Sport Thoughts

The New York Knicks are in the midst of their final six regular season games. The team has struggled while playing undermanned without Allstar Julius Randle and 3&D wing Og Anunoby. The playing undermanned theme will continue in the upcoming NBA playoffs. The New York Knicks recently announced season ending shoulder surgery for All Star Julius Randle. Randle had been out since late January and was hoping to return before the regular season’s end. Several Knick role players have stepped up in Randle’s absense including Donte Divincenzo, Josh Hart, Miles McBride and Isiah Hardenstein. The disappointing Randle news changes the playoff ceiling for the current New York Knicks team. They were expected to be playoff contenders prior to Randle’s January injury. The Knicks have also missed Og Anunoby, who had played just 3 games since returning from elbow surgery. The Knicks will need Anunoby back for the upcoming playoffs. He is not a high volume scorer like Randle but his three point shoo...

The New York Mets have had a quiet and sub-par 2023 offseason. The MLB offseason is known as a time period for teams to reload and make improvements for next season. Several teams have made impactful offseason moves including the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals. The New York Mets have remained quiet without any signs of changes in sight. The Mets are coming off of a disappointing 75 win 2023 season. The need to improve the batting lineup, starting pitching staff and bullpen were a must need. So far, the  Mets have signed starting pitcher Luis Severino, utilityman Joey Wendle and relief pitcher Jorge Lopez. All three former All Stars are joining the Mets off of their worst seasons of their careers. Adding pitchers with ERAs over 5 and players who hit slightly above 200. do not improve the ballclub. The Mets are a fourth place team as currently constructed. Outside of Pete Alonso and Fransico Lindor, the Mets offense lack...

The New York Yankees entered the 2023 MLB offseason as one of the most disappointing teams in the majors. The Yankee front office knew that changes needed to be made immediately. The organization wasted a prime year of stars Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole. The Yankees would begin their off season, trading for star right fielder Juan Soto and outfielders Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham. The Yankees would lose a lot of pitching depth through the two trades but greatly improved their batting lineup. The departure of starting pitcher Michael King could come back to haunt the Yankees, if he becomes a star in San Deigo. The new starting lineup looks dangerous with Juan Soto projected to hit before Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton. The project lineup feels well structured but the team’s pitching depth has shrunk. The Yankees lack a fifth starting pitcher in their pitching rotation. The starting pitching rotation is currently Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortez and Clarke Schm...

The 2023 MLB season is less there 2 weeks away from being completed. The New York Mets are out of contention and examining their team options for  2024. The thought process has become a mystery if Buck Showalter will return next year as Mets manager. Showalter has one final year left of his three year contract. Showalter had previously won the Manager of the Year award during his first season as Mets manager. He helped lead the Mets to a 101 win season and their first playoff berth since 2016. His second year as Mets manager sung a different tale. His managing decisions brought negative publicity, including questionable starting lineups and a mismanaged bullpen. The Mets are in the midst of a rebuild since the August 1st tade deadline. Showalter has managed a roster filled with veterans, rookies and tripple A players. He can only manage with what he is given. The New York Mets are not expected to make a big splash in the upcoming offseason. Buck Showalter was suppose to manage a ch...

The New York Mets have a core of players which goes back to 2019. A three-man core of outfielder Brandon Nimmo, first baseman Pete Alonso and utilityman Jeff McNeil. Shortstop Francisco Lindor would join this core in 2021. This Mets core has not accomplished anything. A deep dive look at this failed core could ignite a breakup. The New York Mets fell short of reaching the playoffs by 3 games in 2019. A disappointing ending but a sign of optism for the next season. They missed the expanded 16-team playoffs in 2020. A failed follow up season that would lead to the addition of Francisco Lindoe. The Mets missed the playoffs yet again after a post All-Star break collapse in 2021. An offseason full of changes would impact the next season. The Mets would finally make the playoffs in 2022. It would however be a quick first round exit after winning 101 regular season games. Fast forward to present day, the New York Mets are on track to miss the playoffs and finish with a losing record for the t...

The MLB offseason can not come any sooner for the New York Mets. The Mets will hit the cross roads of rebuilding once  the offseason begins. They must decide which direction to approach free agency and the trade market. It is heavily rumored that the New York Mets will trade All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso. Alonso is considered to be the face of the Mets franchise. He is also their best power hitter. The Mets will have one year left of Alonso’s contract before he reaches free agency. Alonso and the Mets have not been able to agree on a contract extension. The New York Mets are looking to be competitive in 2024. Trading Pete Alonso would make the Mets a less competitive team. Alonso is having a down year in terms of batting average but he is capable of hitting over 40 homers per season. Will the Mets reach a contract extension agreement with Alonso? Will he be traded for up and coming prospects. It is only the end of August but the future is already being discussed.

The New Yankees are one of the biggest disappointments in the 2023 MLB season. They are in the midst of a 7-game losing streak. The Yankees have a 60-63 losing record and sit in last place of the American League East Division. They have shown no signs of life in their last 5 games of the losing streak. The New Yankees could have made trades to improve but choose to stand pat on the August 1st Trade Deadline. The team’s front office is the face of this uncompetitive and disappointing product. General manager Brian Cashman has struck out on many of his off season and trade deadline moves, dating back to last year. The Yankees currently lack an experienced left fielder, troting out minor league journeymen Jake Bauer and Billy Mckinney. They also heavily rely on a rooke shortstop Anthony Volpe and utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Neither of whom have shown signs of consistent hitting in a team slump. Starting pitching has gotten worse month by month. Carlos Rodon has looked like a bust free ...

It is over two weeks since the MLB trade deadline. There were buyers and sellers at the deadline. The New York Mets were the biggest seller at the trade deadline. The Mets made moves that esentially punted their 2023 season. The Mets are currently 5-11 since the August 1st trade deadline, the worst post deadline record of all 30 MLB teams. The Mets called up several minor league players after moving on from Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, David Robertson, Mark Canha and Tommy Pham. The constant losing has been become atrocious with fans beginning to speculate tanking. The tanking speculation was more evident when the New York Mets lost 21 to 3 against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday afternoon. The New York Mets could potentially gain a top drafted player if they finish among the 6th worst records in the league. The Mets have become uncompetitive and nearly unwatchable since the trade deadline. The Met fans, who are paying hard earned money to watch their minor league filled team tank ar...

The 2023 MLB season is down to a month and a half left. The fight for playoff contention continues each for the teams still in the race. Baseball is known as a major sport that does not have a salary cap. The New York Mets, New York Yankees and San Diego Padres have the three largest payrolls in the entire MLB. If the MLB Season were to end today, all three high salary teams would miss the playoffs. The New York Mets waived the white flag to begin the month of August with a payroll of $343,809,689. The Mets payroll is the most expensive roster in MLB history. That roster prior to the trade deadline was 5.5 games back from a playoff spot and 5 games under .500. The New York Mets are now 12 games under .500 and 8.5 games back of a wild card. The New York Yankees have a payroll of $279,372,803. That large payroll has them in last place in the AL East division, 2 games over .500 and 5 games back of the last wild card spot. The San Diego Padre’s payroll is slightly lower at $252,800,149. En...

The New York Yankees are one of the biggest disappointing teams of 2023. They have a mediocre offense that struggles to score runs and a starting pitching rotation full of question marks. They currently sit in last place in the AL East and stand 5.5 games back of the final wild card spot. Often times, a baseball manager is considered the scapegoat towards a season gone wrong. Aaron Boone is currently in his 6th year as New York Yankee manager. Boone has had flaws towards lineup construction and bullpen management. It would be wrong to completly pinpoint the 2023 season’s failure entirely on Aaron Boone. General manager Brian Cashman deserves a larger amount of blame for the roster he constructed in comparison to the roster managed by Boone. The current Yankees roster is wasting the prime years of both Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole. The New York Yankees are on track to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016. They are also positioned to finish in last place in the AL East for the ...

The New York Mets entered the 2023 season as championship contenders. They had the highest payroll in the history of the MLB. The team won 101 games in 2022 and had high expectations heading into the new season. Everything has gone wrong for the New York Mets in 2023. From gut punching losses to injuries to key players to down years from pitchers and hitters, 2023 has gone as wrong as possible for the Mets. They finished the month of June 10 games under .500. The hope was for the Mets to turn things around by the trade deadline. Things never changed for the Mets. They would become trade deadline sellers after putting themselves in a hole too deep to bounceback from. The organization  bid farewell to pitchers Max Scherzer, David Robertson and Justin Verlander. They sent away outfielders Tommy Pham and Mark Canha. The Mets would add to their farmsystem and rebuild for the future. Their remaining schedule does not get easier and they have essentially punted on the final 2 months of th...

It is MLB trade deadline season and the 49-54 New York Mets are officially sellers. They traded their closer David Robertson and now they have traded their ace starting pitcher Max Scherzer. Scherzer was the Mets big free agent signing in December 2021. He completely changed the vibe and culture of the New York Mets entering the 2022 season. He pitched at an All Star level and contributed to the Mets 101 win season. As great as Scherzer was, he suffered flaws closing out his season. He struggled to pitch in his final regular season start against the Atlanta Braves. This bad start would lead to the Mets losing the NL East. The Atlanta Braves would win the NL by 1 game. Max Scherzer would get shelled in his Mets playoff debut against the San Diego Padres. He gave up 7 Earned runs and was booed off the pitchers mound by the fans. His 2023 season would not start positively. He would have inconsistent pitching outings, allow several home runs and face a 10 game foreign substance suspension....

It is nearly two weeks since the MLB season resumed after the All Star Break. The Subway Series is approaching for the second time this season between the New York Mets and New York Yankees. This year’s Subway Series feels very different from previous years. Both teams have struggled and do not currently have playoff spots. The Yankees are tied for last place in the American League East, with a 53-47 record. The Mets are in Fourth place in the National League East, with a 46-53 record. Both teams are determining their options between buying and selling at the August 1st trade deadline. Injuries to Aaron Judge and poor all around offense have crippled the Yankees season. Inconsistent offense and disappointing starting pitching have derailed the Mets season. This Subway Series could determine the next steps for both New York teams. Neither team has shown signs of any momentum or consistency during the last two months. The Mets have a much difficult remaining schedule going forward in com...

The NBA 2023-2024 Season will begin  this October. The offseason is currently in full effect for all 30 teams. Every team has a x-factor. The Brooklyn Nets will enter the new season as a rebuilding team. They no longer feature a Super Star duo of Kevin Durrant and Kyrie Irving. However, they have a former All Star in Ben Simmons. Simmons is coming off of injury plagued season. He is a former number one pick, multi All Star and all deffensive player. He only played in 42 games out of the 82 regular season and missed the playoffs. He played like a shell of himself in the 42 games, averaging fewer than 8 points per game. Prior to his season ending injury, the Nets began the second half of the season with a new starting five of Nic Claxton, Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finey Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie and Cam Johnson. Simmons played only 4 games with Spencer Dinwidie and Dorian Finey Smith following the Kyrie irving trade. Simmons also only played 3 games with Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson ...

The New York Yankees are currently in the middle of a 3 game losing streak. They have a record of 48-41. They recently slid to 4th place in the American League East. The offense has been cold and continues to tumble without the reigning MVP Aaron Judge. Several Yankee hitters are in  awful slumps including: Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson, DJ Lemahieu and Anthony Rizzo. Starting pitching and the bullpen are the Yankees largest strength. The pitchers need the hitters to step up in a big way. Their recent losing streak has taken the New York Yankees out of a playoff spot for the first time in two months. They are now a game behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the wild card race. The Boston Red Sox are only two games behind the New York Yankees in the standings. If the Yankees continue to fall, they will find themselves as a last place team in the American League East. Can the Yankee hitters regain their offensive stride? Will Aaron Judge return after the All Star Break? All of this to ...

Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German pitched a perfect game against the Oakland A’s on June 28th. It was the 24th perfect game in mlb history and the 4th perfect game in New York Yankees franchise history. German has had a mix of good and bad starts during this month of June. He pitched very well through out the month of May. Consistency has always been a question about Domingo German. With the perfect game in the nearview mirror, where does Domingo German go from there? Can he become the second best starting pitcher in the Yankees pitching rotation? Can the Yankees gain momentum? In the game of baseball, you should always expect the unexpected.

The MLB trade deadline is slightly over a month away. The New York Mets are in a very tough spot as the month of June concludes. They are currently 16 games back of first place in the NL East division and 8 games back of a wild card spot. They recently traded away third baseman Eduardo Escobar to the LA Angles. A move that can be described as a sellers move. They have several players on the current roster who remain on one year contracts. Would the mets consider trading away veteran players like Tommy Pham, Mark Canha and David Robertson? Are they trying to improve their farm system? As the trade deadline looms large, the Mets front office must ask themselves if their team is able to crawl out of its hole or if they should sell off players. Is a rebuild heading in the New York Mets direction? As the saying goes, one game at a time.

The New York Mets currently have a 35-43 record. They have played uninspiring baseball and continue to let fans down. The pitching has been very subpar and the hitting has been inconsistent. The MLB trade deadline is less than two months away. The questions remain: where do the Mets go from here? Do they buy or sell during the trade deadline? Will the Mets front office pay the price for this awful season start? These are several concerning questions for a team that is made up a 349 million dollar payroll.