Jeremy Lin is on the move again. The Nets are trading him to the Atlanta Hawks where he will be playing alongside Oklahoma rookie Trae Young. SU was ready to go all in on the Nets this year with Caris Lavert there but so it goes. The reality is that with D’Angelo Russell there, Lin’s minutes (and shots) would have been reduced to a great extent. Dennis Schroder is still on Atlanta but it appears he will be on the move this summer. Young is not even close to being ready for the NBA in my opinion and so Lin should get his share of court time in what is a rebuild. Hey, if he can stay healthy, I am sure he might even be traded to a contender come February but what do I know?
SU is a man without a team for yet another season. I will look forward to watching the Knicks (Hardaway Jr, Trey Burke, Knox – this guy can play), Lakers (Mo Wagner who should get some minutes and with LeBron, will even touch the ball), Indiana (Glen Robinson III is back) and Miami (Duncan Robinson and Derrick Walton). Duncan Robinson is a great story – there is room for a shooter who can actually shoot and he is 6-8. The challenge will be playing in a system where others pass the ball and look for the open man vs. going one-on-one. As long as Mike Woodson stays away from Miami (and Carmelo), maybe he can play a little. Bring on the NBA Season Pass subscription for another year!
So Yankee fans, Happ got lit up by the Red Sox last night for his 3rd bad start in a row. Seriously, Brian Cashman, take a pass on this dude. He is not the answer. And while you are at it, DO NOT TRADE FOR MANNY MACHADO AND GIVE UP ANY TOP PROSPECTS. Are you crazy? For a rental player? Once Torres and Sanchez return, do they really need more offense? SU says it’s stupid. And do you either trade Andujar or sit him? For a guy who may only be there 2 months? Unless Machado can start every 5 days, totally unnecessary.
Right now, your average Yankee starter goes 5 – 6 innings. Even Severino is going through a dip. SU says the Yankees should limit his starts and innings the rest of the year. While he is young and a horse, he throws close to 100 mph and you have to worry about wear and tear. He shouldn’t have to carry the burden of the rest of the staff’s underperformance.
As predicted here, Sonny Gray was great against the Orioles and he is ready to take off for the 2nd half. He will be your game 2 playoff starter come October. Credit to Aaron Boone for sticking with him. SU is now of the opinion that other than DeGrom, no one out there is worth giving up prospects in a trade. I will be content going with what they have here plus adding Justus Sheffield to the mix in the 2nd half of the season. If you can find the lefty relief specialist, sure, pick up that guy but not for anyone good.
Btw, watching Severino struggle last night brought back memories of the Wild Card game where he was knocked out in the 1st inning. It’s why you want to try and win the division.
A few notes this Friday:
- SU is feeling good about Djokovic. Even if he loses to Nadal today, he is back. He is feisty on the court and has gotten over his “there are more important things in life” outlook. He wants to win again and it’s good for the sport.
- Greg Bird has shown signs of life – finally. He is still striking out too much but is getting some clutch hits which is huge for the line up – especially now.
- Todd Frazier and his .218 average on the DL. Bullet dodged by the Yankees this year in not re-signing him.
- No home run derby for Judge please. Now, if Stanton wants to do it, SU has no problem with that.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
No Machado, no way–don’t need him. Happ has shown that he is not the answer so stay clear. Watched DeGrom’s last start and he is the real deal but we can’t afford him even if the Mets were interested. We will wait for free agent starters in the off-season. We will have ride it out with Sev, Tanaka, CC and Gray. If Kahnle is not making it back, we could shop for another solid relief guy since our starters are not getting through 6. All in all I am OK if we stand pat. Those Red Sox just don’t lose until we play them so getting the division is going to be tough.
Let’s face it…. when the yanks grabbed A-rod the Sox grabbed Shilling. I guess we know what happened that year in 2004. Beside the Big Red Machine it just seems like the World Series winners all had 2-3 really good pitchers. Now Tanaka had a miserable regular season but stepped up beautifully in the playoffs. Remember, we were only 1 win away from being there ourselves…. and then no one could say that we do not have a good enough starting pitching staff. If I had to hit on one and only one statistic which separates Houston and Boston from us is that we struck out 100 times more than they did.
Being a NY fan in football, baseball and somewhat in hockey how come you can not ride the crest of the wave with the Knicks? Oh yeah…. I forgot…. they have for a quarter of our lives horrible to watch. Hopefully, their youth movement by next year will make them more entertaining and by 2020 a playoff contender…. as Jeremy Linn circles back. Ha ha.
What about Noah Syndergaard for Andujar and Drury. As we also pick up the 26 year old named Manny Machado and sign him to a long term contract…. This guy doesn’t strike out much either. Oh yeah…
100% agreement on Happ and other pitchers who have been floated. Other than DeGrom, there’s is nobody worth giving up real prospects. These are Tier 2 and Tier 3 guys. They are Sonny Grays.and Jaime Garcias. You don’t trade top talent for these types of players. And the Machado discussion can’t be any more than the result of him playing in front of the Yankees beat writers for 4 games. Can it? There is no world in which this makes sense.
Bird has been productive for a couple of days. Note to Aaron Boone: Do not move him up in the lineup. He belongs towards the bottom where his occasional offensive contribution is gravy. He does not belong hitting 3rd through 6th.
Hard to know if Jeremy Lin is an injury prone guy or not. His seasons with the Knicks and Nets obviously bias me but he had 4 seasons in between where he played a lot of games. The trend is certainly in the wrong direction and age never helps.
I am actually blown away by the commentary about this team or that team being the best fit for Carmelo Anthony. Why do people feel like they have to go through this discussion and why are they willing to put their reputations on the line when all the evidence suggests that there is no good fit for Carmelo Anthony. There’s a lot of history here. He has never made a team better. He’s had problems with coaches who have had success elsewhere. He’s had problems with players who have had success elsewhere. And just watching a couple of games should be enough to see that his game is a net negative to any team. I hate to get on him because he seems like a nice enough guy and I never question his effort (except for part of the game when he’s supposed to be playing defense), but he is not an asset to any team…and it’s possible that this was just as much the case in his prime as it is now.
Glenn Robinson III signed with the Pistons in the offseason
Right! Forgot about that one. But no worries: their games are also on the NBA Season Pass.
Have to hope that the Machado talk is just classic Cashman misdirection- by suggesting he is willing to trade top prospects for Machado he is trying to make the teams with which he is discussing a trade for a pitcher nervous that if he pulls the trigger on Machado there will be nothing left for them.