SU is back from a quick swing through Chicago and had the chance to visit both Wrigley Field and the United Center and their brand new offices for the teams. The Wrigley Field area has really developed from what I recall back in the late 70s – crazy development and for the better. New hotel going up – this will be a real must see destination in Chicago.
Thoughts for the day:
- Much was made after Manny Machado over-slid 2nd base and banged into Dustin Predoia who had to leave the game with an injured leg. SU must say that the long-time baseball tradition of “protecting your best player” gets a little tiring. Machado over-slid – he wasn’t trying to take him out and put him into left field. But, of course, the Red Sox players were all up in arms. SU note to Red Sox fans: where were you all those years when Pedro and Company were hitting Yankee hitters? The Yankee pitchers never retaliated because of course you couldn’t hit “Big Hugs” Papi. That was always outrageous. SU says the Red Sox have gotten the better of this statistic for about 20 years. I guess that’s why they were so upset with this incident – not used to it. Anyway, their reliever over-reacted and got the suspension he deserved. If the Red Sox are smart, they will realize that Machado is a free agent in a couple of years. Maybe you don’t want to piss him off so he might consider the Red Sox?
- SU just read that Larry Bird has stepped down at Indiana. Can Phil be far behind? Another example of a great player who struggled to live up to his high playing level as a sports executive. But his teams generally made the playoffs and were competitive. Truth is as we all know, it’s not that easy to find guys who will actually pass the ball willingly for the betterment of the team. I guess we will see how good Derek Jeter is soon enough once they complete the sale for the Marlins. That will be interesting to watch.
- SU loved this quote in Harvey Araton’s column today about the Knicks in the New York Times. He was writing about Porzingis and why he might not want to stick around NY when he becomes a free agent: “The worst thing is, he knows he didn’t get better this year,” the person said. “How could he when they bring in Derrick Rose, a point guard who doesn’t pass the ball? With Kristaps, I’m afraid they’ve gotten themselves in a very difficult situation, and I don’t know how they get out of it.” So true about Rose; dude did not even look to pass. All about resurrecting his career as a free agent.
- The Mets are in free fall and while it’s still early, they are already 7+ games behind the Nationals and having injury issues all over the place. It gets late pretty early doesn’t it? Still a long way to go but lots of bodies are breaking down.
Meanwhile, the Yankees all of a sudden have a legit looking starting rotation. Severino has been lights out and even Pineda is keeping it together. They are right up there in runs scored for the season but not really hitting on all cylinders and without Didi and Sanchez. This could be good – really good. SU needs Greg Bird to get untracked or else they should send him down to regain his confidence. It’s actually hard to watch right now. And Matt Holliday even got a big hit last night. SU is still not sold on him but I am prepared to be won over.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Good to see a new post. Was getting worried that SU was dumping people like ESPN.
Larry Bird was a better player than he was a coach or executive. But he was certainly serviceable in both of those other roles. If you look at the list of names that have served the Knicks in those roles for the past 20 years, you would have signed up for Bird’s services in a heartbeat.
The takeaway from the Araton column was supposed to be that Porzingis is demonstrating toughness or competitiveness or testiness that isn’t associated with European players. Maybe that’s a good thing. I still don’t want him playing for Latvia after sitting out so many Knicks games this season. I’m mostly tired of hearing that things will change once Carmelo gets traded. I would like one reporter to explain the path to trading Carmelo. We have seen the various rumors floated about for the past year or so. No team wants him. Absent an A Rod type arrangement, I expect to see him in a Knicks uniform this Fall.
The Mets manage to take bad situations and make them worse with the way they handle the treatment and publicity of injuries. It is very hard to explain. I vaguely remember a season in the 80s when Ricky Henderson had a hamstring injury that didn’t go away. You never knew if he would play or not. If he would be put on the DL or not. Or for how long. There was speculation that he was faking or not telling the team what was really going on. The Mets have had this sort of thing with multiple players over multiple season. Whether its Johan Santana or Matt Harvey or David Wright. And the latest is Syndergaard who probably shouldn’t have spent all that time in the weight room over the Winter. The Mets are a better team than their record indicates but not as good the expectations. For the 3rd or 4th year in a row, the Mets have built up expectations with the assumption that they would have a rotation full of aces. You can look through the history of baseball and it’s clear that no team has ever had a rotation as strong as the one the Mets seem to expect to have. Everything from injuries to under-performance can get in the way and this is the case here.
The Yankees have been playing well. I can’t believe that I have to be the one to defend Bird but he should not be sent down. They are playing well enough with him here and this is supposed to be a rebuilding year anyway. This is what it is to rebuild. He should continue to hit 6, 7 or 8th in the lineup which is the type of hitter I think he is anyway. This can be a learning experience for him. On the radio yesterday they brought up Xander Boagaerts who hit about .150 in 2014 for June, July and August. But they stuck with him and the guy is a star. Bird should be playing every day and we need to adjust our expectations. I do not believe he is a 3, 4, 5 hitter on a good team and that’s OK. Will be interesting to see what they do with Sanchez when he returns. They’ve been getting some great pitching and some credit should go to the catchers. All it takes are a couple picky or superstitious pitchers to screw things up if they say they prefer to throw to Romine. One of the many problems that arises when your catcher is one of your best hitters. And Judge is a pleasure to watch. He hits an opposite field HR in Fenway with the Green Monster beckoning in left field. Don’t know what his problem was last September but maybe it was Mark Texeira.
The Mets’ handling of the Syndergaard injury was even more baffling than I thought when submitted the comment above. I am starting to wonder why the Hospital for Special Surgery allows its name to continue to appear in relation to the treatment of this team.
On May 6 the Mets are giving away Syndergaard Hair Hats at Citifield. Unbelievable. I’m not picking on the Mets. The Yankees had a similarly stupid promotion with Gary Sanchez Bobblehead day. With all the injuries and rest days, you’d think that teams would shy away from promotions linked to specific players.
OK, now I will pick on the Mets. As it seems they’ll need to scour the minor league system for another pitcher, I asked myself, why is their AAA team in Las Vegas? The obvious answer would be money. But beyond that, does it support the major league club to have a AAA team so far away (and in such an awful climate)? I just skimmed the list to see if any other AAA teams were as geographically removed from the major league club than Vegas. The farthest distance I could find was Oakland to Nashville but even that is a little closer than the NY to LV. Every other major league team was less than half the distance from their AAA affiliate. Does it make a difference? Maybe not. But teams have been going to their AAA roster for spot starters and injury replacements for decades. It’s probably worth a couple wins a year to have that pool of talent a car ride or short flight away.
Seth, I think Melo will be a salary dump trade. They won’t get equal value but who cares? It’s addition by subtraction. Just move him out and start over yet again. I am fine with that and Knick fans should be as well. Good point on Syndergaard. You have to wonder how the added bulk and the desire to throw 110 mph is the cause of his latest ailments. What is great about baseball is that you can really alter your roster over the course of the season and that’s why there is no need to panic (make that overly panic) in April.