Z Train The curse of being a Braves fan is that you fall in love with just about every player on the roster, regardless of how well they play or the value you bring. The easiest way to win us Atlanta fans over is just by being genuine. Looking back at my childhood, I was shocked to learn that Gary Sheffield, JD Drew and Mark Teixeira all stayed just one season apiece in their long careers because in my head I always thought of these players as Braves. That being said, as you grow up, you start to learn a little bit about the business of baseball and how few players are safe. Realistically, we all know the Braves aren’t making the playoffs, and our Top 3 farm system is setting us up for the future. While Swanson has famously struggled in 2017, we’ve seen great strides in the development of Mike Foltynewicz (arguably our best pitcher this year), Sean Newcomb, Ender Inciarte (Gold Glove winner last year, .300 hitter this year) and the emergence of Johan Camargo from the depths of AAA Gwinnett. We’ve got countless big arms developing in the minors (Ian Anderson, Mike Soroka and Kolby Allard are all Top 10 picks and 19 years old), and several hitters on the cusp of breaking through to the big time, like Ozzie Albies (Top 5 MLB prospect), Ronald Acuna (future 5-tool player) and we all know Dansby Swanson will be back with a vengeance. My point being: 2017 is not the Braves year, but 2018 might be, 2019 will probably be and 2020 will definitely be. I know, the classic Atlanta argument of “next year is our year” but with a star-studded farm system filled with prospects of all ages, it’s time to cash in on the Major Leaguers that have upped their value tremendously this season. Like I said, it’s really hard to want to trade anyone as a Braves fan, but we can command at least a decent market and move forward in 2017, giving reps to younger guys and maybe taking on a bad one year contract to just see out the season with (Brooklyn Nets-style). In the same spirit of the one-year players mentioned above, these three guys need to be shipped out for at least something before the trade deadline is over. It will hurt, but will be necessary for our greater good: Kurt Suzuki Possibly the easiest to part with of the bunch (and most likely), Kurt Suzuki is hitting a solid .267, and recency bias from his 2 bombs Tuesday night(adding to 10 on the season) make him look like a pretty great backup catching option for a contending team. He’s a plus defender, and might be worth a shot for a team like the Cubs recovering from Miguel Montero, or a team like the Indians whose catchers have struggled. He’s on a pretty good contract ($1.5m) and would be a decent cheap rental for a postseason run. His market could command a mid-level pitching prospect that are never a bad idea to stock up on. Brandon Phillips Dat dude BP. It’s been awesome watching Brandon Phillips return home to Atlanta after being a perennial All-star fixture at second base. His bat has been solid this year, hitting .286 with 8 bombs and a respectable OPS of .762. The Braves traded two bullpen grade pitchers for the last year of a 36 year old’s contract to mentor the young core the Braves are developing and hold down the middle infield spot until Ozzie Albies is ready for the spotlight. This is the best-case scenario for us, he’s done spectacularly, helped mentor and sell out some seats in the new stadium with his fun, relaxed brand of baseball, and now it’s time to cash in. He’s the perfect veteran leader in a contender’s clubhouse. While he’s on an expensive $14m contract, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Braves bought out the rest of his contract to move him to a team for a good young player or two. Our ROI has already been met, and if we can flip him for prospects a little better than two average bullpen guys, you have to chalk this as a win. The only issue is that lots of these contending teams already have solid second basemen. Outside of the Dodgers (who could maybe move to add another veteran), most have positive WAR 2B’s, and the Rays moved for Trevor Plouffe, Sergio Romo and Hechavarria in the last 20 days, so they could be done with any other playoff-push trades. If a team I can’t think of has a need, BP is the perfect veteran rental for a contending team whose plus defense and bat could command a prospect or two in return for the Braves. Matt Adams
This one hurts the worst. Matt Adams has gotta be one of my favorite trades the Braves have ever made. The 28 year old is hitting .284 with 16 bombs and has been an absolute spark plug in the middle of the Braves lineup. With Matt Kemp and Freddie Freeman in and out of the lineup with injuries, Adams has been a consistent performer on a great contract, only giving up corner infield prospect Juan Yepez who has done next to nothing in Class A Peoria this year (.222 avg). With Freddie Freeman playing third base coming back from injury, it doesn’t seem as though the Braves are keen to move on from Adams, and I don’t blame management at all. He’s performing well, has settled in to the ballpark and is a likable guy (locker room glue). He was totally OK with being a part of the Cardinals winning teams, even when it meant playing second fiddle, often undeservedly. He’s in top shape and I hope he sticks around for a while in Atlanta. …all that being said, the trade value for Matt Adams is immense. While most contenders in the AL already have a solid DH prospect, he is an underrated defensive first baseman, and has experience in left field. With his power bat, locker room presence and current form he is the perfect fit for a team trying to break through to the next level. The team has another year of control of Adams with arbitration, so he would be a little more than a rental, but could command some serious trade value. Big bats and playoff experience are essential commodities for a contender, and he offers both. The Indians could look to upgrade the struggling Carlos Santana to solidify their lineup, and the Yankees could definitely use an upgrade to Chase Headley. I’m so torn with the Matt Adams scenario. BP would be a little easier to let go of, and Suzuki would be very easy, but Adams is an awesome player. I would love to see what kind of market he could command and see if we could add another strong, young arm or outfield prospect, and maybe a solid big leaguer with a good contract. But, the Braves seem to be linked to every young pitcher on the market (Jose Quintana, Chris Archer, Sonny Gray, Yu Darvish) so Coppolella might just blow up our farm system in the next few days, who the hell knows. Chop on motherfuckers.
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Z Train
As many of you have probably heard, the medical journal JAMA reported a study where over 99% of 202 examined brains from deceased former NFL players contained the symptoms of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or, as we know it, CTE. In other breaking news from science, the ocean is salty and bears shit in the woods.
There should be little to no reaction other than maybe a “Yeah, of course.” Are you telling me that if you repeatedly slam your head into other grown men for a decade, your brain will start to deteriorate over time? Sound the hot take alarm. Brain injuries are really serious. Sound it again. After seeing some of the NFL’s star players and personalities have serious bouts with depression and suicidal tendencies, like Jim McMahon and the late Junior Seau, you can’t help but make the obvious link to their football careers as, at the very least, a large portion of the cause. McMahon is even suffering from early onset dementia, diagnosed as a 54 year old. And now, it looks like over 99% of former NFLers died with the same symptoms, albeit less serious, but anything is serious regarding the health of the brain. What’s despicable is the track record of the NFL when it comes to concussions and player safety in general, manifested by the statement they released today as the news broke:
“…there are still many unanswered questions relating to the cause, incidence and prevalence of long-term effects of head trauma such as CTE” “In 2016, the NFL pledged tons of money to this problem so everyone would think we’re the good guys, please stop talking about it so we can make more money.” (Paraphrased) Basically, the NFL is just saying “well it’s not our fault, we’re trying, please shut up.” Maybe you think I’m taking the response out of context, but my interpretation is only proven by the wax sculpture that is Roger Goodell’s comments on CTE over the last few years. The owners’ puppet continues to deny the links between football, concussions and CTE, citing that the science behind it still has a lot of holes and questions, which is exactly the stance that they’re taking in the statement above. The NFL being in the “CTE-denier” camp is wild to me. Do they really think that the science won’t be conclusive after a few more years of intense study by some of the country’s brightest neuroscientists? Can anyone honestly say they’d lay down a sizable wager that football is not the largest contributor, if not the direct cause, to CTE? First, before you think I’m some snowflake who hates sports, let me say that I love football. It’s my favorite sport to watch and I grew up playing it, but I had to quit in high school after I blew out my knee and had to make the personal decision that the sport was too dangerous. After a recent second ACL injury to the same knee, I’m still reaping the consequences, yet I still love the sport, and I’m not sure I wouldn’t play it again. All football players are absolutely accountable for their safety, they know the risks. If you’ve seen that Bears 30-for-30 (everyone has, go watch it if you haven’t), most would go back and do it again. I’m just thankful it was my knee and not my head. The problem is not with the sport, but with the governing administration, also known as the NFL, who can’t seem to get their prerogative straight. While they’re obviously on board with the PR hype train that is concussion prevention, every rule that Goodell and his administration float around or put in place make little sense. How many times have we heard announcer’s bring up how a player is under “concussion protocol”, spewing the propaganda from the NFL that they are doing something about the problem, only to have that player shortly return, clearly concussed: Case Keenum for the Rams a few years ago (link here), Matt Moore getting KO’d last year, and Cam Newton’s entire season, seemingly stemming from Deion Jones blasting him on the goalline. Any person with a set of eyes and a TV could tell that any of these three guys were not themselves, yet no one from the NFL front office bothered to call and tell the team to remove the player from the field? It seems to me like an organization where “Safety is #1” would be sure to publicly interfere to keep that image intact, but, there was money to be made, so they looked the other way.
Another issue with safety is the NFL’s clear refusal to develop any sort of process to properly address dirty players. Vontaze Burfict and Ndamukong Suh are the culprits that immediately come up, but what do a one- to three-game suspension and a $10,000 fine (paid to the NFL no less) mean in the long run when they can end someone’s season, while doing serious damage to someone else’s health? See the Burfict’s hit on Antonio Brown (concussed, miss the conference championship), the leg stomp by Suh, Burfict twisting the Panthers on the ground, or Suh Triple H’ing any QB he comes across. I don’t have all of the answers, but something better has to be done to better deter any of football’s pseudovillains to injure players with dirty hits rather than a couple of games and a week’s pay. It’s clear that the NFL has zero clue how long a suspension should be (see Ray Rice and Tom Brady), and Goodell is too afraid to hand down a big suspension in case the owners get mad at him. I’ll brainstorm some ideas and call you up, Roger.
In the same breath, Goodell refuses to change any of the overtime/tie rules that sap the sport’s electricity and undermine the competitiveness, citing players’ health as his primary concern. While that almost makes sense, the other two biggest changes floating around are relocating the Jaguars to London, and lengthening the regular season to 18 games, completely contradicting any argument for health. Could you imagine the wear and tear on the NFL player’s body while additionally undergoing repeated international flights, combined with the mental stress that comes with it? Or any additional damage done after playing 2 more games of the most physically taxing sport we have? While I would love two more weeks of football (don’t get me started on the London BS though), this is an absolutely absurd notion of unmasked greed. What’s disgusting is the hypocrisy of Goodell and the owners, preaching safety and “pledging money to research” while firmly driving the money machine at the expense of that same safety and blatantly denying and refusing responsibility for any long term health effects. Just pick a side Roger. You can’t preach concussion safety AND deny CTE. You can’t be worried about player’s health in an OT game AND let them wander back out onto the field after a clear concussion. Either deny CTE, do away with all rules, and give Burfict a bonus every time he murders a wide receiver, or put your administration on the path to a safer future for the NFL and get on the right side of history. Tommy V We now know that the Cleveland Cavaliers are officially engaging in trade talk for disgruntled star Kyrie Irving so that can only mean one thing, Trade Machine Time! I'm going to give out a few trade scenarios that I think will work out for all sides with a couple of caveats. The trades must be able to: 1. Help the Cavs in the short and long term by making them contenders for next year and give them a young player for the future. 2. Kyrie must go to a team in need of a star or one of his preferred destinations. 3. Be fair for both teams at my disgression. 4. Not send any picks because the trade machine can't take that into consideration. I'm going to start out with what I think is my weakest trade and move towards my strongest one so don't skip ahead! Trade #1 - Kyrie goes to the Timberwolves! This trade barely comes in for all three of my self-made rules but barely is just enough! It's a bit ironic that Andrew Wiggins would be coming back to the Cavs but I think he could be their primary option if and when LeBron leaves next year. He would be offering some help this season as a secondary scoring option with a potential for good 3 PT shooting if he continues making strides. It makes sense for the Timberwolves because they would be moving on from a bad contract in Gorgui Dieng and adding some desperately needed wing depth in Richard Jefferson. It's hard to make it work between these two teams because they both have great starters but their benches are lacking. Another wrinkle in the trade is that Jeff Teague was just given a contract and can't be trade until December 15th and he doesn't fit in with Kyrie at all. Trade # 2 - Kyrie is a New York Knickerbocker! This one makes some sense for both teams. The Cavs get a buddy of LeBron in Carmelo who might be able to convince LeBron to stay at least one more year to see out his contract. The Cavs also get a young player with a lot of upside in Willy Hernangomez who the Knicks would hate to lose but that's the cost of getting Kyrie. Speaking of Kyrie he's going to one of the teams that he asked to go to and get's to bask in the limelight of New York. I think the Knicks win this trade but it's closer than you might think because of the combined value of Carmelo and Henangomez. I think the Cavs would say no first but if they don't get a good deal from anybody else they could take something like this. Trade #3 - Kyrie is a San Antonio Spur! The trade machine hates this trade a lot more than I do but I think it's the strongest candidate that matches all of my criteria. The Cavs get good short term players in LA (I still believe in him) and Danny Green (Always Underrated) while adding a future point guard in Dejounte Murray who I think will be a good player at some point. The Spurs will be taking on some more salary this year and next year but get their point guard of the future and a great player to put next to Kawhi Leonard. This trade isn't quite there but I think it's close! Now I'll finally give you my favorite trade. Trade #4 - Kyrie is a Denver Nugget! I actually really like this trade for both sides though I think the Nuggets might say no first? The Cavs get good player in Kenneth Faried and Wilson Chandler who add depth to there team and allow them to trot out some different units then they had last season. They also get a great piece for the future in Jamal Murray who's a sharpshooter with some ball-handling ability. The Nuggets get a star to headline their already solid team and a piece that fits in very well next to Nikola Jokic for now and the future. This helps the Nuggets advance their timeline since they have so many inexperienced players and could use so more players like Kyrie to grow with them while still being great now. I'm still holding onto the personal belief that Kyrie isn't traded this offseason and they wait until at least next year to see what LeBron does but you never know. If Dan Gilbert is still looking for a President of Basketball Operation just slide on into the DMs I'm your man. Z Train Saratoga Opening Weekend is the number one attraction for the summer racing events, and while I was excited with the rest of degenerate America, the Express has officially been derailed. After a hot start winning 4 out of 5 bets on Friday afternoon, I won 1 bet for the rest of the weekend, tanking all of the $25 I risked on Saturday, truly bottoming out. It’s a sad time, but it was still a heck of a race card. The Grade I Diana on Saturday, preceded by a Grade III and three total Grade III’s on Friday and Sunday made Saratoga’s Opening Weekend a smash with anyone fortunate enough to make it out there. The Grade III’s had pretty open fields that were taken by horses not nearly as favored as Lady Eli (barring the sparkling Abel Tasman (4-5)), which would’ve commanded quite the sum for an intelligent better (not Z).
Total Risked: $52 Total Won: $19.40 Total Payout: -$25.60 (-$.60 on Friday, -$25 on Saturday) Bets Won: 5 My success came in the first and second race of the weekend. I nailed Indycott (7-5) as a winner, Flash Trading (9-1) as a Show, and hit the 1-6 (Indycott-River Date (2-1)) Exacta that I boxed. This generated $12 of the $19.40 that I won on the day, and Beaux Arts (5-2) in the second race got me another $3.55 off a $1 Win. I was sorely mistaken thinking that luck would continue. I won a Place worth $3.85 total off of Dynamic War (9-2) in the final race of Friday, and then sank all of my money on Saturday, choosing countless scrubs over and over. Not blaming the experts, but I didn’t interpret anything properly. A really rough run of luck that may take the Z Train off of the Pony Express for a few weeks. As I lick my wounds, I’ll still be sure to keep going with all the horse racing analysis and make a triumphant return, like a phoenix from the ashes, at some point before this summer is over. As a recap, Lady Eli was the star of this show, winning Saturday’s Grade I Diana Stakes, the marquee event of the weekend, at 4-5 odds. A heavy favorite, Chad Brown’s horse rode a tremendous race, outlasting the German horse, Quidura. Lady Eli actually was suffering from laminitis (a painful inflammatory condition in horses’ hooves) last fall, but beat it and is back to her best. Usually I don’t bet against Chad Brown, but Antonoe and her jockey Javier Castellano won me some money in the past and I decided to stick with that combo. A poor bet in hindsight, but a strong Show result for Antonoe in a difficult Grade I race. A strong race from Quidura will also increase her value as the summer events continue, and will definitely be a horse to watch out for, but the true superstar was Lady Eli as the doors open to Saratoga. Other winners: G3 Schuylerville Stakes – Dream It is (9-2) G3 Lake George Stakes – Proctor’s Ledge (6-1) G3 Sanford Stakes – Firenze Fire (12-1) G3 Coaching Club American Oaks – Abel Tasman (4-5) Schmells In the days leading up to Fox 25: Weidman vs. Gastelum, I asked around to see if people were excited for Saturday's fight card. To my surprise, I found the vast majority of fans were completely overlooking the event. Maybe it is because Mayweather and McGregor are stealing the spotlight, or perhaps the long awaited return of Jon Jones looming on the horizon, but regardless these fights slipped through the cracks. Although there may not have been any super stars fighting, every fighter on the main card was ranked in the top 15 of their division. The prelims were full of highlights, rising prospects, and potentially washed up fighters. Not to mention the main event, which held huge implications for all of the top middle weights going forward. Let's examine the card a little closer and look at the overall winners and losers of this Fox event. Winner: Patrick Cummins This man is having a great year. After almost a year layoff, Patrick Cummins stepped back into the octagon in April and won a majority decision against Jan Blachowicz. He made it through the fight with no significant injuries, which allowed him to book another fight immediately. Three months later he was poised across the cage from his long time friend , Gian Villante. It was not an easy fight by any means; Cummins had to fight through getting rocked a couple times, as well as an accidental head butt in the first round. Despite all that, he was able to keep his cool, trust his conditioning, and maintain his striking technique. Cummins is known as an elite wrestler; however, I was impressed by his stand up game. His jab was working, and he was landing good combinations. Patrick is 2-0 in 2017, and my bet is that he will be looking to fight again before the end of the year. Loser: Patrick Cummins' face Cummins may have won the fight, but he looks like he lost some sort of bar room brawl. At least he is in good spirits about it. And yes, that is a missing tooth. Winner: Eryk Anders I'll say it: Anders can throw a hell of a straight right hand. This guy is just a winner. First off, he was a starting linebacker on the 2009 National Championship Alabama football team. He decided that wasn't enough of a physical test, so he transitioned into competitive fighting. He was 8-0 before this fight, but his opponent, Rafael Natal, represented a significant step up in competition for him. How did Anders respond? With a first round knock out of a Brazilian legend. Admittedly this is the first fight I've watched of Anders, but he struck me as a bit of a one trick pony. Everything about his stance told me that he was looking to throw his right hand and knock his opponent out. That's all well and good, but to break through into the upper echelon of the middle weight division, he is going to need to diversify his arsenal. Congrats to Eryk, and I expect to see him improve in every fight. Loser: Dennis Bermudez Everything about this fight told me that Bermudez would dominate his opponent, Darren Elkins. Elkins is known for his durability, AKA he can get punched in the head a lot and keep fighting. He's an elite grappler that can hold his own on his feet, but doesn't typically have that explosive power to finish fights. Bermudez is a great wrestler, has slick boxing, and has faced much more talent than his opponent. After it was all said and done, Elkins was able to defeat Bermudez via a somewhat controversial split decision. It looked as though Elkins had worked on his stand up a lot, and was generally able to dominate the clinch and grappling exchanges. Bermudez has now lost two in a row, and is 9-5 since being called to the UFC. He has lost to every top ten opponent in the past three years, and after this loss he should be is desperation mode to get a win under his belt. Winner: Chris Weidman Chris Weidman is the true champion of this fight card. Weidman started out his UFC career with a 13 fight win streaks, dominating legends of the sport like Vitor Belfort, Lyoto Machida, and Anderson Silva. Then came the Luke Rockhold fight. Chris threw an ill-advised spinning back kick, which ultimately lead to him being finished and losing his belt. This kicked off a three fight losing streak, some of which were controversial, and all of which he had a chance to win. That's the fight game though: anything can happen. The match up against Kelvin Gastelum might be considered a tune-up fight by Chris' standards. Although Kelvin is ranked 8th in the division, Chris still considers himself the champion and only wants to fight the best of the best. Well, just as expected, Chris dominated Kelvin at every turn. He showed of his elite grappling, fought long, and didn't stand straight in front of Gastelum. It is important to note that Weidman got dropped for the first time in his career; he stood in front of Kelvin for a split second and got caught with an overhand left, but was able to recover within seconds. Weidman finished Gastelum in the third found via arm-triangle choke. Here's hoping that Weidman gets back to his winning ways and that this is the first step back to title contention. |