Weekly Miami Dolphins prediction

The Dolphins plays host to the New York Jets tonight. If the Jets win their last two games, they make the playoffs. On the other hand Miami is only headed to a postseason of uncertainty. Will Culpepper ever be healthy? Will Ricky Williams return? What to do at DT with all the players on the depth chart having 10 years or more in the NFL and are eligible for free agency? Will Olindo Mare be back as placekicker?

My sympathies are always divided when these teams played. I was a Jet fan when young but in the mid-90′s converted over to Miami. It seemed to fit, since I’ve either been a Florida resident or registered to vote here for over 30 years. My prediction for tonight’s game- New York 21, Miami 17.

Jeff Suppan signs with Brewers for 4yrs $42M

Associated Press

MILWAUKEE — NL Championship Series MVP Jeff Suppan reached a preliminary agreement Sunday on a $42 million, four-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Suppan must pass a physical for the deal to be finalized, the Brewers said in a rare Christmas Eve announcement. His contract includes a team option for 2011 with a $2 million buyout.

“He gives us a big-game pitcher. He’s shown that last year,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said during a telephone conference call.

A 31-year-old right-hander, Suppan went 12-7 with a 4.12 ERA for St. Louis this year — including a 6-2 mark with a 2.39 ERA in 15 starts after the All-Star break. He was 1-1 in four postseason starts, including a win in Game 3 and seven solid innings in Game 7 of the NLCS against the New York Mets. He is 44-26 with a 3.95 ERA over the last three regular seasons, tied for ninth in the major leagues in wins.

Suppan met Tuesday with Brewers officials, and the team made an offer the following day, when Suppan met with New York Mets executives. His agent, Scott Leventhal, negotiated through the weekend with Melvin.

Leventhal said there was no temptation to wait until after Barry Zito decided where to sign — when the teams that failed to get the left-hander might bid up Suppan’s price.

“All along we controlled the tempo of our own negotiations. We understood a marketplace would open up once Zito dropped,” Leventhal said. “Sup’s whole thing was to go at his own pace and make his decision on when he felt was the best time. He felt today was the best time.”

Melvin said Suppan’s durability was an attraction for the Brewers, who struggled last season when Ben Sheets and Tomo Ohka got hurt. Suppan has made 31 or more starts in eight straight seasons, throwing 180 or more innings each time.

“This obviously will be the largest improvement, adding a pitcher of this stature,” Melvin said.

Milwaukee needed a durable starting pitcher after trading Doug Davis to Arizona for Claudio Vargas, catcher Johnny Estrada and pitcher Greg Aquino.

Suppan has pitched for Boston (1995-97, 2003), Arizona (1998), Kansas City (1998-2002), Pittsburgh (2003) and St. Louis (2004-06). He has reached double figures in wins seven times, and has a career record of 106-101 with a 4.60 ERA.

Milwaukee, coming off a 75-87 record and fourth-place finish in the NL Central, has a projected rotation that includes left-hander Chris Capuano and right-handers Sheets, Dave Bush, Vargas and Suppan.

In the NLCS, Suppan pitched eight shutout innings for the victory in Game 3, then allowed one run over seven innings in Game 7, which the Cardinals went on to win 3-1 on Yadier Molina’s two-run homer in the ninth. St. Louis then went on to beat Detroit in five games for the World Series title.

Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said that kind of performance was important to him as he tries to make the Brewers a “perennially competitive” team.

“What you want to do is add a winner,” Attanasio said.

Leventhal said the pitcher saw the Brewers as a team with potential.

“I think he feels like it’s a team that has tremendous talent — it’s got a mix of young guys and veterans, all with talent,” he said.

Leventhal said Suppan was at a Christmas Eve Mass and could not be reached for comment.

Suppan generated some controversy during the World Series when he appeared in a television commercial and a print ad opposing a Missouri amendment to permit embryonic stem cell research. The amendment passed by a narrow margin.

Attanasio invited the pitcher and his agent to dinner at his home last week.

“It was a very relaxed evening,” Attanasio said. “There was a lot of give and take. I got to know Jeff. I came away impressed.”

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press

This is a great move by the Brew Crew. They add a veteran pitcher who knows how to win. Add him to Ben Sheets and Chris Capuano and you have a great 1-3, especially if they reach the postseason.

Merry Christmas to all!

NFL Fighting Cable Companies Over NFL Network

The NFL is staring down the major cable companies over games shown on NFL Network.

The way NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sees it, the dispute between the NFL Network and several cable carriers who refuse to carry the channel is a problem that isn’t going away anytime soon.

Disappointed NFL fans around the country weren’t able to see Thursday’s Packers-Vikings game because the NFL can’t come to an agreement with carriers such as Time Warner about how their product should be offered to the public.

Goodell knows the public is angry. He’s frustrated, too.

“We’re upset about it not being on on a broader basis. One of the things that the NFL is most proud of, is the fact that we go to the broadest possible audience,” Goodell said. “We are the only sports league to put all of our games on free television and into the home markets and into the visiting markets, and we’re proud of that, and we think it’s been a great part of our success. We’re as upset with the cable operators and their inability for us to get that distribution, so we share the pain of the fans around here.”

According to Goodell, the NFL wants its network available on basic cable packages, while the cable companies want to put it on a more expensive package. “What cable operators are asking us to do is to put our games on a digital sports tier, which is a very small universe,” Goodell said. “What they will then do is charge the consumers a significant amount of money to drive that digital sports tier. We don’t want to do that. We want to be on the broadest possible tier. We want everyone to see our product.”

The cable companies’ contention is that in order to add NFL Network to basic cable packages, they would have to significantly raise the monthly rate of subscribers.

Goodell said he believes cable operators eventually are going to realize that the NFL Network is something that they can’t withhold from consumers. “We believe our fans are looking for football 365 days a year,” Goodell said. “There is a very clear track record for a demand for our product.”

Goodell is right, I think, and he will eventually win this fight. Because cable no longer operates a monopoly in most markets, the pressure will intensify to carry NFL Network, as disgruntled fans move to Dish or DirecTV to avoid missing out on these games.

The NFL would be operating from a stronger position of principle, though, if they didn’t have a long-term exclusivity deal with DirecTV for NFL Sunday Ticket. In our on-demand era, fans have a reasonable expectation that they be able to get any game at any time. Forcing them to switch to a specific satellite television provider to get that flies in the face of that. While I’m a reasonably satisfied DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket customer, and have been for five seasons now, there are people who can’t pick up a satellite signal, whose broadband Internet service is tied to cable, or otherwise don’t want to make that switch.

Yao Ming Breaks Leg (Photo, Video)

Yao Ming’s bone bruise turned out to be much more.

Yao Ming will miss at least six weeks after fracturing the bone under his right knee in Houston’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night. Yao was leaping for a blocked shot as Chuck Hayes and Tim Thomas hit the floor beneath him. Yao’s knee appeared to get caught under Thomas’ body and Yao immediately grabbed his knee and screamed in pain. Yao was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, where an MRI test revealed a fracture of Yao’s right tibial plateau, trainer Keith Jones said.

The Rockets initially said Yao had only suffered a bone bruise. Now, Jones said he hopes the injury will not require surgery. “It’s a non-displaced fracture, so nothing is way out of the way or out of whack,” Jones said. “We think he’ll do well with just rest. An option would be to do something more, but we’re hoping that won’t need to be done.”

Without Yao, the Rockets lost to the Clippers 98-93.

The injury ruins the best start of Yao’s career. He was averaging 27 points and nine rebounds — both career bests — and had topped 30 points in four consecutive games before scoring 22 in Friday’s 97-78 victory at San Antonio.

Truly a shame. I’m at best a casual fan of the NBA but you hate to see great players injured.

ESPN has video here.

Bucs, Chris Simms Close to 2-Year Extension

It appears that Chris Simms will be back with Tampa Bay after all.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Chris Simms’ future did not look bright when his season ended with a serious spleen injury in Week 3, and many speculated it could end his career as the Bucs quarterback.

Instead, the Bucs are close to a two-year agreement with Simms that will virtually guarantee him $5 million in 2007 with a chance to earn another $1.5 million in playtime incentives, sources told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. Counting all incentives and an escalator clause, Simms could earn about $10 million during the two years, with $7 million of that in base salary and a signing bonus.

[...]

Rookie Bruce Gradkowski replaced Simms but struggled midseason and was replaced by seven-year veteran Tim Rattay.

Simms has been inconsistent, at best, throughout his college and pro career. Still, he’s clearly the Bucs’ best option at this point and the contract is quite reasonable (in today’s market) even if Simms winds up nothing more than a veteran backup.

Griffey Breaks Hand in Mysterious Accident

Ken Griffey, Jr. is hurt again. Only this time no one is saying why:

The Cincinnati Reds’ center fielder broke his left hand in an accident at home, the latest in a series of setbacks since he joined was traded to his hometown team for the 2000 season.

Griffey will have the hand in a hard cast for three weeks, then be re-examined, the team announced on Friday. The club wasn’t authorized by Griffey to give any details of how he was hurt.

What was he doing? Did he slam it in a door? Fell down some step? Play to hard with his Nintendo Wii? Inquiring minds want to know.

Kings’ Season Heads to the Deep South

After being embarrassed by one of the worst teams in the league (and their former coach Andy Murray) in St. Louis, the Kings followed it up by laying a goose egg in Nashville. The 7-0 defeat tonight was nothing short of embarrassing and the frustration of the team is beginning to show. It culminated in the Kings’ so-called number one goalie, Dan Cloutier, giving up 6 goals in just over 2 periods, spearing another player, starting a fight and getting ejected (video here).

It was bound to happen at as Cloutier is known to have quite a temper. Fighting is part of hockey and is a integral part of the game, but there is a line drawn when you attempt an act like spearing that serves nothing but to intentionally injure a player. Cloutier need to do something, like stop a puck for instance, but spearing was not it.

It would take a lot of digging and a few beers to find anything positives out of this game other than a high draft pick. The highlight of the game was normally soft-spoken team captain Mattias Norstrom standing up for the younger players on the team who had been subject to repeated runs throughout the game, if anything it’s a teaching tools for the young players of when to take your lumps and when its time to drop gloves and do something about it. As for this seasons its time to pray for a miracle, scout the next year’s draft and hope the young talent that the Kings have in the system develop quickly.

Rangers Get McCarthy from White Sox in 5 Player Deal

ARLINGTON, Texas — Not optimistic about their pursuit of free agent Barry Zito, the Texas Rangers acquired right-hander Brandon McCarthy from the Chicago White Sox in a five-player deal on Saturday.

McCarthy

The Rangers gave up 2003 first-round pick John Danks, a 21-year left-hander who hasn’t yet pitched in the major leagues, and right-handers Nick Masset and Jacob Rasner in exchange for McCarthy and 18-year-old outfielder David Paisano.

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels insisted the acquisition of McCarthy, a 23-year-old right-harder, wasn’t directly related to the team’s waning hopes of adding Zito.

“I don’t want to get into specifics about our discussions other than to say that I’m not terribly encouraged about our chances,” Daniels said on a conference call. “Regardless of whether or not we felt we were going to be able to sign somebody like Barry, we would have made this deal. This is about the future with Brandon.”

McCarthy already has 65 major league appearances (12 starts), and is 7-9 with a 4.39 earned-run average. He has 117 career strikeouts while walking only 50 batters in 151 2/3 innings.

McCarthy worked primarily out of the bullpen for the first time last season, and was 10th in the AL with 75 1/3 innings worked in relief. The Rangers plan to use him as a starter.

“We’re thrilled to add Brandon McCarthy to our rotation and expect he’ll be there for many years to come,” Daniels said. “It’s never easy to deal young players you’re fond of, but Brandon’s age, makeup, and ability is a rare combination we could not pass on.”

McCarthy, whose rights will be held by the Rangers for at least five years, will join a rotation with 16-game winner Kevin Millwood and 15-game winner Vicente Padilla, a veteran duo both signed through at least 2009. Robinson Tejeda, a 24-year-old right-hander, went 5-5 with 4.28 ERA in 14 starts last season.

“This gives us four starters that we feel very comfortable going into next year with,” Daniels said.

While Daniels said there are internal candidates for the fifth spot, the Rangers are still interested in Zito, the 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner.

“It’s certainly not over,” Daniels said.

Daniels wouldn’t be specific about the Zito situation, but said “be careful believing the rumors out there” — including some that the Rangers have offered the left-hander more than $100 million. Rangers owner Tom Hicks has also said such reports were untrue.

Texas is also still talking to free agent left-hander Mark Mulder, who is coming off shoulder surgery in September and won’t be ready to pitch at the start of the 2007 season.

Both Zito and Mulder visited Rangers officials in Texas over the last month.

Danks split last season between Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Oklahoma, where he combined to go 9-9 with a 4.24 ERA in 27 games (26 starts). He has a career minor league record of 21-30 with a 4.20 ERA in 92 games (82 starts).

Masset made his major league debut last year with Texas, with no record and a 4.15 ERA in eight relief appearances. Rasner spent the entire 2006 season at Class-A Clinton, going 6-16 with a 5.41 ERA in 27 starts.

The 18-year-old Paisano appeared in 52 games for the White Sox Venezuelan Summer League team in 2006 and batted .338 with no home runs and 17 RBI.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press

The 2007 Indians Bullpen

The size of the contracts handed out to this year’s free agent class has been widely noted. Paying $100 million to a player of Carlos Lee’s caliber would not have happened over the past couple of off-seasons. However, the current conditions (weak free agent class, MLB’s economic boom) have given the players record contracts.

Alternatively, Indians GM Mark Shapiro has rebuilt his team in a fashion that is very efficient. The Indians have filled holes in LF, 2B, and the bullpen with moderate-cost and short-term contracts, allowing them the flexibility to add further upgrade and depth for the remainder of this off-season and in coming seasons. Shapiro has not signed any superstars, but has upgraded each of these positions.

David Delucci in LF, as either a full-timer or a platoon, and Josh Barfield at 2B are upgrades over their 2006 counterparts. Plus both are relatively inexpensive, with Delucci at $11 million over 3 years and Barfield possibly not eligible for arbitration for 2 more seasons.

The Tribe’s 2006 bullpen was one of the primary parts that went wrong for the Tribe. So Shapiro has devoted a great deal of his efforts toward rebuilding the bullpen into a group with much potential. The new additions include Roberto Hernandez, Aaron Fultz, Joe Borowski, and the latest rumor out of Boston, Keith Foulke. Just for kicks, let’s assume that the Indians sign Foulke. The newbies would include three former closers and a decent LOOGY.

So how much of an improvement is the ’07 pen over the ’06 pen? Last season, the bullpen ran a line of 422.2 IP, 219 ER, 166 BB, 348 K, and 51 HR for a 4.66 ERA that ranked 11th in the AL. The starting rotation registered an ERA of 4.31, good for 3rd in the AL. Doubtless, the bullpen was a major factor in the poor season. Fans often moaned at the bullpen’s inability to hold a lead or register a save after Bob Wickman was traded. Plus, many have noted that the Indians run differential should have given them close to 90 wins, with the bullpen being an explanation for the difference.

How about the new and improved version for the coming season? Using The Bill James Handbook 2007′s projections for pitchers, we can look at the projected perfomance for the ’07 Tribe. I assumed that the bullpen will consist of Foulke, Borowski, Fultz, Hernandez, Fernando Cabrera, Francisco Carmona, Matt Miller, and Rafael Betancourt. Totaling their projected numbers and prorating them over the 422.2 IP of the ’06 Indians, the new bullpen will post the following line in ’07:

422.2 IP, 177 ER, 141 BB, 295 K, and 43 HR for an ERA of 3.78

During the 2006 season, an ERA of 3.78 would have ranked 5th in the AL and significantly improved the Tribe’s season.

So will the Tribe win in 2007? Clearly, they have improved, barring injury. What we can know for sure is this: Indians fans should be happy right now that Shapiro is at the helm.