Stanton on the Move

With all the swirling rumors of super star slugger Giancarlo Stanton I decided I would write a review on the most logical move that could happen involving Stanton. With Stanton coming off the best season of his 3 year career his value could be higher than ever and now is the time for the Miami Marlins to make the move and get a huge haul. In 2012 Stanton blew up and hit .290 with 37 homers and 86 RBIs. More impressive though was his .361 OBP and his league leading .608 slugging percentage at the age of only 22.
The most logical option is viewed by many as a joke but the most likely team that could get Stanton would be the Detroit Tigers. Many say the Tigers don't have the talent to make such a major move but if you look deeper they could make a splash by moving the farm to win a title now. The deal would have to include corner block prospects Nick Castellanos and Avisail Garcia who many consider to be future all-stars. Garcia was a huge boost late in the 2012 season to push the Detroit Tigers into the playoffs by hitting .319 with a OBP of .373 in 51 plate appearances. The Tigers would obviously need to add more to the package but could fill the needs of the Marlins by tossing in pitcher Drew Smyly and another highly projected prospect in outfielder Tyler Collins. We all know the Marlins trade away all their players once they get to make enough money and while Stanton doesn't hit free agency til 2017 he is up for arbitration soon and will most likely be given a minimum of $6-8 million. It's also clear that Stanton wants out of Miami and will do whatever it takes to leave, this being said we also know Detroit has a deep history of trading with the Marlins. Just last year Detroit made a mid-season move with the Marlins by acquiring Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez in return for Jacob Turner and other prospects. The Tigers have also made major moves with the Marlins such as when Detroit sent prospects Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin to the Marlins in exchange for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. People think the Marlins would never trade Stanton but dont forget Cabrera and Willis were thought to be untouchable and impossible to move when the trade was made also. Another argument is the Tigers wont have the money to pay Stanton but management has made it clear they will do anything and everything to win a championship now from the Anibal Sanchez trade and Prince Fielder signing. The entire MLB could soon be in fear of a 3-4-5 combo of Cabrera-Fielder-Stanton.

HarBowl

The date and time is set for the biggest showdown in NFL history. We all know the impact and indications brought to us in the Super Bowl every season but this could be arguably the most intriguing and anticipated one of all. In a battle of brothers as coaches with Jim and John Harbaugh we see more than just a title game at line, a battle of childhood. We all competed with siblings, if you had them, and what bigger stage than this? As we anticipate this match-up between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco let’s take a deeper look. Neither team has ever lost a Super Bowl with the Ravens coming in with a 1-0 record and the 49ers at 5-0. The last three match-ups between these teams have been won by the Ravens including a 16-6 victory in 2011. The quarterback battle in this game is also something we should be watching very closely as we have 2 up and coming guys in the league going against each other. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco currently has 8 TDs and 0 INT in this post season, the only players to have 9 or more TDs with 0 INT in a single postseason are Joe Montana and Steve Young. It also doesn’t hurt that the Ravens have a record of 42-5 when Flacco doesn’t throw an interception. On the other side of the field we got 2^nd year guy Colin Kaepernick who already broke an NFL record this postseason when he rushed for 181 yards, the most ever in a single game by a quarterback. The speed of Kaepernick could be deadly in this game. On defense we have arguably the 2 best line backers in the NFL playing each other in Patrick Willis and Ray Lewis. In his last season we will see one last stand by one of the greatest NFL players and motivators in history with Ray Lewis, a man who changed the game as we see it. Patrick Willis on the other hand could be the guy who could take the NFL by storm over the next years and build a legacy comparable to Lewis. Two old school linebackers will give this game some excitement. We are in for one of the greatest games in history and I see it being a thrilling 24-21 win by the Ravens.

Fun Facts:

Ray Lewis had his 1^st career sack on Jim Harbaugh

The 49ers will tie the Steelers for most Super Bowl wins with a victory

This will be the 1^st time in 5 years neither QB has Super Bowl experience

The Ravens have outscored 49ers 69-19 in last 3 meetings

The 2000 Ravens that won a Super Bowl were a 4 seed, so is this team bringing them a 7-1 record as 4 seed

The NFC has won the previous 3 Super Bowls

5 QBs have thrown 8+ TDs and 0 INT in a postseason, all won the Super Bowl

The Ravens 13-7 playoff record is best of any franchise

AFC Championship Preview

Ravens at Patriots: After knocking off the Denver Broncos in a stunning double overtime win the Ravens now look ahead to yet another Conference Championship game against the New England Patriots, but this game has a different feel to it. The Ravens were only 31 seconds from being eliminated when all of a sudden the deep ball from Joe Flacco connected with wide-out Jacoby Jones for a 70-yard touchdown to send the game into overtime. The Ravens would cap that off with a field goal in double overtime to seal its fate. The Patriots seemed to have no problem in its first playoff match-up though as they smothered the Houston Texans in a 41-28 blowout. The Ravens and Patriots met once during the regular season and it was a 31-30 win for the Baltimore Ravens. This wasn’t the same outcome though last postseason when the Patriots knocked out the Ravens in a 23-20 game that included a dropped pass by Lee Evans and a missed field goal from 32 yards out by Billy Cundiff in the last minute. This year the Ravens have more to play for though coming into this game knowing it could be the last game ever played by the great Ray Lewis. We all know Lewis isn’t going to lay down to end his career, he will be doing everything humanly possible to win this game. Two major injuries will also plague this meeting with Patriots without tight end Rob Gronkowski and the Ravens without cornerback Lardarius Webb. This meeting also brings in 2 new players not seen in their week 3 match-up with the Patriots having Aqib Talib and the Ravens bringing back a healthier Terrell Suggs. The Patriots can dominate on offense and have proved it from the past few weeks with a newly found running game in rookie Steven Ridley but the Ravens have the experience on defense to match this high powered offense. If the Ravens are going to win this game they need to use the big plays on offense and jam the wide receivers off the line early to give their defensive line time to get to Brady. The Patriots on the other hand are going to need Aqib Talib to be able to cover the speedy wide receiver Torrey Smith and stop him from being the deep threat. I’m predicting we see the opposite outcome this year and the ravens make the field goal to send them to the Super Bowl in a 31-28 win over the Patriots.

1 more shot

As we see a year of shutout in the MLB Hall of Fame we seem to overshadow the fact that one of the greatest pitchers in history is being held out of the hall. This pitcher would be Jack Morris, now I know you’re thinking this is crazy talk but is it? Sure his 3.90 ERA isn’t the greatest but what about his 254 career wins and 2,478 strikeouts? That makes him one of only 22 pitchers in MLB history to have 250+ wins to go with at least 2,400 strikeouts. During the 1980s Morris went on to be the most dominant pitcher of his era by leading the entire league in wins for the decade. During the 1980s Jack Morris won 162 games, 2^nd most was 140 by Dave Steib. He also had an amazing 175 career complete games and 28 shutouts, but this is all overlooked due to the media output he received for not interviewing with them. Morris was a different breed of pitcher than we see today. If it was a close game, he would shut it down. If it was a blowout he would give up a few runs and close it out and still get the win, which is why his ERA is inflated. Point is Morris was a WINNER and wasn’t a statistics guy, personally I would rather have a pitcher win 20 games with a 3.90 ERA than a pitcher who wins 12 games with a 2.80 ERA. Wins are what gives you championships and statistics win you awards. Look at his 4 rings coming from 3 different teams and you can see that. A player shouldn’t be punished for not caring about stats and going out there and getting his team to win multiple championships. We shun Morris yet we let in pitchers like Rube Marquard, Ted Lyons, Clark Griffith and Waite Hoyt? Jack Morris may not have been the flashiest player in the league but he was the best pitcher of his decade and should be recognized for it, he is a true Hall of Fame player.