MLB

Empire State Players React to the Death of Kobe Bryant

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Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant’s sudden death has reverberated across the sports landscape, including here in New York. While his play for the Los Angeles Lakers befuddled and baffled our New York Knicks and New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets, every athlete everywhere is reeling in the news of Bryant’s passing via a helicopter crash in California. What makes the event even more tragic is that his teenage daughter, a travel basketball player, and that player’s parent, were also involved in the crash that took the NBA legend’s life.

New York Athlete’s Respond to Bryant’s Passing

Marcus Stroman, of the New York Met’s, tweeted this out:

“This is extremely tragic to society. One of the most influential individuals/athletes to ever live. His legacy in 41 years is insurmountable. I’m beyond sad. Cherish every single second of life man. Every second you’re breathing, be thankful!”

Le’Veon Bell and Jamal Adams of the New York Jets had this to say via Twitter.

Bell:

“I don’t believe it actually….it’s unbelievable, no way”

Adams:

“Life’s way too short.
My favorite athlete of all time is gone…”

Former Yankee and current Met reliever Dellin Betances via Twitter:

“I’m sick I can’t believe this my idol Kobe gone too soon”

Bryant was just passed by LeBron James on the all-time scoring list in the NBA on Saturday, January 25th.

While, admittedly, not the biggest basketball fan, the impact Kobe Bryant had on the sports landscape was inescapable, even for me. A former college professor of mine, and drummer for the New York-based avant-garde group, Bright Dog Red, summed it up brilliantly. The only apt comparison to the shock and disbelief at Maba’s passing was the sudden death of former Yankees captain, Thurman Munson.

On behalf of all the writers at EmpireSportsMedia.com, I express our deepest condolences to Bryant’s family, his fans, and the Los Angels Lakers organization. This was far too early for me to type this, but Rest In Peace, Kobe and Gianna Bryant.

MLB: Dallas Keuchel apologies, other players should follow

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Dallas Keuchel spoke to the media Friday about the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal from the 2017 season and was apologetic about what happened during that year.

“I think first and foremost, apologies should be in order … for everyone on the team,” said Keuchel. “When the stuff was going on, it was never intended to be what it’s made to be right now.”

Keuchel is the first player from that team that was apologetic publicly and also said that his teammates from that season should do the same thing.

I think that everyone on the Astros team that year that was apart of the cheating should publicly apologize to their fans and the rest of Major League Baseball. I don’t think that people realize how bad this makes the MLB look and in the time of trying to raise fan numbers, this scandal was the opposite of what the league needed.

Not only should the position players be apologizing, but the pitchers should as well. Anyone who was apart of the cheating and/or knew about it had the opportunity to stop it and play the game correctly, but it continued and the players are responsible.

Dallas Keuchel obviously wasn’t gaining any advantage during the cheating because he’s a pitcher, but he’s setting a great example for his teammates from that year.

This will always look bad for the players on the Astros and definitely won’t be forgotten anytime soon, but a public apology from all of them will definitely help a ton.

MLB: Should robot umpires be implemented?

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As Major League Baseball tries to stop teams from using technology to get an advantage, it’s ironic that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred indicated that there will be the use of “robot umpires” during Spring Training.

“We believe over the long haul it’s going to be more accurate,” Manfred said. “It will reduce controversy in the game and be good for the game.”

Rob Manfred didn’t say any specifics but the use of an electronic strike zone will be tested during Spring Training. The reason this has been called into question is that the MLB is always looking to enhance the game and speed up the game. It’s believed that the game is too slow and that’s part of the reason why the number of fans is down through the years.

In my opinion, I’m all for things that enhance the game like different camera angles for TV, sound-enhancing technology, on-field mics, etc. but the use of technology to call balls and strikes should not be introduced into the game.

It’s no question that umpires have the power to change the outcome of a game completely. I’ve been on both ends of that, either a call in the Yankees’ favor or against them. It’s the worst feeling when a call is made that’s clearly wrong but the bottom line is its part of the game.

I already think that the use of technology to review calls in the field slows down games. A close call at second base goes from a bang-bang call to a five-minute review and a call to New York for an answer.

We saw it with the Astros scandal: even though it’s not the same thing, the implementation of more technology for on-field decisions will only hurt the game.

New York Yankees: Strip The Astros Title

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New York Mets trade for Jake Marisknick

This week has been unbelievable for baseball.

The Houston Astros were punished for cheating in the 2017 season, but there may be more. What they have done over the last few seasons has stopped the New York Yankees from advancing to the World Series, and has affected many other teams as well.

To go along with the sign stealing, there are accusations that Astros players may of had buzzers on their chest in some games, including the 2019 ALCS game six. The buzzers would buzz a certain amount of times to notify players the pitch.

Jose Altuve, who hit the walkoff home run off of Aroldis Chapman, may of had a buzzer on him. As he rounded third base headed for home, he pleaded to his teammates to not rip off his jersey. Watch:

Absolutely unbelievable. This can’t happen, and it may of happened a lot. The MLB needs to review the entire case again and repunish.

Some may think that it’s extreme, but here’s what I think should happen:

-Alex Cora, AJ Hinch, and Jeff Luhnow banned from baseball

-Loss of 2020 and 2021 first and second round picks (current punishment)

-$5 million fine (current punishment)

-Jose Altuve stripped of MVP

-Players from team stripped of any offensive awards from 2017-2019

-World Series title stripped

There should just be no 2017 World Series winner. With what they did, it’s just completely unfair for them to keep the ring and all the accolades. Kudos to pitcher Mike Fiers, who brought light to the whole situation and was brave enough to say something.

More needs to be done. Not doing so will hurt baseball.

The Yankees Would Have Still Lost to the Astros in 2017

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New York Yankees, Aaron Boone

Yankees fans will, justifiably, feel vindictive towards the Houston Astros in the wake of this cheating scandal. Now, fans will argue that the Astros were still cheating in 2019, as well as what happened in 2017. But, as Mike Axisa puts it, the investigation from MLB concluded that the Astros stopped cheating in 2019. So we were still going to fall short of the World Series this year, as the Astros weren’t cheating during the regular, or postseason.

And I feel that we were still going to lose in 2017, as we had every opportunity to beat the Astros, but didn’t.

We STILL Had to Beat the Astros Stellar Pitching

Verlander pitched a COMPLETE GAME in game 2, and pitched 7 shutout innings in game 6. He pitched to the tune of a 0.56 ERA in the ALCS, striking out 21, and giving up 1 earned run, that run coming in game 2. Dallas Keuchel, in 11.2 innings pitched, struck out 18, going 1-1 in the series. Between Keuchel and Verlander, that’s 3 wins right there. And Lance McCullers Jr., had a 4 inning save in game 7. There’s 4.

The Yankees out hit the Astros in the series (.205 team batting average to .187, Astros drove in 19 and the Yankees drove in 21, Yankees got 45 hits in the series to the Astros 40), and the Astros knew what our pitchers were throwing. Even our pitchers had a better team ERA than the Astros team ERA.

But the Yankees were struck out 70 times to the Astros 45. The Astros committed 2 errors in the season, the Yankees committed 6 over the series. The Astros still managed to get the hits when they needed, and the Yankees couldn’t. Judge hit .250 for the ALCS, Altuve hit over .320, with 5 strikeouts to Judge’s 11. By contrast, Gary Sanchez, whom Yankees fans deem completely inept in postseason hitting, struck out fewer times than Aaron Judge (even though he had a much smaller batting average). Didi Gregorius, Greg Bird, and Chase Headley were all more productive than Aaron Judge at the plate during the 2017 ALCS, but Judge drove in the most runs.

All of this and more leads me to believe that the Astros still would have won in 2017, even if they didn’t cheat. Sorry Yankees fans. I’m one of you, but these are my feelings based on facts.

Commissioner Rob Manfred is protecting baseball for all of us

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New York Yankees

I seldom write an opinion piece, but this is solely my personal opinion:  If you can’t believe in the integrity of the game of baseball, there is no more national pastime!  If you can’t believe a team lost or won the game or a series with their talent, then why bother watching at all.  Baseball then becomes a show, similar to professional wrestling and not a sport where the best team wins.

Most believe that Commissioner Manfred has handled the Astros sign-stealing situation harshly and correctly.  Those that disagree think the punishments should have been even harsher.  Many cite the rather small $5MM fine.  Their World Series win probably netted the Astros, in ticket sales, vendors, and merchandise $30MM or more, making the penalty seem minuscule.  The bottom line is that the MLB constitution only allows for a maximum fine of $5MM.  What Manfred did do is hand out yearlong suspensions without pay for general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch; the loss of the team’s first- and second-round draft picks for both 2020 and 2021; a $5 million fine, and put former Assistant GM Brandon Taubman on the ineligible list.  Subsequent to Manfried’s nine-page report being released, Astros Manager Jim Crane did the right thing and fired Luhnow and Hinch.

Manfred left out present Red Sox manager Alex Cora from any discipline, as the investigation into the Red Sox is ongoing.  Alex Cora was the mastermind in the whole Astro sign-stealing scheme.  Then as manager of the Red Sox, the 2018 World Series comes into question.  Same scheme, different club.  I believe that when the investigation is complete, Alex Cora will be out of baseball for good.  Even if he doesn’t receive a lifetime suspension, he is damaged goods, and no one will touch him.  In the case of the Red Sox, John Henry and company fired Cora when they fully understood Cora’s unquestioned involvement as laid out in Manfred’s report, even before the Red Sox investigation is complete.

The rules are clear, traditional sign stealing has gone on forever and will continue, but it can’t be done using any electronic technology. Commissioner Rob Manfred continue to do your job and protect the game we love.

The Futility of Projections for Mets and Yankees Players

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Simeon Woods-Richardson

We are less than 100 days away from Spring Training, so Mets and Yankees fans should be rejoicing everywhere. However, as is with every year, statistical projections are made for player’s offensive and defensive output well in advanced.

Can we just stop to take a look at how futile this is by looking at some Yankees and Mets players?

2019 vs 2020 Projections for Yankees Sluggers

Big things were expected of Miguel Andujar and Giancarlo Stanton in 2019. But, we all have eyes, we saw what happened. Both got hurt early, and both played next to no time during the regular season. For Andujar, it was his surgically repaired labrum in his right shoulder. For Stanton, it was a plethora of injuries. Let’s look at some of the projected offensive numbers for Miguel Andujar in 2019:

610 plate appearances, .283 batting average, 25 home runs, 85 RBI’s.

And now for 2020:

285 plate appearances, .279 batting average, 12 home runs, 40 RBI’s.

Who in their right mind predicted that Andujar was going to suffer from season-ending surgery in the FIRST SERIES of 2019? No one? Thought so. So who’s to say that Gio Urshela won’t suffer a similar injury, paving way for Andujar to fulfill those 2019 projections?

Now let’s look at Stanton’s 2019 projections:

560 plate appearances, .265 batting average, 42 home runs, 105 RBI’s.

Now, Stanton in 2020:

307 plat appearances, .266 batting average, 19 home runs, 48 RBI’s.

What is the absolute point in drawing up projections for the year after an injury? Especially when players haven’t even reported to Spring Training yet?

And Now the Mets

It’s equally convoluted for pitching as it is for hitting. Here are some projections for Syndergaard in 2019:

196 innings pitched 12 – 9 record, 3.50 ERA, 1.200 WHIP, 200 strikeouts.

Not too far off the mark for where he ended up. His 2020 projections are:

174 innings pitched, 10-7 record, 4.03 ERA, 1.200 WHIP, 179 strikeouts.

Why the spike in ERA, and drop in innings pitched and strikeouts? What has he shown to indicate that will happen in 2020? Are we predicting he’s going to get hurt when there was 0 prediction Andujar and Stanton would in 2019?

Things were even worse for Steven Matz in 2019:

He was projected to be below or right at .500, he finished above .500. He was projected to have less than 150 strikeouts (average), he had over 150 in 2018 and repeated the feat in 2019. Hell, one projection predicted he wouldn’t even post a record. The rest was pretty spot on for where he finished.

Projections Take the Human Element Out of Baseball

Analytical number crunching of baseball players is fine, but they are more than just numbers and equations. They’re people. Who’s to say that Thor or Matz won’t be better than Jacob deGrom next year? deGrom is going to be 32 next season and has pitched over 600 innings in the last 3 seasons. Why is he projected to give up only 19 HR’s next year? He’s going to not be as effective as he was the last 2 seasons because… HE’S A LITTLE BIT OLDER AND THERE WILL BE MORE SCOUTING DONE ON HIM!

After never hitting above .235 in a single season, Urshela is projected to hit .283 next year. What if Andujar wins his job back in Spring Training and is the opening day starter? And what if Urshela tears the labrum in his throwing shoulder, mimicking what happened to Andujar in 2019?

For the love of Pete, we all love playing MLB’s The Show, but even Madden gets wrong how good a football team is going to do each season, how well the stars of the league perform that season, and even who wins the Super Bowl. Just let the grown men play the game as the humans they are, not the AI programs we treat them as.

 

 

New York Mets Fans Better Show Love To Rick Porcello

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New York Mets, Rick Porcello

If you ask New York Met‘s fans what is the best way to describe the team, it would probably be “disappointing”. The team has been mismanaged by the Wilpon’s, and the Wilpon’s can’t pay anyone good to come to the team, and, simply, they’re the New York Mets. They tend to always find themselves in sticky situations.

This is why it was interesting to see that former Cy Young winner and former World Series Champion, Rick Porcello, actually WANTED to become a Met this offseason.

Wait… Seriously?!

Yes!

In a recent report from SNY, Rick Porcello said his eyes were set on the NY Mets pretty early in the offseason. For a very simple reason:

“The Mets were the first one that called, even (as) kind of a small gesture because you get so many calls that day from different teams checking in,” Porcello said in an interview earlier this week.

I’m sure also being a native of Morristown, NJ, helped a little bit.

Home Town Beats Better Deals

In the same SNY article from Danny Abriano, Porcello flew in the face of convention for offseason talent of his caliber. Yes, he had a down year. But if you see the back of his baseball card, every bad year results in a bounce back year of fantastic proportions. He was dreadful in 2015 and 2017, but sandwiched in between was his Cy Young campaign. So other teams were willing to take a chance with bigger and better contracts.

The Toronto Blue Jays offered him a one year deal, with a chance for a one-year extension. One year was worth $10 million. Another team offered $14 million for one year. On the merits of an early phone call and a verbal promise of letting him start, and he accepts a $10 million one year deal.

When you look at the deal that Gerrit Cole just signed with the Yankees, it begs to question “What was he thinking?!”

Be kind to him Mets fans. How often do you get a guy who’s willing to turn down bigger and longer contracts to become a Met? Considering the luck the Mets have had, it’s not a very common occurrence these days.

New York Mets rumors: Noah Syndergaard, Dellin Betances, and more!

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New York Mets, Noah Syndergaard

The New York Mets have slowly but surely done their homework when it comes to putting together a competitive team in 2020.

Last week, they went from having a clear need for a fifth starter to boasting one of the most in-depth units in baseball in a span of two days. They secured the services of righties Michael Wacha and Rick Porcello on short-term deals.

They were also busy trying to restructure Yoenis Cespedes’ contract, which they succeeded at. They also had their eye on Pittsburgh’s starting center fielder Starling Marte, although that rumor lost traction.

The Mets were, reportedly, interested in bringing Dellin Betances to bolster the bullpen, but there are other teams in on him, as well.

Here are the New York Mets‘ rumors, news, and facts of the day:

Anthony DiComo: Michael Wacha will earn, at least, $3 million in 2020. However, his contract with the Mets comes with incentives that break down like this:

-$500,000 at 10, 14, 18 starts (or relief outings of 3+ innings pitched to protect against the Mets using openers), then $500,000 more for each start from 20-30. Total: $7 million.

DiComo notes that there’s also up to $1.35 mil in relief pitcher/award bonuses. He can earn more than $10 million if he hits all the incentives and bonuses.

Max Goldstein: The Mets are ranked sixth among the teams with the highest projected wins above replacement (WAR) totals for 2020 according to Fangraphs’ Depth Charts. Here is the full ranking:

  1. Astros (53.8)
  2. Yankees (51.4)
  3. Dodgers (49.9)
  4. Red Sox (47.5)
  5. Rays (44.1)
  6. Mets (43.3)
  7. Angels (43.2)
  8. Athletics (41.3)
  9. Twins (41.2)
  10. Nationals (41.0)

National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum: On this day 37 years ago, the New York Mets were welcoming back Tom Seaver, “The Franchise”, after a stint with the Cincinnati Reds.

Big Blue Unbiased: While the excess in starting pitcher may have lead some to believe that the team would trade one to fill another need or bolster another position, that apparently won’t happen for now. Rumors had, specifically, Noah Syndergaard switching teams but that is “off the table,” per reports.

Syndergaard is a fantastic rebound candidate, and trading him at the moment would be selling low given that other teams may try to point out his 4.28 2019 ERA.