Tuesday, December 17, 2013

The New York Giants are shutout at home by the Seattle Seahawks

The New York Giants are shutout at home by the Seattle Seahawks


The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon. The final score was 23-0 and the game took place at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. This whole Giants season has been a disaster but this was an awful performance especially by the offense.

Eli Manning set the franchise record for most interceptions in one season and he threw five in this game. The Giants offense in the first seven possessions had four punts and three interceptions. They had a total of 54 yards and two first downs in the first half. Eli Manning was under siege most of the day but he still has to get some blame. He finished the day 18-31 for 156 yards and the five interceptions. The Giants allowed four sacks and rushed for only 25 yards on 14 attempts. The offensive line is in shambles and the Giants are going to have to address that. Manning doesn’t get a total pass for this season but he has no running game, no offensive line and receivers who haven’t been on the same page as him the whole season. The offense has been a total mess all season.

The Giants defense did put up a fight especially considering that the offense didn’t help them at all and they were facing a really good team. Marshawn Lynch was limited to 47 yards on 16 attempts. He did receive six passes for 73 yards. The Giants did have three sacks and the Seahawks converted only three third downs.

Steve Weatherford had a good day averaging 47.5 yards per punt. He had eight kicks and put two inside the 20-yard line. The safety Ryan Mundy had six tackles and a sack in his first start since week seven. Antrel Rolle had an interception for his sixth of the season. Cullen Jenkins had a good game with three tackles two QB hits and a shared sack.

The Giants have two games left, in Detroit next week and then they finish at home against the Washington Redskins. They have nothing left to play for other then pride. It will be interesting to see if any coaching changes are made. I think the head coach has earned the right to stay to he is ready to leave. If they were going to fire him they will make it a very nice thing with him leaving and I am pretty sure he will want to come back for at least another year. I think the fall guy will be Kevin Gilbride the offensive coordinator. Jerry Reese the GM is under fire also but they aren’t going to make a change there yet. They will give him a little time especially after winning the two super bowls.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

The New York Yankees Winter Meeting Notes

New York Yankees Winter Meeting Notes


The New York Yankees didn’t do anything at the winter meetings but to be honest nobody else really did either. The New York Mets may have been the most active believe it or not. They officially announced the signing of Curtis Granderson and then on the last day signed Bartolo Colon to a two year and 20 million dollar deal.

The Yankees are in the market for a starting pitcher but may not get it. The general manager Brian Cashman acknowledged on Wednesday afternoon that the trade market or the free agent market is not really encouraging right now. The Yankees preference is adding a high-end starter such as Tanaka from Japan. The Yankees may have to take what they can get though, if they have to sign a back of the rotation innings eater like Bronson Arroyo they will.

The Tanaka situation is clearly affecting the pitching market. We still don’t know when and if Tanaka will be posted. Teams want to go after him especially the Yankees, Dodgers and apparently the Diamondbacks. I personally don’t think the Yankees pitching are as bad as people say it is. I expect CC Sabathia to bounce back and Michael Pineda to be a good pitcher for the Yankees. I think Ivan Nova has taken a step forward and Hiroki Kuroda is a solid pitcher. The Yankees have several options like David Phelps, Vidal Nuno, Adam Warren for the fifth spot and none of them are that bad.

Brian Cashman hinted at trying to get some good value out of non-roster invitees. He said he could add a couple of bullpen pieces and then get a lesser starter. The Yankees clearly are all about Tanaka and then after that they will go to plan B. Dellin Betances has a fourth year option now and can be sent down to AAA. Eduardo Nunez also has an option left. Brendan Ryan and Kelly Johnson are on the team so he may end up back in AAA. I personally would start him at third and play Kelly Johnson at second. If they do sign someone like Omar Infante then that changes that thought process. The Yankees have spoken to Johan Santana agent but not really about him. It doesn’t sound like the Yankees are too interested but they may take a flier on a guy like that.

Matt Krause is the new strength coach and has met with Derek Jeter and CC Sabathia already. Cashman said he wasn’t sure of the exact details but there has been nothing negative in Jeter’s rehab. The Yankees 40 man roster is full so they won’t claim anyone in the Rule V Draft. They could lose a couple of guys though.

Cashman said he thinks it will be easier to get a second baseman then a third baseman. He said second base is deeper in terms of options they have. Cashman said that in any of his talks with relievers no one has stated they want to be a closer and that has to be guaranteed in a contract. The Yankees did a lot of their heavy lifting before the Winter Meetings. They still have some work to do and I am sure Cashman is working the phones like crazy.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

New York Yankees active off-season

http://www.faniq.com/blog/The-New-York-Yankees-are-very-active-in-the-offseason-Blog-73344

Here is my link to an article I did about the New York Yankees and their very active off-season so far. 

Thursday, December 5, 2013

A wild day for the Hot Stove league

A wild day for the Hot Stove league


The baseball off-season is never really boring. It does have its ups and downs. There are times that are much more exciting then others. The time is usually coming as the MLB winter meetings begin on Monday. This year though something crazy happened, we had a winter meetings like day a week early. I have never seen anything like it, it was a wild day for the hot stove as there were signings, trades etc. This all happened on a Tuesday, the week before the winter meetings. To be honest I don’t even think a single day during the winter meetings could top this.

I will try to keep up with it all but I am sure I may be missing something. It was so crazy I don’t even know if I could keep up with it. I am a HUGE baseball fan and it was still hard for me to comprehend all that went on. The New York Yankees signed Jacoby Ellsbury to a seven-year 153 million contract. The Oakland Athletics were wheeling and dealing as they traded for Jim Johnson technically the night before. They also traded Seth Smith to the San Diego Padres for Luke Gregorson. The Robinson Cano saga took an interesting turn as it looks like the Seattle Mariners are appearing as major players for him.

The Boston Red Sox signed A.J. Piersynski for one year. The Florida Marlins signed their catcher from last season Jarrod Saltalamacchia to a three year 21 million dollar deal. The Detroit Tigers finally got their closer in Joe Nathan for a two-year deal. The Tampa Bay Rays took part in a three-way deal. They traded for Ryan Hanigan who is a catcher from the Cincinnati Reds and Heath Bell from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Reds received David Holmberg from the D-backs and Arizona received right handed pitcher Justin Choate and a player to be named later or cash considerations from Tampa. The Diamondbacks also sent around 500,000 to the Rays.

The Kansas City Royals were moving closer to signing Carlos Beltran who started his career with them. The Oakland Athletics also completed a rare in the division trade. They got Craig Gentry from the Texas Rangers and right-hander Josh Lindblom and they are exploring trading their pitcher Brett Anderson. The Rangers got from Oakland Michael Choice. The Houston Astros, yeah the Astros got involved. They traded for Colorado centerfielder Dexter Fowler. Colorado reportedly agreed to terms with Justin Morneau. Do you have that all and I hope I didn’t miss anything.

It was the wildest day I can remember without there even being a game. I don’t even remember a day during the winter meetings being like this. The winter meetings won’t be as interesting this year but there are still some things that could happen.

Shin Soo Choo is still out there as well as Robinson Cano. The starting pitching market hasn’t really taken shape and a trade for the Rays David Price could happen during the meetings. If nothing else I am sure you will hear plenty of rumors about it. The intrigue for Tanaka will go up with a new posting system about to be put in place. It looks like it will be a max bid and then basically an all out free for all like free agency for him. There will be plenty to talk about and then it will be holiday time which will lead you into the new year and about a month away from spring training.

Monday, December 2, 2013

New York Yankees Hot Stove notes

New York Yankees Hot Stove notes


The New York Yankees officially announced a two-year deal with Brendan Ryan. There is a third year option. He is a defensive whiz who played a lot of SS for them at the end of last year. He is insurance for Derek Jeter. They are giving him two million a year and the third year option is for one million.

The Yankees apparently extended an offer to Hiroki Kuroda. It is for one year and 15-16 million. He takes his time and the Yankees know that but they are really trying to entice him. He has been very good for the Yankees the last two years. He has burned out at the end of the year but the Yankees have enough pitching that they could protect him more now. This would be a big signing for the Yankees considering they only have CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova as sure bets. They want Tanaka from Japan but don’t know when and if he will be posted. If they have CC, Nova and Kuroda they can fill out the other two spots with Phelps, Pineda, Warren, Nuno and feel comfortable.

The Yankees traded what ended up as their starting catcher last year. Chris Stewart is headed to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later. He was a guy that most likely would have been non-tendered so instead they traded him getting something for him. It will most likely be a single A player.

The Yankees non-tendered David Adams who was a huge disappointment last year when he got his chance. Matt Daley and Jayson Nix were the other two players who were non-tendered. There were no surprises with this.

How about Robinson Cano, the Yankees and him remain about 80 million apart. He wants somewhere in the neighborhood of nine years and 250-260 million. The Yankees have offered him seven years and 160-170 million. I expect the Yankees and him to eventually come to an agreement but I don’t think the Yankees are going to budge much. They may go to 8 years and 200 million. He could find a team but right now there doesn’t appear to be any other team.

 

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