Sunday, April 20, 2014

CAN IT GET ANY WORSE?

I quit watching at 6-1. I checked back and it was 8-1. I went to bed at 12-1.  I checked the score this morning when I got up and it was 16-1. Is the game over yet? I was afraid to look.
Ken Singleton says that the Rays were having trouble scoring runs. I think that problem is over with. Is Nova really hurt or did he just want out while his ERA was still in single digits? In four innings, he gave up 8 hits and 8 runs. Two of the Yankee relievers, Matt Daley & Dean Anna, did the same AS this in only 2 innings. Isn't Daley the pitcher the Yanks picked up to replace Cesar Cabal, who has been sent to Siberia? Doesn't seem like Daley was a step up, does it?
Talk about versatility, Dean Anna is the utility infielder. Last week, Girardi said he was the emergency catcher. Last night, he was the emergency reliever. He's not available today, he's working his shift at the third base concession stand.

Last week, Buster Olney interviewed several club officials about the fact that two very good free agents, Stephen Drew and Kendry Morales, were still unsigned. Tony Clark, president of the Players Union, says this is a violation of the collective bargaining agreement, because no one is supposed to comment on the availability of free agents and by doing so, they have hurt the value of those two players. Clark wants an immediate and full scale investigation by the Commissioner's office and that the guilty parties are punished. He's left out one important thing, as Buster Olney states:
"When an agent informs a reporter that a player has drawn interest from a team or teams when in fact there is none, as part of an effort to artificially bolster the player’s market value, that’s a CBA violation. When a report comes out that a player has offers from X number of teams, where is that almost certainly coming from? Yes, the agent. And this has been happening for years and years, and Clark knows it"  
Olney also says very little will actually happen on this situation, because, "This whole thing is about creating a smokescreen for a negotiating mistake" Both players turned down qualifying offers of $14.1 million on the advice of their agent, the well-know Scott Boras. Boras is the master of the "mystery team ploy" that is supposedly offering big money to his client but is never named and never shows up. 
"So the idea that a handful of anonymous opinions somehow affected their market value is so laughable that it’s incredible that anyone in a position of authority -- Clark, et al -- is taking it seriously." 

I don't know who is actually going to pitch today for the Yanks. It's supposed to be Vidal Nuno, but the last two games may have scared him off. It may be pitching coach Larry Rothschild, whose advice probably isn't worth too much to the Yankee staff right now.

***THEY SAID IT***
"Steve Masiello was denied the head coaching job at South Florida after it was learned he attended, but did not graduate, from Kentucky. If you deny a job to everyone who attended but didn’t graduate from Kentucky, half the players in the NBA will be gone."  -- Brad Dickson
"The Saskatchewan Roughriders rewarded Darian Durant with a contract extension. The deal is said to involve multiple years and all the water he can walk on."  -- RJ Currie
"The Columbus Blue Jackets had their first playoff win ever Saturday night. And two questions from most Americans. 1. Columbus has a pro team? 2. What sport?"  -- Janice Hough
"Why didn't John Calipari leave Kentucky to coach the Lakers? He has more NBA players this year than the Lakers do."  -- Steve Van Gundy
"Saskatchewan’s Graham DeLaet wasn’t distraught after missing this year’s Masters cut:. He already owns quite a few green jackets, though they all say ‘John Deere’ on the front."  -- TC Chong
"Brewers backup catcher Martin Maldonado lived a sandlot player’s dream Friday night — hitting the cover halfway off the ball on an infield hit to third against the Pirates. League officials immediately confiscated Maldonado’s Wonderboy bat and his bottle of Ryan Braun vitamins."  -- Dwight Perry
"Creighton’s Ryan Fitzgerald hit the first inside-the-park home run at TD Ameritrade Park. To give you an idea how big the outfield is, to get to the ball the left fielder caught a bus."  -- Brad Dickson

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