Yankees Mid-Season Acquisitions

Kerry Wood, Austin Kearns and Lance Berkman seem to be all veteran pickups. All of them have had their times in the spot light and should be ok coming in for the Yankees. Wood seems to be pitching much better than Chan Ho Park but it is still a small sample size. At least he hasn't been giving up any homeruns like Park. Kearns and Berkman after slow starts seem to be holding their own and doing their parts in contributing as role players. Not much was given up either for 3 players, aside from Mark Melancon. The Yankees originally were high on him 3 years ago, looking at him to be the heir for Mariano Rivera. However, after several call ups to the majors and not being able to throw strikes, the management seemed to think he would not be able to handle the pressures of being in NY.

LeCon is going to Miami

All this big talk about wanting a legacy and wanting to be the next Jordan was all phony talk. Basically, Lebron James going to Miami was the biggest cop out in sports history. Basically, he will go to be Dwayne Wade's Scottie Pippen. I hope Lebron never wins a championship now, although with a team that is stacked with 3 dream team players, I think it will be hard to believe they wouldnt win one.

However, there is no way that the Heat will have depth. During an 82 game season nowadays, teams need depth. 3 max salary players and maybe they can sign 1 or 2 players with decent skills. But after that, it is hard to say.

As for the Knicks, maybe they are better off not having someone who could not take the pressure of the spotlight.

Yankees Trades and Signings

It seems like the trades the Yankees made has not panned out as well as planned. Granderson got put on the DL after straining his groin yesterday and Vasquez is still pitching like crap. In addition to that, the players that the Yankees traded for Granderson, Ian Kennedy, Austin Jackson and Phil Coke, are all playing well. Austin Jackson has a .330 batting average and Coke has a 3-0 record with a 1.93 E.R.A. Ian Kennedy has fared very well in his past 2 starts going into the 8th inning on each. Taking away his second start where he gave up 6 runs in 4+ innings, his ERA would be a bit more respectable.

Vasquez seems to have been a total bust being knocked out before the 5th inning in the past 2 games and having an ERA of over 9. Logan seems to have pitched decently but contributed to the loss to the Orioles when he came in to face a lefty batter and walked him which led to a 2 out rally by the Orioles. One of the chips, Melky Cabrera, sent in the trade hasnt seemed to be playing that well.

Damon has played very well with a batting average of above .330 and an OBP as high as Nick Johnson too. Johnson continues to struggle at the plate batting under .200 but he still is getting on base. Matsui has been his usual self in Los Angeles batting .272 with 4 home runs. Randy Winn has played sparringly and has not hit very much either.

Lets hope that the players that the Yankees got turn it around soon or else the off season would be considered a bust.

Toney Douglas as the point guard

Things are looking good with Toney Douglas as the point guard. He actually gives some perimeter defense which is hard to say about anyone else. Let's hope we find our starting point guard for next year.

Ladainian Tomlinson to the Jets

I don't really understand why the Jets picked up Ladanian Tomlinson (please do not call him LT as the only LT we refer to should only be Lawrence Tynes. Just kidding, we all know it should be Lawrence Taylor). Anyway, cutting THomas JOnes who just had the best season and then picking up a player who is on the decline doesnt seem to make much sense to me.

Not locking up Derek Jeter

I think some of the fans are overreacting over the fact that the Yankees are waiting until the end of the year to sign Derek Jeter. I think its not going to be a problem because Jeter will probably get at least 20 million a year from the Yankees. I doubt any other team could even match that, at least not for a shortstop that is 36 years old this year. Only two teams have reached the playoffs with a shortstop 37 or older who played 100 games: Pee Wee Reese’s 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers and Larry Bowa’s 1984 Chicago Cubs.

Jeter is the symbol of the Yankees. The Yankees would do anything for him.

Damon gone to the Tigers

Johnny Damon has agreed to a one-year, $8 million deal with the Detroit Tigers, pending a physical, a league source told ESPN's Karl Ravech. During his press conference, he mentions that he always wanted to be a Tiger from day 1 even before he signed with the Yankees. Plus he gets to have his name on his jersey again since the Yankees do not have names on their jerseys.

I wonder how many eyes rolled when he said that. He always wanted to be a Tiger? We all know that he went to the Yankees because they gave him the most money. And he did not resign with the Yankees because they did not give him the salary he wanted. And now he is with the Tigers because he had no other choice.