Water Cooler – July 30th, 2010
Here we go with today’s sports water cooler talk. Here, you won’t just find the straight news; you’ll find the stuff everyone is talking about – the ice breakers, the Twitter Sports Picks and topics…well, basically all the stuff you discuss at the water cooler.
Enjoy!
Once again, baseball trades dominate the daily news today. This year’s trade deadline week has been the busiest in quite some time.
MLB news: Oswalt officially a Phillie; Tejada to San Diego; Cantu to Texas; Capps to Minnesota
OK, let’s try and sort through yesterday’s madness.
First off, the Roy Oswalt deal went down exactly as we discussed it yesterday. The Phillies got another ace to sandwich between Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels in their formidable rotation. The Astros got lefty J.A. Happ, who has been an effective pitcher but may not have much more upside, plus minor league prospects Jonathan Villar and Anthony Gross.
Gross didn’t stay an Astro. Houston immediately flipped the outfielder to Toronto for Brett Wallace, a budding slugger many scouts compare to Lance Berkman. Don’t know what the Blue Jays were thinking on that move.
The Texas Rangers needed infield depth with Chris Davis struggling at first and Ian Kinsler hitting the DL. They filled their hole by acquiring Jorge Cantu from the Florida Marlins for minor-league pitchers Evan Reed and Omar Poveda. Despite his so-so plate discipline. Cantu has been a good run producer throughout his career.
Next up: the Minnesota Twins. They picked up closer Matt Caps from the Washington Nationals for catching prospect Wilson Ramos, whose path was blocked by some Mauer guy, and lefty Joe Testa.
The Baltimore Orioles were busy on Thursday as well. They traded Miguel Tejada to the contending San Diego Padres for minor-league pitcher Wynn Pelzer. Then, they signed Buck Showalter as their new manager. Busy day.
And the news didn’t even end there. Washington Nationals pitcher Miguel Batista ended up in hot water – with Miss Iowa?
Batista had the tough honor of filling in a couple of nights ago after Stephen Strasburg got yanked from his start at the last minute. He pitched before a booing home crowd but still tossed a gem. After the game, he was accepting of the boos. He said:
“Imagine if you go see Miss Universe, then you end up having Miss Iowa, you might get those kind of boos.”
The quote was (wrongly) interpreted as a shot at Miss Iowa, Katherine Connors. She was a good sport and shot back by saying that, while she could throw a pitch, Batista could never walk a runway in a swimsuit.
Batista later explained what he meant – that fans would be disappointed with Miss Iowa (him) at first when Miss Universe (Strasburg) didn’t show but would see how gorgeous she is when they gave her a proper chance. Um, OK.
NFL news: Haynesworth fails fitness test; Tebow signs; Flozell Adams joins Steelers
Even a year after he signed it, Albert Haynesworth’s mega deal looks uglier every day. He failed a fitness test for the second straight day at Redskins camp this morning. Reportedly, he can’t practice with the team until he passes it.
Tim Tebow has signed his first pro football deal. The most decorated college football player of all time signed a five-year deal worth $11.25 million over five years — $8.7 million guaranteed, and he could earn up to $33 million over the course of that deal.
The Dallas Cowboys didn’t believe five-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Flozell Adams was worth keeping on a roster anymore and the Pittsburgh Steelers wholeheartedly disagreed. They signed the 340-pound monster to a two-year contract yesterday. Adams will help replace Willie Colon, who was lost for 2010 last month when he tore his Achilles’ tendon.
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