1. Sergio Agüero: The Quiet Neighbor
Triangle Blog Brother/Rankonia Writer Emeritus Chris Ryan nominates Agüero, who is this week’s hero:
"Are we underrating Sergio Agüero? He isn't as prone to fireworks or setting off fireworks as Mario Balotelli and he doesn't have a deep, unquenchable love of golf like Carlos Tévez, he just scores goals. Alex Ferguson called Manchester City the noisy neighbors. But the only time there is a noise surrounding the Argentine, nicknamed "Kun" (King), is when he scores. And what a sound he created Sunday.
When Mariano Rivera tore his ACL shagging flies last night in Kansas City, you knew two things would happen: Yankee fans would freak out, and we'd pry my buddy JackO (a die-hard Yankee fan) away from the ledge for an emergency B.S. Report podcast. We also grabbed Grantland's Jonah Keri to discuss the implications of Rivera's injury on the AL pennant race and give us a snapshot of both leagues heading into the first weekend of May.
Welcome to the second episode of the Triangle Podcast. This week, with the NBA playoffs in full swing, I thought I'd catch up with some of my Shootaround partners and talk basketball. Robert Mays stopped by the studio to discuss Zach Randolph's dominance over Blake Griffin in the Clippers-Grizzlies series, the Bulls and life after Derrick Rose, plus what we expected from Game 3 of the Knicks-Heat series.
Rembert Browne called in to lament Paul Pierce Tebowing on … the city of Atlanta, and the caliber of celebrity sitting courtside at Hawks games. I also talked to Katie Baker about the Stanley Cup playoffs (specifically Wednesday night's heart-stopping triple-overtime Rangers-Caps game) and Jonah Keri about Bryce Harper, the Rangers, the Rays, and an exciting few nights in Major League Baseball.
It's the inaugural episode of The Triangle Podcast. Each episode, I'll talk to a few different Triangle writers about the sports they cover. This week, I talked to Bill Barnwell about the falling NFL draft stock Vontaze Burfict, the Dolphins pinning their hopes on Ryan Tannehill, and whether a system should come before personnel when it comes to drafting players. I also checked in with Katie Baker on the crazy, bloody, and dramatic Stanley Cup playoffs, then Roger Bennett, one half of the Men in Blazers, joined me to recap two insane days of Champions League semifinals and the upcoming Manchester derby. Finally, I talked to Jonah Keri about Carl Crawford's trip to Dr. James Andrews and Oakland's five-tool star in the making, Yoenis Cespedes.
With 1/10th of baseball's regular season (and fantasy season) gone, closer jobs changing hands, and anxiety building over slow starts, it's time to dip into the Fantasy Fiesta mailbag.
Look, I had some questions about that Dodgers triple play from this weekend. Because Jonah Keri had the green circle on Gchat, I asked him. If you have a baseball nerd question, feel free to shoot us an e-mail at triangle@grantland.com. We read them, I swear!
"Is it too soon to buy Dodgers World Series tickets? If history is any indication, bust out the wallet. I'm serious!" —Los Angeles sports anchor, following Thursday night's 3-2 win by the Dodgers
It's easy to get excited if you're a Dodgers fan in L.A. and you've watched what has happened so far this season. We're a week in, and the Dodgers own the best record in baseball. But now comes the wet blanket: The Dodgers just spent seven games beating up on the Padres and Pirates.
The Jonah Keri Podcast returns for a new season, welcoming in Baseball Tonight anchor Steve Berthiaume. We start our trip around the league with a look at the star-studded Tigers. We then tackle the Angels (like 'em), Diamondbacks (love 'em), the likely-to-be-competitive NL Central, and the likely-to-be-chaotic NL East. A rational AL East conversation then devolves into chaos as Berthiaume predicts doom for the Red Sox, while I try to counter with praise for Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard.
For the fourthtime this offseason, it's time to get (re)acquainted with the term, hara hachi bu:
In the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, locals practice a special kind of diet. It's called hara hachi bu, and it basically means they eat until they're 80 percent full. Sounds both logical and awful, right? Okinawans eat less than people in Western societies, and also live longer. And forget 100 percent — we slam two helpings of turkey smothered in gravy, three plates of stuffing and sweet potatoes, and four kinds of pie every Thanksgiving, then feel like garbage afterward. But dammit, it tastes good, and it's our right to stuff ourselves silly and destroy our health and waist lines. Hara hachi bu might make sense on paper, but it hasn't caught on in most places.
The Braves are the Okinawans of Major League Baseball. Sure, plenty of teams run much lower payrolls and keep draft spending in check. But those teams do so because they're poor by MLB standards. The Braves are not. They're a mid-market team not far removed from one of the greatest runs of success any team has seen in half a century. But where previous owner Time Warner bankrolled one of the top payrolls in the game, Liberty Media has clamped down on spending, with the Braves ranking a modest 15th at $87 million last season. They could probably spend more money and still turn a profit. They choose not to. Meanwhile, the new collective bargaining agreement's restrictions on draft spending should have zero effect on the Braves. They were one of very few teams that stuck to slot recommendations every year. In fact, Braves president John Schuerholz was a driving force behind the new spending caps and the penalties that result from going over those caps. The Braves continue to pump out great players, using superior scouting in the draft and on the international market to bring in new generations of exciting talent. But in a division that features a new, big-spending superpower in the Phillies, that hasn't been enough.
Rocco Baldelli spent seven years in the big leagues before calling it quits after the 2010 season. Upon his retirement, the Tampa Bay Rays brought their former first-round draft pick into the front office, where he now serves in the role of baseball operations special assistant. We tracked down Baldelli after a panel at this year’s MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, and asked about adjusting to a new role, his early embrace of analytics, and the benefits of working with an open-minded manager.
You work in a front office that’s limited in terms of high-level baseball playing experience. Did you feel that was something you could bring to the table, having played in the majors very recently, then bringing that experience right upstairs?
Maybe Andrew [Friedman] was thinking that. At the time I was just interested in working in the front office. But I’ve always been interested in this aspect of the game. When I was a young player, I would talk with [Rays scouting director] R.J. Harrison about things. This was when I was at A-ball.
The Kansas City Royals came into last season loaded with young, unproven talent, a team with a bright future, but also a murky present. A year later, the Royals head into spring training loaded with young, slightly more proven talent, but also a roster that might struggle to top .500.
Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Johnny Giavotella, and Salvador Perez all claimed full-time jobs for the first time, joining Alcides Escobar to form baseball's youngest infield. Alex Gordon finally fulfilled his potential and emerged as a star, Jeff Francoeur showed he's more than a smiling face and an OBP black hole, and Melky Cabrera had a career year. The gang's all back this season save for Cabrera, who got shipped to San Francisco for Jonathan Sanchez. That Sanchez, a walks machine who made just 19 starts in 2011, could be the team's no. 2 starter, tells you what's missing from this team: front-line starting pitching. Without it, this is an intriguing, fun-to-watch team ... with third-place upside.
On Thursday, an arbitration panel upheld Braun's appeal and threw out a pending 50-game suspension against the reigning National League MVP. It marked the first time that a major league player has ever had a positive drug test overturned.
Every year around this time, Las Vegas casinos start posting over/under win totals for MLB teams. The LVH released its lines on Monday. The number on the Indians? 78.5 wins. Bet the over. Bet it hard.
The Indians have a lot going for them this season, starting with three starters at the top of the rotation who are going to burn a lot of worms. Even with the former Fausto Carmona a question mark heading into the season after being busted for identity theft and delayed reentry into the U.S., Ubaldo Jimenez, Justin Masterson, and Derek Lowe should keep Indians infielders busy all year long, and keep the ball in the park. After missing half of last year with thumb and oblique injuries, Shin-Soo Choo should be healthy for Opening Day, just one year removed from a huge .388 wOBA season. Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis get starting jobs from day one as they continue their improvement, with defensive whiz Jack Hannahan around to spot for Chisenhall and suck up some of those copious groundballs. Even assuming some regression toward the mean for Asdrubal Cabrera (career-high 25 homers last season) and Casey Kotchman (career-high .306 batting average thanks to a .335 batting average on balls in play), this is still a balanced lineup with upside. Throw in a deep and capable bullpen and you've got a good team with the potential to be very good. That might not be enough against an already strong Tigers team that added Prince Fielder. But it's another step in the right direction for an Indians team that's on the right track.
