Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 745 of 1503)

      John Smoltz to sign with Cardinals

      August 19, 2009 /

      Starter John Smoltz has found a new team in the St. Louis Cardinals.

      From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

      Free agent pitcher John Smoltz will accept the Cardinals’ offer to join the club as its fifth starter after clearing waivers at noon (St. Louis time) today, barring an unforeseen waiver claim, multiple sources said Tuesday.

      Smoltz, the only pitcher in major-league history to achieve both 200 wins and 150 saves, becomes eligible to join his new club after clearing release waivers. The Boston Red Sox designated the former NL Cy Young Award winner for assignment Aug. 7 before placing him on waivers Monday. Teams have 48 hours to place a claim in the unlikely event they are willing to assume the balance of Smoltz’s $5.5 million contract.

      Since the Red Sox released him, the Cardinals will only have to pay the prorated portion of Smoltz’s contract, which is roughly $100,000.

      This isn’t a bad signing for a club that is trying to add talent to make a World Series run. While Smoltz certainly looked washed up in his brief stint in Boston, he might be rejuvenated pitching in the NL again and is certainly worth a look considering the other fifth-starter candidates for the Cardinals are Todd Wellemeyer, Brad Thompson, P.J. Walters and Mitchell Boggs.

      There’s also speculation that Smoltz could wind up being a potential setup man for Ryan Franklin in the bullpen.

      MLB

      Peter King criticizes Vikings’ signing of Favre

      August 19, 2009 /

      Count SI.com NFL writer Peter King as someone who thought the Vikings’ signing of Brett Favre was a bad idea. In fact, King went as far to say in one of his recent articles that both Minnesota and Favre have made a mistake.

      The perfect scenario would have been for the Vikings to see if Rosenfels or Jackson played well enough through a piece-of-cake early schedule (at Cleveland, at Detroit, San Francisco), and if the position was an Achilles heel, then reach out to Favre to see if he was interested. By doing it now, Childress tells his team he doesn’t trust Rosenfels or Jackson. That could come back to haunt him if Favre’s body breaks down.

      Childress has looked like a desperate man throughout this melodrama. He made it known internally that Favre had to do at least some work in the offseason program or the veteran mini-camp to be considered. Favre never showed. Then he had to come by the start of camp. Favre didn’t come, opting for his third false retirement in 17 months. Now the Vikings let him come back after the team has gone through training camp. Favre’s the wishy-washiest player in memory — and the Vikings are his enablers. It’s ridiculous.

      I agree with King that this situation was handled poorly by Childress and the Vikings, although in effort not to repeat myself, here’s a link to a post I wrote yesterday in which I go into detail about this saga. I break down how gutless Childress is for allowing Favre to dictate how the situation played out, how the signing was a slap in the face to Rosenfels, and yes, how the Vikings are a better team with Favre under center.

      It would be ironic if Childress had to lean on Rosenfels at the end of the year if/when Brett breaks down. Rosenfels will probably conduct his business in a professional manner and put the team ahead of his personal feelings. But if I were him, I’d be livid about busting my ass in OTAs and training camp thinking I had a chance to start, only to be shoved to the backburner as soon as Favre was signed.

      NFL

      Rex Ryan: ‘I’m not intimidated by Bill Belichick.’

      August 19, 2009 /

      Jets head coach Rex Ryan isn’t afraid to speak his mind and apparently isn’t afraid to take a couple swipes at a rival head coach who has three Super Bowl wins on his resume either.

      From 670 The Score:

      Ryan said during a radio interview a few months ago that he didn’t come to New York “to kiss Bill Belichick’s rings.” He explained Tuesday what he meant, and might have provided more bulletin board material.

      “When I said that about Belichick, I’m just letting him know I’m not intimidated by him,” Ryan said.

      “He’s got the same position I have. We’re both head coaches in this league. He just happens to have a hell of a lot more Super Bowl wins. I don’t have a win. I understand that, but we’re not going to tiptoe our way through this thing.

      “You don’t line up and beat a Bill Belichick-coached team by tiptoeing in there.”

      Comments like these are exactly why Jets players have come to love and respect their new head coach. It’s hard not to want to play for a guy who isn’t afraid to speak his mind and let the proverbial bullies of the AFC East know that he and his team won’t be intimated.

      That said, Ryan has yet to win a game, while Belichick has compiled 153 victories, three Super Bowl titles and is a two-time AP NFL Coach of the Year winner (2003, 2007). While Ryan’s attitude is brash and refreshing, he probably should be a bit more diplomatic in what he says in his first year.

      Belichick has a way of humbling fellow head coaches and while he’ll never play the quote game with Ryan through the media, I’m sure he has taken stock of what Ryan has said.

      NFL

      Daily Six-Pack: Vikings sign Favre

      August 18, 2009 /

      It’s official: Brett Favre is now a Minnesota Viking after signing a two-year deal. Below are six quick-hit observations on the topic.

      1. Nobody should be surprised by Brett’s decision.
      When Favre told the Vikings in July that he would stay retired, you would have had to been naïve to believe him. Thus, nobody should be shocked by this news today. The key to this situation was that Brett didn’t want to go to training camp. He doesn’t like practicing and given his experience in the WCO, he didn’t need the extra camp reps. He must have known that Brad Childress was okay with him skipping camp and signing a deal once preseason started.

      2. Childress should grow a pair.
      If I were a Minnesota player, I’d be wondering how much sack my head coach has after this situation. Childress allowed Favre to dictate everything that went down, including when he would sign. Childress wanted Favre to sign so badly that he was willing to look past Brett skipping training camp while the rest of his teammates were putting in hours of hard work on the practice field. It’s a joke that Childress and the Vikings didn’t walk away from this situation when Favre said he was going to remain retired (even if they knew he would eventually change his mind). And even if Brett gets the Vikings to a Super Bowl, they’ll still be the team that put a single player above an entire organization.

      Continue reading »

      NFL

      Raiders’ Schilens breaks foot

      August 18, 2009 /

      The San Francisco Chronicle reports that wide receiver Chaz Schilens broke a bone in his left foot.

      Schilens was hurt cutting on a route. There was no contact on the play. He hopped it to the locker room and emerged after practice on crutches.

      Schilens did not say how long he’d be out. When asked if he’d play Sept. 14 against the Chargers, he said, “God does miracles,” which is another way of saying it’d take a miracle.
      As for Raiders coach Tom Cable, he said “nothing happened” when asked about the Randy Hanson incident before resuming his no-comment stance.

      This is a serious blow to the Raiders’ passing game, as Schilens was having a great camp and was quickly emerging as quarterback JaMarcus Russell’s go-to guy.

      In Oakland’s preseason opener last Thursday against Dallas, Schilens caught five passes for 52 yards. He demonstrated good speed and pass-catching ability to go along with his great size (6’4, 225 pounds) and if the performance was any indication of how he would fair this season, Schilens was set up for a breakout year.

      The Raiders have given no timetable for how long he would be out for, but chances are he’ll miss the first couple weeks of the season.

      NFL

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