The Sports Idiot

Say hello to The Sports Idiot’s newest team member, Danica Patrick. Okay, Danica isn’t really joining the team here, but as the most visible member of the GoDaddy.com team I thought it only made sense to use her picture to get your attention. There have not been a lot of updates on the site this week, for multiple reasons, all of them good ones. The main one, though, is because I have decided to move the site and have it hosted at GoDaddy.com. This will allow me to implement a lot of new features, and will only improve the quality of the blog. For a brief period (read that as until I get all of the bugs out) I will be posting to both sites. Please change all of your links and bookmarks to reflect the move as soon as possible, however, because I’ll need traffic diverted to the new site.

I guess it would help if I gave you the new URL? It’s simple.

www.thesportsidiot.com

It’s not John Wall, he’s in the 2009 Class, but NC State did add a point guard to it’s recruiting mix. They inked yet another Georgia product in 6′0″ Ryan Harrow, out of the 2010 Class. There isn’t a lot out there on Harrow, but he plays on the same AAU team as fellow Wolfpack target Lorenzo Brown. Georgia seems to have become a hotbed of talent lately, and adding Harrow only helps the case for Brown, who I expect to be in a Wolfpack uniform when he begins his college career. The other Georgia guy, 2009 target Derick Favors, has stated that he won’t pick a team until the end of his senior season.

Thanks to Arlen for tipping us on this one.

In a move that was long awaited, often speculated, and now finally complete, the Carolina Hurricanes have officially moved Erik Cole to the Edmonton Oilers.  In return they get Joni Pitkanen.  I’m not going to pretend to know a whole lot about Pitkanen, but all indicators point towards GM Jim Rutherford pulling off a great deal for the Canes.  They get a puck moving defenseman that the Canes desperately need.  With the forward position being overloaded, Cole and his $4mil salary became expendable.  This news saddens me because Cole was the heart of the Stanley Cup run back in 2006.  With all of his Raleigh ties (family and friends), I would not be surprised to see Cole wind up back in a Hurricanes uniform before his career is over.

Brett Myers is an Iron Pig.  The Philadelphia Phillies decided to take my advice, and pull the plug on Myers today.  Credit to Myers, who could have refused to be sent down because is a +5 guy, as he took the unexpected high road.  The Phillies don’t have any great options to replace Myers right now, but it’s expected that they move Chad Durbin in from the bullpen.  Do not hurt yourself running to the waiver wire to look for Durbin, but keep a close eye on him as he has been pretty dominant out of the bullpen this year.

When we first told you to ignore Mitchell Boggs, it was based on his performance in the minor leagues.  Now there are a lot of people with him on their radar, and you may be one of them.  If you are thinking about adding Boggs, make sure you do all of your homework.  Sure, he has three wins in only four starts.  He also has a 4.37 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP.  In 22.2 innings of work, he’s allowed 22 batters to reach base, with 11 of them crossing home.  You can take a flier of Boggs, but I don’t recommend it.  He only has 10 strikeouts, so the only category he has helped anyone in so far is wins.

Personally, I don’t want to sacrifice quality innings for wins.  If Boggs were missing more bats and notching more Ks, it would be one thing.  He isn’t, however, and despite his six K performance on the 28th, there is no indication that he is going to start piling them up.  Keep in mind, that while he struck out those six batters, he also walked four and gave up four hits.  So in his six innings of work, in which he earned a win, he still posted a 1.33 WHIP.  My advice on Boggs will remain consistent.  Not.  So.  Much.

When the Philadelphia Phillies decided to move Brett Myers back into the rotation and bring in Brad Lidge, I was skeptical of the move.  Myers liked closing, and had found his niche in the bullpen.  No one asked me, however, and they pulled the trigger on the Lidge deal, and cemented Myers’ return to being a starter.  While I can understand why they did it, it hasn’t worked out with Myers and it’s time for it to end.  Take a look at Myers’ last ten games, in which he has earned only a single victory and seven losses.  Over that span, he has allowed opposing batters to cross the plate 46 times, 43 of them earned.

Brett Myers has completely lost his ability to be a starting pitcher in the major leagues.  The Phillies need to move him back to the bullpen, and then trade him as soon as possible.  He’ll never be the closer again, unless something happens to Lidge, and the bullpen is already one of the best in baseball.  Sometimes you have to pull the plug on an experiment, admitting that it was a complete disaster, and move on.  The Phillies reached that point with Myers at least four starts ago, but I guess he teased them with his one hit performance against the Reds.  Or maybe it was the Reds?

Just after the Cards activated Mark Mulder off of the Prior List to fill Randy Flores’ spot on the roster, it looks like Jason Isringhausen could be headed to the DL himself. It’s been an injury plagued year for the Cards, who only activated Albert Pujols from the said Prior List on Thursday.

This news only helps to cement Ryan Franklin’s spot as the closer, even though he just blew his second save in seven tries this month. Overall, Franklin has been decent, only blowing four of his fourteen save opportunities. He doesn’t strike out a lot of batters, as he sports a 24:17 K:BB ratio which has helped push his WHIP all the way up to 1.47. His ERA is still below a three, however, and he does have two wins to go with those 10 saves. It’s his job to lose, so Franklin is a keeper if you are in need of saves.

Remember when Oakland had the Big Three?  Tim Hudson, Barry Zito, and the often forgotten Mark Mulder? Well, for now, you should completely forget about Mark Mulder.  The Cardinals have activated him from the 15-day Prior List, and are inserting him into a role he has never had before.  They are moving him to the pen.  There is no indication that he will be in the mix for saves, and with a 6.55 ERA in the minors, he isn’t likely to be effective in the bigs.  If you were thinking about taking a flier on Mulder, don’t.

This isn’t to say that Mulder can’t turn it around at some point, but he isn’t going to do it overnight.  Hopefully he can figure it out, and return to form.  Mulder is a good guy and here at The Sports Idiot we are pulling for him.  He has the right attitude, and it willing to do what he can to help his team.  Injuries derailed his career back in 2006, and he only started three games in 2007, all three of which he took the L in.

Back on Wednesday night, Tommy Hanson of the Mississippi Braves found magic in a bottle as he struck out 14 batters on his way to the team’s first no-hitter in team history.  Hanson is a decent prospect, with a 2.80 ERA in 16 starts in the minors this year.  In AA, however, his ERA is sitting at 4.32.  His 98:30 K:BB ratio is above average, and is spread out evenly between A Myrtle Beach and AA Mississippi.  At 6′6″ tall, he has excellent size, and it appears that he may have the stuff to be a decent three in the Majors.  Time will tell, and it will likely be at least another year before Hanson gets his shot at the bigs.

Detroit Tigers catcher/three bagger Brandon Inge has landed on the Prior List. What’s wrong with him, you ask? Well, apparently he aggravated an already strained oblique muscle. He’s been banged up for over three weeks with this nagging injury, and now it’s worse because he *ahem* hurt it while “pushing a pillow down behind his three year old son’s head.” The more disturbing thing is that dude has a three year old son sleeping in the bed with him and the Mrs. I’m not a father yet, and I’m sure that is more common than I would think it is, but isn’t three a little bit old to be in the bed on a regular basis? I’m not saying, I’m just saying.

There should be zero fantasy impact as Inge should not be on anyone’s squad anyway.

And no, I couldn’t connect Inge to Alyssa Milano. At Pat’s request, new picture up after the jump.

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