OK, so we know that the Yankees needed a closer for next season. Betances did not look like closer material in September and can’t even throw the ball to any of the bases. He may never be that “guy” who closes things out which is fine – although not for him as he will miss out on millions of dollars. Chapman is a stud – no doubt. But 5 years for a relief pitcher? You do not see contracts like that anywhere and we know that aside from Mariano, relievers are up and down from year-to-year.
On the other hand, it’s not my money and clearly Hal Steinbrenner likes this guy a lot and assuming the plan is to be contenders starting in 2018, you do need a closer. But here’s the thing: a couple of years ago, the Red Sox signed some big name free agents and the Yankees panicked and grabbed Ellsbury for 8 years at $22 million a year or something like that. Three years later, we know that this may be the worst contract in baseball and it’s just a matter of time before the Yankees move him and end up paying 80% of his salary for the duration of the contract. After the Sales trade, the Chapman signing feels the same way. Too much money, too many years, panic move.
SU is excited about the Yankees for 2017 and would be really excited if they can move Chase Headley before then. I know Ellsbury is untradeable but let’s open up 3rd base and slide some prospect in there. SU cannot endure another year of 10 homeruns and 52 rbis for an everyday player. Can’t do it.
I had a laugh-out-loud moment a couple of days ago when I read that Rajon Rondo had been suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the team. Now, who would have ever thought that could happen? The Knicks dodged a bullet there by not signing him even though Melo was lobbying for him. He is the Demarcus Cousins of point guards. Never happy.
Did you see that Phil Jackson called Melo a ball hog? Shocking. SU only caught a few minutes of last night’s Knick game (once a lead hits 80 points I call it a night) but Jeff Van Gundy went off defending Melo’s assist numbers and how they were much higher than Porzingis. SU note to Van Gundy: Porzingis needs to shoot every time he touches the ball as Carmelo and Rose are going to shoot it every time they get it. I don’t even want him passing it. Van Gundy knows better and Anthony is a ball stopper.
SU fave Novak Djokovic has parted ways with his coach, Boris Becker. He appears to be under the “influence” of some guru these days who espouses tranquility and balance. Not a good combo if you want to be #1 in the world. This is not good.
Finally, how abou the UConn women winning easily over Notre Dame on their home court? This is supposedly a down year for Auriemma while he reloads but he is such a good coach. What he is accomplishing in this era is very impressive.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
At least they didn’t give Chapman the 6th year that he wanted. I still think their best option was Miller but that ship sailed and we’re hoping that those prospects pan out (although turning them into someone like Chris Sale wouldn’t have been to bad either). We have to hope that Chapman doesn’t suffer from overuse in October. He was impressive though. Possibly mostly because he was able to power through some innings when he had nothing left. He had an outing in the World Series where he threw nothing but sliders. If it turns out that he can get guys out even when they know there’s no triple-digit fastball coming then he might be able to perform for 5 years.
They played the full Phil Jackson quote on the radio this morning and it was a little more nuanced. He said that they have a “rule” that states that ‘when a player holds the ball for more than 2 seconds then they’re helping the defense and sometimes Anthony holds it for 5 or 6 seconds.’ I guess that’s calling him a ball hog but he was a little gentler than that.
You have to figure that Chapman will be really good for a couple of years and Girardi is good about limiting consecutive day appearances. I don’t Mariano every got a 5-year contract – that just feels like a long time to me but he’s relatively young and they didn’t give up a draft pick as he was their player. I actually don’t like the Phil Jackson quotes to the media on players as he should be saying this directly to Melo (although he probably has and is being ignored).
I am getting a bit tired of Van Gundy as an announcer. He plays off this “call it like he sees it ” bit. However, listening to his overall body of work, he rarely calls out the superstars. Think he needs to get back to th bench to get grounded again. Jackson and Riley have both used the quotes to the media successfully and unsuccessfully over the years. I’m still amazed at how much press any of their comments generate.
I was watching the Cavaliers dismantle the Knicks last night and I was taken back by the “in depth” analysis of the Cavs defense on Melo. It was the easiest defense in the world to devise given the fact that Melo does not pass. They must have seen the schematics on the Melo Playstation controller:
https://www.google.com/search?q=carmelo+anthony+playstation+controller&espv=2&biw=990&bih=522&tbm=isch&imgil=Rkefzklc3YNMVM%253A%253BWNLZXfB2Kh1a5M%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Ftwitter.com%25252Fbasketballpics%25252Fstatus%25252F335914710375477248&source=iu&pf=m&fir=Rkefzklc3YNMVM%253A%252CWNLZXfB2Kh1a5M%252C_&usg=__Bola7O2piPIPP982PiHIdgrN8Rg%3D&ved=0ahUKEwjYscab4eTQAhWMZiYKHcNjCAQQyjcIJw&ei=wWdJWJjNI4zNmQHDx6Eg#imgrc=Rkefzklc3YNMVM%3A
Ha ha ha. That was very funny, Mark. I am glad to see that technology has kept pace with his shooting/ passing tendencies.
Thanks for denying the Nationals Chapman. He is the top closet in the business and knowbidy wants to face a 105 mph fastball.
$18 million is a lot of money but all things are relative. If the top starting FA pitchers are commanding $30 million then I guess one could argue 18 is a reasonable amount. Chapman has been dominant for several years and is a freak of nature who is also a very hard worker. There are many closers who have effectively pitched into their late 30s. He may eventually loose 3-4 mph off his fastball but it will still top 100!
5 years is not 8 years and the money for Chapman is in line with the market, which admittedly is too high but that’s the way it is. Despite Joe Madden’s attempt to ruin his arm, he is only 28 and should be productive for most of his contract. Yankees had to start somewhere as the possibilities for starting pitchers continue to diminish. Will be interesting to see what they do with all their SS prospects this year (Mateo, Torres, etc.) re maybe grooming one of them to learn third base.
Being at the game in the 3rd row just to the left of being under the basket you could see how physical the game is. I would love to see Porzingis down in the low-mid post.He was actually effective when the ball came his way. Why, they simply couildn’t establish that more is a mystery. Whether it was jefferson (7-8″ shorter) or anyone else… 5-8″ shorter) you would think he’d be double teamed and then be able to find the open man. Gee… what a concept. Having a 7′ 3′ guy out beyond the 3 point line with no one looking to crash the boards for an offensive rebound just doesn’t make sense. Yes, we know he can shoot the 3… but so can others on this team. Who is our inside presence?
Furthermore, there were numerous times that Porsingis was open in the paint or close to it but he never got the ball. When he did it was usually in a situation where he was double teamed in which he quickly passed the ball back out in order to reset the offense. This is bad. When Labron gets the ball underneath his next pass is to a wide open… usually Love for an easy open look at the hoop. In the first quarter Love had 16 points. I’m sure LaBron had a minimum of 5 assists.
The bottom line is that Cleveland is a better passing team, a better rebounding team on both ends of the court and takes advantage of many long passes for easy buckets as the Knicks sluggishly got back on defense.
PS Porsingis needs to muscle up more as the physicality of the game was too much for him. The refs let them play and it did not help him with all the pushing, bumping and shoving allowed. Too bad…
If the Yanks get 3 solid years out of Chapman and 1 World series and 3 straight years in the playoffs then that’s fine with me. We are almost there… 2 solid starters from being contenders. WIN NOW… WHY NOT. We didn’t pick up Matt Holiday to win down-the-road…