NBA Draft Grades/Analysis If You Can Handle It

NBA Draft Grades/Analysis If You Can Handle It

1) Chi –

Actual pick- Derrick Rose

Mock Draft Pick: Beasley

Should have picked: Beasley

Grade: B

Kirk Heinrich had a bad year last year, but is still a solid pg, not a star, but solid. Ty Thomas meanwhile has proven nothing in this league and Drew Gooden has proven that he’s nothing more then a role player. You’ve needed inside scoring for the last two decades, and Michael Beasley had the best freshman season ever. He LEAD the country in rebounding last year and was third in the country in scoring. As amazing as Durant was last season Beasley left him in the dust, nevermind Rose. On top of that Gooden and Thomas have much easier deals to trade for another pg if you aren’t completely sold on Heinrich.

One Final thought Rose had 4.7 assists per game last year… in Conference USA. Chris Paul and Deron Williams both had more assists and better assist to turnover ratios in college then Rose. While Memphis’ system probably has a lot to do with that has Rose really shown he’s the next Paul or Williams? He’s absolutely going to be good, but better then Beasley? We shall see.

2)Mia

Actual pick- Beasley

Should have picked: Beasley

Grade: A+

No brainer, he’s by far and away better then anything else on the board. Shawn Marion is not a PF (at least on the offensive side) and Haslem is an average player at best. Marion and Beasley should complement each other well with Beasley handling the scoring inside and Marion defending guys Beasley struggles to defend. Wade will have another player to lighten his load, and they were able to pickup a first round quality pg in Chalmers too. Riles may have had his reservation, but he better thank his basketball people cause they talked him into a GREAT draft.

3) Min (traded to Memphis)

Actual pick- OJ Mayo

Should have picked – OJ Mayo

Grade B+

They got a nice outside shooter in Mike Miller which fills a big need for them, but now they have two PF’s who aren’t really tall enough/tough enough to be dominant inside defenders. The knicks tried that… it didn’t work very well. I like Love (no pun intended) but I’m just not sure he makes sense there.

4) Sea

Actual pick- Westbrook

Should have picked – Lopez, Bayless,

Grade- C+

They need guys who can defend and they need a pg I get that. But they also have pretty much no one up front so Lopez would have been a better option and Bayless is more talented so he would have been a better option as well. Westbrook should be solid, but I question the value here.

5) Mem (traded to Min)

Actual pick- Love

Should have picked – Love, Lopez

Grade B+

They were able to get a lottery type talent at PF in Arthur and were able to trade for arguably the third best prospect in the draft (Mayo). I assume they’ll put Mayo at SG aside Conley with Gay at SF, Arthur and Warrick at PF and Milicic and Gasol at C, not a bad lineup if you ask me. They did have to take back Jaric’s contract though… yuck.

6) NY

Actual pick- Danilo Gallinari

Should have picked – Jerryd Bayless, DJ Augustin

If there was ever a team in need of a PG it’s the Knicks. Bayless is a top talent sitting right there for you. Clearly I’ve never seen Gallinari play and he’s put up some good numbers in Europe, but passing up on Bayless and Augustin here? Haven’t knicks fans been through enough? If Gallinari doesn’t come in and contribute they’ll boo him off the court from day one.

7) LAC

Actual pick- Eric Gordon

Should have picked – Eric Gordon, Bayless, Augustin

Grade B+

Maggette is likely to opt out, and even if he doesn’t they need a dominant scorer from the backcourt. He’s as good a value as anyone else here on the board and while they could use a PG I can’t find any fault in taking Gordon here.

8) Mil-

Actual pick- Joe Alexander

Should have picked – Darell Arthur, Anthony Randolph

Grade- C-

You just traded for Richard Jefferson… who I want back by the way and now you’re drafting another SF? I get that they like him, but does this pick make any sense?

9) Cha

Actual pick- DJ Augustin

Should have picked – Lopez

Grade B

I can’t kill this pick since Augustin isn’t a bad value here, but they already have Felton who’s more then serviceable. Meanwhile Lopez would have been a great complement to Okefor up front.

10) NJ

Actual pick- Brook Lopez

Should have picked – Lopez

Grade A+

They needed inside scoring, and they have two guys they can put alongside him in Sean Williams and Josh Boone who will cover for any defensive deficiencies. Having traded away Jefferson and having an aging carter they’re probably not going to be running much anyway so he should help them in the half court. Couldn’t have realistically hoped for a better pick; unless of course they got Alexander but for some reason Milwaukee took him.

11) Ind (traded to Portland)

Actual pick- Jerryd Bayless

Should have picked – Bayless

Grade B-

Loved bayless here, but then they went ahead and traded it for Brandon Rush. I like rush, now they’re going to have to count on Jack, Tinsley and Ford at the PG position. Hey, who knows one of them might stay healthy and be productive.

12) Sac

Actual pick- Jason Thompson

Should have picked – Chalmers, Arthur, Randolph, Speights

Grade D

He went to Rider… they couldn’t even make the NCAA tournament out of the MAAC. Your best option at pg right now looks to be Beno Udrih, while most of the top pg’s are off the board here I’m going to reach for the national champion over the guy who couldn’t make the NCAA tournament out of the MAAC. He was projected to go MAYBE 29… and you take him at 12… are we sure Isaiah Thomas isn’t in the building?

13) Por (traded to Ind)

Actual pick- Brandon Rush

Should have picked – Rush

Grade A+

They drafted Rush I was all ready to say how well Por did despite not having any prospect on the board who would be an upgrade over their current PG situation, but then they trade for bayless and I think this is a GREAT move. Jack had little value, and they got one of the top 5-6 players in the draft in my opinion and the number 4 prospect reportedly on their board.

14) GS

Actual pick- Randolph

Should have picked - Arthur

Grade B-

They need a big man and if he’s gonna play Nellie-ball he needs to be versatile, but for a team that’s already so thin up front you’re taking an 197 lb PF??? Arthur is another versatile PF who’s actually been to the dinner table once or twice. Randolph has a lot of talent though and put up great numbers, so I can’t kill the pick completely. If Baron Davis was younger I’d give this a B or maybe if they didn’t already have thin man Brandon Wright, but BD not being a spring chicken I’m giving it a B-

15) Pho

Actual pick- Robin Lopez

Should have picked – Donte Greene

Grade B

I know Steve Kerr wants to get better defensively, what he doesn’t realize is they’re never going to be very good at it as long as Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire are on the court. Donte Greene has top of the draft potential and would be a great swingman to take over for Grant Hill. As I said though they do need a big man who can defend and shaq can only play so many minutes at his age…

16) Phi-

Actual pick- Mareesse Speights

Should have picked – Speights

Grade A+

Speights has as much talent as anyone, and put up as good numbers as pretty much any PF. The Sixers need a PF with size who can play with his back to the basket. Excellent selection.

17) Tor (for Indiana)

Actual pick- Roy Hibbert

Should have picked – Hibbert, Arthur, Koufos

Grade B

They already selected a PG, so they needed to add some beef up front. You’re not going to find a much bigger player then hibbert. Teams like Tor (bosh) and bos (garnett) Mia (Beasley) will give them huge issues, but they’ll be better prepared for teams like cle (z) and mil (bogut) who are in their division.

18) Was

Actual pick- Mcgee

Should have picked – Mcgee

Grade B

Has great upside but he’s a big time project. However there weren’t really any players here who are clear upgrades over what they have (assuming Jamison, Butler and Arenas are back) so I don’t mind them taking a player based on upside.

19) Cle-

Actual pick- Hickson

Should have picked – Arthur, CDR

Grade B

Simply put they need guys who can put the ball in the basket. CDR would have looked great alongside LBJ, and I think Arthur would have been a nice replacement for the aging Joe Smith. Hickson did put up better numbers then Arthur, but it was on a much worse team so I don’t know what that means.

20) Cha

Actual pick- alexis aijinca

Should have picked – Kofous

Grade D

Workout warriors rarely turn into quality players. He barely played in the French league, and averaged a grand total of 5 points… need I say more?

21) NJ

Actual pick- Anderson

Should have picked – CDR

Grade – C

What I wrote at the time: You traded away Richard Jefferson, you already have Boone, Lopez and Williams not to mention Yi, and Kristic is a restricted free agent and you take another forward? How bout a swing guy to replace Jefferson, CDR would have been a great fit and would have started next year… god the Nets need Stefanski back.

Was all ready to give them an F for this pick, but then they got CDR in the second round, so I dislike this pick much less.

22) Orl

Actual pick- Courtney Lee

Should have picked – CDR, Lee

Grade B

They needed a tall starting shooting guard, but with turkogulo and lewis being great defenders CDR would have been the better pick here. People will be sorry they did not select him MUCH earlier… think Josh Howard (not the same type of players, but both players who went way too late)

23) Utah

Actual pick- Koufos

Should have picked – kofous

Grade B

Best value here given they don’t need a PF or a shooting SF. Speed really must not be something they pay much attention to.

24) Sea

Actual pick- Serge Ibaka

Should have picked – Anyone else, Darrell Arthur

Grade D

Here’s a predication this guy will never play in the NBA. He’s unlikely to play in the NBA this year, and if he’s as good as people say he is they won’t be able to pay him enough to come to the NBA with the rookie salary structure. If he isn’t… they won’t want him.

25) Houston (traded to Por)

Actual pick- Nicolas Batum

Should have picked – Arthur, CDR

Grade B

Ended up with Donte Greene who should provide some good scoring off the bench for a team that sorely needed another scorer. Why they didn’t just draft him though I don’t know.

26) SA

Actual pick- George Hill

Should have picked – Greene

Grade Spurs

They’re the spurs they don’t get a grade, I think they needed to get more athletic and needed more people who can score the ball, but they seem to know what they’re doing so who am I to question.

27) Cha (for Por) (Traded to Mem via Houston)

Actual pick- Darrell Arthur

Should have picked – D Greene

Grade A-

Didn’t really need Arthur but was too good of a talent to pass on so they turned it into a SF in Batum, not sure how good Batum will be, but I like the way Portland works.

28) Mem- (Traded to Houston)

Actual pick- Donte Greene

Should have picked – Greene

Grade B+

I like Greene he’s got lottery pick value but why Houston didn’t just take him themselves I’m not sure… I guess they must have gotten something for Batum/Arthur?

29) Det- (traded to seattle)

Actual pick- DJ White

Should have picked – whoever they like

Grade B+ (for both teams)

They don’t really have any glaring holes, so I didn’t mind them selecting White but he duplicates Maxiell, so I like them trading with Seattle, They’ll put the two second rounders in the D-league and hopefully they develop nicely. Meanwhile Seattle needed some beef up front and White should help provide that.

30) Bos

Actual pick- JR Giddens

Should have picked – Chalmers, CDR

Grade C

They could use an eventual replacement for Ray Allen, or a backup/upgrade for Rondo. Instead they take a headcase? I don’t like it.

Mock Draft Part 3 (picks 21-30)

You can read the run down of picks 1-20 below but to finish off my first round mock draft here are picks 21-30. There could still be alot of talent left in these picks, so teams selecting down here will definitely want to do their homework.

21) NJ- Batum

After drafting a post presence early in the draft the nets can either look to strengthen their bench with a shooter or can look to the future with an international pick that they can ideally stash over in Europe for a year or two. I say with Harris, M. Williams, Carter Jefferson, Speights Boone and S. williams around not to mention probably Nachbar you can afford to look ahead. Batum is young and was talked about as a lottery pick before the season I say draft him, put him in Europe and you have a potential replacement for carter in the future or Jefferson should you trade him.

22) Orl- CDR

Orlando needs a guard with quickness, who can penetrate when necessary or knock down shots when Howard passes it out. CDR is a perfect fit who is quick enough and big enough to handle the taller guards who Orlando is not currently equipped to guard.

23) Utah – Hibbert

They need quickness badly. Part of the reason they were eliminated this year was their inability to get back in transition because quite frankly they were too slow. However as I don’t have anyone on the board left who’s likely to help solve that problem so I take Roy Hibbert. They don’t like to run anyway so his lack of quickness wouldn’t be a huge problem, and he should be an improvement over Jarron Collins.

24)Sea – Chalmers

With all the young guys seattle is going to have on their roster I want a guy who’s been to the highest place possible, someone who’s seen what it takes to win. They need a pg and having based up on bayless I take Chalmers here.

25) Houston- Courtney Lee

Aside from T-mac and Yao every other position could probably be upgraded., raefer alston was very good last year so point isn’t a major need. With T-macs window closing they need people who can contribute right away, so I’m looking at one of the few seniors in the draft. Lee will knock down shots off passes from rafer and T-mac or Yao double teams and can also but the ball on the floor himself. When the rockets are struggling to score like they often do Lee will be a big help coming in for Battier or for T-mac when he needs to rest.

26) San Antonio- JJ Hickson

They have their big three, and a bunch of professionals but not a whole lot of athleticism. The spurs often look international and I would be surprised if they don’t, but Hickson will provide a nice option to help defend some of the quicker big men and aid their overall team speed.

27) New Orleans- Bill Walker

They don’t have too many needs. They could look to take a big man so they don’t have to play Melvin Ely ever again. Walker is too good to pass up here and with Bonzi Wells a free agent they can let him go Walker should be able to step into his role.

28) Mem- Kofous

I have them taking Eric Gordan at 5 so I would look big man here. Kofous I don’t see as a great NBA prospect due to his lack of athleticism but he should be able to score some points in the paint and that’s all the grizzlies can hope for here.

29) Det- Serge Ibaka

Mcdyess could call it quits which would change things a bit and rasheed could be dealt but right now it doesn’t look like too many guys will be getting playing time here so I’m looking to stick a guy in Europe for a year or two till sheed, mcdyess, rip and billups are closer to moving on. Ibaka is 18, you can let him learn the game in Europe for a couple years and bring him over when he’s ready and he’ll still only be 20-21.

Note: I’ve heard DJ whites name here, but I don’t see how that helps with maxiell already around.

30) Bos- Lawson

This pick will likely change based on how rondo does in the finals, but the Celtics need a pg that won’t be afraid to take open shots. I like rondo but they can use a replacement for House and Cassell and possibly a starter if rondo refuses to take the open shots he’s given. More likely the Celtics will look to a foreign big man like Ante Tomic, or Alexis Ajinca, but as I said I think the finals will show more about what the Celtics need to do.

Mock Draft Part 2 (picks 11-20)

After laying out my mock draft parameters and the first 10 picks in part 1, part 2 is here to give you picks 11-20.

To recap this is not what will happen, it's what should happen. i choose based on need and i don't care about what position you play just that you're the most talented player who will help my team get to the next level.

take a look at part 1 below for my reasoning as to why i have each guy at the positions but picks 1-10 where: Beasley, Rose, Randolph, Lopez, Gordon, Bayless, Mayo, Westbrook, Love, Speights

on to part 2:

11) Ind- Augustin

Indiana by all accounts is sick of Jamal Tinsley’s inability to play anything close to a full season. Assuming they don’t make some major changes (such as trading J. O’neal or Tinsley etc) it looks like Augustin is their best bet. Coming of a 19 pt 5 board a game season I might also look to deal Dunleavy and draft Galinari here.

12) Sac- Arthur

Assuming the top four point guards are off the board its probably too high to take a pg at 12, so I’m either looking to trade up (if Artest stays do they really need Francisco Gracia?) or trade down and get a power forward and a point guard (like Lawson or Chalmers later in the draft. If they stay here it looks like the choices would be Jordan or Arthur. I take Arthur.

13) Por- Alexander

Like Sac their biggest need is probably a pg and with Raef Lefrentz expiring deal they can probably make some moves, but with Brandon Roy on the roster they don’t neeeeed a pg. So Chad Ford tells me they’ll draft Joe Alexander and I have no problem with that.

14) G.S. – Galinari

Do they need Galinari? No, but we’re talking about G.S. here, Nelson loves 6’5”- 6’9” guys who can slash, shoot and pass. They could also draft Jordan here as they’re looking for more of an inside presence

15) Pho- Rush

Realistically their window has probably closed, because they’re not likely to overtake L.A., N.O., Utah, and S.A. but with Shaq and Nash around they need to win NOW. You’re looking for someone who can step right in and contribute so I think you’re looking at Rush or CDR. Rush is probably the better athlete and shooter and since they’re not looking for him to star anyway his reticence to do so is not a problem.

16) Phi- Jordan

Philly is an athletic team in need of more of an inside presence, put Jordan in the mix and they can keep their uptempo style while hopefully developing a low post scorer for the future. Note I have Jordan this low because I think he has high bust potential, at 7 ft you shouldn’t be averaging 8 pts and 6 boards in college. Granted he was a frosh, but was he even a starter at A&M?

17) Tor – Robin Lopez

With the team they have they need an athletic big who can also defend. They’re going to play uptempo and they have sufficient shooters, Lopez can run with them, but also defend guys who Bargnani and Bosh will struggle defending. SF is another option and Donte Green and CDR deserve looks

18) Was- Budinger

They have Caron Butler and a lot of question marks. I’ve seen McGee here, but with Blatche they don’t really need another tall developmental prospect. With Arenas, Jamison and Butler I put Budinger at the 2 and see if we can’t out shoot people. I’m not sure he’s a great pick for them but he’s the only one I see left having a chance to fit/contribute with them

19) Cleveland – Donte Greene

Simply put they need people who can score the basketball, and ideally some shooters. Hopefully Greene will add a little strength and develop a low post game in the future (he is 6’10”) but for now he’ll be a talented outside shooter not afraid to put up shots when Lebron throws it to him.

On a side note if they fail to turn Eric Snow and or their other expiring deals (Wally Sczcerbiak) into talented pieces then Danny Ferry needs to be catapulted out of town.

20) Denver- Mcgee

PG is definitely an option, with Chalmers being the pick over Lawson since they can’t get by with 2 under 6 foot guards in the backcourt. However with Camby getting up there in age, I take Mcgee who is a similar player and groom him as Camby’s replacement given Camby may even be traded.

Mock Draft Part 1 (picks 1-10)

To start I need to explain my mock draft a little.

This is in no way meant to be a prediction of what the actual GM’s will do. They have their favorites, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree it’s the best choice. So I give you what I think each team should do.

I believe in leaning towards need over talent. In some cases this would lead the hawks to choose mike conley over Al Horford, but in general I think you need to take a player who fits your system and who fits your needs. People will also bring up Bowie over Jordan but I would argue when your only other talented player is a SF, taking a SG is filling a need as well, so I’d like to believe I draft Jordan in that situation. In general that will ensure the hawks aren’t looking for their pg of the future for the past 10 years and the bulls a low post presence for the past 20.

I also don’t favor any one position over another unless it matters for your specific team. Jordan, Bird, Shaq, Duncan, Magic have all been the crucial components to multiple championship teams in the past and all play vastly different styles and positions.

1) Chicago- Beasley

They already have hinrich at pg, and have been looking for low post scoring for at least 2 decades. If they can trade hinrich for value they can consider Rose, but moving Gooden and Thomas will be muuuuuch easier. I’ve heard knocks on Beasley that he’s not necessarily a low post scorer, but lets not confuse his ability to do other things well with a lack of post scoring. After having one of the best freshman seasons EVER in college he will be a dominant force down low for the bulls and is the perfect fit.

2) Miami- Rose

I’m putting Rose here because he’s too talented to fall past the two spot, but if I’m Miami I’m seriously looking to trade down at least one spot and take Mayo or someone else. As Chard Ford has pointed out in his mock drafts with Rose and Wade in the backcourt they’d have one of the worst shooting backcourts in the league allowing defenses to sag off them and play their drives. However Rose would look damn good running the break with Wade and Marion.

3) Min- Anthony Randolph

I doubt they’d have the balls to take Randolph here, but to me he’s by far the best fit. He’s extremely talented with a skill set that’s been compared to Chris Bosh, but most importantly from what I can tell he can defend. He averaged 2.3 blocks a year, and with Al Jefferson being an extremely talented offensive player and equally disinterested defender they need to pair someone like Randolph with him.

4) Sea- B. Lopez

With no real inside presence to write of offensively or defensively I like Lopez here. Seattle does need a PG so Bayless is an option, but i’d be looking at a Mario Chalmers or Ty Lawson with their second first round pick rather then using the first pick on Bayless.

5) Mem- Gordon

I like Conley at point, Gay at SF and Warrick at PF the grizzlies could use a SG or C. Gordon is by far the best talent at either position available. Mayo is definitely an option if available as Anthony Randolph would be, but I have Randolph off the board and I’m not sure Mayo is big or strong enough for 2 guard in the NBA.

6) Knicks- Bayless

While Mayo is probably too talented to pass up here, I have my doubt about his ability to run an offense and with D’Antoni you need a strong PG.

7) LAC- Mayo

Clippers run up to the podium and rejoice that LA’s own OJ Mayo falls to them. The clips need a PG and whether Mayo is the prototypical pg or not he will fit in with them just fine.

8) Mil- Westbrook

With Mo Williams being more of a scoring pg, I’d like to pair him with another combo guard who can defend. The bucks have competent players at every position, but not necessarily any stars anywhere, so I take the best player available, but I think Westbrook is the best fit.

9) Char- Love

If I’m charlotte I probably look at Darrell Arthur, Speights, or DeAndre Jordan as they all have much higher upsides. However knowing Jordans hard on for guys that produce in college as well Larry Browns complete lack of patience in developing young guys I take Kevin Love. At least Love will get some playing time and contribute.

10) NJ- Speights

With harris, carter and Jefferson the nets are set 1-3, they have Williams and boone to provide a defensive presence so the nets need to look at the best scoring low post option. After averaging 14.5 pts on 62% shooting and 8 boards per game in the SEC last year I think he’s their guy. In comparison to other choices Darrell Arthur’s numbers were 12.8, 54%, 6.3 and DeAndre Jordan’s were… 8, 61% and 6.

So You Want to Draft Mayo

Editors note: i wrote this a week or so ago, and its probably not one of my better entries, but i hope you found it somewhat interesting.

Let’s say you’re the Knicks… ok I won’t subject you to such a scary fate… let’s say you’re the Timberwolves. If that’s too scary as well, just pretend you’re some other lottery team, for these purposes it really doesn’t matter which team, but the key is you could use either a point guard or a shooting guard and you don’t have a top two pick. So you take a look at the prospect available to you; you review the game film, work them all out, etc and you rate that OJ Mayo is the most talented pg/sg available after Rose is off the board.

In my best Stephen A. Smith voice I say, HOWEVA, you know he’s got all this USC baggage accompanying him. There’s going to be an investigation which may be a distraction for him and it certainly will provide some negative press, so is it worth it? What does it say about his overall character and will he be an issue over the course of his career?

Well my opinion is… unfortunately... this doesn’t matter. He’s probably not going to face any criminal changes for this or anything that would affect his ability to be on the court. As for negative press, well if the guy scores 15 a game (for example) as a rookie you’re fans won’t care. What does it say about his overall character? Nothing you probably didn’t already know. He’s a bit of a diva, but he’s also not selling drugs, stealing laptops or having sex with 13 year olds.

As we all know sports teams are businesses and your business is to make money. Fans want a winner and the more you win the more money you’re going to make. So to the GM who drafts Mayo I say good luck, and hope he pans out as a player because lets be honest fans will most likely only remember whether he was talented or not.

Editors note: i wrote this a week or so ago, and its probably not one of my better entries, but i hope you found it somewhat interesting.

Hank Steinbrenner: Just Shut Your Mouth Already

Hank Steinbrenner the new managing owner of the Yankees is running his mouth yet again. After already saying the Red Sox Nation was B.S., giving deadlines for the Santana deal and saying the Yankees wouldn’t sign A-Rod (and then did) Hank Steinbrenner has taken the cake recently. He said he wants Joba in the starting rotation and only an idiot would want him in the setup role. Additionally he mentioned 5 starters he wanted on the team going forward and one of them was not Mike Mussina who is currently in the rotation.

Previously I haven’t minded his comments and proclamation. Granted he’s probably hurt the Yankees bargaining position in certain situations, I figured as long as he keeps writing the checks like his father did it would be ok.

Now I’m going to not so politely have to tell him to Shut his Facking Mouth. First in saying he never liked them moving him to the pen last year he’s ignoring the fact that if they did not, there’s little to no chance they make the playoffs last year. Granted they didn’t get past the first round last year, however without a bad case of the bugs who knows how that series could have turned. My point is last year it was clearly a smart decision to move Joba to the bullpen.

Now I understand he’s probably been watching Bronx is Burning and wants to be like his dad when George told Billy Martin to hit Reggie Jackson fourth, but it’s possible to own a successful team without being an idiot.

Here’s a few reasons why Hanks comments are so dumb.

1) With his recent statements in one foul swoop you’ve alienated one of your starting pitchers, your GM and your manager.

1a) Mussina hasn’t been that bad, aside from his last start he’s pitched at least 5 2/3 every other start and not given up more than 4 runs in all of them

1b) Your general manager is the one who drafted Joba in the bloody first place

1c) Your manager is less than 20 games in, is there really a need to castrate him already and make him face constant questions?

2) His baseball people (you know the ones that actually know the game) think Joba should only pitch about 150 innings this year and if he went through 30+ healthy starts he would be way over that by the end of the season, lets just throw him out there anyway.

3) The Yankees really have no proven setup guy if Joba is moved to the rotation. Number one starters are more important than setup guys, but between Rivera in 96 and Nelson, Stanton and Mendoza after that the Yankees haven’t won a W.S. recently without a very solid setup crew.

4) We’ve never seen Joba as a major league starter. Is he doing to be as dominant throwing 94 instead of 97, and having to work in curveballs and changeups?

5) One of his reasons for thinking Joba needs to be in the rotation is because you don’t keep a guy with a 100 mph fastball as a setup guy. According to Jayson Stark: Joel Zumaya, Justin Verlander, Joba, Matt Lindstrom, Ubaldo Jimenez, Jonathan Broxton and A.J. Burnett. That's the list of all pitchers who threw at least three pitches last year that were clocked at 100-plus. Not including Joba that’s three starters and 3 relievers. And other than Verlander who has struggled this season, none of them are dominant.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not against moving Joba to the rotation and giving him a shot there, but to call people idiots for thinking its not a bad thing for him to be in the bullpen at this point is, well… idiotic.

Replay in Baseball: Get Your Head Out Your Arse and Use It

On ESPN Jayson Stark is having a chat about whether replay should be used in baseball. To summarize the argument for replay: those in favor of replay would basically like to get calls right. I don’t see any merit in getting calls wrong, so unless there’s a compelling reason not to get the calls right I say use replay.

The arguments against replay are many, but basically well… dumb. One argument is it will slow down the game. People argue that baseball is already a slow game, we can’t be going over to a replay booth to check every close call. That’s a valid, but again stupid argument. Why? Well for two reasons really…

1) no one is arguing we should replay every play. Balls and strikes will always be the umpire’s discretion. Certainly one could argue a system like ques tec or k zone would do a better job, but no one is arguing for it to be used for anything other than an evaluative tool. Some people would argue replay should be used for all close safe-out calls, but I won’t even argue for that. I’m simply arguing that on easy to review calls like whether a ball was fair or foul and whether a ball was trapped or not we can go to an upstairs umpire who probably won’t need more than one look at the play and can radio down with his decision.

2) In addition to it not being used on every play it will not in any significant way slow down the game. What happens when there’s a close play like a fair or foul home run? Often times the umpires will gather together discuss it and may or may not reverse the decision. Based on whether they reverse the decision or not one of the managers will come out there and discuss/yell about it. Let’s say the umpires discuss the call for 1 ½ minutes and then the manager comes out for another 2-5 minutes, that’s somewhere between 3 ½ - 6 ½ minutes for a close call. Instead of that couldn’t we just review the play for 2-3 minutes tops. We could probably have a good 3-4 replays per game in the same time span as one challenged call.

The other argument against replay is it takes out the “human element” of the game. I for one don’t even really know what that means, or why it’s so sacred, but I understand that it’s important for the purists. Again I’ll make a similar argument that there’s still a significant portion of calls (like balls and strikes) that will never be up for replay. So even with the most liberal use of replay there will still be the human element.

But again I question what’s so sacred about the human element? Baseball like every other sport needs to progress over time. They used to have storm drains in centerfield that severely affected the careers of players like Mickey Mantle who got caught up in them and got injured. New technology came along and they no longer need to put storm drains on the field, is anyone upset about that? Let’s go back in time further; they used to wear no gloves at all or if they wore gloves it was barely larger than their hands. Now outfielders wear gloves large enough for a small baby to sleep in. Again, where’s the complaining about that?

Technology is not a bad thing and it’s time for baseball to give it a shot. Lets try it out see where it works and were it doesn’t. I think most people would argue inter-league play and the wild card have been good for baseball and I think they’ll realize if replay is instituted it’s good for the game too.