Okay, the Week 2 NFL action is over and now we have additional perspective, but, if we had absolutely no perspective after Week 1, does one more game played qualify as an event worthy of contributing true perspective? I would say NOT!
Take the Giants, for example, please. They looked awful in their Week 1 loss vs. the Skins, a team I had termed “low so many years”. Then the Rams came to town after having had a fairly successful (for them) opener against the Eagles. (Well, it had been close for most of three quarters anyway). It wouldn’t have been surprising under those circumstances if the Rams had managed to beat the Giants.
Of course they didn’t. The Rams fielded what was perhaps the worst set of receivers I had ever seen on any field anywhere. In fact, I could expand my meaning somewhat to say that kids in the street playing “association” football have better hands. They played some of the worst football I’ve ever seen.
So, in the face of such great incompetence, you could have expected the G-Men to have looked pretty good. But they really didn’t. They just managed to survive against an incredibly inept team, one riddled with injuries and woefully short on talent seemingly everywhere.
So what does that tell us? Well, it tells me that the Giants still can stink out the joint, against anybody. They did manage to run the ball a bit. That was somewhat heartening, I guess. In truth though, the only truly good thing was their pass rush. Their secondary still seems clueless and their passing game was only just good enough to enable them to run the ball.
The Jints probably won’t face Michael Vick next week, a very good thing, but it hardly matters. The Eagles can beat the Giants with Vince Young or Mike Kafka at QB. The Eagles are chomping at the bit. The Giants spit the bit in Week 1 and haven’t grabbed hold of it since. That’s what happens to a team that doesn’t sign its best players.
As good as GM Reese had been in his first season, that’s as bad as he did this year. Losing Kevin Boss and Steve Smith to free agency was just unconscionable. Losing Eli’s center (and friend) was almost as bad. Their replacements just haven’t got it. Those guys couldn’t really be replaced. Talk about penny-wise and pound foolish.
But why belabor a point. The Giants stink. Coughlin stinks. Reese really stinks and even good ol’ Eli stinks. Who woulda thunk it?
Now the Jets are a much happier story. They signed everybody they needed. When the Giants abandoned Plaxico, the Jets came up with a contract for him. The Jets worst receiver is better than the Giants best, at least this past Sunday. The Jets have already won a game they should have lost. The Giants can only relax when that clock strikes zero.
But no team I’ve seen so far can say they have all their bases covered. The Eagles, for example, managed to lose to the Falcons Sunday despite their 10-point lead when Vick went to the sidelines. They’re supposed to be a dream team. If that’s true, it’s a bad dream indeed.
Ok, so I forgot about the Pats. Actually, I’d love to forget about the Pats. They may have some weak spots too but, if so, they’re not so immediately obvious. Unless you can call a two tight end offense a weakness, the Pats seem awesome.
But all of the above is based on two weeks performance. The only things I’m really sure of are that the Jets will be happy as clams and the Giants will look like the smiley face upside down.
Baseball fans can be happy that the wildcard races in both leagues have become true races. As this is written, our Mets are trying to put a damper on the Cardinals post-season hopes. And not only that but Cohen and Darling are interviewing GM Sandy Alderson as to the future of the franchise. Most notable from that talk was that October will be dedicated towards keeping Jose Reyes.
But the Cards and Giants are catching the Braves and the Rays are doing likewise with the Red Sox. With just about 8 or 9 games to go, these wildcard races will be going to the wire. The Rays, however, have much the worst of the schedule (and are now losing to the Yankees 5-0), but the Red Sox’s decline seems to just keep going of its own momentum despite the opponent.
If pitching truly does determine pennant winners, the Rays have a real shot but the Braves can pitch with the best of them, albeit not lately. The Cards may be the toughest of the National League bunch with Pujols and Berkman in the lineup and the best fans anywhere. The Cards just pulled ahead of the Mets in tonight’s game in their bid to remain just 3 games back of Atlanta who won tonight.
It always makes me a little sad when the baseball season winds down. It may be because it’s a harbinger of worse things to come, colder weather, the end of summer, barbecues and the Jersey shore. But it also marks the end of daily games in a sport that is played out day after day for 162 games. The NFL plays 16 games in 17 weeks and that’s all she wrote. We look forward to hype only for 6 days out of every 7.
All that inactivity would be broken up in normal years by NBA basketball. This year of course will be anything but normal as the owners and players dig in their heels. So it’ll be college basketball only and, if you’re a Seton Hall or Rutgers fan, there just won’t be much to think about. That’s assuming the Big East remains unchanged, a highly unlikely prospect right now.
Oh well, at least Curtis Granderson may still get MVP.
Showing posts with label Granderson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Granderson. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
September Is Looking Good
Oh good, it’s not raining.
And the Yanks are fielding their irregulars for the day after late-night game with the Orioles. It’s Nunez leading off, then Martin, Swisher, Arod, Andruw Jones, the rook Montero, then Laird, Golson and Pena. So far, Arod looks good and Montero got caught lunging at a low and away slider. But there’s more fun in store with that 7 thru 9 lineup….Laird, Golson and Pena, whew!
It should be interesting to see what A.J. Burnett gives up today. So far it doesn’t look good. First baseman Laird just muffed an easy grounder to give the Birds another run. It could be a long day.
The Mets took one in unusual fashion last night from the Marlins. Parnell failed as a closer yet again, giving up two runs to allow Florida to tie the game at four. It took 3 more innings of work to finally win it 7-4. Pagan, Bay, Evans and Reyes combined to score three big runs in the top of the 12th to win it.
Not that any of these heroics mean anything, but, what the hell, it is still baseball. Nominally.
The big stir for me today is the NFL opener tomorrow night between the Saints and the Packers, the super Bowl champs against the champs of two years ago. There’ll be Saints rookie running back Mark Ingram to check out in his first real game and, of course, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. Sounds good.
The Football Giants can’t get a break, unless you count bones. Now their linebacker Goff is gone too. He’ll join the rookie corner who went down after about one play in pre-season and the other 2nd-year LB Clint Sintim on the DL. And let’s not forget Terrell Thomas.
Yes, folks, that same defense that gave up all those second half points to the Eagles last year, that same horrible excuse for a defense, will be right back this year. Oh well, at least they tried to fix things. It’s just that anybody who could have helped is hurt. I won’t even mention the offensive losses of Steve Smith and Kevin Boss. As things turned out, they’re both injured anyway. But you would be forgiven for forgetting the names of the guys playing middle linebacker and one of the corners.
But the Giants do have the advantage of playing against the Redskins, lo these many years low these many years. The current Redskins under Mike Shanahan feature Rex Grossman as its quarterback. Donovan McNabb is off in the wilds of the north and I hope Shanahan will be happy now. As he already divested himself of Haynesworth the Ugly, this is a Redskins team that might be very close to a Shanahan ideal, good running game, zone blocking, yada yada ya. But what about the Skins defense?
(Montero, the Yankee rookie who looked so bad in his first AB, just hit a long single to right to score two and tie the game up for AJ and the Bombers).
The Jets have had a lot more luck with just about everything. They return an offense that ‘ll be remarkably identical to last year’s, the exception being Plaxico Burress taking over for Braylon Edwards at wide receiver. On defense, they’ll probably wind up being less consistent than last year’s group, as veterans have been let go but big things are expected from two big bodies in Kenrick Ellis and Muhammad Wilkerson.
The Jets will be facing the Cowboys. Who knows where this score could end up? If you told me it’d be high-scoring, I’d believe you. If you said it’d be a scoreless tie, I could entertain that idea too. The Cowboys are just all over the place. Romo is back and he’ll be trying to find Jersey boy Miles Austin and the sometimes sensational Dez Bryant. They’ll score points for sure but their running game will probably be harder for this Jets defense to stop. Expect to see a lot of Felix Jones and Tashard Choice. Look for those two rookies. They may be on the ground a lot.
Meanwhile, back to baseball, the MVP race in the American League seems to be tightening. Curtis Granderson, Adrian Gonzalez and Robinson Cano, to my mind, could all stake a legitimate claim to the title but there’re still quite a few games to go. Cano especially seems to be coming on, and have you seen him play the field? It seems he’s a human highlight reel.
Who’ll be the playoff teams in each league? While the wildcard teams will come from the East in both the NL and AL, the only real question marks will be who’ll win the West . In the AL West Texas is still only 3 games up on the Angels while in the NL West, the upstart Arizona Diamondbacks are a full 6 games up on the World Series Champs SF Giants.
The D’Backs have the pitching to lock out the Giants, both on the starting and relieving end. Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson, Joe Saunders and Josh Collmenter are all well below the 4.0 ERA marker and they seem to finally have the lineup to back up that pitching.
Justin Upton is the closest thing to Curtis Granderson in the National League, batting .297 with 27 homers and 93 runs scored. Miguel Montero is perhaps the best hitting catcher in the NL while other role players such as Chris Young, Ryan Roberts and Willie Bloomquist keep on keeping on.
The Angels are looking old though, and despite some pretty awesome pitching, just don’t have the firepower to knock out the resilient Texas Rangers. The Rangers have just enough pitching to see themselves to the Promised Land, especially with their beefing up of the relief corps with Mike Adams.
September is looking good if you discount all the rain. The baseball playoffs should be riveting, especially those involving the Red Sox and Yankees. Let’s hope the Giants and Jets can keep the month interesting.
And the Yanks are fielding their irregulars for the day after late-night game with the Orioles. It’s Nunez leading off, then Martin, Swisher, Arod, Andruw Jones, the rook Montero, then Laird, Golson and Pena. So far, Arod looks good and Montero got caught lunging at a low and away slider. But there’s more fun in store with that 7 thru 9 lineup….Laird, Golson and Pena, whew!
It should be interesting to see what A.J. Burnett gives up today. So far it doesn’t look good. First baseman Laird just muffed an easy grounder to give the Birds another run. It could be a long day.
The Mets took one in unusual fashion last night from the Marlins. Parnell failed as a closer yet again, giving up two runs to allow Florida to tie the game at four. It took 3 more innings of work to finally win it 7-4. Pagan, Bay, Evans and Reyes combined to score three big runs in the top of the 12th to win it.
Not that any of these heroics mean anything, but, what the hell, it is still baseball. Nominally.
The big stir for me today is the NFL opener tomorrow night between the Saints and the Packers, the super Bowl champs against the champs of two years ago. There’ll be Saints rookie running back Mark Ingram to check out in his first real game and, of course, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. Sounds good.
The Football Giants can’t get a break, unless you count bones. Now their linebacker Goff is gone too. He’ll join the rookie corner who went down after about one play in pre-season and the other 2nd-year LB Clint Sintim on the DL. And let’s not forget Terrell Thomas.
Yes, folks, that same defense that gave up all those second half points to the Eagles last year, that same horrible excuse for a defense, will be right back this year. Oh well, at least they tried to fix things. It’s just that anybody who could have helped is hurt. I won’t even mention the offensive losses of Steve Smith and Kevin Boss. As things turned out, they’re both injured anyway. But you would be forgiven for forgetting the names of the guys playing middle linebacker and one of the corners.
But the Giants do have the advantage of playing against the Redskins, lo these many years low these many years. The current Redskins under Mike Shanahan feature Rex Grossman as its quarterback. Donovan McNabb is off in the wilds of the north and I hope Shanahan will be happy now. As he already divested himself of Haynesworth the Ugly, this is a Redskins team that might be very close to a Shanahan ideal, good running game, zone blocking, yada yada ya. But what about the Skins defense?
(Montero, the Yankee rookie who looked so bad in his first AB, just hit a long single to right to score two and tie the game up for AJ and the Bombers).
The Jets have had a lot more luck with just about everything. They return an offense that ‘ll be remarkably identical to last year’s, the exception being Plaxico Burress taking over for Braylon Edwards at wide receiver. On defense, they’ll probably wind up being less consistent than last year’s group, as veterans have been let go but big things are expected from two big bodies in Kenrick Ellis and Muhammad Wilkerson.
The Jets will be facing the Cowboys. Who knows where this score could end up? If you told me it’d be high-scoring, I’d believe you. If you said it’d be a scoreless tie, I could entertain that idea too. The Cowboys are just all over the place. Romo is back and he’ll be trying to find Jersey boy Miles Austin and the sometimes sensational Dez Bryant. They’ll score points for sure but their running game will probably be harder for this Jets defense to stop. Expect to see a lot of Felix Jones and Tashard Choice. Look for those two rookies. They may be on the ground a lot.
Meanwhile, back to baseball, the MVP race in the American League seems to be tightening. Curtis Granderson, Adrian Gonzalez and Robinson Cano, to my mind, could all stake a legitimate claim to the title but there’re still quite a few games to go. Cano especially seems to be coming on, and have you seen him play the field? It seems he’s a human highlight reel.
Who’ll be the playoff teams in each league? While the wildcard teams will come from the East in both the NL and AL, the only real question marks will be who’ll win the West . In the AL West Texas is still only 3 games up on the Angels while in the NL West, the upstart Arizona Diamondbacks are a full 6 games up on the World Series Champs SF Giants.
The D’Backs have the pitching to lock out the Giants, both on the starting and relieving end. Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson, Joe Saunders and Josh Collmenter are all well below the 4.0 ERA marker and they seem to finally have the lineup to back up that pitching.
Justin Upton is the closest thing to Curtis Granderson in the National League, batting .297 with 27 homers and 93 runs scored. Miguel Montero is perhaps the best hitting catcher in the NL while other role players such as Chris Young, Ryan Roberts and Willie Bloomquist keep on keeping on.
The Angels are looking old though, and despite some pretty awesome pitching, just don’t have the firepower to knock out the resilient Texas Rangers. The Rangers have just enough pitching to see themselves to the Promised Land, especially with their beefing up of the relief corps with Mike Adams.
September is looking good if you discount all the rain. The baseball playoffs should be riveting, especially those involving the Red Sox and Yankees. Let’s hope the Giants and Jets can keep the month interesting.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Fantastic Reflections and EARTHQUAKE!
A beautiful day is this Tuesday August 23rd, a great day for running in the park or getting some outside chores done. But while I should be getting my butt moving on to other things right now, I just can’t. My mind is chock full right now of reflections, on the baseball season just past for sure but also on the upcoming NFL season.
But I haven’t been thinking at all about the actual seasons. After all, the Mets have been decimated once again and the playoff teams are virtually set in stone with one or two exceptions. The only questions left are whether the Yanks or Red Sox will get past the Rangers and, if they do, will either of them get past the Phillies in the World Series?
Looking ahead to the NFL actual seasons, it’ll be business as usual, it seems, as the Pats and Jets and Colts and Packers and Steelers, you know, the usual suspects, look to be the strongest teams for 2011-2012. I’ve not included the Giants as they seem to have too many weaknesses right now, not the least of which may be the two yahoos running things. (yeah, I know, they won the big one 3 or 4 years ago but you’ll notice that some of their key clutch players from that almost magical season are gone now).
So, if not the actual seasons, what can I be reflecting upon? Why, the fantasy seasons of course!
In fantasy baseball, my Crabs contingent is sumthin’ like 16½ games ahead of its closest competition with just two week left to the regular fantasy season. And, while it’s possible I could really get blown out in these last two weeks, it’s highly unlikely. Even with losing Brian Wilson and Jimmy Rollins to the DL in this last week, I’m thinking their replacements will still get me to the finish line in fair shape.
I like to think my brilliant baseball draft strategy back in late March is the reason I’m so far ahead but, more realistically, my success can be attributed to just two guys, they being Robinson Cano, my number 1 draft choice, but most especially Curtis Granderson. my number 13 choice. As David Wright was my number two choice and is having by far his worst season ever, I must eat humble pie on my draft strategy and admit I’ve been lucky.
But I’m left to reflect upon the true greatness of this Granderson fellow. This guy just hasn’t quit being humility personified this entire season. Despite his prodigious numbers, currently at 114 runs scored and 98 ribbies, Curtis, when asked, will focus on his measly .281 batting average and his 131 strikeouts.
Curtis won’t mention that he has stolen 24 bases. He won’t dwell on the fact that he plays a stellar centerfield. He attributes his huge lead in the runs scored department to Cano and Teixeira, who drove him in more often than not. But to me, his most endearing attribute is his unfailing propensity for picking up foul balls around the plate and handing the ball to the catcher!
I mean, who does that? Only one guy. Curtis Granderson.
And only one guy gets an inside the park home run on his drive to the top of the right-center field fence the other day. Only one guy runs full-speed out of the box until he sees it go over the fence, only one guy turns it up a notch when he sees the coach’s go sign, and only one guy makes a beautiful slide into the plate, fatigue be damned. His name is Curtis Granderson.
I know Jose Bautista’s been great and Adrian Gonzalez too, but they haven’t been, and can’t be, Curtis Granderson. Curtis Granderson is, as Nick Swisher said the other day, blowing the doors off. I’m rooting like crazy for him to somehow, some way, keep up his almost feverish intensity throughout the rest of the season. There are 39 games left. I don’t want to jinx him…..but whoa!!
Meanwhile, Cano has been, well, Cano. After a pretty ho-hum start for him, he seems to have turned it up after the break. His August numbers have been unbelievable, to date standing at a cool .351 BA and he’s driven in 19 in as many games. He’s slugging .649 for a ridiculous August OPS of 1.035.
I’ve been a real Yankee-hater but it’d be impossible to hate these guys, not just Granderson and Cano but also Teixeira and Jeter and you can throw Swisher in there too. I’m hoping Arod’s return won’t screw things up, but Grandy’s batted second, third, fourth, eighth….and it hasn’t affected him one bit. Lefty on the mound? No problem…..unaffected, that’s the essence of Granderson.
Speaking of “unaffected”, I was anything but unaffected by a friggin’ EARTHQUAKE that just shook my entire house. I thought my body was spasming at first, then started walking to the door and thought I was having some kind of heart attack as I felt dizzy and shaky. Holy crap!!
Back on point though, I’ve already been worrying about my number 4 position in my fantasy football draft coming up this Saturday. What I’m expecting is that Arian Foster and Adrian Peterson will be gone, as will QB Aaron Rodgers, based on my previous experience with the same group. That would leave me only Chris Johnson and Ray Rice of the “elite” backs and I just can’t get excited over either of them.
Of course, there will be elite QB’s still on the board, all but Rodgers in fact. But Peyton Manning is hurt, Tom Brady winds up almost every year taking a seat during the fantasy playoffs and Michael friggin’ Vick is the closest human thing to a target for every fast huge hard-hitting defenseman looking to make a name for himself.
That would leave me Drew Brees, a guy who helped me to a 2nd place finish last year. I guess I can live with that.
But I haven’t been thinking at all about the actual seasons. After all, the Mets have been decimated once again and the playoff teams are virtually set in stone with one or two exceptions. The only questions left are whether the Yanks or Red Sox will get past the Rangers and, if they do, will either of them get past the Phillies in the World Series?
Looking ahead to the NFL actual seasons, it’ll be business as usual, it seems, as the Pats and Jets and Colts and Packers and Steelers, you know, the usual suspects, look to be the strongest teams for 2011-2012. I’ve not included the Giants as they seem to have too many weaknesses right now, not the least of which may be the two yahoos running things. (yeah, I know, they won the big one 3 or 4 years ago but you’ll notice that some of their key clutch players from that almost magical season are gone now).
So, if not the actual seasons, what can I be reflecting upon? Why, the fantasy seasons of course!
In fantasy baseball, my Crabs contingent is sumthin’ like 16½ games ahead of its closest competition with just two week left to the regular fantasy season. And, while it’s possible I could really get blown out in these last two weeks, it’s highly unlikely. Even with losing Brian Wilson and Jimmy Rollins to the DL in this last week, I’m thinking their replacements will still get me to the finish line in fair shape.
I like to think my brilliant baseball draft strategy back in late March is the reason I’m so far ahead but, more realistically, my success can be attributed to just two guys, they being Robinson Cano, my number 1 draft choice, but most especially Curtis Granderson. my number 13 choice. As David Wright was my number two choice and is having by far his worst season ever, I must eat humble pie on my draft strategy and admit I’ve been lucky.
But I’m left to reflect upon the true greatness of this Granderson fellow. This guy just hasn’t quit being humility personified this entire season. Despite his prodigious numbers, currently at 114 runs scored and 98 ribbies, Curtis, when asked, will focus on his measly .281 batting average and his 131 strikeouts.
Curtis won’t mention that he has stolen 24 bases. He won’t dwell on the fact that he plays a stellar centerfield. He attributes his huge lead in the runs scored department to Cano and Teixeira, who drove him in more often than not. But to me, his most endearing attribute is his unfailing propensity for picking up foul balls around the plate and handing the ball to the catcher!
I mean, who does that? Only one guy. Curtis Granderson.
And only one guy gets an inside the park home run on his drive to the top of the right-center field fence the other day. Only one guy runs full-speed out of the box until he sees it go over the fence, only one guy turns it up a notch when he sees the coach’s go sign, and only one guy makes a beautiful slide into the plate, fatigue be damned. His name is Curtis Granderson.
I know Jose Bautista’s been great and Adrian Gonzalez too, but they haven’t been, and can’t be, Curtis Granderson. Curtis Granderson is, as Nick Swisher said the other day, blowing the doors off. I’m rooting like crazy for him to somehow, some way, keep up his almost feverish intensity throughout the rest of the season. There are 39 games left. I don’t want to jinx him…..but whoa!!
Meanwhile, Cano has been, well, Cano. After a pretty ho-hum start for him, he seems to have turned it up after the break. His August numbers have been unbelievable, to date standing at a cool .351 BA and he’s driven in 19 in as many games. He’s slugging .649 for a ridiculous August OPS of 1.035.
I’ve been a real Yankee-hater but it’d be impossible to hate these guys, not just Granderson and Cano but also Teixeira and Jeter and you can throw Swisher in there too. I’m hoping Arod’s return won’t screw things up, but Grandy’s batted second, third, fourth, eighth….and it hasn’t affected him one bit. Lefty on the mound? No problem…..unaffected, that’s the essence of Granderson.
Speaking of “unaffected”, I was anything but unaffected by a friggin’ EARTHQUAKE that just shook my entire house. I thought my body was spasming at first, then started walking to the door and thought I was having some kind of heart attack as I felt dizzy and shaky. Holy crap!!
Back on point though, I’ve already been worrying about my number 4 position in my fantasy football draft coming up this Saturday. What I’m expecting is that Arian Foster and Adrian Peterson will be gone, as will QB Aaron Rodgers, based on my previous experience with the same group. That would leave me only Chris Johnson and Ray Rice of the “elite” backs and I just can’t get excited over either of them.
Of course, there will be elite QB’s still on the board, all but Rodgers in fact. But Peyton Manning is hurt, Tom Brady winds up almost every year taking a seat during the fantasy playoffs and Michael friggin’ Vick is the closest human thing to a target for every fast huge hard-hitting defenseman looking to make a name for himself.
That would leave me Drew Brees, a guy who helped me to a 2nd place finish last year. I guess I can live with that.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Baseball Season Over
Yeah, Jose is hurt again and Murphy’s down too. And it’s true that Santana and Ike Davis won’t be returning soon. But look at the bright side. We’ll get to see even more guys moving up from Buffalo which, thus far, hasn’t really been detrimental.
And there really hasn’t been in a big dip in the standings. This Mets team keeps hanging around the .500 mark, not that they’re going anywhere. The Phillies have been playing light out and the Mets are 17 games behind. And they’re really not close to the Braves either for the wildcard.
The Mets have played gallantly under the circumstances and last night’s game may have been their finest effort of the year. With the entire infield seemingly playing musical chairs all game (which may have led to Murphy’s injury while playing second base), they hung close all game and won the game in the bottom of the ninth against one of the better closers in the National League.
In my last column, I just killed a couple of players, notably Pelfrey, Pagan and Duda. But after last night, Duda gets a reprieve. Pagan gets a nod for playing well last night but whether he’ll keep it going is anybody’s guess. And it would take a few perfect games in a row to change my mind about Pelfrey. He comes up the shortest when he’s needed the most, time after time after time.
It’s all about the future for our Metsies, the present having been rendered totally irrelevant. Sandy Alderson will have to make some sense out of this, um, mess? I hesitate to characterize this current team as a mess though. There are several pretty serviceable players on board. And the pitching hasn’t really been bad either.
I’d like to rid the roster of symbols of losing. To me, that means Pagan has to go. He may go to another team and shine for a while but I’m just tired of looking at him. The same goes for Pelfrey. Other than those two though, Sandy can keep the rest. There really is a whole lot to like about the way they play, especially when they just hit and hit and hit some more.
Next year can’t come soon enough. Ike should be healthy (finally), Turner at second, Tejada at short and Wright at third should be a fine infield. Josh Thole’s been a pretty good catcher.
Jason Bay is starting to relax at the plate, an important factor. Duda will be adequate in right field and Jason Pridie does enough in center to not be embarrassing. I’d rather have him there than Pagan if only because he’d appreciate it more.
Pagan seems to be pouting all the time. “Ewww, I;m batting second, ewww I’m batting 5th, ewww I’m batting first”..get rid of him. He’s one of the only fast men in baseball who can’t run the bases. And he messes up in centerfield about two games out of seven. The man’s a menace. (Maybe it’s the beard).
We’d still have good ol’ Daniel Murphy to spell just about anybody anywhere. But the spots he can fill adequately are first and second. In any event the man can hit and can be a roving utility guy and pinch-hitter.
Free agency? Who knows? After the pirates in bankruptcy court get finished pillaging the Wilpons, who can say what will be left. It’s a long shot that we’ll keep Reyes. I’m beginning to think it’d be acceptable to let him go, especially in the face of dwindled resources. We need other pieces more, such as in the pen and in the outfield.
If there’s a point to all this, it’s just that Mets fans should have already forgotten about 2011. Think 2012 and beyond. The lawyers (and judges) may have finished stealing by then.
What can we do in the meantime? Well, there’re the Yankees of course. And there’s the NFL Jets and Giants. And oh yeah, there’s Rutgers football. Heh-heh.
I like the Yankees a lot more now that I’m playing Cano and Granderson 5 or 6 times a week on my fantasy team. Cano has been unspectacular but really steady. Granderson has been great. While I expected him to have a good year, he has exceeded all expectations. While I could wax poetic about him, the best thing I could write would simply be his stat line, currently .273, 28 homers, 86 rbi’s, a nice even 100 runs scored and 22 stolen bases.
But Granderson is more than just his stats. He plays a nice centerfield, he’ll hit anywhere in the lineup, and he picks up the balls that get away from the opposing catcher. A nicer guy you’ll never find.
Cano is the anti-Granderson. He’s a study in lack of intensity. But it’s only a façade. It’s just that he’s such a good baseball player that he seems to not be trying….anywhere. In the field, he just floats around; at the plate he seems asleep until the last moment when he absolutely rips at the ball. His line is .295, 18 homers, 75 rbi’s, 71 runs scored and 8 stolen bases, not too shabby for a guy who’s sleepwalking.
The Yanks are in trouble though. If even CC can’t beat the Red Sox, nobody can, at least none of the Yanks. AJ Burnett and Phil Hughes aren’t really what the Yanks expected while the others are better than expected but worse than will probably be required. Colon, Garcia, Nova? I don’t think so.
It’s looking more and more like a Phillies-Red Sox World Series although I suppose the Rangers or Giants could insinuate themselves into the picture. I’ve been mourning the Pirates lately and wondering what effect their demise will have on two of my fantasy guys, McCutchen and Neil Walker, two very nice players, especially McCutchen, and did I mention the Mets could use a centerfielder?
The baseball season seems over. Look to the Jets. The Giants are just marking time.
And, um, Rutgers?
And there really hasn’t been in a big dip in the standings. This Mets team keeps hanging around the .500 mark, not that they’re going anywhere. The Phillies have been playing light out and the Mets are 17 games behind. And they’re really not close to the Braves either for the wildcard.
The Mets have played gallantly under the circumstances and last night’s game may have been their finest effort of the year. With the entire infield seemingly playing musical chairs all game (which may have led to Murphy’s injury while playing second base), they hung close all game and won the game in the bottom of the ninth against one of the better closers in the National League.
In my last column, I just killed a couple of players, notably Pelfrey, Pagan and Duda. But after last night, Duda gets a reprieve. Pagan gets a nod for playing well last night but whether he’ll keep it going is anybody’s guess. And it would take a few perfect games in a row to change my mind about Pelfrey. He comes up the shortest when he’s needed the most, time after time after time.
It’s all about the future for our Metsies, the present having been rendered totally irrelevant. Sandy Alderson will have to make some sense out of this, um, mess? I hesitate to characterize this current team as a mess though. There are several pretty serviceable players on board. And the pitching hasn’t really been bad either.
I’d like to rid the roster of symbols of losing. To me, that means Pagan has to go. He may go to another team and shine for a while but I’m just tired of looking at him. The same goes for Pelfrey. Other than those two though, Sandy can keep the rest. There really is a whole lot to like about the way they play, especially when they just hit and hit and hit some more.
Next year can’t come soon enough. Ike should be healthy (finally), Turner at second, Tejada at short and Wright at third should be a fine infield. Josh Thole’s been a pretty good catcher.
Jason Bay is starting to relax at the plate, an important factor. Duda will be adequate in right field and Jason Pridie does enough in center to not be embarrassing. I’d rather have him there than Pagan if only because he’d appreciate it more.
Pagan seems to be pouting all the time. “Ewww, I;m batting second, ewww I’m batting 5th, ewww I’m batting first”..get rid of him. He’s one of the only fast men in baseball who can’t run the bases. And he messes up in centerfield about two games out of seven. The man’s a menace. (Maybe it’s the beard).
We’d still have good ol’ Daniel Murphy to spell just about anybody anywhere. But the spots he can fill adequately are first and second. In any event the man can hit and can be a roving utility guy and pinch-hitter.
Free agency? Who knows? After the pirates in bankruptcy court get finished pillaging the Wilpons, who can say what will be left. It’s a long shot that we’ll keep Reyes. I’m beginning to think it’d be acceptable to let him go, especially in the face of dwindled resources. We need other pieces more, such as in the pen and in the outfield.
If there’s a point to all this, it’s just that Mets fans should have already forgotten about 2011. Think 2012 and beyond. The lawyers (and judges) may have finished stealing by then.
What can we do in the meantime? Well, there’re the Yankees of course. And there’s the NFL Jets and Giants. And oh yeah, there’s Rutgers football. Heh-heh.
I like the Yankees a lot more now that I’m playing Cano and Granderson 5 or 6 times a week on my fantasy team. Cano has been unspectacular but really steady. Granderson has been great. While I expected him to have a good year, he has exceeded all expectations. While I could wax poetic about him, the best thing I could write would simply be his stat line, currently .273, 28 homers, 86 rbi’s, a nice even 100 runs scored and 22 stolen bases.
But Granderson is more than just his stats. He plays a nice centerfield, he’ll hit anywhere in the lineup, and he picks up the balls that get away from the opposing catcher. A nicer guy you’ll never find.
Cano is the anti-Granderson. He’s a study in lack of intensity. But it’s only a façade. It’s just that he’s such a good baseball player that he seems to not be trying….anywhere. In the field, he just floats around; at the plate he seems asleep until the last moment when he absolutely rips at the ball. His line is .295, 18 homers, 75 rbi’s, 71 runs scored and 8 stolen bases, not too shabby for a guy who’s sleepwalking.
The Yanks are in trouble though. If even CC can’t beat the Red Sox, nobody can, at least none of the Yanks. AJ Burnett and Phil Hughes aren’t really what the Yanks expected while the others are better than expected but worse than will probably be required. Colon, Garcia, Nova? I don’t think so.
It’s looking more and more like a Phillies-Red Sox World Series although I suppose the Rangers or Giants could insinuate themselves into the picture. I’ve been mourning the Pirates lately and wondering what effect their demise will have on two of my fantasy guys, McCutchen and Neil Walker, two very nice players, especially McCutchen, and did I mention the Mets could use a centerfielder?
The baseball season seems over. Look to the Jets. The Giants are just marking time.
And, um, Rutgers?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
/>
