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Author: Neil Keefe

Blogs • Rangers

Nov 6, 2019

Rangers’ Rebuild Has Been Expected Rollercoaster Ride

The first month of the season has been a rollercoaster ride of performance of production with mixed results, and it’s been exactly what’s to be expected of a rebuild.

The Rangers won their first two games of the season then lost their next five. They beat the talented Sabres and then looked like they didn’t belong in the same league as the Bruins. They upset the Lightning and Predators and then were embarrassed at home by the league-worst Senators. The Rangers have at times looked like a team capable of playing meaningful games in the early spring with the possibility of sneaking into the playoffs and at other times have looked like a team in the early stages of a rebuild and years away from contending.

So is life as a rebuilding team, which the Rangers are. Miraculously moving up in the draft to second and signing the offseason’s most-coveted free agent didn’t change the fact the Rangers aren’t expected to return to the playoffs for the first time in three years this season, and most likely won’t be back in the postseason next season either. The Rangers might have been able to skip the earliest phases of a rebuild by drafting Kaapo Kakko, signing Artemi Panarin and trading Jacob Trouba, while having three starting NHL goalies on the roster, and one of the better two-way centers in the league in Mika Zibanejad, but it’s still early in the rebuild. The Rangers were able to advance to GO without having to run through a gauntlet of hotels along the way because of some luck, good fortune and crafty trades, but they still have a long way before they can be taken seriously.

Aside from watching the fourth line scramble to clear the zone and prevent high-quality scoring chances in their limited ice time, this Rangers season has been enjoyable and I expect it to remain that way. Sure, I could do without the emotional and disciplinary meltdowns like the one against the Senators earlier this week in what was as winnable a game as they get though those kind of games are going to happen given the Rangers’ inexperienced roster, which is the second-youngest in the league when Henrik Lundqvist and Marc Staal are playing, and the youngest when they’re not.

The wins and losses ultimately don’t matter this season. Right now, they do because the Rangers are still months away from the expected separation from a wild-card berth and technically have a goal of playoff hockey, however in the big picture, they don’t. Experience and development is all that matters for this team. There will be impressive feel-good wins over contenders like those over Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Nashville, and subsequents depressing letdowns against the league’s lesser teams like those to New Jersey and Ottawa, but the main goal is experience and development.

The one constant needs to be effort. After a month of hockey, David Quinn has mentioned on more than one occasion about needing to deliver a message to his team, as has Lundqvist who spoke about the team’s performance not being close to good enough during their five-game losing streak. Without the veteran leadership the team once possessed during their true contending seasons from 2011-2015, it’s understandable the second-youngest (and at times youngest) team in the league will get away from what makes them dangerous like they were over the weekend and makes them vulnerable in all three zones and extremely beatable.

The first month of the season has been a rollercoaster ride of performance of production with mixed results, and it’s been exactly what’s to be expected of a rebuild. The Rangers are headed in the right direction even if it seems like it might take forever to get there.

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Podcasts • Rangers

Nov 6, 2019

Rangers Podcast: Mike Knuble and Kevin DeLury

NHL veteran Mike Knuble talks about his career and Kevin DeLury of Go Rangers Radio talks about Rangers rebuild.

Kevin DeLury of Go Rangers Radio joined me to talk about the Rangers taking two steps forward and one step backward with their recent play, being optimistic about the rebuild and where the team is headed, evaluating David Quinn as a head coach and the possibility of Henrik Lundqvist finishing his career outside of New York.

At the 25:21 mark, former Ranger and NHL veteran Mike Knuble joined me about growing up in Michigan and playing for and winning the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings, making his NHL debut in the memorable Red Wings-Avalanche brawl, his trade to the Rangers, the Bruins teams which couldn’t get past the first round, his time in Philadelphia and Washington, which team he most identifies himself with and transitioning to coaching in the AHL.

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Blogs • Yankees • Yankees Offseason

Nov 5, 2019

It’s Time for Yankees to Move on from Didi Gregorius

I don’t want the Yankees to bring Didi Gregorius back. It’s time to move on. It’s not that I would be upset if the Yankees do decide to bring him back, I just don’t want them to.

On Opening Day 2015, the Yankees trailed the Blue Jays 6-1 when Didi Gregorius was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning. With two outs, Carlos Beltran walked to push Gregorius into scoring position as Mark Teixeira came to the plate. The Yankees had a chance to get back into the game with one swing with from Teixeira, but on the first pitch to Teixeira, Gregorius inexplicably took off for third and was thrown out. Inning over, rally over, Yankees’ last chance to get back in the game over.

There was no need for Gregorius to try to steal third, mainly because there’s never a good reason to steal third, unless you’re being given it and are 100 percent certain you will get there. It was an ill-advised move by Derek Jeter’s heir most likely trying to do way too much in his first game with his new team in the team’s first game with a new everyday shortstop in 20 years. Gregorius tried to get into better scoring position for no logical reason, and while the Yankees were most likely going to lose the game anyway, it expedited the result.

After spending much of 2015 criticizing Gregorius, I grew to like and accept him as a player over the next four years despite his in-game decisions like stealing third with two outs, laying down bunts when it was the last thing the team needed or swinging at the first pitch after the previous hitter walked on four straight pitches. He saved the season in the 2017 wild-card game, beat up Corey Kluber in Game 5 of the 2017 ALDS, was the best player in baseball for the first 30 games of 2018 and provided the game-breaking grand slam in Game 2 of this year’s ALDS. Aside from the few postseason moments and the improbable early-season run in April 2018, Gregorius has been exactly what I thought he would be as a Yankee: a great fielder, but a low on-base, bottom-of-the-order bat. Due to injuries and a lack of left-handed bats, Gregorius was often miscast a Top 6 presence in the Yankees’ lineup when he has mostly belonged in the bottom third. Overall, the Gregorius trade worked out for the Yankees. They got an everyday, defensive-minded shortstop who was able to realize his power potential for five seasons.

When it was announced the Yankees didn’t extend a qualifying offer to Gregorius, I wasn’t shocked since he would have most likely accepted the one-year, nearly $18 million payday to rebuild his stock after Tommy John surgery and if the Yankees really wanted him back they could get him for more years at a lower average annual salary. But I don’t want the Yankees to bring him back for more years at any salary. It’s time to move on from Gregorius. It’s not that I would be upset if the Yankees do decide to bring Gregorius back, I just don’t want them to.

It’s not for any one reason but rather a combination of reasons. His low career on-base, his decline in production following surgery, his age turning 30 prior to Opening Day 2020 and his in-game baseball IQ being the lowest on the team since Nick Swisher. Unfortunately, money does matter to these Yankees and any money spent on Gregorius is less the team would have to spend eventually on someone like DJ LeMahieu or any of the young core players. In an ideal world, or a world prior to Hal Steinbrenner counting every penny, I would welcome Gregorius back knowing the Yankees would eventually not play him if he didn’t perform or move on from him if they needed to. But these Yankees won’t do that. Money owed is more important than production and if Gregorius were to fall off on the other side of 30, Yankees fans would have to sit through it.

The question becomes what the Yankees do at shortstop. Thankfully, they have a 22-year-old shortstop who has been playing second base for the last two seasons they could slide over to short and a three-time Gold Glove second baseman who has been playing first base who could slide over to second. The Yankees could then have either Gio Urshela or Miguel Andujar at third base, possibly move to Andujar to first base (which I want them to do), or go with a healthy Luke Voit there.

Gregorius was a nice player for the Yankees. He became a fan favorite, had some big hits, a few Yankees Classic-worthy moments and turned his career around in New York. He ended up being a more-than-acceptable replacement to an all-time Yankee at a position which hadn’t seen change in two decades and his time with the Yankees went much better than originally expected. But it’s time for a change and time to move on from Gregorius.

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My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

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Blogs • Giants

Nov 5, 2019

Giants-Cowboys Week 9 Thoughts: Another Game Played Means Another Loss

The Giants might not have the right head coach to lead them in the future, but they have the right head coach for this season. They have the right head coach to lose and keep losing.

I didn’t think the Giants would beat the Cowboys on Monday night. My opinion didn’t change when Dak Prescott was intercepted on the first play of the game. It didn’t change when the Giants took a 3-0 lead. It didn’t change when Brett Maher missed a go-ahead field goal. It didn’t change when Randall Cobb fumbled. It didn’t change when the Giants took a 9-3 lead and then a 12-3 lead. It didn’t change when the Cowboys screwed up, which they did a lot of, because I knew the Giants would screw up more in the end, and they did, and they lost 37-18.

The moment the Giants couldn’t take advantage of a first-and-Goal situation from the 7 after the Prescott interception to start the game, the result was inevitable. The Giants turned two Cowboys turnovers into a combined six points as they couldn’t cash in in the red zone, Aldrick Rosas missed another extra point, Daniel Jones had three more turnovers and Pat Shurmur lost another unwinnable challenge. It was the New York Football Giants’ weekly superfecta as the game had every ingredient for a recipe for another Giants loss.

The Cowboys aren’t good. Four of their five wins are against the Giants (twice), Dolphins and Redskins, and they are the same team that lost to the Jets three weeks ago. They played as sloppy and undisciplined of a game imaginable and still came away with a 19-point win because of how much worse the Giants were and are. Had the Cowboys put together that kind of effort against the league’s better teams they would have been the team losing by three scores.

The Giants need to play near-perfect football like they did against the Redskins or be gifted a win like they were against the Buccaneers to do anything other than lose at this stage of their rebuild. Jones is nowhere near ready to lead a competitive team, the offensive line is nowhere near ready to being competitive, the defense can’t put together a complete-game effort and is mostly lost and the head coach is about as qualified for his job as Bradley Jackson is for hers on The Morning Show.

Another week, another game, another expected loss for the Giants which resulted in a loss. The same story keeps getting told each week for a team that has lost 30 of its last 40 games, with another loss in the postseason, and is 40-65 since 2013. The team is now 7-17 under Shurmur, and while any successful coach would be discouraged by a .500 record, Shurmur can only dream of such an accomplishment.

If there are any Shurmur fans or supporters out there … why? How can you support and root for a guy who does nothing but lose an NFL head coach? Not just with the Giants, but anywhere. A head coach who can’t seem to design plays or a plan to properly utilize the most dynamic offensive player in the sport. A head coach who continues to make the same mistakes, place blame and not accept responsibility for what is another lost Giants season.

The only bright spot from the Giants’ performance in yet another loss to the Cowboys is that they continue to improve their draft status and make it harder for Shurmur to retain his job for 2020. I have no idea how ownership can even think for a second about bringing Shurmur back next season. Like Brian Cashman said about Sonny Gray before trading him, “I don’t feel like we can go through the same exercise and expect different results,” there’s no way the Giants can think Shurmur is magically going to find ability as a head coach next season. The front office let Shurmur ruin two seasons too many and they can’t allow him to ruin a third straight.

All there’s left for the Giants to do this season is to lose and keep losing. Get Jones and the young defense game experience along the way, and most importantly, keep on losing. The Giants might not have the right head coach to lead them in the future, but they have the right head coach for this season. They have the right head coach to lose and keep losing.

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Blogs • Giants • NFL • NFL Picks

Oct 31, 2019

NFL Week 9 Picks

The season has become a one-month season at best for the Giants for all but one of the last seven years. Combine the Giants’ losing with a 5-10 picks week like last week and I wonder why I even watch this sport.

It’s been three years since the Giants played a meaningful game after October. Sure, last season they weren’t mathematically eliminated as far as December, but it was going to take the biggest miracle of all miracles for them to reach the postseason and that miracle certainly didn’t happen.

The NFL season has become a one-month season at best for the Giants and Giants fans like me for all but one of the last seven years and it’s miserable. Combine the Giants’ losing ways with a 5-10 picks week like last week and I wonder why I even watch this sport. Maybe the young and exciting, but very inconsistent Rangers will give me something to do after the holidays to get through the dark days of winter until March Madness and Opening Day. because once again, it won’t be the Giants.

(Home team in caps)

San Francisco -10 over ARIZONA
A 10-point line to open the week isn’t the greatest when you’re coming off a five-win week and need to start putting together a lot of Ws to dig out of a 10-games-under-.500-hole. I know taking the points on the road on a short week goes against everything I know about the NFL, but I can’t talk myself into the Cardinals.

JACKSONVILLE -1 over Houston
Flip a coin. I’m going with the Jaguars in their second home of London against yet another overrated Texans team. (I hate this game.)

BUFFALO -10.5 over Washington
Dwayne Haskins’ first career start is coming on the road in Buffalo against the Bills’ defense. That’s all.

Minnesota -4.5 over KANSAS CITY
I trust Kirk Cousins as much as I trust Pat Shurmur to challenge a play worth challenging. So needing Cousins to cover four points at hostile Arrowhead isn’t exactly an ideal situation. I’m banking on the Vikings’ defense being able to shut down a Matt Moore-led offense, and if they can’t do that then the Vikings are even bigger frauds than I think they are with one of their six wins being even remotely close to solid.

New York Jets -3.5 over MIAMI
If the Jets can’t beat the Dolphins then Adam Gase needs to be fired immediately following the game. I mean immediately after the team leaves the field. No ride home with the team on the plane. Fired. In the same building he was fired from a year ago.

PHILADELPHIA -4.5 over Chicago
As long as Mitch Trubisky is starting games for the Bears, I will be picking against the Bears.

Indianapolis -1 over PITTSBURGH
For some reason I like this Colts team. I continue to pick them to cover and win, bet on them and put them in teasers. They’re not that good if they’re even any good at all, but for some unknown reason I continue to trust and back them. I can’t explain it, but there’s very little that can be explained with regards to anything in this league.

CAROLINA -3.5 over Tennessee
As long as Ryan Tannehill is starting games for the Titans, I will be picking against the Titans.

OAKLAND +2.5 over Detroit
I’m done picking against the Raiders. Even though they’re not “good”, they’re good enough to keep screwing me over in parlays and teasers, and the only answer is to now starting picking in favor of them.

SEATTLE -4.5 over Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay shocked everyone when they went across the country and beat the Rams earlier this season. There’s a difference between being play a road game against the Rams and their “fans” and one against the Seahawks and their fans.

Cleveland -4 over DENVER
Baker Mayfield has regressed in his second season in the league, which isn’t what you want from the No. 1 overall pick and your franchise quarterback. Between Mayfield, Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen, the supposed great quarterback draft class of 2018 is look anything but that. The Browns are bad and I enjoy watching them lose, but even these Browns should be able to win in Denver against a quarterback making his first NFL start.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS +4 over Green Bay
I still think the Chargers are good. No, they’re not going to win a championship, but they’re good enough to be a playoff team and win a playoff game like they were last season. At some point though, they’re going to want to actually start putting wins together in order to be a playoff team and win a playoff game.

New England -3 over BALTIMORE
Two teams I hate and one of them has to win. The Patriots don’t usually play well against the Ravens, but it’s hard to pick against this Patriots defense right now, which looks the way it did in the early years of the dynasty.

Dallas -6.5 over NEW YORK GIANTS
When the Giants scored a touchdown on their first possession of the season against the Cowboys, I thought this season might amount to something. It didn’t. The Cowboys aren’t very good, but the Giants suck, and I can’t see a scenario where the Cowboys don’t convert third downs all game against the awful Giants defense.

Last week: 5-10-0
Season: 55-65-1

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