Instant Trade Analysis: Hunter Pence to the San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants get: OF Hunter Pence

Philadelphia Phillies get: OF Nate Schierholtz, RP Seth Rosin, C/1B Tommy Joseph

GM Ruben Amaro and the Phillies started the second act of their rebuilding process by trading outfielder Hunter Pence to the offense-starved San Francisco Giants, just minutes after shipping fellow OF Shane Victorino to the Los AngelesDodgers. Amaro has single-handedly fortified the NL West by addressing the needs of the two contenders for the division crown.

In Pence, SF oddly enough gets a bat and glove very similar to former Giants outfielder and financial millstone Aaron Rowand. The now former Phillie has proven to be an annual 25 homer threat, having hit an anomalous 25 every season between 2008 and 2010, with 22 in 2011 and 17 this year. He's a near lock for a performance of around a .280 batting average, 90 runs, 25 homers of course and 90 RBI. Pence has shown some plus speed, but his stolen base numbers have tapered off as he's gotten closer to 30. Defensively, he'll fit in very well alongside Melky Cabrera in left and Angel Pagan in center. The Giants could very well have the most steady defensive outfield unit in the NL West, along with their rivals in Southern California. 

Instant Trade Analysis: Shane Victorino to the Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers get: OF Shane Victorino
Philadelphia Phillies get: RP Josh Lindblom, SP Ethan Martin

In another deal that's going a long way to dispatch the plentiful Ned Colletti haters, the Dodgers GM acquired Shane Victorino before the trade deadline expired today for two young pitchers, Lindblom and Martin.
Victorino, 31, is a noted Dodgers-killer, holds a .795 OPS against the team in regular season play, and a memorable 12 RBIs in 10 games over two consecutive NLCS series in 2008 and 2009.  The latter series was the Flyin' Hawaiian's most memorable, in which he stroked a .368 batting average, .842 slugging and a homer at Chavez Ravine that's only just landed right next to Matt Stairs' from the year before. Although his gaunt island countenance still haunts Angelenos dreams everywhere, it now might be the key to the first Dodgers pennant in over twenty years.

Instant Trade Analysis: Zack Greinke to the Anaheim Angels

Anaheim Angels get: SP Zack Greinke

Milwaukee Brewers get: SS Jean Segura, SP Ariel Pena, SP Jim Hellweg (all prospects)

Angels GM Jerry DiPoto earned his SoCal front office ninja stripes today, stealthily and suddenly trading for All-Star pitcher Zack Greinke of the Milwaukee Brewers. Much like the Lakers' Mitch Kupchak and the Dodgers' Ned Colleti trading for stars Steve Nash and Hanley Ramirez, respectively, without much notification, DiPoto has made a deal that no only ranks as one of the most biggest of the trade deadline, but perhaps one of the most significant in regards to postseason play.

Team USA Basketball For Dummies

Over the next two weeks, the 27th Olympic Games will take place in London, United Kingdom. The Games traditionally overtake the current events sphere, with various websites and newspapers delivering an unnatural amount of attention to sports, both popular and obscure. Daily conversation will turn from local news and politics to how many records will Michael Phelps break and how close that gymnast was to Mary Lou Retton's perfect score. I suppose the Olympics are part sports, part human interest stories and of course, the undividable bond to politics. Either way, every four years, the average Joe with zero interest in athletics will wade into the waters of watching competitive games. For many of the sports, the learning curve is slim; there are very few that are dedicated swimming aficionados, and the greco-roman wrestling fanbase hasn't exactly grown by leaps and bounds.

Which of course leads us to men's basketball. Now I realize that if you're a regular MAMBINO purveyor, you probably have some interest in hoops. However, I've realized that in the next few weeks, unlike diving or equestrian, there's going to be quite a few people who can talk basketball up and down, all day and night.

Us being the magnanimous writers that we are, the MAMBINO team wanted to throw up a crash course post on everything you'd need to know about the US Olympic Basketball squad, and the competitive field in general.  After reading this post, those of you that are casual fans can sound like the psychopaths that reside on the digital high horse that is this blog. Presenting "Team USA For Dummies".

Trade Analysis: How Cole Hamels Signing Changes the Trade Market

Philadelphia Phillies get: SP Cole Hamels, six years, $144 million dollars

Cole Hamels signed up for six more years with the only team he's played for earlier today. It was the second biggest contract in terms of dollars ever shelled out to a pitcher. After all the gushing things he had to say about the Phillies and their fans, it is probably safe to assume that he's off the market. That means that the 19 teams that are competing for either the Wild Card or the division right now need to turn their attention elsewhere.

What it doesn't mean though is that the Phillies are going to make a run.

Signing Hamels was more of a move to ensure that he never had to deal with the temptation of free agency. He is 28 years old, won a World Series MVP (and NLCS MVP that same year), throws left-handed, has the 9th best active ERA, and 3rd best active WHIP. Dude can pitch and has done so every year of his career. If he hit the open market, he could get as much as Josh Hamilton or any other player this winter.

Instant Trade Analysis: Hanley Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers get: SS/3B Hanley Ramirez, RP Randy Choate

Miami Marlins get: SP Nathan Eovaldi, SP Steve McGough

When the worst news of a trade is that there will be less at-bats available for Adam Kennedy and Juan Uribe, any deal can be considered a win.

In a remarkable, Mitch Kupchak-esque pact, both in scope and in secrecy, the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Miami Marlins' franchise player Hanley Ramirez, along with left-handed reliever Randy Choate, for two young pitchers. Ramirez had been rumored on the trading block for weeks, though few thought that the Miami front office would actually ship out the former shortstop whose prolific power bat and speed made him one of the finest players in baseball. However, if indeed the Marlins decided that Hanley, who had made the switch to third base this year because of Jose Reyes' signing, were to be traded, only a bounty of potential major league prospects would be enough to consummate the deal.

So then, how did the Dodgers acquire Ramirez for a ceiling number 3 starter and a minor league pitcher that isn't even in LA's top 20 prospects?

Instant Trade Analysis: Ichiro Suzuki to the New York Yankees

New York Yankees get: OF Ichiro Suzuki, $4.5 million

Seattle Mariners get: P Danny Farquhar, P DJ Mitchell

I came home from work today, to find my bearded roommate in the kitchen preparing dinner. In between cuts of green beans, I asked him, "did you hear who the Yankees traded for today?" He looked at me instantly wide-eyed, knowing that such a question is never asked without an answer that lives up to the fast twitch reaction. I told him the player was outrageously hilarious, but not because it was a star like Matt Kemp or Justin Upton. After a few wild guesses like Barry Bonds or Manny Ramirez, I let him have it: the New York Yankees had just traded for Ichiro Suzuki. He looked back, laughed, and that was that. In a trade that seemingly only the New York Yankees could make, GM Brian Cashman has found himself an outfield replacement for Brett Gardner in Seattle Mariners franchise cornerstone, Ichiro Suzuki.

State of the Garden: To Brooklyn And Beyond?

Allow yourself to be a child again, and remember that one of the roughest moments of the Toy Story movies is when Buzz Lightyear finally realizes that he's only a toy. Although, similar to other toys, he incredulously falls like dead weight whenever humans enter the room, it takes Buzz a while to realize that he can breathe without his space helmet, he cannot communicate with his home base, and he cannot fly. No matter how shiny his packaging is, he is still just like Woody and the gang. Each toy falls in line relative to the whims of Andy, and regardless of how much each toy is used, they are all part of Andy's collection.

Buzz was pretty upset when he discovered the limitations of his powers. He almost let it get to him by becoming a depressing shell of himself, but he recovered in time to make the best of his situation. He didn't go to the Vegas summer league and renegotiate his contract to put Andy in a worse position just because things weren't perfect on the home front. But even if he did, the rest of the inanimate figurines would still be happy to play for the one team they've always known.

If you consider yourself a basketball one-percenter, then you may oftentimes refer to your NBA team as part of your family and friends, using a collective pronoun that implies shared feeling and experience. In reality, we all have the mental capacity to understand that we won't ever don an official NBA (and coming in a year, 2x2 endorsed) uniform, we don't employ agents or publicists, and for the most part, we actually are compensated at the level of our worth. However, we are justified in using "we" and "us" because we invest so much of our time and money for the right to feel the glory of a win and the immense pain of a loss.

As fans, we are YOUR New York Knickerbockers. We may be the toys that stay buried in the bottom of the treasure chest that never get to see the light of day, but we're still there. So through all of our owner's faults, if Jeremy Lin decides that Daryl Morey will provide a better home for him, it is our directive to stay home, even if the grass appears greener on the other side.

2012 Olympic Basketball Primer: Group B

Can hosting the Olympics propel England to basketball
relevance in 2012?

Welcome to Part II of the 2012 Olympic basketball primer. Last week in Part I we covered Group A, which includes Team USA, a veteran Argentina team, and an up-and-coming French squad loaded with NBA talent. Group B may not be as top-heavy, but it is a bracket without a weak link and lots of teams that expect to make it out of group play. As a reminder, each team in both brackets will play all 5 other teams in their group and the top 4 teams advance to the quarterfinals.

Group B

Spain (FIBA rank: 2) is seen as the biggest threat to US hegemony in Olympic basketball. Spain won in 2006 and was barely edged out by Kobe & Co in 2008’s truly incredible gold medal game. Spain has size in the frontcourt, tons of international experience, and continuity with a team that has played together for years. On paper, Spain should be able to give the US (and anyone else) everything they can handle. Between the Gasol brothers and Serge Ibaka, they have the best frontcourt in the world and complementary pieces to boot. Spain boasts Jose Calderon, Sergio Rodriguez, Juan Carlos Navarro, and Rudy Fernandez on the perimeter.

Why Blake Griffin's Injury Ruins the 2012-2013 Clippers...and Beyond

This week, Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. The All-NBA Second Team forward was hurt during a workout for the US Olympic team, which he had made ironically because two forwards in front of him, LaMarcus Aldridge and Chris Bosh, are recovering from in-season injuries. Coach and current front office executive Vinny del Negro stated after the surgery that the Clippers were "very confident that he'll be back for training camp and get back to 100%. So, as bad as that news is, it's probably the best news that we could have gotten, which is great." As news from Vinny is so many times, that statement couldn't be any less illuminated. The injury to Griffin is relatively small, but the minimalist nature of the surgery couldn't be more different than that potentially irreparable effect that it could have on the Clippers' 2012-2013 season, and every season going forward.

Instant Trade Analysis: Antawn Jamison to the Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers get: F Antawn Jamison on one-year, minimum salary deal

In the 36 year-old Jamison, an already ancient Los Angeles Lakers team has just gotten a little bit older, but how damning is this usually negative concept?

In case you haven't been paying much attention, Jamison has quietly molded for himself a remarkable NBA career, one that could eventually lead to the Hall of Fame (after former Lakers great Jamaal Wilkes made it, Antawn's career numbers certainly can stack up next to Silk's). Believe it or not, Antawn Jamison has amassed the following statistics throughout his almost 15 year major league career:

19,246 points (43rd all-time)
7,383 field goals made (44th all-time)
35,754 minutes (53 all-time)
7,740 rebounds (65th all-time)
1,071 3-pointers made (56th all-time)

Wow. Though the numbers are generally impressive, he owes a lot of his success to an incredibly stable bill of health and a willingness to tough out injuries every single night.

On the surface, this signing is too good to be true. Former two-time All-Star Antawn Jamison is coming to the Lakers on a cut-rate deal to play off the bench behind Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum? It's easy to see why Jamison chose the Los Angeles Lakers, despite a near 15 million dollar pay cut from last year. For one, Jamison has rarely been on a winning team; in his 14 seasons in the NBA, 'Tawn has been to the playoffs a sparing six times, never advancing past the second round. The chance to play alongside Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash and Andrew Bynum will give him the greatest set of collective teammates he's ever had, all due respect to the dysfunctional, but highly entertaining Washington Wizards teams of half a decade ago.

Houston: Dolan Has a Problem

Before I go on, just get some background on what Jeremy Lin means to Mambino. KOBEsh and I experienced Lin's 38-point effort against the Los Angeles Lakers, the peak of Linsanity, among fellow city-dwellers in NYC's bar scene. (That's bar scene, not sports bar scene.) Read his thoughts just hours after that game, and then come back here. Or don't read it, but click the link. Because it's ridiculous that the post, one of the best to grace TGM, is only 10th on the all-time list, trailing far-less deserving write-ups like Que-Ese's on the NCAA bracket and my preview of the Exes season of MTV's The Challenge.

Jeremy Lin is a popular guy these days. The Knicks have decided not to match Houston's offer sheet, worth approximately 25 million dollars over 3 years. The pros and cons of retaining Lin's services have been articulated far and wide, by minds with more sources and words with more eloquence than mine. As I've said plenty of times before, we strive to bring you Mambinites something that you may not find anywhere else; otherwise, what's the point? If we only bring in the numbers from our friends and family, then we're better off quitting.

To summarize, here are the major reasons for why YOUR New York Knickerbockers should sign Jeremy Lin for the next 3 years:

1. He is a marketing wunderkind. Madison Square Garden stock reached its high when Lin was ripping nets and dropping dimes to the surprise of nobody but himself. The Knicks, and the NBA, reached out to a demographic that had been relatively dormant since the retirement of Yao Ming, evidenced by merchandise sales, attendance at away games, and the exponential rise of Lin's Twitter follower count. If you had listened to me and clicked on KOBEsh's post, then you would have read that tapping into a new demographic would put a stamp on a race that has been looking for one since...ever. And the Bockers would always be associated with that. It's more than just dollars and cents; it's dollars and sense.

2. He is 23 years old. Many people like to point out the obvious deficiencies in his game: he's not strong on the dribble, especially with his left hand; he has a propensity to turn the ball over when trapped by an aggressive defense; and he's not exactly a lockdown defender. But...he's 23! Why focus on the bad when there's so much good? You'd be an idiot to think that a 23-year-old who's willing to work won't improve his game over the span of his career. Even in the Mike D'Antoni point guard-favored system, 15 ppg and 6 apg in 35 games is nothing to sneeze at. His per-48s look even better: 26 and 11. And then you stack that with the cojones that Lin displayed against the Lakers, Dallas Mavericks (28 and 14), and Toronto Raptors (game-winning 3 in Jose Calderon's grill). I mean, just LISTEN to the crowd here:

3. The Knicks are not getting anything back in return for letting Lin walk! This will make me weep into my pillow every night for the foreseeable future. Why not match the offer sheet, and trade him? Would Houston really roll into the season without a point guard? Could Charlotte not use an influx of butts in seats?

But again, you could find those reasons everywhere else. Onto the good stuff:

Could You Imagine THIS Guy Main Eventing Wrestlemania? (Part 2)

A few days ago, we took a look at a few current WWE Superstars and his potential to one day become a permament fixture amongst the chandelier that is the professional wrestling main event card.
Contrary to all the haters out there, World Wrestling Entertainment has the same hierarchy that the NBA, MLB, NHL or NFL does; there are your elite performers, steady vets and of course, rising stars. Here, we take a second look at a few wrestlers in that last category, analyze their qualifications and if indeed they have the chance to main event the superbowl of wrestling, Wrestlemania, any time soon.

The Miz
Qualifications: 1x WWE champion. 3x WWE tag team champion, 2x United States champion, 2x World tag team champion, 2010 Money in the Bank winner, #1 PWI top 500 singles wrestler in 2011

TRL: I am well aware of the fact that the Miz main evented Wrestlemania 28 against John Cena AND won. Yet, his retaining his title was merely a subplot in the Rock/Cena hierarchy , and his standing in the company hasn't been the same since. More accurately, over the past few months, the Miz has become a laughing stock in the wrestling community. Ever since he failed to catch R-truth on RAW back in February, I don’t think he has won one match since. By comparison, Brie Bella has more victories in that span and the Bella Twins aren’t even in the company anymore.

Top 100 Fantasy Baseball Stories of 2012 So Far...

Here's to a fun second half. Enjoy. 

1. Mike Trout’s arrival as a future stud has turned into Mike Trout’s arrival as a present stud. He’s got a chance of leading baseball in steals, runs, and average while missing almost a month.

2. Bryce Harper hasn’t been quite the same as Trout, but he’s been pretty good too. He has 27 extra base hits and 8 steals. Not bad for a 19-year-old.

3. Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay are a combined 5-10. Halladay will be back in less than a week. Lee has the 4^th best xFIP in baseball.

4. Not one, but two somersaults from Aroldis Chapman. He also wasn’t bad when you take out the theatrics. Chapman struck out 52 in his first 29 innings while not allowing an earned run.

5. The MVP in the NL for the first half of the season was Andrew McCutchen. He has single-handedly made the Pirates a playoff caliber team when they haven’t tasted the postseason in two decades.

6. Albert’s April. Pujols had 0 home runs, 4 RBI, and a .217 average. The buy-low opportunity was there as Pujols has since turned it around.

7. Pujols is not the only guy that has turned these around this season. Francisco Liriano had an ERA over 11 in April, but got it under 3.00 in the month of June while striking out a hitter per inning.

8. Matt Kemp’s April. If we could get the car up to 88 MPH, a Pujols for Kemp swap at the end of April would be nice.

9. The Nationals rotation. Baseball’s best ERA at the break and the team needed it. Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth were hurt and ineffective for most of the first half, which pressed the promotion of Harper sooner than the organization would have liked.

10. More no hitter! Aces Matt Cain and Jered Weaver both threw no-hitters. Cain had a perfect game. Journeyman Philip Humber also threw a perfect game and has not done almost nothing right since.

11. 37-year-old R.A. Dickey is the best pitcher in baseball and absolutely nobody saw it coming. Dickey leads the league in wins and WHIP. He’s also going to have a chance at the strikeout crown as the Mets figure out a way to have him pitch more than every fifth day in the second half.

12. Trevor Bauer’s much-anticipated call-up and unorthodox routines have resulted in downs and ups to date for fantasy owners.  

13. The Red Sox loss to the Yankees on April 21^st. It’s been a hard first half of the season for the Red Sox, but no loss could summarize more than the 9-1 blown lead on April 21^st. Thankfully Humber’s perfect game stole the show nationally from a historic collapse.

14. The emergence of Ernesto Frieri at the back end of the Angels bullpen. The Padres better hope that Alexi Amarista or Donn Roach develops into a decent player because if they had waited longer on Frieri they could have had multiple suitors at this point in the year.

15.  Melky Cabrera for Jonathan Sanchez was the move of the off-season. Not for the Royals.

16.  Not far behind is the Josh Reddick for Andrew Bailey swap. Reddick is on pace for 37 home runs and 15 steals. While Bailey is on pace for a 0.00 ERA. That explains why trading for Sanchez has been worse for the Royals.

17.  Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda was the anti-climatic move of the off-season. Montero has been ehh in Seattle and Pineda might throw from flat ground in September.

18.  It is still a wait-and-see, but the Nationals can’t complain about what they got in the Gio Gonzalez trade. No starter has been stingier about giving up home runs (0.35 HR/9) this season.

19. One of the more under the radar free agent signings of the off-season was Josh Willingham signing a three-year deal with the Twins. He is on pace for 36 home runs and 114 RBI.

20.  Jose Bautista has 27 home runs and could lead the league in home runs again. Fair to say he wasn’t a fluke in 2010.

21. Mark Trumbo has quietly helped carry the Angels back into the playoff race and gotten himself to an All-Star game. Believe it or not, there was a time this year where Trumbo couldn’t crack the lineup. Lost in all that Trout has accomplished in his first season, Trumbo is a top thirty player.

22.  Prince Fielder’s departure and the PED controversy that surrounded Ryan Braun all pre-season have of course led to Braun’s struggles. Oh no wait. They haven’t. Braun’s 50-game suspension was lifted and he is once again a top-five fantasy player.

23.  98 runs, 34 home runs, 94 RBI, 15 steals, and a .293 average for Edwin Encarnacion since the start of last year’s second half.

24.  86 runs, 16 home runs, 85 RBI, 0 steals, and a .298 average for Adrian Gonzalez since the start of last year’s second half.

25. Brandon Belt is finally getting a chance to play everyday in San Francisco. The results have not been spectacular, but Belt is going to be a mixed league play from here on out.

26.  Eric Hosmer has the sophomore blues. Let’s not panic just yet though. His walk rate has improved, his strikeout rate has improved, and his BABIP is due to improve.

27. The Trouts and Brauns of the world don’t come up everyday. For those managers that believed Jason Heyward would eventually hit, your faith has been rewarded. Heyward is healthy and has already matched his 2011 home run output and surpassed his 2011 steals output.

28. As the defensive lineman Julius from Remember the Titans said “attitude reflect leadership.” The Miami Marlins have a new park, several new faces, and a Dolphin-Go-Round in left center field. They also have Ozzie Guillen who wasted no time getting the Miami community acquainted with his mouth. The Marlins are in fourth in the NL East, but that didn’t stop them from acquiring Carlos Lee.

29.  Speaking of the Marlins new park, according to ESPN Park Factors it’s the 8^th best park for runs in the big leagues this year.

30.  It has been a bad year for veteran pitchers used to dominating, but no pitcher has fallen farther than Tim Lincecum. Lincecum’s walk rate is up by more than one walk per 9 innings and his velocity has never been lower.

31.  Kevin Youkilis was traded in part because Will Middlebrooks emerged, but also because he looked done at age 33, but has looked good so far in Chicago.

32.  Although he’s stayed on the field, it is apparent that Justin Morneau will never even be a fraction of the player that won the MVP in 2006. He is 9 for 85 (.105) against lefties this season.

33.  Coors Field is a great place to hit. As a consequence of this, Rockies pitchers easily have the worst ERA in baseball, which doesn’t help players like Drew Pomeranz gain value in fantasy baseball. The Rockies are willing to try anything as evidenced by their 4-man rotation with a 75 pitch limit.

34. Josh Hamilton is a great hitter. He hit 4 home runs in a game against the Orioles on May 8^th. He has already surpassed his home run output from 2011.

35. As always injuries have been a great excuse for fantasy teams and real teams that don’t meet expectations. Perhaps nobody has been more missed than Evan Longoria. When it’s all said and done, he will miss more than 3 months.

36.   The all-injury team also includes Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, and Kemp in the outfield.

37.   Robinson Cano is the best player on the Yankees and it isn’t even close. He also is now an easy top five pick for 2013.

38.  Troy Tulowitzki was most likely picked ahead of Ellsbury and Longoria as a 27-year-old at a thin position. Unfortunately he might not be back until September.

39.  The Phillies tandem of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley take the first and second base spots on the All Injury Team – although fantasy owners had ample time to prepare for their absences so be careful before crying foul. 

40. At catcher (at least he’s catcher eligible) Victor Martinez is also a player that fantasy owners had plenty of time to prepare for the absence. Martinez could be back as soon as August – well ahead of his original schedule.

41.  The list of pitchers is long as usual, but the hardest injury for fantasy teams to take on was Brandon Beachy going under the knife. At the time of his injury, Beachy was getting strikeouts and leading the NL in ERA. Roy Halladay, Dan Hudson, Cory Luebke, and Brandon Morrow could also be added to this team.

42. One of the more frustrating stories of the season (even for this Red Sox fan) was Mariano Rivera shagging fly balls. Retirement will have to wait.

43.  Jake Peavy has been a great story. He has 120 innings at the break – a mark he hasn’t reached since 2008.

44.  Derek Jeter is still really good. He’s been mixed league worthy and is hitting over .300. Defense is another issue.

45. The best shortstop this season though has been Ian Desmond. Desmond has an excellent chance to finish with over 20 home runs and 20 steals. He was likely undrated in your mixed league.

46.  Jason Kipnis had been the best second baseman until Cano caught fire. Kipnis is almost a lock to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases. He might have gone undrafted in your mixed league.

47. A.J. Burnett has 10 wins for the first place Pirates and the team hasn’t lost a game he’s pitched since May 2^nd.

48.  With a pace of 22 home runs and 15 steals and an average over .300, Paul Goldschmidt has put a tough April behind him and is translating a promising minor league career to the Majors. Ditto for Bryan LaHair who is an All-Star.

49. Alex Rios is hitting 91 points higher than he did last season.

50. David Wright is hitting 97 points higher than he was last year.

51.  Roy Oswalt is back pitching in Texas but pitching for the Rangers now. His signing got more fantasy hype than Oswalt could ever back up as he is a spot starter in mixed leagues.

52. Yu Darvish actually has delivered on the hype for fantasy owners. He is tenth in strikeouts and will be an All-Star.

53. The expectations for Matt Moore before the season were unfair. He hasn’t delivered, but still shows great promise striking out 96 in 99.2 innings.

54. In his first season with the Tigers, Prince Fielder has been the same kind of player he has been his whole career. He is hitting .299 and on-pace for 300 RBI, but the team is in the middle of the standings.

55. Michael Fiers has been brilliant for the Brewers in 7 starts and even better for fantasy owners striking out more than hitter per inning. Not to be out done, his teammate Marco Estrada has 55 strikeouts to 10 walks and a 1.02 WHIP.

56. Michael Young is hitting just .263 and on track to not be a top 100 player for the first time since 2002.

57. After getting a huge deal to resign with the Reds, Joey Votto is not letting up at all. His average, on base, and slugging are all better than they were in 2010 when he was the NL MVP.

58. Perhaps the only story topping the Pirates as a first place team is the Orioles as a playoff contender. No bigger reason for that than Adam Jones. Two seasons ago, Jones had 19 home runs and 7 steals. At the all-star break, Jones has 20 home runs and 11 steals.

59. Jim Johnson has also been fantastic for Baltimore. He leads all of baseball in saves and has blown just one in the first half.

60. The Nationals will have to make a tough call on the innings, but Stephen Strasburg is clearly the same pitcher after Tommy John Surgery. He leads the NL in strikeouts.

61. Coming back from TJ isn’t always as easy as Strasburg would have us believe. Adam Wainwright’s ERA is 2 runs higher than it was in 2009 and 2010 before surgery.

62. I know he is in the minors, but what about the season of Billy Hamilton? With 100 steal potential, he will change the way that a fantasy lineup can be made when he is ready.

63.  To continue on the trend with minor leaguers tearing the cover off the ball, it’s good to see Anthony Rizzo succeeding in Chicago. The next best hitter that needs to get the call is Wil Myers. He has 27 home runs at two levels this year.

64.  Adam Dunn is crushing the ball again. And also blowing the pack away in strikeouts. Dunn has 134 strikeouts at the break, Carlos Pena is second with 110, but don’t overlook the fact that nobody (not even Joey Votto) has a better walk rate.

65.  Cole Hamels and Zack Greinke will be on the trade block. With new contracts to play for look for a monster 2 and a half months regardless of what happens. 

66. In a contract year, Michael Bourn has already established a new career high in home runs.

67. Everth Cabrera is 15 for 15 in steal attempts.

68. Alex Gordon has dropped off tremendously at the plate with a pedestrian 5 home runs and .777 OPS. He does have 27 doubles which is good for second in baseball.

69.  David Ortiz will not shut up about his contract, but the Red Sox will deal with it given that McCutchen, Hamilton, and Votto are the names that are ahead of him in OPS.

70. Fernando Rodney has 38 strikeouts to only 5 walks. And a bow and arrow.

71. Trevor Plouffe hit more home runs in June (11) than Justin Upton has hit all season (7).

72.  Ryan Zimmerman hit 3 home runs in his first 57 games this season. He received a cortisone shot on June 26 and has hit 5 home runs in 11 games since.

73. Carlos Gonzalez is on pace for more than 115 runs and 115 RBI. He is without question the best player in fantasy baseball over the past 2 and a half seasons.

74. Dan Haren has been terrible and it might be because of a bad back. Hopefully he can come off the DL and be Dan Haren.

75. It’s been a typical season from catchers. Carlos Santana, Mike Napoli, Brian McCann (although heating up), Buster Posey, Miguel Montero, Joe Mauer, Alex Avila and Matt Wieters are all giving less than that we expected.

76.  On the flip-side, Carlos Ruiz, A.J. Pierzynski, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Wilin Rosario have been pleasant surprises.

77.  Chris Sale has made an incredible transition to the starting rotation. Daniel Bard has not. It’s funny how we grouped the two together at the start of the year.

78. Johnny Cueto has a 2.33 ERA since the start of 2011. Only Jered Weaver has a better ERA in that time.

79.  Ryan Vogelsong is tied for the Major League lead in quality starts with 15.

80.  Yovani Gallardo also has 15 quality starts. And a 3.74 ERA. And a 3.90 xFIP. Quality starts isn’t always a great metric to measure a pitcher.

81. Saves are unpredictable as usual. Only 13 of the players that were expected to be their team’s closer before the season started have been their team’s closer uninterrupted by injury or lack of performance. With the trade deadline looming, expect a few more changes to happen.

82. James McDonald has the fifth best ERA in all of baseball. Of course three of the players in front of him are Ryan Dempster, Chris Sale, and Vogelsong. 

83. Vogelsong and Dempster have stranded more runners than any pitcher in baseball (84.2%).

84. Austin Jackson is hitting .332 with a .953 OPS. Yet he has just 7 steals.

85. Brett Lawrie is living up to expectations as a 20/20 threat in his first full season. He will need to pick it up in the home run category, but has made up for a lack of power by scoring 51 runs. He has 27 runs in 31 games since being moved to the leadoff spot.

86.  Hanley Ramirez is hitting .245 for more than a season now. Based on his 84 games played this season, I’m ruling out injury as an excuse. One thing that hasn’t helped is the fact that he’s getting infield hits about half as much as he used to and therefore is making less effort to put the ball on the ground.

87. Craig Kimbrel is nastier this year than he was as the best closer in baseball last year. Opposing hitters are batting .116 against him.

88. One of my preseason darlings, Cameron Maybin, hit a ball 485 feet but hasn’t done much other than that. He is hitting just .212.

89. The new Wild Card is changing the way that head-to-head leagues manage the playoffs in September. All but 5 teams are within 6 games of a playoff spot in the NL, and all but three teams are within 3 games of a playoff spot in the AL.

90. Look out for Emilio Bonifacio. Bonifacio stole 20 bases while only being caught once in the season’s first half, and played in less than half of his team’s games. He could still steal 50 this year.

91. The pitchers are still controlling the era. The league ERA is right at 4 on the dot, which is actually higher than last year, but more than a quarter of a run lower than 2009.

92. Rafael Furcal has missed just 3 games and could play in over 100 for the first time since 2009.

93. Josh Johnson and Erik Bedard have made 17 starts for the Marlins.

94. The injury prone keep the momentum going! Ben Sheets is trying a comeback with the Braves.

95. Kerry Wood is…Kerry Wood is in commercials for State Farm for some reason.

96. Ubaldo Jimenez has the second worst xFIP in baseball (Barry Zito has the worst).

97. Max Scherzer is striking out more than 11 batter per 9 innings and has an xFIP of 3.28 (11^th in baseball).

98. Desmond Jennings is learning from B.J. Upton. After showing much promise last year, Jennings has been injured, striking out more, walking less, and hitting for a terrible .231 average.

99. Kenley Jansen has 63 strikeouts in less than 40 innings.
100.  Ian Kennedy has seen his ERA go from 2.88 last year to 4.26 this year. 

Could You Imagine THIS Guy Main Eventing Wrestlemania? (Part 1)

Prospect lists aren't foreign to sports. Year after year, we pull apart mock drafts and rookie seasons, trying to dessiminate information, plow through the psyches of these young men and discover who exactly will be the next great superstar. Sometimes our prognostications are right on target, but for every LeBron james we have, there's will be a Dontrelle Willis or a Peyton Hillis.

So why can't we apply our insatiable appetite to unearth the next great one in professional wrestling? Much like basketball, football or hockey, there are tiers of performer, from the rookie scrub trying to earn his place in the hierarchy of the talent ladder, to the forgotten prospect who's future still shines bright under the dimming lights of skepticism. Yes, wrestling isn't the pure competitive athletic enterprise that MLB represents, but there is an element of competition within Vince McMahon's glorified traveling circus, in which these men have to constantly improve their craft and sharpen their focus in order to be considered a luminary.

The Raw Librarian and I scanned through the WWE roster to do just that. We've highlighted a few grapplers that we think have the testicular fortitude to make a Hardy-esque jump up the ladder, crashing through the glass ceiling into the land where only giants - both literal and figurative - tend to leave their massive footprints. Each guy will have his own various set of skills, which he can either use for cult-like immortality, or to fade into the din of oblivion. Some of these fellows have temporarily crashed the top of the card, while others are being clearly groomed for it. However, the criteria here is simply that each guy isn't considered by the WWE as perennial main event material.
Which of these guys could you imagine main eventing Wrestlemania? Let's get after it.

2012 Olympic Basketball Primer: Group A

The shadow of 2004 still looms over the US program

With its rich history and unparalleled talent pool, anything less than total domination by the United States will be seen as an abject failure. Since the Dream Team in 1992, the rest of the world has been playing catch-up, but the US has shown a renewed enthusiasm for Olympic basketball in recent years. After succumbing to improved competition and a bronze medal with 2004’s Starbury-led disaster, Jerry Colangelo took the reins, convinced Coach K to head the program, and emphasized commitment and continuity for future rosters. The result was 2008’s Redeem Team, which was packed with NBA players like Kobe and LeBron in their prime and had a collective chip on its shoulder. They breezed through the competition until meeting Spain's Gasol brothers in the title game, but emerged victorious. The 2010 World Championship Squad, with the next generation of NBA superstars like D-Rose and Kevin Love, had similar success and cruised to a gold medal. The 2012 team is essentially a mixture of all the healthy parts from 2008/2010 with a few new faces.

The format of the Olympics is simple: there are 2 groups (A and B) with 6 teams. Each team plays the other 5 teams in their group and the top 4 teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals. With the Venezuela tournament concluding this week and the groups finalized, we at GREAT MAMBINO wanted to provide an Olympic basketball primer on the competition as well as our predictions.  Despite the recent string of successes, this year’s Olympic field should present a formidable challenge to the 2012 edition of the US team.  

Instant Trade Analysis: The Camby Man Comes Home

(It's a New York Knicks trade, so it's El Miz territory. Check out our newest ITA on today's deal)


New York Knickerbockers receive:  C Marcus Camby, 3 years, $13M ($5M, $5M, partially guaranteed 3^rd year at $3M)

Houston Rockets receive:  G Toney Douglas, PF Josh Harrellson, C Jerome Jordan, 2014 2^nd round pick, 2015 2^nd round pick, “all you can eat, all you can drink” in the Delta Sky 360 Club in Madison Square Garden for Rockets GM Daryl Morey

Marcus Camby will be returning to the Big Apple, a decade after he was ingloriously traded on Draft night in 2002 to the Denver Nuggets for Antonio McDyess. Three days after agreeing in principle with PG Jason Kidd, the Bockers’ bench overhaul is near completion. While the Knicks two newest super subs will be long in the tooth, both Camby and Kidd have been productive players even if the prime of their career is in the rearview.

Camby averaged over 9 rebounds per game and over 1 block per game last season, splitting his time between the Portland Trailblazers and then Houston Rockets after a midseason trade.  Camby joins frontcourt starters Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler, as well as the NBA’s reigning three-point king Steve Novak, who re-signed with the Knicks on Monday, giving the Knicks a variety of lineup options to employ with players of vastly different strengths. 

Team USA at Johnny Rockets

Odds on who pushed for Johnny Rockets:

LeBron: 100-1

CP3: 75-1

Westbrook: 70-1

Durant: 50-1

Melo: 1-1

Instant Trade Analysis: Ray Allen to the Miami Heat

Miami Heat get: SG Ray Allen, 3 years, $9 million

In our pathetic attempts to make the NBA seem like a more important organism than it actually is, we've noticed here on MAMBINO that the L seems to resemble America in a lot of ways. Most notably, the rich are getting richer, while the poor are only going to the lottery again.

Let's look at what's happened in the past few days:

• 2010 Champion Los Angeles Lakers acquire PG Steve Nash in a sign-and-trade deal with the Phoenix Suns
• 2008 Champion Boston Celtics acquire SG Jason Terry for a 3-year, $15 million deal
• Oklahoma City Thunder acquire C Hasheem Thabeet

As you can see, the good teams are only getting better. The case of the 2012 Champion Miami Heat acquiring SG Ray Allen is just another example.

Let's get down to business: the Evil Empire just got better. A lot better.

The Real National League All-Stars

Earlier in the week, BockerKnocker went over our latest MAMBINO rant on the All-Star game. Over the years, the rosters have expanded to a mind-numbing 34 players even though an actual, functional MLB roster will only have 25 men per squad.

But 34 is just where it begins - after injuries and "respectful" declines towards selections thin the ranks, the "outrageous snubs" that everyone seems to rail about almost inevitably get rectified. In a game that's already a glorified exhibition, the spirit of competition has becomed more watered down than a cold Natural Ice with All-Star berths mandatorily given to teams that certainly don't deserve it and second-tier players.

This is where we've come in. My blog brother already selected his 25 American Leaguers that truly belong on the field on Tuesday. Here are my National League selections, assembled as if I were putting together a...real baseball team.

Instant Trade Analysis: Kyle Lowry to the Toronto Raptors

(Another ITA from El Miz, this time on now-Raptors PG Kyle Lowry. An excerpt from this post appears on "Toronto Raptors Morning Coffee July 6," located at http://raptorsrepublic.com/2012/07/06/toronto-raptors-morning-coffee-july-6-3/)

Toronto Raptors get: PG Kyle Lowry

Houston Rockets get: A future-first round pick and some guy named Gary Forbes


What is your plan, Daryl Morey?  Morey claims to be engaged in a seemingly infinite practice of “asset accumulation.”  The idea, as the story goes, is to continue to accumulate “assets,” which in basketball parlance means young, cheap players and the rights to future draft picks so that when the next Disgruntled Superstar – be it Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, or currently, Dwight Howard – demands a trade, the Rockets can exchange a heaping scoop of assets for the Disgruntled Superstar. 

To the casual observer, it feels like Houston has made lateral move after lateral move since the retirement of Yao and the decline of former basketball demigod Tracy McGrady, constantly exchanging good players for other good players, assembling a roster of good but not great talent, and finishing on the outside looking in come playoff time.

Zach Parise and Ryan Suter can go home again

Hockey does not have "bringing my talents to South Beach" free agent bonanzas. Yes, there are teams that win championships as a result of being heavily stocked with talent and depth that rolls them to a Stanley Cup, but often those teams are built as a result of deftly scouted drafts with the occasional smart free agent signing sprinkled in here or there. Look no further than the 2009 Penguins or the 2010 Blackhawks for evidence. While free agency is a large part of hockey, the tendency, often, is for teams to lock up their prized young assets early on, or at least attempt to do so, with a massive contract that gets them paid, but keeps them in the fold through their formative years. Many stars stay with the same organization for the vast majority of their careers and few championship teams are built almost exclusively on big-name free agents. The closest team in recent memory that might fill that description is 2002 Detroit Red Wings, an astonishingly old team which had four Hall-of-Famers (Steve Yzerman, Igor Larianov, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille), six more players that are certain to be inducted at some point (Pavel Datsyuk, Sergei Fedorov, Brendan Shanahan, Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios and Dominik Hasek), two more that just might join them (Darren McCarty and Tomas Holmstrom) and two players that had already scored overtime Cup-clinchers for other teams in the previous six years (Hull and Uwe Krupp).

They were an immortal squad built on the backs of veteran acquisition and free agency in a way that is a dramatic outlier from how the NHL, generally speaking, has done business. Even that team, however, was no situation of LeBron James and Chris Bosh signing contracts as the top two free agents with the same team. Seeing the top two names on the market go to the same place is rare. Seeing them go to a small market is rarer still. And yet, on July 4, 2012, while most of us in the U.S. were prepping for our barbecues or traveling to to someone else's, the Minnesota Wild, they of the one division title in their history, three playoff appearances all time and none since George W. Bush was still in the White House, managed to sign Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to identical 13-year $98-million contracts that will carry them both from the age of 27 to their post-retirement fishing days near the Superior Hiking Trail.

The Minnesota Wild are not a good team. Despite a surprising first half before a tumbling second in 2011-12, they are an unbalanced mixed of unfulfilled promise (Dany Heatley), inconsistent offense (Devin Setoguchi) and a whole lot of youth. And yet, somehow, some way, they took the two prizes of free agency in this offseason, Suter, the top defenseman on the market, and Parise, the top forward available and given his combination of youth, leadership, offensive production and defensive dedication arguably the most desired free agent in the history of the NHL. While the idea of the Wild attempting to lure Suter and Parise to Minnesota as a package deal had been floated for months due to the fact that both are friends, Parise is a Minnesota native and Suter is from neighboring Wisconsin, the notion had been met by most hockey insiders and fans alike with scoffing and amusement.

As a lifelong Devils fan, I personally felt as if of all the teams in the hunt for Parise, Minnesota was probably the least likely destination. Rumors that the Rangers, Penguins, Flyers, Blackhawks and Red Wings would all be hot on his trail seemed a far more likely result to anyone paying attention, and despite the rampant assumption that Parise would simply go to the highest bidder like any free agent might, the New Jersey Devils, the team which had drafted him, groomed him for eight years and that he captained to the Stanley Cup Final this June was in the mix right to the very end. Ultimately, and Parise and Devils GM Lou Lamoriello both confirmed it, the top free agent on the market wasn't interested in getting $120 million from the major powers of the NHL like Pittsburgh, Detroit or Chicago. The money would be there wherever he went. This was about playing in front of his biological family in Minnesota or his professional family in New Jersey.

In the end Parise's decision was between Minnesota and New Jersey, and New Jersey lost out.

Instant Trade Analysis: Steve Nash to YOUR...Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers get: PG Steve Nash, 3 years, $27 million (absorbed through their $9 million dollar trade exception from the Lamar Odom deal)

Phoenix Suns get: 2013 & 2015 first round draft picks, 2013 & 2014 second round draft picks

In a completely shocking turn of events, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Steve Nash from Phoenix tonight for a bevy of draft picks. For months Nash had been saying not only that it would be difficult to play for his playoff rival Lakers, but made serious overtures towards playing for the New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets. In fact, I wrote off an acquisition of Nash as a pipe dream in a free agency column for Silver Screen & Roll. However, after a phone call with Kobe Bryant, Phoenix's ex-point guard changed his tune, coming to LA in search of his first ring in a city where his addition would mean they won a chip. And indeed it would.

As for the trade itself...the Lakers just got Steve F'n Nash. Even at age 38, he's in peak physical condition, showing zero signs of wear and tear considering the minutes and intense playoff battles he's waged over the past eight years in the desert. For years, the Lakers have lacked a pass-first point guard who was able to make the other players around him better. The triangle offense was the most efficient distributor for open shots. With Phil Jackson and that system gone, we've all seen the results of how the lack of a passer affects the Lakers offense - despite the speedy Ramon Sessions, Kobe Bryant and one of the best passing bigs in the league in Pau Gasol, the Show very rarely was able to get an easy shot and ranked amongst the worst in the league in transition buckets. Mike Brown's bread and butter was throwing the ball to Kobe, Pau or Bynum in the post, and hoping that their immense skills could simply overwhelm an opposing defense, rather than use ball movement to get open looks.

Instant Trade Analysis: Landry Field to the Toronto Raptors

(Editor's note: Some goodness from keeper of the Knickerbocker flame, El Miz. Enjoy.)

Toronto Raptors get: G Landry Fields, 3 years, $20 million

Landry Fields was good once upon a time.  For the first 40 games or so of his rookie season, Landry was the a surprising selection to be the starting 2, an unheralded second-rounder who most Knicks fans had never heard of.  The team was different back then, a Mike D'Antoni-coached, Raymond Felton-quarterbacked Knickerbocker squad that had New York fans excited.  Fields was a 10-point, 7-rebound per game SG who thrived in transition, making cuts to the hoop on a team that excelled at making an extra pass and pushing the ball.  He shot 41% from 3, he had good size for the position, and he seemed to fit right in with teammates Danillo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, and Amare Stoudemire.

Then the Knicks traded for Carmelo Anthony.  Then Landry Fields ceased being an above-average NBA player.

Instant Trade Analysis: Jason Terry to the Boston Celtics

Boston Celtics get: G Jason Terry, 3 years, $15 million

The already ancient Boston Celtics just got even older, but that might not even be a bad thing.

As the Boston media likes to say, the Celtics are approaching year six of a three-year plan. When a 31 year-old Kevin Garnett and a 32 year-old Ray Allen were traded to Boston in that week-long stretch in 2007, writers and talking heads alike proclaimed no more than  two or three year window for the new "Big Three" to win a title in New England. Here we are, not in 2009 or 2010, but rather in 2012 asking ourselves how much longer can they keep the panes of opportunity from closing shut.

The Real American League All-Stars

In 1927, the Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated three films for Best Picture. Through the years, the number of nominees has fluctuated, reaching a high of twelve in 1935. Today, the Academy nominates 10 movies to contend for one of entertainment's most important awards.

During most of this generation's existence, we dealt with 5 nominees, leaving us room to figure out what films were truly snubbed. (And by "we," I mean film losers historians like Pucklius and TuckRule.) When the field was expanded to 10, the definition of "snub" was changed. If you can't make the top 10 movies of one itty bitty calendar year, then stop complaining. I'm lucky if I can get my butt to watch 5 movies, total, in the theater per year, so I don't care about the 11th and 12th best movie.

And so goes the definition of "snub" regarding the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. There are thirty-friggin-four players selected for each league's All-Star team. Each professional roster, however, still clings to a 25-man roster. So baseball has decided to reward 18 extra total dudes with the distinction of being an All-Star. Wonderful.

KOBEsh and I have taken it upon ourselves to create the MAMBINO MLB All-Stars, comprised of 25-man rosters for each league. These rosters represent the true All-Stars in both the American and National Leagues. Normally, we'd rage against the machine about what the fans got wrong with the starters and what the coaches/players did wrong in selecting the reserves. This edition of Mambino All-Stars will include that, plus this little wrinkle of truncating each roster by at least 9 players (it's likely to be more than 9, since everybody and their mother bows out due to injury or due to the fact that they pitched the previous day. More horsecrap, but I digress.) The rosters are filled out with the express goal of putting the best team forward. This means lefty specialists in the bullpen, utility infielders, and more!

Instant Trade Analysis: Joe Johnson to the Brooklyn Nets

Brooklyn Nets get: SG Joe Johnson

Atlanta Hawks get: SF Anthony Morrow, G Jordan Farmar, G DeShawn Stevenson, F Jordan Williams, PF Johan Petro, 2013 First-Round draft pick (via Houston)

The casual NBA fan might not know who Joe Johnson is, but (and I hope I'm not overstating this) this trade changes the face of the NBA as we've predicted it.

Too much? I don't think so.