‘Twas the day after Christmas and all through the land
Lots of stories were breaking, and all were in hand
Some baseball, some football, some hoops stories too
Thanks to old MJ, here they are from me to you
Baseball
1. The Cardinals continue to mystify the mind and it seems as though they wish to continue the trend of taking success for granted. While the rest of baseball has spent the off-season in holiday shopping mode, the Cardinals seem insistent on parlaying their unlikely World Series championship into a one-and-done fairytale. The Cards let their second-best starter and NLCS MVP Jeff Suppan walk away to another team within the division, watching him sign a four year, $42M deal with the Milwaukee Brewers on Christmas Eve.
The Brewers, who had traded their #3 starter Doug Davis to Arizona in exchange for catcher Johnny Estrada, have now upgraded their rotation and can slot Suppan between Ben Sheets and Chris Capuano. As unlikely as it sounds, the Brewers might just have the best rotation in the NL Central.
As mentioned previously, the Cubs should’ve picked Suppan over Marquis, in a “kill two birds with one stone” strategy for winning the division. That they didn’t, and that they allowed Suppan to sign with another team that will try to wrest the division away from St. Louis highlights their folly. But that the Cardinals let anyone sign Suppan away from them demonstrates something far more insidious than stupidity; it shows the Cardinals as a team that is not interested in winning at all costs.
After finishing the 2004 season with the best record in baseball and making it to the World Series for the first time since 1987, the Cards seemed poised to really clamp down on the National League and make it their own. The Cards had the rabid fan base, the plans for a new revenue-generating stadium, the best player in baseball (Pujols), the best starter in the NL (Carpenter), and a healthy $100M payroll in a division and a league where most teams were reluctant to spend. Instead, the Cards did nothing to improve their team for 2005, saw that they could still win their division (if not the pennant, narrowly missing out to the Astros), and continued on their apathetic path in 2006. That they made the playoffs and the World Series was a testament to the relatively poor level of competition in the NL and a gift of dumb luck.
Memo to Bill DeWitt and Walt Jocketty, owner and GM of the Cardinals, respectively: cry all you want about how the big, bad Yankees and the other mean bullies of the east coast make competition impossible but it’s a hollow complaint. You just don’t want it enough and, sooner or later, your fans will get sick of your excuses. It’s pathetic that a baseball town like St. Louis should get the shaft from lazy losers like you two.
2. The Yanks are in negotiations to jettison Randy Johnson to a team in the NL West. As of this morning, the Giants, Padres, and Diamondbacks are all in the running, with the Padres and D-Backs considered as the most likely destinations. In return, the Yanks are looking for a righty-hitting first baseman, a fourth outfielder, and young pitching. Eric Byrnes and Chad Tracy have been mentioned as possibilities from Arizona, with Scott Linebrink and prospects being offered by San Diego. By clearing RJ from their roster, the Yanks would be able to make room for Barry Zito or Roger Clemens (or both) and get rid of a pitcher who, more than any one other player, has been responsible for the team’s early exit in the past two postseasons. He’s a cranky, creaky and unlovable 43 year-old and anything the Yanks can get for him would be fantastic.
3. The White Sox traded young pitcher Brandon McCarthy to the Texas Rangers for two young arms, John Danks, Nick Masset, and Jacob Rasner. Stockpiling young arms is always good but I don’t quite see how the White Sox have improved themselves. In effect, they’ve chosen Gavin Floyd, acquired from the Phillies in the Freddy Garcia trade, over homegrown product McCarthy. A bit of a head-scratcher, if you ask me.
4. Ken Griffey broke a bone in his left hand in an unspecified accident in his home. What else is new? This guy can’t stay healthy for even five minutes.
Football
1. The Jets are now in position to make the playoffs by beating the Dolphins last night. And, together with Cincy’s special teams collapse, the Broncos seem like they’re a near-lock to join the party as well. As much as people scoffed at the Jets and their weak schedule, the truth is that Coach Mangina has done a good job turning Gang Green into a physical defensive team. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma and safety Kerry Rhodes are very good young players and give the Jets a defensive foundations for several seasons to come. As for the Broncos, they’re more lucky than good. If Carson Palmer had anything close to a better day on Sunday, the Bengals would’ve destroyed Denver.
2. Improbable as it may sound, the Giants are still in the driver’s seat for the sixth and final NFC playoff spot. A win on the road against the Washington Redskins pretty muck guarantees the Giants a date with either Dallas or Philly in a Wild Card game. Even a Giants loss – combined with losses by the Falcons, Panthers, Packers, and Rams – will get the G-men into the post-season. Without devolving into a rant on why I think the NFL’s product is as poor as its ever been, I think having a team make the playoffs at 7-9 pretty much seals my case. That’s just pathetic.
3. From Peter King’s most recent MMQB:
“Does Jeff Garcia have one more Christmas miracle in his sack?”
The words “Jeff Garcia” and “sack” should never appear in the same sentence. That’s disgusting. But at least I know where Peter King’s mind is at.
4. The Colts are in the playoffs. They seem to have the #3 seed locked up and will host at least one playoff game this January. But beyond that, I have no idea if they’ll fade out as usual or if they’ll somehow pull it together and make this the year that they finally make it to the Super Bowl. In my opinion, a Super Bowl run is unlikely, but in the NFL, you never know. After all, the Giants could be the first ever 7-9 team to make the playoffs so anything’s possible.
Here’s what I do know, however. When a fat slob like Ron Dayne, an NFL bust by all measures, can torch you for 153 yards on 32 carries and 2 TD’s, well, you’ve got problems. Ron Dayne is on his third team in seven seasons. He’s never been the feature-back in any NFL offense. He’s deceptively weak for a man his size and he hasn’t even the slightest understanding of how to run behind blockers or explode through the hole. In effect, this 243 lb former Heisman Trophy winner plays like a 3rd down back. But he smoked Indy’s run defense. That speaks volumes about how bad Indy should get spanked in January.
Basketball
Nothing to report here, just wanted to make the poem work...
Lots of stories were breaking, and all were in hand
Some baseball, some football, some hoops stories too
Thanks to old MJ, here they are from me to you
Baseball
1. The Cardinals continue to mystify the mind and it seems as though they wish to continue the trend of taking success for granted. While the rest of baseball has spent the off-season in holiday shopping mode, the Cardinals seem insistent on parlaying their unlikely World Series championship into a one-and-done fairytale. The Cards let their second-best starter and NLCS MVP Jeff Suppan walk away to another team within the division, watching him sign a four year, $42M deal with the Milwaukee Brewers on Christmas Eve.
The Brewers, who had traded their #3 starter Doug Davis to Arizona in exchange for catcher Johnny Estrada, have now upgraded their rotation and can slot Suppan between Ben Sheets and Chris Capuano. As unlikely as it sounds, the Brewers might just have the best rotation in the NL Central.
As mentioned previously, the Cubs should’ve picked Suppan over Marquis, in a “kill two birds with one stone” strategy for winning the division. That they didn’t, and that they allowed Suppan to sign with another team that will try to wrest the division away from St. Louis highlights their folly. But that the Cardinals let anyone sign Suppan away from them demonstrates something far more insidious than stupidity; it shows the Cardinals as a team that is not interested in winning at all costs.
After finishing the 2004 season with the best record in baseball and making it to the World Series for the first time since 1987, the Cards seemed poised to really clamp down on the National League and make it their own. The Cards had the rabid fan base, the plans for a new revenue-generating stadium, the best player in baseball (Pujols), the best starter in the NL (Carpenter), and a healthy $100M payroll in a division and a league where most teams were reluctant to spend. Instead, the Cards did nothing to improve their team for 2005, saw that they could still win their division (if not the pennant, narrowly missing out to the Astros), and continued on their apathetic path in 2006. That they made the playoffs and the World Series was a testament to the relatively poor level of competition in the NL and a gift of dumb luck.
Memo to Bill DeWitt and Walt Jocketty, owner and GM of the Cardinals, respectively: cry all you want about how the big, bad Yankees and the other mean bullies of the east coast make competition impossible but it’s a hollow complaint. You just don’t want it enough and, sooner or later, your fans will get sick of your excuses. It’s pathetic that a baseball town like St. Louis should get the shaft from lazy losers like you two.
2. The Yanks are in negotiations to jettison Randy Johnson to a team in the NL West. As of this morning, the Giants, Padres, and Diamondbacks are all in the running, with the Padres and D-Backs considered as the most likely destinations. In return, the Yanks are looking for a righty-hitting first baseman, a fourth outfielder, and young pitching. Eric Byrnes and Chad Tracy have been mentioned as possibilities from Arizona, with Scott Linebrink and prospects being offered by San Diego. By clearing RJ from their roster, the Yanks would be able to make room for Barry Zito or Roger Clemens (or both) and get rid of a pitcher who, more than any one other player, has been responsible for the team’s early exit in the past two postseasons. He’s a cranky, creaky and unlovable 43 year-old and anything the Yanks can get for him would be fantastic.
3. The White Sox traded young pitcher Brandon McCarthy to the Texas Rangers for two young arms, John Danks, Nick Masset, and Jacob Rasner. Stockpiling young arms is always good but I don’t quite see how the White Sox have improved themselves. In effect, they’ve chosen Gavin Floyd, acquired from the Phillies in the Freddy Garcia trade, over homegrown product McCarthy. A bit of a head-scratcher, if you ask me.
4. Ken Griffey broke a bone in his left hand in an unspecified accident in his home. What else is new? This guy can’t stay healthy for even five minutes.
Football
1. The Jets are now in position to make the playoffs by beating the Dolphins last night. And, together with Cincy’s special teams collapse, the Broncos seem like they’re a near-lock to join the party as well. As much as people scoffed at the Jets and their weak schedule, the truth is that Coach Mangina has done a good job turning Gang Green into a physical defensive team. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma and safety Kerry Rhodes are very good young players and give the Jets a defensive foundations for several seasons to come. As for the Broncos, they’re more lucky than good. If Carson Palmer had anything close to a better day on Sunday, the Bengals would’ve destroyed Denver.
2. Improbable as it may sound, the Giants are still in the driver’s seat for the sixth and final NFC playoff spot. A win on the road against the Washington Redskins pretty muck guarantees the Giants a date with either Dallas or Philly in a Wild Card game. Even a Giants loss – combined with losses by the Falcons, Panthers, Packers, and Rams – will get the G-men into the post-season. Without devolving into a rant on why I think the NFL’s product is as poor as its ever been, I think having a team make the playoffs at 7-9 pretty much seals my case. That’s just pathetic.
3. From Peter King’s most recent MMQB:
“Does Jeff Garcia have one more Christmas miracle in his sack?”
The words “Jeff Garcia” and “sack” should never appear in the same sentence. That’s disgusting. But at least I know where Peter King’s mind is at.
4. The Colts are in the playoffs. They seem to have the #3 seed locked up and will host at least one playoff game this January. But beyond that, I have no idea if they’ll fade out as usual or if they’ll somehow pull it together and make this the year that they finally make it to the Super Bowl. In my opinion, a Super Bowl run is unlikely, but in the NFL, you never know. After all, the Giants could be the first ever 7-9 team to make the playoffs so anything’s possible.
Here’s what I do know, however. When a fat slob like Ron Dayne, an NFL bust by all measures, can torch you for 153 yards on 32 carries and 2 TD’s, well, you’ve got problems. Ron Dayne is on his third team in seven seasons. He’s never been the feature-back in any NFL offense. He’s deceptively weak for a man his size and he hasn’t even the slightest understanding of how to run behind blockers or explode through the hole. In effect, this 243 lb former Heisman Trophy winner plays like a 3rd down back. But he smoked Indy’s run defense. That speaks volumes about how bad Indy should get spanked in January.
Basketball
Nothing to report here, just wanted to make the poem work...
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