The Tribe was victorious again tonight in the first game of a three game series with the Toronto Blue Jays. The following are my thoughts on tonight's victory.
- I thought CC was shaky at first with giving up the three solo bombs. But I think this was a result of the carry over from his last start. An interesting stat I came across today CC won loss record is 4-0 but the team is 6-0 in the games he has pitched. That is the sign of a true ace pitcher. I thought the rain delay helped CC get focused and re energized tonight.
- A great point was made tonight on the STO broadcast of how the whole team really worked the Toronto pitching staff and just wore them down.
- Jhonny Peralta is really starting to play like the Peralta of 2005. Also, good to see Pronk get back on track.
- Is there a more overrated starting pitcher in baseball than AJ Burnett. I mean the guy has great stuff but something is missing there. Great job Toronto on signing a .500 pitcher to a 55 million dollar contract.
- Tonight was the first time this year I thought the Tribe showed a total team effort. The bats seem to really be catching fire.
- It is good that were starting to play really good ball with the upcoming schedule. We have series with good teams such as Anaheim, Oakland, Minnesota, Detroit, and Boston in May.
Tomorrow the Tribe takes on the Jays in the second game of the three game series as Jake Westbrook opposes Victor Zambrano.
2 comments:
Cleaning Out The Draft Notebook And More
by Dave Spadero
May 2, 2007
In 1997, when the Eagles traded with Dallas and the Cowboys moved to 22nd in the first round and the Eagles moved to 25th, both teams blew it on their initial picks. Dallas chose tight end David LaFleur, who caught 85 passes in 53 NFL games. The Eagles chose defensive end Jon Harris, who, well, we all know he wasn't successful here.
But the Eagles also acquired two more draft picks from that trade, and one of those picks turned out to be linebacker Jeremiah Trotter.
The message: It doesn't matter which team you trade with, the goal is to get the better of the deal.
All of the hub-bub about trading with Dallas last Saturday makes no sense to me. You can't trade with a division rival? Since when?
Saturday's trade with Dallas was, in fact the third time the teams have done deals. The 1997 trade was the first one -- oh, and the Eagles also selected tight end Luther Broughton, who caught 44 passes in 39 games with the Eagles -- and then in 2005 the teams swapped some picks, moved around in the middle of the draft and the net result was this: Dallas drafted defensive end Chris Canty and, later, defensive tackle Montavious Stanley and the Eagles used the draft picks Dallas sent them to eventually draft offensive tackle Winston Justice and wide receiver Jason Avant.
Had the Eagles not traded with Dallas in 1997, Jeremiah Trotter might not have been an Eagle in 1998
The Eagles made another trade with Dallas in the first round of last weekend's draft, and Cowboys used the 26th pick in the first round to select defensive end Anthony Spencer. The Eagles think Spencer could become a good NFL player. Dallas made what looks to be at this point a good selection.
But the Eagles then used the picks from Dallas to take quarterback Kevin Kolb, linebacker Stewart Bradley and safety C.J. Gaddis.
"We think we got some good football players, too," said Eagles General Manager Tom Heckert.
Time will tell.
In the meantime, suggesting the Eagles violated the unwritten code not to do business with the Cowboys is just stupid. You make the deals you think will best benefit your team. Plain and simple.
Certainly, the trade with Dallas was one of the memorable moments of a draft weekend that has a lot of snippets to analyze and discuss.
# Kevin Kolb made a good first impression based on his maturity, his humility and his understanding of what kind of work he has in front of him before he becomes an NFL-ready quarterback.
How long will it take him to play? His answer was great.
"I have no idea. I haven't spoken to the coaches about their plans and what they are looking to do. For me, it's just getting in there and competing every single day," he said. "I think that is what every athlete has to do. When your time comes, you have to be ready to jump in there and that could be any time.
"With injuries and football, you have to be ready at the flip of a switch. That is what I will try to do and keep my mind right from day one and hopefully it will work out great."
I am trying to figure out how I never saw this pick coming. I remember having lunch one day with quarterbacks coach Pat Shurmur and he talked in general about how this was a good group of quarterbacks in the draft. He specifically talked about Kolb, but I didn't press him because I didn't see quarterback on the immediate radar.
I do know that Shurmur and the Eagles are very excited about working with this young man. Kolb is a coach's kid, which is something I think very much appealed to head coach Andy Reid. Kolb accepts coaching well and he has an ingrained knowledge of the game.
How quickly will he develop? That is going to be the fun part.
# My scouting report on Victor Abiamiri is promising. Strong kid, quick off the ball and a physical defensive end. I am going to be really, really, really interested to see how this whole defensive end picture shakes out. What does Abiamiri's presence mean for a guy like Darren Howard? How is Jim Johnson going to work the rotation?
"He is a very solid defensive end. He can play left end. He's a good pass rusher," said Johnson. "He is a very bright kid. I'm not sure he is going to help us right away -- we will see how it goes. We have good depth at defensive end. We're going to kind of bring him along and see how he does."
# Johnson refers to Stewart Bradley as a "true SAM linebacker" which makes me think the Eagles have altered the role of the position since Carlos Emmons left town. Had Emmons not shown signs of breaking down physically -- which, ultimately, marked his time in New York with the Giants -- he probably would have remained an Eagle. Instead, the defense went with Dhani Jones, who converted from the weak side position to play over the tight end.
Now the Eagles are likely to go with Chris Gocong, who is definitely not a "true SAM linebacker" at his origin. But Gocong has spent the last 12 months re-inventing himself, and he will get all the practice reps he can in the spring and summer.
# I just want to vent: The media coverage of the DONOVAN McNABB REACTION to Kolb's selection is just ridiculous and typical of the overexposure and the sensationalizing that defines today's media. Didn't they call it muckraking back in the old days?
# I loved the confidence fifth-round pick C.J. Gaddis had during his post-pick press conference, and now I want to see the kid back it up.
"Honestly, I feel I can play whatever they need me to play. I have experience at both. I'm confident in my ability as being a shut-down corner, and I'm confident in my ability to be a bruising safety," he said. "I'm versatile. Put me wherever. I can play and I'll fit with the team. Wherever my role is on that team, I'll make sure I'm going to carry it to the best of my ability, and I just can't wait to put that uniform on."
Next weekend, son, next weekend. Then the world will be moving at 100 million mph for you.
# Finally, I wonder why so many critics are taking aim at the Eagles and suggesting they missed a chance to "add immediate help" to the defense by trading out of the first round. Didn't everyone before the draft say, personnel folks, I'm talking about, that there were only 18 or so "first-round talents" in this year's draft?
Thanks for writing this.
Post a Comment