AL East Talking Points

– After losing to the Angels 11-0 last night, the Red Sox lost to the Twins today 9-2, bringing their losing streak to three.

– The Red Sox are now in last place at 14-18, which is also the Mets’ record.

– Terry Francona was ejected today and may be suspended after making contact with umpire Joe West.

– Carl Crawford is hitting .197.

– The Yankees are winning tonight as I speak.  They will be 18-12 when it’s all said and done, good enough for first place.

The Red Sox would be happy with second place at this point.

2011 Undrafted Gems???

With the 2011 NFL draft concluding on Saturday, the Giants along with the rest of the teams in the NFL must now wait until the lockout ends before they can sign any free agents and or undrafted college players. Once the lockout ends, I believe we will see a very active NFL in both departments.  Based on the Giants needs and their actually draft picks, I compiled a few names of Undrafted college players who I feel the Giants should consider signing for their team and or development squad.

Tim Barnes (Center): Good size center (6’4 /300 lbs) out of Missouri, who I felt should have been drafted in the 6th or 7th round. Could also play the guard position, but Center is his natural position. Could develop and replace O’Hara (33 years old) in a year or two.

Willie Smith (OT): Another OT who I projected to be drafted and at 6’5/310 lbs, has the size. Played at East Carolina and played the final 27 games of his college career at Left Tackle. Rated #21 among OT in the draft, considering the depth of the OT this year, that’s not too shabby. Could develop into a solid OT in time and worth a look.

David Mims (OT): A mountain of a man at 6’8/334 lbs playing at Virgina Union. I believe this kid could be a sleeper and whoever signs him will be happy they did. Rated #16 among OT this year, which is very good with the depth of the OT in this year’s draft. Hope the Giants select him and let him develop.

Schuylar Oordt (TE): At 6’6/261lbs, Oordt ran a 4.63 at the combine, which is very impressive for a man his size. Didn’t have great numbers at college (playing at Northern Iowa), but he has the hands and good blocking technique to make it at the NFL level. Rated #11 among TE and remembers me a lot of Keven Boss, but with more speed. Put this kid in the right system and he will develop into a solid TE in the NFL.

Collin Franklin (TE): Another big body at 6’6/256 lbs with above average speed (4.72). Very similar to Oordt from Northern Iowa, as Franklin played just down the road at Iowa State. Didn’t have impressive numbers in college. Mostly due to the offensive system ran by Iowa State, but this kid could develop into a solid TE at the NFL level if given the chance. Rated #12 among TE and has the blocking skills the Giants look for in a TE.

Josh Portis (QB): Played at the Univ of California and would be the definition of a project QB. Good size (6’4/211 lbs) and ran a 4.50, has shown the ability to throw the deep pass with accuracy and has very quick feet. He’s very raw and would need a few years to develop into an NFL system.

Taylor Potts (QB): Played out of Texas Tech and has good size 6’5/220lbs and is fairly mobile. Did well at the Senior Bowl and has shown intelligence and good arm strength to go along with accuracy. Potts is a traditional pocket passer who came from a shotgun spread offense at college, so he would need time to develop and learn the NFL system. Could be a solid backup for Eli if he can develop.

With all the undrafted college players still available, I’ve chosen just a handul that I feel would give the Giants more depth and also could become contributors to the team. Next week I will review all the remaining free agents still available for the Giants to explore.

2011 Rangers draft & possible options?

With the Rangers  2011 draft approaching (June 24/25) and UFA/RFA available after July 1. This offseason will be very important in determining the direction of this team. In my previous post, I mentioned that I believe the Rangers are close to becoming legit Stanley Cup contenders. With a solid goaltender (Henry Lundqvist) and a young and cohesive defensemen (Staal, Girardi, Sauer, McDonagh, Gilroy), the Rangers need to solidify and strengthen their offense. With this in mind, the team has several options to achieve this, first through the draft.  The Rangers have the 15th overall pick in the 1st round, two 2nd round picks , a 4th and a 5th round pick in this year’s draft. Still plenty of picks to find quality players to improve this team. In my opinion, this team needs to select offensive minded centers/wingers with at least 2 of the first 3 picks.  There has been much talk about Sven Baertschi (LW) and/or  Mark McNeil (C) being their 1st overall pick. Also, Rocco Grinaldi (LW)  has been mentioned as well. In the 2nd round, two centermen have been associated with the Rangers and they are Daniel Catenacci and Colin Jacobs. As the draft gets closer, I will put together my final draft board. Their 2nd option is through the UFA/RFA, I feel the Rangers must re-sign their RFA (Dubinsky,Callahan, Boyle, Sauer, Anisimov, Gilroy). There two RFA that the Rangers should inquire about and they are Steven Stamkos and Zach Parise, both would require high compensation, but worth a look. On the UFA  front, Brad Richards continues to be headed to New York, which is fine. I would also look at UFA players such as: Jussi Jokinen and Brook Laich as well. Their 3rd option is from their farm system; players like Chris Kreider, Pavel Valentanko, Michael Del Zotto and possibly Christian Thomas will all have the opportunity of making the roster in 2012. Their 4th option is through the trade, players such as Jason Spezza, Jerome Iginla, Phil Kessel and even Evgeni Malkin names have been swirling around the NHL trade winds. Also, there has been much talk of the Rangers buying out Chris Drury’s contract, which will open up another roster spot as well. With nearly $40 million of cap room, the Rangers could be in the best position to put together a powerhouse and make a serious run at the Cup.