Finally, there is activity down south and we can look forward to the start of baseball season.  SU knows that baseball is not in vogue with the younger generation but for oldsters like me, it’s the best season.  Checked out the Yankees a bit.  Here are my spring training thoughts:

• Joel Sherman has clearly been reading SU.  He totally agrees that the Yankees don’t need either Machado or Harper.

https://nypost.com/2019/02/12/destroying-the-myth-yankees-needed-machado-or-harper/

As always, SU represents the cutting edge thinking out there.  I still think the Yankees would jump on Harper if the years and price came down low enough.

• Jacoby Ellsbury, who has been out for 13 years, will not report until March as he already has issues with his feet.  Unreal.
• Greg Bird is healthy and motivated.  Clint Frazier is on record that he wants to win the starting left-field position over Gardner.  SU loves the competition.  The team is better when you don’t just assume you own the position.  Of course, it would be nice if Stanton also had to earn it but hey, I will take the small things for now.
• Severino has a new 4-year, $48 million deal.  He is worth it.  More importantly, he has a new diet and hopes to retain his strength over the full year.
• Jordan Montgomery is aiming to return after the All-Star break.  He could be a huge factor in the second half.  You have to assume Cashman is counting on him as well as Didi to be ready after 2-3 months.  Still no love out there for Andujar but it feels like they will at least let him show his defensive prowess in Tampa.
• SU liked the off-season moves by the Mets.  The NL East is winnable.  They may not be done dealing just yet.

A few other random thoughts:

• Big Ten officiating continues to be pretty awful.  How does John Beilein, who does not curse, get ejected?  SU watches a lot of Big Ten hoops and the officiating is really bad for a major conference.  Needs to be addressed.
• If Duke wins the NCAAs this year, what do we think about that?  SU says for Coach K, anything short of a championship is a failure with this roster.  It’s not good for college basketball – whether it’s Kentucky or Duke.
• Since Djokovic won the Australian Open, he has been off.  His next tournament is not until mid-March at Indian Wells.  The reality of professional tennis is that the top men don’t play that many tournaments.  The players complain that there is no off-season (first part of December) but these guys are not on the road all the time.
• The Knicks are unwatchable but SU says if this pans out as they hope, i.e., they draft Zion Williamson and sign Durant and Kyrie, it was a move for the ages.  If no one wants to sign and play here, well you just go with rebuild 19.0.

Is it bad for baseball to have Harper and Machado unsigned as of mid-February?  Or is this what it takes to change the model from the awful Robinson Cano 10-year, $240 million contracts, to something that makes more sense?  Hey, the NBA has its share right now – $40 million for Chris Paul for one season?  Dude cannot even stay healthy.  It’s not pretty right now and looks like collusion but if we can get to richer, shorter contracts, it’s better for everyone.