Keeping it Real Sports

Now that the dust has REALLY settled (couldn’t be so sure with only one deadline this year), we can finally take a look at what all went down on July 31st (and a few goings on in the preceding weeks). Basically what I’m trying to say is trades happened, and they happened fast, so let’s put on our thinking caps and expertly analyze some of them. Since I have some dignity, I will be going in strict chronological order. Sorry for the delayed post here, I ran down a bit of a rabb

Yes, I am well aware that I have already written a post concerning the buy v sell decision that bubble teams in the NBA face every season, but with the Trade Deadline only five days away I felt now was as good a time as any to revisit the topic. There have been some changes since my last post, both in regards to teams’ competitiveness and trade rumors, so let’s look at all the periphery squads and what their best course of action is. Eastern Conference Detroit Pistons (22-28,

The MLB Trade Deadline is a mere four days away and the trades have already been rolling in. These avid acquisitions were kicked off when two days after the All Star Game the Dodgers won the Manny Machado sweepstakes and they have not stopped since. I don’t want to box myself in on this post so I’m just going to visit each contender and see what they’ve done/where they stand/what they should do/etc. (warning: use of the word “contender” is subjective) Boston Red Sox The Red S

Today I figure I revisit a classic, by which I mean an idea I’ve already used once before. As we enter the second half of baseball (kicked off by the Cubs’ 9-6 win over the Cardinals last night), I think it apt to look at the ‘bubble’ teams in the MLB this year and what their Trade Deadline strategies should be. Why don’t we start with the American League, as the top-heaviness of this 15-team cohort makes Deadline strategies much clearer for many organizations. Oh and for the

“The franchise under my leadership has never really committed to a full rebuild…There’s only one way to open a stadium successfully, and that’s with a good, young team.” These were the words of Oakland A’s “executive vice president” (aka GM) Billy Beane after the team traded away veteran bullpen stoppers Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle. The quote was an interesting one, as the A’s have always been a team that rides the rollercoaster of success, never FULLY going for it (except

This Tuesday, the Arizona Diamondbacks acquired outfielder JD Martinez from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for, of course, a bunch of prospects. The move signals the Dbacks willingness to go for broke this season, a somewhat questionable move given the fact that they sit 10.5 games out of first and only .5 a game ahead of third. However, that’s not to say they can’t make a Postseason run. The successes of previous wild card teams have been well-documented. From 2002-2004, all