Friday, July 24, 2009

Looking into the Crystal Ball

A big part of being a sports fan is the intrigue and mystery that surrounds the news that takes place off the field. No, not reports about steroid use and felonious activities, but the gossip of front office rumors that keep us all guessing.

This is the stuff us sports fans love. It’s our chance to play general manager and propose our own trades and free agent acquisitions. And it’s why fantasy sports are so huge and why people care about watching the NFL and NBA drafts on television.

With baseball’s non-waiver trading deadline upon us next week, the NBA still in its free agent signing period, and NFL teams soon headed to camp, the rumor mill is burning. Sports talk radio is full of the latest hearsay, and Sports Center and Baseball Tonight are focused on the latest trade buzz. Media “experts” are doing their best to scoop their colleagues about the next big player move. Most of the major media conglomerates like ESPN, Sports Illustrated and Fox Sports have sections on their Web sites dedicated to rumors of the day. My favorite is MLB Trade Rumors, a site that is updated regularly every day with the quick-hitting speculation about player transactions. I read somewhere that some players have learned they were traded by reading this site.

A couple of major deals have already taken place, so I better jump get my predictions in now.
Here's a look into my crystal ball for some useless predictions, based only on hunches. No reason for this, except to show my brilliance if any of these actually come true. And if they don't, well nobody cares anyway. This is the only way I can play G.M. until our fantasy football draft, but that’s more than a month away. Here goes…
  • The Dodgers will land a starting pitcher and probably a reliever. They could use both, but they shouldn’t give up any of their current key roster parts to get either. Remember, the team is comfortably in first place and already likely headed to the playoffs, barring a late-season collapse. But post-season baseball is all about pitching, and it’s important to be able to send a reliable ace to the mound. Chad Billingsley had a great first half of the season, but he doesn’t yet stack up with other No. 1 starters. Clayton Kershaw is the hottest pitcher in baseball right now, and someday may be among the elite. But I’d rather have an experienced veteran starting the first game of the playoffs. But, if L.A. can’t pick up a legitimate top starter, then these guys are not bad fallbacks…
  • Despite all the experts thinking he’ll be dealt to the Phillies, Toronto’s Roy Halladay will be traded to the Dodgers – or he won’t be traded at all. I get the impression Ned Colletti will go hard after the best pitcher in baseball, offering prospects and maybe a current major leaguer. It would be a huge mistake to deal Kershaw, and I doubt he’ll be included. I just have this feeling he’ll pull this off – like he did in acquiring Manny Ramirez last year…
  • If Toronto declines, then the Dodgers will focus on Cliff Lee of the Indians. It appears that an offer of prospects would get the deal done for the American League Cy Young winner. He definitely wouldn’t be a bad guy to have, either…
  • After that, I don’t think there are many other No. 1 pitchers on the market. Most of the other guys that would be logical targets are on teams still in contention (Roy Oswalt, Justin Verlander) or injured (Jake Peavy). If that’s the case, then the Dodgers will likely pursue a back-of-the-order guy, like, Bronson Arroyo or, ehmmm, Brad Penny (okay, maybe not him)…
  • I have limited guesses on the reliever. There are many available, and so it will probably be a matter of cost. My guess is that they’d try to get a guy who hasn’t been overworked this year, since most of the Dodger bullpen is already getting up there in innings pitched. Maybe George Sherrill of the Orioles or one of the Cincinnati relievers, like Francisco Cordero (although the Reds claim to be buyers and not sellers, even though they may be the worst team that I watched play against the Dodgers this year, along with the Mets)...
  • The Angels won’t make a move, except for maybe a middle-reliever…
  • Lamar Odom will finally come to his senses and sign with the Lakers. Ever notice that he has his moments when he seems to forget his surroundings – like those times he doesn’t pay attention to the clock or just disappears at some games. This is one of those cases. He’ll be back. Why wouldn’t he?...
  • Allen Iverson won't be a Clipper...
  • The Los Angeles Football Stadium proposal in the City of Industry will clear its final hurdle before the end of the year, and the Roski Group will soon start courting NFL teams. My guess -- the Chargers and the Jaguars will both be playing in Los Angeles within a few years (yep, two teams)…


  • And by the fourth game of the year, true freshman Richard Brehaut takes over as quarterback of the UCLA Bruins.
Now that I’ve put those out there, I’ll take credit if any of these come true.

1 comment:

George M. Bradvica said...

Sid, it is September 22, 2009, and reading these predictions now are amazingly accurate! Great job! Now, if only UCLA comes to the logical conclusion that Richard should start against Stanford in two weeks!