Month: January 2020

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: A’s Semien and his future in Oakland

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nbcsports.com file photo: Oakland A’s Jurickson Profar takes his swings during 2019 season

A’s Marcus Semien and his Future in Oakland

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

Amaury Pi-González.

OAKLAND–It has been a very quiet winter so far for the Athletics. Nobody expected them to make any major deals,and honestly they have a very good team as it is today and going into Spring Training which will begin February 11 at their home in Mesa,Arizona.

They will begin the season (scheduled to open at home on March 26 against the Twins) with basically the same team as last season when they finished second again with a 97-65 record (same as 2018 by the way).

Nobody should expect the A’s to sign their established stars to multi-year multi-million dollar contracts in the near future. The best example is their designated hitter Khris Davis, he had his best season in 2018 when he hit 48 home runs and drove in 123 runs.

Davis was signed that winter to a two (2) year extension and a total of $33.5 million, a contract that will take him through the 2021 season. If they did not signed him then he would have been eligible for free agency after the 2019 season and most likely would have been offered much more money and a longer contract by more than a few teams.

His biggest liability is with the glove, but he doesn’t use it most of the time as a DH, which also limits him to be an American League player.

If you are expecting the A’s to sign their star shortstop Marcus Semien (29) to a four (4) year over $100 million contract you could easily be disappointed. The A’s have another year before they make that decision,although they could make easily make it today. But that is not the way the Athletics operate.

This is still Billy Ball land. Of course Semien is worth upward of $100 million in today’s market, specially since he has become not only one of the best offensive shortstops in the American League but one of the best fielders in that most important position.

He is coming off a breakout 2019 season, finished #3 for Most Valuable Player. This 2020 season will be his final year before he becomes a Free Agent. And many ponder is he really as good as he was last year. He is a hard worker, Bay Area native and a very positive young man.

Leaving Semien aside(no need to rush a decision) we already know the “biggest”story for the A’s going into this 2020 season. Who is going to be playing second base? My bet is on young Franklin Barreto,who was passed last year because the team signed veteran Jurickson Profar.

With Profar signing with San Diego, the door should be wide open for Barreto, and with the power on that infield,all he has to do is field the ball. Something that Profar was not very keen. Others in Spring Training that could be fighting for second-base are Sheldon Neuse maybe, Jorge Mateo and/or a surprise.

In 1998 the injury-prone Eric Chávez finished the season playing only in 16 games and hit .311. He won six consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Awards (2001 to 2006) and in 2004 the A’s had to make a decision of signing either him (Chávez) or shortstop Miguel Tejada.

They signed Chávez to a $66 million contract extension. Meanwhile, Tejada went to Baltimore where he played for four years(2004-2007). I thought they should have kept Miguel Tejada, then a great shortstop much more durable than Chávez, but it wasn’t meant to be.

The Chávez six year $66 million contract was the largest deal in team history. In one of my visits to Baltimore with the LA Angels in 2007 I did a pre-game interview Tejada and I asked him about his very good years with the A’s, he told me that in retrospect: “I would have loved to stay with the A’s”. But isn’t that what they all say?

I remember Jason Giambi who began his career with the A’s (1995-2001) he always said he enjoyed very much playing in Oakland and that was great. But the Yankees came in and Giambi left the A’s for the Pinstripes and a multi-million dollar contract where he played from 2002 to 2008.

Towards the end of his career “The Giambino” would return one more time in 2009 to play with the A’s, and as I recall I called his 400th home-run of his career in 2009,a thrill at the Oakland Coliseum he then played briefly for a couple of teams and retired.

The Oakland A’s have one of the best most exciting and talented infield in all of baseball a young pitching staff with unlimited potential.Their infield: Matt Olson at first base (I don’t know at second base) Marcus Semien at shortstop and their leader Matt Chapman at third base.

Not to mention an outfield with the talented Ramón Laureano,.Stephen Piscotty and company. The biggest issue for the Athletics remains building their new ballpark. A new ballpark usually draws well for the first few years,(the perennial Honeymoon).

The A’s pipe-dream is to have all these stars at their peak in 2021 when they are planning to open the season at the new Howard Terminal Park. There is an old saying in Spanish “soñar no cuesta nada” translation- “it doesn’t cost anything to dream”. And I honestly hope the dream becomes a reality.

At this time the Athletics have the 25th payroll in Major League Baseball among all 30 teams. Their total payroll is approximately $84 million,there are now five teams below the A’s: White Sox, Pirates, Orioles, Mariners, and the team who eliminated the A’s in the Wild Card game last year, the Tampa Bay Rays.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish radio play by play talent and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Roadrunners 3rd period outburst bury Barracuda 5-1

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sjbarracuda.com photo

by Marko Ukalovic

The Tucson Roadrunners are a team where if you give them an inch they will take a mile. This was the case as the Pacific Division leader scored five unaswered goals in a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Friday evening at Tucson Convention Center Arena.

San Jose has lost four games in a row. Tucson has won back to back to games and have won 10 out of their last 12 games to lead the division by seven points over Stockton. They are now 3-1 against the ‘Cuda.

San Jose (10-17-0-2) drew first blood on the back end of a 5-on-3 power play midway through the first period. Lukas Radil fed a pass over to Nick DeSimone who set up Alex True. The Finnish forward blasted a one-timer past Roadrunners goalie Ivan Prosvetov on the shortside for his ninth goal of the season at the 11:30 mark.

The Barracuda had the iced tilted in their favor in the opening 20 minutes as they dominated for three-quarters of the period as they outshot the Roadrunners 18-5.

Tucson (24-7-0-0) had two power play opportunites in the first period but they weren’t able to get the puck past ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar.

The second period featured multiple trips to the sinbin. San Jose had two power play chances to extend their lead but Prosvetov made some key saves to keep the deficit at one goal.

Tucson, with the 11th ranked power play in the AHL, finally cashed in on their fourth power play opportunity right near the end of the middle frame. Andy Miele sent a cross ice pass over to Jordan Gross who slammed home the puck past Korenar from atop the near faceoff circle for his fifth goal of the season at the 19:05 mark.

The Roadrunners didn’t take long to get their first lead of the game to start the third period. Miele, the former Hobey Baker Award winner, set up a pass out to Aaron Ness. The defenseman fired a shot from the left point past Korenar for his first goal with the Roadrunners since being reassigned from the Arizona Coyotes at the :56 mark.

Tucson scored an insurance goal when Lane Pederson set a cross ice pass over to a wide open Hudson Fasching. The right winger skated in and snapped a wrist shot past Korenar over the left arm for his 12th goal of the season at the 10:42 mark.

The Roadunners scored two empty nets goals at the end of the game to seal the deal. Bradyen Burke netted his 16th goal of the season at the 17:33 mark. Then Michael Chaput scored his 11th goal of the season at the 18:28 mark.

Prosvetov was the number one star of the night stopping 38 out of the 39 saves he faced to earn his 11th victory over the season. Korenar 14 saves on 17 shots in suffering his seventh straight loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1-for-5 on the power play. Tucson was 1-for-4.

‘Cuda forward Manny Weiderer returned back to the lineup after he missed the past three games dealing with a lower body injury.

The announced attendance was 3,372.

UP NEXT: The same two teams battle again on Saturday 1/4 at 6:05pm at Tucson Convention Center Arena.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Lami: 49ers take confidence going into first playoff game since 2013

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sfchronicle.com photo: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo reacts after the team beat the Seattle Seahawks in an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, in Seattle

On the 49ers podcast with Joe:

#1 How much confidence going into this playoff game does the 49ers have this for many of the players is their first post season

#2 Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo threw just under 4,000 passing yards for the season and 30 touchdowns in an incredible year for him.

#3 It’s the 49ers first post season appearance in 2013 long overdue.

#4 George Kittle had quite a year with 1,000 receiving yards.

#5 For head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch it has to be a dream season after trying to build this team since they first started.

Joe does the 49ers podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NFL Playoffs podcast with Joe Hawkes: A look at all the playoff teams this weekend

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houstonchronicle.com: Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (10) fights for yards against Tennessee Titans defensive back Tramaine Brock (35) as he makes a first down reception during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game at Nissan Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019, in Nashville.

On the NFL Playoffs podcast with J Hawkes:

#1 On Saturday AFC Playoffs It’s the Houston Texans hosting the Buffalo Bills the Texans are 2.5 point favorites

#2 The Tennessee Titans are in New England to face Tom Brady and the Patriots. The Pats with home field advantage are favored by 4.5.

#3 Sunday’s NFC games: Taking a look at the New Orleans Saints led by quarterback Drew Brees will be in Minnesota. The Saints are favored by eight.

#4 Seattle is the slight underdog as they come calling in Philadelphia against the Eagles who are favored by 1.

J Hawkes will take you right through the NFL playoffs each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kings end drought beat Grizzlies 128-123; Fox and Hield lead in scoring

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@ NBA Media Ventures

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO–The Kings have already hit rock bottom. They are now just lingering at the bottom of the ocean on the ocean floor. Unfortunately, that’s really the only way to put it. The Kings are looking for anything to build on at this point. Having lost 8 straight, the Kings entered into Thursday nights game desperately needing a win. The opponent was the Memphis Grizzlies who were 13-21 coming into the game. The tip-off was set for 7 PM PST at Golden One Center.

In the first, the Grizzlies got off to a roaring start. They shot 58% overall and 55% from deep to take a commanding 42-26 lead over the Kings. The Kings managed to put up 26 points on 43% overall and 33% from deep. Jaren Jackson Jr. showed up in a big way for the Grizzlies dropping 14 points on 5-7 shooting in the first. Leading the way for the Kings in the first was Buddy Hield who scored 12 points. The Kings would need to right the ship in a hurry before they let this game too out of reach.

In the second, the Kings took the lead about as quickly as the Grizzlies got it in the first. The Kings erupted for 37 points in the second quarter and held the Grizzlies to 18 points to take a 63-60 lead going into halftime. Richuan Holmes dropped 13 points in the second alone to lead the Kings in the first half with a total of 15 points. De’Aaron Fox also played well in the first half putting up 10 points. The Kings would hope to keep things going in the second half to snap their eight-game losing streak.

In the third, the Kings defense fell flat again. Like the first quarter, the Kings weren’t able to control the Grizzlies offense. The Grizzlies scored 37 points. So far in the game is was the tale of two quarters. The Kings managed to score 27 points but gave up the lead 97-90 going into the final quarter. The Kings only hoped they could replicate what they did in the second quarter in the final twelve minutes of action.

In the final quarter, the Kings battled back and the game was tied with 7:08 left. The Kings had put themselves in a position to win, and they did just that. The Kings snapped their eight-game losing streak by scoring 38 points in the fourth to win 128-123. The Grizzlies managed to score 26 points in the fourth but it wasn’t enough. Leading the way for the victorious Kings was De’Aaron Fox who scored 27 points followed by Buddy Hield who scored 26. For the Grizzlies, Ja Morant led the way with 23 points.

In a game the Kings desperately needed to win, they managed to pull it out. It wasn’t pretty, but they got it done. The Kings improved to 13-22 on the year. Don’t look now but the Kings are still only two games back of the eighth seed. All hope is not lost Kings fans.

Up Next: The Kings stay home to take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday evening at 7 PM PST.

No Shot: Bears’ offense disappears in lopsided Pac-12 opening loss at Stanford

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By Morris Phillips

STANFORD, CA–The Stanford Cardinal aren’t physically imposing, blessed with great depth, foot speed or rebounding acumen, but they consistently carry themselves as a formidable defensive team.

So far–with non-conference play complete and the Pac-12 schedule in front of them–their portrayal of themselves holds weight. Stanford ranks 13th (out of 350) nationally, allowing just 58.8 points per game, while forcing opponents into 39 percent shooting from the floor.

On Thursday night at Maples Pavilion against rival Cal, Stanford posted even better numbers in their conference-opening 68-52 drubbing of the visiting Bears. Beyond the points allowed and Cal’s 30 percent shooting for the game, Stanford forced 18 turnovers leaving Cal literally in shambles.

“Our team has had an epidemic of turnovers throughout the year,” said coach Mark Fox. “It wasn’t just tonight, and that’s taking nothing away from Stanford, which has a very good defense. We have to get it fixed.”

Cal started fast, seeing results from their pressure defenses that propelled them to an early 7-2 lead. But as quickly as things came together, they fell apart, as Stanford responded with an 11-0 run and never trailed again.

Daejon Davis led Stanford with 20 points, Tyrell Terry added 14, and Bryce Wills 10, as the Cardinal carried through on their intention to attack the Bears in the paint. An early timeout seemed to get the Cardinal refocused.

“We were literally jacking 3’s and not being aggressive going to the basket,” Davis said.

For the second straight game Cal held the edge on the glass, outrebounding Stanford 41-30, but it mattered little once the Bears’ shots weren’t falling. Leading scorers Matt Bradley and Kareem South fared the worst, missing 18 of their combined 24 shots.

“That’s tough for our team to overcome because we just don’t have a lot of other firepower around (Bradley and South),” Fox said.

The Bears have lost 8 of 10 following their 4-0 start, and have yet to win away from Haas Pavilion. What’s worse was the Bears’ paltry point total. They’ve now matched their season-low in points (52) not once, but twice, also in losses to Santa Clara and Duke.

Cal hosts their Pac-12 home opener on Thursday against Washington State with Washington visiting Berkeley on Saturday.

 

 

 

Davis leads Cardinal to win over Cal in Pac-12 opener 68-52

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By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, January 2, 2020

Stanford took advantage of a poor shooting night for California Thursday, as the Cardinal won their Pac-12 men’s basketball conference opener 68-52 over the Golden Bears at Maples Pavilion.

Cal (6-7 overall, 0-1 Pac-12) shot 32 percent (18 of 57) – including 4 of 15 from 3-point range. The Golden Bears lost despite having a 35-28 rebounding edge.

Forward Daejon Davis continued his strong season for Stanford (11-2 overall, 1-0 Pac-12), hitting 7 of 15 from the field, along with 3 of 6 3-pointers, for a game-high and season-high 20 points. He also had three steals, five assists and six rebounds.

Tyrell Terry was next in the Cardinal scoring column with 14 points, including 3 of 4 behind the arc. Jaden Delaire and Oscar da Silva each added eight points for Stanford.

The Cardinal made only two of its first 12 shots before making 11 of their next 19 attempts, a run that was capped by a Delaire 3-pointer with four seconds to play in the first half. Stanford led 32-21 at the break.

Defensively, the Cardinal held the Bears’ top two scorers – Matt Bradley and Kareem South – to a combined 2 of 17 floor shooting for eight points by the early stages of the second half. Bradley led Cal with 13 points.

One area of concern for Stanford is turnovers. The Cardinal have averaged 13.7 turnovers through their first nine games before committing 19 miscues in their previous four games.

The win snapped a streak of three losses in conference openers, and put Stanford back on the winning track after suffering a 72-56 home loss after winning its first eight games at Maples Pavilion.

Stanford has a week off before hosting Washington next Thursday.

Warriors lose their third in a row in Minnesota 99-84

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photo from sfchronicle.com: Minnesota Timberwolves forward Robert Covington (33) and center Gorgui Dieng (5) defend against Golden State Warriors guard Damion Lee (1) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020, in Minneapolis.

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors, still without the services of D’Angelo Russell, Willie Cauley-Stein, and Kevon Looney, lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves 99-84. The T-Wolves were also short-handed Thursday night. Their big stars Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, and Jeff Teague were not available either.

There is a saying in basketball that says that you cannot win the game in the first quarter. It doesn’t mean that you can’t lose the game in the first quarter. The Warriors lost the game in the first quarter. Minnesota had a slight lead 15-13 when they went on a 16-2 run to win the first quarter 34-19.

They maintained that advantage throughout the game. The Warriors finished the first half trailing by seventeen 58-41. The Warriors were flat on both ends of the court. They couldn’t make shots. They couldn’t defend, either.

The W’s did win the third quarter by three points to trail by 14 heading into the final period of action. They closed to within eight, but the T-Wolves answered the challenge and won the game by fifteen 99-84.

Game Notes and Stats- The numbers show how poorly the W’s played. The Timberwolves took 18 more shots than the Warriors. The T-Wolves shot 40% from the floor. Usually, when a team is held to 40%, they lose. That was not the case Thursday night.

The T-Wolves connected on thirteen three. The W’s had three. The Warriors were outrebounded 52-43. The Timberwolves had 17 offensive rebounds. The best the W’s could do was 7.

The W’s missed D’Angelo Russell. Russell scored 82 points in his last two games against Minnesota. The leading scorer for the W’s was Glenn Robinson. Robinson had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Draymond Green was not a factor offensively.

Draymond scored two points. He had 3 boards and 6 assists. Eric Paschall, rounding into shape after missing a few games due to injury, helped out with 13. His former Villanova University teammate, Omari Spellman, had 10. Jacob Evans tallied 9.

Robert Covington led the T-Wolves with 20 points and 10 rebounds. He made four threes. Shabazz Napier had 20 points, 3 rebounds, six assists, and two threes. Nez Reid 13, Kelan Martin 12, Jarrett Culver 10, and Josh Okogie 7.

The Warriors fall to 9-27. The Timberwolves are now 13-21 for the season. The Warriors return home to face the Detroit Pistons Saturday night at the Chase Center. The game will start at 5:30 pm PT.

 

Burns wins first for Sharks in 2020 at 2:02(0T) 3-2; Ends six game loss streak

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sfchronicle.com photo: A shot by Sharks defenseman Brent Burns gets by Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry for an overtime goal that gave San Jose a 3-2 victory in Pittsburgh, Pa.

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ After a 2-0 loss to the last-place Detroit Red Wings, San Jose was triumphant over the fifth-place Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday in overtime 3-2.

Known for his ferocity on the puck, Brent Burns channeled his attempt to shoot through traffic. It was a combination of Sharks showing their assets as the feed came from now the 7th all-time assists leader Joe Thornton. His 1,080th helper ended San Jose’s five-game losing streak on the road. 

Penguins’ defenseman Kris Letang tripped Logan Couture 46 seconds into the extra period, setting up a 4-on-3. Burns lost the puck.

Interim Head Coach Bob Boughner took out Erik Karlsson and Couture to bring in Thornton and Kevin Labanc.

The Sharks’ Aaron Dell in net was one shy of his season-high 37 saves. 

San Jose emerged with a 2-1 lead after the first despite being outshot 15-8.

Tomas Hertl started things going at 2:48. Burns found him at the bottom of the right faceoff circle and Joel Kellman, a game removed from his first NHL goal, earned his first NHL assist.

Pittsburgh’s Patric Hornqvist had his team’s two scores of the night after getting a goal and an assist in his previous game. Hornqvist’s first goal tied the game at 16:51 when he single-handedly took a loose puck into the net.

Couture fired back one minute later. Teammate Patrick Marleau got to the Penguins and the pucks twice while they were heading through the neutral zone, setting up a 2-on-1 which Couture finished. 

Boughner went even younger, citing Patty’s “25-year-old legs” after the game. 

At 16:17 of the second, the Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin was called for interference, but it became 4-on-4 less than a minute later when Barclay Goodrow was sent to the box for tripping. Hornqvist used the 30-second window Pittsburgh had with the advantage to tie the match 2-2 six seconds after the power play expired. 

Up Next: The Sharks will now gear up to face the Columbus Blue Jackets early Saturday at 10am. 

David Stern, who helped transform the NBA, dies at age 77.

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jewishtelegraphicagency.com file photo: David Stern poses for photos with the media in undated photo

By Jerry Feitelberg

David Stern, who led the NBA from February 1st, 1984 to February 1st, 2014, passed away on New Year’s Day after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage three weeks earlier. Stern, who was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, worked at his father’s deli in New York City as a young man. He learned the value of hard work there. He received his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and his law degree from Columbia.

Stern went to work for the prestigious law firm of Proskauer, Rose, Goetz, and Mendelsohn, which happened to represent the NBA. He joined the NBA in 1978 as general counsel under then-commissioner Larry O’Brien. From 1979 to 1981, the NBA Finals, in those dark days, were shown on tape delay. They were broadcast at 11:30 pm Eastern Time.

Stern helped negotiate a drug testing policy in 1983. The NBA was the first major sports league to do so. He also had the league adopt a salary cap aimed at helping small-market franchises stay alive.

When Stern took over in 1984, teams were struggling to stay alive. Stern also benefitted from having star players such as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan. Stern had a domineering personality. He also had vision and instinct to lift the league from the dark days to the new levels of prosperity and popularity. The NBA is now enormously popular here in the United States and all over the world. The games are now televised in more than 200 countries and in 40 languages. Also, this will be the sixth year in a row that the NBA will have at least 100 international players.

In his time as commissioner, Stern grew the NBA to a 5 billion-dollar a year enterprise. TV revenue increased 40-fold. The league added 7 new teams to create a 30-team league. Stern started the Women’s NBA League in 1997, and the NBA developmental league, now known as the G-League in 2001.

These examples will illustrate the changes that occurred. In 1985, Jerry Reinsdorf bought the Chicago Bulls for 16 million dollars. In 2014, Steve Ballmer bought the Los Angeles Clippers for two billion. Charles Barkley had this to say about David Stern: “I think people see all the money in sports and think that it was always like that,” Barkley said this recently on the program “Inside the N.B.A.” “When I got to the N.B.A. in 1984, which was Commissioner’s first year, the average salary was $250,000. It’s almost $9 million now. And he is largely responsible for that.” Some players are now making as much as 40 million dollars a year.”

Davi Stern leaves quite a legacy. His family, and his NBA family, can be very proud of the accomplishments of this man. Rest in peace.