Several have emailed SU today about the Aaron Hicks, 7-year, $70 million extension. Good deal? Bad deal? Not my money so why do I care? Here is SU’s take:
- We know Hicks is a Cashman fave. He has been given a long leash to develop and when healthy (which is not a given), he has produced and improved each year.
- He is a switch hitter, has a great arm, and his swing is made for Yankee Stadium.
- He has one of the best eyes in baseball. Whatever that stat is, he does not swing at balls.
- He was going to be a free agent after this season. He is 29 years old.
- SU believes that the Hicks’ deal is the second of several that you will now start to see as the Yankees try and lock in their young crop of future stars. Severino was first and Judge will be next. The idea is to sign them to an extension before they hit arbitration and before they become free agents. The Angels did this with Mike Trout several years ago. It will be interesting if they give Gary Sanchez this type of treatment as he is also in the pipeline. SU is not sure on that one and believes this season will be key for him. Also, what about Betances?
Bottom line: SU likes the deal. You overpay a bit but as he gets older, you can also trade him more easily as his contract is reasonable. And….. it’s not my money.
Greg Bird went 2 for 2 on Saturday, and Luke Voit went 2 for 3 with a home run and 4 rbis yesterday. Advantage: Voit.
So, Bob Kraft visited that “spa” on back-to-back days including the morning of the NFC Championship Game so he had to boogie to Kansas City. Delta must offer some type of frequent flyer package deal for extra service. Supposedly there are videotapes. Eek. SU says he didn’t beat anyone up, he isn’t married and who cares? Move on. This story has one more day of shelf life.
Should college basketball players get paid? A lot of talk now after Zion Williamson destroyed his sneaker and sprained his knee. SU understands both sides of the argument here. But I also say that Zion’s marketability and draft positioning were greatly enhanced by playing at Duke. He isn’t paid but he is on a scholarship, and Duke needs to make money on its college basketball program to give out the scholarships. The reality is that a handful of #1 picks have long and productive careers in the NBA. Many bounce around for a few years and then are gone. What would be best is that players stay in school through their junior years, get an education that will benefit them the rest of their lives and also develop their basketball skills so that they are that much better positioned to succeed once they enter the NBA. Take Mo Wagner on Michigan. He left after his junior year. He has sat on the Lakers’ bench all year. Barely played at all. Literally. Is he developing his basketball skills better in the NBA in their practices? Maybe. Or do you develop your skills by staying in college and actually getting to play? Sure, he got paid and you risk injury in college. But this is not football. The odds of a major injury are slight. Nik Stauskus left after his sophomore year as did Glenn Robinson III. It’s likely both will be out of the NBA in another year.
Can’t you have a duel goal of getting an education and also improving your skills in college? Look, if you are a hardship case, SU gets it – take the money sooner as you desperately need it for your family. But if you don’t, stay in school.
Much being made of Michigan State’s win over Michigan yesterday down 2 of their best players. Well done. Kudos to Tom Izzo. But… SU says beware of peaking too soon. We will see if they can sustain it through the Big Ten Tournament and then the NCAAs. But they played well yesterday.
And how is Gonzaga #1? No way. Tennessee loses in OT on the road. Duke loses without Williamson. Gonzaga always underachieves in the NCAAs.
OK, enough of my evening rant. Let’s hear from you and how about some new subscribers weighing in??
Sports Update Intergalactic 
70 million is not what it used to be so who cares. Lock up Judge and get Betances for 3 or 4 more. No long contracts for catchers, especially this one.
Let Kraft be. He lost his wife a few years back and Is 78. As long as everyone is a consulting adult and no one is forced into anything —there are so many worse things.
I agree with Bob.
The Zion situation will eventually expand to lesser dominant, yet still very good players to select into the NBA. It doesn’t matter whether you are a hardship case or not…. at the end of the day everyone is trying to do what is best for themselves financially. LaBron never went to college. He seems to be a pretty smart dude. Yes, it would be nice if everyone could attend college as it would make you a more well rounded person… but its not the only way on getting there.
I’m fine with the Hicks deal. The biggest risk here is injury and it’s safe to say that over 7 years there will be many. But when healthy he offers some balance in a lineup that can get one-dimensional.
Sanchez has something to prove before getting signed to anything long term. I have never been a big Betances fan and fear that he will expect closer-type money. If they can lock him up now at some lower price, I’d all for it.
Bird and Voit competing for time may be a good thing. It would have to continue during the season. Bird doesn’t seem to thrive when he has an opportunity to get complacent.
Tulowitzski homered yesterday and the announcers report that he is in great shape. Of course this is the report on everybody this time of year. I hear that Ellsbury has put on just the right amount of weight and adopted a new off-season routine.
There’s enough to the Kraft story to keep it going for more than a few news cycles. Plus, the NFL industry loves stories that keep it in the headlines in the off season and this will be no different. As far as these things go, other than the public’s appetite for all the salacious details, it’s hard to see people getting particularly angry with Kraft. Unlike some similar cases, there are obvious victims here…it’s just that the blame doesn’t really rest with the customers…no matter how famous they are.
The Zion Williamson story illustrates 80% of what is wrong with college basketball (and college sports in general). Don’t worry, there will be 12 more stories to fill in the remaining 20% before the year is out. And the various initiatives that get discussed (from paying players to expanded playoffs/tournaments) make things even worse. Throw in whatever ugliness will come from expanded gambling and we are looking at perpetual problems. There is one simple solution that will gain no traction anywhere but it’s obvious and rarely stated: We should not be looking to add money to college athletics but should be looking to take money away from it. This solution will find few supporters on a sports blog. It will find few supporters among sports media, athletic directors, coaches, university presidents and bookies. But it could return college sports to what it should be and allow it to be enjoyed by those who were supposed to enjoy it: athletes and students. If the appetite for additional sports content is so great, then additional professional leagues should be created. If the college game is appealing, let these leagues recruit younger player and adopt rules similar to college. If that doesn’t do it, then sports fans should be willing to sacrifice a little enjoyment for the benefit of college athletics, students and athletes. Where we are today makes no sense. It is wrong. Sometimes it’s tragic. It should end.
I love it how we all think that it is not “our money”. It is “our” money that is paying these players. We see these huge contracts and don’t think anything of them, but does someone really need to make $30m for playing third base for 130 games a year? We are paying, whether in ticket prices, concessions, parking, car insurance commercials, etc. In no way should a 16 oz Yuengling cost $14 at a Hawks game (unless you are letting in fans for free). Regarding car insurance, can there be a break in the action without an insurance commercial? Yeah, most are clever and funny, but again, we are all paying for those in our rates. Also, what ever happened to commercials for bath soap? There used to be commercials for Coast, Irish Spring, Dial, Lever 2000, Zest, etc. on TV all the time. I guess now it is just beer, insurance, and Dr. Pepper commercials (how are there that many people drinking Dr. Pepper?). Drink beer, do some stupid stuff, but it’s ok, we are covered by Flo and/or a camel saying today is Wednesday. If only we could smell good at the same time, but we no longer know which soap to purchase.
As for Hicks – if felt like they were bidding against themselves, but what do I know? Seems like too much money for a 29 year old with a career .236 average. The question is, will he get enough reps platooning with Ellsbury?
Why no word about the Lakers? Luke Walton is overmatched as a coach, they have not developed their young players, Magic is best served as the “face of the franchise” and not an executive, and Pelinka was an average agent who may be better utilized as a body double for Rob Lowe. Even LBJ told us himself that he does not care anymore (and then he tells us he cares… so which is it?). They just got beaten by a terrible Grizzlies team that is doing their best “Weekend at Bernie’s” impression by rolling out a 47 year old Jokim Noah and a player who is playing on one leg and never really had much NBA talent to begin with in Chandler Parsons. Let’s not even get to Mike Conley, who may actually be right handed after all these years.
Lastly, I liked the sportsmanship shown by James Harden last night for not jacking up a meaningless last-second shot just to get to 30 points in a win over the Hawks last night, despite the fact that I am sure everyone in the building wanted him to get to 30. At least he still has his 28+ points per game streak still alive…