Jimmy Butler and his advisors clearly manipulated their situation. Tim Warner/Getty Images
Here is a public service announcement for all Rockets fans as you await the start of the regular season. No matter how many times you read a "breaking news" trade rumor about your team, don't believe it unless you see it in an official press release. With cut down day approaching and teams being forced to release players that are veterans or have value across the NBA, you are going to hear tons of rumored trades and moves and almost all of them are untrue. Agents and general managers use writers, bloggers and social media as an effective tool in doing their job. If they get enough people talking about the tidbits and tips that they "secretly" give out, the fire storm that ensuses will create a towering inferno of results for their clients and teams.
You see, every agent has a few "go-to" writers, bloggers and media members that they have built a relationship with, that they will strategically slip secrets, information and leads to. General Managers have their allies as well and they use them as they see fit. Some of these media contacts are rewarded with exclusive interviews and access to the team and players if they play along and publish the information supplied to them. It's fast becoming one of the most lucrative moves in sports because of the results it can create and the positive outcomes that can be tied directly to the breaking news that started the entire chain of events.
Take the Jimmy Butler situation as an example. We all know by now what transpired late last week and how Butler's dramatic return to the team and his first practice sent NBA fans across the country reeling. Did it ever cross your mind that it was all a set up and carefully scripted plan to get Jimmy out of Minny and to another destination in the league that he no doubt wants to play for? Well take it for what it's worth, but if you thought it was purely coincidence that ESPN and Rachel Nichols just happened to be in Minneapolis for an exclusive one-on-one interview with Butler, I have some swamp land I'd like to sell you in Florida. On top of that, do you think the interview would have been must see TV and stir up as much conversation, if he had just put his head down, worked his butt off and finished practice without incident? No way! The whole thing was a ploy by Butler's camp to force the issue and get their client out of a bad situation. Since he still has a year left on his contract and risked losing money if he continued his hold out and stayed away from the team, he made an educated decision and carried out a plan to get the ball rolling on his mission to get shipped out of town.
As the week went on, we saw more rumors about the Timberwolves re-engaging the Rockets in talks, a possible Pat Riley profanity-laced conversation with Tom Thibodeau and more. This is what's known as a counter strike, where management tips off hand-selected members of the media to get the word out and create a story that will have traction and create publicity and conversation across the basketball world. In the process, it will also sound the alarm to the teams that were in deep trade discussions for Butler in the last week or so, that they will not be getting the franchise player that they had coveted. In most cases, the reaction to the hot, new rumor is a quick call to see if the shunned teams can make a last ditch, final offer that no doubt includes sweetening the pot from what was originally offered.
The take away for you is that you should never get too excited until a deal is official and reported as "done." Until then, the game of Cat and Mouse will continue and those of you that read or hear the rumors and take the time to spread the news are merely pawns in a bigger chess game being played by agents and front offices everywhere. So just sit back, relax and realize your team is ready to run it back as they pursue the always elusive Larry O'Brien trophy and it's a long season ahead. Rumors will continue to fly all the way to the trade deadline, so be cautious and be prepared.
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How latest reports abruptly shift Houston Astros rotation x-factors
Mar 18, 2024, 7:23 pm
Bruce Bochy doesn’t ever want the Texas Rangers to let go of those memories of their first World Series title.
“We just don’t want to lean on them,” said Bochy, whose first season with the Rangers ended with the first World Series championship for the 63-year-old franchise, and his fourth as a big league manager.
While Texas has the opportunity to be the first team in a quarter-century to win back-to-back world championships — the New York Yankees were the last, with three in a row from 1998-2000 — the Rangers aren’t even defending champs in their own division.
And they aren’t favored to win the AL West this season.
Houston is again the odds-on favorite in the division it has won each of the last six full MLB seasons since the Rangers finished on top in 2016. The Astros won their regular season finale last Oct. 1, matched Texas at 90-72 and won the AL West since they were 9-4 head-to-head.
The Astros have made the AL Championship Series the past seven seasons, even when not division champs in the 2020 season shortened to 60 games because of the pandemic. They made four trips to the Fall Classic and won two titles in that span.
Dusty Baker retired days after Houston lost ALCS Game 7 at home to the Rangers last fall, finishing with 2,183 wins over 26 seasons as a big league manager with five teams.
New Astros manager Joe Espada, their bench coach for six seasons, is certainly familiar with a lineup that has big hitters Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker, and a loaded starting rotation.
Espada isn't the division's only new manager. Ron Washington, who took the Rangers to their previous World Series in 2010 and 2011, was hired by the Angels, who still have Mike Trout but not two-way star Shohei Ohtani, now with the other team in Los Angeles.
Seattle again revamped its roster without big spending in free agency and hopes for a quicker return to the playoffs. The Mariners missed by one game last season, a year after its first postseason appearance since 2001.
And just like last year, the Athletics go into another season not knowing if it will be their last in Oakland.
HOW THEY PROJECT1. Houston Astros. Three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander, reacquired in a deadline trade last July, will start this season on the injured list. But the 41-year-old’s IL stint is expected to be a short one. The Astros still have lefty Framber Valdez (12-11, 2.45 ERA, 200 strikeouts and a no-hitter) and right-hander Cristian Javier. Eight-time All-Star second baseman Altuve signed a new $125 million, five-year contract that goes through 2029. But two-time All-Star third baseman Bregman, the only other position player to make all seven ALCS trips, is at the end of a $100 million deal.
2. Texas Rangers. After going from six losing seasons in a row to a World Series title, the Rangers should be playoff contenders again. They return ALCS MVP Adolis García and most of the lineup that hit 233 homers and scored an AL-high 5.4 runs per game. But World Series MVP and AL MVP runner-up shortstop Corey Seager (sports hernia), Gold Glove first baseman Nathaniel Lowe (oblique strain) and All-Star third baseman Josh Jung (calf) missed significant time in the spring. All-Star right-hander Nathan Eovaldi tops a rotation still missing injured multiple Cy Young Award winners Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom.
3. Seattle Mariners. The front office put together a roster that might be better than last year, but everybody has to stay healthy. Seattle should be better offensively with the additions of Mitch Garver, Mitch Haniger, Jorge Polanco and Luke Raley to go with young superstar Julio Rodriguez. If J.P. Crawford can replicate last season at the plate and Ty France returns to his 2021-22 form, the lineup will be deeper. Couple a better offense with one of the best rotations in baseball led by Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert, the Mariners should once again contend in the division.
4. Los Angeles Angels. They feel like they’re starting over yet again and still haven't been to the playoffs since 2014. Ohtani left after six seasons for a record $700 million with the perennially contending Dodgers. The Halos added almost nothing in free agency, only revamping their bullpen again and taking low-cost flyers on Aaron Hicks and Miguel Sano. Trout and Anthony Rendon are back, and an open DH spot will allow them to rest their injury-prone bodies more regularly. Their rotation is last year’s group minus Ohtani. The 71-year-old Washington brings a unique blend of expertise and enthusiasm, which should benefit an exciting crop of young talent ready to break through in the majors.
5. Oakland Athletics. This could be the final season playing at the Coliseum with a lease set to expire. So the A's are still trying to figure out where they will play beyond this year with a new ballpark and move to Las Vegas scheduled for 2028. Manager Mark Kotsay has been committed to keeping his team focused on what it can do to be better on the field after two years with a combined 214 losses (112 last season). The A’s acquired Ross Stripling from the San Francisco Giants and added Alex Wood to the rotation.
OLD SKIPPERSWhen the 74-year-old Baker retired, Bochy became the oldest manager in the majors. That lasted only a few weeks until the Angels hired Washington. Bochy will turn 69 on April 16, just 13 days before Washington turns 72. Bochy, with 2,093 wins going into his 27th season, is one of six managers with four World Series titles, his first three coming in San Francisco (2010, 2012 and 2014). Washington won a franchise-record 664 games in eight seasons with Texas from 2007-14. He was on Atlanta's staff the past seven years, and part of the Braves' 2021 World Series title.
RELIEF HELPSeveral new relievers are in the AL West, including hard-throwing lefty Josh Hader with the Astros, veteran right-hander David Robertson and former All-Star closer Kirby Yates in Texas, Gregory Santos and Ryne Stanek in Seattle and Robert Stephenson with the Angels.
Hader's $95 million, five-year deal was the biggest after becoming a first-time free agent. The 29-year-old, once in the Astros' minor league system, turned down a $20,325,000 qualifying offer from San Diego.