Should Alderson Have Signed Capuano?

This past off season for the Mets wasn’t pretty.  The Wilpons were awaiting a decision on the Bernie Madoff court case.  This resulted in the Mets to be handcuffed with spending.  The Mets had very little money to spend and were desperate to improve their bullpen.  They aquired nutcase Frank Francisco and the always shaky Jon Rauch.  Alderson wanted to sign Chris Capuano but not as a starter but instead as a reliever.  Capuano declined the trade and soon signed with the Dodgers.

I dont’t think many could have predicted that Capuano would be having an all star game worthy year so far.  Last year Chris Capuano was an effective, reliable starter but had an ERA over 4.20.  He was seen as an effective until the later innings.  This is what caused the Mets GM to want to sign him as a reliever.

Not only did Capuano not want to sign as a reliever, he also wanted a two-year deal.  Any Met fan knows the team was handcuffed with financial problems so signing him to a multi-year contract was not in the cards.

Chris Young was signed over Capuano for a few reasons.  The major reason was because of money.  Young’s 2011 season ended prematurely because of his shoulder.  He was out for 12 months because of surgery on his shoulder capsules, the same surgury Santana had.  Because Young was coming off serious surgury, no team was going to throw a big contract his way.  This was seen as a great opportunity for the Mets and they capitalized.

Also, Young was the Mets best pitcher for the time he was healthy.  Young was 1-0 with a 1.88 ERA.  He looked dominare and poised to have a great year.  Well that didn’t happen.  But Young looks like he never left.  Dominant seems like the appropriate word for Young this year.  And hopefully reliable.

New York City Getting a New Sports Franchise?

The Big Apple might just be home to yet another professional sports team. According to the Wall Street Journal, Corona Park in Flushing, Queens is being proposed as the site for a future Major League Soccer stadium.

MLS commissioner Don Garber has approached NYC about building a 20,000-25,000 seat soccer-specific stadium in the middle of Corona Park, just a short walk from Citi Field and Arthur Ashe Stadium. The project is being privately financed by the MLS and is not currently associated with any team as the rights to the franchise will be sold to the highest bidder.

The stadium will first need to get by a City Council vote before the league can break ground on the site. It is expected to take about one to two years to construct barring any legal issues.

If all turns out the way MLS hopes, New York City will finally get their own soccer team to rival the NY Red Bulls who are actually based in Harrison, New Jersey.

As a soccer fan living in NYC, I have been waiting for this day for a very long time. Sure we have the Red Bulls to root for, but now we finally have our own team in our own city. No longer will New Yorkers have to travel to New Jersey to root on their “home team”. This is great news not only for New York soccer fans, but for American soccer as a whole.  The rivalry between both teams will draw a lot of interest and generate a great deal of media attention for MLS in the media capital of the world. The only way for soccer to gain more popularity in this country is for the sport to be talked about in a city like New York. Who knows; maybe we’ll even see the return of the legendary New York Cosmos!

Is Steve Nash Worth It?

The NBA Finals are over. While South Beach is still in party mode, the rest of the NBA is all business. Free agency is right around the corner. One of the biggest free agents is the future Hall of Famer, Steve Nash. The Knicks have been looking for a player to take control of this offense but do they already have one on their roster?

Steve Nash isn’t young to say the least. He is set to turn 38 later this year. Although he is well past the prime of his career, Nash is still looked at as a top 10 point guard. He shoots 50% from the field and is practically automatic from the free-throw line his whole career.

Nash’s career is coming to a close and he would like to win a ring before he retires from the game.  Him coming to the Knicks gives him a great chance to win with superstars like Carmelo and Amar’e Stodemire waiting in New York.

But what about Jeremy Lin? Nash has told the media he woudn’t mind playing with Lin at all. Nash told ESPN New York’s Mark Mazzeo “I wouldn’t have any fear of the fans maybe having a love affair with Jeremy [Lin]. …I think it’s great. …That doesn’t really bother me”

One major question is will the Knicks have enough money. Well if the Knicks signing Steve Novak and Jeremy Lin they will have about $3 million to spend. That’s not even enough to bring in free agents Raymond Felton or Andre Miller, let alone Steve Nash.

I think the consensus of the Knick fans is to get Steve Nash by all means.

Carmelo Anthony: ‘My Time is Coming’

The year is 1973. Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier and Earl ‘The Pearl’ Monroe are leading the New York Knicks to their first NBA Championship. Flash forward 39 years later and the number of NBA Championships for the Knicks still stands at 1.

I guess Lebron finally winning his first ring woke Anthony up as he is seen working extra hard this offseason in preperation for next season.  Anthony has been taking place in an intense training camp in Los Angeles.  He has always been hounded for coming in to training camp ‘overweight’ but looks to silence those claims.  He has already lost 12 pounds, dropping his weight to 239.

He also wants to come into the season prepared. The Knicks were known to not have a plan as Stodemire, Anthony, and Lin did not play together all that often.  And when they did, the offense seems stagnant and lost.  Carmelo looks to rectify this.  He has worked out with Tyson Chandler and Jeremy Lin a few times.

This is great to hear.  Knick fans are thirsty for a championship and seeing a banner being raised in The Garden.  With LeBron winning the finals this season, this unquestionably motivated Carmelo for the better of the team.  Now he is seen as one of the best players in the NBA without a ring and he wants to get rid of this title. Do I think the Knicks will win it all in the next couple of years. Only if Lin, Anthony, and Stodemire can get on the same page. If not this team can be deemed unsuccessful.

Mets Looking for Bullpen Relief

It’s no secret the Mets bullpen is the team’s achilles heel this season. New York, in fact has the worst bullpen in the National League which has blown 16 games this year. Just about everyone with the exception of Tim Byrdak has struggled. Jon Rauch is responsible for seven losses, Frank Francisco has blown three saves and has an ERA of 4.97, Miguel Batista has a 4.10 ERA, the list goes on.

Sandy Alderson has expressed interest in trading for some bullpen help at the trade deadline if he feels the team has a real chance to make the playoffs, Several names that have popped up are Huston Street who has had a great season with a 1.50 ERA and 11 saves in 11 tries. With the Padres starting another poor season in the face, the team might very well trade away the 28-year old former All-Star.

Another name that Mets fans will be familiar with is Francisco Rodriguez. Yes, that Francisco Rodriguez. The one they call K-Rod. Rodriguez has a 3.82 ERA and can be either a set-up man or a closer, which the Mets could desperately use.

There are many other possibilities for the Mets at the trade deadline and even through the waiver wire to bolster the ‘pen.

The Mets bullpen has been lousy all year and has cost the team way too many games. If they would have blown half of the 16 games that they blew, the Mets would be in first place in the NL East. A leaky bullpen can demoralize a team as we saw in 2007 and 2008 when the Mets collapsed. New York has to address this issue soon before things get out of hand and the bullpen costs them more games. Every game is an adventure late when the team is either holding a slender lead or tied, and this cannot happen if you are trying to win a pennant. Jon Rauch has to go and so does Miguel Batista. Simply put, the Mets will not go anywhere if the do not acquire an established reliever. 

Deron Williams Narrows List Down to Two Teams

Superstar free agent Deron Williams has reportedly narrowed his choice down to either the Dallas Mavericks or the Brooklyn Nets. Right now it is 50/50 but it is no secret that D-Will has a desire to play for his hometown Dallas Mavericks.

His decision will have a tremendous impact on the future of the Nets franchise as the move to Brooklyn would take a serious blow without the talents of the All-Star point guard.

One scenario that would increase Brooklyn’s chances of re-signing him would be if they are able to trade for Dwight Howard. The Nets would go from bottom dwellers in the NBA to championship contenders over night, and Williams would attract the attention in Brooklyn that he never received while playing in New Jersey.

With so much to consider, Williams hopes not to pull off another LeBron “Decision” and infuriate his hometown fans back in Dallas, but he also does not want to leave Brooklyn on a bad note.

The Nets drastically need Williams to stay for multiple reasons. First, the talent level of the team will take a tremendous hit if he decides to part ways. Brooklyn would be left with many holes in their roster and almost no way of filling them as the free agent class of 2012 does not include any other stars on D-Will’s level. Sure they have plenty of cap-space. But do Nets fans really want a desperation move to sign Ersan Ilyasova, aging Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, or Kenyon Martin? In addition, the team has no first-round draft pick in this years draft due to the Gerald Wallace trade. The Nets also need Williams to stay to consistently sell tickets and market the Brooklyn Nets brand. Fans will initially flock to the Barclays Arena,but if the team keeps losing, the whole Brooklyn thing won’t be cool anymore. If you are a Nets fan you better hope he re-signs.

Hakeem Nicks: ‘Definitely making training camp’

Well I guess Giant fans can finally exhale. New York Giants WR Hakeem Nicks told “The Mac Attack” radio show in his hometown of Charlotte that he will definitely make training camp, which takes place in late July.

“Definitely making training camp. I started running about two weeks ago but the coach don’t really want me to force the issue right now so I haven’t started running yet. They want me to take my time with it — they feel like that’s what’s best. But right now I’m taking my time with it. …But I’ll definitely be ready for the season.”

This is great news for the Giants fans. With the loses of Jacobs and Manningham, the Giants needed another offensive spark plug other than Manning and Victor Cruz. Now the Giants can concentrate on the offseason and focus on winning another Superbowl.

Parnell To Take Role of Closer

After the Mets found out that their closer had a strained left oblique strain, many questions arose. The main question: Who is going to be the closer? I thought it was going to be former closer Jon Rauch but I’m not surprised he wasn’t given the chance. Bobby Parnell will be awarded the job temporarily until Francisco comes back.

Parnell is having a better yearthan most people expected. In 36 appearances this year Parnell is 1-1 with a 3.19 ERA. Though he has solid numbers, there have been times where Parnell have performed subpar.

Last year, the Mets gave Parnell a few opportunities to close. The result. Not pretty. Parnell blew 4 of his 7 chances in September before the Mets handed the ball to Jason Isringhausen. Hopefully these numbers will prove wrong this season as Parnell matured as a major leaguer.

Dickey Talks Knuckleball, Career

On ESPN’s Baseball Tonight, R.A Dickey spoke with Orel Hershiser on his career struggles of being a conventional pitcher as well as his journey on learning the knuckleball.

The interview can be seen here: http://search.espn.go.com/interview/videos/mlb/ra-dickey/new-york-mets/6-43-4294927022-4294876929

Dickey, CC Square Off in Highly Anticipated Duel

R.A. Dickey and C.C. Sabathia will take the bump for their teams tonight as they face off in an exciting matchup tonight on Sunday Night Baseball.

Dickey (11-1, 2.00 ERA) has been having a stelar season and is looking to keep it going vs. the Yankees. Dickey has made 9 apperances against the Yankees, 3 starts, and has gone 3-1 with a 2.30 ERA. He has tossed back-to-back one hitters against Baltimore and Tampa Bay.

Sabathia (9-3, 3.55 ERA) has been pretty darn good for the Yankees this season especially as of late. In his last five starts he has won four of them. C.C. has made four starts against the Mets and has gone 3-1 against them with a 2.25 ERA, which, like Diickey against the Yankees, is outstanding.

I’m actually really excited for this game. I can’t remember the last time I was this pumped for a Mets-Yankees game. With all of the back and forth trash talk that has been going on between these two teams, the atmosphere feels a lot different. These two aces will be on display as a national audience will be tuned in and trust me, they’re making sure they’ll catch this one. These two are the two best pitchers in New York right now and the fact that we’re going to see them face off just makes this cross-town rivalry that much sweeter.