Tomorrow evening is the opening of NBA free agency.  The latest rumors have Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant wanting to play together, and the Knicks and Clippers represent the two best places for that to happen.  SU is not loving how the NBA stars and their agents are able to dictate where they play and create these super teams.  While the Warriors played that game, they already had a nucleus in place with Thompson, Curry and Draymon, so it was just a sweetener to what was already a great home grown team through the draft.  LeBron’s agent engineered the trade of Davis to the Lakers – he’s a bad dude.  And now the League is faced with the three top free agents of this summer – Kyrie, Durant and Leonard – shopping themselves in pairs.  I suppose if you are the recipient of one of these signing deals you like the system but SU continues to be partial to teams that grow the roster through the draft and thoughtful signings and trades for supporting pieces to put together a line up that has staying power.  Clearly, the Knicks are not capable and SU can understand the potential glee from fans to make that happen now.  The Nets are more interesting as they may allow Russell to leave and sign Irving to take his place.  That feels like a wash to SU though.

The result is a few super teams and a lot of teams that either immediately move to rebuild mode or try and squeak by into the playoffs each year.  Not ideal.

SU has decided that Yankee fans will not be allowed to complain for the rest of the season.  Can’t have it.  For Cashman, the goal is to acquire one more starting pitcher who can stand up to Houston in October.  That will be the challenge – getting by Houston.  It doesn’t matter how many wins they end up with in the regular season.  SU says success this year is defined by making it to the World Series – you don’t have to win it all but I think you have to get there.

SU is pretty certain now that Cashman is putting out misdirection on Clint Frazier.  The word is that he is seen as the Yankees’ starting left field in 2020 and will not be traded.  SU says that the Yankees actually believe that their top prospect, Estevan Florial, who is just now returning from a broken wrist, is the guy they see for the future and Frazier will be dealt.  So, it almost feels like the reason they are leaving Frazier in the minors now rather than have him replace Stanton during July is not to have Frazier struggle in the majors.  He has already shown he can hit up here – his trade value is high right now.  They will keep him in Scranton in order to not risk a slump up with the parent team.  He will be gone by August 1st — but not for Madison Bumgarner.  If they move him, you need a younger guy with fewer injuries.  Not sure who that is but pretty sure the Yankees know right now.

Agree?  Disagree?  Knick fans: what say you?

SU is an NBA fan and these days, even more a fan of college hoops.  I tuned into the NBA draft last night – mostly to see if the Michigan players who declared for the draft got selected.  I was happy to see Jordan Poole actually go in the 1st round to the Warriors (good spot for him given their style and all the injuries although he will be in the G-League next season) and then Iggy Brazdeikis actually got picked by the Knicks in the 2nd round.  SU can check him out in White Plains at the County Center in the G-League next year.

But here is the issue: who are these other guys?  Sure, we know about the Duke players and even the North Carolina ones who went high up in the 1st round.  The problem is that so many freshmen opt out after one year and we never get to watch them to any great degree.  It was interesting to hear some of the commentary on ESPN regarding how certain players were whatever number in the ESPN 100 coming out of high school and then dropped down come draft day.  SU’s conclusions:

• The talent evaluators are just not that good.  It’s even worse in college football when you hear about the 5-star players who declare for a school and then turn out to be a bust.
• If players are going to opt out after one year, then let them go right from high school to the NBA or the G-League.  SU is not sure what the point is to play the one year in college.  They are clearly not there to get the education.  At least in the NBA they will get paid.  Sure, Zion Williamson was a phenom this year and by the way, Coach K had 3 of the top 10 picks and still didn’t win it all.  But you feel like others probably peaked last night on the draft stage and it will be all downhill from here out.
• Most of the guys picked last night are not going to make it in the NBA.  SU was thinking back to previous drafts and some players are just never heard from again.  Some leave too early and it costs them.  Others hang around for a few years but the League sours on them quickly for the next big shiny thing.
• Is the ability of the top 10-12 players really that much better than the next 20-30?  Or even 50?  Guys are athletic but if they can’t shoot (which by the way is a problem for a large percentage of the group), they will not make it in the NBA.  Better to play in college, hone your skills and show what you can do.  Let the top 15 go directly to the NBA each year if that’s what they want to do, and I will enjoy watching the next 40-50 top players in college.

There is a case to be made on both sides and SU gets that.  But I should be able to recognize more of the players as a fan.  There were players from Auburn and Tennessee who I watched in the NCAAs but the Kentucky players were a mystery to me.  The NCAA and the NBA need to fix the system.  The G-League was a good start.

Yankee fans feeling good this morning after they knocked around the Astros last night.  But let’s see how they do against Verlander and Cole.  That will be the true test of the all right-handed line up.

SU has been thinking.  For your consideration:

• If Kevin Durant does not stay with Golden State for one more year as he is able to do, NBA teams would be crazy to let the Achilles injury get in the way.  He will be fine once he recovers and has been a durable player his entire career.
• LeBron James’ friend and agent is not good for the NBA.  Having agents play kingmaker and force teams to trade star players is not good.  SU has always been neutral towards the Lakers and I do like LeBron.  But I will now root against them.  And keep in mind when you have 2 stars and lots of rookies or journeymen surrounding them, when there is an injury to one of the stars, well it’s not good.  SU is surprised that Vegas has the Lakers as the early favorite to win it all next year.  Assuming Kawi heads West to the Clippers, watch for Milwaukee to take the next step.
• The Knicks should think really hard about what to do this off-season….. and then do the opposite.  Worth the shot.
• Cameron Maybin is up to .300 now and will be the next highly productive player jettisoned from the Yankees’ roster to make room for the Generational One starting tonight.  First Frazier, now Maybin and Urshala’s at bats are disappearing quickly.  These 3 guys have been instrumental to the team’s hot start in 2019.  Boone will put Stanton right in the middle of the order because that’s what his baseball card says he should do.  He did the same thing with Hicks from day 1 and he is stuck at .210.  It almost seems like Boone closes his eyes and picks the players out of a hat for his line up.  Maybe bunch the players with higher batting averages at the top of the order as they will get up more times?  Just a thought from SU.
• Houston is coming to town for 4 games.  SU says pay attention to how the Yankees’ right-handed dominant line up performs as this will be a preview of October.  Didi, Hicks – that is it.  Not built for post-season success.  At least not yet.
• SU says the USA Women’s World Cup team is must see tv.  In men’s soccer, it takes about 6 perfect passes to score a goal.  Honestly, hard to watch for SU.  But the women’s game is slower, and there are more mistakes which makes for many more chances to score.  Very enjoyable and yes, they should be paid the same as the men’s team – for sure.

OK, I am done.  Feel free to agree, disagree or whine.  All comments are welcome.

Yankee fans, you have seen Clint Frazier in pinstripes for the last time.  With the addition of Edwin Encarnacion, someone had to go and you could not see Frazier getting any at bats now.  Combine that with Giancarlo Stanton returning on Tuesday and then Judge probably next weekend, well, his time is up.

Although Frazier is a liability in the outfield, he was great with RISP and the Yankees will miss his bat in the line up.  It also looks like Urshela will see his at bats sharply reduced even though he was also terrific with RISP for the first half of the season.

SU gets it.  Stanton is the $30 million man and Judge is their best player of course.  SU is surprised that the Yankees didn’t decide to bring Stanton back on Monday – a day early – as he went 0 for 4 last night with 3 strikeouts – clearly in mid-season form and why wait another day?  OK, OK, I know – I am too harsh.  He was only 0 for 4 today with 2 strikeouts so not quite there yet.

Yankee fans will quickly need to transition from a team that hits with RISP (the Yankees led the League up til now) to the 2018 version which is lots of strikeouts, lots of home runs and lots of flailing against the top pitchers.  We will quickly get a taste of that this week with the Rays and Astros coming to town.

Clint Frazier will now be packaged in a trade for a top tier starting pitcher.  That is a no doubter.  SU does not get the Encarnacion trade as more offense is not the issue here.  But he was gettable and it’s possible that Cashman obtained him to block one of the other contenders in the AL to get him.  Or not.

The Yankees will be putting a Fantasy type line up out there every game soon enough but you can forget about the hits to the opposite field and the timely hitting with RISP.  Those days are gone now.

Am I being too tough on Stanton?  Will he be an upgrade?

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OK, OK, now that SU has trashed him, he will go out and hit 2 home runs today.  But come on – look at these stats with the Yankees:

.151; 1 HR and 4 RBIs in 53 at bats.

And he is playing with his 3rd team this year.  He can also no longer run at all.  SU does not care about the analytics that say he is hitting the ball harder than what his average shows.  Must be the same guys that feel Brett Gardner will hit higher than .238 this year.  The team has done well this season playing hitters that put the ball in play.  They sent down Thairo Estrada but he has been good at the plate.  Until Judge returns (and I guess Stanton), SU says play the guys that hit – not the over-the-hill gang.  And don’t just keep a guy on the roster because he used to be good and because your analytics people feel this is the right move.  As a footnote, they transferred Troy Tulowitzki to the 60-day injured list – better known as the Jacoby Ellsbury injured list.  Who would have ever thought he would get hurt?

Return of Didi is great – they desperately need the left-handed bats.  At this point, get Judge, Severino and Betances back, and you are good to go.  Stanton will just limit the at bats for the players who have carried them the first two months – Voit, LeMahieu.

Am I right?

Brian Cashman is moving ever so closer to having to make a move to shore up the Yankees’ starting rotation.  The good news is that the team has over-achieved for 2 months and has won 8-9 series in a row.  SU has no complaints and this team is thoroughly enjoyable to watch.  But Houston is the team to beat in the AL and if your goal is to win the World Series, then you have to upgrade the starting pitching.  SU’s perspective:

• German has been great but the last few starts you are starting to see the rest of the League catch up.  His ERA is 2 runs higher when Sanchez is behind the plate (no doubt the entire staff is 2 runs higher as well).  SU says have Romine be his catcher the rest of the season.  This is a no-brainer.
• Severino is the wild card.  SU says you can’t count on him.  The Yankees’ training staff has been wrong all year on everyone.  They need to assume he will need surgery and find another starter.  SU believes that Keuchel is on the downside of his career or Houston would have re-signed him.  It will be tempting to sign him for 1 year but it’s a risk and no doubt a lot of money.
• While SU prefers the prospects, watching Clint Frazier play the outfield is just too scary.  I have no problem with him wanting to avoid the walls with all of his concussions.  I get that.  But why does he have so much trouble with anything hit his way?  He is also a very streaky hitter.  The smart move is to package Frazier, Bird and a higher end prospect for a middle aged starter who is in the top quartile in baseball.  Not sure who that is.  Pretty sure it’s not Madison Baumgartner.  They have plenty of analytics people.  Find that guy.
• Didi coming back next weekend is huge.  They desperately need another left-handed bat in the line up and he is a great presence in the clubhouse.  Certain guys will sit here and there but that’s ok.  Judge’s return will likely spell the end of Frazier.  Stanton’s return will likely spell the end of good karma.
• In case you were wondering, SU was on record back during the winter that the Red Sox pitchers would be all screwed up this year by having the starters pitch in between starts in the playoffs.  Their starting rotation is a mess.  Is the world championship worth it?  Most would say yes.  David Cone did.
• Batting Aaron Hicks 3rd, 4th, 2nd, makes no sense to me.  Put him 7th until he gets hot again.  Why the extra pressure?  He has one extra base hit since he returned.

Bottom line: Yankee fans cannot complain about anything this season given all the injuries.  However, like last year, they have a shot of winning it all but need to now start fine-tuning the roster for the post-season.  What moves would you make?

Clearly, others have been reading SU on a regular basis.  Note this article from NJ.com after SU had published earlier in the day:

https://www.nj.com/yankees/2019/05/mlb-rumors-heres-when-ex-yankees-manager-joe-girardi-could-replace-mets-mickey-callaway.html

And this in yesterday’s New York Post from an interview that Girardi did with the imperious one, Mike Francesa:

https://nypost.com/2019/05/21/joe-girardi-watching-mets-chaos-unfold-with-intrigue/

SU is a big Girardi fan and he would do well in Flushing with the Mets.  No doubt he can even learn to do the big hugs and soothing words for Robinson Cano to get him to run to first base 4 times a day.  SU is surprised no-one has picked him up to date but he is no doubt being selective.

SU is worried that Boone is going to tire out German on the Yankees.  Right now, he is their best pitcher and I am sure he has never pitched this many innings in a season.  They need to watch this closely – can’t afford to lose this guy.  SU says the athletic training staff should study this carefully and then do the opposite to give them a fighting chance of German not going on the IL.

Great exchange between John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman last night discussing the Orioles’ injured DH, Mark Trumbo.  Sterling said that the days of the big home run hitting DH are numbered in baseball as teams want more versatile players.  SU says the obvious contrast is with Giancarlo Stanton on the Yankees who is going to turn into that guy very soon.  But he will still be paid $30 million a year for the next 10 years.  Is he the last of the Mohicans?  A dying breed?  We will see if Sterling draws that conclusion for a player who is very much like Trumbo.

SU apologizes for the absence of recent posts – working way, way too hard these days.  But SU has been keeping up with the latest developments and has this to share with you this morning:

• The Mets are now discovering the beauty of Robinson Cano.  News flash: he does not hustle.  Even when he was younger, he didn’t hustle.  He is just not going to bust it down the line to first base.  It’s more of an issue when he’s not hitting which would be now.  The GM blasted him apparently and the manager spoke with him.  For Callaway, it’s not good news as he is already on the hot seat.  SU prediction:  Cano will start to hit now – he usually takes a while to heat up and Callaway will get fired.  He will be replaced by Joe Girardi who knows how to handle a guy like Cano.  You heard it here first.
• As we know, Tiger Woods did not make the cut for the PGA Championship.  Many were surprised but Woods’ comments were interesting.  He basically admitted that at age 43 and with several back surgeries behind him, he just doesn’t know anymore how his body will react each day and for each tournament.  SU says that is clearly a factor.  But don’t lose sight of where Woods was the week before when he received a special award at the White House from the President.   As the book title says, “Everything Trump Touches Dies.”  Coincidence?  Time will tell.  SU is a big Tiger fan and hopes that was just a blip.
• The Yankees keep moving along with their line up of replacement players.  Down 6-1 last night, they clawed their way back and Gary Sanchez actually hit a home run with men on base.  SU must admit: I was sure he would strike out there.  He had a couple of hits with RISP in that game and has started to produce with basically no protection in the line up.  SU must give him props there.  Didi will return in June which is huge.  Andujar mercifully took the surgery option and can get ready for next season.  They will still need another starter unless Severino can return.
• SU is not a big fan of the “Opener” approach to pitching that Tampa Bay uses.  Why do you assume that every reliever that you roll out there is going to be on that day?  SU is not sure that this can work for every team as no-one has that many relievers that are all top flight.  Certainly the Yankees don’t right now beyond their core guys.
• The YES Network doesn’t show the shifts all the time but when they do, especially late in games with RISP, it is really frustrating.  How teams don’t teach hitters to hit a ground ball to the opposite field is a joke.  The Yankees’ replacement players will do it but you know once the big boppers return, that will stop.  Stanton is already rehabbing now – oh boy!  Should be interesting when he returns.
• SU has been watching the Michigan search for a new coach.  The reality is that there aren’t appropriate big name coaches out there right now for this job.  SU says put one of the assistant coaches in charge for a year or two and maintain the culture and approach.  It’s not glamorous but it is smart.  Prediction: nope.
• Check out the men’s side for the upcoming French Open.  Nadal is the clear favorite, of course, but there are several players who just might take him out this year including Djokovic, Thiem, and Tsitsipas.  The men’s game is as good and deep now as at any time that I can recall.
• Finally, here’s hoping for a Bucks- Warriors finals.  SU says the Bucks will win that one if Durant can’t return which I don’t think he can do.  Calf injuries are lingering and you don’t want to come back too soon.  I will say this: Golden State has not lost since Durant got hurt and is showing how good they are even without him.  This will only solidify his decision to leave town this off-season and look for his next challenge.  SU predicts he will be in NY – but it may just be Brooklyn over the Knicks.

Ugh.  This is a punch to the gut for SU.  The Pistons were wining and dining Beilein last year but he passed at that time or it may been mutual.  But now it’s been reported that he is taking a 5-year deal with Cleveland which given their current roster is a total rebuild.  It has to be that at his age (which I think is 67 years old), he is tempted to see if his style can fit in the NBA – especially as the style of play has become more up and down the court for many of the better teams.

Is this a good move?  Not for SU.  Michigan basketball had become my favorite sports viewing activity.  I suspect that they will promote someone on the current staff or maybe bring in a recent alumnus who will play the game the same way – at least in the short term.  But there is no guarantee long term and they may take on a style that is like most other teams.  But he was there a long time and SU is thankful for that.  My only hope now is that he might bring in some of his former players to the team – and that would be worth watching for SU.

The Yankees took 2 of 3 in Tampa Bay – very impressive.  Gary Sanchez up to 7 errors for the season including a stint on the injured list.  He may be going for a historically bad year defensively.  I don’t know what the ERAs are of the pitchers when he is behind the plate but you can tell the pitchers prefer throwing to Austin Romine vs. him.  But he hits the occasional 450-foot home run so there is that.  A classic #7 hitter and he can compete for that spot in the line up with Giancarlo Stanton who has the same all or nothing approach.  The big problem for the Yankees, and it’s coming soon, is what to do with Urshela who has no more options.  They can’t send him down to the minors.  SU says send Andujar down to get his confidence back.  He is hitting under .130 now and no doubt feeling pressure from Urshela’s success.  Hicks will be back soon which means they will demote someone but some other roster moves are coming.  It will be very interesting.

Did you know that Brett Gardner is 1 for 26 with RISP this year?  It came out on a recent broadcast.  Clint Frazier deserves to play ahead of him – watch out for that once Hicks is back this week.

Finally, Novak Djokovic won the Madrid Open this weekend and is primed now for the French Open.  I know SU is one of the 7 people who watch the Tennis Channel but the men’s tour is outstanding right now with a crop of younger players starting to win.  Worth a look.

SU has been doing a lot of thinking and has some questions for the intergalactic subscriber base:

• Who knew that horses do not like running in puddles and will jump to avoid them in the biggest race of the year?
• Given how the use of analytics is exploding across all sports, how does that apply in horse racing?  For example, after the running of the Derby, does the trainer for Maximum Security sit down with the horse to go over data?  It seems likes the jockey has a limited degree of control out there.  How does this work? And how do you train the horse not to jump over puddles in the future?
• Now that Brian Cashman has learned that Severino will not be ready, at the earliest, until after the All-Star Break, does he wish he had back the $30 million a year (for the next 10 years) sunk into Giancarlo Stanton?  Might that money be useful to sign some starting pitchers for a team that is ready to win now?
• In 2019, is there a more useless statistic in baseball than reporting on how many wins you have against teams with winning records?  If you look at the standings, so many teams are within a few games of .500.  For the Yankees, who cares about the opponents?  In 2 weeks, those teams below .500 will be above it, and vice versa.  SU says wins are wins – get over it.
• Is Aaron Boone a great manager?  Or does he have so few healthy players to put in the line-up, anyone reading this right now could do it just as well?
• Does anyone agree with SU that the next injury for the Yankees will be to one of their trainers or strength and conditioning coaches?  Surely, they are being stretched to the limit and a pulled muscle or rotator cuff injury are just around the corner.
• Are you watching the NBA playoffs?  If not, you should be.  The games are intense and the absence of LeBron is a real opportunity for a lot of teams.  Good stuff.

OK, there you go.  Food for thought.  Feel free to weigh in on any of these incredibly insightful questions.