Say it Ain’t so Giancarlo

I woke up to a text from my friend saying the Yankees got Giancarlo Stanton yesterday. My initial reaction was disbelief but I looked it up and sure enough it was legit. It’s news that makes Red Sox fans nauseous. I’m just looking at it and seeing the Yankees didn't give up top prospects or vital players from their roster, and they didn’t even take the entire contract. So this makes me wonder how the Red Sox could allow this to happen. Reports say that Stanton was not interested in a trade to Boston but maybe thats because the Red Sox interest in trading for him was “tepid” or maybe it’s because he last few years the Red Sox organization has had sole bad publicity. Whatever the reason nothing can be done about it now. Stanton is a Yankee and RedSox Nation can kiss their World Series hopes good bye for the next few years right? 

Before everyone decides to give up before the season even starts the Red Sox need to counter the Stanton acquisition with some moves of their own.  

Sign Eric Hosmer: He’s a gold glove 1st baseman who’s left handed swing can benefit from playing in Fenway Park half of the season. An important note about Hosmer is that he’s a character guy in the clubhouse. Thats something the Red Sox desperately need. The more they can counter the poor leadership of David Price the better. 

Sign Jake Arrieta. The rotation can benefit from Arrieta and it’ll put less pressure on an unstable David Price. In a perfect world the Sox would trade Price but that doesn’t seem like it’ll happen until he decides to opt out after the season. 

Sign Carlos Gonzalez: The left handed slugger is coming off one of his worst seasons and is a candidate to replace the role Chris Young filled the last two years. Cargo’s swing is perfect for Fenway and he’s a great defensive outfielder who can play all three positions and DH when he has to. The flexibility he can bring and his motivation to perform to earn a big contract should fit well. 

Sign Chase Utley, Utley: is a veteran well respected player who can start at 2nd base while Dustin Pedroia recovers from surgery.  Utley can revert back to a bench player when Pedroia comes back. The almost 40 year old should benefit from the rest. His experience in the post season will be vital if and when the Red Sox back it to October baseball. 

Add pieces to the bullpen. There are plenty of bullpens arms in free agency so build it up in case they have to rely on it to win. 

As you can see I don’t want the Red Sox to trade for anyone now that Stanton is off the table. These additions should fill the holes that are needed and wont break the bank. This will allow them to make a run at both Bryce Harper and Manny Machado among others in the next year’s loaded off season. 

Oh one more thing. 

DON’T SIGN JD MARTINEZ.  Just Dont! 

He’s 30 and wants $25 mil a year for a rumored 7 or 8 years. That’s just a Carl Crawford/Pablo Sandoval type contract waiting to happen. 

Pricey Situation

The Red Sox are in danger of mimicking their epic collapse they had at the end of the 2011 season. That's right I said it. You might think that's coming out of left field but it's one of the first things I thought of when Dan Shaughnessy's wrote the details of the confrontation between Multi-time All-Star pitcher David Price and Hall of Fame pitcher and current team broadcaster Dennis Eckersley.  It was reported at the time that Price yelled at Eckersley on the team plane about comments he thought were too harsh. Now with Shaughnessy's article the dirt has been revealed. Price waited for Eckersley to board to embarrass Eck in front of the entire team to which many players reportedly applauded Price. 

The other big thought I had was ship Price out. With the trade deadline approaching and the timing of childish outbursts from Price being reported it would be irresponsible of Dombrowski if he didn't at least see what kind of value trading David Price would bring. After starting the season on the disabled list Price has been pitching well of late. He's a former Cy Young winner and only a couple season removed from being one of the league's best pitchers so he does have value. His contract is bad but his attitude is worse and getting rid of that attitude that belongs to the leader of the clubhouse is the best option at this point. The clubhouse is full of young impressionable players who seem to be learning how to be a professional from Price, and that is sad.  Oh but they need him for the playoffs right? Yeah they do... I mean they would if he actually could perform well in the playoffs. Considering he has no success as a starter in his playoff career. This is a case of addition by subtraction. The kind of attitude that Price has is not the kind that winners have. If you think chicken and beer was pathetic wait till we see what happens if Price is still the leader when the intensity of a pennant race in September is too difficult.

Celtics, What Will They Do Next?

It has been an exciting offseason for the Celtics. They have been involved in trade talks for Jimmy Butler and Paul George which ultimately didn't work out but they signed top free agent Gordon Hayward while still hanging out to their lottery picks next year. A team lead by Isaiah Thomas, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford should be good enough to make the Eastern Conference Finals again and give the Cavs a good series, maybe even win and go to the NBA Finals. That's encouraging however I think something bigger can happen.

If I'm the Celtics I would trade draft Picks Jae Crowder Al Horford to New Orleans for Anthony Davis and money to match. Then next off season Sign Paul George. Its been clear that Paul George wants to go to LA when his contract is up but he also wants to be on a contender. I don't see the Lakers or Clippers being in a better situation to compete for a title than Boston as early as next year. The Lakers are young and inexperienced and the competition in the West is far superior to the East. It has also been reported that George wants to play with Hayward. A core of Thomas, Hayward, George and Davis with young players like Brown, Smart and Tatum. Thats a team that will be a serious title contender in the present and future. 

Thank You, Bradley

As you all have probably heard by now the Celtics longest tenured player Avery Bradley will be traded to Detroit.  Bradley is due for a huge payday at the end of the next season and the Celtics likely were not going to be able to provide him that. Bradley was a fan favorite and one of the best players on the team for the same reasons. He gave 100% effort from the moment he came into the league. He made a name for himself by harassing everyone he had to guard regardless of the scoreboard. He improved his game every season of his career with the Celtics starting from being just a pesky defender to and elite defender and improved shooter. Last season he was one of the go to guys on the team that made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. 

His leadership and tenacity will sure be missed in Boston. Thank you Bradley, best of luck the rest of your Career. 

"Betrayward" (fair or not)

Gordon Hayward has decided to sign with the Boston Celtics...Or has he? Wait yes he has. Yesterday was a wild day of controversy over his decision being leaked before he and his agent had a chance to break the news the way they had intended. Ultimately Gordon Hayward officially announced his decision with an open letter to Utah on the Player's Tribune.  The majority of the letter was Hayward thanking Utah for everything from their fandom to watching him grow up both basketball wise but more importably as a person. He thanked ownership and various coaches. It was a heartfelt message to the city and the Jazz organization. 

It was a classy way to go out. It's respectable. As far as leaving the organization who drafted you goes he did it better than I can think of. It showed he cared. 

That doesn't seem to matter to Utah fans though. At 4th of July Barbecues Jazz fans swapped their marshmallows for their Hayward jerseys and roasted them over the open fire calling him Betrayward. 

I never really understood the reasoning to burning jerseys when players leave your team. However as far as that goes this isn't a case you should do it. He didn't dis the city and he didn't leave without explanation. He didn't have to say anything yet he said just about everything.  Burning his jersey says a lot more about the Jazz fans than leaving says about Hayward. 

NBA FINALS GAME 3

The NBA Finals shifts to the Cleveland for game 3 tonight. Down no games to two the Cavs must defend home court to avoid being swept. If the Cavs do get swept the consensus best player on the planet LeBron James would have a Finals record of 3-5 with 2 of the 5 series losses being in the form of a sweep. 

Whatever excuses Lebron fans want to make, it's still a bad look on his legacy. In the NBA going to that many finals is a big accomplishment but considering a player on a basketball team plays a more important role than a singular player in any other major sport. If this happens LeBron supporters would say the Warriors are just too good to beat. Maybe in terms of the series yes that argument is passable though it's still excuse making. When it comes to being swept there are no excuses. The Cavs and Warriors were destined to meet in the finals since before the season started. There's no reason the Cavs can't at least make it interesting. If they don't it may be a knock on LeBron's legacy that he won't be able to bounce back from in the discussion of the greatest player of all time. 

As far as the quality of the series, it has been uncompetitive and boring to watch. This is especially bad because the playoffs have been just a path for both to blow their way through to crash into each other. That's a good not great storyline but if the finals continues to be pointless to watch because games are over by the start of the fourth, that good story holds no reader's (viewer's in the cases) attention. 

Do you remember that word problem where the two trains are traveling at 100 miles per hour on course to intercept one another, when will they collide? At this point The Cavs' train will be parked at the station in Cleveland at roughly midnight eastern time Friday into Saturday defenseless when the inevitable Warrior train rams not just into but through the Cavs'. 

As a fan of sports who can't decide who to root for I sincerely hope this doesn't happen. It's bad for the sport and it's bad for the enjoyment of the unbiased fan watching.  Thus far the Cavs' train has shown no signed of starting up but only time can tell. 

Sweet Sixteen

Let the madness begin… again!  The NCAA Men’s basketball tournament is back tonight for the start of the sweet sixteen. The tournament started with a first round that gave us fewer upsets than are usual.  The seemingly quite weekend got a big jolt that shocked the world as defending national champions Villanova was taken out by Wisconsin.  Brackets were indeed busted as many picked Villanova to repeat as champions.  The weekend’s carnage of heavy favorites did not end there.  Before the sweet sixteen was set Duke, Louisville and Florida State would be sent back to campus with nothing but “what ifs” and disappointment. 

                                This round I think the trend of upsets will keep going.  West Virginia and their suffocating press defense should give Gonzaga a real test, one I don’t think the Bulldogs will overcome.  Purdue lead by double-double machine Caleb Swanigan takes on number one seeded Kansas.  This is an interesting one.  Before the tournament started not much was said about the Boilermakers. As the tournament played out it was clear that they belong.  Look for Purdue to keep the bracket shattering storyline going.  Michigan just might be the Cinderella story of the this year.  It’s hard to call them that because Michigan is usually a powerhouse but the didn’t have a typical year and their plane almost crashed during their conference tournament and since they have rallied together and played the best they have this season.  I think they will be too much for Michigan to handle.  To round the night up the Arizona plays big underdog Xavier.  Xavier is a team that has experience in the tournament and Arizona is known to lose earlier than expected.  I think this game will go down to the last few minutes with Arizona finding a way to hang on and advance to the elite eight. 

  

Let's Keep this in Vegas

Last night's elation turns to today's sorrow.  The USA Eagles follow up their unbelievable comeback with a performance that left the crowd wondering what happened.  USA got off to a tremendous start against heavy favorite South Africa.  Folau Niua played the wind perfectly on his restart kicks that drifted back to his team. USA scored quickly off of the opening kick off. They followed up with another textbook kick into the wind which again found it's way back to the eagles.  USA went up 12-0 and it seemed as though they would carry that momentum into halftime.  Not the case at all.  USA got sloppy and managed to squander the big lead to end the half 12-10.  The second half was back and fourth but the Eagles still had a chance to win it on a last second try.  Back in their own D zone with possession Madison Hughes took a risk by kicking it deep for Perry Baker to track down.  Unfortunately for Hughes and the Eagles the wind had different plans and the ball sailed out to touch. USA had another last chance when they stole the South Africa line out but with time expired they lost the ball and with it their chance to play in the finals.  It'll be interesting to see how the Eagles bounce back as they are set to face the New Zealand All Blacks in bronze medal match.   South Africa is on to battle defending Olympic gold medalists Fiji, who made a  comeback of their own to defeat the All Blacks in the semi finals. 

Eagles Keep Flying

WHAT A COMEBACK!  After starting off the match miserably USA found themselves down early in the second half of their quarterfinal match 19-0.  The Eagles rally was sparked by two consecutive tries by newly substituted Maka Unafe.  Captain Madison Hughes Converted the drop kick after from a tough angle despite heavy winds.  Down 19-14 Speedster Perry Baker flew past Argentina's defense to score the go ahead try right between the posts.  Hughes converted to go up 21-19 but there was still time left on the clock.  Argentina gained possession and were driving down the pitch after time expired.  With their backs against the wall the Eagles made a terrific defensive stand to seal the victory and advance to the semifinals of the Las Vegas tournament.

The question is did you watch?  I certainly hope so, it was as thrilling as any 7 minutes can be.  Rugby is a beautiful game.  A sport that in recent years has gained exposure in the States.  The Sevens variety is more popular than 15s.  Rugby puts on display a combination of brute strength complimented by some of the fastest athletes in the world. It requires physical and mental endurance along with intelligence. For those not familiar with rugby, it may seem like just athletes without a helmet or pads running into each other full speed ahead.  Though that does happen it's so much more than that.  Ask yourself this, what other sport will a referee tell a 6'5" 250 pound grown man to serve a penalty and the player's response is "Sorry Sir" before sprinting over to the sin bin?  Don't take my word for it, see for yourself tomorrow as USA plays for a chance to make the finals.  I think you'll like what you see.