Spittin' Shorts #2

Hock #1: Teams make Big Pitches for Big League Arms

With the MLB's free agency having been full of big signings already, many teams have reached out in order to grab many talented major league starting pitchers that they have been wanting and needing.

Jordan Zimmermann with
the Washington Nationals.

The first was the Detroit Tigers taking the chance to go after and sign Jordan Zimmermann to $110 million deal over five years. The 29-year old pitcher has spent his entire 7-year career so far with the Washington Nationals, where he has accumulated a 70-50 record with a 3.32 ERA, 903 strikeouts, and  1.16 WHIP. He adds an element that the Tigers will need in order to compete more heavily in the AL Central, especially against the reigning world champion Kansas City Chiefs. Zimmermann will also be looked at to fill the void that was left by former Nationals' pitching teammate Max Scherzer in his skill make the ball move at the plate and experience against batters and help strengthen the rotation of Justin Verlander and Anibal Sanchez.

David Price with the Toronto Blue Jays

Then came the Boston Red Sox deciding to upgrade their starting rotation by signing left-handed pitcher David Price to a seven-year deal worth $217 million. Price gives the Red Sox the ace pitcher that they have been searching for since Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez left the team after the 2004 season. After being traded to the Detroit Tigers 2014, and then traded again to the Toronto Blue Jays before the 2015 deadline, the 30-year-old leftie is coming off his of his best season with a 18-5 record combined (DET: 9-4/ TOR: 9-1), 225 strikeouts, 2.45 ERA, and a 1.08 WHIP.

Zack Greinke with Los Angeles Dodgers

The money kept flying around for strong armed pitchers as former Los Angeles Dodgers' pitcher Zack Greinke was signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks for $206 million over six years. At 32-years-old, Greinke had his finest season of pitching yet with a 19-3 record, 1.66 ERA, 200 strikeouts, and a .844 WHIP. The Diamondbacks are going to be looking at Greinke to be their ace in the rotation that can hopefully bring them back into playoff contention.

Jeff Samardzija with Chicago Cubs

Another big signing came from the three-time world champion San Fransisco Giants, as they took a chance in signing Jeff Samardzija to a five-year deal for $90 million. Although considered by some to still be an ace pitcher and still has some of the skills to be a good starting pitcher, his numbers have been kind of swaying back and forth between pretty good and disastrous. He's only had one winning season in 2011 with the Chicago Cubs (8-4) in his eight years of pitching. Just last season, Samardzija had his first double digit win season with the Chicago White Sox (11-13), but still was not able to be .500 or over. The Giants will probably be hoping that Samardzija can help bring in a winning season for the Giants along with ace Madison Bumgarner and well-rounded offense.

John Lackey with St. Louis Cardinals

The last big pitcher (from my point) that has been signed thus far was John Lackey, who took a two-year deal worth $32 million from the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs are probably going to be looking at Lackey to be the No. 3 starter in the rotation over Jason Hammel, who despite finishing with a 10-7 record, was not able to perform in the biggest moments of the playoffs as they had hoped. In Lackey's 13-year career, he has racked up 165 wins and has a career 3.92 ERA so far. This last season, Lackey had his best ERA with a 2.77 and 13-10 record to match it. However, there should be concern over the fact that he is 37 years old which puts a question mark on whether or not he can put up the same type of performance to help back up Cubs' ace and Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta and former teammate from Boston Jon Lester.

Of course, there is more free agent signings to come, but these five are the ones that I've taken a look at both them and the teams that have signed them and seen that these are guys being brought in with the intention of improving their new teams. Can they actually all do so? We'll have to wait and see what happens once spring training starts back up.

Hock #2: Hamilton/ Rosberg duo done?

Whenever I get the chance, I try to find a channel or web stream that shows the high speed action of of Formula One racing. I wish I could say I could pick a team to cheer for, but I find it hard because I find myself being more of fan of the action on the track. Most will probably say that Mercedes is the team to cheer for, since the team has the world's two best drivers in Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. But is it possible that the Mercedes' teammates are not as close as they may seem?

Lewis Hamilton (left) and Nico Rosberg (right) seem to
be at a point where being teammates my be impossible.

Sources have been saying that Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff made it known that he would not be putting up with the clashing rivalry between the two drivers as long as it does not create problems within the team. Although neither has exploded into some type of fight or argument of any kind, both have gone head-to-head intensely on the track, which is understandable considering that both wanted to be world champion.


For Hamilton, he's already made nice career after starting with McLaren in 2007 and then moving to current team Mercedes in 2013. His list of achievements include three world championships (2008, 2014, 2015) with 43 wins in 87 podiums. This season, he won his third world championship after finishing with 10 wins and scoring 381 points.

As for Rosberg, he's comes a long way and is just starting to come into his own as a top driver in Formula One. He started with the Williams team one year before Hamilton in 2006 and then moved to Mercedes in 2010 and hasn't left since. His first career win came in 2012 at the Chinese Grand Prix and has been able to get 13 more since then in 41 podiums, but still has yet to win a world championship. This season, Rosberg had his best season yet winning six races, including three straight wins at the end of the season at the Mexican, Brazilian, and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Guess who came in second?

Both drivers will have to try and prove that everything is OK, but it seems that both Hamilton and Rosberg may not be able to coexist with one another on the same team. My best guess would be that Lewis Hamilton makes a move to a new team like the Williams or Red Bull team.

Hock #3: How Good is 24-0 in the Modern Day NBA?

If it were about 10 years ago, I may have said that seeing the Golden State Warriors run the table against their opponents in their first 24 games to go undefeated (until yesterday that is), I would have been thoroughly impressed by such a mark. But it's 2016, and the NBA's landscape has changed since then into one that is not as up-to-par as it was back in the day.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Warriors will be headed back to the NBA playoffs. They are lead by point guard Stephen Curry, who is looking to win the MVP again with an average of 32.2 PPG, almost a .530 in field goal percentage, and a .463 three-point percentage. Along with his surrounding cast of Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, and other teammates, the Warriors have been able to roll over the competition game-in and game-out. But I do protest that this 23-0 record is really nothing spectacular.

Was the 24-game win streak because the Golden Warriors
were that good or because the NBA is that "bad"?

The fact of the matter is that this should be expected from a team like the Golden State that has an amazing ability to play together as a team on both offense and defense. But it all comes back to a point that will forever continue to reiterate until I am blue in the face: the NBA has become deluded with college players that have high school mindsets.

Now this does not mean that every college player that has entered the NBA has that type of thinking of skill level. But there are some that are playing on NBA teams that make me question as to why they came out early after one or two years of college basketball when it is apparent that they are far from polished and playing like they are still in high school/ college. And it's because of this that Golden State has been able to take advantage of the lack of pro skill level, confidence, and experience that most of the teams would like these younger guys to have but will ultimately need time to develop.

So while I do have great respect for what Golden State has been able to accomplish and will continue to accomplish, It's nothing impressive to me because it's something that they should be doing in this day and age of the NBA. As much as the many of you want to argue the one-year college players and guys who came out of high school and how athletic they and talented they may seem, I do not disagree that there are those that have been the exception to what I have said. However, it's a small percentage of them that came out of high school and one year of college and had instant success in the NBA. And even then, some like John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins needed about three or four years before they finally got into an elite pro form.

Hock #4: Cleveland Browns to give Manziel another Go

If you've read any of my previous articles on my blog or know me personally, then it's no secret that that I do not really like Cleveland Browns' quarterback Johnny Manziel. For me, Manziel epitomizes everything that a college football player should strive to NOT be in order to have a good career in the NFL. How you may ask? Just think of former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, but the complete opposite in personality (super cocky ego) and off-field activities (partying, drinking, etc.).

But lucky for him, the Cleveland Browns are going to try and give him another shot as the starting quarterback next Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. But this shouldn't be considered a victory for Johnny Manziel as he is only being put in as the starting quarterback because Browns' head coach Mike Pettine is out of options to go with other than the former Heisman Trophy winner.

This Sunday will be a crucial point in Johnny Manziel's career
because so far, he has not impressed people like they thought.

Sunday will be a telling day for Manziel as he has not been able to find his footing as an NFL quarterback, let alone a starting one. To give him some credit, he's very athletic and mobile, can improvise on the fly, and does seem to have a nice arm for throwing down field. But unfortunately, Johnny is also highly erratic by scrambling too much and too soon, shows inconsistency to make plays, has below-average accuracy, and does not seem to have the leadership or confidence level that is needed to be a starting NFL quarterback.


After this year, I expect Manziel may possibly have one more year on the Browns' roster to try and prove that he was worth being a first round pick. Otherwise, Johnny Football will find himself either cut from the team or traded to someone who needs a backup QB.