Tuesday Links

-Lou Gehrig may not have had ALS. [NY Times via Baseball Musings]

 

-One of my new favorite sites in my never-ending search for "what might have been" as it relates to the MLB Draft. [MLB.com]

 

-Because marathoners on flat ground aren't difficult enough... [WSJ]

 

 

Links on a Rainy Monday Night

-It's postings like this that will help generate sabermetric interest in football. Most amazing to me is that the play with the biggest positive WPA in Super Bowl history(!!!) - Warner to Fitzgerald - didn't lead to a victory.  [Advanced NFL Stats]

 

-Incredibly, the Bengals might pay Antonio Bryant over $8m to NEVER play for them. [NFL Network]

 

-Sorry Sam Bradford, a long year is about to get even longer. [NBC Sports]

 

-The Reds, one of my big winners this offseason, have come to terms with their top pick, Yasmani Grandal. Things continue to look rosy in Cincy. [MLB.com]

 

-Retweet of the Day from ESPN's Jayson Stark: "If Felix had won all his Criminally Unsupported Starts (pitcher goes 6+ IP but team scores 1 run or less while he was pitching) he'd be 19-3. Cliff Lee would be 17-1, Hamels 15-4, Johan 18-3"

 

-If convicted, the Pacers should cut him. Zero tolerance for this, Lance. [CBS Sports]

 

-I would REALLY prefer if this happened before October 30th. Do whatever it takes to swing a trade and fill the Garden, Donnie. [CBS Sports]

 

 

 

What I Would Do If I Ran The Mets' Organization

1- I would not sign Matt Harvey. Yes, Harvey was the #7 overall pick in this June's MLB Draft. However, he wants over-slot money and was abused at North Carolina last year (he threw 157 pitches in an April game). I am no expert, but to me, his arm action leaves a lot to be desired as seen here. By not signing Harvey today, the Mets would receive the 9th pick in the 2011 Draft (assuming the D-backs do not sign Barrett Loux) which scouts have been raving about for two years. Couple that with the top-15 pick they will have by virtue of their position in the final standings this year, and the organization will be able to select two rocks upon which to build next June.

 

2- Beginning with the 2011 Draft, I would make a commitment to paying for the best amateur talent available. The Mets find themselves in the world's largest media market. Yet, they refuse to spend come draft time. Instead, they employ the method of overpaying "proven" players as free agents. This completely inefficient business model has failed miserably (see point 4).

 

3- I would do everything in my power to void the remaining years on K-Rod's contract. Jack Moore at Fangraphs has a nice summary of how this could actually work out well for the club although Rob Neyer has his doubts.

 

4- I would put Johan Santana, Jason Bay, and Carlos Beltran on waivers. If by chance one (or more) was claimed, I would allow the claiming team to have him (them). Let's look at the remaining commitments to these players remaining after this year:

 

Santana: 3 years, $77.5m

Bay: 3 years, $51m

Beltran: 1 year, $18.5m

 

The money "saved" by allowing the player(s) to be taken off the books could then be spent addressing point 2.

 

5- I would release Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo. Just cut bait already. These two are doing nothing for the franchise except clogging the 40-man.

 

 

The primary goal of these moves would be to field a competitive team led by Jose Reyes, David Wright, Jon Niese, and Mike Pelfrey in 2012 and beyond.

Finally, The "Big" News

After much waiting, we are excited to share two pieces of news.

First, The Sports Banter is proud to welcome its newest writer, Bryan Corrington. His full bio will be up shortly, but in short, he loves baseball and can be reached by email at thesportsbanter@gmail.com.

Our goal is to provide content more frequently in a less funny but more timely than Deadspin-ish kind of way. Because Bryan works evenings, it will allow him to post during the day while I post later at night.

Second, we have created a free iPhone/iPad app which will allow you to access The Banter while on the road. [We hope Apple will approve in the next ten days and will update you as information becomes available.]

Exciting times all around.

Test of the System

 

Email test.

Big news teaser… and some Kim K commentary

Apology

I know; it’s been a while. For that, I apologize.


Teaser

Within the next week, there will be some big Banter news, possibly the biggest since we went live early in 2009. Now since nothing is finalized yet, I will keep you captive for a few more days.

Kim K Commentary

Banter favorite, Kim Kardashian, was at it again today posting a twitpic for no discernible reason except to show cleavage. At the time of this posting, over 45,000 people had seen it.

However, my real problem with the picture has nothing to do with her and everything to do with her grammatically and politically incorrect followers that commented on the picture. I know I sound like an old man, but I couldn’t believe some of the stupidity being spewed.

@MarktaylorJr proposes marriage while giving out his personal email address:

kobemarkbone24@yahoo.com i love u my lifelong dream is to marry u nd my mother told me to always follow your dream

Pearls of wisdom indeed.


@mariih02 had some other thoughts:

I HATE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU !!! WITH ALL MY HEART !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BITCH

I'd say that's a bit harsh.


@alisharivera uses the comments section to show her strong grasp of the English language:

i got sunglasses like dat but dey black wid stones

Ahh, got it.


Why did this piss me off so much? I’m not sure. Maybe, I'm just depressed at the state of the interweb.

Trades That Make Sense: Hornets-Knicks

The New Orleans Hornets trade Chris Paul and Emeka Okafor to the New York Knicks for Danilo Galinari, Kelena Azubuike, Ronny Turiaf, and Eddy Curry

New Orleans says yes because:

-The deal saves the team more than $54m over the next four years.
-They will lose Paul for nothing next year.
-They are not in a position to compete right now.
-The team can build around a Darren Collison (who filled in admirably for CP3 last year) - Marcus Thornton - Danilo - David West foundation.

New Orleans says no because:

-Chris Paul is the franchise.


New York says yes because:

-Chris Paul will save basketball in New York.
-The starting five of Paul - Raymond Felton -Wilson Chandler - Amare Stoudemire - Okafor makes them contenders for a top-3 seed in the Eastern Conference.

New York says no because:

-Unless Donnie Walsh's pain meds caused him temporary insanity, New York could not say no to this deal.

Separated at Birth

NBA PF Hedo Turkoglu and Wesleyan two-sport star Brian Mahr

In a word: awesome

Soccer Idea of the Day

Once the offense has the ball inside the 18-yard box, offsides cannot be called.

Offsides is meant to be a deterrent to goal-hanging. Once the offense has the ball that close to the opponent's net, goal-hanging is not an issue. The 18-yard box would be the equivalent of the blue line in hockey.

Thoughts?

A Refreshing Thought

Vikings' LB Chad Greenway had this to say regarding the potential of a holdout for a new deal, "I have a full year left on my contract and I'm going to honor that and do what I need to do. I wouldn't be a South Dakotan if I didn't honor my word that way."

I just gained a bit more respect for the state.

NBA Mock Draft

My first and only shot at this:


1. Wizards: John Wall, PG, Kentucky - If this surprises you, clearly you have not been paying attention.

2. 76ers: Evan Turner, SG, Ohio State - Talent distribution on this team could not be worse as their bigs are terrible while the guards are very, very solid. Turner will be too good to pass up here, though.

3. Nets: Derrick Favors, PF, Georgia Tech

4. Wolves: Wesley Johnson, SF, Syracuse

5. Kings: DeMarcus Cousins, C, Kentucky - Apparently, the enigma known as DC wowed the brass in Sacto, and they are clearly unafraid to take risks on players with character flaws (see Tyreke Evans, 2009).

6. Warriors: Al-Farouq Aminu, SF, Wake Forest

7. Pistons: Ekpe Udoh, PF, Baylor - Joe Dumars and Co. would be stuck in no man's land here as the rest of the draft's prospects could very well be busts if taken this high. Udoh would help defensively right away, and in Motor City, that carries a lot of weight.

8. Clippers: Luke Babbitt, SF, Nevada - Should be able to spread the floor for last year's top pick Blake Griffin.

9. Jazz: Greg Monroe, PF, Utah

10. Pacers: Ed Davis, PF, North Carolina - Another Tar Heel in the Hoosier State.

11. Hornets: Gordon Hayward, SF, Butler

12. Wolves: Paul George, SF, Fresno State

13. Raptors: Cole Aldrich, C, Kansas - Ho hum guy that won't wow you but will be a dependable presence for many years. Seems like what you would want from a late lottery pick.

14. Rockets: Craig Brackins, PF, Iowa State - My surprise of Round 1.

15. Bucks: James Anderson, SG, Oklahoma State

16. Grizzlies: Patrick Patterson, PF, Kentucky - Amazing that a team with four of the top 16 picks couldn't win the NCAA tournament.

17. Bulls: Dominique Jones, SG, South Florida - A Ben Gordon-type with better point guard skills. His scoring will be a welcome addition to this team in desperate need of it.

18. Thunder: Avery Bradley, G, Texas - A shutdown guard that did very little in his one year college stay.

19. Celtics: Eric Bledsoe, PG, Kentucky

20. Spurs: Eliot Williams, G, Memphis

21. Thunder: Solomon Alabi, C, Florida State - The defensive presence they could have used in this year's playoffs.

22. Blazers: Quincy Pondexter, SF, Washington - They struck gold the last time they went with a Washington player.

23. Wolves: Xavier Henry, SG, Kansas

24. Hawks: Jordan Crawford, SG, Xavier

25. Grizzlies: Damion James, SF, Texas

26. Thunder: Kevin Seraphin, PF, France

27. Nets: Trevor Booker, PF, Clemson

28. Grizzlies: Larry Sanders, C, VCU

29. Magic: Devin Ebanks, SF, West Virginia

30. Wizards: Hassan Whiteside, C, Marshall



Thoughts

*Kentucky C Daniel Orton will not be drafted in the first round. Thunder GM Sam Presti has been sending out signals that his team loves the big man. I can see right through this brilliant ploy (Orton is not that good and has two questionable knees), and I think all the other GMs will too. Although, that might be giving Dave Kahn too much credit.

*Last year, Dave Kahn drafted two point guards in the top six picks. This year he's trying to trade franchise cornerstone Al Jefferson. How long can we let this go on?

And He Still Got the Job?

This sums up the pathetic state of refereeing at the World Cup:

Last year, referee Massimo Busacca urinated on the field during a game in Qatar he was working.

FIFA still hired him to work the world's most popular event.

I am befuddled.

They Did What?!

According to ESPN's Chad Ford, "Kevin Pritchard and the Blazers rejected the Wolves' offer of the No. 4 pick for Nicolas Batum a couple of week ago."

This cannot be true.

Would the Wolves really be this dumb?

Could the Blazers be even dumber?

Banter will be back full time...

...beginning on July 1.

I will try to put out a mock NBA Draft at some point next week too.