Mariners inked Ken Griffey Jr. to a one-year deal this evening, ending all doubts on whether or not he was Seattle or Atlanta bound for the 2009 season.
ESPN.com original story (With video)
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3917214
And with the NBA trade deadline quickly approaching, the Trail Blazers are trying to cash in on their youthful young contracts other NBA general managers covet.
Most talks have Travis Outlaw, Sergio Rodriguez and Raef LaFrentz's expiring contract on the way out to either Milwaukee (For Small Forward Richard Jefferson and former Oregon point guard Luke Ridnour) or to New Jersey for Vince Carter.
I for one, do not oppose either deal, but would prefer the latter to the former.
Vince Carter is a proven star. A guy that averages 20 points per night, while still adding 5 rebounds and 5 assists to go along with his tremendous scoring ability.
Nay-sayers will claim Carter will disrupt the offensive flow of Portland by putting up too many shots. To them I say: The Blazers are just a mill-of-the-run offensive team to begin with. Ranking 15th in the league in points per game is nothing to brag about; Carter can help that.
Outlaw is the worst perimiter defender Portland has; Carter can help with that.
Roy, Aldridge, Oden and Bayless have yet to play with a star in the NBA who is also a veteran; Carter can solve that.
Remember a few years back (actually nearly a decade ago), when Portland had a nice core of guys, but lacked a good veteran forward? They brought it Scottie Pippen to bolster the team, and soon enough Portland was a contender in the Western Conference.
Carter can be that guy, with even less pressure riding on him.
He's not Scottie Pippen, but they don't need him to be. Pippen needed to lead that team, Carter doesn't. He would understand coming into the situation that this team belongs to Roy, Oden and Aldridge. But there is no reason to believe Carter can't fit right in.
He has proven that this season, handing over the leadership role of the Nets to a younger Devin Harris.
Carter isn't the same high-flying, attention needing guy he was when he first entered the league anymore. He is more polished. He developed a better jump shot, hits close to 40% of his three-pointers and is a definite upgrade defensively from Outlaw.
The biggest reason Portland needs to trade now is because they can afford to do so. They have so much young talent, that it won't hinder their future if they unload a couple
What I mean by that is Roy, Aldridge, Bayless, Oden, and all the other guys who are still under 25 like Rudy, Webster, Outlaw, Sergio and Frye don't have to all be Blazers for the next 15 years. If they dropped two or three of the that group, look at how many young guys they still have.
By the way, Nicolas Batum, another rising Blazer star, is only 18.
In a fantasy world, this group of youngn's grow old together and win title after title. But why wait five years for that to happen when they're all ready at once?
Bring in Carter. Go into the off-season and move Bayless and Webster, maybe a draft pick as well for Jason Kidd or Steve Nash. There is no way you can tell me the Mavericks would turn down the upside and small contracts of Bayless and Webster, along with a pick for Kidd.
And all of a sudden, Portland is the best team in the west with this roster next season:
PG - Jason Kidd
SG - Brandon Roy
SF - Vince Carter
PF - Lamar Aldridge
C - Greg Oden
With the bench still just fine:
PG - Steve Blake
SG - Rudy Fernandez
SF - Nicolas Batum
PF - Channing Frye
C - Joel Przybilla
Sounds like the best team in the NBA to me.
Of course, financial difficulties are the main concern, but Paul Allen is the richest owner in the league, and Portland has great salary cap space it's not a dream by any means.
Trade deadline is about 24 hours away, and Portland's GM Kevin Pritchard has the chance to take the first step forward towards being the best team in the NBA for the next 3 or 4 years with a deal bringing Vincanity to Portland.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Griffey Jr. back to Seattle?
The Seattle Mariners have picked up on contract negotiations with former face of the franchise and thirteen time all-star Ken Griffey Jr.
Story from ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3901872
This would be a great move for the Mariners on SO many levels.
Griffey, who is now 39, is not the same guy he was when he played for the Mariners throughout the 1990's. Fans need to realize this before they set the expectation bar 15 notches too high.
He's no longer the guy who has tremendous range in the outfield. No longer the guy wearing a backwards cap with a big grin on his face 24/7. He can't run like he used to, his arm is much weaker than it used to be, and although his swing is still one of the sweetest ever: it's lost a bit of pop.
He hasn't driven in 100 runs since 2000, he has hit 40 homers once since he left Seattle; and only has averaged playing in 109 games per year since arriving in Cincinnati in 2000.
He is not The Kid anymore. But he is what the Mariners need.
Currently, Seattle has Endy Chavez penciled in as its starting left field. Chavez is a lifetime .270 hitter who has hit less home runs in his career than Griffey did last season. Not neccesarily a prime left fielder for a team that has seriously lacked power numbers the past few years.
Which is one of the reasons signing Griffey makes sense for this ball club. Not only can Griffey add a much needed power left-handed bat to the middle of the lineup, but he's going to get an opportunity for focus more on hitting in the American League than he did in Cincinnati where DH's don't exist. Which is primarily what a nearing 40-year old veteran should be doing. No one should expect him to win a gold glove in left field (which he will probably play) should he sign. But he can still be a very productive hitter in my mind.
Nay sayers will argue that the Mariners don't need another aging bat. But as a Mariner fan, even if Griffey does wind up hitting .230 next season. I would much rather watch Griffey hit .230 playing DH than Jose Vidro or Kenji Johjima or Richie Sexson, or whichever other underachieving, overpaid tool Seattle has used the past few years.
And that's just from a statistical point of view.
From a franchise standpoint, Griffey WILL put fans in the seat. He will bring veteran leadership to a team that has none, and he will spark a little bit of life into a team that desperately needs it.
It may be a long shot, but Seattle is on the verge of bringing in two former great players in Griffey and Mike Sweeney who now have the chance to rest their bodies more often than usual by swapping time at designated hitter and playing the field when needed.
There is no reason in my mind why Griffey can't increase his offensive output in Seattle based solely on the fact that he gets the chance to dedicate more time to hitting than anything else.
I, and every other Mariner fan out there prays the guy can stay healthy and can finish up his career on, at the very least, a respectable manner with the team he made a name for himself with. And what if it works out? What if Junior hits .280 with 25+ homers and drives in 75-85 RBI's? It's not like the guy is totally incapable of producing offensive numbers.
This is a good move by Seattle to add a guy that has proven in years past that he can be one of the best hitters out there. And at the age of 39, he might not be the same guy we're accustomed to seeing, but at least its better than Richie Sexson, right?
Mariners pitchers, catchers and players who were injured last season report to spring training Saturday in Arizona. Hopefully Griffey joins them soon. And then finishes up his career in the cathedral of a ballpark the Mariners franchise built for him in the first place.
Story from ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3901872
This would be a great move for the Mariners on SO many levels.
Griffey, who is now 39, is not the same guy he was when he played for the Mariners throughout the 1990's. Fans need to realize this before they set the expectation bar 15 notches too high.
He's no longer the guy who has tremendous range in the outfield. No longer the guy wearing a backwards cap with a big grin on his face 24/7. He can't run like he used to, his arm is much weaker than it used to be, and although his swing is still one of the sweetest ever: it's lost a bit of pop.
He hasn't driven in 100 runs since 2000, he has hit 40 homers once since he left Seattle; and only has averaged playing in 109 games per year since arriving in Cincinnati in 2000.
He is not The Kid anymore. But he is what the Mariners need.
Currently, Seattle has Endy Chavez penciled in as its starting left field. Chavez is a lifetime .270 hitter who has hit less home runs in his career than Griffey did last season. Not neccesarily a prime left fielder for a team that has seriously lacked power numbers the past few years.
Which is one of the reasons signing Griffey makes sense for this ball club. Not only can Griffey add a much needed power left-handed bat to the middle of the lineup, but he's going to get an opportunity for focus more on hitting in the American League than he did in Cincinnati where DH's don't exist. Which is primarily what a nearing 40-year old veteran should be doing. No one should expect him to win a gold glove in left field (which he will probably play) should he sign. But he can still be a very productive hitter in my mind.
Nay sayers will argue that the Mariners don't need another aging bat. But as a Mariner fan, even if Griffey does wind up hitting .230 next season. I would much rather watch Griffey hit .230 playing DH than Jose Vidro or Kenji Johjima or Richie Sexson, or whichever other underachieving, overpaid tool Seattle has used the past few years.
And that's just from a statistical point of view.
From a franchise standpoint, Griffey WILL put fans in the seat. He will bring veteran leadership to a team that has none, and he will spark a little bit of life into a team that desperately needs it.
It may be a long shot, but Seattle is on the verge of bringing in two former great players in Griffey and Mike Sweeney who now have the chance to rest their bodies more often than usual by swapping time at designated hitter and playing the field when needed.
There is no reason in my mind why Griffey can't increase his offensive output in Seattle based solely on the fact that he gets the chance to dedicate more time to hitting than anything else.
I, and every other Mariner fan out there prays the guy can stay healthy and can finish up his career on, at the very least, a respectable manner with the team he made a name for himself with. And what if it works out? What if Junior hits .280 with 25+ homers and drives in 75-85 RBI's? It's not like the guy is totally incapable of producing offensive numbers.
This is a good move by Seattle to add a guy that has proven in years past that he can be one of the best hitters out there. And at the age of 39, he might not be the same guy we're accustomed to seeing, but at least its better than Richie Sexson, right?
Mariners pitchers, catchers and players who were injured last season report to spring training Saturday in Arizona. Hopefully Griffey joins them soon. And then finishes up his career in the cathedral of a ballpark the Mariners franchise built for him in the first place.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Good reads
Great story about Jake Locker, quarterback from the U of Washington.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/huskies/399294_Kyle09.html
Mariners signed a former All-Star in hopes he can fill a serious void at Designated Hitter
http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090129&content_id=3782398&vkey=news_sea&fext=.jsp&c_id=sea
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/huskies/399294_Kyle09.html
Mariners signed a former All-Star in hopes he can fill a serious void at Designated Hitter
http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090129&content_id=3782398&vkey=news_sea&fext=.jsp&c_id=sea
Monday, February 9, 2009
Rodriguez being unfairly treated
Today (Feb 9, 2009), Alex Rodriguez, the face of Major League Baseball came clean with ESPN's Peter Gammons and admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs during his time with the Texas Rangers between 2001 and 2003. The one guy who was supposed to lead MLB through and PAST the Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and steroid era of the sport is now a culprit of the same laws we so wanted him not to be a part of.
It doesn't bother me.
It bothers me that Rodriguez used the drugs in the first place, because no one should advocate the use of illegal or banned substances. However, he is one of 104 people who tested positive during that "anonymous and confidential" test during 2003. 103 other colleagues of his tested positive, not just Rodriguez, Bonds, and Clemens. Out of the other 103 guys who tested positive, how many do you think pitched against Rodriguez? How many do you think made throws across the infield to prevent him from running out an infield single? How many hit a line-drive at him that he couldn't quite handle at short stop?
My point is simple: He wasn't the only one at that point in time taking these supplements. It's not commendable that he used these drugs. But the way he is handing the situation is what I hope everyone looks at. If a guy who hit .243 with 15 home runs and 63 RBI's tested, and then came clean by admitting his use, he would be forgiven. Why not the same for A-Rod?
Are we going to punish one of the greatest players of all-time, because he is just that?
This is a guy who hit .358 at the age of 20 in 1996 and finished second in MVP voting in the American league. And a guy who has played exceptional baseball since up-to and through 2008, including the last five years in which he has been tested for performance enhancing drugs and tested clean each time.
What gets to me the most is that people are honestly letting this get in the way of the fact that Alex Rodriguez has been and always will be one of the best to play the game.
Nothing about those statistics other than homerun totals during 2001-2003 suggests Rodriguez's success is a product of drug use. He hit more home runs in 2007 than he did in 2001 and 2003, he has had five season in which RBI's totals have been higher than years during his drug use season in Texas, and two of the three years in Texas were two of the only five season in his career where he has hit .300 or less.
If you take a look at his statistics from all other seasons minus the years he has admitted to using drugs against the three years in Texas where he did, nothing really jumps out that much.
3-year Texas averages (.305, 52 HR, 126 RBI)
10-year total outside of 2001-2003 (.308, 39 HR, 119 RBI)
You could argue his Home Run numbers are way up and clearly inflated during that time in Texas, but don't forgot Texas is a home-run friendly ball-park and that his first couple of seasons in Seattle he was just 20 and 21 years old, hardly even a man at that point in his career.
I am not defending the fact that Alex Rodriguez, one of the greatest, most gifted athletes to ever grace the face of the earth used drugs that may have helped him be a better baseball player. What he did was wrong, and should be looked down upon. However, anything he used during that time was not illegal by MLB standards, and his career statistics do not benefit greatly because he doped for three seasons in Texas.
He has won 2 MVP's since moving to New York, hit for his highest career average at the age of 20, drove in more runs in 2007 than any season in Texas, and maybe the most under looked part of it all, played for a complete cellar-dweller of a team in Texas where his teams never sniffed a division title, let alone a world championship.
"I got caught up in this everybody's doing it era, so why not experiment with x,y, or z?", A-Rod said with Gammons today.
And I completely agree with him.
This was a time in baseball where many people were trying to find an edge to get better, and he was no exception. But the fact that he has proven in ten other seasons that he didn't need those drugs, has admitted his use, and has tested clean numerous times since his time in Texas solidifies him as a true star in my mind. The fact that he has come clean, been clean and is willing to talk about his "idiot" time in Texas is honorable. Which is EXACTLY what the sport needs right now. Instead of trashing Rodriguez and stripping him of his Hall-of-Fame worthy career ten years before it even ends, we should all be grateful that a player who was already brilliant before making a mistake, cut ties with his old ways and is still producing at a first-ballot H.O.F. level.
Don't hate the player, hate the game. And if Alex Rodriguez doesn't deserve the respect of baseball fans at this day in age, then nobody does.
It doesn't bother me.
It bothers me that Rodriguez used the drugs in the first place, because no one should advocate the use of illegal or banned substances. However, he is one of 104 people who tested positive during that "anonymous and confidential" test during 2003. 103 other colleagues of his tested positive, not just Rodriguez, Bonds, and Clemens. Out of the other 103 guys who tested positive, how many do you think pitched against Rodriguez? How many do you think made throws across the infield to prevent him from running out an infield single? How many hit a line-drive at him that he couldn't quite handle at short stop?
My point is simple: He wasn't the only one at that point in time taking these supplements. It's not commendable that he used these drugs. But the way he is handing the situation is what I hope everyone looks at. If a guy who hit .243 with 15 home runs and 63 RBI's tested, and then came clean by admitting his use, he would be forgiven. Why not the same for A-Rod?
Are we going to punish one of the greatest players of all-time, because he is just that?
This is a guy who hit .358 at the age of 20 in 1996 and finished second in MVP voting in the American league. And a guy who has played exceptional baseball since up-to and through 2008, including the last five years in which he has been tested for performance enhancing drugs and tested clean each time.
What gets to me the most is that people are honestly letting this get in the way of the fact that Alex Rodriguez has been and always will be one of the best to play the game.
- Year Age Average HR's RBI's Team
1996 20 .358 36 123 SEA
1997 21 .300 23 84 SEA
1998 22 .310 42 124 SEA
1999 23 .285 42 111 SEA
2000 24 .316 41 132 SEA
*2001 25 .318 52 135 TEX
*2002 26 .300 57 142 TEX
*2003 27 .298 47 118 TEX
2004 28 .286 36 106 NYY
2005 29 .321 48 130 NYY
2006 30 .290 35 121 NYY
2007 31 .314 54 156 NYY
2008 32 .302 35 103 NYY
Nothing about those statistics other than homerun totals during 2001-2003 suggests Rodriguez's success is a product of drug use. He hit more home runs in 2007 than he did in 2001 and 2003, he has had five season in which RBI's totals have been higher than years during his drug use season in Texas, and two of the three years in Texas were two of the only five season in his career where he has hit .300 or less.
If you take a look at his statistics from all other seasons minus the years he has admitted to using drugs against the three years in Texas where he did, nothing really jumps out that much.
3-year Texas averages (.305, 52 HR, 126 RBI)
10-year total outside of 2001-2003 (.308, 39 HR, 119 RBI)
You could argue his Home Run numbers are way up and clearly inflated during that time in Texas, but don't forgot Texas is a home-run friendly ball-park and that his first couple of seasons in Seattle he was just 20 and 21 years old, hardly even a man at that point in his career.
I am not defending the fact that Alex Rodriguez, one of the greatest, most gifted athletes to ever grace the face of the earth used drugs that may have helped him be a better baseball player. What he did was wrong, and should be looked down upon. However, anything he used during that time was not illegal by MLB standards, and his career statistics do not benefit greatly because he doped for three seasons in Texas.
He has won 2 MVP's since moving to New York, hit for his highest career average at the age of 20, drove in more runs in 2007 than any season in Texas, and maybe the most under looked part of it all, played for a complete cellar-dweller of a team in Texas where his teams never sniffed a division title, let alone a world championship.
"I got caught up in this everybody's doing it era, so why not experiment with x,y, or z?", A-Rod said with Gammons today.
And I completely agree with him.
This was a time in baseball where many people were trying to find an edge to get better, and he was no exception. But the fact that he has proven in ten other seasons that he didn't need those drugs, has admitted his use, and has tested clean numerous times since his time in Texas solidifies him as a true star in my mind. The fact that he has come clean, been clean and is willing to talk about his "idiot" time in Texas is honorable. Which is EXACTLY what the sport needs right now. Instead of trashing Rodriguez and stripping him of his Hall-of-Fame worthy career ten years before it even ends, we should all be grateful that a player who was already brilliant before making a mistake, cut ties with his old ways and is still producing at a first-ballot H.O.F. level.
Don't hate the player, hate the game. And if Alex Rodriguez doesn't deserve the respect of baseball fans at this day in age, then nobody does.
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