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“This-That-Some of Other”

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Lots of breaking stories, lots of opinions too.

PADRES PROBLEM….Reason to be concerned, for sure. Maybe the brightest of the young Padres pitchers on the roster, will be examined today to see what kind of damage occurred when he was pulled after facing just 6-batters in his final Cactus League tuneup. Denison Lamet, who roared thru the Padres farm system, and had developed dynamic stuff in just one year in San Diego, He never has had arm problems, but his elbow pained him throwing a newly developed slider yesterday against the Brewers. You hope it’s a twinge, a cramp, and not a tear of a ligament. The Friars have insurance policy arms, but Chris Young, Robbie Erlin, Jordan Lyles and even rookie Joey Luchessi are not equals to Lamet.

HALOS HARD DECISION…The Angels won the international bidding derby to sign Shohei Ohtani from Japan, and now a tough decision awaits. Obtain has been overwhelmed at bat as a DH, (328). On the mound he thrown 13-innings, given up 17-runs, 20-hits, 8-walks. And yet, as of this morning, he is still slated to make his pitching debut on Saturday against the A’s. They could leave him in extended spring training, could send him to Salt Lake City, or leave him to start the season. But if they do that, it means starting the year with a 24-man roster, and a project player.

DODGERS BLUES…Justin Turner means so much to the LA roster, clubhouse, chemistry. He’s gone at least 5-weeks, maybe as long as 3-months with this fractured wrist after a beaning. LA has issues too with once promising starter Hyun Jin-Ryu, who has yet to return to the form that made him a bellwether starter on the staff prior to a year and a half of shoulder woes, that finally resulted in surgery. Of course LA wot have rookie pitching sensation Julio Urias, on a slow track back from his own shoulder capsule surgery mid-summer.

Here comes opening day on Thursday, and suddenly all three teams out here have issues.

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“Padres-Roster Traffic Jam”

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We’re a week away from starting the baseball season.

It’s snowing in Cincinnati, 5″ on the field at Great American Ballpark.

There are still unsigned free agents out there, led by power hitting veteran Jason Werth and others.

The Angels have a tough decision to make on Shohei Ohtani, the Japanese free agent, who is (3-24) as a DH, with a 27.00-ERA on the mound.

The Dodgers are bravely trying to tell everyone they can survive two months without power hitting 3rd baseman Justin Turner, as he recovers from a fractured wrist.

So there’s lots going on in different places, and the Padres camp is one of those places.

Interesting decisions coming with the 25-man roster cut.

It appears they want both Jose Pirela in the lineup at the same time as Will Myers, so that means Hunter Renfroe is an extra piece. Upcoming decision, keep him as the 4th outfielder, or let him go back to El Paso and polish his game. Somebody plays left, somebody right, and somebody sits or goes elsewhere..

Renfroe can hit home runs, but his batting average and strikeouts still seem to be an issue. I would not trade him yet.

There’s also a roster overload with utility outfielders, and what they might do with Travis Jankowski or Franchy Cordero, who has hit everywhere but in the majors yet.

The Padres are on the hook for 13M in the final year of Chase Headley’s contract from the Yankees, and his trade value is limited unless somebody loses a key 3rd sacker somewhere else.

Christian Villanueva can hit, can play 3rd, and is out of options. If they put him on waivers, he likely gets claimed by someone else. Headley could also play some first if necessary, but star Eric Hosmer wants to play all 162-games. Villanueva has been tested as a possible backup shortstop, but who knows about his defense.

Move to the starting rotation, and it appears that Tyson Ross has pitched his way into a slot behind Luis Perdomo, Clayton Richard and Donelson Lamet. Ross claims the 4th spot.

Who knows about the 5th slot. Chris Young is (39)-would he go to El Paso to start the season? Robbie Erlin has had limited good outings, coming off elbow surgery? Jordan Lyles has not had a good spring starting? Matt Strahm does not appear physically ready coming of knee surgery.

And then to the kids. Joey Luchessi has been superb, in his spring starts, coming off 2-strong years in the minors. Eric Lauer could be a half season away from being part of the rotation.

Do they gamble with a kid pitcher, or hope a journeyman veteran can give them enough ‘bridge starts’ till the kids are really

So as they shovel snow in Boston-Cleveland and Cincinnati, here in San Diego we await the decisions they have to make.

The Padres have a traffic jam on the roster. Not that any decision will take them from 75-wins to 90-wins this year, but the right decision will allow them to maybe be a .500-team and maybe get into the wildcard playoff race.

Interesting to see who gets the green light to start the season here, and who gets red-lighted to start in the Pacific Coast League.

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“NFL Asking–What’s a Catch-They Don’t Know”

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NFL instant replay was supposed to solve all this, it hasn’t.

In fact, when it comes to catching a football, is it more confused now than ever.

Thank you technology, multiple angles, slow mo replay, and the subjectiveness of calls.

The NFL will take another whack at figuring out what is a catch this weekend, with a newly written proposal to owners, to simplify, maybe clarify, was represents a pass completion.

Control of the ball, that’s a given.

Two feet on the ground, of course, has always been that way.

But in the last five years, all the addendum items added to the rulebook have made it more confusing, complex, and subject to interpretation, normally bad.

So this week, the newly written wordage will be presented. Players, in control of the football, with two feet in bounds, have to make a football move, involving taking a 3rd step.

Period, exclamation point, end of discussion. If there are questions, then go to the replay.

They are eliminating wording like ‘going to the ground’. Saying goodbye to the theory ‘ball moving in hands;. Ending discussion about ‘ground causing the fumble’.

Football has been reeling with the raging controversy involving the Dez Bryant catch-non catch, and more recently the Jesse James catch-football move-break the plane of the goalie-fumble the ball when he hit the ground.

It is a big, fast game, played by physically big hitting players.

Slow motion instant replay has made the process even more complicated.

They keep adding descriptions to clarify that only complicated it.

Did he maintain control as he went to the ground?
Did the point of the ball touch the ground allowing him to control it?
Did the receiver become a runner?
Did the receiver make a football move?
Did he have possession as he went out of bounds?
Did he retain possession long enough after getting hit?

And as more and more lawyers got involved, it got messier. When they were done a year ago with another re-write, it became as clear as mud on your windshield.

NFL postseason games have had spectacular plays. Julian Edelman’s Super Bowl catch ‘hands under the ball’. The Giants David Tyree pinning the ball to the side of his helmet. Dwight Clark’s ‘the catch’ back in the day with the 49eers.

So now the owners will look at a much shorter rewrite of the rule this weekend in Orlando.

And of course instant replay will be used to clarify what they saw.

But upon ‘further review’ who knows if they can get a complex play, catching a pass, made simple.

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“Stone Cold Silence-No Longer Hot Commodity”

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You are a Lakers fan. You are a basketball fan.

It’s a long, long basketball season, with starts, stops, successes and failures, in this another non-playoff season for the Lakers.

So much anticipation with the arrival of Lonzo Ball, the one and done guard from UCLA.

So much hype, so unfair. And a father who would not keep quiet.

A slow start, a surge by the kid guard, then a shoulder injury, then a sprained knee, and all momentum gone.

LaVar Ball would not shut his mouth, and wore out his welcome, with the Lakers, and then with a fawning media.

The Lakers weren’t handling his kid right. The Lakers players had lost interest in playing for Luke Walton. Lonzo would be gonzo when his contract expired, if the team didn’t draft his brother.

It went on and on.

Add to that, the father took his two younger sons to Lithuania to begin their so-called pro career with the Vyatautus team in the Baltic League.

So now the NBA season is drawing to a close.

Lonzo is struggling again on offense, in a 5-game skid, where he is shooting (23%) from the floor. Add in an awful (17%) from the thee point arc, and you can say he has yet to find any consistency to his game.

His future, of course, he has one with LA, but super stardom will be slow getting here. It will take time.

As for his brothers, LiAngelo and LaMelo have both found playing abroad very hard.

The Vyatautas team is (5-20), near worst in the league.

LiAngelo, who defected from UCLA after the incident involving shoplifting in China, is averaging 9-points a game coming off the bench. LaMelo, the high school sensation, who bailed out Chino High, is averaging 5-points a game but has played just 5-games.

And LaVar, the entrepreneur, coaching his sons, has problems back home with his ‘Baller Brand’ business. Just read up on criticism from the Better Business Bureau.

As the Ball basketball team has staggered, both in the NBA and in Lithuania, LaVar has shut up too. No press conferences, or at least nobody stateside in the media, thinks he’s worth writing about.

They talked a good game, but they have not been able to back it up. To quote the always talkative President Trump, when you think all things LaVar Ball, the term ‘fake news’ seems to pop up in your mind.

Hot commodities at the start of the season. Stone cold silence now.

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Gonzo wont

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“Hockey-Life or Death Struggle-Here-There”

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It’s crunch time in hockey, in the NHL and in the AHL, for the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks, and for the San Diego Gulls too.

It has not been an easy for the NHL clubs in LA and Orange County.

It’s been a hard season for our AHL team, too, and with mere days left in the season, all three teams are in scramble mode for wins, and fighting for their playoff lives.

The Kings, with a big money payroll, came flying out of the gate, then got players hurt, and stopped scoring. It has been a struggle,to score goals, but they are finding a resolve to stay in the fight.

The sun comes up this morning with the Kings in a 3-way tie for 6th place in the NHL Western Conference race, where 8-teams get to postseason. The Kings are at 86-points, tied with Colorado and the Ducks. 1-of them won’t make postseason.

Jeff Carter, out all season, with a severed calf muscle, has scored 8-goals in two weeks since his return, taking the burden off Anzi Kopitar, who has carried the team most of the year. They need offense to help a worn-out goalie Jon Quick.

The Ducks are in the hunt thanks to the emergence of Rikard Rakell, approaching stardom, with a near 40-type goal season. Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry are not what they were in years gone by, but that group with Jakub Silfverberg, has made Anaheim viable.

That the Ducks are in the race is a credit to an organization that survived a horrible injury siege coming out of camp. At one point, 5-defenseman and 5-forwards were out of the lineup with significant injuries. Ryan Kesler, coming off hip surgery, is back, but is not the same player.

So many injuries on the blue line, and yet the team has found the resolve to cope with key back end guys out for extended time. A banged up John Gibson in goal could have been a problem were it not for some strong outings from veteran Ryan Miller.

In San Diego, the Gulls have put together three quality years of AHL hockey. Coaching in the American League may be the toughest job in the world. Give Dallas Eakins credit for holding his team together, preaching team philosophy, and developing players.

Callups can kill a minor league team, as can injuries. And worse than that, having too many kids in a league that contains high draft picks, Euros, and some veteran players.

Scoring goals as been a struggle for the Gulls, but thanks to superb goaltending by veteran Reto Berra and young college net minder Kevin Boyle, the Gulls are still in a tie for 2nd place in their Pacific division. But there is a bunch, where only 4-teams here get to AHL postseason in a jam packed 30-team league.

It’s been hard for a wide variety of the kid forwards. Quebec League rookie Giovanni Fiore has 17-goals, an accomplishment for a young rookie. But the non-production of other young players has hurt Eakins firepower units.

College and junior players Mitch Hults (8G), Jules Nattiness (4G), Alex Dotsie (3G) and Austin Ortega (2G) have been overwhelmed with the level of AHL competition.

Hurting San Diego was the decision of the parent teams to deal away Eric Fehr (17G), the leading scorer, and Spencer Abbott (20Pts-17-Games) earlier in the season, robbing the Gulls of older experience.

Kalle Kossila and Kevin Roy have 23-goals between them, but neither is viewed as a sniper, more grinder. They need goals from somebody who can threaten a team nightly. It has not happened.

So we roll into the homestretch, with all 3-teams desperately needing wins to get to
postseason.

The Kings-Ducks could make it, but one could fall out of the race. The Gulls should make it, but their ability to go deep in the playoffs will be directly related to the Ducks leaving players here, or sending more help in.

You can feel the pressure with every game they play at the Staples Center, Honda Center and Valley View Casino Center. It’s almost desperation time, as March turns to April.

These teams are in playoff mode already, and the playoffs have not even begun.

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