Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1078 of 1503)

      Yankees target CC Sabathia, Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira

      November 5, 2008 /

      Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that the New York Yankees have made ace CC Sabathia their top winter target. And just for good measure, they’ll also have Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira on their radar this offseason, too.

      CC SabathiaThe incumbent Brewers extended to Sabathia a very respectable offer for about $100 million, and at least the Dodgers and Angels may also heavily compete for the Vallejo, Calif., native. But baseball people at the general manager meetings here see the Yankees as attempting to blow away the field for Sabathia. Santana’s record deal for a pitcher is over six years.

      Boosted by the new Yankee Stadium, revenues that are expected to skyrocket even in a flagging economy, the potential of about $80 million in player payroll coming off their books and driven by their first non-playoff season since before the Joe Torre era, the Yankees will also make plays for superstar first baseman Mark Teixeira and outfielder and hitting savant Manny Ramirez, a longtime Yankee killer (and in 2008 a Red Sox killer, as well), and haven’t ruled out signing one of those two sluggers along with Sabathia.

      If you hated the Yankees before, you’ll hate him even more this offseason. Not that it matters because it’s the Yankees and they can finically do whatever they want, but a word of warning to the Steinbrenner’s – watch your spending on top flight free agent pitching. Just to name a few: Barry Zito, Mike Hampton, Russ Ortiz, Kevin Brown, Jason Schmidt – all highly coveted free agent starting pitchers, all gigantic busts.

      Now maybe Sabathia is less of a risk considering he’s used to pitching in the AL, but signing him to one of the richest contract in baseball history has trouble written all over it. But again, not that it matters because the Yankees can do whatever they want when it comes to spending.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB, Rumors & Gossip

      Give Devin Hester a break

      November 5, 2008 /

      Devin HesterDevin Hester hasn’t looked good this year. He hasn’t looked good returning kicks, punts and his transformation from full-time special teams player to wide receiver has been slow to say the least.

      That said – give the guy a break.

      There’s a swelling of local writers in Chicago that are breaking their necks leaping off the Devin Hester bandwagon. One writer from the Chicago Tribune recently wrote that the Bears look awfully smart for not handing Hester a huge contract this offseason and for the most part, he’s right.

      Obviously Hester doesn’t look anywhere close to being a No. 1 receiver. But maybe that’s because he was a freaking cornerback when he was drafted and had no concept on how to run proper routes or how to read coverages.

      Hester is still learning how to become a good wideout and it’s not surprising that his return skills have taken a back seat as he tries to focus on becoming a receiver (something the Bears wanted him to become don’t forget). If the Bears weren’t so cheap and actually went out and got some real receivers in the offseason, maybe Hester could focus more on his return skills and less on becoming the team’s deep threat. But Jerry Angelo and the rest of Chicago’s front office never wants to pony up so in turn they (as well as the media) need to relax while Hester learns the nuances of the position.

      Also, is it so far-fetched to think that the rest of the league has finally wised up to how to defend Hester on kick returns? The NFL is a copycat league and if one team has success defending him, than others catch on and implement similar tactics. It’s not rocket science.

      He was the entire Bears offense for two full seasons. But because he’s struggled for eight games this year people are ready to call him ordinary. Anyone who watched the Falcons game knows that he has the talent to become a decent wideout. Give him a chance.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Utah is overrated

      November 5, 2008 /

      Or so says Gordon Monson of The Salt Lake Tribune.

      Utah UtesThe No. 8 Utes can feel some satisfaction about their being 9-0, supposedly on course for a BCS bowl, and the No. 15 Cougars can handle being 8-1, despite higher aspirations earlier this season, until TCU blasted them to smithereens.

      But based on what they’ve shown thus far, neither of these teams is as good as the record suggests. That’s not a mean-spirited rip, it’s simply an obvious truth. They just do not belong, not so far, among the country’s elite.

      The goings-on last weekend are Exhibit A: squeaking by with three-point wins over competition that wouldn’t create much of a threat to the teams ranked around them, not even in a season where upsets have been plentiful.

      Utah made the New Mexico Lobos look like the New York Giants on Saturday night, unimpressively edging them, 13-10. We all get sick of judging and guessing who would do what against whom in college football, but . . . anybody think Penn State or Florida or Oklahoma or any of the teams ranked ahead of Utah would struggle the way the Utes did to beat the 4-6 Lobos? Would any of those ranked teams put just 13 points on them?

      I completely agree, but this is what you get when you have a college football system that’s so broken. Utah is No. 8 because they’re undefeated. They’re undefeated because they don’t play anybody on a consistent basis. So every year we have to wait until they either are upset by a lesser opponent and therefore justify not being ranked that high, or get screwed out of a chance to play for a title because their conference/schedule is weak.

      This is unavoidable with the way college football is set up.

      College Football

      Top 50 MLB Free Agents

      November 5, 2008 /

      Manny RamirezSI.com released its top 50 MLB free agents. The first team listed is that player’s current team and the second one is SI.com’s “best fit” for that player.

      1 CC Sabathia 28 SP Brewers Dodgers
      He’s a behemoth, yes, but he proved in ’08 that he might not just be better than Johan Santana, but the most valuable player in baseball. He’ll be rewarded as such, and could turn down Yankee riches to play for a contender in his home state, and to hit every fifth day, which is something he genuinely loves.

      2 Mark Teixeira 28 1B Angels Yankees
      The guy’s got everything – he’s a young, powerful switch-hitter who plays a Gold Glove first base. Soon he will be able to buy everything, and the Yankees would love to devote a chunk of the revenue from their new ballpark to bring him aboard.

      3 Manny Ramirez 36 OF Dodgers Dodgers
      He’s like baseball’s version of Catherine Tramell. So enticing, so beautiful to behold, but be careful if you get too close. L.A., of course, is still in the relationship’s first blush, and will probably pay a fortune for a potential ice-picking.

      4 Francisco Rodriguez 27 RP Angels Angels
      Single-season saves record overshadowed fact that he’s lost velocity on his fastball, doesn’t go more than one inning and was perhaps only the AL’s fifth best closer (after Rivera, Papelbon, Nathan and Soria). Many consider the Mets to be the frontrunner for his services, but they’re on the hook for Billy Wagner’s $10.5 million salary in ’09 and would be wise to pursue a cheaper option.

      5 A.J. Burnett 31 SP Blue Jays Yankees
      Brittle in the past but threw a career-high 221.1 innings in ’08, which was (guess what?) his contract year. His 231 strikeouts led the American League, and his filthy stuff will have G.M.s salivating — particularly those that lose out in the CC Sabathia sweepstakes.

      It’s incredibly ironic that no team would touch Burnett with a 600-foot pole around the All-Star break and now he’s one of the most coveted free agents on the market. The Blue Jays couldn’t have given Burnett away at midseason for a coloring book and a box of crayons.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Unbelievable high school catch

      November 5, 2008 /

      This might be the coolest play I’ve ever seen from a high school game.


      Phenomenal Touchdown Flip Pass – Watch more Sports Videos

      Here’s a question though: Why do they have three separate angles for a high school game? When I played high school football, there was one camera on top of the scoreboard about 1,000 feet away. Now they’ve got multiple cameras on the sidelines?

      General Sports, Video

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