What I’ll be watching this week are the swirling trade winds surrounding 21 year old Bruins winger Phil Kessel. Last week the B’s leading scorer said he was no longer negotiating an extension with the Black and Gold, and was intending to sign an offer sheet with another club.
The B’s have less room under the salary cap than Kirstie Alley’s waistband, which puts GM Peter Chiarelli in a precarious position. If a team signs Kessel to an offer sheet, he almost certainly can’t match it, and the Bruins would receive a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick as compensation. His only other option would be to trade the teams top goal scorer before somebody snatches him away.
According to multiple reports, the Toronto Maple Leafs seem to be the most likely landing spot. Chiarelli is apparently asking for 2 first round picks as well as a second, while the Leafs are asking for a 3rd rounder back. That’s pretty good value, but it does leave the B’s with 36 goals to replace.
It’s an interesting parallel to what the Patriots did last week when they dealt Richard Seymour to Oakland. The Pats sacrificed what could be a big part of their 2009 club, set themselves up nicely for the future and saved some cap space. The Pats generally got high marks for the deal because of the success they’ve had. But let’s face it, the Bruins have not earned our trust in that way. They have been the least successful of the four Boston franchises of late, and rather than getting the benefit of the doubt from the fan base, they will get scrutinized for not re-signing a young goal scorer in his prime.
The bottom line is, it’s a matter of dollars and cents, and the Bruins just don’t have enough in the piggy bank for Kessel. Jeremy Jacobs has a reputation for being a penny pincher, but in this situation, that’s not what’s going on. Kessel or not, the B’s still have a good club, and hopefully they make a deep playoff run. Because if they take a step back in the win column, it won’t just be Kessel they lose. It will also be some of the fans they won back last season.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Guess Who's Back?
Matt Cassel did an admirable job filling in as Patriots QB in 2008. But it only took Tom Brady one game to remind us all exactly what we had been missing.
The Pats 25-24 triumph over the Buffalo Bills was not exactly how they drew it up, but the last five minutes was nothing short of magical. Down 11 with less than six minutes to go, most fans (or truthful ones anyway) had stuck the forks in the Flying Elvis’ backs. Myself included.
The reason we were so quick to abandon ship was we had simply forgotten the wizardry #12 is capable of. You can’t blame us, we hadn’t seen him play a game that mattered since 2007. But the simple truth is Tom Brady is otherworldly, and if you give him the ball at the end of the game with a chance to beat you, he will. Period sentence over.
This comeback was just absolute vintage Brady. After Trent Edwards threw the touchdown pass to put the Bills up 24-13, they cut to a shot of Brady on the sidelines, and you could see him rallying the troops. Afterwards, Ben Watson let slip what Brady said, which was something to the effect of “Ok guys, we are going to score before the 2 minute warning, get the ball back, score again and win this damn game.” How cool is that? The guy is a real life super hero.
That’s not to say this Patriots team is invincible. On the contrary, there were plenty of things to be concerned about. The o-line was ineffective at times, and the linebackers couldn’t stop a screen pass to save their lives. There are definitely defensive issues with this team (especially with Mayo now injured) that are a major concern going forward. But whatever their issues may be, you can now bank on this. If it’s a close game and Brady gets the ball late in the 4th quarter, something special is about to happen. Brady is back.
The Pats 25-24 triumph over the Buffalo Bills was not exactly how they drew it up, but the last five minutes was nothing short of magical. Down 11 with less than six minutes to go, most fans (or truthful ones anyway) had stuck the forks in the Flying Elvis’ backs. Myself included.
The reason we were so quick to abandon ship was we had simply forgotten the wizardry #12 is capable of. You can’t blame us, we hadn’t seen him play a game that mattered since 2007. But the simple truth is Tom Brady is otherworldly, and if you give him the ball at the end of the game with a chance to beat you, he will. Period sentence over.
This comeback was just absolute vintage Brady. After Trent Edwards threw the touchdown pass to put the Bills up 24-13, they cut to a shot of Brady on the sidelines, and you could see him rallying the troops. Afterwards, Ben Watson let slip what Brady said, which was something to the effect of “Ok guys, we are going to score before the 2 minute warning, get the ball back, score again and win this damn game.” How cool is that? The guy is a real life super hero.
That’s not to say this Patriots team is invincible. On the contrary, there were plenty of things to be concerned about. The o-line was ineffective at times, and the linebackers couldn’t stop a screen pass to save their lives. There are definitely defensive issues with this team (especially with Mayo now injured) that are a major concern going forward. But whatever their issues may be, you can now bank on this. If it’s a close game and Brady gets the ball late in the 4th quarter, something special is about to happen. Brady is back.
The Dice Man Cometh
When Dice-K took the mound yesterday, I, like most people, had pretty low expectations. Matsuzaka surpassed the lowered expectations by light years, and now has Sox fans feeling uber-confident heading into the playoffs.
It’s generally a bad idea to put too much stock into just one start, but at the same time, this isn’t a rookie that we are blowing out of proportion. Before this year, Dice-K was a known commodity. He won 18 games last year with a sub 3 ERA. Sure, he had issues going deep into games, but he was a great asset as a #3 or #4 starter.
That has been the biggest issue for the Red Sox during the second half of the season. The Yankees leap-frogged the Sox because they were getting much better pitching out of the back end of the rotation. That won’t matter come playoff time, when a team needs only 3 good starters to win. 4 good ones is a luxury.
Matsuzaka gives the Sox that luxury if he continues to pitch the way he did last night, and there is no reason to think that he won’t. His fastball looked as good as I’ve seen it. When he got into trouble, he got big strikeouts to not allow runs across the plate. He pitched with lots of power, and it’s the power pitchers that succeed in October (sorry Paul Byrd).
Beckett seems to have turned the corner, Lester is lights out, and the Clay Buchholz star is beginning to shine brightly. Add Matsuzaka to the mix, and now you have the deepest playoff rotation in the game. Despite all the Yankees success, I would favor the Sox in a playoffs series against them. I’ll take Beckett/Lester/Buchholz/Matsuzaka over Sabathia/Burnett/Pettite/Chamberlain. It’s not a monster advantage, but I think the Sox have an edge there.
The Sox are getting white hot at the right time of year. They have the wild card all but sewn up, and now have addressed their biggest weakness in a big way. They have won six in a row, and they have some pretty bad teams on the schedule ahead, so it doesn’t look like the winning will stop any time soon. The winning that matters doesn’t start until October, but if Dice-K keeps throwing up lines like he did last night (6+ innings, 3 hits, 0 runs), the winning won’t stop then either.
It’s generally a bad idea to put too much stock into just one start, but at the same time, this isn’t a rookie that we are blowing out of proportion. Before this year, Dice-K was a known commodity. He won 18 games last year with a sub 3 ERA. Sure, he had issues going deep into games, but he was a great asset as a #3 or #4 starter.
That has been the biggest issue for the Red Sox during the second half of the season. The Yankees leap-frogged the Sox because they were getting much better pitching out of the back end of the rotation. That won’t matter come playoff time, when a team needs only 3 good starters to win. 4 good ones is a luxury.
Matsuzaka gives the Sox that luxury if he continues to pitch the way he did last night, and there is no reason to think that he won’t. His fastball looked as good as I’ve seen it. When he got into trouble, he got big strikeouts to not allow runs across the plate. He pitched with lots of power, and it’s the power pitchers that succeed in October (sorry Paul Byrd).
Beckett seems to have turned the corner, Lester is lights out, and the Clay Buchholz star is beginning to shine brightly. Add Matsuzaka to the mix, and now you have the deepest playoff rotation in the game. Despite all the Yankees success, I would favor the Sox in a playoffs series against them. I’ll take Beckett/Lester/Buchholz/Matsuzaka over Sabathia/Burnett/Pettite/Chamberlain. It’s not a monster advantage, but I think the Sox have an edge there.
The Sox are getting white hot at the right time of year. They have the wild card all but sewn up, and now have addressed their biggest weakness in a big way. They have won six in a row, and they have some pretty bad teams on the schedule ahead, so it doesn’t look like the winning will stop any time soon. The winning that matters doesn’t start until October, but if Dice-K keeps throwing up lines like he did last night (6+ innings, 3 hits, 0 runs), the winning won’t stop then either.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Adios Big Sey 93
Monster deal today, as the Patriots ship Richard Seymour to the Oakland Raiders for a 2011 first round pick. There are a lot of layers to this deal, so let's explore them.
1. Seymour's contract was up after this season, and in the past he has shown an unwillingness to sign a cap friendly deal that the Pats are known for. He held out during his last contract squabble, and ultimately was the only player during this current run the Patriots are on to win in a contract negotiation. Clearly they didn't think they could re-sign them.
2. Normally the high first round picks are pretty unappealing to the Patriots. They hate committing big dollars to young, ultimately unproven prospects. HOWEVER, with the new collective bargaing agreement looming, one of the hot topics is salary slots for draft picks, which would allow veterans to make the well earned big dollars, while rookies would become relatively cheap. If that's the case, the early first round picks would be extremely valuable, where as now they are extremely risky, and a bust can set your franchise back for years. In this regard, the Pats got great compensation.
3. This deal certainly doesn't make the Pats better this year. The last couple years they have struggled in a lot of ways defensively. Especially last year, when they were awful in the red zone, had a mediocre pass rush and a terrible pass defense. These are still legitimate concerns heading into this year, even with the revamped secondary. Getting rid of last year's leading sack artist certainly isn't going to help your defense.
It seems this is a long term move, and potentially a good one. But this is a club with a chance to win a Super Bowl, and this absolutely doesn't further that cause. That's the biggest issue I have with the deal. In situations like this, we as a fan base tend to fall back on the "In Bill We Trust" motto, and with good reason. Under the hooded genius we have won three Lombardi trophies. But this move, on the surface, weakens a team that on paper was a favorite to win a title.
Was Seymour past his prime? Maybe, but he didn't seem to be declining in the performance department, at least not to my naked eye. The IBWT crowd will say that Belichick had to think Seymour was declining, as well as being impressed with rookies Ron Brace and Marlon Pryor. All fair points, and maybe all true. Maybe the dline of Wilfork, Brace/Pryor, Burgess and Warren won't be so bad. At the very least it's a little thinner than it was, which is a tad nerve wracking.
Another potentional plus however, is the deal frees up cap space which could in turn be used to re-sign Vince Wilfork. The Pats have 20 contracts up after this season, and they need money to re-sign these guys. On top of that, Brady's contract is up after 2010. Obviously he is the top priority. And if the Seymour deal helps keep the golden boy here, I'm all for it.
Just to look at it from the Raiders point of view. What an awful deal. They give up a potentially lucrative pick (especially if it's salary slotted), and they get a rent-a-player in Seymour. Does Seymour make the Raiders a better defensive unit? Yup. A good defensive unit? Nope. Will he re-sign there long term? Of course not! So the Raiders get a mercenary to help them go 5-11, then skip out of town, and all it cost them was a 1st round pick. What a joke organization. If there is a plus size, they would have blown the pick. See Heyward-Bey, Darius.
All in all, it's a good long term deal for the Patriots. So I'll give it my stamp of approval. Just know I reserve the right to change my mind if they lose a Super Bowl title when they can't stop somebody on 3rd and 2.
1. Seymour's contract was up after this season, and in the past he has shown an unwillingness to sign a cap friendly deal that the Pats are known for. He held out during his last contract squabble, and ultimately was the only player during this current run the Patriots are on to win in a contract negotiation. Clearly they didn't think they could re-sign them.
2. Normally the high first round picks are pretty unappealing to the Patriots. They hate committing big dollars to young, ultimately unproven prospects. HOWEVER, with the new collective bargaing agreement looming, one of the hot topics is salary slots for draft picks, which would allow veterans to make the well earned big dollars, while rookies would become relatively cheap. If that's the case, the early first round picks would be extremely valuable, where as now they are extremely risky, and a bust can set your franchise back for years. In this regard, the Pats got great compensation.
3. This deal certainly doesn't make the Pats better this year. The last couple years they have struggled in a lot of ways defensively. Especially last year, when they were awful in the red zone, had a mediocre pass rush and a terrible pass defense. These are still legitimate concerns heading into this year, even with the revamped secondary. Getting rid of last year's leading sack artist certainly isn't going to help your defense.
It seems this is a long term move, and potentially a good one. But this is a club with a chance to win a Super Bowl, and this absolutely doesn't further that cause. That's the biggest issue I have with the deal. In situations like this, we as a fan base tend to fall back on the "In Bill We Trust" motto, and with good reason. Under the hooded genius we have won three Lombardi trophies. But this move, on the surface, weakens a team that on paper was a favorite to win a title.
Was Seymour past his prime? Maybe, but he didn't seem to be declining in the performance department, at least not to my naked eye. The IBWT crowd will say that Belichick had to think Seymour was declining, as well as being impressed with rookies Ron Brace and Marlon Pryor. All fair points, and maybe all true. Maybe the dline of Wilfork, Brace/Pryor, Burgess and Warren won't be so bad. At the very least it's a little thinner than it was, which is a tad nerve wracking.
Another potentional plus however, is the deal frees up cap space which could in turn be used to re-sign Vince Wilfork. The Pats have 20 contracts up after this season, and they need money to re-sign these guys. On top of that, Brady's contract is up after 2010. Obviously he is the top priority. And if the Seymour deal helps keep the golden boy here, I'm all for it.
Just to look at it from the Raiders point of view. What an awful deal. They give up a potentially lucrative pick (especially if it's salary slotted), and they get a rent-a-player in Seymour. Does Seymour make the Raiders a better defensive unit? Yup. A good defensive unit? Nope. Will he re-sign there long term? Of course not! So the Raiders get a mercenary to help them go 5-11, then skip out of town, and all it cost them was a 1st round pick. What a joke organization. If there is a plus size, they would have blown the pick. See Heyward-Bey, Darius.
All in all, it's a good long term deal for the Patriots. So I'll give it my stamp of approval. Just know I reserve the right to change my mind if they lose a Super Bowl title when they can't stop somebody on 3rd and 2.
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