Manny and The Dodgers

News broke this morning that Manny Ramirez has rejected the Dodgers offer of 2 years for $45 million. While I applaud the Dodgers for not falling into Scott Boras's trap of bidding against yourself, the news that they were only going to pay Manny $10 million this year and $10 million next year with $25 million deferred is ridiculous. Of course Manny isnt going to sign that. The Dodgers need to get more of that money up front to make the offer legitimate. I love that they aren't listening to Boras's demands of adding more years to the deal. It is about time a team told an agent to shut it and stopped bidding against themselves. Boras was the master of that over the last decade, but time might be catching up with him.

How stupid is A-Rod?

Not that I believed anything that A-Rod said in his press conference the other day, but just about everything he said is starting to turn out to be false. I never believed him when he said he took performance enhancing drugs while in Texas to live up to his enormous contract and pressure to preform. What he all of sudden didn't feel that times ten upon arriving in NY? Really. Well now two more bombshells hit today that are destroying his story completely. He said his cousin got the drug "Boli" over the counter in the Dominican Republic. According to an ESPN report, Boli wasn't available over the counter or even with a prescription from 2001-2003. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3920425

The NY Daily News report this morning that in 2007 that A-Rod had a "trainer" is a steroid-linked individual that is banned by every MLB team that was identified in the Mitchell Report. He had this trainer accompany him for the entire season. The guy is bad news and A-Rod was still stupid enough to have him around. Everyone in baseball knows who this guy is. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2009/02/19/2009-02-19_arods_pal_the_tainted_trainer_steroidlin.html

I guess A-Rod thought the NY media that hates him would just believe him and not look into anything. Boy was he wrong. Who is the stupid one now A-Rod, you for thinking the media would believe you or us for believing any word that came out of your mouth?

NBA Midseason Awards

Now that the NBA All-Star Weekend is upon us, lets look at my midseason awards.

MVP
1. Lebron James
2. Dwayne Wade
3. Kobe Bryant
LBJ has taken his team to a new level. The Cavaliers have entered the elite of the NBA thanks to the all-around play of LBJ. He is leading the league at 28.5 ppg while also getting 7.5 rpg, 7.0 apg, 1.8 spg, 1.3 bpg and shooting 49%. If the Cavs gets to 65 wins, this should be a slam dunk.

Defensive Player of the Year
1. Dwight Howard
2. Kevin Garnett
3. Dwayne Wade
While Garnett is still play stifling defense, Howard has taken his game to a new level. The Magic have moved into the elite of the Eastern Conference and Howard is the reason. He is leading the NBA in rebounding at 14.1 rpg and blocks at 2.9 per game. He owns the paint and is rapidly chasing Tim Duncan as the best big man in the league.

Rookie of the Year
1. Derrick Rose
2. O.J. Mayo
3. Brook Lopez
Rose gets the nod, but it is close. Rose is averaging 17.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, and 6.3 apg while shooting 47%. Mayo is at 19.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, and 2.9 apg while shooting 44%. I like Rose right now a little more because his game is more well-rounded. Also, Memphis is awful and the Bulls are fighting for a playoff spot.

Coach of the Year
1. Stan Van Gundy
2. George Karl
3. Mike Brown
The Magic have emerged as an elite team in the East and could make a run to the NBA Finals. A lot of the credit will go to their 3 All-Stars (Howard, Nelson, and Lewis) but Van Gundy has taken control of the team and his players are responding. Karl has lead the Nuggets to the lead in the Northwest Division even thought they were without Carmelo Anthony for a month. The trade for Chauncey Billups has to be the move of the year so far.

Sixth Man
1. Manu Ginobli
2. Jason Terry
3. Andrei Kirilenko
Interesting that all 3 guys have been hurt this year, but Ginobli is a different animal when healthy. He is the crunch time star for a team that has its eyes on another title. While Terry is averaging 19.9 ppg, Ginoboli's all-around game gives him the edge. Manu is averaging 16.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.5 apg and 1.5 spg.

All-NBA First Team
PG: Chris Paul
SG: Dwayne Wade
SF: LeBron James
PF: Tim Duncan
C : Dwight Howard
Only tough call was taking Wade of Kobe, but Wade has done much more with less.

"Dud" Selig

Saturday was another sad day for baseball as it was revealed that Alex "A-Roid" Rodriguez had tested positive for steriods in 2003. While I cant say that I am shocked by the news, it does basically ruin the last 15 years of baseball as players of great significance (Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Andy Petitte, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, etc) have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs. I am extremely upset with Bud Selig for allowing this to occur on his watch. Bud will now be forever remembered as the Commissioner who ruined the integrity of the game. It is time for him to step down and let someone else come in and clean up. First order would be to hunt down the leaders of the player's union and slap some sense into them. They have become more powerful than the commish and that isn't good for the sport. It is a shame that players like Ken Griffey Jr, Albert Pujols, Frank Thomas, and Manny Ramirez will be linked to this era. Hopefully they will be remembered as great ones who didnt need to cheat. Or maybe we just don't know the truth on them yet. That is the problem now, you can't look at any player and assume innocence. Every player is basically guilty because of all the rampant use that was going on. Even if guys haven't tested positive for steriods, it is hard to believe they are using other drugs that aren't detectable by tests yet. As for the other 103 players that tested positive in 2003, wouldn't it be great if some came forward and admitted it? It won't happen, but the public won't give players the benefit of the doubt without those names.

Bryce Brown is a Clown

Bryce Brown from Wichita, KS, the #2 rated RB in the nation has yet to sign a letter of intent for the 2009 season. The 6'0" 205 lb verbal commit to Miami was supposedly having problems making that decision final with schools like Oregon, USC, Tennessee, and Auburn still in the running. He is on vacation with his family and won't make a decision until March. Is he delaying the decision because he loves the media hype or for another reason?

After reading this story last night in the NY Times, I hope he doesn't come within 500 miles of the USC Campus. Here is the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/sports/ncaafootball/04recruit.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=sports

Apparently his trainer and mentor, Brian Butler, is trying to manipulate these universities into getting other players he represents scholarships. While this sort of this happens (promising players if schools sign teammates or friends), Butler seems to be taking it to the extreme. Brown's High School coach goes off on the way Butler instructs his players to play to certain stats and then shut it down. Check out this quote from his coach:

"It’s all about me, me, me. That’s not what football is about. We’re a proven fact. We had supposedly the best football player in the country in high school, and we went 6-3. We didn’t have a team because of that.""It’s always been him and then everybody else...Our team chemistry was nonexistent.”

Those quotes from his High School coach should be telling enough to stay away from this guy and his entourage. Brown has nothing but trouble written all over him because some clown wants to exploit his athletic talents for monetary purposes. While this isn't a new phenomenon in this country, this is downright scary for anyone who loves college football. If they guy is already talking about getting paid, how would he handle being on the bench for a year or two behind another player? Probably not well, so I could imagine he will be constantly bitching or threatening to transfer.

They are even talking about joining Brandon Jennings, the Arizona basketball recruit who is playing professionally overseas, by skipping college all together and playing in the Canadian Football League. The NFL has a minimum age limit, 21 or 3 years removed from High School, the CFL doesn't. He even goes as far as saying they are looking for a 3 year, $5 million contract to forgo college. The main obstacle is that CFL teams only have a $4.2 million salary cap for their entire teams. It will be interesting to see what happens to him.

College Football Signing Day Updates

For those who are at work and can't watch all 9 hours of ESPNU's coverage of National Signing Day, no worries as I have you covered. Check in for up to the minute coverage. If the guys are in ESPN Top 150 I will mention that as well as their overall rank.

Commitments

1. Ashlon Jeffrey, #12 WR - ESPNU 150 (103). The 6'3" 214 lb wide out choose to stay in-state and sign with South Carolina. He had been committed to USC for some time now, but rumors where flying that he was interesting in staying closer to home.

2. Byron Moore JR, #4 ATH - ESPNU 150 (71). The 6'1" 188 lb athlete can play WR or in the defensive backfield and has chosen to re-commit to USC. He committed to UCLA early on, then changed to USC, then decided to look into Colorado and Notre Dame. In the end he decided he wanted to be a Trojan. My guess is he ends up as a DB.

3. Sam Montgomery, #2 DE - ESPNU 150 (27). The 6'4" 220 terror off the edge has chosen to sign with LSU. His other choices were Tennessee and North Carolina. The basketball star only played football his Senior year in High School and can only get better as he learns the nuances of the game. High upside potential. His signing will go a long way towards keeping LSU at the #1 overall team rankings.

4. Darren Myles Jr, #5 S - ESPNU 150 (30). The 6'1" 175 lb Safety is extremely athletic and can play WR or CB as well. He has decided to sign with the Tennessee. His other choices were LSU and Alabama. This is the first big steal for new Head Coach Lane Kiffin.

5. Jelani Jenkins, #2 OLB - ESPNU 150 (9). The 6'1" 210 lb Linebacker possesses ideal skills for a weakside defender. He will sign with Florida. His other choices were Penn State, USC, Notre Dame, and Stanford. He is a little light to be an elite run defender at the point of attack, but he can flat out run and chase down from the backside.

6. Frankie Telfort, #3 OLB - ESPNU 150 (29). The 5'11" 200 lb from Miami projects to be a Strong Safety at the next level. He has outstanding instincts and locates the ball with ease. He has decides to go cross-country and sign with USC. His other choices were Florida and Stanford. He is a knock-out hitter that should bring nightmares for PAC-10 WR's the next 4 years.

7. Manti Te'o, #1 OLB - ESPNU 150 (2). The 6'2" 230 lb missile of a Linebacker was a man among boys in Hawaii. Then he showed he was the elite defensive player in the country at the Under Armour All-Star Game. Manti has decided to bring his intensity and toughness to Notre Dame. His other choices were USC and UCLA. He should instantly start and be an impact player on defensive the Irish desperately need. The only question is when he will start his Mormon mission. He is from Punahou High School, the same school that President Barack Obama graduated from.

8. Vontaze Burfict, #1 ILB - ESPNU 150 (16). The 6'2" 244 lb is a monster in the middle of the defense. He has been talked about as being the hardest hitting player on the West Coast this year. He has decided to destroy offenses for Arizona State. He was a long time commit to USC but decided to switch his allegiances at the last minute. There are questions about whether he will be cleared academically by the NCAA to play, but there is no doubt he is a difference maker. A big get by ASU as they look to restore some luster of the past. USC has been hit hard today with the announcements of Te'o and Burfict.

9. Rueben Randle, #1 WR - ESPNU 150 (10). The 6'3" 195 native of Louisiana has decided to stay home and attend LSU. He was also considering Alabama and Oklahoma. Randle is an explosive play maker that should make an impact. It was somewhat interesting to see a top flight WR go to a school that appears to have running QB's in their future the next 4 years (Jordan Jefferson and Russell Shepard). The lure of staying home and the class that LSU has put together has Randle obviously thinking National Championship.

10. Jarvis Jones, #6 OLB - ESPNU 150 (60). The 6'3" 220 native of Georgia has decided to go cross-country and sign with USC. He was considering SEC powers Georgia, LSU, and Florida but recently had been linked to the Trojans. Jones is at his best when unleashed to attack the QB and seems to be a perfect fit at the "Elephant" position that USC employs on defense. This should ease the pain of losing Te'o and Burfict. USC has gone into SEC country and pulled 3 top prospects this year (Jones, Telfort, and S Jawanza Starling).

11. Xavier Su'a-Filo, #3 OT - ESPNU 150 (35). The 6'5" 285 lb lineman is headed to UCLA. His other choices were Utah, BYU, LSU, and USC. He has good athleticism and overall skills to compete right away. He might project inside at G at the college level due to lack of strength and drive blocking. Playing G would allow him to use his athleticism on traps and pulls.

12. Dre Kirkpatrick, #1 CB - ESPNU 150 (4). The 6'2" 180 lb defensive back is the best cover guy in this years class. He will shadow WR's for in-state power Alabama. While he was interested in Texas it was thought all along that he was going to wear the Crimson Tide. His excellent height will allow him to matchup with the bigger receivers in the SEC. Recently had shoulder surgery but should be ready once the Fall comes around.

13. Kendall Kelly, #7 WR - ESPNU 150 (66). The 6'3" 210 lb wideout will be joining his high school teammate Dre Kirkpatrick at Alabama. His other choices were Tennessee, Clemson, and LSU. Kelly is an imposing target with all the physical skills to be great. While not a speedster, he has great burst out of his cuts that allows him to separate. Should be a perfect compliment to current Alabama WR Julio Jones.

14. Marlon Brown, #3 WR - ESPNU 150 (24). The 6'5" 205 lb wideout will be headed to Georgia. His other choices were Tennessee, Ohio State, and Ole Miss. Brown has rare size that allows him to create mismatches all over the field. He needs to work on his route running, but he should be able to develop without much pressure working on the other side of Bulldog WR A.J. Green. With the WR combos at Alabama and Georgia, other SEC teams will be looking everywhere for taller cornerbacks next year.

15. Trent Richardson, #1 RB - ESPNU 150 (6). The 5'11" 219 lb bruising tailback from FL has decided to attend Alabama. His other choices were Florida and LSU. Richardson is a prototypical power back with the burst to take it to the distance. He projects to be a guy that can easily handle 20+ carries a game. With the early departure of RB Glen Coffee to the NFL, he might be asked to carry much of the load for the Crimson Tide along with RB Mark Ingram. He is a violent runner that punishes defenses so wear and tear will allows be a concern. The Crimson Tide have made a late push into the Top 5 and possibly the top overall spot.

16. Randall Carroll, #5 WR - ESPNU (45). The 5'11" 175 lb speedster has decided to go to UCLA. He was also considering USC. Carroll was the 2008 California 100 and 200 meter champion. He has has lightning speed but lacks ideal change of direction skills. Could immediately pay dividends returning kicks. It was rumored that he wanted to continue to play WR and UCLA offered him the best chance. USC had wanted him as a cornerback where Pete Carroll thought he best projected to the NFL.

That is it for most of the guys that were uncommited. Stay tuned for more information on Bryce Brown, #2 RB - ESPNU 150 (8).

Jobless in Spring Training

News broke last night that Manny Ramirez has turned down his latest offer from the Dodgers (1 year, $25 million). It personally brought a smile to my face because the orginial offer was 2 years, $45 million and the Dodgers have come to the conclusion that no other team is interested if they were willing to drop their orginial offer that was rejected. What offer does Boras think will come? It is obvious his dreams of 4 years and $100 million are long gone in this economy. I applaud the owners and GM's for taking a stand on a guy who quit on his team last year.

With teams reporting to Spring Training in less than 2 weeks, there are still plenty of very good players available in free agency. The economy is terrible, but how can this many guys still be unsigned. A couple of owners will get real lucky and can make a big difference on their squads if they open up the checkbooks because they will get some steals. Lets look at some of the guys out there.

Manny Ramirez - Even though he hit .332/.430/.601 with 37 HR and 121 RBI no one is willing to come close to his demands. He will probably still end up with the Dodgers, but his pride will be severely damaged.

Adam Dunn - Even stranger that a 29 year old that has hit 40 HR the last 5 seasons isn't signed. While his defense and batting average leave a lot to be desired, he still has a career .381 OBP. He is the backfall for some teams that have dreams of Manny, but he should end up in the AL where he can DH some.

Bobby Abreu - While his numbers have started to decline a little, he still posted a more than respectable line of .296/.371/.471 to go along with 20 HR, 100 RBI, 100 R, 39 2B, and 22 SB. He is still a good player that should have some value to someone. He might not be able to play RF anymore, but LF shouldnt be a problem. A great value for someone that gets him on the cheap.

Orlando Hudson - He has some injuries concerns (only played 142+ games in 1 out of his 6 full season) but he is one of the best second baseman in the league. He is a legitimate gold glover on defense and a line of .305/.367/.450 is very good for his position. A perfect 2 hole hitter that brings some leadership skills. Again someone will get a bargain.

Orlando Cabrera - Another guy who age might be catching up to him a little bit, but he is still an above average shortshop. He did play in 161 games last year for the White Sox and had a line of .281/.334./.371 with 8 HR, 57 RBI, and 19 SB. He probably fits in the AL at the bottom of the order, but again is a guy who competes and brings energy every day.

Ben Sheets - Again injury concerns have held him back from his big pay day. When he is healthy he is one of the best RHP in the game. He started the All-Star game last year for the NL showing that when healthy he can be dominant. He was 13-9 with a 3.09 ERA while pitching 198.1 innings while striking out 158 batters in 31 starts. If someone gets him for a one or two year deal, they will have a chance to really strike gold.