MLB Hands Out Hardware

Ah it's that time of the year once again. The time of the year to honor the best individual efforts in a team sport. Major League Baseball handed out their big regular season awards for the 2018 Baseball season. We already discussed the gold glove winners for 2018. This is where we look at the Silver Slugger winners, plus the Top Rookie, Top Managers, Best Pitchers and League MVP's. Did they get them get them right? Were there guys who got snubbed? Lets get into that depbate/discussion right now.

Silver Sluggers:
American League
Catcher: Salvador Perez, Royals
1st Base: Jose Abreu, White Sox
2nd Base: Jose Altuve, Astros
3rd Base: Jose Ramirez, Indians
Shortstop: Francisco Lindor, Indians
Outfielder: Mookie Betts, Red Sox
Outfielder: Mike Trout, Angels
Outfielder: J.D. Martinez, Red Sox
Designated Hitter: J.D. Martinez, Red Sox

National League:
Catcher: J.T. Realmuto, Marlins
1st Base: Paul Goldschmidt, Dimaondbacks
2nd Base: Javier Baez, Cubs
3rd Base: Nolan Arenado, Rockies
Shortstop: Trevor Story, Rockies
Outfielder: Christian Yelich, Brewers
Outfielder: David Peralta, Diamondbacks
Outfielder: Nick Markakis, Braves 
Pitcher: German Marquez, Rockies

Manager Of The Year
AL: Bob Melvin Oakland Athletics
NL: Brian Snitker, Atlanta Braves

Looking at the American League, the fact that Melvin guided the A's to one of the better turn around stories in baseball says a lot. Oakland had the lowest payroll in all of the Majors, winning 97 games and claiming the 2nd Wild Card Spot. What's even more amazing about what Oakland did is the fact that the A's were two games under .500 and 11 games out of a Wild Card spot by the middle of June. They then managed to catch fire, going 63-29 from that point on in order to earn a place in the Wild Card Game. Oakland would fall to the Yankees, but the loss could hardly take away from an otherwise outstanding season. Bob Melvin joins Tony La Russa (1988, 1992) as the only A's managers bestowed with Manager of the Year honors. For Melvin, this marks the 3rd time he's won the award, the other two coming in 2007 with Arizona and 2012 with the A's. Melvin joins Dusty Baker, Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa, Jim Leyland, Joe Maddon, Lou Piniella and Buck Showalter bas the only managers to win the award three times.

What Brian Snitker did with the Braves was amazing beyond description. He lead the Braves to a 90 win season and a surprising division title. This has to feel like vindication almost for Snitker, who's been around the game, as either a player coach or manager, since 1977.  He took over the job a short time into the 2016 season and as helped lead Atlanta to the top of the National League East mountain. He had plenty of hard working young talent in his lineup like Ronald Acuna and Ender Incartie and vets like Freddy Freeman and Nick Markakis leading the charge.  He joins Bobby Cox, who won it three times, as the only Braves skipper to win it in the NL.

Rookie Of The Year:
AL: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim
NL: Ronald Acuna, Atlanta Braves

Ohtani winning the Rookie of the Year in the American League, while very well deserving, does come at a bit of a controversy. The fact that he beat out Miguel Andujar of the Yankees, and by as wide a margin as he did comes as a bit of a surprise. Ohtani became the first player since Babe Ruth to have ten pitching appearances and hit 20 homers in the same season. He got 25 of the 30 first place votes, with the other five going to Miguel Andujar of the Yankees. Ohtani became the third Angel to win the award, joining Mike Trout (2012) and Tim Salmon (1993), and the fourth Japanese-born winner, after Hideo Nomo (1995), Kazuhiro Sasaki (2000) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001). Andujar had the higher batting average, more homers and drove in more runs. He actually lead all AL Rookies in all three catagories. Ohtani also played in only 104 games. I'm not taking away anything that Ohtani did on the year, I'm just saying that the two Yankees rookies had better years than Ohtani did.

With the National League, Acuna beat out Juan Soto of the Nats. Soto had a better year in the RBI department, but the overall game for Acuna was better of the two for those choices. He got 27 of the 30 votes for the winner of the Rookie Of The Year in the NL. Acuna is the first Braves player to win a major postseason award since Craig Kimbrel was named the NL's Rookie of the Year in 2011. The other players in franchise history to be named Rookie of the Year were Rafael Furcal (2000), David Justice (1990), Bob Horner (1978), Earl Williams (1971), Sam Jethroe (1950) and Alvin Dark (1948). To be fair, Soto had as great a year as anybody among the rookies in the National League, but because Acuna got hot in the second half of the year, he walked away with the award. Acuna had to deal with batteling injuries but altered his swing and became the leadoff hitter and then took off.

Cy Young Award
AL: Blake Snell, Tampa Bay Rays
NL: Jacob deGrom, New York Mets

Jacob deGrom was playing baseball at a whole different level this year. Jacob got 29 of the 30 first place votes in the NL, the only other vote going to Max Scherzer of the Nationals. deGrom became the 4th Mets pitcher to win the Cy Young, joining Tom Seaver (1969, 19734, 1975), Doc Gooden (1985) and R.A Dickey (2012). Sure that Scherzer had more wins, innings and striekouts, but deGrom had a 1.70 ERA, the sixth-best in baseball since MLB lowered the pitcher's mound to its current height in 1969. Although deGrom's 10-9 record was pedestrian, he led the NL in ERA, all major versions of WAR and several other key run-prevention categories. Jake had a year that was at another level, pitching lights out almost every night. It was a shame that he didn't have higher win totals, that was because the Mets couldn't score a lot of runs for him. He was pitching at a level that was beyond description and is very deserving of winning this award.

In the American League, on a team that mostly used openers instead of starters in Tampa, Blake Snell had a year that really stood head and shoulders above the rest. Snell joins David Price (2012) as the only Rays pitchers to win the AL Cy Young award. When the year started, Snell seemed like the 2nd man up in that Tampa Rotation, behind Chris Archer. But when Tampa switched over to using openers, Snell became the only real starter in that lineup and was the unquestioned ace of this team. He paced the American League in wins with 21, a 1.89 ERA and hits allowed per nine innings at 5.6. All this while striking out 221 across 180 2/3 innings. Snell's 1.89 ERA marked the fifth lowest single-season mark for a left-hander since the mound was lowered in 1969, and it is third lowest by an AL starter since the designated hitter was implemented in 1973. It was the lowest mark by a qualified AL starter since Pedro Martinez pitched to a 1.74 ERA in 2000. He was good, really good this year.

Most Valuable Player
AL: Mookie Bets, Boston Red Sox
NL: Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers

Betts put up a great year for the Red Sox. Wasn't quite the same power numbers as teammate J.D. Marteniz, but he was playing at a different level from most of the league never the less. Mookie got 28 fo the 30 first place votes, the other votes going to Mike Trout of the Angles, and JD Martinez of the Red Sox<. Betts is the first Red Sox player to win the MVP since Dustin Pedroia in 2008. The other players to win the MVP for Boston? Tris Speaker (1912), Jimmie Foxx (1938), Ted Williams (1946, 1949), Jackie Jensen (1958), Carl Yastrzemski (1967), Fred Lynn (1975), Jim Rice (1978), Roger Clemens (1986) and Mo Vaughn (1995). Betts was a force in every way possible, winning the batting title with a .346 average while adding 42 doubles, five triples, 32 homers, 129 runs, 80 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. The 26-year-old led MLB with a 1.078 OPS and earned his third consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award for his defensive excellence. He hit over .300 in ever month during the season except for the month of June. Sure Martinez had the better power numbers and drove in more runs, but Mookie was the best overall player in the AL during the regular season. There was nobody else playing like him this year.

With the second half of the year the Yelich had for the Brewers, it was almost no surprise that he walked away with the MVP award in the NL. Yelich got 29 of the 30 votes for first place in the MVP race, the only other one to get a 1st place vote was Jacob deGrom (the only MVP vote he got). Yelich becomes the 5th Brewer to win MVP, joining Ryan Braun (2008), Rod Carew (1977), Robin Yount (1982 and 1989) and Rollie Fingers (1982). Yelich became the first Brewers player to win a batting title and finished two home runs and one RBI shy of what would have been the NL's first Triple Crown since St. Louis' Joe Medwick in 1937. Yelich batted .326 with 36 home runs and 110 RBIs, leading the NL in average, slugging percentage, OPS, weighted runs created plus, weighted on-base average and adjusted OPS while leading NL hitters in every version of wins above replacement. He had a second half of the year that wasn't on par with anybody else. He was dominating the games at times for the Crew and carried them during the second half of the year,

Best & Worst Of NFL Week Ten

Week Ten has come and gone in the NFL in what turned out to be a very bizarre week in the league. New Orleans did New Orleans things in a dominating win over over the Bengals. Now we get to the Bizzaro portion of the week. The worst offense in the NFL going into the week outscores itself from the last three weeks combined. New England got a little overconfident and was taken out by the Titans. Ryan Fitzpatrick had an awesome day, but the Bucs offense managed to score only three points. Rams keep on doing Rams things, while the Giants actually remembered how to win a football game. Hell even Dallas managed to keep pace by beating the Eagles. All that and more happened in week ten. Here's some of the best and worst from the week that was in the NFL.

Best:
Nick Chubb, Running Back Cleveland Browns
It seemed like the only thing that the Browns did wrong on Sunday in their 28-16 win over Atlanta was a poor attempt at a trick play that lead to an easy pick. Otherwise, it seemed like a walk in the park for the Browns. Both of Cleveland's top rookies were on fire. Baker Mayfield was good, but Nick Chubb was even better. Chubb lead all runners this week with 176 yards on the ground on 20 carries. He scored one touchdown, which was a fantastic 92 yard scoring scamper, the longest play from scrimmage in the entire league this year. The 2nd round pick by the Browns has shown flashes of brillance this year and with him and Baker Mayfield leading this charge, Cleveland has a bright future ahead of it.

Worst:
Jacksonville Jaguars
This was a team who, earlier this calender year, was playing in the AFC Championship game against New England. Now they sit at 3-6 and are in real danger of missing the playoffs. This is coming after a tough 29-026 loss to another struggling team in the Colts. Yes, star back Leonard Fournette came back on the field and played after missing time with a nagging hamstring injury, but the Jags started slowly and lost their fifth-straight. They just couldn't get themselves going in the right direction at all and were outplayed late by the Colts, a team that hasn't been as on their game this year either. Jacksonville had better start to get their things figured out and fast. With how well Houston has played over the last month and a half, Jacksonville is digging itself into a bigger hole.

Best:
Ben Roethlisberger , Quarterback Pittsburgh Steelers
It might start getting to that point in the season when the Steelers are hitting their stride. Big Ben was on his game on this day, going 22 of 25 for 328 yards and five touchdowns. He was nearly perfect in the pass game and didn't turn the ball over once. You knew it was going to be a good day for Ben when, on the first play of the game, 75-yard precision strike to JuJu Smith-Schuster. Ben spread the ball around to his receivers and backs and kept Carolian off balance all night Thursday night. Big Ben was a big reason that Pittsburgh ripped off a rapid-fire 24-0 run to kickstart the game, ultimately staking a 52-21 dominating victory.

Worst:
Todd Bowles, Head Coach New York Jets
I think it's finally time to blow it up with this Jets coaching staff. Its bad enough you get beat 41-10 in the NFL. It makes things worse when you get beat by one of the worst teams in the game in the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo hadn't come close to hitting that in the three weeks combined prior to this contest. This was a Buffalo team quarterbacked by Matt Barkley of all people, who hadn’t played in a game since 2016. This was at home. An offensive lineman, Dion Dawkins, caught a touchdown. Bowles is a defensive specialist and this loss was inexcusable. The Jets fell to 3-7 and Bowles plummeted to 23-35 in three-plus seasons with the team. The Jets even said how unprepared they were going into this game and that falls on the coaching staff. Bowles signed his death sentence as coach of this team with this performance. He'll be gone by the end of the year.

Best:
Aaron Jones, Running Back, Green Bay Packers
Packers fans have been wanting to see Aaron Jones featured more in the Green bay offense for some time now. Sunday, Packers fans got their wish. Green Bay pulled out a 31-12 win over the Dolphins and Jones was a big reason for that. On Green Bay's first offensive possession, Jones accounted for 54 of the 70 yards gained. Again, that was just the first drive of the day. By the time all was said and done for the day, Jones racked up 172 total yards and scored two touchdowns on 18 touches. He’s clearly the best back on the roster, and he deserves to be heavily featured for the rest of the year. Packers fans have finally gotten their wish with this guy getting the touches.

Worst:
New England Patriots
New England got embarrassed by the Titans on Sunday, falling 34-10 to Tennessee. This was one of the worst offensive performances from the Pats all season long, and it was due in large part to interior pass pressure. Coach Mike Vrabel and defensive coordinator Dean Pees, both former players in New England, dialed up constant pressure in Brady’s face. Tennessee was able to sack Brady four times and hitting him six more. New England was shell shocked most of the day and weren't able to adjust as things moved along during the afternoon. New England is entering their bye week, which will be a good thing for them because it will be a good way to collect themselves and get ready to take on the Jets thanksgiving weekend. Now that both KC and Pittsburgh seemed to have found their stride, New England is going to have a hard time getting home field in the playoffs.

Best:
Eric Ebron, Tight End Indianapolis Colts
The Colts needed a big day on Sunday, they needed somebody to step their game up. They got that in the form of Tight End Eric Ebron. Indy scored four touchdowns on the day Sunday, in their 29-26 win over the Jags, and he factored into three of those scores. He finished with three catches for 69 yards and those scores. Ebron opened the game with a 53-yard score, roasting Jacksonville’s once-vaunted defense. But he wasn’t even remotely close to being done, adding in a two-yard score on a sweep and hauled in a 12-yard pass for his third score of the game. And he did all that in the game’s first 19 minutes. It sucks that the Colts couldn't build off that, as they were held off the scoreboard in the 2nd half, which makes Ebron's performance look even bigger in this game.

Worst:
Atlanta Falcons
This had to be a game that the Falcons had to win. They came in on a three game winning streak and the offense had been killing it as of late. The only downside is that the injury bug had started to hit this team pretty good on the defensive side of the ball and it was starting to show. That defense got lit up by the Cleveland Browns and their two talented young rookies, as noted above. It's bad enough that this defense gave up 427 yards of total offense. It was made worse by the fact that it was the Browns of all teams and the fact that Baker Mayfield was nearly perfect on the afternoon. Without a defense, these Falcons aren’t going to make noise in the postseason. And with a record of 4-5, a playoff berth might not even be there anyway.

Best:
Drew Brees, Quarterback New Orleans Saints
One week after handing the Rams their first loss of the season, new Orleans looked to keep on rolling along. There was some thought that this might be a bit of a letdown game, because of how big the win last week was. Well there wasn't much of a letdown, as the Saints hung 51 points on the Bengals. Drew Brees kept things rolling along and added another notch to his Hall of fame resume. Brees went 22 of 25 for 265 yards and three touchdowns and scored once more on the ground. With the three passing scores, the future Hall of Famer passed legend Brett Favre on the all-time touchdown passes list to move into second place behind only Peyton Manning. Now that he has 509 career touchdowns in his back pocket, Manning’s mark of 539 doesn’t seem out of reach. Congrats to Brees for adding another mark to his legacy

Worst:
Ryan Fitzpatrick Quarterback Tampa Bay Buccaneers
As bad as this guy was on Sunday, it should in no way, shape or form be a reason to go back to Jameis Winston, who's been worst than Fitzy. Sticking with Fitzpatrick the rest of the season would be the smartest move the Bucs make all year at the QB position. Now, with that being said, Fitzpatrick looked horrible on Sunday as the Bucs fell 16-3 to the Redskins. Fitzpatrick threw for over 400 yards, in fact it was 406 in total. But it was on 29 completions on 41 attempts. He couldn't throw a touchdown and was picked off twice. Tampa turned the ball over four times and Fitz was responsable for three of them. Plus they couldn't get it done when it mattered most in the Red Zone. Tampa is shooting itself in the foot with these kind of mistakes.

Best & Worst Of NFL Week Nine

Nine weeks are down in the NFL Season and a lot went down this past weekend. There was a lot to talk about this weekend too. Sure there were some bad games, like the one in Miami, but that was more than made up for by the performances in both New Orleans and New England. Julio Jones still does know how to get back into the end zone, the Rams are in fact human after all, San Francisco may have something under center and the Chargers are getting their footing underneath them. Lets get right into it. Here's the best and worst from week nine in the National Football League.

Best:
New Orleans Saints Offense
The New Orleans Saints have done it. They are the first team to knock off the Los Angeles Rams this season. It what was, beyond a shadow of a doubt game of the week and possibly an NFC Championship game preview, the Saints pulled out a 45-35 win. The Saints offense was effective on another level this week, going five for five on trips to the red zone. Their three biggest weapons acted like it in this win. Brees threw for 350 yards and four touchdowns. Alvin Kamara had three touchdowns on his own, rushed for 82 yards and had another 34 receiving yards. Then there was Michael Thomas who had 10 catches for 211 yards on the day. This game could go a long way to possibly setting up home field advantage for the playoffs and if the Saints play at the Superdome all the way through the post season, they're really going to be hard to beat.

Worst:
New York Jets Offense
This game was embarrassing to watch. Miami beat the Jets 13-6, with both teams playing horrible football. The only touchdown in this game came from a pick six thrown by Sam Darnold, who had his worst start as a pro against Miami. Darnold has seemed to really regress the last three weeks, throwing just two touchdowns and SEVEN picks. He's thrown 14 picks on the year now, which is the most in the NFL. Center Spencer Long was bad at snapping the ball to Darnold and shouldn't have been in the game for as long has he was. I know he had a broken middle finger, which could be a reason why the snaps were bad. But if he was hurt like that then why was he even playing? No run game, no pass game, the offense for the Jets was just a dumpster fire on Sunday.

Best:
Nick Mullens, Quarterback San Francisco 49ers
Talk about a good way to welcome yourself into the league. San Francisco put a pounding on Oakland on Thursday night, to the tune of a 34-3 victory. Nick Mullens was given the chance to start for the 49ers and he took full advantage of it. He finished the night going 16 of 22 for 262 yards and three touchdown passes. Nobody had ever heard of the guy before the start of action Thursday night and then he goes out there and launches three TD passes against Oakland. Now I know the Raiders are a bad team this year but still that's pretty impressive. Three TD passes and a win in your first NFL start. Not bad at all. Looks like Mullens maybe the starter the rest of the way for the Niners.

Worst:
Russel Wilson, Quarterback Seattle Seahawks
In what was a very close game on Sunday between the Seahawks and Chargers, it came down to one mistake could cost you the game. That's what happened for Seattle. it was the only turnover in the Chargers 25-17 win over the Seahawks and it was Seattle QB Russel Wilson who made the mistake. Seattle had the ball trailing 19-10 midway through the fourth quarter. After a couple of successful runs to set up first down at their own 36-yard line, Wilson committed a rookie mistake, staring down his first read and throwing to a predetermined spot. Desmond King read Wilson like an open book, pounced in front of the pass and took it to the house for six points. Seattle did turn things around and score on their next drive to get right back into the game, but had a couple of dropped passes late that sealed the win for the Chargers. Wilson's misread of the defense on that one bad pass cost Seattle a chance at a victory.

Best:
Norv Turner, Offensive Coordinator Carolina Panthers
Turner came in this past offseason to take over and Carolina seems to have turned it around. They pulled off a dominating 43-28 win over the Bucs. Turner has done wonders for Carolina, having found ways to get the ball into the hands of the Panthers playmakers. Christian McCaffrey had himself a day as he racked up 157 yards and two touchdowns. Greg Olsen is involved heavily again as well, having six catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. Cam Newton threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns. Granted, this was the Bucs. But the past two weekends we’ve seen Carolina drop a combined 78 points on Baltimore and Tampa Bay. That’s going to win some games. Carolina looks like they're on the right track on offense the way Norv's got them going at the moment.

Worst:
Dirk Kotter, Head Coach Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Talk about a team going into a tailspin. The Bucs now sit at 3-5 following a 43-28 loss to to the Panthers. He benched his franchise QB after last week's disaster, got rid of his offensive coordinator, that hasn't worked. He even tried to go for a fake punt on the Tampa 26 yard line during the game, which ended in disaster. Nothing seems to be going right for the Bucs at the moment. Turnovers are still a big issue for Tampa Bay, as the Bucs committed two more on Sunday and didn’t force any by Carolina. Tampa has the worst turnover margin in the league at a horrible minus-15. Koetter looks more and more like a head coach whose job is in danger. The way things are going, he won't be around at the end of the year in Tampa, as the Bucs need to get it together to save their coaches job.

Best:
James Conner, Running Back Pittsburgh Steelers
There had been some thoughts as to whether or not the Steelers could make it without Le'Von Bell in their lineup. Well James Conner is proving more and more that he's more than capable of picking up the slack. Pittsburgh walked away with a 23-16 win over the Ravens and Conner was one of the main reasons for that. Conner picked up 107 yards on 24 carries, and wasn't done there, hauling in seven passes for 56 yards. The running back also hauled in a touchdown reception, earning a place in franchise history as the fastest Steelers player to reach 10 career touchdowns. Conner is showing the rest of the league what he already knows, that he's a great back and is worth getting all the touches he's been getting. He's good. Really good.

Worst:
Adrian Peterson Running Back Washington Redskins
When the Redskins are going, Adrian Peterson is usually the reason for it. Just look at the last three games for the Skins. All wins for Washington and Peterson piled up 360 yards and two touchdowns. They went up against Atlanta, a team that's one of the worst rushing defenses in all of the league. This week, in their 38-14 win over the Redskins, they held the Washington run game in check. Peterson was a ghost on Sunday, gaining a total of 33 yards on 12 touches and was a non-factor. It's tough to watch at times a guy who was considered one of the premier backs in all of football. If Washington wants to have any hope of staying on top in the division, AP needs to get his game back together again.

Gold Gloves Awarded

Its that time of the year for Baseball. Award season is here and it starts with handing out a lot of gold. The Gold Glove awards were handed out on Tuesday. By definition, the award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both leagues, as voted by the managers and coaches in each league. Some names that will pop up sound familiar to fans, while others are on this list for the first time. Here's who walked away with the hardware.

American League:
Catcher: Salvador Perez, Royals (5th)
1st Base: Matt Olson, Athletics (1st)
2nd Base: Ian Kinsler, Angels/Red Sox (2nd)
Shortstop: Andrelton Simmons, Angels (4th)
3rd Base: Matt Chapman, Athletics (1st)
Left Field: Alex Gordon, Royals (6th)
Center Field: Jackie Bradley Jr. (1st)
Right Field: Mookie Betts, Red Sox (3rd)
Pitcher: Dallas Keuchel, Astros (4th)

Like we said, a few new faces showing up on this list. Matt Olsen and Matt Chapman coming out from Oakland at the Hot Corners snag the first of their careers. Olsen had 14 defensive runs saved and had himself a very solid year in his first full season in the Majors. He was so good he beat out Mitch Morleand and Justin Smoak for the award. And when you beat out Alex Bregman and Jose Ramirez for the gold glove at third base, you'd better have had a good year. Matt Chapman did that, with not only 29 defensive runs saved but he made highlight reel plays on almost every single night. Other then that, none of the winners in the gold glove department come as a surprise in the AL.

National League:
Catcher: Yadier Molina, Cardinals (9th)
1st Base: Anthony Rizzo, Cubs (2nd) and Freddie Freeman, Braves (1st)
2nd Base: DJ LeMahieu, Rockies (3rd)
Shortstop: Nick Ahmed, Diamondbacks (1st)
3rd Base: Nolan Arenado, Rockies (6th)
Left Field: Corey Dickerson, Pirates (1st)
Center Field: Ender Inciarte, Braves (3rd)
Right Field: Nick Markakis, Braves (3rd)
Pitcher: Zack Greinke, Diamondbacks (5th)

A little surprised to see a tie in the National League for the gold glove. First base saw a tie between Rizzo and Freeman, the fourth time ever we've had a tie for a gold glove. Both guys were stellar at first base with bats in their hands and played a solid all around game on defense, which is why they snatched the hardware. Nick Ahmed and Corey Dickerson were the only first time winners in the NL. Ahmed tied Simmonds with 21 defensive runs saved at shortstop, the most in the majors for that position. With Dickerson in left field for the Pirates, he was able to get to baseballs that a lot of other players weren't really able to get to. he was playing the position at a level that was slightly above the rest, which is why he grabbed the award in Left.

So what do you think, did they get it right?

Meet The Mets New GM

Things might start to be on the up and up for the New York Mets. At least that's what it looks like on paper right now. In a press conference on Tuesday, the Mets introduced Brodie van Wagenen as the 13th in the history of the club. Van Wagenen comes from the world of baseball agent to the world of baseball general manager. It's a demanding and high pressure job in one of the most demanding sports markets in all the world.

Brodie does have a ;little bit of baseball experience. He played baseball at Stanford in 1993 and 1994 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in communication in 1996. His biggest claim to fame in the business as a baseball agent was getting the sparkling $75 million contract for Yoenis Cespedes that the Mets signed him to.== Oh yeah, he also made Robinson Cano the second ever $200 million man when Cano signed with the Mariners a few years back. He has a working knowledge of baseball, and the market with which the players run on. But this is where it gets interesting.

I'm sure that Brodie can get the job done, but it does feel odd seeing him hired to run this baseball team. He's coming from the world of sports agent, his former company being responsible for representing Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndeergard and Yoenis Cespeds, among others. This leads to a point of contention for Van Wagenen in his new role. You see, as an agent, Brodie’s chief concern was maximizing his client’s worth and making them as much money as they can get on the market. Now, as a GM, he must find a way to make the player happy and also do what’s financially best for the organization.

It puts him in a unique position. I'm hoping his knowledge and experience as an agent can give him a different insight into running a team as a GM. He knows what the players are looking for when they go into negotiations and free agency and what not. I think that might give him a step up as to what to do when it comes to the table. At the same time it can be a down side because he's never had the experience of running a baseball team from a management position. I'm sure that having Omar Minaya as one of his senior advisors will be a big help.

Van Wagenen has shown he's been able to get the big players the big bucks. If the Mets ever open up the wallets and get the cash to actually spend on players and build a solid team, he could be a good guy to lead the charge in the front office. Will this actually work? Stay Tuned!

Best & Worst Of NFL Week Eight

Week eight has come and gone in the National Football League. It was kind of an indication that things were going to get weird this week when four Jaguars players were involved in a bar fight before their matchup with the Eagles. There were a lot of other things going on this week as well. Bell still a no show with the Steelers. Major changes came for both Tampa Bay and Cleveland. Playoff races are starting to take shape, as are the teams gunning for the first overall pick in next years draft. Patrick Mahomes is staking a claim for MVP while Adrian Peterson still finds a way to defy time. All that and more went down in week eight. With that being said, here's some of the best and worst from the week that was.

Best:
James Conner, Running Back Pittsburgh Steelers
Some felt that not having Le'Von Bell in the Steelers lineup would end up hurting them. It hasn't. As a matter of fact, with the way James Conner has been playing to this point, the Steelers don't miss bell at all it seems. In Pittsburgh's 33-18 win over the Browns, Conner went off again. He finished with 24 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Oh yeah, he also added 66 more yards on five receptions through the receiving game. Its a total of 212 yards of offense from one guy. The numbers through the first eight games are really eye popping. Conner now has 922 yards and nine touchdowns on the season and is on pace to finish with 2,107 yards and 20 touchdowns. To say he's feeling it would be an understatement

Worst:
Ty Montgomery, Running Back Green Bay Packers
This proved to be Ty's last game in a Packers uniform. The Rams pulled out a 29-27 win over the Packers and Green Bay was looking good in this game too. Their defense held this high powered Rams offense to under 30 points and just 5.5 yards per play.  the rams scored t a touchdown to take the lead with just about two minutes left. Los Angeles kicked off to Ty Montgomery who could have let the ball go out the endzone for a touchback. He was even told by the coaches if he caught the ball to take a knee in the endzone and not waste the clock. He didn't listen. Ty caught the ball, ran it out and then fumbled the ball on the return, and the game was over. I know its easier said than done but come on man. Know the situation my boy!

Best:
Josh Rosen, Quarterback Arizona Cardinals
It's a year of firsts for rookie quarterbacks. Josh Rosen just got his first fourth quarter comeback victory. Down by 12 points after Robbie Gould kicked a field goal early in the fourth quarter, Rosen led the Cardinals on two touchdown-scoring drives, including one that put them ahead for good with just 34 seconds left on the clock. The rookie showed guts and heart, and got the Cardinals out of the NFC West basement in the process. It wasn’t always pretty, but it was a huge first step that shows he’s capable of much, much more. Sure it was against another bad team in the 349ers but hey a win is a win, no matter how you get it.

Worst:
Jameis Winston, Quarterback Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I'm sure this isn't the way Winston wanted to end his day on Sunday. The Bucs fell to the Bengals 37-34 and despite the efforts of Winston, almost pulled off the comeback. Winston was horrible, going 18 of 35 for 276 yards, throwing for one touchdown. He was picked off four times and sacked another five times. One of those picks was an embarrassing pick six that looked to hand the Bengals the game. To make matters worse, Winston's future as starter of the team this year just went up in the air. Once Fitzpatrick took over, this Tampa offense showed a lot more life. After the pick-six, Cincinnati was up 34-16. Fitzpatrick tied the game up with three scoring drives in the final 17 minutes of the game before the Bengals won it on a field goal as time expired. How the Bucs can go back to him is a myster, if they want to have any chance at all of salvaging this year.

Best:
Jared Geoff, Quarterback Los Angeles Rams
Hats off to Geoff for hanging in there against Green Bay. We talked about Ty's mishap that cost the Packers the game, but lets not forget about the performance that Geoff put in for this two point Rams win. He finished the day going 19 of 35 for 295 yards and three touchdowns. What really stood out about Geoff in this performance is that he was sacked five times in this game, FIVE TIMES, by that Green Bay defense. He still hung in there, took his lumps, got back up and scored touchdowns. That comeback win kept the Rams undefeated on the season and Geoff had himself a day. Yes Todd Gurley was a factor in this game, but this performance by Geoff really tested his mental and physical toughness and he passed with flying colors.

Worst
Joe Flacco, Quarterback Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore has fallen back to .500 at 4-4 following the tough 36-21 loss to the Panthers on Sunday and Joe Flacco had a bad day. Flacco threw two really bad interceptions, and his lone touchdown went to a running back. He finished the day going just 22 of 39 passes for 192 yards against a defense that allowed an average of 275 passing yards per game before Sunday. Making matters worse, depending on how you look at it, rookie Lamar Jackson looked fantastic after he replaced Flacco. Jackson threw for 46 yards and a touchdown on just five attempts. Not only is Baltimore back to .500 but they are just barley above the Cleveland Browns in the division, which is sad to think about really. Flacco needs to get this thing figured out if they want to stand any chance at all of coming back in this division.

Best:
Saints Revenge
This game, in every sense of the word, was payback for the Minnesota Miracle game. New Orleans pulled out a 30-20 win over Minnesota, in Minnesota no less. Drew Brees has been playing great, but it's so much more then him on a roll right now as to why the Saints can be viewed as one of the top teams in the league at the moment. Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram are back at providing a one two punch in the backfield, combining for 26 carries, 108 rush yards and a touchdown from Kamara. With those two guys going, once they get their legs under them as a tandam again, makes the Saints even more dangerous. Defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins and defensive end Marcus Davenport each had two sacks, and the secondary is limiting explosive plays. What happens with the Saints and Rams coming up could go a long way in determining home field in the playoffs.

Worst:
49ers Decision Making
It was a battle of the bad between the 49ers and Cards on Sunday, with Arizona walking away with an 18-15 win. San Francisco did whatever it could do to shoot itself in the foot and give this game away. Matt Breida had a bad ankle going into the game and should never have been playing and it showed. He rushed for just 42 yards against the 2nd worst rush defense in the league. The other two backs combined for 46 yards on eight carries, which wasn't a whole lot better. It goes from bad to worse for the 49ers as they got too conservative on both sides of the ball. It allowed the Cardinals to get back into, and ultimately, win the game. Can't take your foot off the gas pedal in this sport.

Best:
Adam Vinatieri, Kicker Indianapolis Colts
It's a lock that Adam Vinatieri is headed for Canton Ohio when he finally decides to call it a career. He's been setting records already this year for the most career field goals made in NFL history. Going into Sunday's game against the Raiders, which the Colts won 42-28, Vinatieri needed just five points to become the league's all time leading scorer. He finished with two field goals and four extra points for a total of ten points. It gave Vinatieri a total of 2,550 points, breaking Morten Andersen's old record of 2,544 points. It adds another milestone to his legendary career which not too many will come close to being able to touch. Congrats Adam!

Worst:
Hue Jackson, Head Coach Cleveland Browns
It's bad enough that the Browns got spanked by the Steelers, we talked about it earlier. It's now made worse when it cost Hue Jackson his job. After starting the year 2-5-1 this season, it put Jackson's coaching record at 336-1 during his time running the Browns, the worst mark by far of any team in the league. I don't know if its his coaching, or the lack of talent he has around him or what it was but the fact that Browns suck as bad as they do. Cleveland needed a fall guy for how bad things have gone with this team and it just happened to fall on the shoulders of the coach. Sorry HUe but you now got to look for work.

Red Sox Rule Baseball

Winning 108 regular season games was just the tip of the iceberg for the 2018 Boston Red Sox. By the time the dust settled, Boston had completed a five game series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving the Red Sox their 9th World Series title in franchise history. In this five game series, Boston proved why it had been one of baseball's most dominating teams all season long. It took pitching help from the starters having to come out of the pen for Boston, but they got the job done in the series.

When the series kicked off in Boston, Andrew Benintendi and J. D. Martinez drove in the first two runs in the series and they never looked back, coming away with an 8-4 win. They followed it up with a 4-2 in game two. Once the series switched to Los Angeles for game three, it was turned into an instant classic. Los Angeles pulled out their only win in an instant classic. Max Muncy was the hero, hitting a walk off home run in the 18th inning of a 7 hour 20 minute marathon. It was not only a 3-2 win for the Dodgers, but it appeared to give them life in the series. This game made history, as it actually lasted longer than an entire Series. The 1939 World Series between the New York Yankees and Cincinnati Reds took 7 hours and 5 minutes, while game three took 7 hours and 20 minutes.

You'd like to think that this series would go back in the Dodgers favor. Boston shook it off and came away with a 9-6 win in game four. They closed out the series with a dominating 5-1 win in game five to seal the series. Steve Pearce had himself a series, claiming MVP honors hitting .333 in the series with three home runs (including two in game five) and drove in eight runs, with a 1.167 slugging percentage. Pearce joins Mike Lowell, Manny Ramariez and David Ortiz as the only Red Sox players to win Series MVP. Pearce belting those two home runs in game five, putting him in the books with Babe Ruth and Ted Kluszewski as the only players 35 or older to have a multi-homer World Series game.

Another interesting side note is that Chris Sale becomes the 9th pitcher in history to record the first and last out in a World Series. The others are Babe Adams (1909), Ernie Shore (1916), Art Nehf (1922), Waite Hoyt (1928), Lefty Gomez (1937), Paul Derringer (1940), Spud Chandler (1943), and Hal Newhouser (1945).

And look at what the Red Sox had to do to claim this title. They defeated a 100 win team in the Yankees in the ALDS, then beat a 103 win club in the defending world champion Astros in the ALCS. Then to cap it off, they beat the back to back National League champion Dodgers. In the 14 games that Boston played in the playoffs, they lost only three times all playoffs long, which is saying something. After all the totaling was done, Boston finished this season with a 119-57 record.

Now you can't take anything away from what the Dodgers did. They've won the NL West for the 6th year in a row and made the World Series in back to back years. They just ran into a really good team in Boston. They had the pitching going all series long. Price was great all series, posting a 1/98 ERA in three games, while Joe Kelly was perfect in the series. The hitting was just as good for the Red Sox, who came up with big hits when they needed them.

Congratulations to the Red Sox, their ninth title in team history!