NEW YORK, NY – A quick note before I get about the business of trashing athletes, events, and other sports-related nonsense. It has come to my attention that my name and this website were both mentioned in a church sermon this past weekend up in one of those sad river towns along the Hudson. (It must have been a pretty slow news week for God.) So, I’m pretty sure that means we’re all getting an E-Z Pass through the pearly gates when we meet our final reward. To paraphrase Caddyshack’s Carl Spackler: So we got that going for us… which is nice. Anyway, now that we all have full spiritual insurance coverage, let’s get to it.
Jacob deGrom Returns. I’m writing this Tuesday afternoon and Jake deGrom is scheduled to return to the bump tonight for the Mets in DC. I’m leaving this space here for Management to insert a line about how he and the Mets fared: no-decision vs Triple A Washington. It’s already been reported that deGrom is going to opt out of his contract at the end of this season. I felt it was odd for him to make this proclamation so early—especially given his recent spate of injuries—but maybe this a good thing for everyone involved. Is he going to be his old self? Can he stay healthy? Will he help propel the Mets to the playoffs and beyond? Will he return next year? It will be fun seeing how this deGrom-com plays out.
MLB Trade Deadline. I’m not gonna lie, I’m not a big fan of waiting around all day to see if or when certain players are going to be moved. I figure this is on “my watch,” so I have to cover it. And BOOM!, just as I typed those words, the Padres acquired Juan Soto (and Josh Bell too). That’s fine by me. I really didn’t want either of my favorite teams trading away a boatload of prospects and then signing the guy for 10 years and half a billion dollars. San Diego always seems like a safe landing spot for superstars who could potentially kill your teams’ chances in the postseason. Nothing ever really seems to happen in San Diego. It’s baseball’s soft landing spot for unexploded baseball land mines. In other moves, I hate to praise the Yankees but I liked both pitching moves they made, getting Montas from the A’s (he’s not scared of the Astros) and that reliever, Effross, from the Cubs. Both smart, solid additions, and they didn’t overpay. God, I hate the Yankees.
NFL Discipline. Six lousy games for Deshaun Watson? A first and third round draft pick for the Dolphins being ham-fisted morons? Tell me, when the hell is Goodell and the NFL going to get around to handing down punishment on Kirk Cousins? It’s been a full decade now of inappropriate and unwarranted football touching, tampering with his teams’ ability to win games, and other assorted Crimes and Minnesotademeanors. Banish this cretin to the Forbidden Zone already, or FedEx him back to Dan Snyder, they belong together. I thought the NFL was supposed to be tough. Pffft!
This concludes today’s Wednesday service. Come back tomorrow for the Right Reverend Buddy Diaz, who is constantly preaching patience with the Knicks.
