Timberwolves tucking tail toward mid-season

After three years of having the privilege to cover Minnesota Twins baseball, I’ve tried to pepper my first year writing about the Timberwolves with a balanced mix of hope and real…
The Blotter

Midseason report: The players

Non-conference games are over. Conference games are about to start. That puts UK at the halfway point philosophically, although not mathematically. With a team as young as UK is, every player has seen changes in how they are perceived. Let’s take a look at how the players are doing. Future posts will tackle the team [...]
The Kentucky Kernel

Midseason Awards: Total Packers Edition

Tramon WilliamsWe gave you the midseason awards: other people’s edition yesterday and we also told you what we thought about midseason awards. The best word to summarize would be this one: indifference. However, we promised you our midseason awards at some point, and here they are. The difference between our midseason awards and other people’s are [...]




Total Packers

Midseason Awards: Other People’s Edition

Clay MatthewsWe’ve somehow made it through eight weeks of the NFL season and you know what that means — every dickhead with column space is handing out their midseason awards, naming All-Pro teams, etc. What does a midseason award get you? Not a goddam thing, but the stats tells me people like to read about them, [...]




Total Packers

Jayson Werth Reportedly Turned Down Midseason Extenstion

In what should be a surprise to no one, Jayson Werth reportedly shot down a contract extension from the Phillies earlier this summer, according to Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman:

“The Phillies are said by a source to have initially suggested this summer a repeat of the deal Jason Bay got from the Mets last offseason, which would mean $ 66 million over four years. But that was summarily rejected by Werth, and he is shooting to redo the $ 120 million, seven-year contract Matt Holliday got from the Cardinals.”

Given that Werth was heading towards free agency as one of the best hitters in a fairly weak class and that he was most likely already in cahoots with Scott Boras, this news is nothing more than filler on an idle Wednesday early in the free agency period.

While an offer of $ 16.5MM/year over four years would be considered an overpayment for most players who were nearly out of baseball four years ago, it is decidedly under market value for Werth, who represents the lone Right Handed Five Tool Corner Outfielder party among the current batch of free agents.

Although the veracity of this report is still in question, it certainly makes perfect sense for Amaro and Co. to shoot low during the season in hopes that Werth would acquiesce  and take a “home town discount.” Still, it is the opinion of this blogger that the $ 16.5MM/year salary would be better spent on a certain left-handed pitcher who is very much a fan favorite among the Philadelphia faithful.

The Fightins