Cubs Trade
On December 3rd, the Cubs traded Aaron Miles, Jake Fox and cash to Oakland for reliever Jeff Gray and prospects OF Matt Spencer and P Ronny Morla. As a Cubs fan, I have to say I am very pleased with this transaction. Any time you can get rid of Aaron Miles, you have done well as a GM, and while I liked Jake Fox, he simply did not have a future with the Cubs. It will do him well to get a fresh start in the AL where he can be used as solid insurance for breaking-down third baseman Eric Chavez, as well as possibly getting some starts at DH.
As for the additions to the Cubs, they got two solid players in the deal. Jeff Gray is a right-handed reliever who can hit 97 on the gun, and he had an extended stay with the A’s starting in early August last season, which was very impressive. He turned in a 1.71 ERA on the season until his last 6 outings, where he gave up 7 runs in 5.1 IP. He finished with a 3.76 ERA and solid 1.29 WHIP to go with 6.5 K/9. In AAA, he had a 1.54 ERA in 41 IP, with a miniscule 0.88 WHIP while giving up only 2 HR on the year. He will be given the chance to make the club out of spring training and will surely add valuable bullpen depth with his power arm throughout the season.
Matt Spencer is an intriguing 23-year old outfielder who split time in high-A and AA last season. Most of his time was spent in AA, where he hit .294/.347/.461 with 9 HR and 29 2B, and was rated as the #16 A’s prospect as of mid-season 2009. He has been compared to a young Jake Fox or Micah Hoffpauir. Ronny Morla is a 21-year old pitcher from the Dominican Republic and as spent the past two seasons at short-season A in Vancouver. Last season he put together a 1-7 record with a 4.86 ERA in 12 starts and 5 relief appearances. He did strike out 73 in 63 IP for a 10.4 K/9 ratio, and could be a project for the future.
All in all, the fact that we got more than a bag of peanuts in a trade for Aaron Miles (and we don’t have to even pay half his salary) is a positive, and we were able to turn Jake Fox into a couple promising prospects. Hopefully this eases the criticism of Jim Hendry just a bit.
BCS Bowl Thoughts
Well it is time for the yearly BCS controversy. My biggest beef this time around is the match-up of Boise State vs. TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. Both teams proved their worth against a BCS conference team earlier in the season (Boise State beating Oregon and TCU winning at Clemson, with solid wins against BYU and Utah). There are whimsical rumors swirling around that the BCS paid the Fiesta Bowl to take both to avoid non-BCS teams beating BCS teams, but I think that’s just hogwash. Still, the system is flawed enough and the BCS so stupid that who knows? It might just be true. My main issue is that for yet another year, we will end up with a non-BCS conference team that is undefeated and that never had a chance at winning the national championship. This has happened 3 times in the last six years, with Utah finishing 11-0 in 04-05, Boise State going 12-0 in 06-07 and Utah going 12-0 in 08-09. Not only that, but we will end the season with at least two, possibly three undefeated teams. At least this season there is not too much argument that the two best teams are in the national championship, but it is impossible to accurately determine who the “best two teams” are among 119 division I teams based on a 12-game regular season in where the schedule is as unbalanced as it could possibly be. The only feasible way to determine a good national championship game in this format is for the best teams to all play each other in the non-conference season, which will never happen. This is a broken record, but how will we ever know the true best team in the nation without a playoff? The NCAA needs to wake up and realize that change is needed.
Showing posts with label Boise St. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boise St. Show all posts
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Heisman Contenders and BCS Bowl Projections
With the College Football regular season winding down it’s time to look at who is going to win the Heisman Trophy and what schools will be playing in BCS Bowls come January. Let’s start with the top Heisman candidates:
Top 5 Heisman Candidates
5. Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford: Gerhart had the ability to soar up to the number 1 candidate had his team won against Cal. He still is putting up incredible numbers for a power rusher and deserves some Heisman love.
4. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida: Tebow doesn’t have the numbers for the Heisman; he is however still a great player on arguably the best team in the nation. He’s a great leader and definitely deserves Heisman consideration.
3. Jordan Shipley, WR, Texas: If Shipley’s quarterback wasn’t Colt McCoy; he would have even more Heisman consideration. His work as a wide receiver and on special teams is remarkable. He’ll unfortunately not get a lot of votes due to his roommate, McCoy.
2. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas: At the beginning of the season this was supposed to be a race between Tebow, McCoy, and Sam Bradford. McCoy has been solid all season, providing the only source of offense early in the season while Texas was starting off slow. He’ll likely get a few votes taken away from him due to some voters voting for his teammate.
1. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama: This really has become Ingram’s award to lose. He’s putting up dominant numbers against tough defenses in the SEC. He’s doing this while defenses know that he’s Alabama’s main offensive threat. In a year where it took a long time for a player to claim the top spot in the Heisman race, but Ingram has and he’s as good as any previous winner.
BCS Bowl Projections
National Championship Game: Alabama - Texas
Rose Bowl: Ohio State – Oregon
Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech – Cincinnati
Sugar Bowl: Florida – Boise State
Fiesta Bowl: TCU – Iowa
The way the selection order goes is the bowls that lose their automatic qualifiers pick first and the bowl that loses the #1 team gets to pick first, so after all the automatic qualifiers are paired up with their bowls the order will go: Sugar Bowl, Fiesta, Orange, Fiesta, and finally the Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl will undoubtedly pick the loser of the SEC Championship game as its replacement team. The Fiesta Bowl’s replacement pick is where it gets interesting. The Fiesta can choose to honor its Big 12 tradition and pick Oklahoma State if they beat Oklahoma next week or they can pick TCU, Boise State, Iowa, Penn State, or even the Big East Champion. I see the Fiesta taking TCU and then Iowa. With the Sugar Bowl up next I see them taking an undefeated Boise State team to play Florida. That leaves the Orange Bowl to take the Cincinnati Bearcats to matchup against the ACC Champ, Georgia Tech. And the one BCS bowl that has two Conference ties, the Rose Bowl getting Ohio State and Oregon.
Top 5 Heisman Candidates
5. Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford: Gerhart had the ability to soar up to the number 1 candidate had his team won against Cal. He still is putting up incredible numbers for a power rusher and deserves some Heisman love.
4. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida: Tebow doesn’t have the numbers for the Heisman; he is however still a great player on arguably the best team in the nation. He’s a great leader and definitely deserves Heisman consideration.
3. Jordan Shipley, WR, Texas: If Shipley’s quarterback wasn’t Colt McCoy; he would have even more Heisman consideration. His work as a wide receiver and on special teams is remarkable. He’ll unfortunately not get a lot of votes due to his roommate, McCoy.
2. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas: At the beginning of the season this was supposed to be a race between Tebow, McCoy, and Sam Bradford. McCoy has been solid all season, providing the only source of offense early in the season while Texas was starting off slow. He’ll likely get a few votes taken away from him due to some voters voting for his teammate.
1. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama: This really has become Ingram’s award to lose. He’s putting up dominant numbers against tough defenses in the SEC. He’s doing this while defenses know that he’s Alabama’s main offensive threat. In a year where it took a long time for a player to claim the top spot in the Heisman race, but Ingram has and he’s as good as any previous winner.
BCS Bowl Projections
National Championship Game: Alabama - Texas
Rose Bowl: Ohio State – Oregon
Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech – Cincinnati
Sugar Bowl: Florida – Boise State
Fiesta Bowl: TCU – Iowa
The way the selection order goes is the bowls that lose their automatic qualifiers pick first and the bowl that loses the #1 team gets to pick first, so after all the automatic qualifiers are paired up with their bowls the order will go: Sugar Bowl, Fiesta, Orange, Fiesta, and finally the Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl will undoubtedly pick the loser of the SEC Championship game as its replacement team. The Fiesta Bowl’s replacement pick is where it gets interesting. The Fiesta can choose to honor its Big 12 tradition and pick Oklahoma State if they beat Oklahoma next week or they can pick TCU, Boise State, Iowa, Penn State, or even the Big East Champion. I see the Fiesta taking TCU and then Iowa. With the Sugar Bowl up next I see them taking an undefeated Boise State team to play Florida. That leaves the Orange Bowl to take the Cincinnati Bearcats to matchup against the ACC Champ, Georgia Tech. And the one BCS bowl that has two Conference ties, the Rose Bowl getting Ohio State and Oregon.
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