I'm Baaack

Well I was away for the past week on vacay in Mexico, enjoying the beautiful weather, relaxation, and activities so I do apologize for the lack of posts recently.

In a somewhat modified version of Cleaning Up the Mess... I am going to run through some of the bigger moves and newsworthy items with my 2 cents attached to each big story.






** The Philadelphia Phillies acquired SP Joe Blanton from the Oakland A's for 3 prospects -- I think this is a solid move for the Phils considering the ever disappearing act of the Starting Pitcher market. With Oswalt and Bedard hitting the DL and Harden and Sabathia already gone, Blanton seems like a reasonable acquisition for not a steep price.

**The Washington Redskins traded 2 picks to the Miami Dolphins for All-Pro DE Jason Taylor -- This was a huge move from the Redskins in what has been a relatively quiet offseason for the Redskins considering their standards. The Redskins did not give up that much considering what they get in return. A great move for the 'skins and a necessary one for the Dolphins.



** The New York Giants traded Jeremy Shockey to the New Orleans Saints for 2 Picks -- Well it seems like this trade has been rumored every since the NFL Draft, but it is a necessary one for both teams. Drew Brees gets another weapon in a good pass catching Tight End in Jeremy Shockey, while the Giants get rid of their headache.


** Paddy Harrington won the British Open for the 2nd year in a row -- Yes, I was pulling for Greg Norman to pull the upset.

** Josh Hamilton stole the show in New York at the 2008 Home Run Derby, but Justin Morneau was the winner at the showcase.

** A classic All-Star game took place this season with the AL winning at about 1:30 in the morning on Wednesday.

** Some Media notes to take care of:


- The ESPYs were last night and Justin Timberlake was very entertaining as the host


- Billy Packer will not be back at CBS for the upcoming College Basketball Season.


- Doug Collins and Mike Breen will anchor the coverage of the Olympics and the US Men's Hoops Team


- Bob Papa: The New York Giants radio voice has been officially named the new play-by-play man for NFL broadcasts on the NFL Network. Papa


Those were some of the bigger stories from the past week, and I will be sure to comment some more of some of the bigger stories that I missed from the past week!

CC Sabathia: Oh the places he'll (potentially) go...

Well it is July, so that means the baseball rumors start to heat up and everything from borderline bogus to so outrageous it just may work is given some thoughts in hopes and anticipation of improving the ballclub.


Every year there seems to be a big name or two who is rumored to go everywhere and anywhere depending on what newspapers and websites you check out from day to day. The big name in this year's deadline talks CC Sabathia of the Cleveland Indians.
Let's take a quick look at the possibilities of landing locations for the CY Young aka CC Sabathia.

Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays clearly have the talent to make the deal and have plenty of young prospects both in the minor leagues and at the big-league level. The rotation has a very solid young foundation right now with James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, and Andy Sonnastine, but adding Sabathia would round out a very tough to beat deep rotation. Do the Rays have the guts to pull it off? And would they actually sign CC long-term?

Boston Red Sox: When healthy, it's tough to argue the Red Sox would have a glaring need for Sabathia. Remember last Winter they toyed with the idea of going after Johan and eventually backed off. The Sox rotation of Beckett, Dice-K, Lester, Masterson,Wakefield and Colon/Bucholz lurking, is good enough to carry this squad.

Los Angeles Dodgers: The Dodgers are another team who always seem to have a lot of young talent, but never seem to make the big move on in-season trades. In a division that is basically there for the taking with no one over .500, it would be wise of them to add Sabathia to Derek Lowe, Hiroki Kuroda, Billingsly and the injured Brad Penny. Will the Dodgers make the move and trade some of their prospects a la Andy Laroche and Matt Kemp?

Milwaukee Brewers: Lately, the Brewers have been the team with the most about of publicity going for Sabathia. Offering top prospect Matt LaPorta among other talent seems to have caught Indians GM Mark Shapiro's eye. The Brewers have some interesting in-house pitching issues to deal with, such as free agent to be Ben Sheets. However, in a short a series I would like to have Sabathia-Sheets-Gallardo on my side.

Philadelphia Phillies: Probably the team that needs Sabathia the most. With the recent demotion on Opening Day starter Brett Myers to Triple-A, the Phillies need another staring pitcher in the worst way. Kyle Kendrick and Jamie Moyer have pitched pretty well for Philly, but a pairing of Sabathia and Cole Hamels would make opposing lineups cringe. The issue at hand here is, do the Phillies have enough prospects besides Carlos Carrasco that would interest the Tribe?

Chicago Cubs: At this point in the Sabathia sweepstakes game, it appears as though the Cubs will be a long shot to land this year's deadline prize. The word is, is that the Indians are looking for infield help most notably at third base and second base and the Cubs don't appear to have any prospects who will be able to help for another 2 to 3 years. What the Cubs do have is pitching talent in the upper minor league levels, but the Indians seem to be set with their staff.

If I had to predict as of today which team Sabathia will go, I would have to say the Brewers. They seem to have the talent to make the deal and GM Doug Melvin has a recent track record of making in-season deals.

Who do you think will trade for CC?