Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Va. Tech's Evans Tears ACL, Will Miss Season

Virginia Tech, the favorite to win the ACC and a popular pick for a darkhorse national champion this season, suffered a devestating blow during practice on Tuesday when running back Darren Evans tore his left ACL. Evans, who set several school rushing records as a freshman, will miss the entire season.

Evans, the MVP of last season's Orange Bowl, rushed for 1,265 yards last year and set a Virginia Tech single-game record for rushing with 253 yards against Maryland. His 11 touchdowns also set school freshman records for rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns.

While the Hokies certainly have depth at running back, none of the backs are as accomplished as Evans. Redshirt freshman Ryan Williams, following an impressive spring showing, and Josh Oglesby, a redshirt sophomore who saw some playing time last year, are expected to carry the load this fall. Highly touted true freshman David Wilson should also receive plenty of carries as the season progresses. But the loss of Evans puts even more pressure on mobile quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who will have to play steadily in his first full season as a starter in order for the Hokies to play up to many people's expectations.

Meanwhile, USC quarterback Aaron Corp sat out practice on Tuesday after bruising his left knee when a lineman rolled into him on Monday. Corp will undergo an MRI on Wednesday to determine whether the injury is more serious than a bruise. This is bad news for Corp as freshman Matt Barkley has garnered a lot of attention and praise on campus. The Trojans, who have won seven straight Pac-10 titles, open the season against San Jose State and can very well use that matchup to let Barkley get his feet wet. It's stunning that Arkansas transfer Mitch Mustain cannot even generate buzz anymore playing on a campus so close to L.A. But I guess that's life when you're playing on a team with so much talent.

A couple of notes from the Phillies-Cubs game in Chicago last night...

Brad Lidge blew the seventh save of his injury-shortened season and is clearly not the same player who was automatic last year during the Phillies' World Series run. Although he came into the game 8-for-8 during save situations in the second half, his pitches have not been as crisp and he is still struggling with location.

The Cubs are not without their own relief woes, however. While some may consider the injuries to Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly to be the most detrimental, I still believe Carlos Marmol's inability to consistently throw strikes will ultimately lead to the Cubs' demise this season.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Ricciardi Blunders Again, But What Else is New?

I think it may be time for J.P. Ricciardi to take his commemorative copy of Moneyball home with him and let real baseball executives play General Manager for a change. The same GM who let his star pitcher Roy Halladay hang out to dry has made yet another boneheaded decision, letting outfielder Alex Rios walk away for free to the Chicago White Sox without getting anything in return. Sure, the Jays are saving money by unloading Rios' huge contract to another team, but Rios is a player who is simply having a down year and whose best baseball is in his immediate future.

Sure, $62 million remaining on a contract of a guy who has underachieved this year is tough for a Canadian baseball team in a rough economy to endure. And ESPN's Jayson Stark had an interesting take on Rios this morning on Mike & Mike in the Morning. Stark rattled off the following Alex Rios statistics in regards to his major league rankings since he signed his big deal:

-110th in slugging
-99th in home runs
-105th in batting average
-169th in on-base percentage

So Ricciardi did the right thing by dumping Rios, right? Absolutely not. No one in baseball could tell me that acquiring even lower level prospects was impossible in exchange for taking on a big contract. Ricciardi stated that the White Sox wanted the Jays to include money for Rios' contract in the deal if they were to give up any players. According to Ricciardi, he didn't see the worth in that because he apparently wouldn't be able to address other team needs. "For us to eat money and not get players that we thought we wanted," Ricciardi said, "I think it would've been counterproductive. We weren't able to get some of the players that we would've liked. From that standpoint, we just said the best thing in this case is to get the financial flexibility from every dollar."

Financial flexibility to do what? Sign B.J. Ryan again? Give big money to an Alex Rios-type who supposedly is not worth the time after one down year? Was keeping the contract on the books in the hopes that Rios bounces back next year too simple of a solution for a sabermetrically obsessed GM? He did, after all, hit .297 with 24 home runs and 85 RBIs just two years ago.

The main problem I have in acquiring zero prospects in return is the fact that Ricciardi was unable to move Lyle Overbay, Scott Downs and a host of other veterans who could have netted cheaper bodies at the trade deadline. I mean, money was what this was all about, right J.P.?

From the White Sox standpoint, the club was able to acquire a versatile power-speed combo who can play all three outfield positions but will likely settle into center field for the long-term. With the exception of one solid season from Aaron Rowand, the White Sox haven't had a decent center field option since Lance Johnson. And despite his disappointing .264-14-64 line this year thus far, Rios' numbers will be helped by playing in hitter-friendly U.S. Cellular Field.

Combined with new acquisition Jake Peavy, the pair will make more than $115 while on the White Sox payroll--a stunning development for a club led by a very very financially conservative owner. It'll take a few years to see if the Rios acquisition ends up paying dividends for the White Sox. But two things are clear: First, this isn't your older brother's tight-spending White Sox club. Second, J.P. Ricciardi has to go.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Yanks Dispose of Sox, Extend AL East Lead

Jon Lester did everything he could on Sunday night to prevent a four-game sweep at the hands of the New York Yankees, but Daniel Bard surrendered back-to-back two-out homers as the Bronx Bombers took all four games at Yankee Stadium this weekend to give the club a 6 1/2 game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East. Boston is now tied with Texas for the lead in the AL wild-card race, while Tampa Bay sits just a game and a half behind. The Red Sox led the AL East by five games on June 24.

Boston carries a season-high six-game losing streak as it heads home to welcome the Detroit Tigers into town.

Clearly, the Red Sox are struggling mightily offensively, and ESPN's Buster Olney made a great comparison over the weekend, noting that the Sox look very similar to some Yankees teams from a couple of years ago: overloaded with older, defensively challenged corner infield/DH types. I didn't want to believe it this past winter when the Yanks snagged Mark Teixeira, but he just may have been the tipping point in the battle for AL East supremacy. The Red Sox have had to deal with nagging injuries to Mike Lowell, a terrible season from David Ortiz (despite his coming around a little bit the last few months) and an average season from J.D. Drew. These factors forced the club to deal for Adam LaRoche--who was later dealt for Casey Kotchman--and Victor Martinez, who is a solid all-around player but is not the frontline pitcher that the club probably could have acquired at the deadline to pair with Josh Beckett if not for its offensive woes.

Now the club will have to stare history straight in the eye, as Boston has never overcome a defecit of 5 1/2 games or more to the Yankees in either the American League or AL East.

The Cleveland Browns held a scrimmage on Sunday, and ESPN's Chris Mortensen told Mike & Mike in the Morning that neither Brady Quinn nor Derek Andersen was great...or terrible. Quinn registered a 51-yard TD pass while Andersen produced a long drive that was stalled when D'Qwell Jackson picked off a pass near the goal line. The one thing that remains clear is that head coach Eric Mangini will not be swayed by public opinion in deciding who will line up under center in Week One.

Tiger Woods came from three shots behind Padraig Harrington on Sunday to win the Bridgestone Invitational for the seventh time and will now try to win the season's last major at Hazeltine. Finishing with a 5-under 65, Woods won back-to-back tour events and became the first golfer in history to win on one course seven times.

Down one shot to Harrington and in the trees on the par-5 16th, Woods used an 8-iron to deliver a shot that landed a foot from the hole, and his subsequent birdie started an incredible turn for the worse for Harrington. A winner of two majors last year, Harrington carded a shocking triple bogey on the same hole that led to Woods winning for the 70th time in his career.

It's ashame, however, that the event was seemingly marred by the pairing being put on a clock on the 16th tee after apparently falling behind schedule. Woods even admitted that he was probably aided by the fact that Harrington rushed his shots on the disastrous 16th, where Harrington entered with a one-shot lead. Both men hit errant tee shots, but Tiger was able to escape disaster with his beautiful iron play--and he escaped the 16th with a three-shot lead. Was the victory tainted, or was it just Tiger being Tiger?