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The summer is slow, and we at DCLS like to take a break every now and then from recapping Orioles' and Nats'
So, I present to you a new feature, the Monthly Forecast. In a splendid assortment of bullet points, I will
Note that some of the predictions are more obvious than others, and that there are only two weeks left in June. Should be pretty easy then, right?
- The Wizards will not trade the 5th overall pick.
- Ernie Grunfeld and Flip Saunders will draft a point guard.
- Ernie Grunfeld, Steve Van Gundy, and Ron Jeremy will all be indistinguishable.
- The Redskins will NOT pursue Brandon Marshall.
- The Caps WILL pursue Dany Heatley.
- Matt Wieters will have raised his average to above .300.
- Luke Scott will cool off in classic fashion and drop below .300.
- Manny Acta will be unemployed. Obvious.
- Stephen Strasburg will remain unsigned.
- Nats fans will panic.
- Mike Green will deserve to win the Norris Trophy, but won't.
- Ovechkin will win the Hart (MVP), Pearson (Player's MVP), and Richard (Goal Scoring), and the world will be restored to order once again.
[Images via Daylife and Sixers4guidos and PornstarUpdates]
Rob Dibble will continue to be the worst sportscaster in the nation
ReplyDeleteAdam Dunn still has outkicked his coverage with his very fine wife
I'll argue against a couple of your points. (By the way, I'm not sure if you are trying to be right or wrong with these predictions, I'm kind of confused.)
ReplyDelete31 goals aside, Mike Green was absolutely the third most valuable defenseman in the league this year considering all the things Chara and Liddy brought to the table. When it comes to intangibles, leadership, etc, Green gets negative points. He is a pretty boy who picks his spots to be tough. Literally the only category he lead the trio of Norris boys in was offensive ability. (Keep in my mind I have infinite respect for his offensive ability and ceiling as one of the great defensemen in the league, HoF, etc. He is just immature. When he finds his inner Grit and brings it every night in BOTH ends, instead of deciding to get tough and lay someone out every other game, he will win the Norris.)
Heatley to DC... never, not in a million years. Considering how tight we are up against the cap, even with a miracle Nylander ejection, the math dictates there are exactly 3 players that could be involved in a Heatley (7.5mil) deal.
Sasha: So help me God, if GM deals Semin after the year he had, I'll light his house on fire. Granted I am Semin fanboy, but considering the maturity and progress Semin has made on both sides of the puck in the last two years, I literally cannot wait to see what he does next year, a contract year to boot. If he plays 75 games he'll be top 3 in the league in points.
Green: Would be quite the blockbuster if these two names were involved, but after 31 goals and a ceiling no one can predict, there is just no way Green is moving.
Theo: While the Sens are certainly a team who have a precedent for signing borderline netminders, and the need is there, I just cannot imagine there being a single team in the league willingly pay Theo his 4.5mil a year. Theo's stats were not atrocious, but they were close. While he seemed to be serviceable most of the season, he ended the 82 with a .900, the third lowest SV% of all goalies (24) who won 23 games or more. And we all know what happened in the playoffs. 4.5 million dollars. Theo's career will die in DC. Maybe he'll play second fiddle for some deaf, blind, bottom feeder for 800k a year when he's done here, but it's pretty obvious... Theo has had all of the second chances he's ever going to get. He will never live up to the potential we all saw. He is fucking done.
I will admit, if I really try hard I can imagine a deal involving a caps 1st round pick, a couple quality skating prospects, and a 2-3 mil cap veteran for Heatley, but I really just don't see it happening.
Strasburg will sign. All signs point to yes. No matter how much Boras twists the Nat's arm, they will factor the immediate value of increased attendance, jersey sales and publicity, and it will be worth it. The red sox did the exact same thing with Dice K. It may go down as the worst money spent to player ability ratio of any deal in the history of sports, but it still made perfect sense from a front office perspective. The sox got a decent starter(#2/3/4) and instantly XX millions of dollars in TV deals from Asia. It offset his salary. Same thing with Strasburgh, to a lesser degree, but with more talent.
There isn't a single team in the league who needs, and is more poised and ready to make a blockbuster deal like this. What's more, going into the draft the Nats knew EXACTLY what they were getting themselves into. If they weren't prepared to sign him for crazy Boras money, they'd have drafted someone else. The only way this could be more of a sure thing is if he was a position player.