BOLD MOVE
Subverting expectations may have been the Texans master plan all along
Feb 2, 2021, 1:19 pm
Are the Texans capable of orchestrating this? Composite image by Jack Brame.
Let's examine the pros and cons of trading Deshaun Watson
BetMGM has released its odds for the Super Bowl. Not Sunday's ultimate quarterback clash between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. BetMGM already is taking action on the 2022 Super Bowl. The Chiefs currently are the favorite at +600, followed by the Packers (+900), Ravens (+1200), Bills (+1200) and Buccaneers (+1200). All this will change when the quarterback trade carousel stops, though. For example, last year the Buccaneers were listed at 60-1 before Tom Brady signed with the team. Immediately the Bucs jumped to 16-1.
The Jets currently are +8000 to win the Super Bowl in 2022. That price will skyrocket like GameStop stock if the Jets acquire Deshaun Watson in a trade. Meanwhile our lovable Houston Easterbys are a lowly +8000 long, long, longshot. Trading Watson will only make the Texans a stupider bet. Save your money.
Don't you get the feeling that Cal McNair orchestrated this whole Texans mess – refusing to fire Jack Easterby the cherry on top - to force Watson into demanding a trade? He probably hoped that would make Watson out to be the villain. Sure, McNair may realize Watson's greatness … he just doesn't like the guy. Or someone in the organization doesn't like the guy.
Last men standing for Rockets
If the Rockets are listening to trade offers for P.J. Tucker and Danuel House, as reported by ESPN, that would leave only sixth man Eric Gordon and seldom-used Ben McLemore as survivors from last year's roster. Not one starter was here in 2020. And don't be surprised if Gordon is being shopped around. The only other basketball team to suffer this much turnover in one season was Mayberry Elementary School's Sixth Grade All-Stars.
The Rockets are 7-3 since shipping James Harden out, and they're back in the playoff picture. So trade away, general manager Rafael Stone.
Count me out
I love bagels. I love ice cream. But I think I'm going to hate Jeni's newest ice cream flavor: "Everything Bagel." It's "the perfect balance of sweet, salty and umani." I don't know what unami is. The upscale ice cream is packed with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, onions and garlic. It sounds hideous. Note to Jeni's: I love pizza, too. Please don't get any ideas.
You, again?
Red Sox MVP Dustin Pedroia announced that he's retiring. I thought he retired five years ago.
Star power dwindling
Last week, the Athletic ran a story with the headline: "If Deshaun Watson requests a trade, Texans should make him wait."
In journalism, this is called a "standing head," meaning it runs so often that editors have it ready at a moment's notice. As in "If Harden requests a trade," and "if Watt requests a trade" and "if Westbrook requests a trade," and "if Watson, Watt, Harden, Springer, and Fuller leave, who's the biggest star left in Houston?"
What's your fantasy?
With Curt Schilling sabotaging his chances for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and it's looking more and more unlikely that Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez will make it to Cooperstown, let's ponder an ultimate fantasy World Series:
Hall of Famers vs. The Mean Machine of reprobates banned from the Hall or stand little chance of being inducted because of steroid use, suspected steroid use or other off-field shenanigans.
It's not a mismatch. For the right price at the sports book, I might take the bad guys. I've got the home run champ, the all-time hit king and perhaps the greatest pitcher of all time. This is like a basketball Hall of Fame without Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Bird and Magic.
Here's my lineup of banned or tainted baseball players.
First base: Rafael Palmeiro: 3,020 hits, 569 home runs.
Second base: Pete Rose: all-time record 4,256 hits, most games played, most at bats, most lots of things, mostly bad.
Shortstop: Omar Vizquel - 11 Gold Gloves.
Third base: Alex Rodriguez - 548 home runs, 3 times MVP, engaged to J-Lo.
Right field: Shoeless Joe Jackson - lifetime .356 hitter.
Center field: Barry Bonds - all-time home run champ with 762 round trippers, 7 MVP awards, big head (Hey, I mean he's egotistical).
Left field: Manny Ramirez - 548 home runs, .312 lifetime batting average, World Series MVP.
Catcher: Benito Santiago - 5 time All-Star, 3 time Gold Glove, Rookie of the Year, 4 time Silver Slugger Award.
Pitcher: Roger Clemens - all-time record 7 Cy Young Awards.
Righty designated hitter: Sammy Sosa - 609 home runs.
Lefty designated hitter: David Ortiz - 541 home runs, .286 lifetime batting average, SI Sportsman of the Year.
The NFL Hall of Fame has banned no players because good citizenship is not a criterion for induction. There is no NBA Hall of Fame, it's called the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, encompassing the NBA, international leagues, WNBA, college and amateur ball and driveway pickup games. No player has been banned from induction.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
How latest Astros comments point to mixed signals, communication breakdown
Feb 17, 2025, 4:38 pm
Alex Bregman couldn’t hold back the smile when he was asked who might have had the biggest impact on his decision to sign with the Boston Red Sox.
“My favorite player Dustin Pedroia,” Bregman said of the club's former second baseman and two-time World Series champion.
“He reached out a few times this offseason and talked about how special it was to be a part of the Boston Red Sox,” Bregman said Sunday. “It was really cool to be able to talk to him as well as so many other former players here in Boston and current players on the team as well.”
A day after Bregman's $120 million, three-year contract was announced, he sat at a 25-minute news conference between his agent, Scott Boras, and Boston Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow. Manager Alex Cora, who gave Bregman a hug after he handed the infielder his No. 2 jersey, also was at the table along with team president Sam Kennedy.
Breslow and Cora wouldn't say whether Bregman would move to play second base, Pedroia's position, or remain at third — a position manned by Rafael Devers since July 2017.
A few players, Jarren Duran and Rob Refsnyder among them, and coaches stood behind the seated reporters to listen.
Bregman gets a $5 million signing bonus, a $35 million salary this season and $40 million in each of the following two years, with some of the money deferred, and he can opt out after the 2025 and 2026 seasons to become a free agent again.
Asked why he agreed to the shorter contract with opt outs, he leaned forward to the microphone in front of him and replied: “I just think I believe in my abilities.”
Originally selected by Boston in the 29th round of the 2012 amateur draft, Bregman attended LSU before the Houston Astros picked him second overall in 2015. His family history with the Red Sox goes back further.
“My dad grew up sitting on Ted Williams’ lap,” he said.
MLB.com said Stan Bregman, the player's grandfather, was a lawyer who represented the Washington Senators and negotiated Williams' deal to become manager.
Boston has missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons and had avoided signing the highest-profile free agents. Boras said a conversation with Red Sox controlling owner John Henry showed ownership’s desire to get back to winning.
“I think it was after Soto signed,’’ Boras said, citing the record contract he negotiated for Juan Soto with the Mets. “We had a discussion. I could tell knowing John back with the Marlins and such, he had a real onus about ‘we need to do things differently than what we’ve done before.’
“This is a point and time where I believe Red Sox ownership was hungry for championship play and exhausted with what had happened the last five, six years.”
Called the “perfect fit” by Breslow, the 30-year-old Bregman joined the Red Sox after winning two World Series titles and reaching the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons with Houston.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the playoffs the first eight years of my career, and I plan on continuing to do that here,” he said in his opening remarks. “I’m a winning player and this is a winning organization.”
Coming off an 81-81 season, the Red Sox acquired left-hander Garrett Crochet from the White Sox and signed fellow pitchers Walker Buehler, Patrick Sandoval, Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson during the offseason.
After the pitching moves, they found a right-handed bat, too.
“As the offseason progressed it just became clearer and clearer that Alex was the perfect fit for what we were trying to accomplish,” Breslow said.
Bregman ranks first among players with at least 75 career plate appearances in Fenway Park with an OPS of 1.240.
“He fits like a glove for our organization,” Kennedy said.