AL East Position Matchup: Third Baseman

Posted on February 16, 2012 by TOB$

Today, we are going to move over to the hot corner. Two different ends of the spectrum at third base, with the up-and-coming stars in Evan Longoria and Brett Lawrie and the declining talents of Alex Rodriguez and Kevin Youkilis. Also, we have the “Greek God of Walks” in Kevin Youkilis and also the Strikeout King, Mark Reynolds.

For Other AL East Position Rankings: Catcher– 1st Baseman– 2nd Baseman

Here are the rankings for third base:

1. Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
2. Brett Lawrie, Toronto Blue Jays
3. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
4. Kevin Youkilis, Boston Red Sox
5. Mark Reynolds, Baltimore Orioles

These rankings were tough, especially after Longoria in the first slot. Every single player, Longoria included, has something to be criticized about. Evan Longoria has been one of the top third basemen since his monster rookie season in 2008, where he had a .272 AVG/27 HR/85 RBI line in 122 games. Year after year, we have seen great production out of the young superstar, but he hasn’t had a full year showcasing ALL of his skills. In 2010, he effectively lowered his strikeouts and maintained a good average, but his power was down (only hit 22 HR in 151 games). In 2011, he regained his power stroke hitting 31 HR’s in 133 games, but his average dipped to .244. Despite these issues, Longoria has the talent to maintain his position as the top third baseman in the AL East.

Most Sox fans are probably wondering who Brett Lawrie is, and why the hell is rated above A-Rod and YOUUUK. Brett Lawrie was one the top prospects in the Brewers coveted farm system a few years ago, until he was traded for Shaun Marcum in December 2010. Lawrie was a former catcher, turned second baseman, turned now third baseman. He displays pure athleticism on the field, which has helped him in his transistion between positions in the minors. His bat has never been questioned throughout his short career. Although he was said to be major league ready after camp last year with the Blue Jays, they decided to give him more time to work on his glove at the hot corner in Triple A. Lawrie was called up to the bigs on August 5th and made an immediate impact, hitting 6 home runs in his first month. In 150 major league at bats, Lawrie ended up with a .293 average, .373 OBP, and 9 HR’s. He figures to be a major part of the Blue Jays offense, currently projected to hit in the 6 spot in a dangerous lineup. I was skeptical to give him the two spot in the rankings, but his potential, coupled with the injury problems of A-Rod and Youk gave me the green light on this ranking. I also think this guy has a little bit of Gronk in him. He was said to have attitude issues in Milwaukee and openly has pictures of himself drinking and doing “Edward FortyHands” online. His “don’t give a shit” attitude should help him in dealing with some of the increased attention he will get with his elite ability. I don’t see him being as effective as his short major league stint indicates, as most 22 year olds are bound to experience some issues in the first few years in the bigs, but Lawrie will soon become a household name for any AL East fan.

Next up are the walking wounded. With all due respect to Alex Rodriguez (although I don’t believe he deserves much) and Kevin Youkilis, it is quite obvious both are in the “decline” stages of their careers. Due to his incredible past, A-Rod gets the three ranking and seriously contended for second. It was just too hard to justify him above the rising Lawrie. His major league record streak of 13 straight seasons with over 30 home runs and 100 RBI’s ended abruptly last year. He has battled with numerous different injuries in the past four seasons (missed at least 20 games each season and 150 games total). I do see A-Rod making a bit of a comeback, but he has lost a lot of bat speed in the past few years and can’t make pitchers pay for a bad fastball as consistently as he used to.

Kevin Youkilis is more of the same. It seems like every year Sox fans are talking about “If Youk was healthy…” this and that, we’d be such a better team, a more dangerous lineup, etc. At some point, we need to expect him to get injured. Despite his unusual .258 BA last year, he is a great batter and the “Greek God of Walks,” but he is a liability at third base, where he is not nearly as good a fielder there as he is at 1st Base. I love having him in the lineup and he’s just as much the face of the franchise as Dusty, but he has constantly been getting injured in the past few years. I’m expecting a bounce back year for Youk with around a .300 BA, 20-25 HR, 90-100 RBI and of course his .400 OBP. And I, along with every other fan in Red Sox nation, hope that he stays healthy throughout the year and is good to go for a playoff push in September.

Lastly, we have the Strikeout King, Mark Reynolds of Baltimore. In the past four years, Mark’s home run’s look like this: 28, 44, 32, 37. Along with the good comes the bad, Mark’s strikeout numbers look like this: 204, 223, 211, 196. His average also looks like this: .239, .260, .198, .221. Pretty sure the averages and strikeouts speak for themselves. Yes, Reynold’s is a good power hitter, but as a manager I would never want his mentality of “swing for the fences” every at bat on my team. That being said, Reynold’s always brings fear into opposing pitcher’s and fan’s late in the game due to his big play potential.

It will be very interesting to see how this years young stars at third base end up matching up against the aging (and injured) stars of the AL East.

For Catcher rankings: click here.
For First Basemen rankings: click here.
For Second Basemen rankings: click here.

Celtics Bulls Preview

Posted on February 16, 2012 by leibo4

The Celtics (15-13) look to take on the Chicago Bulls (24-7) in a rematch of last Sunday where the Celtics came on top 95-91. The Celtics are coming off of a surprising loss to the Detroit Pistons last night while the Bulls are coming off of an easy win over the Sacramento Kings. The Bulls are likely to be without both Richard Hamilton and Derrick Rose. Rose has missed the last four games with a back injury. With Derrick Rose out, C.J. Watson, Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, and Luol Deng have all taken over bigger scoring roles. The Bulls are 6-2 this season when Derrick Rose does not play. For the Celtics, Kevin Garnett, Mickael Pietrus, and Jermaine O’Neal are all day-to-day, while Brandon Bass is out until after the All-Star break with swelling in his knee. Both Pietrus and O’Neal played last night. Kevin Garnett sat out last night with a hip flexor, although Doc did say that he looked great in the morning shootaround. The Celtics are 4-5 on the road this season while the Bulls are 10-1 at home. If the Celtics are to win, expect Rondo to have another big night. He had 35 and 32 points in the last two games while pushing the pace for the Celtics to create somewhat of a new identity for the team.

Tune in at 8:00 tonight on TNT to watch the Celts take on the Bulls.

Celtics Pistons Recap

Posted on February 16, 2012 by leibo4

The Celtics lost for the third time in four games against the Detroit Pistons Wednesday 98-88. Ben Gordon was the difference as he came off the bench for 22 points, including a 4-6 effort from 3 in the fourth quarter to put away the Celtics. Kevin Garnett sat out the game with a sore left hip, Chris Wilcox started in his place. The Celtics were outscored 25-16 in the fourth quarter as the Pistons pulled away by going on a 14-4 run to start the fourth quarter on the backing of 3 quick Gordon 3’s. Rondo finished the night with 35 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals, but was held without a basket and only put up one shot during the 14-4 run.

Chris Wilcox shot 8-12 from the field and had 17-9 in his spot-start for KG. Jermaine O’Neal in his first game back from the injured shoulder had 1 point, 2 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Jujuan Johnson had 10 points in 25 minutes but seems to be a step outside his comfort range. Ray only had 8 free throws in the first quarter and one basket in the second, he finished with 10 points. Rodney Stuckey, Greg Monroe and Ben Gordon scored 69 out of the Pistons 98 points.

Extra Notes

Doc said that Kevin Garnett looked “great” in the morning shootaround; Bill Russell was in the stands for the game; Rondo and Wilcox had two more alley-oops last night; the Celtics play the Pistons again at Detroit this Sunday; from ESPN.com, the Celtics have held their last 26 opponents under 100 points. Other than Ben Gordon, the Pistons scored 7 points from their bench.

Avery Bradley Alert

Avery played nine minutes last night and was largely ineffective from the floor. He left Gordon wide open for a 3 and was immediately pulled in the fourth. Hopefully he’ll have a bounce back game against the Bulls.

The Celtics play the Bulls tonight at 8:00 PM in Chicago. Look for a preview later on today.

Lin It to Win It

Posted on February 16, 2012 by jtulz07

Linsanity is sweeping the nation, no doubt about it. Cliche “Lin” words aside, us here in Boston find ourselves with a soft spot for this guy from the Knicks. Who doesn’t love an underdog story? Even Doc Rivers had kind words for Lin, stating, “It’s a good thing; It’s a good lesson for everyone: If you want some attention, go win.”

Nons wrote an article on Lin yesterday (I know, surprise right?) titled “A New Tebow”, although he never really compared the two. But that’s my point. They shouldn’t be compared. They’re two completely different stories. The sole thing they have in common is that the media is going crazy over them, making them the topic of conversation every three minutes on every sports network in the country. Tebow won two national championships in college. Lin barely made the Harvard squad. Tebow’s form and mechanics in pretty much every aspect of the quarterback position have been in question from day one of his professional career, probably even prior. Lin has a mixture of speed, knowledge, and a court vision that makes him a great point guard. Not to mention a jumper that makes him a threat from the outside, leaving defenders on their toes at all times. You don’t see anyone complimenting Tebow on his skill set at the QB spot. Before last week, no one knew who Lin was. A true underdog. Now, he’s making national, even global headlines in the NBA. As a Boston fan I’m eager to see Lin’s progress moving forward against the likes of Miami and Chicago. And you might want to mark down March 4th on your calendar. Lin and the Knicks are shipping up to Boston.

Bruins-Habs Recap

Posted on February 16, 2012 by amazze

Not the prettiest of wins, but I’ll take it. The Bruins pulled out a 4-3 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens last night with Tyler Seguin netting the only goal of the shootout. This game was almost another mid-2000s vintage Bruins collapse after they squandered a 3-1 lead in the 3rd period thanks to some less than stellar goaltending. Ference, Pouliot and Bergeron had the tallies for the B’s. Both Pouliot’s and Berg’s goals were impressive. Take a look at Pouliot’s goal below, a definite undressing of Habs defenseman Chris Campoli, followed by Doc Emrick going nuts.There are 5 games left on this current road trip, starting in Winnipeg tomorrow night.

TCU Not So Christian-like

Posted on February 16, 2012 by christoph131

Four TCU players have been arrested on drug charges in the past two days. A few of their star defenders have been caught by undercover officers in a sting that has been occurring over the last 6 months. At first, the officer was just buying small amounts of Marijuana, and then he moved onto larger quantities and harder drugs. They have been arrested on charges in distributing Marijuana, Cocaine, Ecstasy, and Prescription Drugs.

The reason why these players got caught was because of parents and other students complaining. Everyone seemed to know that this was going on except for the coaches. Even a recruit said that he did not want to attend the University because of their extreme drug use. Apparently, only about 20 players on the whole team were able to pass a drug test. There were 17 students total that have been kicked out of Texas Christian University. They are moving to the Big 12 conference next season and hopefully this won’t affect them too much.

Bruins Stopped by King Henrik

Posted on February 15, 2012 by amazze

After a big shootout win vs. the Predators, the Bruins could not follow-up with a similar performance against the conference-leading Rangers, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. The B’s sent 42 shots on net and Lundqvist turned aside every last one of them. The Rangers however were able to get three past Tim Thomas. Claude Julien said his team needs to get back to their game, “checking and scoring” and right now they are doing neither of those things. The Rangers beat the Bruins at their own game, taking advantage of mistakes and winning the individual battles. Right now scoring has been hit or miss for this squad, they need more consistency. Maybe that comes in the form of a trade or hopefully someone steps up and fills the void.

In other news Brad Marchand was asked by SI why he wasn’t featured in the Bruins championship DVD. His response: “[After the Cup, linemate Tyler Seguin] and I went on a bit of a tear, partying pretty much every night for a while.” Essentially, he was too drunk to be interviewed. Vintage Marchand.

A New Tebow?

Posted on February 15, 2012 by nolankartholl

Well hello again everyone. Sorry I’ve been a little absent this month, and by absent I mean non existent, but the real world is upon me. Don’t worry, I’ll still sprinkle some articles in here and there, but I’ll sadly be the background of BSB as we emerge as one of the leading blogs in our field.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand, there may be a new Tebow among us. Jeremy Lin, the Harvard economics grad and new Knicks sensation, is currently the trend on ESPN and Twitter (see #linsanity). This guy is playing absolutely out of his mind and he’s on a team dominated by two prima donnas. With Melo out, this guy has taken the reigns and has totally overshadowed his only healthy counterpart, Amare Stoudamire. In his first five games, he’s accomplished something that no other player has ever done (average 20+ points and 7+ assists in his first five starts), and oh by the way, this guy is averaging 26.8 ppg and 8.5 assists in the last 6 games, all of which have been wins. In a season that was supposed to be a real breakout year for the Knicks (although I think the last 7 seasons were defined as that, too) it’s incredible to see a guy from the Ivy League put the team on his back.

This guy is solving the Global Debt Crisis by day and hitting game winning tres by night. God shouldn’t create people like this, it’s not fair. Either be incredibly athletic or extremely smart, not both (Shaq and Sir Charles Barkely being the ideal examples here).

Anyway, there has been rumor that this guy is the new Tebow because he is a new sensation who is winning. Floyd Mayweather made some pretty ignorant comments on twitter about Lin, only to be ripped by Spike Lee the next night – who I normally can’t stand but was 100% right. The big difference between Tebow and Lin is the fact that Lin is truly winning these games for his team. Tebow had the crutch of the defense to lean on and The Holy Spirit, meanwhile Lin has an injury riddled Knicks squad and lives in a city ruled by Satin.

Either way, this cat can ball. 6-0 in his first six starts, and he’s playing the same amount of minutes as Kobe and more than Lebron. Jeremy Lin is on the cusp of becoming the new Prince of NY (Jay Z is still the king, common son) and has given hope to the Madison Square Garden faithful.

Shaq Weighs In

Posted on February 15, 2012 by christoph131

It is impossible to not be compared to Shaq if you are Dwight Howard. First off you took his nickname “Superman”, and now you’re trying to leave Orlando for a bigger market team. Sure, Howard is the best center in a league that has seen the center position go with the wind. Who does he really have to compete with? Jermaine O’neal, Andrew Bynum? He has averaged 18.7 points in his career. Shaq averaged 23.7 and most of his lows were when he was injured or like a hundred years old. He also went against Olajuwan, Ewing, Mutombo, Robinson, & Mourning.

Howard will surely be a hall of famer, there’s no doubt about that, he is a great player. It is scary for the Orlando Magic to have to try to start from scratch if Howard does leave. He has given his agent permission to discuss deals with the Nets, Lakers, and the Mavs. I can understand why the Magic’s owner said he wouldn’t want to trade his franchise player, but why not get something for him? I know it is tough because he will most likely not sign an extension with any sub-par team, but at the very least you can get a fill in and get some draft picks.

Even Shaq has said that it would be a ‘travesty’ to lose Dwight, and they don’t really like each other. He thinks Orlando should try their best to entice him to stay by offering him the max contract, and bringing in players around him. Jameer Nelson & Reddick cannot win you championships as your #2 in this league, it’s too tough now. Plus, Orlando can offer him the biggest deal due to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. If he goes to a new team, he will not be able to make as much until his contract is re-negotiated down the road. I wouldn’t want to play for your Oompa Loompa coach either, but at least you are they key player on a playoff-contending team, with the assets to bring in even more help.

Bad Night For Ranked Teams