Monday, December 20, 2004
Weekend notes...
First, let’s start with the Phillies news … Welcome back Placido! I was thrilled and surprised to see that Polanco agreed to arbitration with the Phillies. I felt certain that the St. Louis Cardinals would scoop him up to replace Tony Womack and Edgar Renteria in their middle infield, but for some reason they didn’t and Polanco agreed to stay with the Phillies despite the fact that the team has essentially given Chase Utley his job. I couldn’t be happier, or more confused.
So what now? The Phillies have five infielders for four positions. Is Polanco going to be the team’s super-utility man? Given that he’s probably the best glove the Phillies have, it seems a little silly to have him warming the pine to come in for the ninth inning to record a put-out or two … I still cast my eye to third base and wonder if the Phillies could move Bell. Naturally, Bell’s four year, $17 million dollar deal makes him a little difficult to move, but …
… what about Los Angeles? The Dodgers lost Beltre to the Mariners in free agency and are poised to deal Shawn Green to the Diamondbacks. They need another bat for their lineup and third base is open. I doubt Paul DePodesta would make the deal, but I was surprised that they didn’t ink an agreement with Beltre.
On to the baseball news … the shockwave of the Hudson and Mulder deals are still reverberating through the baseball world. Aaron Gleeman and Brian Gunn (of the defunct Redbird Nation) both weigh in at THT and it surprised me that they weren’t more critical of Billy Beane & Co. Dealing Hudson makes a little sense, but dealing Mulder makes exactly zero sense: he’s still under contract for 2005 and for 2006. Unless his arm injury is worse than generally known, Mulder could be a productive pitcher for the A’s for another two years. Why not keep him for the 2005 season? I also question the timing of the deals. Why in the off-season? Why not deal Mulder in the regular season to a team in contention that needs pitching help. They’d pay a lot of cash for an ace hurler like Mulder.
I admire Beane and DePodesta a lot, but I just don’t see how the A’s and Dodgers improved this offseason: the acqusition of Kendall is more than offset by Mulder and Hudson’s departures, and I don’t see the Dodgers adding much to their lineup even with Jeff Kent now that Green and Beltre are going, going, gone. When DePodesta swung his deal with the Florida Marlins during the regular season most regular baseball writers blasted him while internet guys bowed in admiration. I’ve noticed that the admiration amongst internet writers is muted, and most baseball writers are scratching their heads, wondering what they are missing.
Odds ‘n Ends … Nice to see the Eagles flying high at 13-1, although T.O.’s injury in the third quarter almost gave me a heart-attack. Will he be back? I think not for the regular season, but we’ll see T.O. in a month, during the divisional round of the playoffs. Let’s hope the rust doesn’t set in … But this should be a happy day for Eagles fans. Thirteen wins is a franchise record, and there is no reason why the Eagles can’t run the table and go 15-1: the Bengals are out of it, and the Rams look like ghosts of the old team. Even without T.O., even playing the backups for most of the next two games, the Eagles should win out.
This is a huge victory for Andy Reid, by the way. Under his leadership the Eagles are 64-30, 59-19 if you ignore the 1999 season. No team has been a dominant in the regular season as the Eagles have been from 2000-2004. That’s five consecutive years with eleven wins or better and three consecutive years with the best record in the NFC … In the last three years the Eagles have gone 16-2 against the NFC East: they’ve beaten the Giants four straight times, haven’t lost to the Redskins since 2001 (six straight wins), and have beaten the Cowboys in nine of the last ten games they’ve played. Ouch … To anyone who says Donovan McNabb isn’t an elite quarterback or doesn’t rise when the pressure is on, look at McNabb on the Eagles game-winning TD drive: leading an offense still reeling from T.O.’s injury, McNabb tucked the ball in and twice ran for critical first downs to set up Levens TD run. McNabb is the most complete QB in the game. I like Peyton Manning, I like Dante Culpepper, and I like Michael Vick, but each of them has flaws: Manning is too immobile, and Culpepper and Vick are too inconsistent to be top-flight QB’s. The only QB better than McNabb in the game today is Tom Brady … On a sour note, let’s hope that the Eagles deal Todd Pinkston in the off-season. He’s shirked from tough hits in consecutive weeks. He isn’t tough enough to be the Eagles No. 2 guy …
The rest of the NFL … I realized with amazement that there is a certainty this year that an 8-8 team, or a 7-9 team, will make the playoffs. In all liklihood the Seahawks will take the NFC West and the Vikings will make it as a wildcard or a division champ, along with the Packers, Eagles and Falcons. That means that the final wildcard will come from the ranks of the currently 6-8, or possibly from the ranks of the 5-9. Please let me express my outrage at the idea that a team with a losing record could possibily have a chance to play for the Super Bowl. I know the Rams, Panthers or Saints would probably be easy pickings for the Eagles, Falcons and Packers, but it is the principle of the thing. I think the NFL should require teams to have .500 records to make the playoffs. If not, then shrink the conference playoff picture to reflect that fact: eliminate the six seed and just play the two wildcard teams … I feel, in my bones, that Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville is going to be between the Eagles and Steelers. In years past I’ve looked at the Steelers teams that made the AFC Championship game and thought: how did they get there? No team with Kordell Stewart at QB can legitimately claim to be the best in the NFL. Sure enough, the Steelers lost to superior teams: the Broncos in ’97, and the Pats in ’01. This year is different: I think the Patriots have a superior coaching staff than Pittsburgh (never been a fan of Bill Cowher), but man-for-man, the Steelers are more talented than the Patriots. Roethlisberger isn’t as good as Brady, but Big Ben has a better supporting cast. If the AFC Championship game is played at Heinz Field, as I suspect it will be, I’d put money on the Steelers winning it. As for the Eagles, again I think things are different this year than in years past and it isn’t just the T.O. factor. I think the ’01 team wasn’t quite ready for primetime, so I wasn’t surprised when they lost to the Rams. I think the ’02 team was better than the Bucs, but they played scared and McNabb’s rust from his injury cost them the game. Last year’s team was a fluke: a product of Reid and Johnson’s genius at maximizing marginal players. The ’03 team didn’t deserve to play in the NFC title game: they just weren’t that good … the ’04 team is a different story. Is there any doubt that this is the best team in the NFC? They are 11-0 against conference foes, they play tight against the run with Trotter in the middle, they are the stingiest defense in the NFL in points allowed … this is the best the NFC has to offer. I’ll be shocked if the Eagles don’t win the NFC title game.
TV: nice plot twist on Desperate Housewives last night (I refer to Bree’s husband’s extracurricular activities). As for Paul and his son, I have a feeling that the big secret there is that Paul is the one who killed the girl, and that is why he’s terrified of his son undergoing counseling … I’ve been seeing lots of promos for Alias and 24. I’m glad to see that 24 had ditched a WMD plot for year four. Last year was too much. It felt like the plot controlled the show. Same thing with Alias: the mystery of what happened to Sydney and Vaughn’s wife’s big secret highjacked the show. I’m glad to hear that J.J. Abrams is going to make the show more character-driven in year four.
More tomorrow…
So what now? The Phillies have five infielders for four positions. Is Polanco going to be the team’s super-utility man? Given that he’s probably the best glove the Phillies have, it seems a little silly to have him warming the pine to come in for the ninth inning to record a put-out or two … I still cast my eye to third base and wonder if the Phillies could move Bell. Naturally, Bell’s four year, $17 million dollar deal makes him a little difficult to move, but …
… what about Los Angeles? The Dodgers lost Beltre to the Mariners in free agency and are poised to deal Shawn Green to the Diamondbacks. They need another bat for their lineup and third base is open. I doubt Paul DePodesta would make the deal, but I was surprised that they didn’t ink an agreement with Beltre.
On to the baseball news … the shockwave of the Hudson and Mulder deals are still reverberating through the baseball world. Aaron Gleeman and Brian Gunn (of the defunct Redbird Nation) both weigh in at THT and it surprised me that they weren’t more critical of Billy Beane & Co. Dealing Hudson makes a little sense, but dealing Mulder makes exactly zero sense: he’s still under contract for 2005 and for 2006. Unless his arm injury is worse than generally known, Mulder could be a productive pitcher for the A’s for another two years. Why not keep him for the 2005 season? I also question the timing of the deals. Why in the off-season? Why not deal Mulder in the regular season to a team in contention that needs pitching help. They’d pay a lot of cash for an ace hurler like Mulder.
I admire Beane and DePodesta a lot, but I just don’t see how the A’s and Dodgers improved this offseason: the acqusition of Kendall is more than offset by Mulder and Hudson’s departures, and I don’t see the Dodgers adding much to their lineup even with Jeff Kent now that Green and Beltre are going, going, gone. When DePodesta swung his deal with the Florida Marlins during the regular season most regular baseball writers blasted him while internet guys bowed in admiration. I’ve noticed that the admiration amongst internet writers is muted, and most baseball writers are scratching their heads, wondering what they are missing.
Odds ‘n Ends … Nice to see the Eagles flying high at 13-1, although T.O.’s injury in the third quarter almost gave me a heart-attack. Will he be back? I think not for the regular season, but we’ll see T.O. in a month, during the divisional round of the playoffs. Let’s hope the rust doesn’t set in … But this should be a happy day for Eagles fans. Thirteen wins is a franchise record, and there is no reason why the Eagles can’t run the table and go 15-1: the Bengals are out of it, and the Rams look like ghosts of the old team. Even without T.O., even playing the backups for most of the next two games, the Eagles should win out.
This is a huge victory for Andy Reid, by the way. Under his leadership the Eagles are 64-30, 59-19 if you ignore the 1999 season. No team has been a dominant in the regular season as the Eagles have been from 2000-2004. That’s five consecutive years with eleven wins or better and three consecutive years with the best record in the NFC … In the last three years the Eagles have gone 16-2 against the NFC East: they’ve beaten the Giants four straight times, haven’t lost to the Redskins since 2001 (six straight wins), and have beaten the Cowboys in nine of the last ten games they’ve played. Ouch … To anyone who says Donovan McNabb isn’t an elite quarterback or doesn’t rise when the pressure is on, look at McNabb on the Eagles game-winning TD drive: leading an offense still reeling from T.O.’s injury, McNabb tucked the ball in and twice ran for critical first downs to set up Levens TD run. McNabb is the most complete QB in the game. I like Peyton Manning, I like Dante Culpepper, and I like Michael Vick, but each of them has flaws: Manning is too immobile, and Culpepper and Vick are too inconsistent to be top-flight QB’s. The only QB better than McNabb in the game today is Tom Brady … On a sour note, let’s hope that the Eagles deal Todd Pinkston in the off-season. He’s shirked from tough hits in consecutive weeks. He isn’t tough enough to be the Eagles No. 2 guy …
The rest of the NFL … I realized with amazement that there is a certainty this year that an 8-8 team, or a 7-9 team, will make the playoffs. In all liklihood the Seahawks will take the NFC West and the Vikings will make it as a wildcard or a division champ, along with the Packers, Eagles and Falcons. That means that the final wildcard will come from the ranks of the currently 6-8, or possibly from the ranks of the 5-9. Please let me express my outrage at the idea that a team with a losing record could possibily have a chance to play for the Super Bowl. I know the Rams, Panthers or Saints would probably be easy pickings for the Eagles, Falcons and Packers, but it is the principle of the thing. I think the NFL should require teams to have .500 records to make the playoffs. If not, then shrink the conference playoff picture to reflect that fact: eliminate the six seed and just play the two wildcard teams … I feel, in my bones, that Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville is going to be between the Eagles and Steelers. In years past I’ve looked at the Steelers teams that made the AFC Championship game and thought: how did they get there? No team with Kordell Stewart at QB can legitimately claim to be the best in the NFL. Sure enough, the Steelers lost to superior teams: the Broncos in ’97, and the Pats in ’01. This year is different: I think the Patriots have a superior coaching staff than Pittsburgh (never been a fan of Bill Cowher), but man-for-man, the Steelers are more talented than the Patriots. Roethlisberger isn’t as good as Brady, but Big Ben has a better supporting cast. If the AFC Championship game is played at Heinz Field, as I suspect it will be, I’d put money on the Steelers winning it. As for the Eagles, again I think things are different this year than in years past and it isn’t just the T.O. factor. I think the ’01 team wasn’t quite ready for primetime, so I wasn’t surprised when they lost to the Rams. I think the ’02 team was better than the Bucs, but they played scared and McNabb’s rust from his injury cost them the game. Last year’s team was a fluke: a product of Reid and Johnson’s genius at maximizing marginal players. The ’03 team didn’t deserve to play in the NFC title game: they just weren’t that good … the ’04 team is a different story. Is there any doubt that this is the best team in the NFC? They are 11-0 against conference foes, they play tight against the run with Trotter in the middle, they are the stingiest defense in the NFL in points allowed … this is the best the NFC has to offer. I’ll be shocked if the Eagles don’t win the NFC title game.
TV: nice plot twist on Desperate Housewives last night (I refer to Bree’s husband’s extracurricular activities). As for Paul and his son, I have a feeling that the big secret there is that Paul is the one who killed the girl, and that is why he’s terrified of his son undergoing counseling … I’ve been seeing lots of promos for Alias and 24. I’m glad to see that 24 had ditched a WMD plot for year four. Last year was too much. It felt like the plot controlled the show. Same thing with Alias: the mystery of what happened to Sydney and Vaughn’s wife’s big secret highjacked the show. I’m glad to hear that J.J. Abrams is going to make the show more character-driven in year four.
More tomorrow…
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