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“Different Topics-Different Thoughts”

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Random comments on a wide variety of topics.

 

PADRES…They still have a chance to put together a pretty decent win streak, after going (2-1) in Toronto, they could bash their way to 3-straight wins in Detroit, and then take 3-straight when they come home to face the Pirates.  Of course they could, but they haven’t.  The Tigers are bad, the Pirates are in the early stages of rebuilding.  Oh they could put together a streak to climb back into the wildcard race, but, they are (20-23) against sub 500-teams this year.  You tell me?

 

PADRES…Lots of things missing on this team.  A power hitting lst baseman for sure.  Unanswered questions behind home plate.  The wear and tear factor in the bullpen.  Here comes the trading deadline, so we will see what troubled GM-AJ Preller does.

 

LEADERSHIP…Is there a real leader in that clubhouse?  Maybe Joe Musgrove, very strong in terms of opinions.  Not You Darvish, who does not speak the language.  Not Blake Snell, so introspective.  Juan Soto seems so self centered.  Manny Machado has enough to do to live up to his contract.  Maybe down road Fernando Tatis.  Seems like a missing element in the clubhouse.

 

ANGELS…With all the talk about the possible Ohtani trade, to the Dodgers, Yankees, Seattle, everyone has an opinion as to who to blame if it does not work out in Anaheim.  Maybe placing blame on Ohtani, his CAA agents, owner Arte Moreno, or baseball salaries, maybe instead we just say ‘thank you’ to Ohtani.  He signed an under priced contract to come from Japan.  He has been everything for nearly 6-years for the Halos.  And it is just business.  Though I will say, if he is no longer an Angel come August 1st, if the Halos issue a press release about a trade, then the next press release should be Moreno selling the franchise.

 

DODGERS..So deep in young talent, you think they are the ones with the real chance of landing Showtime in an Ohtani trade.  But what price do you pay.  They have 5-young stud pitchers led by Bobby Miller.  They have a solid reliever in Brusdar Graterol.  They have young everyday prospects like Mike Busch, Miguel Vargas and James Outman.  Interesting to see what they do heading to deadline day.  Deal now, or just go get him on November 1st when the free agent window opens.

 

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“Leaving on a Jet Plane”

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Globetrotting abroad, covering sports, that’s where I’d like to be.

Away from the 104-degree broiler temperatures in my driveway, the awful rains in the Northeast, and the record setting heat indexes stretching from Arizona to Mississippi.

What a couple of weeks of great play abroad do we have?

Have you paid attention:

WIMBLEDON..That was something at Center Court at the All England Lawn & Tennis Club..the changing of the guard now official, Carlos Alcaraz’s phenomenal 5-set, nearly 5-hour win over Novak Djokovic.

The last of the dominant great ones, now gone from the podium, with the upstart win by the fiery 20-year old Spaniard.  What a great one Djokovic has been, 5-Wimbledon wins in a row, 7-in his career, and 23-Grand Slam victories.

Alcaraz was relentless, with every type of shot possible in coming back from being down 1-6, to power his way to victory.  And how about that second set game, that lasted 27-minutes, contained 32-points, had 13-deuces and 6-break points, that Alcaraz won that broke Djokovic’s spirit and stranglehold.

The new breed is upon us.  There is no Serena nor Venus, replaced by Iga Swiatek from Poland, but she never got to the finals.  This might be the most balanced women’s side on the tour since pre Williams’ sisters.

The men, Djokovic will be back, but we have marched beyond the the legacy of Agassi, Nadal, Federer and maybe Novak too.

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BRITISH OPEN…It’s the 151st anniversary of ole Tom Moore and the game he founded in the mid 1820s as they have teed off in the rain at Royal Liverpool.

What a place to hold a legendary tourney, in the winds, on the links, with the open fairways buffeted by the seas, the sunshine, the storm clouds and the drastic time change.

Oh if those courses could talk, Turnberry, Royal Lytham, Troon, Carnoustie  and so many more, could they tell stories about the greateness of the Royal & Ancient..

We will watch McIlroy, DJ, Phil, Koepka, Xander and so much more.  We should appreciate what Tiger did, and back in the day the greatness that was the Golden Bear, Arnie’s Army, Tom Waston and so much more.

Take a break from the PGA-LIV war over blood dollars.  Appreciate the history  of the event, its breathtaking scenery, and its impact on the global game.

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WORLD CUP SOCCER…You can stay up at midnight and watch the opening games, or you can get up in the middle of the night to catch some games.

Here comes the World’s Women’s Cup, the first time in the Southern Hemisphere, via Australia and New Zealand..

Expanded to 32-teams, now the challenge, can Team USA, going thru transition with so many greats retired, continue to be dominant as young stars join Megan Rapinoe  and Alex Morgan.  Watch tiny Ireland for the first time ever.  See Vietnam playing for the first time ever.  You wonder if Brazil is about to do what it’s men’s team this time of the year, forge to the forefront in women’s soccer?

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Time out from the Padres crisis.  We await the opening of NFL training camps.  We have finished the off season deals in the NBA and NHL.

Leaving on a jet plane, it’s worth seeing what’s next in England, Austraila, New Zealand.  What a couple of weekends we have infront of us right now.

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“UMPIRES-YOU KIDDING ME”

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So I sat infront of the TV watching the Padres-Blue Jays game on Tuesday, and in span of 10-batters, we had complaints and an ejection because of the home plate umpire.

It was balls and strikes in this game.  6-of-10 batters beefed about calls.

On the weekend in Philadelphia it was how to interpret the pitch clock in the Padres-Phillies game.  Who has the responsibility at the clock hits (:08), pitcher on the mound or batter in the box?

End result Bob Melvin got ejected on Sunday in Philly; Jays pitching coach Pete Walker got tossed Tuesday.

Years ago MLB merged the umpires in the two leagues.  Crews can work now in either leagues.  The leagues demanded the strike zone be standardized, highs, lows, inside and out.  It worked for a couple of seasons.

The Umpires Association was formed to represent the men in blue, and a stronger grading system, demanding consistency night to night, was formed.

And now it’s all gone away.  How? Why?

No one will talk about the hot-and-cold performances of home plate umpires.  There has been quite a turnover as veteran umpires retire, replaced by young career balls and strike callers.

There are no Joe West’s, he of enormous longevity, left in the game.

What we have seen over the last two years, are quick trigger young umps, missing calls, lots of calls, and then ejecting players and managers.

I grant you, these are wicked things guys on the mound throw.  Fastballs that jump.  4-seem pitches with bite.  2-seem pitches that drop.  Curves, sliders, sinkers, changeups.sweepers.

You add in catchers who move around behind the plate and receivers who have polished the art of framing pitches, it is a tough job.

But these umps struggle with the ball movement, the velocity, the guys who paint the black.  What they calls on the corners changes from one inning to the next.  What was a high strike one at bat is a ball next.  Ditto for stuff down low.  What a fiasco.

And of course there is the ‘check swing’ argument, fooled hitters trying to stop going around.

And now you throw in the pitch clock, and who should be ready on the mound and in the batters box, and it is complex and now really controversial.

Baseball is experimenting with the robo ump in the lower minors, the computerized strike zone.   It has come with mixed results and the general feeling it is not a perfect system.

 

This has to change because the mistakes, the controversies are happening every night.  At stake is the integrity of the game’s results now.

The purists argue we must retain the ‘human element’ in the game, and the umpire is part of that.  Technology has made the game better for sure.  Where do you find that balance now?

But how long can you go with human mistakes that  impact the outcome of games.

Fire umps?  Admit you have made too many changes in the game?  Understand these guys throwing 100 are much more explosive than the legends that were Bob Gibson and Randy Johnshon?

Rob Manfred has opinions on lots of things as baseball’s boss.  He better come up with a solution soon on this mess.

As Bob Melvin or Pete Walker or the teams that are raging about mistakes on balls and strikes and rules nightly, impacting their teams in the pennant races, somebody needs to do something rather than ignore it like it is not a problem..

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“BASEBALL TRADING DEADLINE”

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The deals are coming within the next couple of weeks.

Teams dumping contracts
Teams trading prospective free agents they can’t-won’t sign
Teams looking for rental players to make a playoff push

This will be a busy two weeks for the Padres, the Dodgers, the Angels, whose emotional state ranges from hopeful to desperate to resigned to failure.

Questions worth asking about these 3-teams:

PADRES…Did they make mistakes on the contracts they gave out?  It sure looks like the decades plus deal for Xander Bogaerts is not going to work out.

The Juan Soto-Josh Hader-Blake Snell situations loom large out there, since free agency awaits Snell-Hader this November, and Soto a year and a half from now.

No one is talking to the media, but have the Padres made offers to Soto and Hader to lock them down, and if they leave and all you get is draft pick compensation, is that a good business model to operate with?

The biggest question is now, if this 10-game road trip leads to disaster, and it hasn’t started well, and they fall out of the last wildcard playoff spot, do you tear the team apart at the deadline, or stay with this group till you get to the offseason?

If there is no post season coming, do you trade Soto and Hader to the top bidder? Can you get enough prospects for the 5-for-1 deal you made to get Soto from Washington?  Hader has huge value but what is the value on an August-September rental closer?

And then there is the Preller model of doing business, dealing lots of minor league gems to get the right player.  There is pitching out there to trade for, but do you deal hot lower minor leaguers SS-Jackson Merrill or young live arm P-Rob Snelling to get a veteran like Lucas Gialito-White Sox or Shane Beiber-Guardians?

Go ahead Padres fans, give me an answer.
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DODGERS…Big bats have kept them in the race, in fact, helping them hammer their way into 1st place.  But the Blue are living dangerously right now with a battered pitching staff.

They have had 7-starting pitchers go on the DL this year, nagging injuries to very serious stuff.  There is no Dustin May-Walker Beuhler coming to rescue with the calvary.

Clayton Kershaw is ailing.  Noah Syndegaard has not come back strong.  And the bullpen is in disarray.  The kid starters from Oklahoma City have struggled.

The farm system is loaded with talent, so the LA question is, do you move a hot young prospect on the mound, to rent a proven veteran.  Mention Michael Kopech-White Sox, Justin Verlander-Mets, Zack Greinke-Royals or Boston’s James Paxton.  Those come cheaply.  Mention big names and the price is a blue chip prospect.

Everyone will ask about Bobby Miller or Ev Sheehan, untouchables as I view it. But maybe, if the right veteran is coming here, you shop Gavin Stone or Michael Grove, who haven’t gotten to the top and stayed, as possible trade bait for the right veteran pither, with the idea of of keeping whomever you get on an extension.  Shane Beiber is the right candidate.

Who can you get, who are you willing to give up?

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ANGELS…It sure looks like the era is over, the Ohtani-Angels relationship.  Agents are saving the Halos are taking trade offers for the iconic slugger-pitcher.  A Babe Ruth deal has to be made before I’d say yes.

It has to be a bonanza deal to move him.  It has to be a to a team that he wants to go to.  It has to be to a team you’d give a window to talk to his CAA agents about an extension now.

Dodgers, Yankees, Mariners, maybe the Padres.  He has to be willing to sign an extension and they have to be willing to give up a treasure trove of talent to make that deal happen.  The Dodgers and Yankees  seem to have that farm system depth.  The Padres might if Juan Soto was part of the deal.

I ask this though.  Did Arte Moreno make a state of the art offer, say 10Y-500M?  Did Ohtani reject the offer?  Has there been any talks with CAA about possible trade destinations?

A tough rubik’s cube equation to solve.

If Angels ownership decides they have to deal him before losing him, the next press release should be owner Arte Moreno deciding to sell that franchise.

Angels fans, have at it.

Quite a quandry for all 3-franchises.
Padres trying to save the season and maybe save front office jobs.
Dodgers trying to win another pennant.
Angels trying to salvage a losing tradition.

What do you think?
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What I See–What I Think”

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PADRES….All the hype no longer counts for anything..  They didn’t hit for months.  Now they have burned up the pitching staff, and their bullpen has faltered.  The Padres get to an off day now 10-games behind 1st place Los Angeles, yes those Dodgers.  And the Friars are 7-games out of the last wildcard spot and have 6-teams infront of them.  There is no playoff position coming unless GM-AJ Preller can make a deal to find pitching help or rent another starter, but at what price.

And the schedule gives them few breathers.  After losing 3-of-4 in Philadelphia, they go play the big bat Blue Jays, who bash people at Rogers Place.  When they get home they have 3-games with lst place Texas.  Still to come, 4-with the Dodgers, 3 with the red hot Orioles, plus games at Colorado and vs an up an down Diamondbacks team.

This is not getting better, just more disappointing.

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CHARGERS..Training camp is a week away and the anger from Austin Ekler remains outfront, with his comment it’s ‘insulting’ backup WRs make more money than he does (6.5M) in the NFL.  Ekler is a walk-free agent at the end of the season.

Just wondering why the Chargers would be dropping comments about Justin Herbert’s won-loss record with the Bolts (25-25) as these contract talks continue.  Why would anyone do that?  His fault this team has never won a playoff game in his four years of starts?  Really?

Chargers have (12M) cap space left this year.  Next year, they will be a team record (83M) over the expanded NFL salary cap.  Better win this year, for there will be roster changes next year.

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RAMS…As they open training camp next week, it’s a new look roster.  Yes they have QB-Matthew Stafford and DT-Aaron Donald.  But 22-veterans players have departed.  Replaced by 14-draft picks and 24-undrafted free agents.  And they don’t have any salary cap space left.

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AZTECS…Decision week in the Mountain West Conference as the 11-Team Presidents meet on Monday to determine what to do about the status of San Diego State.  Let them leave?  Allow them to negotiate an extension of their exit fees and decision date?  Fine them (1M) breaching the exit policies.?  Let them stay another year then decide?  It’s messy and both sides are wrong.

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LAKERS…They added 4-new players in the off season deals, but the real player to keep an eye on is Max Christie, who is lighting up the Las Vegas Summer League.  If he is the real deal in his second year, he could play a big role in the offense coming off the bench.

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CLIPPERS…What do they do?  They are facing a 90M-luxury tax penalty.  Wednesday is the day they can open contract talks about a ‘max extension’ for Paul George-Kawhi Leonard.  The max deals are worth (4Y-22)M) each.  Here’s the real state, the duo have missed 266-games with injuries over the last four years.  Do you risk guaranteed money for the next four years, knowing Kawhi has already had 3-knee surgeries and PG has had 3-major injuries in two seasons?

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WIMBLEDON…We have seen greatness in the past, from McEnroe to Connors to Borg…Sampras to Agassi..and the more recent greatness of Roger Federer to Novak Djokovic.  What we saw Sunday was an electric Men’s Final as the next possible superstar surfaces as Carlos Alcazar took out Djokovic.  Losing the first set 6-1, he came back to win the 5-set war.  Included was one game that entailed 27-minutes, 32-points. 13-times at Deuce and 6-at breakpoint.  It was an amazing (4:42) of intensity we saw at Center Court.

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BRITISH OPEN…Royal Liverpool in England will take the spotlight, and there will be plenty of topics.  The PGA-LIV war, Congressional hearings, the LIV guys in the field, the ill will from the PGA players towards the merger, the heated questions coming Jay Monahan’s way too.  Oh by the way, 4-days of great golf, and who knows what the weather will be like coming off the seas?

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CORNER KICKS…The Women’s World Cup starts on July 20th for Team USA-going for their straight Cup.  What a history of stars women’s soccer has delivered to us.  Might this be the changing of the guard, the last flings to see veteran stars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe but maybe the breakout debut of Nico Rodman and Alyssa Thompson.  Group E play lays ahead against Holland-Portugal- and Vietnam.  This is worth paying attention too.

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