NFL Championship Round

The AFC and NFC Championship games will be played tomorrow. The first game will be the New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts for the AFC title. The Colts were undefeated in week 16 when the Jets came to town needing to win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. The Jets did pull out a controversial victory and have reeled off 3 more in a row after that to get to this point. The reason the game was controversial is because the Colts were 14-0 and leading at the half when head coach Jim Caldwell decided to pull his starters and the Jets went on to win the game keeping them in the playoff hunt and eventually they did make it and won 2 playoff games on the road to get here. The Colts fans really wanted the undefeated season and this is something that win or lose will be discussed all offseason. If the Colts do go on and win a Super Bowl it won't be as big of a deal but everyone will still wonder if they would have gone undefeated and if they lose well then it really will be criticized. I really like what the Jets have done in the playoffs and they won't change their style now. They will run the ball and play good defense but in my mind the Colts are the best team in football and they are home. I don't see the Jets winning this game although it should be close. I am picking the Colts to win by the score of 24-17. The NFC Championship will be at 630 tomorrow night and have the Minnesota Vikings taking on the New Orleans Saints. The Saints who have been a long suffering franchise will host their first ever title game. They have never made it to the Super Bowl. I think with all that has gone on in that city they really need this and are riding a wave of momentum and passion. The Vikings have played great football this season but not on the road and I think this will be the end for them. I see the Saints winning this game by the score of 35-21. I hope everyone enjoys the championship games and tomorrow night we will find out who will be facing off in the Super Bowl.

The Saga of Johnny Damon

The saga of Johnny Damon continues, today there was information coming from Jon Heyman of SI. He tweeted that the Yankees have offered Damon a deal believed to be no more then 5 million in base and maybe incentives. The Yankees told Damon they want an answer by the end of the weekend and if it is no they will be signing another LF shortly. The other options the Yankees have are Reed Johnson, Jermaine Dye, Jim Edmonds, Xavier Nady, Randy Winn. Johnny Damon has said all along he wants to remain a Yankees so then he should show it and take the deal. The thing that gets me in all of this is that both sides like each other so why are they playing this game. They should have just got together and hammered it out. The main reason is the agent Scott Boras who overestimated the market for Damon and his other main client Matt Holliday. Johnny Damon has no other suitors at this point unless there is a mystery team. He wrote in a text message today that he would have a team this week, so that adds to the speculation even more. I am going to say at this point he comes back to the Yankees, Bobby Abreu did the same thing with the Angels last year and turned it into a 2 yr 19 million dollar deal this season. Nick Johnson is a high OBP guy and a good player but Johnny Damon fits this team as it's #2 hitter and there first four with him in the lineup is the best in baseball. Jeter, Damon,Tex,A-rod is unstoppable and then you can have other guys hit further down in the lineup like Granderson and Nick Johnson, making the lineup that more dangerous. It will be interesting to see what happens but it appears this will finally play out this weekend.

Baseball News

The New York Mets made a trade today to get another outfielder with the absence of Carlos Beltran for at least the beginning of the season. They traded right handed pitcher Brian Stokes to the Anahiem Angels for Gary Matthews Jr. He isn't the same player he was at one time, but should provide pretty good defense. The reason this deal is ok for the Mets is because the Angels were so happy to get rid of him that they are paying 21 million of the 23 million owed to him over the next 2 years. This story is fascinating to me if not a little strange. A 23 yr old prospect from the Oakland A's is leaving baseball for the priesthood, this is something you don't see everyday. The really strange thing about it is that he had a great year last year and appeared to be closing in on getting to the big leagues. The Philadelphia Phillies have signed pitcher Jose Contreras. He was ok at one time, never really made it with the Yankees. I guess this is a good move for depth reasons but I just can't see him succeeding in that park. The thing to me is how are the Mets not making any moves for a pitcher when that is what they really need. Here is a nice article with Curtis Granderson, the new Yankees centerfielder. One of the quotes that came out of this article was this " When you wear it, man it is something, it pops." That was Granderson on wearing the Yankees cap. Jim Edmonds who was an elite centerfielder at one time but hasn't played since 2008 is trying to get a job, several teams have called him and apparently the Yankees are one of them. I just don't see the Yankees going for this guy, they can stick with what they have or hope to get Damon back or maybe just sign Reed Johnson or someone like that for leftfield or to caddy with Gardner out there.

Slow Day in Baseball

I didn't get up any posts yesterday, as it was a really uneventful day. The one bit of news that emerged was Jerry Hairston Jr. on a XM radio show saying that he never got an offer from the Yankees. The reason is the story though, he said it is because the Yankees were waiting for Johnny Damon to come to them and his price to drop. Yankees GM a little while later shot down that rumor but I would think it is probably true. If Johnny Damon comes to the Yankees and says he will take a one year deal for 5 million are the Yankees really going to say no?? I mean if they go a few million over budget is it going to kill them, I don't think so this is the Yankees. The Angels also signed Joel Piniero to a 2 yr deal worth 16 million. This is another guy the New York Mets missed out on. I really wonder who the Mets may get now, Jon Garland, Ben Sheets?? I think this was a good move by the Angels, they had to do something to counter what Seattle has been doing plus he is a pretty steady veteran pitcher.

Baseball Contracts avoiding arbitration

I am not going to go through the whole list since it is pretty long. I will discuss the biggest names though. Here are some of the players and the contracts they agreed too. Jonathan Papelbon/Boston Red Sox-1yr 9.35 million Jered Weaver/Anaheim Angels-1 yr 4.265 million John Danks/Chicago White Sox- 1yr 3.45 million Rafael Perez/Cleveland Indians-1 yr 895,000 Jorge Cantu/Florida Marlins-1 yr 6 million Matt Lindstrom/Houston Astros- 1yr 1.625 million Alex Gordon/K.C. Royals- 1yr 1.15 million Howie Kendrick/Anaheim Angels- 1yr 1.75 million Jonathan Broxton/L.A. Dodgers- 2 yrs 11 million Andre Ethier/ L.A. Dodgers- 2yrs 15.25 million James Loney/L.A. Dodgers-1 yr 3.1 million Russel Martin/L.A. Dodgers- 1yr 5.05 million Carlos Gomez/Milwaukee Brewers-1yr 1.1 million Rickie Weeks/Milwaukee Brewers-1yr 2.75 million Francisco Liriano/Minnesota Twins-1yr 1.6 million Carl Pavano/Minnesota Twins-1 yr 7 million Jeff Francouer/New York Mets-1yr 5 million Ryan Ludwick/St. Louis Cardinals-1yr 5.45 million There are many others but this is a pretty good list. Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners signed an extension for 5 yrs and roughly 8o million dollars. That was a great move by Seattle, he is their ace and they needed to lock him up. The Detroit Tigers finalized their deal with Jose Valverde to be the closer for 2 yrs and 14 million. There is a club option for 2012 for 9 million. The saga of Bengie Molina took an unexpected turn when the Mets made him a 1 yr offer and told him take it or leave it. It was for 5 million and he left it and signed back with the San Francisco Giants for 1 yr and 4.5 million. The Colorado Rockies signed Huston Street to a 3 yr 22.5 million dollar deal. He came to them last season in a trade.