Who's Next? (Nationals edition)

Now that we've covered some of the recent bigger trades, who still needs pieces, and who has pieces to sell?  According to the Worldwide Leader's playoff odds, eight American League teams (the Yankees, Rangers, White Sox, Tigers, Angels, A's, Red Sox, and Blue Jays) and seven National League teams (Nationals, Reds, Giants, Pirates, Cardinals, Braves, and Dodgers) have at least a 20% chance of making the postseason, with both the Rays in the AL and the Diamondbacks in the NL just under that number.  That's a lot of teams with winning records that could be looking to make moves.  As for who is available, for the right price your team may be able to acquire one or more of the following: Zack Greinke, Matt Garza, Ryan Dempster, Hunter Pence, almost any Miami Marlin (possibly including beer vendors), Shane Victorino, Yunel Escobar, James Shields, Jon Lester, Daniel Murphy, Josh Willingham, Alfonso Soriano (it's like seeing an old friend!), Bryan LaHair, Chase Headley, Denard Span, Justin Morneau, Jed Lowrie, Shaun Marcum, Huston Street, Brandon League, Jonathon Broxton, and any number of other decent relievers on bad teams.

Trading Season!

Perhaps because there is so little going on in the rest of the sports landscape (apart from the Olympics this year), baseball's July 31st trading deadline is one of my favorite times of the season.  It serves as a barometer for teams to evaluate their chances and decide whether or not they should buy, sell, or stand pat.  Of course it's more fun when a team or three decides to push more chips into the middle of the table, as the Astros did in trading for Randy Johnson in 1998, or the Brewers in 2008 with their deal for C.C. Sabathia.  In both instances those trades were major factors in securing their teams a playoff berth, as both Johnson and Sabathia were dominant post-trade.  Then again, some years are boring, such as 2005 when the biggest name to switch uniforms was either Matt Lawton or a beyond-washed-up Bret Boone. Thankfully, this year already looks exciting, and we still have a week to go before the deadline.  Before we get into any major speculation, let's take a look at some of the trades that have already happened.

An Idol's Fall From Grace

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them. - Exodus 20:4-5

In sports, particularly in this country and particularly in collegiate athletics, highly successful coaches have received adulation to the point of idolatry for decades.  Think of Knute Rockne. Bear Bryant. Woody Hayes.  Bo Schembechler.  Phog Allen. Adolph Rupp.  John Wooden.  Dean Smith.  Mike Krzyzewski.  Bobby Bowden.  Joe Paterno.

Draft Night!

I love the NBA draft. Because I pay so much attention to college basketball, I'm always interested in seeing where guys wind up, even (sometimes) if they're second-rounders.  Like most other people, I thought that this was an exceptionally deep draft, with plenty of potential starters and rotation players available well into the second round.  Below is my breakdown of many of the selections.

End of an Era

I have been fortunate, as a coach, to have probably more than my fair share of mentors in the profession, going all the way back to Steve Chronister, my basketball coach for five years in elementary and middle school.  They include coaches that I have played for, managed under, studied under, been an assistant for, and worked with in the same athletic department.  Virtually all of them have had illustrious careers at a higher level than whenever I played for/worked for/worked with them.  Like I said, I have been pretty lucky in that regard.  I bring this up because one of these people, Richie Burke, who coaches a sport that I have never really played in an organized form, has gotten a chance to return to the professional coaching ranks after well over a decade of running the incredibly well-oiled machine that is the National Cathedral School soccer program.  And although I don't know that Richie ever intended to serve as a guide, he has had a pretty profound impact on my career for someone who coaches a sport that I have no practical experience in.

Contingency Plans For the Nationals

The Washington Nationals, your resident blogger's hometown team and thus the one he sees the most of (although not his favorite team - that would be the Mets), are tied for first place just over a month into the season, despite a currently putrid offense that ranks 28th in scoring and 25th in OPS.  Due to a swath of injuries, Davey Johnson has occasionally had to do things like bat Rick Ankiel third, or the execrable Xavier Nady (.129/.169/.194 thus far, and no, that is not a misprint) fifth, as happened last night.  Fortunately for Washington, their starting pitching has been as good as their offense has been bad, and they have weathered injuries to their primary closer AND their backup closer in maintaining a decent bullpen.  If they keep it up, team management will have a major decision to make during the middle of a pennant race, and they need to start planning for that now.

Bryce Harper's Home Debut

On account of winning a bet with my mother over how early this season Bryce Harper would get called up to the majors, I was in attendance last night (sitting in left field, no less) for Arizona's 5-1 win over the Nationals last night.  Unless you are a starting pitcher, baseball is kind of an odd game to watch for the purposes of seeing one player do his thing, because there are a limited number of opportunities for that player to do something remarkable, quite unlike basketball or football.  But even if the final box score does not show it (0-3 with a couple of putouts in the outfield), Harper still managed to leave an impression and get everybody out of their seats.