide to add Puig to the roster when it expanded to 40 players. Puig got the start in right field for the Dodgers and hit 5th last night against the San Diego Padres. Puig spent a month at Triple-A Oklahoma City before returning to the Dodgers line up last night. Now the Dodgers did end up losing the game 4-2 to the Padres, but Puig went 2 for 4 and upped his batting average to .263 on the season. Puig was placed on revocable waivers last month by the Dodgers. One team claimed Puig on waivers, but it was never reported who that team was. It is being reported that the team was the Milwaukee Brewers and they where interested in sending the Dodgers Ryan Braun as part of a Puig trade. The Dodgers decided to hang onto Puig and have said that if they do trade him they would wait until the off season so they could talk to all the teams interested in him.

http://m.mlb.com/gameday/padres-vs-dodgers/2016/09/02/448874?#game_tab=box,game=448874,game_state=final

In other Dodgers news Clayton Kershaw is schedule to make a rehab start today for the Class-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes today. Kershaw is scheduled to throw 50 pitches in this minor league rehab outing. Kershaw has been out since June 26 with a lower-back injury, and it is possible he could return to the  Dodgers on the club’s next road trip. While Kershaw is the big name pitching at Rancho Cucamonga today Brett Anderson is also going to pitch in their game today following Kershaw to the mound. Rancho Cucamonga has been a popular landing spot for rehabbing Dodgers players this season. Los Angeles has put a record tying 27 players on the disabled list this season. Now depending on when Kershaw actually returns he could make up to four starts for the Dodgers. The Dodgers are currently in 1st place in the National League West. They’re holding a 2 game lead over the San Francisco Giants coming into Saturday’s action. Just imagine what adding a pitcher like Kershaw would do for your stretch run and playoffs.

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: July 20, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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So the rumors started yesterday that the Los Angeles Dodgers are seriously interested in trading Yasiel Puig. We heard these same rumors last season, but Puig is still with the Dodgers. Is this the season the Dodgers deal him? While it seems as though he’s been around longer this is just Puig’s 4th season in the majors and he is just 25 years old. Remember Puig came out of the gate like a sure fire superstar. Puig came in and played 104 games in 2013. He hit .319 with 19 home runs and 42 RBI’s and added 11 stolen bases. There are some people out there who have identified him as the Rookie of the Year, but he actually finished 2nd to Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins. Puig also picked up some MVP votes that season and finished 15th in that voting. In 2014 Puig played 148 games hitting .296 with 16 home runs and 69 RBI’s and making his first All-Star team. He also picked up some MVP votes after that season and finished 19th in the voting. Puig was injured for much of the 2015 season. He played in just 79 games. He hit .255 with 11 home runs and had 38 RBI’s. The Dodgers where hoping a healthy Puig would bounce back t numbers more like his first two seasons, but he hasn’t. In 76 games Puig is hitting .256 with 7 home runs and 32 RBI’s this season. If the Dodgers do find a taker for Puig; which player will they get? Let’s take a look at some landing spots for Puig.

How about the New York Yankees? Take it easy Yankees fans I don’t think you’ll be getting Aroldis Chapman for Puig, but there are some options for these teams to deal. A more likely trade that could happen between these two teams is Puig for Carlos Beltran. Beltran is 39 years old, but is having a good season. He’s hitting .301 with 19 home runs and 58 RBI’s. If Clayton Kershaw’s return is pushed back with his injury the Dodgers are going to have to find a way to stay in contention for a wild card spot and adding some offense might help. Beltran has been able to stay healthy this season and has appeared in 88 games this season for the Yankees. Another plus for the Dodgers is Beltran is in the last year of his contract and with the young outfielders they have in their system he won’t be in the way. Beltran is owed about $8 million for the rest of this season while Puig is under contract for two more years at $7 million apiece. It’s two teams with plenty of money; so swapping salaries shouldn’t be an issue. The Dodgers could get some offensive help to put between Corey Seager and Adrian Gonzalez while the Yankees can get a young outfielder they can build around.

Another possible landing spot for Puig could be the rebuilding Atlanta Braves. It might sound odd to some people as the Braves are on their way to losing 100 plus games this season and possibly next season as well. It would actually give the Braves a chance t look at Puig and decide if he could be part of their rebuilding as his contract was coming to an end after the 2018 season. If so they could try to resign him or if not they could just let him go into free agency. The tough part would be figuring out what the Braves could send back in return. I don’t think the Dodgers would be interested in Nick Markakis. With the Braves rebuilding they’d want to hang on to their young players. Could the Braves out together a package featuring someone like Chase D’Arnaud or Jace Peterson with a pitcher or two thrown in be enough to get the Dodgers to send them Puig. It’s a deal that the Braves need to look into the question will be can they find a player or players that would interest the Dodgers enough to trade them Puig.

Could another rebuilding team like the Milwaukee Brewers be a team that could step up and tried to add Puig. It could be an easy deal if the Dodgers where willing to accept Ryan Braun and what’s left of his contract for Puig. Braun is signed through 2020 with an option for 20121. He’ll receive $20 million next season and in 2018, $19 million in 2019, $17 million in 2020 with a $15 million dollar option for 2021. Braun is 32 years old and it seems as though his power has been in decline. While Braun is still a home run threat he’s not the same player who hit 41 home runs in  2012. In 77 games this season Braun is hitting .313 with 13 home runs and 44 RBI’s. If the Brewers are going to truly rebuild they need to find a way to move Braun’s contract and this could be the answer they’ve been looking for. The issue may be will the Dodgers who have some talented young outfielders be willing to tie themselves down with Braun until 2020. Don’t forget that the Dodgers are going to be paying off Carl Crawford’s contract for the next couple of seasons.

Let’s reach out for one more team here and add the Toronto Blue Jays to the list of teams that could be a good spot for Puig. Jose Batista is injured and in the last year of his contract. Don’t forget that Batista is looking for a big payday at the end of the season and adding Puig could allow the Blue Jays to let Batista walk. Edwin Encarnacion is also in the last year of his contract and has been recruited by David Ortiz to sing with the Boston Red Sox and take over his role with them next season.  At 25 Puig along with Devon Travis would be the youngest player on the Blue Jays roster. The difficult part again here is finding someone to send back to Los Angeles in a deal. Ezequiel Carrera has had a solid season for the Blue Jays; so maybe they could add him into a deal with a young pitcher like Drew Hutchinson and a couple of bullpen pieces for Puig. This is the tough part about making a deal. While it looks as though Puig would be a good fit for the Blue Jays and their future it’s difficult to fin the right set of players to send back to the Dodgers to make a deal.

There are four interesting options for Yasiel Puig. Do the Dodgers finally go through with their plan to deal Puig or will he still be there at the end of the season? Remember this is a different front office talking about trading Puig this time; so maybe he ends up being dealt this time. Would you like to see your favorite team acquire Puig? Or do you have a better landing spot than the four I picked for him. If you do let me know.

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How was your Week? (7/13/13)

Posted: July 13, 2013 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, sports, Uncategorized
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After a week off to announce the Sports Time Radio All Stars, we’re back.

I’m a little disappointed that baseball hasn’t gotten more attention on the highlight shows. For whatever reason there seems to be a lot of NBA talk, even though Dwight Howard signed a week ago with the Houston Rockets. While I enjoy the NBA I don’t need to see more highlights from your summer league games than I do from an actual baseball that counts in the standings. I’ll take most of the blame for this as I don’t have the MLB network on my cable package. I guess if I want my baseball highlights I’ll have to breakdown and upgrade my cable package but like almost everyone else out their I’m not looking forward to spending the extra money.

Did you vote for the last spot on the All Star team? I always vote once and I cast my vote for Joaquin Benoit (Detroit Tigers) in the American League and Yasiel Puig (Los Angles Dodgers) in the National League. Out of the ten (10) guys that where on the ballot these where the two (2) players I wanted to see. Of course I didn’t get my wish as Steve Delabar (Toronto Blue Jays) & Freddie Freeman (Atlanta Braves) won the fan voting. The Toronto fans and the Atlanta fans teamed up to vote for each others players and I know there was some issue with this. Dan the Man pointed out on the show that the San Francisco Giants had a team they partnered with, but right now I’m drawing a blank on who that team was. It was a promotion to get you to vote for each others players. This isn’t a big an issue to me as it is to some experts; it’s the All Star game and you’re allowed to vote for whoever on the ballot you want to vote for.

Ilya Kovalchuk walked away from the NHL and a contract that would’ve paid him $77 million. Kovalchuk is from Russia and more or less just wanted to go home. He made $23 million on the contract before leaving and I’m guessing will play in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) next season. A lot of people have called Kovalchuk out for doing this but I don’t see an issue with this. If Kovalchuk wanted to go home and play hockey he should be allowed to be. The New Jersey Devils don’t have to pay off the contract and I don’t believe it will count against their salary cap. While the Devils have to replace Kovalchuk I think they would rather replace him than deal with an unhappy player.

Believe it or not NFL training camps are getting ready to open. I thought I heard the New Orleans Saints open training camp first on July 18th. These aren’t your father’s NFL training camps. With the new collective bargaining agreement teams can still have doubles; two (2) practices in the same day, but their only allowed to wear pads for one (1) of these practices. While I’m sure these practices are very, very tough I’d like to know how they compare to the older training camps? “Are you ready for some Football”