BrockLanders

Soler can swat it imfo

Happy for Winnipeg fans. They'll experience the playoffs for the first time in 19 years. The atmosphere for those games will be absolutely electric, really hoping they go on a nice run.

I've been following the NHL draft intently for about a decade and I really think this class has more potential superstars than any other in that time. Obviously McDavid gets the headlines, but Eichel would be a no-doubt #1 pick in almost any other year. Then in the next tier you have Noah Hanifan, Dylan Strome and Mitch Marner. They will likely go 3-4-5 but in a normal year, each of them would get serious #1 consideration. All of them would have gone ahead of Eklbad last year imo. After that tier you still have potential stars in Zach Werenski, Ivan Provorov and Matt Barzal to name a few. I think teams will be able to find perennial all-stars throughout the top 10. So glad that my team has successfully tanked this year.

Wanted to post a couple answers from Kiley's chat: when will addison russell come up? Will it take a Starlin trade or will he move to third or second? Kiley McDaniel: When he’s ready and needed. I think Castro might be a better defender than Russell, so you might have it backwards. Some at ESPN are suggesting that the Cubs trade Starlin Castro to allow for Russell to take over SS. Thoughts? Kiley McDaniel: And what if it turns out Russell isn’t a SS? Pretty foolish right? That’s why they haven’t done that yet. Found that a little surprising.

God Bless America was a trainwreck imo

CHICAGO -- Anthony Rizzo squeezes the final throw from Starlin Castro, and in the name of Gabby Hartnett, Mark Grace, Leo Durocher and the black cat, Steve Bartman and the Billy Goat, and Ron Santo, it is over. Once and for all, the 107-year wait is over. The Chicago Cubs are the champions of the baseball world in 2015 and a city is live-streaming hysteria, in a good way. There are hugs all around. Catcher Miguel Montero leaps into the arms of closer Hector Rondon, and Rizzo, who stuffs the historic baseball into his back pocket on his short sprint to the mound, grabs both guys with a bear-cub hug, and then a tidal wave of teammates crashes into them. Montero is at the bottom, hearing all the screams and whoops (he's not adding to them, because he's out of breath). Manager Joe Maddon turns to shake the hand of pitching coach Chris Bosio, in a measured been-there, done-that moment, but that isn't nearly enough for Bosio and the other coaches, who all but tackle Maddon in the corner of the home dugout. An army of Chicago police, some of them mounted on horses, are charging down the foul lines and in front of the ivied walls to keep order. The flag with the retired number No. 14 of Ernie Banks snaps in the wind above them. This is a moment built over decades, over disappointments, over disasters and over a long season. The Cubs had played the first game of the 2015 season amid the skeleton of an active construction site, and that first night demonstrated the promise of what finally was possible: Lester's six efficient innings in his Chicago debut and the big late-inning hit by Jorge Soler, a rising star overshadowed in March by the moonshot homers of Kris Bryant. Earlier this spring, Maddon compared Soler's ability to square up a ball, in or out of the strike zone, to Vladimir Guerrero's, and on that first night, Soler demonstrated that by dumping a line drive into short center field, chasing home the lead run. That night, it felt like an opening statement, bolstered not long after by the arrival of Bryant, on April 17, on a sunny Friday at Wrigley. The ovation that greeted him was so loud that James Shields, the starter for the opposing San Diego Padres, stepped off the mound deferentially to give Bryant a moment to acknowledge the fans. In Bryant's third plate appearance, he wasn't so deferential, launching -- that's the only verb that properly describes the trajectory of Bryant's homers -- the ball high over the construction site, over the men in yellow hats, over Waveland Avenue. There may have actually been 30,000 in the old ballpark at that moment, but in 50 years, 3 million might claim to have been there. The quick start gave way to the difficulty of May, the early-season injuries, the mistakes and misplays that made the 2015 Cubs seem more like the century of their predecessors. But a series against the Pirates early in August was a turning point. After Bryant was hit by a pitch, and there was seeming retaliation by Cubs reliever Pedro Strop, the benches emptied, and Maddon screamed at Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. The Cubs -- with Rizzo and Castro mashing, with Soler building a season worthy of MVP consideration -- began chewing up opponents, climbing in the standings. When the playoff spot was clinched on the last weekend of the regular season, Theo Epstein, the Cubs' president of baseball operations, hovered outside of the vortex of celebration in the home clubhouse, but spotted Bryant and grabbed him by the arm. "You were made for this," Epstein told the young slugger. "This doesn't happen without you." Lester's dominance in the wild-card game inspired the Cubs for the next rounds of the playoffs, for that incredible ninth-inning comeback in the league championship series, finished off when pinch-runner Javier Baez raced home from first on the flair down the right-field line. The Cubs hit the finish line in the World Series as Castro fields the two-hopper, pauses a moment before whirling the last throw to Rizzo. And it's over; the long wait is over. No matter what Soler and Bryant and Rizzo do in the rest of their careers, they are Chicago legends, joining Butkus, Ditka and Belushi. Maddon's money is no longer any good in this town, and Epstein, having conquered the K2 and Everest of baseball championship droughts, in Boston and Chicago, can get to work on his Cooperstown speech. Lester grabs a bottle from the bin in the home clubhouse and turns it upside down over Maddon's head, and with the river of champagne running over his face, Maddon can't see any more, the figures around him losing their definition … Alas, it's only just a dream -- for now. But these visions are more vivid than they have been for many years; they're within reach, within the realm of possibility. The Cubs open their season against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night at 8 ET, with Lester throwing the first pitch for the Cubs while opposing Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright.

I'm a Leafs fan and this is the happiest I've ever been following a trade. The Leafs moved the worst contract in the league for pure cap space. It's magic, essentially functioning as a compliance buyout assuming Horton never plays again (a very good bet). The Jackets are so poor that they'd rather take on a horrible contract that will severely hurt their cap situation instead of paying a guy to sit in the press box. They just added a $5.25 million cap hit for the next five years on a player who is likely a 4th-liner.

The thing that has fallen off this year for the Hawks is shot suppression. They're still an elite possession team overall, but this is probably the worst defensively they've played over the past few years. 10 teams have allowed fewer shot attempts than the Hawks this season, last year only New Jersey was better.

@JeffPassan Now the Dodgers get to operate in a market without the Yankees and Red Sox. It's them, the Cubs and everyone else for high-end Cubans.

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I honestly don't know how you could come to that conclusion. He's already missed 18 games and the Jets are still the 5th-best possession team in the league. They weren't reliant on his scoring, which has dipped this year. They've finally found a goalie in Hutchinson as well. He's a good player, but they'll be fine.

I know it's nitpicking, but in the team rankings, Law writes "Their front three prospects are the strongest in the game" about the Dodgers. And yet, 1. Bryant 4. Russell 14. Soler 5. Seager 9. Urias 28. Pederson

My hockey team fired their coach today and it made me really happy.

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@Ken_Rosenthal 3m minutes ago Source: #Dodgers are flipping Andrew Heaney to #Angels. @kengurnick 3 minutes ago Dodgers are acquiring Howie Kendrick from Angels, according to baseball source.

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@jcrasnick 8 minutes ago I just had a front office person tell me, "Don't count out the #yankees with Jon Lester.'' Scout hearing the same thing.

Rogers is an absurdly powerful company. Not only does their sports channels have the Jays games, they recently acquired exclusive rights to essentially all NHL games in Canada. They own the Jays outright. They own half of MLSE in a weird partnership with their main competitor, Bell. MLSE owns the Leafs, Raptors and TFC. The Jays have more financial resources than just about anyone. Luckily, since it's run by a corporation, they still care more about profits than titles.

Yeah I've seen TB a lot too. Am I missing something? Well, the roster is young and loaded and Bishop had an excellent year in goal last year. They signed one of the top free agents in Stralman, Hedman made a huge leap last year. Jonathan Drouin is probably the best prospect in hockey and he'll debut this year, sophomores like Palat and Tyler Johnson should only get better. They'll presumably have a full year of Stamkos. I think they're the second best team in the East after Boston.

If Minnesota can get Harding back at some point, I still like their chances. I think Colorado falls off and misses the playoffs.

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So bored at work right now waiting for these late games to finish. Russell - Banks Bryant - Conway Baez - Jesse Hall Soler - Fulton Schwarber - Goldberg Almora - Guy Germaine

Bryant has to be Banks, right?

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