Who’s second to UD for teammate of the year?

/0 Comments/in /by

This Teammate of the Year thing is a cute idea.

Reward someone for being there for the other guys on his team…. day after day, year after year.

For his passion.

For his sacrifice.

But really, what are any of these other guys doing here with Udonis Haslem?

We like Mike Conley a lot…. he’s a nice guy and a major Dwyane Wade stan.

Channing Frye is a popular figure…. and a Goran Dragic fave.

So is Jared Dudley.

Khris Middleton?

Our Nekias Duncan (pictured left below) has more than a man crush.

He has a restraining order against him from the Bucks forward.

(Maybe. Maybe not. But he should.)

But Wade, Haslem’s teammate since 2003, had it right.

There’s no one else on that list who repeatedly stayed with the same team, offseason after offseason, taking less money until recently. Sixteen years in all. There’s no one else who is feared inside the locker room by those 50 pounds heavier. There’s no one else who would have done this:

Oh, and there’s this:

He follows @MiaHeatBeat on Twitter.

If that’s not taking one for the team, nothing is.

 

(Feature photo by Tony Capobianco at a Dolphins/Bears game, where Haslem tolerated Wade.)

Los Shifting Marlins de Miami

/0 Comments/in /by

Shifting. La palabra que ha inundado el vocabulario de quienes seguimos el beisbol día a día.

Los Marlins de Miami han estado haciendo shifting (formaciones defensivas especiales) desde el propio primer pitcheo de la temporada 2019.

De hecho, Leandro Soto mostró su molestia con cuando vio moverse a Brian Anderson hacia el terreno corto del jardín derecho justo antes del lanzamiento inicial de José Ureña.

Ambas tendencias continúan su curso. Los Marlins haciendo shifting, y Leandro Soto, quejándose por ello.

André Fernández, de The Athletic, escribió sobre el aumento del uso del shifting defensivo, y cómo esto se han vuelto mucho mas común en lo que va de temporada para Miami.

Los Marlins están haciendo muchas mas formaciones defensivas en comparación con lo sucedido en años anteriores.

Decidimos irnos al Marlins Park para debatir con Andre al respecto, y esto fue lo que nos dijo:

Opiniones en el terreno

Mas allá de lo que podamos decir los analistas que seguimos al equipo, lo primordial es saber la opinión de los protagonistas, quienes son los que en la práctica se ven beneficiados o afectados por estas nuevas medidas.

Visitamos el clubhouse de los Marlins y conversamos con JT Riddle y Brian Anderson, quienes vienen jugando juntos subiendo por el sistema de ligas menores del equipo.

Los peloteros vienen trabajando con los shifts desde el Spring Training y dicen que lo principal es acostumbrarse a los nuevos ángulos en los que la pelota está saliendo del bate.

Tanto para Riddle como para Anderson, las grandes jugadas seguirán ocurriendo, pero en diferentes áreas del terreno.

Vea la entrevista completa a los infielders de los Marlins:

Escucha todos los podcasts de Cinco Razones haciendo click aquí.

¿Qué opinan? ¿Están de acuerdo con la estrategia de los Marlins de Miami?

Vea qué nos dijo Brian Schneider, coach de receptores de los Marlins, sobre el uso del scouting report y la manera en que los receptores llaman el juego usando las nuevas formaciones defensivas:

Windhorst: Space Jam is LeBron’s Championship

/0 Comments/in /by

LeBron James won’t be in the playoffs this season.

But he will be in a movie theater soon.

And maybe that’s what this was all about.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, author of the forthcoming book LeBron Inc., joined the Five Reasons Sports flagship earlier this week to discuss James’ long upcoming summer… and what could potentially redeem a difficult first season with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Here’s the full podcast: https://www.fivereasonssports.com/south-florida-podcasts/five-reasons/

And here’s the clip:

Brian Anderson: “We feel confident”

/0 Comments/in /by

Brian Anderson was the only consistent bat the Miami Marlins had during the 2018 season.

This year, Marlins fans hope to continue to see the growth of this player, who was involved in the Rookie of the Year race, especially up to the All Star Break, and before Acuña and Soto just blew away.

For Anderson, it has been a hard start of the season.

But don’t worry. He’s really not doing anything bad…

Brian Anderson on his first at bat of the season on Opening Day against the Colorado Rockies / Photo by Alejandro Villegas

He’s just been unlucky, if you can talk about luck in baseball. So far, he’s 4 for 24, with a double and an RBI.

Both of those came on last night’s game, right after I had this conversation with him about hitting the ball hard, and not being rewarded about it.

“I feel good. I have barrelled a couple of balls. It’s a grind when you’re not getting those hits, but there are a lot of good things to take away from this start of the season,” Brian Anderson said, before the 6-5 loss against the Mets on Tuesday.

No Pressure, yet

It’s still early in the season, but as numbers keep piling up, it gets harder and harder to recover from a “slow” start. For Anderson though, there’s no pressure. “If anything, I just feel pressure to help my team. If I’m going out there and getting good at bats, I am helping my team. It’s not always about getting a hit”, Anderson said. “Being there defensively, talking to my teammates, there are a lot of things I can do to help.”

Here’s what Anderson had to say about the renovated Marlins Park, and the team being in such a hard division, with four contenders for the National League title:

Dwyane Wade’s Return Video, the Untold Story

/0 Comments/in /by

Dwyane Wade’s long time cinematographer Bob Metelus (@MistaDubb) joined Ethan Skolnick and myself for today’s Five Reasons podcast. Metelus is currently working on a documentary chronicling Wade’s final season in the NBA.

In the episode, Metelus tells great stories about life with Wade over the last decade plus, including some trips abroad that demonstrate just how big of a star he is…. something even Wade hasn’t always realized.

But among the more interesting parts of the episode is just how the #OneLastDance video came together, and just how much everyone around Wade was convinced he was retired. The story’s a bit long but, just like Wade’s career, worth every second.

Check out the clip below and make sure to listen to the full episode.

 

And in case you forgot how that video turned out….

 

Grunfeld’s 100-year Wiz reign ends — Beal available?

/0 Comments/in /by

 

The Washington Wizards have fired president Ernie Grunfeld, the team announced Tuesday.

Washington is close to the bottom of the Southeast Division with a 32-46 record and has been eliminated from playoff contention. From on the court to off, the season has been a disaster in a variety of ways for the Wizards, who would probably love to dump John Wall and his monstrosity of a contract, but will find that challenging with him coming off major surgery.

The question now presents itself, will a change of direction in the front office increase the availability of star guard Bradley Beal via trade? Beal was an All-Star again this season, and added facets to his game, going well beyond just long-distance shooting. He’s arguably a top 10 player in the East, and he’s not outrageously expensive, due about $28 million in 2020-21, the last year of his deal. He’s also a big fan of Dwyane Wade, and would be a logical successor at shooting guard.

I reported earlier this season that the Heat were highly interested in acquiring Beal and made the Wizards well aware of that fact. The Wizards, at the time, weren’t ready to move him for what the Heat  or any other team had.

Rest assured that the Heat plan on checking back in on the situation in Washington around the NBA Draft and July free agency.

Stay up to date on all NBA/Miami Heat related trade rumors, reports and news on FiveReasonsSports.com and our related Twitter accounts.

Russell Wilson imposes deadline. Hey, Dolphins?

/1 Comment/in /by

If you are a Dolphin Fan, and are sick of repeating the same clichés about “rebuilding”, this news was for you. As the Seattle Times (@seattletimes) tells it, star quarterback Russell Wilson has imposed a deadline on the Seattle Seahawks of April 15th to get an extension done, At which time, he would suspend talks. He would then presumably be headed to free agency in 2020.

Of course, it’s a longshot that he becomes available. Russell Wilson is seeking a contract that will likely make him the highest paid player in the NFL, somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 years, $200 million dollars, but if he were to shake loose somehow, the Dolphins would be wise to pivot from looking forward to the future, and returning to a win now mentality by making anything available to Seattle in trade.

Russell Wilson had 35 touchdown passes against 7 Interceptions with a 110.9 QB Rating in what was his 6th Pro Bowl season in 2018.

So yeah, he would be the best Dolphins quarterback of the past 20 years immediately.

Maybe longer than that, if you don’t include the tail end of Dan Marino’s career.

We will continue to get your hopes up here for no reason….

Dolphins’ eternal search for tight ends continues

/0 Comments/in /by

Miami is short on bodies at several positions.

Tight end doesn’t appear to be among them, after the signing of Dwayne Allen, with Mike Gesicki returning after an unspectacular rookie season, and with a few depth options.

Still, our Simon Clancy (pictured above in all his English glory) of Three Yards Per Carry says they’re looking hard at the position in the draft. I mean, they’ve needed guys here since Randy McMichael left and then they didn’t re-sign Charles Clay. This may be the weakest position in Dolphins franchise history (quarterbacks other than that No. 13 guy are up there somewhere, but Dan Marino was decent.).

Here’s Simon:

Continue to follow Simon and Three Yards leading up to the draft, since they know more about what’s going on than anyone else in the market. (Just listen to last year’s pre-draft episode, which nailed Minkah Fitzpatrick, Kallen Ballage and more.)

Latest episode with Alfredo Arteaga and Chris Kouffman just posted.

It’s the Draft Special #2.

El lineup del futuro de los Marlins de Miami

/0 Comments/in /by

Los Marlins de Miami dividieron en su primera serie ante un contendiente a los playoffs y disputaron un cerrado encuentro con los Mets de Nueva York en el prime juego de su segunda serie.

Todo el mundo habla del buen pitcheo abridor que ha tenido el equipo, y de una que otra actuación sobresaliente del bullpen, pero en realidad nadie se ha enfocado en vislumbrar cómo será el lineup cuando llegue la hora de competir de verdad en la división.

En el EP 28 de Cinco Razones, Ricardo Montes de Oca, Leandro Soto y Alejandro Villegas dieron un vistazo hacia el futuro y contaron quiénes estarán en esa alineación ganadora una vez les toque pelear de verdad con Mets de Nueva York, Filis de Filadelfia, Nacionales de Washington y Bravos de Atlanta.

Para Miami, que ya este año tiene una rotación que en el papel se ve decente, su mayor fortaleza será el pitcheo, a menos que hagan una firma en la agencia libre, como la de Francisco Lindor, el anhelo de Ricardo Montes de Oca.

Por los momentos, nos dedicamos a armar una alineación con los peloteros disponibles dentro de la organización. Check it out!

2021 Opening Day Lineup

Este es el lineup propuesto por Alejandro Villegas. ¿Qué les parece?

  1. José Devers SS
  2. Victor Victor Mesa CF
  3. Brian Anderson 3B
  4. Monte Harrison LF
  5. Jorge Alfaro 1B
  6. Lewis Brinson RF
  7. Isan Díaz 2B
  8. Will Banfield C
  9. Sixto Sanchez/Sandy Alcántara P

El lineup de los Marlins para el segundo juego de la serie ante los Mets de Nueva York:

Edwin Díaz: “Supe que me iba a Nueva York por las redes sociales”

/0 Comments/in /by

Edwin Díaz se enteró de que le tocaba mudarse de costa en los Estados Unidos a través de las aplicaciones en su teléfono.

El nuevo cerrador de los Mets de Nueva York supo que tenía que mudarse a la Gran Manzana gracias al poder, alcance y velocidad de las redes sociales.

No hubo una llamada formal, ni un email, carta o mensaje de la oficina de los Marineros de Seattle, sino una notificación en su teléfono.

“Edwin Díaz ha sido cambiado junto al segunda base estrella Robinson Canó, a los Mets de Nueva York, por el jardinero Jay Bruce, los lanzadores Anthony Swarzak, Gerson Bautista, y Justin Dunn, además del jardinero Jarred Kelenic.”

Eso fue lo que leyó Díaz, y así supo que le tocaba cruzar el país para jugar, e integrarse a una nueva edición de los metropolitanos, que busca competir en el Este de la Liga Nacional. “No sabía nada. Me enteré por la prensa”, afirmó el boricua.

Ricardo Montes de Oca tuvo la oportunidad de conversar con Díaz antes del comienzo de la serie de tres encuentros que disputarán ante Miami, y esto fue lo que le dijo sobre los cambios de regla que se avecinan con el pitcheo, y su cambio de ambiente, de Seattle a Nueva York.