Sunday, July 12, 2015

Red Sox Blockbuster Trade

Let me start by saying there is almost no way this could happen, however the Red Sox pulled off the Adrian Gonzalez/Josh Beckett/Carl Crawford trade, so anything is possible. This trade once again involves the Reds. The Red Sox would be acquiring Johnny Cueto, Aroldis Chapman AND Joey Votto. I have the Red Sox giving up seven players total. If I could have them trade draft picks as well I would, but that's not something you can do in Baseball. The players I have going over are Allen Craig, Blake Swihart, Joe Kelly, Henry Owens, Manuel Margot, Rafael Devers & Sean Coyle. Allen Craig and Joe Kelly would fill the void left with Votto and Cueto gone. Henry Owens reminds me of a lesser Clayton Kershaw, someone I don't want to give, but would. Rafael Devers gets comparisons to Robinson Cano with his bat, but he play Third Base not Second. This would give the Reds flexibility to move Todd Frazier to First Base in the future. Sean Coyle is one of the many undersized second basemen the Red Sox have stockpiled. His bat reminds me a lot of Reds second basemen Brandon Phillips. He'd need to work hard to have as good of a glove as Phillips but his 20-20 ability and ability to draw walks makes him a great replacement when Phillips gets hurt or hangs up the cleats. Manuel Margot is the one player I haven't seen much of, but I do know he's very fast, has a good glove for any outfield position and has gap power that could evolve home run power. He could take over batting second behind Billy Hamilton in the near future. The other benefit for this trade would allow the Reds the ability to sign a big free agent during the next offseason.
So let's look at the Red Sox line up after the trade.
  1. Mookie Betts CF
  2. Dustin Pedroia 2B
  3. Joey Votto 1B
  4. Hanley Ramirez LF
  5. David Ortiz DH
  6. Pablo Sandoval 3B
  7. Xander Bogaerts SS
  8. Ryan Hanigan C
  9. Brock Holt/Shane Victorino RF
I have Ortiz moving to fifth in the order to let him see more pitches before he gets up to bat and take some pressure off. He's so close to reaching the 500 home run mark and he has to do it this year, so less pressure and preparation should help him get the next nineteen. Also I like the idea of Dusty batting third but with Votto there it's okay.
Now for the rotation.
  1. Clay Buchholz
  2. Johnny Cueto
  3. Wade Miley
  4. Eduardo Rodriguez
  5. Rick Porcello
I hope that Buchholz is going to be back shortly. He has no structural damage in his elbow but is on the DL so you never know. Cueto can take over as the number one while he's on the DL. If you take away Wade Miley's second start he has a mid to low 3 ERA. So that's three plus pitchers right there. You throw in Rodriguez who is competing with Mookie for Red Sox Rookie of the Year and you have a playoff rotation.
My main concern is that the Yankees know how to play regular season baseball better than anyone. Something that they can't translate into playoff baseball in the passed few years. So to me that's a waste of a playoff spot. The AL East is shockingly the weakest division in baseball with all the teams at most four games out of first. It will be close through the whole season but someone will pull away.
My only comment about the bullpen is that we should only trade for Chapman if Koji is okay with moving to the set-up roll. He has earned the closer roll and it should be up to him to give it up.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Phoenix Suns Remaining Offseason Part 2

So I'm disappointed to say the Suns missed on LaMarcus Aldridge. I'm not surprised, I'm not devastated but I would have liked to see the Suns get him. But since they missed him I said I had a Plan B. Well I have a Plan B and C.
I'll start with Plan C because they did what I wanted them to do. They signed Mirza Teletovic earlier today. I was hoping they could pry him away from the Nets, but the Nets made it easy by not making Teletovic a restricted free agent. Teletovic is, in my opinion, a better Ryan Anderson. He's shorter but quicker and a better rebounder. So Plan C is have Teletovic as their starting Power Forward with Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, P.J. Tucker and Tyson Chandler. That's a speedy team, minus Chandler, that can defend. It should look like this.
Starters
  1. Eric Bledsoe
  2. Brandon Knight
  3. P.J. Tucker
  4. Mirza Teletovic
  5. Tyson Chandler
Reserves
  1. Ronnie Price
  2. Archie Goodwin/Devin Booker
  3. T.J. Warren
  4. Markieff Morris
  5. Alex Len
A great young, explosive bench that has the potential to be the best bench in Basketball. I expect Morris to start over Teletovic because he did it all last season. I do think Teletovic is a better starter however.
The Plan B team is the all offense team. I had this team lined out before the Teletovic signing so he's on the bench for this. The major difference in this lineup is T.J. Warren. I look at Warren as a young Carmelo Anthony and the Suns just haven't realized it yet. He's fast, explosive and can flat out score. He could easily win Sixth Man of the Year, but if he started he could win Most Improved just as fast. The only knock is he isn't a 3-Point shooter yet. Carmelo Anthony wasn't at this stage of his career either. So I say start him.
Plan B should look like this.
Starters
  1. Eric Bledsoe
  2. Brandon Knight
  3. T.J. Warren
  4. Markieff Morris
  5. Tyson Chandler
Reserves
  1. Ronnie Price
  2. Archie Goodwin/Devin Booker
  3. P.J. Tucker
  4. Mirza Teletovic
  5. Alex Len
Tyson Chandler will be the primary rebounder on the team, but both P.J. Tucker and T.J. Warren can get about six a game to go with Chandler's ten and Morris and Teletovic six or seven. Bledsoe's leaping ability also allows him to rebound well. Don't count the Suns out. They have all the pieces, it's all about chemistry now.

Friday, July 3, 2015

Phoenix Suns Remaining Offseason

The Suns are one of the teams that really let me down last season. They had a great three man rotation of Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe and Gerald Green. They for some reason needed to add Isaiah Thomas to that mix. Isaiah is a great player and it worked out in the end for my Celtics but it was a silly signing. This offseason looks different however. They've already re-signed Brandon Knight, swiped up Tyson Chandler and moved Marcus Morris to clear cap space and prevent anymore off court trouble. There are still a couple moves left to make, one of which is entirely up to luck at this point.
First move they should make is actually not a move. It's keep Eric Bledsoe. Bledsoe plays very well as a duo of point guards. Dragic and him were dynamic and played off each other great. We didn't see that with him and Knight because Knight only played eleven games for them. The two of them should make an equally effective backcourt.
Next is of course sign LaMarcus Aldridge. This looks like it's fifty-fifty right now. Reports say he is torn between the Suns and the Spurs. The Mavs appear to still be in the running too. But I like the Tyson Chandler pairing better than the Tim Duncan pairing because Chandler is younger. That's not a knock on Duncan, he just can't do it forever.
The next moves are minor but even minor moves can make big impacts. With P.J. Tucker likely starting at Small Forward for his defense, they'll need a spark off that bench. Obviously bring back Gerald Green. He is one of my absolute favorite players right now, who I wouldn't mind signing with the Celtics or Warriors. The Suns should be the team he goes with however. They traded for him and he rewarded them with two great scoring seasons. His dunks and 3 pointers make him so fun to watch. They also need to get an insurance backup Point Guard. I think Cory Joseph would be a good fit. He's a restricted free agent (I think) but I don't think the Spurs are going to bring him back. He has proven to be very productive when he's needed.
So if everything works out the Suns should look like this.
Starters
  1. Eric Bledsoe
  2. Brandon Knight
  3. P.J. Tucker
  4. LaMarcus Aldridge
  5. Tyson Chandler
Reserves
  1. Cory Joseph
  2. Devin Booker/Archie Goodwin
  3. Gerald Green/T.J. Warren
  4. Markieff Morris
  5. Alex Len
I didn't mention T.J Warren yet. He should be the alternative to Gerald Green. He's an amazing scorer and would pair great with Devin Booker or Archie Goodwin as a bench force. Not to mention Markieff as another great bench scorer.
So if the Suns miss out on LaMarcus I'll give a part two article.