Chris Paul to NY, Dallas, Portland or Orlando?

ESPN analyst Chris Broussard reports from his sources that Chris Paul has a “50/50” shot of leaving New Orleans to either of the above mentioned teams. Paul is looking to enter a team that has potential to win a Championship and can be a contending team—whether it is for the future decade or for next year is unknown, but winning is the goal. Surprise surprise.

Paul cannot leave his current team the Hornets without their permission and decision—but because of the poor economic state of the team, they simply might not be able to afford to keep him. Paul was injured last season and since his All-Star value is immense, the tension arises as to how the Hornets could pin the hornet on the Paul. Plus, the rising star in Darren Collison fulfills a potential point guard role for the future of the organization. You might remember Collison last year when Paul was injured; Collision threw some serious numbers on the box score with a bunch of 20-point games and a few 30 point games. The 23 year-old also dished out multiple 14+ assists games—even one 20 assist game!

But I digress; so let’s go back to Paul, where will he go? Of course I’d hope that such a prized player lands in Madison Square for a New York future in Stoudemire and Paul. If Paul were to come to New York, New York’s economy might also increase by a billion dollars like it did in Miami after the free agent signing. The Knicks can actually compete in the league and make a dent in the playoffs, rather than eating popcorn during the first round.

Or will he go to Dallas with Nowitzki and learn tips from the Kidd. The Mavericks are unbelievably strong in terms of the players on paper and this could be Paul’s home. Besides, he would reunite with Tyson Chandler!

Or will he go to Portland? Much youth and potential in Roy, Oden, Fernandez, Aldridge, Bayless, Cunningham, Babbitt, Johnson, Mills—seems like everyone was born after 84’! There are good amounts of talented youth and they are a team that does damage—at least they have shown capabilities!

Or will he go to Orlando, the serious contenders in the East? With Jameer Nelson being a bit outsized and injure prone, this could be the right piece of the puzzle for Orlando to finally win a title. Imagine alley-oops from Paul to Howard over and over and over again. If Paul can turn Chandler into one of the most frequent dunkers in the league (during the season they had together), then what would Paul do with a player with the most amount of dunks in the league year after year?

Where is he going to go? I have no idea and I don’t have the sources that could tell me where he will go but what I do know is this—Paul in any team other than the Hornets instantly pushes team xyz to the playoffs and probably into the top 5 seeds (of course I mean in terms of the teams listed above). Either way, no matter where he goes—he will become a magnet for Carmelo Anthony’s “decision” next year. And that’s the draw owners might be thinking about.

Rocky Road To Cy Young?

Ubaldo Jimenez (15-1), the 26 year-old phenom had an ERA of 0.78 after 11 starts this season. Since then, his ERA has evolved to 2.38, which is not horrible but not nearly as impressive as the previous mentioned statistic.

The Rockies ace has been the most dominant starter in baseball after the first 14 starts this season. Since then, the Colorado pitcher has had a bunch of rocky outings.

He gave up 8 earned runs his first 11 starts and then a total of 27 earned runs his last 8 starts. Jimenez was such a overriding pitcher earlier this season that he overshadowed his no-hitter with his overall ERA and record. And although his record is tainted by only one blemish on May 9th against the Dodgers, where he lost even though he only gave up one run in seven innings, Jimenez is not as feared a figure—at least not compared to the other lights-out pitchers in the league.

Jimenez has had four outings where he has given up 4 or more earned runs, and in those four outings, he is 1-0. He gave six runs in one game and seven in another, yet his outcome was neutralized and unmarked on his record. This isn’t to say that Jimenez is not a great pitcher but what this does say is that records are deceiving. For example; at this point, the strongest pitcher in the league is arguably Josh Johnson. With a 1.62 ERA and 130 strikeouts to 28 walks, he shows command and supremacy—but his record is 10-3. Again, don’t get me wrong—it’s a great record but not nearly as exciting as 15-1. Yet Johnson’s loss was the only game he gave up 4 earned runs (which occurred in the first game of the season against the Mets). Since then his two losses happened once in Florida on May 29th, where he gave up one run (unearned) in seven innings. And the other lost happened on June 26 at the Marlins residence—this time he pitched eight innings and gave up two runs (both earned). In total, Johnson has given up 12 less earned runs than Jimenez and 12 more strikeouts than Jimenez.

But who is a better pitcher this year? Jimenez (15-1) or Johnson (10-3)?

When it comes down to who I would give the Cy Young to, it would be Johnson—unless Jimenez turns it around and revives the residue of starts he had earlier this year. I would think Johnson is in the lead of this candidacy. Sure, he doesn’t have the most innings pitched (he’s 15th in the MLB) and of course he doesn’t have the most about of K’s (7th in the MLB), but he does have the 5th best K/BB ratio (4.64—Cliff Lee leads the major leagues with a 13.86 K/BB ratio, which is twice better than the second leader Roy Halladay!) and Johnson has given up the fewest runs, Johnson has the lowest ERA, Johnson has the second best WHIP, Johnson has one of the best K/9 ratios and Johnson has one of the best H/9 ratios.

What does Jimenez have? A no-hitter, the best H/9 ratio, major league-leading 15 wins, one of the top ground-out inducer (no one tops Tim Hudson), 2 shutouts, and an unbelievable ability to not lose regardless of how many runs he gives up. Records speak volumes but Johnson is the mute button. Regardless of the phenomenal year Jimenez is having, I don’t know if he will win the Cy Young or at least deserve to win the Cy Young. The year of the pitchers has created the most competitive pitching duels in recent decades.

In all honesty, I’m not even sure if either of these two pitchers will win the Cy Young over Wainwright—who is 14-5 with a 2.02 ERA and has pitched in the third most amount of innings than any pitcher in the major league this year. With such outstanding competitive action among the pitchers, this year’s Cy Young candidate will be a great toss up (at least we can count out Lincecum this year--or can we?).

Hey, maybe ESPN will do another special on “The Decision” and explain how the MLB picked the Cy Young?

Steinbrenner

At the age of 80, George Steinbrenner passed away today in Tampa, Florida. Of course, we all know Steinbrenner as the the die-hard Yankee fan and owner who would stop at nothing on his pursuit to win a championship.

The Yankees have won 11 pennants and 7 World Series during Steinbrenner's reign, which began in 1973. He was known as "The Boss" in the sports world because of his great deal of interactions with the clubhouse activities.

He has hired, fired, rehired, refired managers and has traded and signed big named players. Yankee fans could always trust him because he was just as much of a fan of the team than any other New Yorker. Of course, sometimes his fan-impulse mind would deter good decision making. The controversy with Dave Winfield (the person The Boss made the richest player in the Major Leagues), when he said, "Where is Reggie Jackson? We need a Mr. October or a Mr. September. Winfield is Mr. May. My big guys are not coming through. The guys who are supposed to carry the team are not carrying the team. They aren't producing. If I don't get big performances out of Winfield, Griffey and Baylor, we can't win." (Which is one of the reasons why Griffey never wanted to play for the Yankees).

Steinbrenner never took a back-seat, it was painful for the Managers but necessary for the fans. Except, Steinbrenner did take it too far at one point in his career and paid an individual named Howie Spira to find "dirt" on Winfield after Steinbrenner was sued by Winfield for not paying $300,000 of Winfield's contract.

Of course, The Boss returned to his owner position and continued his reign in 1993, except there was no more dictatorship. Steinbrenner played less of a role in baseball operations and did not dig up anymore "dirt" on other players. Steinbrenner let the farm system grow and groom players instead of trading prospects to win every year--which in turn developed Bernie Williams to become the promising center-fielder of the New York Yankees.

The team was flying high and although there was a drought of Championships for New York--he still is acknowledges as one of the most influential owners in sports history. Steinbrenner stepped down in 2006 and let his sons take over the team; again, proved to be helpful as the Yankees won in 2009.

The New York Yankees; one of the most successful franchises in sports history won 7 times under this owner. No matter what kind of owner Steinbrenner was, he is still a fan favorite in New York.

He becamse such a figure in New York that even the show Seinfeld had a Steinbrenner's character as a humorous figure. He was George's boss and although you never see his face, his mannerisms were mimicked and adored by all Seinfeld-viewers (COSTANZA'S IN THE BUILDING!).

So to the most powerful and passionate owner in the world; we recognize you today--the day of the 2010 All-Star game, and the day George Steinbrenner leaves his legacy: thank you for all you have done for NYC.

The Big Three

So it's done. The years of hype as to where LeBron is going--is done. During his 1 hour ESPN special, LeBron transformed Cavalier fans to barbarians, Knicks fans to LeBron haters, Bulls fans to either (a) disappointed or (b) happy that no one could try to overshadow Jordan, and the "self-proclaimed King"--as the Cav's owner Dan Gilbert would say, brought even more fire to the Heat.

James, Wade and Bosh are the new big three--completely trumping the tri-force of Allen, Pierce and Garnett. The Boston Three-party consist of a 35, 34 and 33 year-old. The hottest three of the Heat consist of three players in their mid-20's--at the peak of their career.

Suddenly, fans and sports-analysts have converted into believing that the Heat are now the team to beat in the East. Is it fair to the Celtics to count them out all of a sudden? If I felt strongly enough about the Celtics, I'd debate--but I truly dislike the Celtics so I won't really talk about that. Although I will say that the Celtics won games because everyone scored--I don't know if the fourth player in the Heat will average a double unless it's rebounds.

What I really want to talk about is how James' move affected his place in basketball history. Let's be blunt here; there was a bunch of analysts riding on the James ban-wagon claiming that he would be one of the best players to every play the game. I'm a part of that, I thought that if he continued to grow and mature as a player--he would be an unstoppable force. He still might be but it's no longer a true testament of challenge to him. He has now entered the realm of being a player who can win a championship (but not with his team). When marquis players move, it's interesting to see the dynamic of the players performance afterward. James is now a part of Wade's team. The king left his throne, he's now a court gesture.

Many people I have been talking to say that he took the "easy" way out. Well, I'd like to say no--he took the easiest way out. LeBron could have gone to Chicago and it would have been a great fit playing with Boozer (needed big man) and Rose (the Rondo-compliment to a star) and that would've been a very fun team to watch. Or he could have gone to the Knicks and played with Amare under the spotlight of MSG. Or he could have taken all the money he wanted in Cleveland and asked the owner to find another guy he wanted--he was the king of the city. But no, he decided to join two superstars in order to create a dynasty. He took a pay-cut and humbly became a South Beach player.

I am frustrated. As you can tell--all of this venting leads to no true point, it's a bunch of jub-jub (as Joe Buck would say). LeBron could never be the best player in the league, nor can he ever be considered as such a dominant force. Once a player leaves his legacy in a state after 7 years, there is a cloud above how dominant he was--and when that player leaves by taking a pay check for a team that signs two other stars, it shows that the player could not do it "on his own." Of course that figure of speech is ridiculous because no player could win a Championship on his own; you need an entire roster. But no matter how amazing Pippen was or how crazy Rodman was or how sharp Kere was--it was always Jordan's team and it was always Jordan being Jordan (a.k.a. winning another title). Jordan was a winner. James potential to win might have increased but he can never be a winner.

Of course James is nothing like Jordan and should/can never be compared to Michael, but things could have been different. James could have actually been a winner. But he's not.