Knick fans, your day has come.  As reported by ESPN a few minutes ago:

“The New York Knicks have agreed to trade 10-time All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder, league sources told ESPN on Saturday.

The Thunder will send center Enes Kanter, forward Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-round pick (via the Chicago Bulls) to New York, league sources said.

Anthony, 33, will waive his no-trade clause and his $8.1 million trade kicker to accommodate the deal, league sources told ESPN.”

The good news is that they actually got something in return.  The better news is that they actually made the trade.  Time to move forward.  SU says the excitement is still in Brooklyn this season but at least the team can start over – or until James Dolan identifies his next most favorite player.

Btw, this makes OKC a force out West now.  They will be a fun team to watch offensively with Westbrook, Paul George and Melo.  A lot of points going on the board in OKC this season.

Kanter plays zero defense but can certainly score.  McDermott was a first round pick a couple of years ago who can supposedly shoot from the outside.  At least they acquired assets that will make the roster.

SU is not happy about Tanaka.  He cannot be trusted now as they head to the playoffs.  Is he  your #3 starter vs. Cleveland if they get that far?  Hmmm.

First of all, a happy and healthy New Year to SU’s intergalactic Jewish subscribers.  SU made its Yankee Stadium debut last night in a family outing with long-time subscribers J. Levine and B. Levine.  As is custom, tickets were purchased through StubHub which is always a great deal.  However, Yankee Stadium no longer accepts paper tickets – you have to show your ticket on a mobile device.

Now, SU on its best days is technologically challenged.  And having just transitioned from the Blackberry to an i-phone for work purposes (OK, so I am slow to change), pulling up the ticket on the i-phone was a challenge unto itself.  But did you know that you have to take a screen shot of the StubHub ticket and then email it to whoever else is joining you for the game and coming on their own?  And did you know that if you are not careful and don’t pick up the small series of numbers at the bottom of the ticket on your screen shot, that you can’t get into the stadium?  If not, now you do.  SU learned the hard way and is now well-acquainted with many members of the Yankees’ box office and ticket-taking staff.  Let’s just say these were not pleasant interactions.

To quote Mad Dog, “bad job!”  Shouldn’t you be trying to maximize the fan experience?  Getting into the stadium became a long ordeal and with the rain, even more painful.  SU says go back to paper tickets as an option.  Somehow the airlines can manage this – why not the Yankees?

Interesting article from fivethirtyeight.com on how baseballs are being made.

Baseballs Are More Consistently Juiced Than Ever

MLB just set a new record for home runs in a season which is pretty amazing now that we are (allegedly) in the post PED era.  While most pitchers seem to throw in the high 90s today (as witnessed last night as Paul Molitor felt the need to use 7 relievers because he could with the expanded rosters) which no doubt contributes to fly balls going out faster and further, you have to wonder why the sudden increase?  This article makes the case that the way the balls are manufactured has something to do with it.  SU is now looking for the article that compares PEDs this season to PEDs of past years.

Michael Kay says that if the Yankees don’t at least win the Wild Card game, this is a disappointing season.  SU says no way.  I projected 82 wins at the start of the season and as a long-time Yankee fan, this has been a very good year with a firm switch to the youth movement and great promise for the future.  The Wild Card game is a crap shoot; you don’t define the season on one game.  Thoughts?

Finally, Eli Manning is taking a beating this week.  Check out this article below:

Eli Manning Is Profoundly Mediocre

Look, when you are riding the post-Yankee game Metro-North train home at 12:30 am with no-one else in your car, you have time on your hands.  We know long-time subscriber A. Grossman would agree with the article but SU says it’s overly harsh.  Eli is better than what the stats show.  What say you?

OK, so the Giants and Jets are both winless in 2017 and generally appear to be non-competitive with glaring weaknesses everywhere.  On paper, not a good situation.  But SU says this is the chance for NY football fans to free up their Sundays and get outside.  Clearly, there is no need to set aside 3 hours to watch any of this.  It’s totally unwatchable and life is too short.  A few options for you:

• go for a walk or a run.  Get in shape, build up your cardio fitness
• go shopping (OK, that’s not for everyone)
• go for a bike ride or kayaking (SU knows there are some dedicated kayakers in the intergalactic subscriber base)
• sit outside and read a book

If you are a Knick fan, these tips will come in handy by say early November when the Knicks are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.  If you are a Yankee fan, well we still have a few weeks left.  A rare 1-run win last night over the Twins despite another meltdown inning by Betances.  SU says he is terrified of killing someone with his fastball which he cannot control.  A typical inning for him now is a hit batter, walk, strikeout, walk, wild pitch.  Girardi can no longer trust him for the 8th inning which is fine.  You can slot in Robertson and Green has emerged as a big time guy in the bullpen.  But they do need to straighten him out before the wild card game.

Boston continues to pull out some late inning wins and their schedule is easy so a division championship is highly unlikely.  It would be nice if Greg Bird took advantage of his opportunities but he seems to be like Rob Refsnyder and does his best to fall short.  SU does believe their best line up has him at first and Headley at 3rd with Todd Frazier on the bench but highly unlikely that will happen come post-season.

Does anyone see the Giants being able to figure this season out?  The offensive line can’t run block and can’t pass protect.  Otherwise, no worries.

Long-time SU subscriber A. Grossman has been emailing SU all year long about the Yankees’ relatively high run differential for the season.  Many sabre metric experts say that run differential is one of the best predictors of team record – especially for the elite teams.  As of today, here are the leaders across all of baseball:

• Cleveland: +227
• Yankees: +174
• Dodgers: +173
• Houston: +151
• Arizona: +145
• Washington: +144

The Yankees should be projecting around 97 wins this year with the 2nd highest run differential across both Leagues.  Instead, they are still trying to secure the wild card and trail the Red Sox who have a run differential of +111.  How can this be you may ask?  SU says it’s this:

• Late inning losses caused by a surprisingly bad bullpen.  Not only do they blow games, they hurt momentum
• Bad hitting with RISP as SU has lamented all year long.  Just terrible at getting runners in from 3rd base with less than 2 outs
• Record in close games is terrible – it was almost the opposite last season
• Gary Sanchez allows a lot of passed balls and wild pitches late in games

Even now, the late innings are scary as Betances is a walk machine and Chapman is still not right.  SU says a successful season will be winning the wild card game and then playing competitively against the Indians in the Divisional series.  I will accept that and then look to next season as the youngsters are brought up and Todd Frazier moves on to strike out and hit home runs somewhere else.

Big Giant game tonight.  SU is expecting a much more effective offensive performance.  The NFL is so up and down early in the year.  Did you see the Cowboys get rocked against Denver?  They are not world beaters.  Atlanta looks really good – SU is surprised how well they are playing despite the Super Bowl loss hangover.  But you need to be 6 games into the season to really know what you have plus luck with injuries.

SU is worried about Michigan.  Great defense; lackluster offense.  Harbaugh either has no confidence in his QB or he is a very conservative play caller.  The rest of the country is playing wide open football; why so many runs up the middle on 1st and 2nd down?  SU says let them play a little.  They will not fare well in the Big Ten with this style offense.

In case you missed it yesterday, Joe Girardi made some unusual managerial decisions.  First, he removed journeyman pitcher, Jaime Garcia, with two outs in the 5th inning and one out away from notching his first Yankee win.  He apparently was not happy when taken out and Girardi let him have it in the dugout for whatever he expressed either verbally or otherwise.

Then, Betances was taken out with 2 outs in the 8th inning and a runner on 1st after striking out his last batter.  Girardi brought in Chapman who, of course, gave up a walk and a single for a run before notching a 4-out save.  Betances did not stick around in the clubhouse afterwards.

SU has no problem with either move.  Garcia allows a ridiculous number of baserunners every inning and is one of those pitchers, at this point in his career, where you need to get him out when he is facing batters for the 3rd time around.  Sabathia is in the same category this season.  He will be gone after this season and won’t make the post-season roster.  He should be happy he’s on a contending team.  As for Betances, he can’t throw his fastball for strikes and is walking a lot of batters now.  Look, truth is that Chapman is no sure thing either so you try and piece things together.  But when your starters go only 5 innings, you have to cover a lot of outs.

SU asks this question: statistically, aren’t you rolling the dice to assume that all of your relievers will be effective on any given day?  If David Robertson is effective in a game, why not pitch him a 2nd inning?  When you are trying to cover 4 innings, it feels like having all 4 relievers be on in a game is unlikely to happen.

SU has said it before: check your ego at the door.  And the same goes for the batters who continue to be so bad with runners in scoring position.  This will become a bigger problem in the post-season and in a Wild Card game.  But at least there are meaningful games being played down the stretch with a number of youngsters ready to move up next season.

Full disclosure: SU actually prepared a post yesterday but somehow it did not show up on the site.  The global technical team is working on this as we speak.  But here are the highlights as SU is back from vacation out west but has a lot to say:

• I know the NFL is incredibly popular and ESPN has shows all week long between games.  But for me, college football is just more exciting, more unpredictable and creates opportunities for crazy endings.  Players in the NFL are so good and fast that certain plays just can’t happen.  It also feels like there are so many mediocre teams that are unwatchable.  Part of the problem is that about half the teams don’t have an NFL quality QB while in college, it’s easier to be a high performing quarterback.
• Eli Manning’s streak of 200 consecutive starts will no doubt be in jeopardy this season given the quality of the offensive line.  That first half was awful and even without OBJ, they need to show more on offense.  The defense is clearly good and strong at all positions.  But without a great running game, Eli needs more time.  SU would also like to see more no huddle but on Sunday night, understandably they didn’t want tot put the defense back out there so quickly with all of the 3 and outs.
• SU loved seeing Ohio State lose to Oklahoma.  That was a beatdown in the 2nd half.  As predicted before, Urban Meyer may be looking to the NFL sooner than you think if this is another season where they don’t win the national championship.  They will need to run the table to get to the playoffs.
• The Yankees finish the season with 17 of 20 games in New York which is a huge advantage.  The bullpen has just killed them the last two months; otherwise, they would be in 1st place.  SU is glad to see Chapman back in the closer role as Betances is too inconsistent at this point.  The Red Sox are not world beaters.  Cleveland clearly will head into the playoffs red hot even without Andrew Miller healthy.
• Speaking of the Red Sox, what is it about Boston teams that makes them cheat?  SU liked the way they tried to deflect attention and claim the Yankees were also stealing signs.  Just check the Yankees’ average with RISP; believe me: if they are stealing signs, they are not getting the message to the batters.  They are inept with runners on base.
• Great performances by the American women in the US Open.  While Nadal won another major, he really didn’t play any high seeds along the way.  The reality is that on the men’s side, the top players need to change their games to shorten points and make the game less physical.  Guys like Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka have to come to net more as winning with long, drawn out points is too demanding.  It will be interesting to see if they make these adjustments in 2018 when they return to action.
• Interesting that Maria Sharapova has released an auto-biography.  Makes a point to bash Serena and basically say she does not like her (I guess a 2-19 lifetime record contributes to that).  She also has put out a 55-minute documentary about her drug test suspension and her comeback.  SU watched the first 20 minutes on the plane ride home.  My review: JUST STOP TALKING!  She is just not that interesting.  I guess the combination of the book and the movie are part of her comeback and repositioning.  She is quite the corporate enterprise.

Regarding the NFL, SU does not over-react from week #1 games; there is a long way to go and in the end, it’s all about injuries.  I expect the Giants to rebound nicely on Monday night – especially if Beckham returns.  And I expect my fantasy team to rebound as well!

For Joe Girardi, who was ejected from a game for the 5th time this season, it’s time for his players to put their pride and egos aside.  The Red Sox have lost 4 in a row, and incredibly, the Yankees are only 2 back in the loss column with the Indians and Red Sox coming up on this home stand.  Chapman has lost his closer’s role – SU says good move – let him earn it back.  He has cost them too many key games over the past month.

And did you know that the Yankees’ run differential statistically should result in 97 wins this season?  97?  That is the result of Tyler Clippard, Betances and Chapman blowing so many saves this season.  But it’s also a reflection of Girardi’s managing.  He is in the last year of his contract.  They are on pace for 87 wins.

But now, what does he do with the line up?  Greg Bird is back and already has reached base 4 times in one start with 2 rbis today in a pinch hitting appearance.  Todd Frazier is something like 0 for 15; he needs to sit and permanently.  Move Headley to 3rd.  Ellsbury is hot after finally getting his shot and actually producing as SU has suggested for weeks.  But now what do you do with Matt Holliday?  They need to juggle at bats for the four outfielders and Holliday should not be slotted back into the DH role unless he is hitting on all cylinders.  Otherwise, keep him rehabbing down in Tampa.

And, SU says Aaron Judge has earned some days off.  It’s fine to not want to hurt his confidence but he is killing them with RISP over and over again.  Sanchez’s hot streak masked some of that but he could some time off and soon.  SU says move Judge down to 6th in the line up with some well timed days off.

This is winning time.  You cannot manage to the egos late in the season.  Take a seat and wait for your shot.  Competition for playing time is always a good thing and guys will get over it.

The Yankees and Tigers had quite the beanball war today.  There was some bad blood back in late July when the Yankees hit two of their players – one in the head by Kahnle.  Today, the Tigers hit Sanchez after yet another home run and things deteriorated from there.  Baseball likes to talk about taking care of things on the field but let’s face it: beanballs are stupid.  Especially when you have pitchers throwing in the high 90s these days.  Betances was ejected after hitting another batter in the head with the score 6-6.  You have to figure it wasn’t intentional but it looked bad.  SU lost some respect for Miguel Cabrera.  He made a big deal of his teammates not sticking up for him back in the Bronx in late July.  Today he got in Austin Romine’s face, shoved him and threw a punch.

The problem for the Yankees is that Sanchez threw some punches – he will get suspended just as he is red hot.  As Girardi likes to say, “It’s not what you want.”  Btw, Girardi was very emotional after the game with the media.  Hopefully, they will use this as motivation for the next couple of weeks.

SU made its first appearance at the US Open Qualification matches today.  Wow, this is a great deal.  Admission is free, the crowds are not big and you can pretty much sit wherever you’d like.  The level of play of these guys is only a notch below the top players.  They are really, really good.  SU focused on the top American players but the best of the bunch today were both Canadians: Denis Shapovalov is the 18-year old who made it to the semis in Montreal and took out Nadal.  He is terrific and will be a presence in the near future.  The other impressive player is just turned 17-year old Felix Auger-Aliassime.  Whoa, he is good.  While he lost his match, keep an eye on him in the coming years.  Anyway, this is a great experience without the crowds.  SU says check it out.

SU’s prediction for this year’s US Open is Sasha Zverev.  He is the hot player coming in having just won Montreal and is ready for that next step.  Federer is nursing a bad back, Murray is coming off a long layoff with a nagging hip injury and Nadal, while #1 now, is not a world beater on the hard courts.

SU is growing tired of the quarterback competitions in the NFL during the preseason.  Sure, it makes for good copy during exhibition season but let’s face it – the games are unwatchable.  But SU contends that especially when you are looking at 2 young QBs battling it out in the preseason, it’s just not that important.  Why?  Because one of two things will happen as soon as the season starts:

1. The starting QB is hurt almost immediately; or
2. The QB who “won” the starting position struggles mightily and after 1+ games, the coach makes the switch.

It just doesn’t matter.  Too much hype, too much talk.

What did you think of the Kyrie Irving trade to the Celtics?  SU is not fully getting this one for Boston.  Isiah Thomas was an MVP finalist last season and is a lot of fun to watch.  He plays with a lot of passion.  Irving is younger and I suppose a bit healthier as Thomas has a hip issue which may be worse than the Celtics let on.  Is that the reason that Boston had to give up more to get Irving?  Can Irving possibly have a better season than Thomas did?  For SU, it feels like the Celtics gave up too much.  Maybe Brad Stevens has the magic touch to get more out of Irving, i.e., make him pass the ball.

More importantly for Knick fans, does this open up something for a trade of Carmelo to Cleveland?

SU is impatiently waiting for the Greg Bird call-up which some fans feel is over-rated.  Need another left-handed bat in the line up.  End of story.

This question from long-time SU subscriber T. Potter: When an outfielder makes a spectacular catch at the wall but ends up going over the wall with the ball, why is that still an out?  If the fielder ends up in the stands or bullpen, shouldn’t that be an out?  SU says it should be an out and that you should have to remain on the field of play for it to be called an out.  But that is not the case.

Thoughts?

Well, we have seen better Subway Series over the years here in New York.  Actually, you have to give the under-manned Mets credit for competing in all of the games with a depleted roster.  All four games were relatively close and the Yankees managed to push across enough runs to get the badly needed wins.  They head up to Fenway 4 games out with a few things to encourage them:

• Sunday’s starter for the Red Sox is Doug Fister who is terrible – that should be a winnable game.  Of course, the Sale – Sabathia match-up tomorrow night is not ideal but that’s baseball.
• Gary Sanchez has heated up and is starting to carry the team.  If the Yankees can just get Judge not to be terrible, they might have something here.  Todd Frazier is amazingly still hitting .207 – just what he was hitting when acquired from the White Sox.  And yet, and yet, there he is in the line up every day.  But Greg Bird is finally rehabbing and maybe next week we move Headley back to 3rd base and Frazier anywhere else.  SU says MLB should field a team of all swing and miss, .200 hitters — you know Todd Frazier, Chris Carter, and even Aaron Judge since the All-Star break.  There season stats would be very cool: 35 home runs, 50 rbis.  They could all be exposed for what they are.
• Having won 4 games in a row, the Yankees come to Beantown feeling good about themselves as John Flaherty likes to say.  Of course, the Red Sox are still red hot.  SU says how about a little nastiness this weekend?  It’s been a long time coming.  Hey, if you bring in Chapman or Betances, you are sure to have some hit batters.  Bring out A-Rod and Varitek, Pedro and Zimmer, Munson and Lee.  Enough of the big hugs.

Hard to believe the NFL season starts in just a few weeks.  Experts see the Jets as being historically bad.  SU says that should not happen in the NFL.  It’s easier to retool without guaranteed contracts.  I am feeling the Giants should be good although facing a tougher schedule.

Finally, SU was down in Frisco, Texas this week visiting the Dallas Cowboys’ new training facility.  SU is no fan of the Cowboys but you have to admire Jerry Jones.  He got Frisco to give him 185 acres and he built a brand new training facility, 12,000 seat indoor stadium for high school football and indoor practices, an exclusive members only club overlooking the Cowboys practice fields that must be as big as a full football field with all the posh couches, big screen tvs, etc.  There is a huge health club, bars, restaurants, Cowboy stores, guided tours for visitors.  The dude thinks big and really has the vision.  If you are ever down that way and had the urge to sweat profusely in Dallas in the summer, worth a visit.

Will there be fireworks in Beantown?  Do the Yankees have a chance still for the Division?