LeBron James – Keefe To The City

Jun 7, 2012

Something’s Different About Rafael Soriano and Other Thoughts

Thoughts on Rafael Soriano, Tom Coughlin, John Tortorella and the Subway Series in the debut of Thursday Thoughts.

It’s the debut of Thursday Thoughts, which is my way of putting together things that didn’t end up in columns for the week and thoughts that were no more than a paragraph.

Thanks to the great invention of syndication I have the ability to watch Saved By The Bell reruns on MTV2 when I remember they’re on. Last week the episode was on where Kelly leaves Zack for Jeff, in what was the classic college-guy-dating-the-hot-high-school-girl move (I bet Jeff even told Kelly that he loves her), and Zack tries to get back at Kelly by going out with Screech’s smokeshow cousin. Slater asks Screech how he could possibly be related to her, and Screech answers, “She’s adopted,” and it all makes sense for the gang.

Well, I want to know how the Rafael Soriano that was the eighth-inning guy and then the seventh-inning guy and then the eighth-inning guy again could possibly be the same guy who is now pitching so well for the Yankees? The answer? He’s a closer again. It all makes sense.

Here are Soriano’s numbers since taking over as the closer.

8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1.13 ERA, .200 BAA, 0.875 WHIP.

Not only has Soriano pitched like a different pitcher since May 10, he looks like a different pitcher too. And on top of all this I feel confident when he comes into games. And on top of that, he’s oddly enough earning his $11 million this year. Here it comes … Is this real life?

Without Mariano Rivera and David Robertson, and with Cody Eppley, Clay Rapada and sometimes Boone Logan and Cory Wade, no one really knew what to make of the Yankees bullpen with the “A” relievers down, but Soriano has been as good as he was in Tampa Bay and Atlanta and as good as we hoped he would be as the setup man last season.

Do you think Brian Cashman has apologized to Soriano or Randy Levine yet now that Soriano might save the season from a bullpen standpoint, or is he still holding a grudge about losing that draft pick? Or maybe no apologies are needed for getting upset about giving a reliever $35 million and two opt-out clauses when no apology was given when $46 million was used for Kei Igawa on your watch?

– Tom Coughlin will be the Giants head coach for at least three more seasons and I couldn’t be happier. I have never had a more complicated love/hate relationship with anyone the way that I do with Tom Coughlin. I have changed my mind on how I feel about Coughlin more times than the Kings, Sabres, Panthers, Canucks and Coyotes have changed uniform colors combined. I know I used the words “second-half collapse” more than I wrote A.J. Burnett’s name in 2011, but I was never wrong about what I said regarding Coughin. I felt as though he would be fired if the Giants failed to make the playoffs again, and I felt that it would be the right move if he was unable to reach the postseason for a third straight season given everything that happened with the team since Plaxico went to the Latin Quarter nightclub in November 2008. But it’s good to know that Coughlin will be in charge of the Giants for at least three more years, so the Bill Cowher rumors can be put to rest and the team can focus on repeating as champions like Victor Cruz said on Wednesday night on the big screen at Yankee Stadium.

– I still haven’t done an end-of-the-year piece or anything for the Rangers yet (probably because the end of the season ended so abruptly after 102 games), but I plan on doing so next week, and hope to get WFAN extraordinaire Brian Monzo to join. But I did see a solid Bob Costas interview with John Tortorella on Monday night in which the two discussed Tortorella’s postseason postgame press conference tactics as well as his relationship with Marian Gaborik and his decision to bench him against the Devils in the conference finals. After seeing Tortorella answer challenging questions at length with the season over and wins and losses behind him, it’s remarkable how different of a person he can be outside the heat of the moment.

I said during the season that Tortorella had to get the team to the conference finals for me to finally jump on the John Tortorella bandwagon and for him to prove himself in New York and move away from banking on what he did in Tampa Bay. I have stayed true to my word. But I still wouldn’t have benched Gaborik.

– Through 57 games the 1998 Yankees were 44-13 and in the middle of a nine-game winning streak. Through 57 games the 2012 Rangers are 33-24 and are 2-5 in June after going 14-14 in May. The Yankees finished the season at 114-48 and won the World Series. The Rangers would have to go 80-24 to match that record and then win the World Series. So why do people insist on saying the 2012 Rangers are the best team since the 1998 Yankees? Am I missing something here? Because I feel like I’m taking crazy pills! I can only hope these comparisons end up the same way the 2011 Red Sox and 1927 Yankees comparisons did.

– The Heat-Celtics series is a win-win situation and a lose-lose situation for all New York fans. It’s a Catch 22 inside being stuck between a rock and a hard place. One of the two most hated NBA teams of New York fans will have their season end short of the Finals and the other will play the Thunder for the title. I haven’t been this torn on who to root for since trying to choose between Billy Costigan and Colin Sullivan in The Departed. It’s a terrible predicament, but there’s only one real way to look at it and that is to pull for the Heat to win the Eastern Conference as awful as that sounds.

If the Celtics win Game 6 or 7 they will be four wins away against a superior, but much less experienced Thunder team. And while no one wants to see LeBron James win a championship, there’s a good chance he will win at some point, so who cares if that some point is now? It’s way better than having Boston inch closer to a championship, which would relieve some of the pain of the Red Sox’ collapse and the Patriots’ Super Bowl loss, and no one wants that. The one downfall of the Heat winning is that it would take two more games, which is three more days (counting the off day) of my friend and Celtics fan Mike Hurley polluting my life with complaints about the officiating. And if the Heat are to win, there will likely be a lot of questionable and controversial fouls that were called or not called and that means days, maybe even weeks or months of Bostonians complaining about NBA refs. The idea of this is making me want the Celtics to win now, but I would never do such a thing.

– I’m happy the Subway Series is meaningful to both sides (at least for the first edition of it in 2012) as much as I don’t want the Mets to succeed. I love and enjoy the six meetings between the Yankees even if there are a lot of people that complain that it isn’t what it used to be in 1997 (these are the same people that complain about how much better things were back in the day or they are the people that will someday complain about how much better things were back in the day). Maybe the Subway Series has lost some of its luster since its inception 15 years ago, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still fun or entertaining. Most things lose their shine and the new-car smell after a while, but that doesn’t mean you need to get rid of it.

I know the schedules around the league are going to change in the future and there won’t be six Subway Series games anymore, and that’s disappointing. Because the only thing better than the Subway Series is a Subway Series that is lucky enough to get a split-stadium doubleheader.

Blogs • Rangers

Feb 3, 2010

Blueshirts Without a Blueprint

If Glen Sather does have a plan for the Rangers’ future, I’m not sure what it is.

This column was originally published on WFAN.com on Feb. 3, 2010.

The Flames made their recent transactions with a plan. In an attempt to clear cap space, add offense and put an end to some locker room rifts, the Flames moved Dion Phaneuf to the Maple Leafs and Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust to the Rangers.

Struggling to stay in the Western Conference playoff picture and maintain positive team chemistry, the Flames dealt away a pair of big-name players as part of a plan to fix their franchise. The decision to deal Phaneuf and Jokinen has created skeptics, though it’s hard to argue against any move that shakes up a team with two wins in their last 15 games.

The questions in the hockey world have recently revolved around Calgary’s motives behind its very premature deadline deals, but a more important question remains unanswered after the league’s latest trade: What exactly is the Rangers’ plan?

Glen Sather has received some praise for a deal that, on paper, has the potential to increase the Rangers’ non-existent offense. Sather was able to rid himself of Chris Higgins, an underachiever scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent, and Ales Kotalik, the posterboy for the healthy scratch, and in return acquire the former 30-plus goal scorer Jokinen and momentum-changer Prust. In reality, the move was damage control for Sather’s offseason decisions to acquire Higgins and Kotalik through a trade and free agency respectively.

Sure, Jokinen might still have his goal-scoring gift hidden somewhere, and he is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, but what is the goal here? If Sather’s goal is to pick up expiring contracts, clear cap space and be the NHL’s version of Donnie Walsh, then OK. Someone just needs to remind him that LeBron James can only save one Madison Square Garden franchise next summer.

If Sather is making room for next season, who exactly is he making room for? Any player worth clearing space for has already had his contract extended past this season. The only exception is Ilya Kovalchuk, but the Rangers aren’t the only team rumored to be interested in his services.

If Sather isn’t playing for next season and truly believes that Jokinen could be a difference maker, then Rangers fans might as well stop checking the standings and tracking the playoff picture now.

Since the lockout – when the Rangers rejoined the postseason for the first time since 1996-97 – Sather has made one major move that made sense, which was the signing of Marian Gaborik. Even then, Gaborik’s injury history was a cause for concern. Too many times Sather has rolled the dice trying to rejuvenate the careers of former stars on the decline, and time and time again he has crapped out. If history is any indication, Jokinen will be the latest to join the list of Sather’s failed reclamation projects.

Over the last four seasons, the Rangers have finished sixth, sixth, fifth and eighth in the Eastern Conference. They have been knocked out of the playoffs twice in the first round and twice in the second round. The team has shown no sign of improvement since 2005-06, and if the season ended today, the Rangers would have tee times for tomorrow.

As currently constructed, the Rangers are not a championship-caliber team. They aren’t even a playoff team. Sather has essentially assembled a two-man roster consisting of only Marian Gaborik and whoever is in goal on a given night, with the other 18 lineup spots being virtually unnecessary. The Rangers’ formula for success this season has been simple: When Gaborik scores more points than the Rangers allow goals, the Rangers win; when Gaborik scores fewer points than the Rangers allow goals, the Rangers lose.

On Tuesday night against the Kings, Gaborik had one point but the Rangers allowed two goals and they lost. On Sunday against the Avalanche, he had three points, the team allowed one goal and they won. On Saturday against the Coyotes, he had one point, the team allowed three goals and they lost. The four games before that? Gaborik had zero points combined and the Rangers went 0-4. This isn’t a trend that started after the New Year, this has been an ongoing problem since Game One.

Certainly, a team’s success is ultimately determined by the performance of its top players. In the Rangers’ case, the offense seems entirely driven by one player. When Gaborik gets on the scoresheet, the Rangers win. When he doesn’t, they lose. This is a problem.

Sather doesn’t seem like he is planning for the future, and he certainly didn’t plan for this season. His teams have performed the same since the lockout despite different casts. The status quo apparently represents success for a franchise that hasn’t won a Cup in 16 years.

Maybe the Rangers will find their way into the playoffs as a No. 6, 7 or 8 seed, finishing the season just good enough that their real problems won’t be addressed. They will be forced to face the Capitals, Penguins, Devils or Sabres and they will last one round, two if they are lucky, suffering the same fate they have the last four years.

There is a chance that Sather does, in fact, have a grand plan; that he has carefully crafted a way to acquire Kovalchuk at the deadline and quickly change the fate of the Rangers. Or that he has another blockbuster deal mapped out that will turn the Rangers from pretenders to contenders overnight.

There is also a chance that John Wall returns to Kentucky for his sophomore season, Paul O’Neill starts in right field for the Yankees on Opening Day and I hit a 12-team parlay.

On Tuesday night the Rangers lost to the Kings because Gaborik scored fewer points than the Rangers allowed goals. At the end of the game the camera zoomed in on a dejected-looking Jokinen following a minus-1 debut with the Rangers. He might as well have been Eric Lindros, Bobby Holik, Darius Kasparitus or Wade Redden.

Tag: LeBron James

Something’s Different About Rafael Soriano and Other Thoughts

Blueshirts Without a Blueprint