The Basement View

Fresh Start_342: 2017 Yankees Trade Deadline response I don’t love this trade for the Yankees. The bombers traded for Oakland’s Sonny Grey before this afternoon’s 4PM EST trade deadline and the asking price for Grey was just too high. Grey is a good pitcher and is exactly what the Yankees need to make a strong push for the division in 2017; but to give up three of the bombers top tweleve prospects is a very high asking price. Granted Grey is 44-36 in his career with a 3.42 career ERA—he is not a Cy Young award winner. To give up Jorge Mateo, James Kaprielian, and Dustin Fowler is too much for my liking. My opinion on Mateo being expendable has not changed, but I personally love Kaprielian. Even with Kaprielian having Tommy John surgery in February, the upside on him is comparable to what Grey is now. Fowler and Mateo would have been as far as I would have gone, but with the deal that went final I would have demanded that Jacoby Ellsbury be involved for the price of giving up Ka

Fresh Start_341: Beltre 3K You can learn a lot from the back of a player’s baseball card. How many hits they had, home runs in a season, season high for RBI’s, or even what the players’ career OPS was. One player in particular today eclipsed a milestone that only thirty other players before him achieved, and he was the first from his country to do it. If you didn’t get Adrian Beltre from Jeopardy style guess who question, it is Beltre himself. To me Adrian Beltre is a first ballot Hall of Famer without the 3,000 hits. With a double to left field against the Baltimore Oriole pitcher Wade Miley in the third inning this afternoon. Beltre becomes the first Dominican born player to reach 3,000 hits and will go down as one of the games greatest third baseman. To be frank with you; the 3,000 hit mark is just icing to cake that is the career of Adrian Beltre. Beltre has 5 gold gloves, is a 4 time All-Star, has 454 homers (and counting), and is a career .286 hitter. He was going to m

Fresh Start_340: Two days before the deadline Just two days before the 2017 Major League Baseball Trade Deadline the New York Yankees find themselves in an interesting position. The Yankees clearly need a starting pitcher to have a real chance to compete for a World Series this year. With the Todd Frazier trade, the Yankees seem like they are buyers for the 2017 season, and yet still have Gleyber Torres, James Kaprielian, Miguel Andujar, Chance Adams, and Clint Frazier in their system. The Yankees have been tied to Oakland’s Sonny Grey, Texas’ Yu Darvish, and Justin Verlander among others in recent days. The Sonny Grey deal for the bombers would have made sense before the Yankees traded for Todd Frazier because of the need for a 1 st baseman with Yonder Alonso being on the Athletics with Sonny Grey. The price for Grey has been high if you couldn’t tell because he is still on the A’s and not in pinstripes. The trade to me that makes the most sense is a trade that the voice

Fresh Start_339: UFC 214 I am not by any means an avid UFC fan but in recent years I have come to enjoy the sport for the main stars of the sport just brawl it out in the octagon. The biggest star of the sport and possibly the biggest star in the history of the sport in Conor McGregor is now in the midst of press for the fight of the decade with McGregor and Floyd “Money” Mayweather. Dana White and the UFC are now gearing up for UFC 214 (yes, believe it or not there has been 213 fight nights before this one) and for the first time in a long-time Connor McGregor is not headlining the Main Card for the men. Instead we have the forgotten star Jon “Bones” Jones against the UFC Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier. Jones who left the sport because of a drug problem and was if memory serves me right was almost kicked out of the UFC for life by Dana White if he did not receive help for his problem. When Jones was at the top of the sport; he was as unbeatable and maybe even more supe

Fresh Start_338: Allen Crabbe to Brooklyn With the trade to pick up Allen Crabbe from the Portland Trail Blazers; Sean Marks and the Nets have become roster dump central in the NBA, and I don’t have a problem with it. The plan to just get talent and throw it on the floor regardless of what the contract is; is a smart plan with the amount of cap room that the Nets have and the inability to attract any free agents this offseason. The way that Billy King left Brooklyn after the trade that will live in infamy—Marks took the job as Nets GM being in a tough spot. The fans being as hostile as any fan base in the NBA, it can take a lot out of a general manager. The fans just wanted a plan that the organization can follow and stick too. The Nets didn’t seem to have a plan through last offseason and this past trade deadline. This offseason the “Sean Marks Plan” has been put into motion and it is clearly spend the money now while the Nets have it and try to win games. The Nets now hav

Fresh Start_337: Please don’t mess this up With the releasing of Erik Decker Darrelle Revis, and Brandon Marshall the tank season seemed to be the plan for 2017. The Jets drafted Jamal Adams as their start to the rebuild, and I’m here saying that I am all for the tank and the rebuild. I’m already seeing it with the Brooklyn Nets and even though the Nets don’t have a top draft pick, they are still improving the team. The way I’d like see the 2017 season going is the Jets going 2-14 getting the first overall pick and getting Josh Rosen not Sam Darnold to be the quarterback of the future. I personally like Rosen over Darnold because of the arm talent that Rosen has. It reminds me a lot of the arm talent that Aaron Rodgers has but it just isn’t polished yet. With the Jets going 2-14 I’d hope Bryce Petty would be getting those two wins for the Jets. I know Josh McCown will be the starter coming out of the Preseason, but will McCown’s recent injury history I don’t think he will la

Fresh Start_336: Way to early NFL Playoff Predictions Listening to a bunch of podcasts and talking with my family, I’m ready to talk football! I know the Jets will be just dreadful this year, but I am excited to see what the rest of the NFL has in store for 2017. If you haven’t heard on my podcast, my way to early Super Bowl picks are the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. I am all in on the trilogy this year, mostly because of the key signing that the Giants made early in the offseason, signing Brandon Marshall after his release from the Jets. Marshall will open up so much for the Giants offense, and if the defense for the Giants can be even an ounce of what it was last year, the Giants are going back to the Super Bowl. There is no if’s, and’s, or but’s about it; book it now. To go along with the Giants and Patriots I have these following teams getting the playoffs: AFC East: Patriots AFC North: Steelers, Bengals AFC South: Texans AFC West: Raiders, Broncos

Fresh Start_335: Thank you Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre As I was watching the first two parts of the newest HBO documentary “The Defiant Ones” I realized something about music that I haven’t before. Watching the rise of Jimmy Iovine and his career that has landed him being a major part in a $3 Billion deal between Beats headphones and Apple, is something that is truly remarkable. We all love music. Music is something that gets us to work, calms us down, and makes us motivated. Music is a beautiful tool that nothing else in this world can compare to. Music makes a connection with us through the chorus, the hook, melody that gives a certain memory. Close your eyes and picture the first time you heard your favorite song. The type of work ethic that you see on Instagram from up and coming artists or in documentaries it was built from people like Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. The craziness that is the music business and the evaluation of the business is thanks to Apple with Iovine and Dr

Fresh Start_334: Last Chance U Season 2 SPOLIER REVIEW This is a SPOLIER REVIEW Starting and finishing a Netflix original can take a lot out of you. Watching the second season of “Last Chance U” I have a ton of thoughts about the second season of one of my favorite series on television. The first season of the show was thrilling, gripping, and it made you feel like you were a part of the team. Seeing the rise and fall of John Franklin III, Ronald Ollie, and D.J. Law shows how real and rare these second chances are. Now, with season two we get to see that with De’Andre Johnson, Isaiah Wright, Tim Bonner, Chauncey Rivers, and Kam Carter just shows you how people can change and how gripping football really is. I love this show, but I have my concerns about the future of the East Mississippi Community College. With Brittany Wagner, Quarterback Coach Clint Tricklett, Defensive Coordinator Ed Holly, and having Marcus Woods step down from his Offensive Coordinator duties, this E

Fresh Start_333: Starting to sound like a broken record Can we officially start making Lebron James Laker jerseys now? News coming out of Cleveland today reported by a variety of sources close to the Cavs say that Kyrie Irving wants to be traded. The franchise point guard, former number one overall selection, and one of (if not THE) reason(s) that the Cavilers have a championship in Cleveland wants out. Irving has reportedly wanted to be traded to either San Antonio, the Knicks, Miami, or Minnesota. San Antonio has been quite (nothing new), and the Heat and T’Wolves haven’t commented. But, the Knicks have reportedly are willing to trade Carmelo Anthony and future picks for Irving. Which would be interesting, especially if the Cavs get Derrick Rose. Rose would be the point guard with J.R. Smith, Carmelo, Kevin Love, and James filling out the rest of the lineup at times. That roster with Tristen Thompson is not going to beat the Warriors this upcoming, and the lineup with Kyrie,

Fresh Start_332: What is really going on at ESPN? I’ve done myself a lot of favors being a critic of ESPN and Fox Sports these past couple of months. Not being a fan of the ESPN cuts and the Fox Sports changing their website has put me into a box that I’ll have a hard time climbing out of. ESPN has done it again with the trial of O.J. Simpson and the coverage of it. The amount of money and fame that ESPN has gotten O.J. Simpson and his name in the past year is just crazy to think that you gain make that much money and awards off of a convicted felon. ESPN had no position being at the trial hearing for Simpson, it was not a sport story. ESPN felt obligated to be there because of the O.J. documentary and their dying obsession with Simpson. CNN, NBC, Fox News, etc. needed to be there because Simpson is no longer a sports star, but with his murder trial and his robbery conviction he has become a public figure. Simpson’s Ford Bronco chase is more synonymous and more relevant than any

Fresh Start_331: Elliott may walk free Ezekiel Elliott is being dismissed (for now) after the Dallas Police suspended an investigation on an incident in a Dallas bar on July 16 th . The suspension is due to a lack of witnesses, and now we have to wait and see what the Cowboys and the NFL will do with this situation. Elliott has off-field issues last season, and it will be interesting to see what the NFL pulls on Elliott if anything happens to him. There is no question that the NFL has had a colorful past with the way they treat their players. We all remember the Ray Rice incident, Josh Gordon’s weed issue, and of course the Tom Brady “deflated balls” dumpster fire situation. It is just inevitable that the NFL will mess this situation up and make his career a living hell. I don’t like the fact Elliott is not surviving time for his involvement for assaulting a 60-year-old man, but that is the situation we found themselves in and the NFL may not do anything, but they might and

Well, the Yankees didn’t get a starter but, they sure did meet some of their needs with a trade with the Chicago White Sox. It didn’t involve Jose Quintana clearly, but it does involve a New Jersey native Todd Frazier. The Yankees will be sending Blake Rutherford the 3 rd overall prospect in system, Ian Clarkin, Tito Polo, and the struggling Tyler Clippard to Chicago in exchange for Todd Frazier, David Robertson, and Tommy Kahnle. This is a move that you absolutely have to make if you are Brian Cashman and the Yankees because of what you get back for basically Rutherford. You get Todd Frazier that will most likely become the everyday first baseman, the hard throwing Tommy Kahnle who is having a career year in 37 games he has a 2.50 ERA with 60 strike outs in 36 innings, and David Robertson returns to the Bronx. Frazier is not known for being a first baseman but has played 94 games at first and will likely fill that void. Kahnle will be an arm that they use to maybe make t

Fresh Start_330: Martinez to Arizona The Major League Baseball trade hot stove is heating up with the news today that right-handed hitting outfielder J.D. Martinez will be on the move from Detroit to Arizona. The trade has Arizona’s 4 th rated prospect third baseman Dawel Lugo, 15 th ranked prospect shortstop Sergio Alcantara, and Single A shortstop Jose King going to Detroit in exchange for Martinez. Martinez was this years’ right-handed power bat that most of the contending teams needed. Like Cespedes and Bruce before him, Martinez was the player that teams wanted to have in the middle of their order for the playoff push through the end of the year. Martinez so far in 2017 is batting .305 with 16 homers and 39 RBI’s with a .388 OBP. Left field has become a need for the D-Backs with Yasmany Tomas going on the DL in early July. With the D-Backs a game up on the Colorado Rockies for first in the National League Wild Card race, Martinez will help a ball club that is des

Fresh Start_329: The Yankee fix The Yankees are in some trouble. Not only did they split the most important series of the season so far (thanks Jackie Bradley Jr.), Aaron Judge is struggling for the first time this season, the struggling bullpen has been stretched out to the max, and Michael Pineda is done for the season. It was reported late Friday night that Pineda had a tear in his UCL in his throwing elbow and was slotted for Tommy John Surgery. Since seeking a second opinion in Cincinnati—Pineda will undergo Tommy John and end his season and probably his Yankee career. Pineda is going to be a free agent after this season, and the Yankees are most likely going to part ways with him after the surgery. It is just best with the organization because of how up and down Pineda has been in the Bronx, plus if you sign Pineda in the offseason, you lose him for a total of an entire season (give or take a few games). You have to look toward the future. That future could be right i

Fresh Start_328: Renewing the Rivalry with a marathon and a double header Well, that was the second longest game of the season for the Yankees and it was one of the most antagonizing games I’ve ever watched. I walked in on the game in the 7 th inning as Luis Severino was finishing up his great outing, and well that’s just where this game starts to get good. Severino finishes up a 7-inning, 4 hit, 1 run, and 6 strike out performance as I settle into the game. Sale follows suite with an inning and two thirds to match setting up Craig Kimbrel who has been lights out at Fenway this season. Going into last night’s ball game Kimbrel was a perfect 30/30 in save situations. Leave it to the returning Matt Holiday to save the day for the Yankees—hitting a game-tying moonshot over the green monster to lead off the 9 th . However, it cannot be forgotten that Starlin Castro in the bottom of the 8 th made a game saving tag out on Tzu-Wei Lin who was trying to steal second, but an athletic p

Fresh Start_327: Pay the Wide outs! The value of wide receivers is drastically undervalued in the NFL. With the importance on finding and keeping a franchise quarterback in the league, you would think that receivers would be a hot commodity as well. With the league moving more and more toward a passing league, wide outs should be no further than the third most important position on your team. If you go by the logic that the quarterback is the most important position on the football field (that is some good logic), then why not surround him with great wide-receivers? I think offensive lineman are just that much more important to a team than wide receivers for the simple fact that you need time to get completions in the NFL. But, then again you will always be able to get good offensive lineman in the NFL. Why else would they be called “the forgotten hero’s?” Receivers should be the second highest paid position on a football team. If you look at the Top 10 receivers in the NFL

Fresh Start_326: NON-SPOILER Baby Driver review I love going to the movies. Whether I’m going to the premiere of the most anticipated movie of the year or just on a random Tuesday night with a couple of friends to see a good movie, I’m always down to go the movies. There is also something about movie theatre popcorn with a coke and some raisinets that just tastes right to me. This year unfortunately I haven’t been able to get to the theatre that much this year. In fact, last night was only the second time that I went to the movie theatre the entire year. But, both times where a great time. The first time this year I went to see “Logan” on a bitter cold night with a couple of college buddies in the smallest movie theatre I’ve ever been in up at college. This time I went with a couple of friends and family to see “Baby Driver.” This is a movie that caught my eye at the last minute and I just had to see. I love Kevin Spacy, Jon Hamm, and Jamie Foxx so I said to myself “this m

Fresh Start_325: Things must be different in Chicago I’ve seen a lot of weird trades go down, but I didn’t see this one coming. Living in New York and being a Yankee fan, other than the Red Sox, there is a natural rival in the Mets. As much as I don’t really care about the Mets, I don’t like when they do well and the Yankees don’t. I could care less if they co-exist—but if the Mets get the back page and the Yankees don’t it bugs me. So, using that same mentality and comparing that to Chicago, why would you do this Jose Quintana deal if you are the White Sox? If I was a White Sox fan, one of the last things I would want is for the Cubs to do well, especially at the expense of the White Sox. Quintana is a White Sox guy, why would the Sox front office want to see their guy in the same town do well? The defending champs have not been living up to expectations at 43-45 and 7.5 games back in the division, they had to make a splash at the deadline. Quintana will help a rotation tha

Fresh Start_324: All Video July 12 th 2017 must just be the day that I get mad at the sports world. I’ve already done a podcast today about my disagreement with what has been broadcast across the New York airways on New York Sports Radio, and when I get home I see a new bombshell. Scrolling down my Twitter feed when I got home I saw a tweet from Ken Rosenthal reading “I still am working TV for Fox and MLB Network.” Confused and intrigued I clicked on Rosenthal’s Twitter and saw in amazement that Foxsports.com had completely gone digital. The headline on the tweet that Rosenthal put out was “Foxsports.com has gone all video. That is why I no longer can write on our site.” I’m honestly still trying to wrap my head around this because I just don’t get it. Yes, you absolutely need video on a website if you are going to build one. But, you also need reporting from print journalist to make that video content happen. If you looked at Fox Sports website last night or ESPN’s site,