NFL in Los Angeles

The past few days have been eventful for Los Angeles as well as the National Football League in terms of moving or creating a franchise for the second largest city in the U.S., which has not seen a professional football team in over two decades.  

Both Inglewood and Carson have approved billion dollar stadium projects in a relatively fast manner that could see construction commence in the next year.  Inglewood would possibly bring the St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles whereas the Carson initiative has both the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders moving into the proposed 80,000 seat behemoth located right off of the 405. 

 For the NFL, relocating 2 California teams to LA that are in the bottom rung in terms of facilities seems to be the logical move rather than relocating a team from Missouri and thus giving the Golden State its 4th NFL franchise.  However, St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke has been apart of a development group that also proposes an 80,000 seat stadium located in the old Hollywood Park Race Track plot of land. If Inglewood becomes the new home of a Los Angeles football team, Kroenke plans to add restaurants, homes, parks and office space; much like Staples Center and LA Live in Downtown. 

 St. Louis has put in the most effort of the potential cities in order to keep its beloved football team, and have also revealed plans of building a billion dollar facility along the Mississippi River as an incentive to keep the Rams in St. Louis.  That can not be said for the Raiders or Chargers as both teams have made it clear they are interested and supportive of the Carson initiative.

 On Tuesday the San Diego City Council released plans of a 1.1 billion dollar stadium in order to try and keep the Chargers in San Diego, however shortly after the release of the plans, Chargers and Raiders executives hired former San Francisco 49ers president Carmen Policy in order to take charge of the next steps needed in order to move both franchises to the nation’s second largest media market. 

 Tuesday also saw the Chargers and Raiders finalize a land deal with the city of Carson for a 157 acre plot that was formerly a landfill in what seems to be a huge step towards Los Angeles obtaining both the Raiders and Chargers.

At the conclusion of the owner’s meetings yesterday in San Francisco, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay stated that a team in Los Angeles was “not a matter of ‘if’ now, but ‘when,’" as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.  It is clear which way the pendulum has begun to swing.  

Los Angeles is closer than ever before to re-claiming a stake in professional football and as a native Angeleno I can not be more excited to see how everything plays out.  Whether it be the Rams playing in Inglewood or the Chargers and Raiders sharing a stadium in Carson football should be returning to the City of Angels very, very soon.  

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-DR
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Baseball is the sound of Summer!

Baseball Talk

A month and a half into the 2015 season, and there’s plenty to talk about for this year. The MLB has implemented a time limit for the time spent outside the batters box, and surprisingly, no one’s really said anything. Even Big Ol’ Papi huffed and puffed, but has yet to go any rants about stepping out of the box, and I’m happy to hear it. Speeding up the game was necessary.

Ortiz and company made a valid point, that stepping out of the box to have more of a mental battle for trying to figure out the pitcher can make a difference, but lets take a look at the real core of why this game is played, and that’s entertainment. I’m all about getting players the mental preparation to see them at their best, but when 9 inning games are going til 10:30pm or 11:00pm at night, it’s not good for the game. Kids need to get to bed, and working adults need to get ready for work, and that would be a sorry spectacle to have fans missing walk off moments, simply because people spent too much time on the field and spectators had to get ready for bed time. So many great child hood memories go back to watching those beautiful moments. So major league players have embraced it, and I’m happy to hear that. Now on to talking about the players...
Your Fantasy is My Reality

As with every year, there’s hot starters and cold sitters to begin the year. Some of it’s legit, some of it’s not. Here are the players you can trust, as well as some of the guys that may not be the real deal. As a fantasy veteran and guru, I’ll help you know who to chase and who to chastise if you’re in any fantasy baseball leagues. If you're not a fantasy player, I’ll let you know who’s going to let you down on your team, so you know not to buy a jersey you’ll soon regret.

hat jersey still makes me sad...

MOVING ON!

Bryce Harper – Can’t go without talking about this kid. If you watched his 6 home runs in 3 days rampage, you saw the kind of power he’s got, and IT'S FOR REAL. A side note, the day he hit the 3 home runs starting the massacre, he hit with no batting gloves, something he used to do in college and high school... so he may have figured something out... and yes I do believe that makes a difference. I think this will be the year he breaks out HOWEVER hold your panties before you drop them, because his breakout year may not be what you’re expecting. Bryce has a huge future, but a 280-290 at bts with 32 homeruns is what I’m expecting. A huge jump from previous years, but take that for what it is. Dynasty league owners, lick your chops, because this kid knows how to make adjustments. Regular season owners, don’t sell the farm for him, as he was already being drafted as a top 30 player, and I don’t foresee him being much more valuable then that if at all better, particularly since he doesn’t steal the sort of bases we thought he would. He MAY in the future, but he certainly won’t be very speed relevant til he can show he can stay healthy for an entire season.

Joc Pederson – This kid looks good. Real good. And the power is legit. I don’t foresee it continuing the way it has however. In fact, I foresee a major speed bump coming up. He started off super hot, and suddenly, the Ks started racking up. The bullpen is whispering, and news will soon spread on how to get this guy out, if it hasn’t already. I foresee a 250-260 at bats with about 26 homeruns and about 12-15 steals, which is alright, but not as elite as some may think. I’m predicting similar numbers for the future as well, so dynasty owners, stay calm. I foresee a Jay Bruce with some speed, an maybe a tad bit less power with this guy.

Josh Donaldson – This guy is going to be good when grows u--...oh... already 29 years old? Well He’s still going to be good. Josh Donaldson has been crushing it, and he will continue to crush it. You can count on that. It’s too bad he began his career so late, as he is going to have a monster season this year. 

He moved to Toronto, which is a ridiculous upgrade from the Oakland pitchers park. On top of that, he has all sorts of great hitters around him, so he’ll be getting his pitches. It’s hard to recommend someone 29 whose fairly new to the majors, but this is a guy who is only going to go up in value, and I foresee it continuing for at least a few more years.

Kris Bryant – Jesu-- I mean Kris Bryant broke onto the scene with his massive spring training debut where he crushed everything thrown his way. The panties had been dropped, alcohol sales hit an all time low as everyone’s heads were already swimming with adoration, and medical personal was on stand by at all times for swooning fans standing too close to the upper deck edges. Probably the scariest part was... they were right to get this excited. This kid is a monster in every respect. He has the ability, mind set and lineup support (Rizzo says you’re welcome) to be everything and more. If you’re in a dynasty league, make that crazy trade. If you’re in a season league, don’t be afraid to spend. I’m predicting a 265 and 26 homerun batting line. YES that sounds very much like Pederson who I said I would cool off on, but remember Pederson already has 9 homeruns this season, Bryant has 2. So I foresee Pederson hitting 17 more, and Bryant hitting 24 more AND, I could be being safe with Bryant...

Josh Hamilton – Why not talk about this guy? Well I'm late to the party but he’s controversial and here’s my take. C.J. Wilson made a valid point that what they did to Josh Hamilton was unfair and if Hamilton was hitting 35 bombs, the Angels wouldn’t have dropped him like a Puig pop fly BUT there’s some confusion in that statement. According to the contract, Hamilton needed to have good behavior, or else that’s a breach of contract. Rumors have it that cocaine was involved. That right there is an immediate problem. Alcohol is around us all the time. That’s just the world we live in, so temptation is higher to relapse with alcohol in my opinion. If cocaine was involved which is obviously an illegal narcotic however, it begs the question, what sort of company is this millionaire, “Christian” athlete holding? Hamilton was already struggling with the Angels, and yes it’s true, athletes playing well are given more leniency, but that’s the way the world works. Ever heard of a functional drug addicts? They’re functional because they do drugs, but can still do their job well. If famous psychologist, Sigmund Freud does cocaine, and discovers brilliant ideas, no one tells him, “we won’t buy your book you addict!” because he’s still functioning fine and doing his job very well. If an aspiring psychologist can’t write a complete sentence and is trying to get a job and then gets addicted to cocaine, people think, “this guy was already struggling, now he’s going to do this to himself? He’s only going to get worse. There’s no hope here”. What’s being forgotten is that they had a contract, and the REAL problem C.J. should have is that stars get leniency, not that fallen stars don’t get leniency. Athlete’s health gets ignored, even if their destroying their bodies and families from their lifestyle because if they can still perform, teams will say “who am I to say his lifestyle’s affecting him? He’s having an all star year, and making my team win. It clearly isn’t affecting him that much.”

There’s something to be said about it happening in the off season, and that Hamilton willfully went to the Angels about it, but the truth is, can you imagine going to your employer and saying “Gee whiz. I know my numbers have been down by nearly half of what is expected of me, but I wanted to let you know something. I did some cocaine this weekend, but I’m good now. I’ll stop.” Try it. See what happens.

Now on to performance. This seems awfully familiar. Remember Big Daddy Vladdy and how he crushed it when he was traded from the Angels to Texas? Well it’s not familiar. This seems like it could be a mistake for the Angels, and considering they ate most of the money, it’s hard to say it’s not but I don’t see Hamilton making a spectacular return and making the Angels regret what they did from a performance stand point. Vladdy was traded in 2010 to Texas where he hit 29 homeruns and batted 300 in 593 abs. You know what he did in 2009 with the Angels? He batted 295 with 15 home runs in 383 abs. If you project a full year, he had almost the exact same projected stats! Certainly the trade was a mistake, but don’t be fooled, he didn’t have a bad year and then come back strong. He was always good. Angels just made a bad trade. I truly hope Hamilton received the help he needed, and becomes the healthy responsible father he needs to be, but don’t expect a valiant return after batting 250-265 and 21 homeruns in Anaheim. He may improve but temper your expectations when he arrives in Texas. I’m predicting a 260 14 batting line if he were to arrive tomorrow (for whatever that’s worth).

PITCHERS – A quick run down of pitchers. Buy DeGrom, Carrasco (but be cautious), Richards, MccHugh, Pineda, and Odorizzi. These are all guys who I’ve seen are generally underestimated. Sell Wacha (great talent but going to be huge injury concerns come playoff time) Archer (too good to be true, although could finish with a 3.20-3.30 era), and Kazmir. These are all guys who have played well but are bound to have problems later in the year. Also Wood is a sell. He has struggled early on, so may be tough to sell. He’s looked bad though, and can’t throw strikes like he has in the past. I'd try to distance myself if I could get one of the above "buy" pitchers, but hold if you can't get a decent player in return.

TEAM TO WATCH – Ya GOTTA watch out for the Mets. When you look at their offensive talent, it’s hard to be too impressed, but they’re in 1st place currently AND THEY’RE ONLY GETTING BETTER. David Wright hit the DL early, but he was looking good before he left, and assuming he can get back to where he was, they’re offense, with him, Duda, Cuddyer and Flores are going to put up a decent amount of runs. That’s right, I said FLORES. He’s struggled at times early on but he’s going to be a difference maker, if he can get at bats. The big question is his glove which is a bit weaker. Whether he puts it all together this year is in question, but he has some upside that can make a difference for their offense, and yours, but that’s not why we need to watch them. It’s their pitching staff, which has been fantastic. Harvey, DeGrom, Colon and Niese have been incredible, and while Colon and Niese will almost certainly come back to reality to at least some degree, they're still getting better as their bringing in top prospect Noah Syndergaard who is a fantastic pitcher, I foresee having very few speed bumps. He’s smart and talented, and while he may not hit his peak this season like a Jose Fernandez, he will be a difference maker.

Keep on that waiver wire! 

-Alan Clark