It's been awhile folks and for that I apologize. Not only am I temporarily crippled from trying to stop a moving car, but I work at a job where I am able to be on a computer and I still haven't posted lately. Some predictions:
Prediction #1. Ubaldo Jimenez will win at least 26 games this year for the Rockies while losing less than 9....but his ERA will rise to over 2 by the end of the season. In the long term he will go on to win 2 Cy Young awards, and probably won't make the Hall of Fame because he will eventually test positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs. Gotta love the MLB, right?
Prediction #2. This isn't much of a stretch but.....Derek Fisher's elbow is going to find the face of someone from the Celtics sometime during the NBA Finals. He has been known to be one of the toughest and most physical (sometimes looked upon as cheap) players in the game and won't back down if he feels that he needs to stick up for himself or one of his teammates. Luis Scola knows how this works firsthand.
Prediction #3. If the Celtics win the championship: Kevin Garnett will not give another interview where none of us can understand what he is saying because he's screaming the whole time. However, I don't rule out a few random screams in the middle of the interview. Here's his interview after his first championship. Notice he does give a shoutout to us Minnesota fans. "This is for everybody in 'Sota"
Prediction #4. If the Lakers win the championship: Kobe will cement his place in history as one of the winningest players in history and Phil Jackson will retire despite the rumors that will pair him with Lebron in who knows what town. We will also see another ridiculously dumb celebration by Adam Morrison like these that he has done in the past.
Prediction #5. The Lakers win the championship. Adam Morrison cries.
Prediction #6. Getting my hourly wage that I am getting here at work while writing this is going to be the most someone ever pays me to write. 1) I am just not that good.. 2) In this economy, people like spending their money on more reasonable things like large SUV's and Kit Kat bar's... 3) Rick Reilly isn't old enough for me to take over his job yet... 4) I won't seek a writing job because I am going to replace Andrew Bynum as the Lakers center. I hear my knee is better off than both of his are and I would actually try during the game.
Prediction #7. Garrett Wittels won't break Robin Ventura's 58 game hit streak. He will get drafted in the next MLB draft somewhere before the 20th round because of this hit streak.
Prediction #8. In desperation after Favre retires, the Vikings bring Jamarcus Russell in for a tryout and think they see a franchise quarterback in him, sign him to a multi-year deal, and move him to guard where he becomes a Pro Bowl player.
Prediction #9. Tiger Woods doesn't win a Major within a year of his 'accident' that has made him more famous than his golfing ever did.
Prediction #10. Not so much a prediction but just a thought....does anyone else wonder what went on at the after party last night for Duke's Lacrosse team after they won the championship yesterday? After all of the different scandal and allegations in 2006 I can't help but be curious.....
Showing posts with label MLB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MLB. Show all posts
Jun 1, 2010
Feb 10, 2010
Joe Mauer -- Hometown Hero
Hello all. Something that I’m sure many of you are following is Joe Mauer's contract situation. I’ve lived in Minnesota my entire life and have loved the way that the Twins play baseball since I can remember. Four players have always stood out as being my favorites: Kirby Puckett, Torii Hunter, Johan Santana, and Joe Mauer. Only one of them remains with the Twins organization and hopefully he will be sticking around for a long time. Recently, talks have been heating up with rumored deals and both sides are saying that it is just a matter of time.
As much as I love the rest of the Twins players and the entire organization, Santana and Hunter are still greatly missed. Hunter's magnificent catches were usually a highlight of my day and it always felt special to have seen the catch live before it would inevitably appear on the Sportscenter Top Plays. The passion and the way that he played the game was always a fun thing to watch, and because of him, my favorite part of baseball is still watching an outfielder snag a home run away from the batter. Eventually, Hunter became yet another All-Star that was too big to fit within the Twins payroll so he left for the big bucks in Los Angeles. He rejected the 3 year $45 million contract to take a 5 year $90 million one. I always thought that Hunter would forever protect Minnesota pitchers in the Metrodome but I guess some things just don’t last forever. He is still one of my favorite players but it is hard to watch him in an Angel’s uniform.
It was a little easier seeing Johan Santana leave but only because the initial punch to the gut from Hunter leaving softened the blow from Santana getting traded to the Mets. He was the first pitcher that I remember marking down on the calendar the games that he would be pitching. I still remember his 17 strikeout game, wishing I would have been there because one of my good friends got to go. But at the end of the season, as it is customary for all small market baseball fans, you could just feel that he was soon on his way out. He rejected a 5 year $100 million offer from the Twins and was soon sent packing to the Mets. It was always easy to blame the Twins management for not dishing out the cash for these big players, but looking back I don’t think it would have been good to pay a pitcher 25% of your payroll. It would be hard for any team to justify that.
This winter, it seems as though everything has changed for the Twins. A new ballpark, a trade for a proven player in Hardy, two big name signings, and the possibility of signing one of the top 5 players in baseball to a long term contract. They also recently inked this old time Twin to a minor league deal. Joe Mauer is the face of the Minnesota Twins right now and if they let him walk, I’m not sure if the team would ever recover. With the new ballpark ready for action, the chances that Mauer is not going to get lock down seem to be slim to none. The hometown kid doesn’t seem like the player to take a simple pay cut to stay with his cities team, but he strikes me as the kind of player to take a massive one. Now this isn’t to say that the Twins should just low ball him, but his agent has been in negotiations with some big time ball players who have stuck around with one team, such as Cal Ripken, Jr. and Kirby Puckett. If the Twins can finally make the right move and keep their franchise players around (already have Morneau, Cuddyer, and Kubel under multi-year deals and hopefully soon to be Span) the prospects of a World Series title coming back to Minnesota are certainly looking up.
Derek
As much as I love the rest of the Twins players and the entire organization, Santana and Hunter are still greatly missed. Hunter's magnificent catches were usually a highlight of my day and it always felt special to have seen the catch live before it would inevitably appear on the Sportscenter Top Plays. The passion and the way that he played the game was always a fun thing to watch, and because of him, my favorite part of baseball is still watching an outfielder snag a home run away from the batter. Eventually, Hunter became yet another All-Star that was too big to fit within the Twins payroll so he left for the big bucks in Los Angeles. He rejected the 3 year $45 million contract to take a 5 year $90 million one. I always thought that Hunter would forever protect Minnesota pitchers in the Metrodome but I guess some things just don’t last forever. He is still one of my favorite players but it is hard to watch him in an Angel’s uniform.
It was a little easier seeing Johan Santana leave but only because the initial punch to the gut from Hunter leaving softened the blow from Santana getting traded to the Mets. He was the first pitcher that I remember marking down on the calendar the games that he would be pitching. I still remember his 17 strikeout game, wishing I would have been there because one of my good friends got to go. But at the end of the season, as it is customary for all small market baseball fans, you could just feel that he was soon on his way out. He rejected a 5 year $100 million offer from the Twins and was soon sent packing to the Mets. It was always easy to blame the Twins management for not dishing out the cash for these big players, but looking back I don’t think it would have been good to pay a pitcher 25% of your payroll. It would be hard for any team to justify that.
This winter, it seems as though everything has changed for the Twins. A new ballpark, a trade for a proven player in Hardy, two big name signings, and the possibility of signing one of the top 5 players in baseball to a long term contract. They also recently inked this old time Twin to a minor league deal. Joe Mauer is the face of the Minnesota Twins right now and if they let him walk, I’m not sure if the team would ever recover. With the new ballpark ready for action, the chances that Mauer is not going to get lock down seem to be slim to none. The hometown kid doesn’t seem like the player to take a simple pay cut to stay with his cities team, but he strikes me as the kind of player to take a massive one. Now this isn’t to say that the Twins should just low ball him, but his agent has been in negotiations with some big time ball players who have stuck around with one team, such as Cal Ripken, Jr. and Kirby Puckett. If the Twins can finally make the right move and keep their franchise players around (already have Morneau, Cuddyer, and Kubel under multi-year deals and hopefully soon to be Span) the prospects of a World Series title coming back to Minnesota are certainly looking up.
Derek
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