CarterHud

  

The Winnipeg Jets have had many pluses and minuses in the 2016-17 NHL season. A plus would be that rookie Patrik Laine has been nothing short of sensational, with 26 goals and 47 points in 51 games this year. He\’s also the youngest player in NHL history with 3 hatricks (2 against the Dallas Stars). Some minuses is that defenseman Tyler Myers has been out the last week, and should miss the next 5-7 weeks as well. Another minus is that the team is 5th in the Central division with points, and every other team has games in hand on them. The Nashville Predators, who are in 4th place, have 3 games in hand and 6 more points. Their defensive core took another big blow, when defenseman Toby Enstrom had surgery for an existing lower body injury, and will miss the next 2-3 weeks to recover. In 55 games this season, Enstrom has 1 goal and 13 assists (14 points) and is a -3. Enstrom, 32, has played his entire career with the franchise, making his debut in 2007-08 with the Atlanta Thrashers (who then relocated to become the Jets). With the injuries of Myers and Enstrom, the Jets have made a lot of call ups, and guys like Ben Chiarot, Paul Postma and Julian Melchiori have gotten chances with the big club. \”We just got to the point that we thought the rehab on it would be at least that long and at the end, we still wouldn\’t know if we would have a healthy player,\” head coach Paul Maurice on said on the injury.

The St. Louis Cardinals had high hopes for prospect Alex Reyes in 2017. Those hopes are entirely gone, because an MRI showed that Reyes will need Tommy John surgery, and will miss the entire 2017 season. Reyes is ranked as the league\’s 14th best prospect overall, and 3rd pitching prospect by MLB pipeline. \”Hopefully he\’ll be back better than ever. It\’s obviously very disappointing,\” Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said. \”[We] had high expectations for him. But I guess if you\’re going to look at it from a timing standpoint, now he has a year to do his rehab and get everything he\’s dealing with under control.\” Reyes, 22, showed lots of promise in his first stint in the MLB, with an ERA of 1.57, a WHIP of 1.21, and 52 Ks in just 46 innings last season. It\’s a little of a surprise that Reyes dominated in the MLB last year, because in 2016, Reyes also made his AAA debut, with a putrid 4.96 ERA and 1.45 WHIP with 93 Ks (which is REALLY good) in just 65.1 innings, but the Ks did point out a positive spot with Memphis (AAA).
     Reyes was supposed to be in the starting rotation in 2017, joining with SPs Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha and Mike Leake. The injury opens up a spot for Lance Lynn, who is recovering from Tommy John himself. Lynn was very good last time he played in the majors (2015). He had an ERA of 3.03, won 12 games, and struck out 167 batters in 175.1 innings that year. Prospect Luke Weaver, struggled late last season (it was his first stint in the majors) with an ERA of 5.70. He struck out 45 in just 36.1 innings in the majors. We\’ll need to wait and see if the Cards can still have a solid 2017 campaign, and if Reyes can return to his form in 2018.  

  

   The Montreal Canadiens have fired head coach Michel Therrien, and have replaced him with former Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien. It is also the second time the Habs have fired Therrien and replaced him with Julien after the same thing happened in 2003. Julien coached Montreal until 2006. Two current Habs were on that \’06 team Julien coached: D Andrei Markov and F Tomas Plekanec. It is exactly one week after Julien was fired by the Bruins. \”I would like to sincerely thank Michel for his relentless work with the Montreal Canadiens over eight seasons behind the bench,\” Canadiens GM Marc Bergervin said. \”Including the last 5 seasons when we worked together. The decision to remove Michel from his coaching duties was a difficult one because I have lots of respect for him.\” Therrien was head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2005-2009, but was fired on February 15, 2009, and replaced by Dan Bylsma, who led them to a Cup win vs Detroit later that year.
    The Habs started off 13-1-1 this season, but are 18-18-7 since. Even after Sunday\’s 4-0 shutout loss to the Bruins, the Habs still remain first in the Atlantic division with a record of 31-19-8 (70 points). Julien won the Jack Adams award in 2009 (while Therrien was fired) and the Stanley Cup in 2011, both with the Bruins, during his tenure in Boston. \”I came to the conclusion that our team needed a new energy, a new voice, a new direction. Claude Julien is an experienced and well respected coach with a good knowledge of the Montreal market. Claude has been very successful as an NHL coach and he won the Stanley Cup. Today we hired the best available coach, and one of the league\’s best. I am convinced that he has the capabilities to get our team back on the winning track,\” Bergervin also stated.

  On January 22, 2017, tragedy shook the world, especially the Kansas City Royals organization with the death of 25 year old pitcher Yordano \”ace\” Ventura. It also drew a big hole in the Royals\’ starting rotation. They have left hander Danny Duffy as their number one guy, and made a few moves to bolster their depth.
     First, they signed 34 year old RHP Jason Hammel to replace Ventura. Hammel, who won the World Series last year with the Chicago Cubs, had an ERA of 3.83 and a WHIP of 1.20 with 144 Ks in 166.2 IP last season to help the Cubs on that run. The deal is reported to be about 2 years, with a total salary of $16 million.
      Hammel wasn\’t the only former Cubs\’ pitcher who signed with Kansas City. Reliever/starter Travis Wood signed a 2 year, $12 million deal with KC, and will be expected to start this season after playing a reliever role in the windy city. Wood posted a 2.95 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 47 Ks in 61 innings (he made 77 appearances last year, all in relief) last campaign. Last year was also the first in his 7 year career he didn\’t start a single game.
       The Royals rotation also has depth. I expect Duffy to be their number one guy (like I said earlier), with Ian Kennedy filing in at the number 2 spot. I think Hammel will be the number 3 guy, and Wood at 4. Jason Vargas, who had a 2.25 ERA in just 12 innings, last year should slot in at number 5. Guys like Nathan Karns, Mike Minor and Chris Young will probably start in the bullpen in 2017, or at AAA Omaha. But, spring training is almost underway, and Karns, Minor or Young (or maybe someone else) could overtake Vargas or Wood for those last 2 rotation spots. The Royals have a top 100 pitching prospect in Kyle Zimmer, but he\’s never pitched above double A. The Royals might trade one of the 8 starters on the roster (but definitely not Duffy, Kennedy, Hammel or Wood) to clear a roster spot for other relievers, or position players. Until opening day, we\’ll have to wait and see how the Royals handle this situation.

   The Cincinnati Reds have traded 2B Brandon Phillips to the Atlanta Braves for LHP Andrew McKirahan and RHP Carlos Portuondo. Let\’s get into details.
    The Reds are obviously in a rebuild, trading for younger players, and shipping out stars Aroldis Chapman, Todd Frazier, Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake and Jay Bruce in recent years and SS Zack Cozart seems to be on the trading block. They also have prospects, like SS/2B Jose Peraza, who haven\’t had a starting job. Trading the 35 year old Phillips clears room for Peraza, and gets them 2 relievers (although they aren\’t big prospects) who can help them with minor league depth.
     The Braves have a top 3 2B prospect in Ozzie Albies, but he\’s isn\’t MLB ready. They signed utility man Sean Rodriguez to platoon at second with Jace Peterson. During this offseason, Rodriguez was injured in a car crash, and may require surgery in his shoulder. Braves wanted some insurance in the switch hitting Phillips. Phillips has 1 year left on his contract, and the Reds will eat up his $14 million that he\’s owed this season. They must have not had much confidence in 2B Micah Johnson. The 2 pitchers weren\’t relevant to their system, so it was worth giving them up if Phillips performs solidly. The Braves are starting to exit their rebuild, improving their rotation earlier this year. The Braves are opening a new stadium this season (Sun Trust Park), so they wanted Phillips to help bring in more fans with his 291/320/416 slash line last season. He also hit 11 HRs, 34 doubles, drove in 64 runs and stole 14 bags in that campaign.