A "Little" Addition

The Hot Stove has run cold as baseball waits for C.C. Sabathia to make up his mind, and set the benchmark for free agent contracts this offseason. In the mean time, little moves are getting more attention then they probably deserve.

The Red Sox acquired RP Wes Littleton from the Rangers for a player to be named later or cash.

Littleton had a forgettable season last year and his mechanics are a mess. Fortunately he has good career numbers (3.69 ERA) and great splits away from Arlington (2.70 ERA).

Littleton is only 26 years old and sports a heavy sinker that can be impressive when he is able to repeat his delivery.

Littleton should be in the mix for a bullpen spot in Boston and could play a role similar to Justin Masterson's last year.

2010 or Bust!

Knicks trade PG/SG Jamal Crawford to the Warriors for F/C Al Harrington

Knicks trade F/C Zach Randolph and PG Mardy Collins to the Clippers for SG Cuttino Mobley and SF Tim Thomas

From NY's perspective, this trade was not about this year at all, but was intended to clear cap space for the great free agent class of 2010. The Knicks now have only 4 contracts signed for the 2010-11 season. Eddy Curry ($11.3 mil) Jared Jeffries ($6.8 mil) Danilo Gallinari ($3.3 mil) and Wilson Chandler ($2.2 mil). That leaves enough space for TWO max contracts, especially if the Knicks can unload the contract of Curry. If they are truly hellbent on saving money, they could sweeten the deal by adding Nate Robinson's expiring contract to a prospective trade.

For those of you that don't realize why the 2010-11 free agent market is so important, here is a list of All-Stars who should be available.


Lebron James
Dwyane Wade
Chris Bosh
Dirk
Yao Ming
Steve Nash
Joe Johnson
Michael Redd
Manu Ginobli
T-Mac
Amare Stoudemire
Shaq Diesel
Ray Allen

Can you imagine any team signing Lebron James, Chris Bosh, and Steve Nash in one offseason? It certainly could happen if everything goes the way the Knicks would like it. That would give them a lineup of Nash, Lebron, Gallinari, Chandler, and Bosh.

New post-trade starting lineups for the three teams, NY, GS, and LA

PG Chris Duhon
SG Cuttino Mobley
SF Wilson Chandler
PF Al Harrington
C David Lee

PG Jamal Crawford
SG Kelenna Azubuike
SF Stephen Jackson
PF Corey Maggette
C Andris Biedrins

PG Baron Davis
SG Ricky Davis
SF Al Thornton
PF Marcus Camby
C Chris Kaman

I expect LA to start taking offers for Chris Kaman in order to open up the jam in the frontcourt and provide more depth at off-guard, because Ricky Davis is not the answer. The Bobcats have been searching for big-man help and have inquired about Kaman many times. The Bobcats have offered combinations that have included either Jason Richardson or Gerald Wallace as the centerpiece for Kaman, but the Clippers have not had motivation to trade him until now.

Using a nifty feature on ESPN, called the trade machine, I was able to match salaries and work out to trade possibilities. Here is the link

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/trademachine

Chris Kaman for Gerald Wallace
or
Chris Kaman and Jason Hart for Jason Richardson

NBA All Star Picks Explained

East:

PG Dwyane Wade
Runner-up: Devin Harris

This Olympiad is averaging career highs in points and assists and has returned to his ridiculous pre-injury output. With no great alternatives at point guard in the Eastern Conference, "Flash" is an easy pick.

SG Joe Johnson
Runner-up: Vince Carter

Joe Johnson is averaging 25.3 PPG, good for fourth in the league, while hitting the second most threes at a phenomenal .455% clip. After Wade, no other guard in the Eastern Conference can dominate a game as effectively as Johnson, who also averages 4.9 assists and a career high 5.4 boards.

SF Lebron James
Runner-up: Paul Pierce

"The King" keeps a stranglehold on the title of "best player on the planet".

PF Chris Bosh
Runner-up: Zach Randolph/Kevin Garnett

Many Celtics fans will argue for KG in this spot, but in the end, his statistics do not match up. KG is averaging his lowest minutes per game since his rookie season. This can be attributed to his team's dominance and deep bench and not to a lack of personal talent. The decreased minutes have led to the lowest PPG and APG totals since his rookie year.

Although stats are not the only aspect of All Star Selection, they are still very important.

Player A: 25.5 PPG 11.0 RPG 2.2 APG 0.9 BPG
Player B: 16.2 PPG 9.3 RPG 2.0 APG 1.2 BPG
Player C: 20.5 PPG 12.5 RPG 1.4 APG 0.3 BPG

Which player would you choose to be the starter, backup, and all-star snub?

Player A is Chris Bosh. He has dominated the league at the offensive end. If Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard were not so dominate defensively, he would easily be the best big man in the East. To be honest though, if defense was heavily factored into all-star selections, Marcus Camby would have many more all-star appearances. To clarify, Player B is KG and Player C is Zach Randolph, my comeback player of the year so far.

C Dwight Howard
Runner-up: Rasheed Wallace
I don't think this pick needs much explanation. "Superman" has continued to improve, especially on the defensive end, and changes the game on both ends of the floor like recent great David Robinson.

West:

PG Chris Paul
Runner-Up: Baron Davis
With the early injury to Deron Williams and the diminished play of Steve Nash, this pick is even easier than it was last year. Chris Paul is the best floor general in the league for one of the league's most talented teams.

SG Kobe Bryant
Runner-up: Brandon Roy
Although usually an automatic All-Star Stater, I was presented with a conundrum when comparing Kobe's statistics with that of the surprising Stephen Jackson. This was eventually resolved by plugging Jackson into the small forward spot.

SF Stephen Jackson
Runner-up: Carmelo Anthony
This spot was determined by a close race between Stephen Jackson and Carmelo Anthony. I gave the spot to Jackson because he had a slight edge in points, assists, threes, and steals, while Carmelo had the edge in boards and defensive ability (although only slightly, Carmelo is no Bruce Bowen to be honest).

PF Tim Duncan
Runner-up: Amare Stoudemire
No I did not choose this pick out of habit. Timmy has very much improved his game in the absence of Manu and Tony Parker, and is putting up numbers that indicate he is still in his prime. The San Antonio offense usually runs through Tim Duncan, but is doing so even more now that there are less viable offensive options. Duncan is a great on ball defender, mostly due to his size and great footwork, and is a versatile offensive threat. Now that he is needed to carry his team, Duncan is averaging more boards, assists, blocks, and steals that the runner up for this spot.

C Al Jefferson
Runner-up Andris Biedrins
At only 23 years of age, Al Jefferson has continued to improve. The addition of Mike Miller and the improved health of Randy Foye have helped Al dominate in the paint for Minnesota, averaging career highs in FG%, FT%, points, assists, and blocks. Although the Chinese voting contingent will probably get Yao Ming this spot, I believe he is only the third best center in the Western Conference this year.

Yao Ming: 16.9 PPG 9.5 RPG 1.2 APG 0.27 SPG 1.55 BPG
Biedrins: 16.8 PPG 14.4 RPG 1.8 APG 0.91 SPG 1.55 BPG

Making an Impression

Phil Hughes had arguably his best outing in the Arizona Fall League last night.

5.0 Inns, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, 10 Ks

He now sports a 3.00 ERA in 7 starts.


Following players in winter leagues is easy, check this page out.
http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/org.jsp?id=nyy

NBA All Star Game

Its about that time again...

12 games into the NBA season and all star voting has started.

Here is who I think deserves a spot.

East

PG: Dwayne Wade
SG: Joe Johnson
SF: Lebron James
PF: Chris Bosh
C: Dwight Howard

West

PG: Chris Paul
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: Stephen Jackson
PF: Tim Duncan
C: Al Jefferson

On To Greener Pastures

Mike Mussina has told the New York Yankees that he plans to retire. He finishes with a career 270-153 record and a 3.63 ERA.

Is he a hall of famer?

I say Yes

He dominated during the steroid era of baseball and in the tough AL East

He is one of only 25 pitchers to reach 270 wins

Epstein Comes Out Dealin'

The Red Sox made a trade today shipping OF Coco Crisp to Kansas City for RP Ramon Ramirez.


Red Sox:

The bullpen represented Boston's most obvious weakness going into this year's offseason. This trade adds Ramon Ramirez who had a 2.64 ERA with a 70/31 K/BB ratio. He is only 27 and is a cheap strikeout setup man who doesn't give up the long ball. He is a righty killer who throws 94 with a hard slider. His numbers against righties are excellent, but he will need to learn to get lefties out or avoid facing them all together. He should compete with Hideki Okajima for the top setup man job in spring training.

The addition of Ramirez allows the Red Sox to possibly move Justin Masterson into the rotation. This option provides insurance in case Clay Buchholz is traded or can not bounce back from a dissapointing rookie season. Unfortuantely this move robs Boston's outfield depth. Crisp was Boston's fourth outfielder last year and filled in honorably when injuries hit Drew or Jacoby or when Manny decided he didn't want to play that day. That safety net will no longer be available when the inevitable Nancy Drew injury strikes. The Sox will certainly look to add a fourth outfielder, probably through free agency. Obvious targets include Mark Kotsay, Rocco Baldelli, or the old favorite Trot Nixon.

Royals:

The Royals obviously believed that they had a glut of good young relievers because this is the second straight trade in which they have exchanged a young reliever for offense. In terms of the rebuilding process, developing relievers would not be a high priority. Instead of adding payroll, maybe the Royals should have been more interested in a high upside position prospect. The addition of Crisp hints that the Royals might try to compete for a playoff spot next year.

At this point in his career, Crisp offers more in the form of defense than offense, but should be Kansas City's opening day center field. Adding Crisp allows them to move David Dejesus to left and leave Jose Guillen in right. This move makes Mark Teahan available, and I have read that the Cubs have shown interest.

Hi!

Hi, my name is Christian Karayannides, and I am a very avid sports fan. I keep my self updated on many sports happenings and I wanted to create a blog where I could post my opinions as well as links to good sports articles. I am a fan of the Yankees and Orlando Magic, but the content should include other teams in the MLB and NBA, while touching on many other sports as well. I would also like to hear what other people think about sports topics or moves, so please post comments!