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By Matt Soldano  December 1, 2009, at 3:40 pm  I love it when there are some really obvious moves in the world of sports that general managers should make and they flat out ignore it or make up some BS reason as to why they choose to no longer pursue a certain athlete. I might not be like Jason, who thrives at mixing and matching players’ contracts or figuring out team’s salary cap situation, but a move like this makes me believe that maybe becoming a General Manager is not as difficult as people make it out to be.
A day after Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach Eddie Jordan and GM Ed Stefanski met with Free Agent Allen Iverson in Dallas, no deal is in place and both parties seem to be “non-committal” at the moment. Despite the fact that several sources are reporting “there is no doubt” he will be coming back, I remember hearing the same sort of reports when the Knicks were targeting AI. Yet, it never happened and to me the Knicks did a huge disservice to their fans, a fan base that has suffered nearly a decade through uneventful season after uneventful season.
The Sixers need the future Hall of Famer more so than New York and it makes even more sense! Look at the injuries that Philly is battling through:
- Lou Williams: Jaw Injury – Out 8 weeks
- Mareese Speights: Knee Injury – Out 6-8 weeks
- Elton Brand: Hamstring Injury – Came back last night, though admitted not 100%
With Speights and Williams out until after the new year, the Sixers are missing 30 points and are struggling to find a cast of characters to shoulder the load. Andre Iguodala (the other AI) has struggled shooting the ball (42%, compared to his career 47% FG) and Thaddeus Young has not become fully comfortable with Eddie Jodan’s offensive style. Iverson becomes the scorer of the team and most of all a closer, something the Sixers have desperately lacked. The team is 5-13 and falling fast in the Eastern Conference but 7 of those losses have come by six points or less. Iverson knows the big stage and can show up brightest in those spots.
Yes, the roster is young, and the question will always center around would Iverson stunt the growth of the team. A playoff birth is not out of the question with Iverson. He could keep them afloat just enough so when Lou Williams and Speights come back healthy, they could push for that 7th or 8th seed. Milwaukee, Charlotte, and Indiana (the current 6-8 seeds) are anything but locks for a playoff bid and it would not shock anyone if they fell off the map.
So Philadelphia, let’s look at the pro’s here. You generate local/national buzz, you are able to sell tickets and jerseys, and gain some sort of national relevance. The con’s you deal withanother AI fallout at the end of the year since he will be on a one-year deal. This does not even need to be thought about! I could have told you all of this in three words but I thought 509 would make my argument more convincing.
SIGN ALLEN IVERSON! Armsleeve night would be one hell of a promotion.
By Anthony De Franco November 3, 2009, at 9:01 pm Five Years, 85 million.
That’s likely what it would cost to make sure that what’s happening to the Yankees right now won’t happen again anytime in the near future. That’s what it would cost to have stop Tim Mccarver stop making reference to pitcher’s from his era (before the dinosaurs, by the way) pitching on two days rest. That’s what would make sure that the name Chad Gaudin is never said in the same sentenced as “starting game 5 of the World Series” ever, ever again.
That’s what it will likely cost for the Yankees to get John Lackey.
I’ve never been a real big fan of signing free agent pitchers. Generally, they cost far too much, and almost never perform up to the standard that they set before they became multi-millionaires. Just bring up the name Barry Zito in front of a San Francisco Giants fan and pass out the entire cast of Fast Forward.
As much as that thought makes me squirm in my chair, I can’t take this “three days rest” thing anymore. I don’t want to hear about C.C. Sabathia doing it, it’s clear that the dude is a freak. He’s just a huge horse of a man that can take the ball every other day and dominate one of the league’s best lineups while barely breaking a sweat.
What no one has mentioned about that this whole pitching on short rest thing is that pitchers are a grand total of 19-34 in the division playoff era on three days rest. They haven’t told you that only the Minnesota Twins of 1991 have won a World Series recently by pushing up their entire staff. They didn’t tell you that starting A.J. Burnett on short rest was a TERRIBLE idea.
The truth of the situation is that it wasn’t the fact that his stuff wasn’t crisp that screwed A.J. It was the fact that the mix in his schedule screwed with his frequently discussed head. He still threw gas, but just couldn’t locate his curveball for anything. That was mental more than physical.
Even better, let’s put his personal catcher in that sabotages the end of the team’s batting lineup?
How many different ways did the Yanks want to screw themselves in this game?
I’m not one to just complain and not offer a solution, so let’s think about how we can keep this craziness from happening in the future. The first would be to finally stretch out Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes and just leave them the hell alone. No more of this situational pitching or putting them in the bullpen because there’s a hole. They are starting pitchers. That is the most important position in the game and that’s where they belong. With a full season to gauge their progress (which will be far superior if Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi let them be) the team can just let them go in the playoffs.
But, there is another way. The team can take a grizzled, veteran pitcher who wants the ball every time the manager is willing to give it to them. A guy who has a winning pedigree and a career 3.12 ERA in the postseason. A guy who screamed at his manager for taking him out in a tight game because all he wanted was to pitch out of the jam he got into.
All it would take is a commitment of five years and about 85 million bucks.
By Anthony De Franco September 28, 2009, at 12:36 am Each Week, I’ll be breaking down the performance of the Giants many wide receivers. Here’s hoping this column does go on for too long and the Giants find a starting duo before too long.
Another week, another win. It seems like the Giants are really getting lucky in terms of scheduling. While half this team is trying to get healthy, the Giants will get the wonderful triumvirate of teams that are the Bucs, Chiefs and Raiders. While the passing game looked good, it’s a little unnerving that only 5 receivers, 2 of them tight ends, were targeted by Eli Manning.
- Steve Smith – 7 targets, 7 receptions, 63 yards, 1 TD – Another solid performance from Steve Smith. As he continues to be Eli’s favorite target, The key number here is 7-of-7. Every ball that Eli threw Smith’s way, he caught. Jason’s early prediction of 80 catches and 100 targets may be a little low.
Grade: A-
- Mario Manningham – 7 targets, 4 receptions, 55 yards – It doesn’t look all that gaudy compared to last week, but it’s another solid performance. Manningham drew coverage from Aqib Talib for part of the day, which if nothing else shows that the Bucs respected him enough to put their top corner on him.
Grade: B
- Sinorice Moss – 1 target, 1 catch, 18 yards, 1 TD – Well, who knew? It was a fantastic catch, and I can admit that when I said that he should be cut, I didn’t imagine him catching touchdown passes. Don’t expect him to contribute on a week-to-week basis.
Grade: B
- Ramses Barden and Derek Hagan were active but not targeted.
- Domenik Hixon and Hakeem Nicks were both injured and did not play.
By Anthony De Franco September 6, 2009, at 6:28 pm What in god’s name is going on right now? This has been the weirdest cut down day of all time. There is always some teams that make some moves to improve their team right about now, but there have been some really strange moves that have placed weird players in weird places.
The most recent has former Giants TE Michael Matthews heading to New England via trade. The Giants will receive a 2011 conditional draft pick for the man who couldn’t crack their final 53.
My main question remains: What does Bill Bellichick want with Matthews? He’s a pretty decent blocker, but any Giant fan will tell you that throwing to Matthews is like throwing the ball into the hands of the other team. He can’t catch, and even when he does, he can’t seem to hold on to the ball.
His role in New England will that of a blocking tight end, but you are telling me that with over 700 players being cut yesterday, Bellichick couldn’t find some other guy that wouldn’t have cost the Pats anything in terms of compensation?
A very strange move indeed. Whatever. Maybe now Hakeem Nicks will wear 88 instead of 18.
By Jason Comack September 5, 2009, at 6:33 pm From Matt Maiocco
49ers announce 20 cuts to get to 53-man limit
The 49ers reduced their roster to the 53-man limit just minutes ago, but that does not mean everybody with the team today will still be here on Sunday.
The 49ers released T Jacob Bender, T Alex Boone, WR Dobson Collins, DL Pannel Egboh, TE J.J. Finley, CB Eric Green, OL Kyle Howard, CB Terrail Lambert, FB Brit Miller, NT/OT Khalif Mitchell, LB Jay Moore, TE Bear Pascoe, WR Maurice Price, FB Bill Rentmeester, LB Justin Roland, RB Kory Sheets, OL Matt Spanos, OL Joe Toledo, LB Mark Washington and WR Dominique Zeigler.
Lot’s of surprises.
1) The one sure to have the fans upset is Kory Sheets. Sheets an undrafted rookie looked fantastic during pre-season/training camp. However lets face the facts; he was behind Gore, Coffee and Robinson…carries were going to be sparse. Secondly Thomas Clayton looked great every off-season that success never carried to the NFL. Hopefully he’ll slip through waivers and join the practice squad.
2) The bigger surprise to me was that Pascoe, Finley, and Miller were cut. I don’t buy that a team that says it’s committed to running the ball would only keep two tight ends and one fullback. Especially when you consider that Delanie Walker is more of a WR then tight end. I can guarantee the Niners are looking to find someone on waivers.
3) The cuts of Bender, Boone, Toledo and Spanos leave the Niners painfully think along the offensive line. By my count they only have 8 offensive lineman on the roster (Staley, Baas, Heitman, Richal, Synder, Wragge, Sims, Wallace.) Again expect a waiver pickup. Watch the Jaguars cuts closely and see if Tony Pashos is cut.
4) The fact that Ricky Jean-Francois and Diyral Briggs made the team shows the Niners are not confident about their pass rush. Francois is developmental but Briggs played his way onto the team with his strong play.
5) WR is still a cluster…you know what. Morgan, Bruce, Jones, Battle, Spurlock and Hill made the team. As did Allen Rossum as a KR. One of those guys is going when Crabtree signs and likely even sooner. Dominque Ziegler was a fan favorite but he got injured during the last preseason game. Hopefully he’ll clear waivers.
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