Under the category of “No-one Cares Other Than SU”, I just read that long-time SU fave Richard Jefferson will sign a 1-year deal to play with LeBron. I like it and will add Cleveland to teams that I will follow next season on the NBA Season Pass along with Charlotte (Jeremy Lin).
Long-time SU subscriber T. Potter sent along this tidbit late yesterday about Omar Minaya from the New York Times:
“…his legacy with the Mets looks better and better. Minaya, who was fired in 2010, oversaw some costly major league contracts, but he also left the Mets with a foundation of players he drafted, including Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz, Jon Niese, Daniel Murphy and Lucas Duda, as well as players he signed on the international market, like Juan Lagares. Minaya also acquired Carlos Beltran and R. A. Dickey, who were used in trades for Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud.” Met fans got all excited when Sandy Alderson came to town but in hindsight, it appears that they had a good thing with Omar.
Met fans: do you agree?
SU is taking some level of satisfaction that the Red Sox were swept out in LA over the weekend and are now 9 games back. They will now become sellers at the trade deadline. Sometimes the big ticket free agents just don’t get it done.
The Yankees now have a chance to create some separation with the Orioles but SU just does not see that happening. Their margin for winning is so small. Over the weekend against a bad Seattle team, they won 2 out of 3 games but all 3 games were decided by one run. Baltimore was great at this 2 years ago but the odds say that you will end up closer to .500 in the end if you keep playing games this close.
Stephen Drew is officially on the clock for SU. No way he is here past July 31st.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
I care
Well, there you go, Dave. A good pick up. Richard can still shoot it and he plays hard.
I know how much SU likes Richard Jefferson. Probably will peg him in to be the Shawn Marrion replacement.
I’m not a huge fan of the ESPYs but my son showed me the clip where it said that Steve Kerr and the Warriors outcoached LeBron, and then panned to LeBron. SU odds of whether or not there will be a new coach in Cleveland?
I am sure that David Blatt is on the clock now in Cleveland. Tyronn Liu is warming up in the bullpen and it’s just a matter of time before LeBron pulls the trigger and gives the signal to the bullpen to bring him in to replace Blatt. I hope not but it’s superstar league and they get what they want.
Alderson has made franchise-making trades which Mets fans will be talking about for a generation. Dickey (4.70 ERA) for Syndergaard and d’Arnaud; Beltran for Wheeler, and Byrd / Buck for Herrera and Vic Black. All young and affordable with star potential.
Speaking of the Mets’ Juan Lagares, he is the team leader in batting average… at .255. It is not too hard to figure out their main problem.
[Comment from Evan S.] Mark, Murph is hitting .266, but your point is the same; they need a big bat. d’Arnaud will be a huge addition when he comes back in a week or two. The Mets have the third best ERA in the majors and they just got back Mejia who has been really good. Parnell has been great since his recent comeback and hit 96 mph last night (still not the 102.5 mph he topped out at in 2010, but his location has been spot-on). When healed, add Matz, Montero, Blevins, and Black and their pitching gets even better (not to mention Wheeler next year). They are only 2 games back and the pitchers just need a little more run support to get the job done. If they trade a guy like Niese and use the insurance money from Wright, they can afford to overpay for a rental for the rest of the season to bring them into the playoffs.
I think when you consider batting averages in this post-PED era, you almost have to discount by 20-25 points what you would have thought was a good average just a few years ago. Hitting .280 today is like .300 in the past. Batting .250 is what .275 used to be. The shifts are also taking away hits and most hitters seem unwilling or unable to make the adjustment to hit to the opposite field.
The Mets are really close. There was stuff on Twitter last night that the Mets were talking to the A’s about Ben Zobrist but didn’t want to pick up his $3 million in salary. As a fan, you need ownership to make the investment – at least at some point. They have done so in the past pre-Madoff with bad results. I have to believe that they will do something in the next week and a half. Feel free to take on Stephen Drew!
After last night’s game, I think it’s time for SU to ditch the gloom and doom outlook on the Yankees. 6 games up in the loss column, with a chance to make it 7 today, in a weak division with basically 2 other teams (Baltimore and Toronto) that can marginally be called contenders. You’re far enough into the year to realize that Teixeira and ARod are back to being quality players, and their bullpen is enough of a strength to prevent a collapse. They should become buyers at the deadline, and while they should be prudent about mortgaging their future for a quality starter, it’s time to roll the dice a little bit.
Mark, it’s a fair point. But I would not trade any prospect for a rental pitcher. I like their new direction of going younger and the fans want to root for these kids as well. I know they are winning but they continue to play a lot of 1-run games. I actually think their need is for a bat and not a starter. Their starters only need to go 5-6 innings and they have enough of those guys now. The whole AL is pretty weak this year. And if either A-Rod or Teixeira got injured, they can’t easily fill those slots.