Can the Yanks keep this heet rolling?

The Yankees have a 4 game winning streak and they are pretty hot right now. With Brett Gardner's inside the park home run, Jeter's solo home run, Mark Teixeira's 3 run home run, and A-Rod's walk off home run the Yankees have a lot to work with and it would be nice to see them lengthen their winning streak from 4 to maybe the double digits. With Brian Bruney Returning and Jorge Posada not long after that the Yankees have a pretty solid team.

Hakeem Nicks

This is the first post in my player by player draft analyses

With the 29th pick in the first round the Giants selected the 6'1" Wide Receiver out of UNC, Hakeem Nicks who is coming out of his junior season where he caught 68 passes for 1222 yards and 12 TD's.

Great pick, in my opinion, it fills a huge hole in the Wide out position left by Plax and Amani. The only knock on the pick is that Jerry Reese didn't trade for a big time receiver like Braylon Edwards, or Anquain Boldin.

Hakeem Nicks is a great route running receiver who has huge great hands that can have a big impact in his rookie season especially since there is no star receiver on this team right now. He could be the number one receiver for the Giants this season and for years to come, with Steve Smith as the number 2.
The knock on him is that he doesn't have the speed to blow you away, but overall great pick.

What A Way To Come Back for Arod as the Yankees win 4-0

Derek Jeter started off the game with a ground out to the pitcher, Guthrie, that was followed by a pair of walks to Damon and Teixeira, then the first pitch of the season for Arod and Bam, a three run home run by Arod off the first pitch and swing in his first at bat of his first game of the season after beeing sidelined after leg surgery.

What a way to come back, and take the talk away from steroids, which was already quiter because of Manny Ramirez, and his failed drug tests that lead to steroids.

Arod stole the headlines from C.C. Sabathia who threw a complete game 4 hit shutout, C.C. showed everyone why he got the big contract over the off-season, while throwing 8 strikeouts and only 1 walk. The lossing streak is over at 5. Lets see if the Yanks can now start a winning one.

New Series means a New Life for the Yankees

Finally the terrible home stand is over, and the Yankees are going away. Normally it goes the other way around but it is a wierd season so far for the Yankees, who have lost 5 straight games all at the new ballpark.

Game 29

7:05 May 8 @ Baltimore

Probable Pitchers

Jeremy Guthrie, RHP (2-2, 5.05)

CC Sabathia, LHP (1-3, 4.85)

A Look at Next Season For the New Jersey Devils

The devils are coming off of a harsh defeat in the playoffs at the hands of the Huricanes but they should put it behind them and look forward towards the 2009-2010 season. They have a lot of good pieces and I wouldn't be surprised if I saw them in the Stanley Cup finals next year.

Lets take a look at some of the important players

Martan Brodeur: He is one of the best goalies in the NHL, he currently holds the record for most wins by a goalie and he is coming close to the record for most shut outs. His season was stalled due to a leg injury injury. He only played 28 regular season games this year, but in those 28 games he won 19 and lost 9 he had 870 saves in those games regular season and 239 in the playoffs. He is without a doubt a core asset to the Devils and will help a great deal next season.

Patric Elias: He the left wing and the alternate captain for New Jersey. He currently holds the franchise record for the devils all time goals scored with295 goals. He scored 31 goals this season and made 47 assists.

Zach Parise: He plays left wing for New Jersey scoring 45 goals and passing for 49 assists in the regular season. It is only his third season in the NHL and he is already really good, it will be interesting to see how good he can get.

Jamie LangenBrunner: He plays at right wing and is the captain of the Devils. He scored 29 goals and had 40 assists in the regular season, his sixth year on this NJ squad. He will be a major asset to the devils next season.

Brian Gionta: He also plays at right wing, and he scored 25 goals and has 40 assists in the regular season his sixth in the NHL.

Breaking News Arod is Coming Back Tomorrow

Arod is finally coming back from hip surgery, he will play in tomorrow night's game against the Orioles. He is coming back at a time where the Yanks need him most. They are coming off a 4 game losing streak, where they failed to score more than 4 runs in a single game.
Cody Ransom did a bad job filling in for him, although Ransom's replacement Ramiro Pena did played very well for a few games.
Anyway it's about time, hopefully his bat will do wonders for the lineup, and for the team.

Two hits won't cut it for Mark Teixeira

Mark Teixeira is known for his sub par Aprils, and this year's was as bad as any. This streak of unacceptable hitting has lingered over into the beginning of May, but we are seeing some good signs.
Of late he has been swinging the bat better, putting the ball all over the park and placing it just where it needs to be instead of just airing it out to the center fielder.
Yesterday we saw Tex get two hits, only his fifth multi hit game, including two in the last three games. He displayed his clutch ability with his eighth inning bases clearing 3 RBI double tying the game.
Although Mark Teixeira was able to save the game in the eighth he was not able to continue his clutch hitting to continue the game. He flied out short right field destroying a sac fly opportunity to tie the game by hitting the 2nd out. The score then remained the same the Yankees lost 3-4 to the TB Rays. All Yankee fans will continue to watch attentively as we wait for Tex's bat to wake up.

Whats wrong with the bullpen

It's 27 games into the season and the Yankees are 13-14, what is going on?

Well, a number of things have gone wrong, like Chien- Ming Wang and his 34.5 ERA or Mark Teixeira, and his .209 batting average, or all the injuries that happened this year.

But right now lets look at the problems in the bullpen

The bullpen has already netted 5 losses and has blown 4 saves, allowing a total of 84 runs over 89 innings this multiplies out to an ERA of 7.93, that is dismal no matter what stadium you play in, even if there is a "wind tunnel going to right field".

The first problem in the bullpen is the injury to the eight inning set up guy Brian Bruney, this leaving a huge hole in the bullpen, in the eight inning spot. Before being put on the DL, Bruney pitched 8 innings allowing only 3 runs on 3 hits and 2walks, while throwing 12 strikeouts.

Secondly, three of the pitchers who were supposed to carry most of the bullpen responsibilities, Damaso Marte, Jose Veras, have a combined 8.35 ERA. The lefty Damaso Marte who was brought in via trade last year has a 15.19 ERA. Jose Veras who pitched very well last year has a 7.62 ERA. And Jonathon Albaladejo who is also struggling has a 6.43 ERA.

Thirdly there have been a lot of errors, and unearned runs so far. There have been 16 errors and 14 unearned runs thus far. This means that when someone committed an error, the pitchers have not stepped up their games, and picked up their teammates.

Solutions

There are a few ways to fix the bullpen, firstly Brian Bruney will come back, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Another Solution is to put Joba in the bullpen, this will weaken their rotation, but it could be a necessary measure if the bullpen doesn't improve.
Joe Girardi could give young players like Alfredo Aceves a chance.
Or the Yankees could make a trade, but that would happen as the trade deadline nears.

How to fill the holes of the Nets

As outlined in my previous 2 posts the Nets have 2 major holes in the starting line up, one in each of the starting forward positions. This is the same problem they had last year, when they played the entire season without starting caliber forwards.

The first way to change the forward situation is to move Vince Carter from Shooting Guard to Small Forward, leaving the starting SG job to CDR. This no matter what position changes happens to the current roster they still need a starting caliber power forward.

There are a lot of players that the Nets could get this summer, but they would have to sacrifice their dreams about the summer of 2010. It could be worth it, because if Lebron, Bosh and D-Wade all resign or go somewhere else and sign , then the Nets will have to settle for a similar player to what is out there this year and they will probably overpay them. If we pick up a good player this year, we wont have to risk trying to get a star next year, and they could be had at a better price. Not to mention a few good players could put the Nets back into the playoffs.

Here my take on the restricted Forwards available this summer

David Lee: The Knicks put David Lee into the starting offense replacing Zach Randolph, and he delivered 65 double doubles the most in the NBA this year. He averaged 16 points and 11.7 rebounds a game and would be a big help to the Nets on the boards. he is a restricted free agent but the Knicks will not match any offer as they are playing the Lebron sweepstakes in 2010. He is not a good defender or shooter, having never hit a three in a game. He could be had at 40-50 million over 5 years, and he is only 26.

Marvin Williams: He averaged 13.9 points and 6.3 rebounds last year for the Hawks he would command a similar contract to David Lee but the Hawks would probably match it, so the Nets will have to make a sign and trade deal to get him. He would be a good fit with the Nets were he could play both forward positions, and he is only 22 years old.

Paul Milsap: The power forward for the Jazz is only 24, and he played very well this season averaging 13.5 points and 8.6 rebounds coming off the bench on a playoff team. He could come in and start at the 4 position but he will get a big contract and need to be obtained in a sign and trade deal because Utah will match any offer.

Linas Kleiza: He killed the Nets in Denver hitting a number of corner three's that made want to cry. So he earned his way onto this post. he averaged 10 points per game and 4 rebounds, he is 6-8 and he can play either the 2 or the 3. He is another sign and trade guy.

Look out for my post about unrestricted free agents and then the draft!

Nets Bigs Analysis

Here's my take on the Pf's and C's on the Nets Roster.

Brook Lopez: averaged 13 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game He was third in the ROY voting and looks to be the future of the Nets as well as the best pick in the 08 draft.

Eduardo Najera: barely played at all in his first year as a Net. He was brought here as a backup 4 who could bring some energy but we couldn't see any of it this year.

Josh Boone: started the first 7 games of the season, but then got injured and his job was permanently taken by Lopez. He averaged 4.2 points per 4.2 rebounds and a block per game. He is a decent backup center, and plays good D, but i wanted to cry every time he went to the free throw line, where it seemed like he barely ever hit the rim.

Sean Williams: appropriately nicknamed swat for his blocking ability, Sean Williams took a huge step down after a mediocre rookie campaign due to a combination of on the court and off the court problems. He is a backup 4 or 5 at best if unless he gets his act together. he averaged 2.4 points and 2.4 rebounds as well as a block per game. He worked his way into the rotation, because of his defense after being sent down and later kicked out of the D-League for his bad behavior.

Ryan Anderson: averaged 7.4 points and 4.7 rebounds in an up and down rookie season, which was mostly dependant on the amount of playing time he got, he shot the ball well from beyond the arc but is mostly a shooter just like Yi.

Yi Jianlian: was brought to New Jersey on a strictly marketing level, bringing in a huge fan base. He averaged almost 9 points and 5 rebounds per game as a streaky shooting power forward, but plays a lot like Ryan Anderson. He will probably get one more year to figure things out. But as of this point he is not really a good option for a starter.

Whats Missing

The Nets have a starting center set, and enough backup bigs for now, but what's really missing is a starting power forward which the Nets could fill either in the draft or in the free agent market. If the Nets fill this position look for them to become competitive again in the East.

Look out for my post about how to fill the holes later in the week!