We’ve officially gone down the rabbit hole, folks.
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Category: External Sports (Page 250 of 821)
Over the weekend, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the Yankees were keeping a close eye on Twins’ starter Francisco Liriano. On Monday, Nightengale told Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio that he thinks Liriano will be traded to New York sometime in the next two weeks.
From Rotoworld:
We’ve heard discussion about the Twins possibly trading Liriano from a variety of sources, so it appears this rumor has legs. The Yankees have an obvious need in their rotation, but the Twins would be trading away the closest thing they have to an ace at the moment. According to Nightengale, the Twins would acquire either Ivan Nova or Joba Chamberlain, in addition to other pieces. Stay tuned, because it sounds like things are about to get very interesting.
If the Twins acquire Chamberlain, I wonder if they’ll consider him a starter or a reliever. Because obviously the Yankees’ brass doesn’t feel that he’s a starter or else he would be mentioned along with the other 25 candidates that are trying out for the No. 4 and No. 5 spots in New York’s rotation.
If they do wind up trading Liriano, it’s hard to like Minnesota’s chances in the AL Central this year. The White Sox and Tigers have retooled and the Twins’ bullpen took some big hits in the offseason. Getting healthy seasons out of Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer would become even more vital given the losses the Twins have (or will) absorbed in their pitching staff.
Assuming Liriano could handle pitching in the Bronx, he would give immediate hope to the Yankees’ pitching situation. Now all of a sudden, less would be expected of A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes, which is huge in the case of Burnett (who succumbed to the pressure last season after pitching well in 2009).
Let me throw out a few names: Danny Ferry, Christian Laettner, Cherokee Parks, Elton Brand, Carlos Boozer and Shelden Williams — what do they have in common? Yes, they all played for Duke, and they all averaged at least 17.7 points and 7.4 rebounds in their final years in Durham. On average, this group posted 19.6 points and 9.0 boards in those years. Ferry, Laettner, Brand and Williams were named First Team All-Americans, while Boozer made the Third Team. Parks could have been an All-American as well had Mike Krzyzewski not missed most of of his senior season due to back surgery and exhaustion. Williams was the last “dominant” Duke big man, and he graduated in 2005-06.
Since then, Duke has seen a string of highly-touted big men come through Cameron, including Shavlik Randolph (who played with Williams), Josh McRoberts, Brian Zoubek, Miles Plumlee, Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly. Randolph, McRoberts, Mason Plumlee and Kelly were all McDonald’s All-Americans coming out of high school. Other than maybe McRoberts (13.0 points and 7.9 rebounds), none of these guys have even approached the numbers and success of the aforementioned group.
What has happened to big man development in Durham?
Tommie Harris told the media in early February that he wouldn’t be a distraction like Albert Haynesworth has been with the Redskins when it came to the uncertainty of his future with the Bears. Of course, he wasn’t around long enough to be a distraction because the team cut him on Monday.
The Bears apparently had some interest in bringing the former Pro Bowler back next season, but only if he were willing to take a sizable paycut. He wasn’t, and the Bears had little choice but to release him seeing as how he was owed a $2.3 million roster bonus. His play has declined over the last several years and despite the addition of Julius Peppers to the defensive line last season, Harris finished with just 13 tackles and two sacks in 15 games.
There is no shortage of teams looking for defensive tackle help, so Harris will certainly resurface somewhere. Seeing as how he was just released, it’s difficult to narrow down a list of potential suitors for him, so the more intriguing question at this point is how this move could affect the Bears’ draft plans.
Chicago holds the No. 29 overall pick and it must upgrade its offensive line. Depending on how the first round plays out, Wisconsin’s Gabe Carimi, Mississippi State’s Derek Sherrod, Boston College’s Anthony Castonzo, Colorado’s Nate Solder and Villanova’s Benjamin Ijalana are all possibilities for the Bears at No. 29. But what if the decision to release Harris prompts GM Jerry Angelo to go in another direction?
Angelo has had a difficult time building an offensive line over the years and struggles to draft in the first round. He has an eye for defensive talent, however, so maybe he’ll stick with what he knows best. Releasing Harris opens a hole at defensive tackle and Chicago Sun-Times writer Neil Hayes recently suggested that Illinois’ Corey Liuget could be the Bears’ top pick.
Liuget’s stock appears to be on the rise the closer we get to April’s draft. Behind Nick Fairley and Marcell Dareus, Liuget is the best three-technique tackle in the draft. (Temple’s Muhammad Wilkerson is somewhere in the mix, too.) Liuget, who isn’t even 21 yet, racked up 12.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks as a third-year junior in 2010, leading the Illini in QB pressures as well. He’s quite the talent, although I’m not sure if he’ll fall to the Bears at No. 29. He’s expected to go somewhere late in the first, but I have the Rams taking him at No. 14 (which seems high now, but if Liuget’s stock continues to climb then maybe No. 14 won’t seem like such a reach come April).
Either way, the Bears’ draft plans just got a little more interesting.
A week after the team’s official website reported that the Bengals would “kick the tires” on possible quarterback options this offseason, Peter King writes that Cincinnati will listen to offers for Carson Palmer once the CBA is finalized.
It’s looking more and more that the Bengals will draft their future quarterback in April, maybe even in the first round (they hold the No. 4 overall pick). Blaine Gabbert, Cam Newton, Jake Locker and Ryan Mallett are all viewed as potential first rounders, but don’t rule out the possibility of Cincinnati taking someone like Christian Ponder seeing as how Jay Gruden has been hired as offensive coordinator. (Ponder’s best attribute is that he’s an accurate passer and Gruden will implement his version of the West Coast Offense, which requires a quarterback that’s accurate.)
The question I keep bringing up in regards to trading Palmer is what team will be willing to take on his salary and give up a draft pick(s) in order to acquire him? He’s still a serviceable starter but he’s 31 and his best days are clearly behind him. He may have performed well in the final two weeks of the 2010 regular season, but on a whole he wasn’t very good last season. Considering he’s owed $11.5 million in each of the next two years, plus $13 million in 2013 and $14 million in 2014, would teams rather wait to see if he’s released and then sign him to a more reasonable contract?
Rotoworld mentions the 49ers, Cardinals and Seahawks as possibilities for Palmer. All of those teams are logical choices, but I still have a hard time believing that any one of them would fight for a declining quarterback that they’d have to pay $11.5 million next season.
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