Bleacher Report - Articles by Kenny Stein

Your Next NFL Dynasty: The Houston Texans. Yes, Really.

Kenny Stein — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:33:23 -0500

Back in the late 1990's, the NFL was on the brink of returning to Los Angeles. On March 16, 1999 the 31 NFL owners voted to grant a team to LA, contingent on them getting together an ownership team and stadium deal.

However, the city of LA would not allow tax dollars to go to a stadium. The group that was to be the owners of the LA team offered to contribute $540 million towards an NFL team and stadium. That's when Houston (the biggest rival to LA at the time for a team) stepped in with a $700 million offer.

Money talks and the Texans were born.

Now in their eighth season, Houston has gone from doormat to interesting team with promise to bonafide franchise. And it all starts with head coach Gary Kubiak.

It's more than mere chance that Kubiak is the new leader of this young franchise. The head coach was born in Houston and once held the Texas state high school record for career passing yards with 6,190.

He starred at Texas A&M before spending his entire nine-year career as a backup in Denver where he learned a thing or two about winning from the legendary John Elway.

After retirement, Kubiak got into coaching and wound up as the quarterbacks coach for San Francisco in 1994. All that happened that year was that Steve Young had a career year (35 TD, 10 INT, career high 112.8 rating) and won the MVP and the Super Bowl.

Kubiak was then hired to be the offensive coordinator in Denver where he stayed from 1995-2005. During that time the Broncos finished outside the top ten in scoring just one time; the year after Elway's retirement.

Both Brian Griese and Jake Plummer made their only pro bowls while playing under Kubiak and he helped change the way teams run the football in the NFL.

Players like Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson, and Rueben Droughns turned in 1,000 yard seasons while 6th rounder Terrell Davis and 2nd rounder Clinton Portis became NFL stars and undrafted free agent Rod Smith turned in a hall of fame worthy career.

Then in '05 it was Kubiak's turn to lead a team and he only had two NFL coaches with whom he had worked for in his entire 12-year career: Two-time super bowl winner George Seifert and two-time super bowl winner Mike Shanahan. Will he too find himself as the winner of two Lombardi trophies?

I dare say he will.

But that doesn't mean he didn't need help.

In 2008 he hired Kyle Shanahan (son of Mike) to be his offensive coordinator. Though he doesn't turn 30 until next month, Kyle is a chip off the old block. Houston finished 3rd in the league in yardage last season and currently sits at eighth this year.

Before this season Kubiak also promoted Frank Bush from defensive assistant to defensive coordinator and Houston is 16th in the league in yards allowed which is their best position since their first year in the league.

Gary Kubiak also has his eyes on working to develop another future hall of fame quarterback; the unlikely Matt Schaub.

Unlike Young and Elway, Schaub wasn't the top overall pick and nobody knew what to expect from the Falcons third rounder out of Virginia. It was still unknown how good this preseason star would be when the Texans traded two second round picks to acquire a QB who had only started two regular season games in his career.

It was silly of anyone to doubt Kubiak when it comes to quarterbacks.

After missing five games in each of the last two season, Schaub has taken off and currently leads the NFL in yards, completions, and touchdowns at the seasons halfway point. There's no reason to believe that Schaub won't continue to rise and be a star in this league for a long time and even though he's already 28-years-old, that's nothing compared to Young, who didn't get his first full-time shot in the league until he was 30.

And there's hardly any mileage on that arm of his, so it's not unlikely that Schaub could play for at least another ten years.

Alongside him on offense is superstar WR Andre Johnson. Johnson, also 28, has led the franchise in yards for every season except their first, when he was still playing at the University of Miami. He led the NFL in yards and catches last year and currently is leading in yardage again. Like Young and Rice, Elway and Smith, this tandem is going to go a long way together.

Just like in Denver, don't expect Kubiak and Shanahan to stick to one particular running back. Steve Slaton (another late round find from Kubiak) was a rookie star for this team last year. And though he has struggled to find his groove this year, he's only 23 years old and he's still dynamite when catching the ball out of the backfield, already grabbing 23 balls for 314 yards.

One thing you should learn about Kubiak teams is that it's about a system as much as it's about its players. That's why Ryan Moats has been one of the most talked about players in the league recently after rushing for 126 yards and three touchdowns against Buffalo in week eight.

Don't worry, this team will find players.

That's why the season-ending injury to tight end Owen Daniels hurts, but it won't cripple this team.

When Denver won the Super Bowl in 1998, they went 4-0 under backup QB Bubby Brister.

On defense, the Texans are bolstered by smart draft picks like Mario Williams (how many people thought that was the right move on draft day? Honestly, they were calling it the "Reggie Bush Sweepstakes") DeMeco Ryans (2nd rounder and AP Defensive Rookie of the Year) and Brian Cushing (leads all rookies in tackles with 66, which is ten more than 2nd best and 26 more than third best.)

And all of those guys are 25 and under.

The only thing that stands in the way of Houston and a long run of division championships is Indianapolis. A team that's easily on its way to its eighth straight double-digit win total. The Colts haven't won less than 12 games since 2002, the Texans first year in the league.

But a changing of the guard is not uncommon. They have to happen sometime.

In fact, it even happened for the Colts in 1999, the year after Elway retired and Peyton Manning led the them to 13 wins in his second year in the league.

This Sunday the Texans and the Colts will meet for the 15th time in their history. Houston is 1-13 in those first 14 contests, but none will quite be like the ones that will happen this year.

As they sit at 5-3, on the verge of their first winning season, Houston has an opportunity to make their mark on the league and announce "We're Here."

They can't ask for a changing of the guard, they must demand it. Despite the fact that Houston isn't the media market that LA is, they stepped up and demanded a franchise and they received it.

I believe Houston will show that they belong on Sunday, that Kubiak and company will make take the Texans to the playoffs for the first time this year, and eventually win the whole thing. Perhaps, even twice.

Houston, you are the next dynasty. Welcome to the NFL rookie.

Phillies Must Stay Focused On One Goal: Winning Tonight

Kenny Stein — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:58:51 -0500

There's been much talk of who might start a possible game seven for Philadelphia should we get to that point.

But before that can ever happen, they must first focus on getting a win tonight to stay alive in the World Series. If they can do that, then the first six games will be meaningless and it'll be mano y mano for the title of World Champions.

The goal in any series is clear: to win the next game. It's the only thing you have to do. It doesn't matter if you're up 3-0 or down 0-3, if you win the game in front of you, you'll take home the trophy.

There's no time for Philadelphia to worry about the blown leads in games two and three or losing in the ninth inning of Game Four. They can't think about whether Chase Utley and/or Jayson Werth will break postseason home run records. And most certainly they can't wonder if Cole Hamels will be the starter for a possible game seven.

Their only worry should be scoring more runs than the Yankees tonight. They should worry about getting Andy Pettitte early and forcing Joe Girardi to go to his bullpen, which has struggled in the World Series thus far, and hoping that Pedro can go five or six strong innings, like his first five innings of game two.

They need Ryan Howard to break out of his slump and they need him to do it against Pettitte, whom Howard is 1-for-9 against in his career.

Against the left-hander the Phillies will need righties like Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Pedro Feliz, and Werth to step up for all the power lefties in the lineup.

If Philadelphia can get out to an early lead they can take the crowd of it and have the fans heading for the exits by the eighth inning again.

Do these things and Philly, you will have accomplished your goal and beaten the Yankees in Game Six. And then you'll only have one more goal: Win the next game.

What's That Smell?: It's a Quarter of the NFL Absolutely Stinking

Kenny Stein — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:34:03 -0500

It used to be that the league's bottom-feeders were just that; at the bottom.

But this season, those "bottom-feeders" appear to have crept up and now make up at least a quarter of the league. Last season five teams finished with 12 or more losses. This year, as many as eight or nine teams have a realistic shot of losing at least that many games.

What's more alarming is that most of the league's worst teams don't simply appear to be unlucky or injury prone—they legitimately look like they don't belong on the professional level.

For perhaps the first time in NFL history, you could argue that the NFL's worst eight teams and the top eight from the BCS don't differ very much in terms of talent.

Realistically, could Oklahoma have more "pro" level players on offense than the Cleveland Browns?

And yes, there is a difference between being an "NFL Pro" and being an "NFL Pro on the Cleveland Browns."

As the league has expanded to 32 teams the watered down talent level has recently become obvious

I'm not claiming that a college football team could ever realistically beat an NFL team, the difference however is becoming closer and closer to negligable.

Last season you had the Lions, Rams, and Chiefs as the three teams that were clearly in a class of terrible by themselves. The year before that, it was the 1-15 Dolphins and the 3-13 Rams—and before that, the 2-14 Raiders.

This year, it appears that at least eight teams account for the worst of the worst.

For example, there were two teams last season that were outscored by more than 200 points: The Lions and Rams. Before that, a team hadn't been outscored by more than 200 points since the 2003 Arizona Cardinals.

It hasn't happened to two teams in the same season since 2000 when the Cardinals and Cleveland Browns achieved that feat.

This year, six teams are on pace to be outscored by at least 200 points. Yes, six teams.

So who are these teams and who is the worst of all? Here is a breakdown:

Not Quite Bad Enough

There are a handful of teams in the league that are bad football teams that find themselves in the middle of the pack thanks to this season of supreme awfulness.

Normally, these teams would be somewhere in the bottom quarter in the league in terms of talent-level and play. But they have "lucked out" and instead are just bad and inconsistent football teams that will likely neither make the playoffs (except in some extreme cases) nor get a top 8 pick in next years draft.

But don't be mistaken, these teams do stink. Just not as bad as the teams that are about to be listed.

These teams include the entire NFC West, excluding the horrendous St. Louis Rams. The Cardinals, Niners, and Seahawks all find themselves unable to win on a consistent basis and sometimes on the wrong end of a blowout.

One of these teams will make the playoffs, but none of them are good. While the Cardinals were nearly champions of the world last season, and could very well make another surprising run this season, they still only sit two games ahead of the 2-5 Seahawks for a reason.

Inconsistency has seen the Cardinals beat the Giants on the road one week and then lost to the Panthers at home the next.

A tough schedule has taken a toll on the 3-4 Niners, but it only goes to show that if they were in any other division and didn't get to play the Cards, Hawks, and Rams (their only three victories,) they could easily find themselves with a top 5 pick.

In their two victories, the Seahawks outscored the Rams and Jaguars a combined 69-0. In their 5 losses, the score has been 66-147. In other words, they've been dominated.

Speaking of the Jaguars, they got two of their three victories over then-winless Tennessee and St. Louis. They also got blown out by the not-so-good Seahawks 41-0 and gave the Titans their first win of the season yesterday.

The Bills and Panthers also have found themselves on the wrong end of some scores (Bills 3, Browns 6) this year that have shown that they too could've perhaps been among the worst if it weren't for this phenomenon of very bad teams.

Now, for the very worst of the worst. Breaking down the case for what makes these teams so bad and what the bright side is (if there is one.)

The Washington Redskins

Why they stink

Though they are 2-5 and have only been outscored by 27 points, the Skins have a very good argument for being amongst the leagues worst. They didn't play a team with a win until their 7th game of the season, and the Lions, Panthers, and Chiefs all got their first W of the season against the hapless 'Skins.

Also, the Redskins offense hasn't put up more than 17 points in any game this year. They are the only team not to drop 18 or more on offense.

The Bright Side

The 27 points they gave up to Philadelphia on Sunday was the most they've allowed all year. In fact, their 17.6 points allowed per game is 5th best in the league, even more impressive considering how bad their offense is. Something has to be said for level of competition, as they've played five of the seven other teams on this very list, but the Skins aren't the worst team in the league, which they have proven by beating the Bucs and Rams. (Even if those games were very close.)

The Tennessee Titans

Why they stink

What a difference a year makes. Though what that difference is, I'm not sure.

The Titans returned nearly the same team as the 13-3 squad from last year, minus All-Pro DT Albert Haynesworth. But is that how you go from starting a year 10-0 to starting the next one 0-6?

The Titans have had a tough schedule, perhaps playing five playoff teams over their first six games of the year. Still, they have the league's 28th worst point differential and they've given up the league's most points which includes a two-week stretch in which they were outscored 90-9 by the Colts and Patriots. They passed for -7 yards in that game against the Pats.

The Bright Side

Running back Chris Johnson might be the best player in the league. He's averaging a ridiculous 6.9 yards per carry despite the complete absence of a passing game.

If you have the league's best player, that can't possibly make you the worst, can it? The Titans got an encouraging win with Vince Young at quarterback and they've got a good core of young players to build around.

Jeff Fisher is one of the best coaches to ever work in this league and with some soft games remaining on the schedule the Titans could avoid 12 losses.

The Detroit Lions

Why They Stink

The perception seems to be that the Lions are much better than they were last season. Which they are. But that only tells you how bad they were in 2008, not that they are by any means good this year.

They're still being outscored by more than 13 points per game, they've given up the 2nd most points in the league, and they just lost to the Rams. A team that had won 5 games in two and a half years.

The Bright Side

For the first time in awhile, I do feel their is a bright side in Detroit. They beat those Redskins, and they put the test to the Steelers in week 5 with a 28-20 loss. The core of this offense is young and talented with Matthew Stafford (21 years old,) Calvin Johnson (24) and Kevin Smith (23)

Things aren't going to get a whole lot easier for the Lions, and I still predict no less than 12 losses and as many as 14, but the Lions can put up enough points to show they aren't the worst team in the league. They just need to improve that defense a lot.

The Oakland Raiders

Why They Stink

It would be very polite to say that the Raiders offense is bad.

The truth is, it's hard-to-watch-change-the-channel bad. They haven't scored more than 20 points in a game this season, and the 16 they put up on San Diego this week was the most they've scored since week 1. They've failed to gain 200 yards in five of their eight games and failed to top 100 yards passing in four of those games.

It's not good when you average .25 passing touchdowns per game. None of their high draft picks spent on offense in recent years have seemed to pan out and it's hard to know where to place blame. It's probably easier to just say that nobody is helping anybody else, and if you listen to JaMarcus Russell give interviews that doesn't seem to be way off-base.

This is just a selfish organization.

The Bright Side

Russell, Darren McFadden, and Darrius Heyward-Bey are all very young. It would probably do this team well to sign some vocal, veteran, selfless players to come in here and give these guys some real guidance.

Perhaps they also need to hire one of the many available experienced head coaches, like a Bill Cowher, to change the attitude in Oakland.

They aren't the worst team because they've got talented players and they've beaten Philadelphia and Kansas City. But they are still very, very bad.

The Kansas City Chiefs

Why They Stink

The Chiefs started out the 2007 season at an encouraging 4-3. Since that time however, they are an astonishing 3-29.

They've given up 400 total yards five times this season and they've failed to throw for more than 100 yards three times. On top of that, they just deactivated their leading rusher Larry Johnson, perhaps this time for good.

As for leading receiver Dwayne Bowe, you can't really say he's going to be a part of the solution, when he's been here and put up good numbers during their entire 3-29 stretch.

There just isn't much talent on this team.

The Bright Side

Back in 2001 the Chiefs traded for backup QB Trent Green and named him starter right away, even with a lot of doubters saying Green was only a system quarterback. Then the offense picked up with 4 straight seasons of a top 6 ranking and the Chiefs even went 13-3 in 2003. Perhaps lightening can strike twice with Matt Cassel.

The Chiefs have a lot of work to do, and they could be headed to another two or three win season, but they aren't quite the league's worst.

The Cleveland Browns

Why They Stink

A large part of me wants to say that the Browns are the worst team in the league. And boy do they have a case.

Over their last 14 regular season games the Browns have averaged 7.79 points per game. They scored 1 touchdown in their last 6 games of '08, a defensive interception return. Over 8 games this year, they've scored a total of five offensive touchdowns: Derek Anderson threw for two and ran for two, and Brady Quinn threw for one.

Leading receiver Mohamad Massaquoi has a respectable 328 yards. After him are Mike Furrey with 121 yards and backup running back Jerome Harrison with 111 yards. The most talented player on this entire team might be kick returner Josh Cribbs.

I literally wouldn't want anyone on the Cleveland offense on my team outside of left tackle Joe Thomas. They've scored six or less in five games this year. Mangini could very well be one-and-done for the Browns.

The Bright Side:

Cribbs, Thomas, Massaquoi, Kamerion Wimbley, and games remaining against the Chiefs, Lions, and Raiders.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Why They Stink

The Bucs are the only winless team remaining in the NFL. They had close calls against the 'Skins and Panthers, but a loss is a loss. They are 28th in points scored, 30th in points allowed, and 29th in point differential.

In week 3 against the Giants they had one of the worst offensive performances of all-time with 5 first downs total and 86 yards of offense.

The best quarterback on their team is probably 21-year-old Josh Freeman, an excellent example of how some NFL teams just aren't that much different than a great college team.

They could use upgrades at nearly every position on the field.

If you look at the remaining schedule for the Bucs, its very possible we could have 0-16 teams in back-to-back seasons.

The Bright Side

There might not be a bright side in Tampa, outside of the sun of course. Other than they could very well end up with the top pick in the draft and take a franchise cornerstone that they've been lacking since their 2002 championship.

I just don't think they're as bad as the next team.

The St. Louis Rams

Why They Stink

There was a stretch during 2006 when the Rams, who went 8-8 that year, lost seven of eight. Perhaps that was a sign that shouldn't have been ignored. They've won just six games since that season.

It's been a remarkable run of streaks since then.

They started 2007 with eight losses, then won three of four. Then they lost their next seven regular season games, then they won two in a row. Then they lost 17 straight before beating Detroit on Sunday.

They cant score (last in the league) and they can't stop you (29th in the league.) They're being outscored by 18 points per game, worst in the NFL. Last year they were outscored by 14.6 points per game, 31st in the league, and -233 points total.

They are on pace this season for an epic mark of -288 points.

This team isn't a shell of its former self. It's a shell of the shell of the shell.

On top of all those bad numbers, this is a team that plays in the NFC West. The league's worst division pretty much during that entire run of St Louis being awful from 2007 till now. How bad could things have gotten if they played in the NFC East or the AFC South?

The Bright Side

They did beat the Lions and narrowly lost to the Redskins and Jaguars. But on any given sunday any team can win. It doesn't mean you're the best team.

St. Louis is still the worst team in the league. Frankly, they should trade Steven Jackson while he's still young and still productive. Try to get some extra draft picks and rebuild a roster that's desperately in need of help in all areas.

Because, St. Louis, you stink worse than anyone. But don't get too disparaged, this is just a smelly year and like a room full of farters, nobody is gonna point the finger.

Suicide Hotlines Flooded With Calls Concerning Brett Favre

Kenny Stein — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:14:12 -0400

Jon Merz volunteers at a suicide hotline in Los Angeles every other weekend. He'll be on duty this Sunday, the same day Brett Favre makes his highly-publicized return to Lambeau Field as a Viking.

Jon is expecting it to be a busy weekend.

"I was here on Tuesday. We were already getting calls from people in preparation for this weekend, saying that they didn't know if they could handle all the coverage that Brett Favre would be getting this week. Especially on Sunday."

What Jon is referring to is the endless amount of hours and countless segments that are likely to be spent talking about Favre returning to Green Bay to play the Packers at Lambeau for the first time.

For most of the last 15 years, anything Favre has done has usually been talked about on sports radio and television, making sure to cover every detail.

From his on-again, off-again retirements to his trade to the Jets to his "heroic" Monday Night performances, the name Brett Favre has been uttered on ESPN an estimated 4.6 million times.

One such caller into the suicide hotline was 31-year-old Marcus Clinton.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," said Marcus. "I love sports. I love the NFL. But if I hear someone talk about Brett Favre one more goddamn time I'm going to blow my brains out. I know that's a figure of speech, but I really mean it. Who really cares if (Favre) is playing on another team? Joe Montana played on the Chiefs. Emmitt Smith played on the Cardinals. He's just one guy, get over it."

As I sat in the room last night with the volunteers at the call center, I heard call after call of similar complaints. After two hours of sitting there, nearly 30 people had called in worried about whether or not they would make it to Monday.

"I don't even know if Monday is going to be safe," said Merz. "Monday Night Football is on ESPN. What do you think they're going to talk about, or who do you think they may talk to during halftime?"

As public concern for the situation grows across the country, sports media outlets have yet to show any signs of backing off the Favre coverage.

"Brett Favre is America. He's everything. He's God. And I'm going to talk about him to death. Also, I can tell you what day Brett Favre will retire. Dec. 21, 2012," said ESPN analyst Chris Berman.

At approximately 9:15 PM last night, a call came into the center from a hysterical woman who went by the name "Nancy."

She simply said, "THEY KEEP HYPING UP THIS INTERVIEW BETWEEN BRADSHAW AND FAVRE!! OH MY GOD!! OH MY --."

There was a loud bang and then simply silence.

Thanks, Brett.

New York Yankee Haters Unite: We're Three Wins Away from a Victory for Baseball

Kenny Stein — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:46:29 -0400

The year was 1995. I was 12-years old. And I fell in love for the first time.

Hard.

And anybody who was living in Seattle in the time can tell you who I fell for, because 1995 is perhaps the fondest year remembered in the modern Seattle era.

The Seattle Mariners were going to the playoffs for the first time and it wasn't easy. They came back from a 13-game, mid-August deficit (many of those wins coming through late-inning heroics) to force a 1-game playoff with the California Angels.

They were facing Mark Langston, the ace that they traded away to acquire Randy Johnson.

They won.

Then in the ALDS they faced the winningest franchise in the history of popular American sports, the New York Yankees, a team that had not made the playoffs since 1981.

They were down two games to none before forcing a game five and finding themselves down 5-4 in the bottom of the eleventh.

They won.

Though it seemed to be a season of destiny, the Mariners would lose in the ALCS to the Cleveland Indians. Realistically, the closest they've ever come to making the World Series.

But Mariner fans don't look back on that season with disgust. Just mention "Edgar double down the left field line" and a true Mariners fan will get tingles down his or her spine.

Say "Joey Cora" and an M's fan might shed a tear. The city of Seattle embodied the motto of '95, "Refuse to Lose." It's what we lived for. These were our boys, these were our players, and we'd jump into the fire for them because that's what they did for us.

Some cities seem to fight against their players, we fought with ours. And even in defeat, we cheered for how far we had come.

This is why I LOVE the Seattle Mariners. And it's also why I HATE the New York Yankees.

As a 12-year-old, I didn't know how great of a victory it was to beat the Yankees and how sweet it was to take it in such dramatic fashion. When I think back on it now, I'm so happy that they could taste the ALCS after two games and again after the top of the 11th inning of game 5, only to have it all come crashing down.

It's how I want the Yankees to lose every year.

I knew I disliked them after '95. And I just plain grew tired of them after their fourth championship in five years in 2000 (some people call it the Subway Series. I call it the Who Gives a S#@% Series").

But I didn't hate them. What could I do? They built their team up and had scrappy players in a perfect evolution of teamwork.

They were also littered with some former Mariners that I couldn't help but love. Tino Martinez, Jeff Nelson, and Luis Sojo. These guys weren't legends, they were just good, old-fashioned baseball players.

They didn't have $100 million contracts, they just loved to play the game.

By the turn of the century, that had started to change. The Yankees were ready and willing to start throwing their money around again.

After their final world championship, the Yankees signed Derek Jeter to a 10-year, $189 million contract and also signed free agent ace Mike Mussina to a six-year, $88.5 million deal.

Nothing outrageous. They wanted to hang onto their captain and the icon of the team and were willing to pay him a lot of money. They also decided to add a very good top of the rotation starter. I can't blame them for that.

While the 2001 season was very painful for Mariners fans, having watched our team be one of the most dominant regular season team of all-time before falling in the ALCS to the hated Yankees, I still take solace in the fact that it most likely was the hardest series loss in the history of that franchise.

The Yankees led the series three games to two before a rare Mariano Rivera blown save in game seven sealed the series for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Surely this could have pushed George Steinbrenner over the edge. The Yankees had won 12 of their last 13 games in the World Series before 2001.

This loss stung Steinbrenner as bad as anything could. He wasn't used to this and he wasn't willing to get used to it.

The Yankees, who had one year earlier gotten a good taste of spending large amounts of money, were ready to open the floodgates for good.

But apparently Steinbrenner doesn't listen to Brooklyn native Biggie Smalls.

That offseason they would sign Jason Giambi for seven years and $120 million.

They won 103 games the next year, but lost the ALDS in four games to the Angels.

Mo Money, Mo Problems.

They signed Japanese player Hideki Matsui in a bidding war to a three-year contract (and then later for four years and $52,000,000)

They won 101 games before losing to the Marlins in the World Series in six games.

Mo Money, Mo Problems.

They traded for Alex Rodriguez (and $113 million of his $250 million contract,) signed Gary Sheffield for three years and nearly $40 million, traded for Javier Vazquez and signed him to a four year, $44.5 million deal, signed Jose Contreras to a four-year, $32 million deal, and traded for Kevin Brown and the two years, $30,000,000 remaining on his contract.

They won 101 games and then blew a 3-0 lead in the ALCS to the Boston Red Sox.

Even Mo Money, Mo Problems

They traded for Randy Johnson (roughly $30 million remaining on his deal) and signed Carl Pavano to four years and $40 million.

95 wins, five-game loss in the ALDS to the Angels.

Can't Stop, Won't Stop—duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh (Oh wait, that's Puffy, but you get the idea).

Sign Johnny Damon to four years and 52 million. Trade for Bobby Abreu and his $15 million salary. Sign Kyle Farnsworth, a setup man, to three years and $17 million.

97 wins, four-game loss in the LDS to the Tigers.

Sign Andy Pettitte for one year and $16 million. Sign Roger Clemens to a pro-rated deal of one year and $28 million.

94 wins, four-game loss in the LDS to the Indians.

Sorry if that got repetitive. But it just puts a smile on my face. Because none of those seasons ended with a victory. However none of that ever hit home with the Steinbrenner family. They never got the point.

You can't buy championships. You earn them.

Before and during the 2008 season the Yankees made no significant free agent moves other than to re-sign some of their own players and make a few small deals here and there.

Though it did include them signing Alex Rodriguez to a 10-year, $275,000,000 deal, they were basically still the same team from the year before minus Clemens and minus manager Joe Torre who got fired because he didn't win the World Series since 2000.

From The Yucks To The Bucs and Back Again: How Tampa Bay Lost Its Way

Kenny Stein — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:26:46 -0400

If defense wins championships, then there was no team that could have ever stopped the 2002 Buccaneers.

The team featured five pro bowlers on that side of the ball, and that's not including Ronde Barber, Brian Kelly, Anthony McFarland, Dexter Jackson, and Dwight Smith.

The Steel Curtain, Da Bears, The Bucs. They'll easily go down amongst the best of all-time, with a handful of Hall of Famers.

However, seven years later and they have made the playoffs just twice (0 wins) and won more than nine games just once. And while it seemed the light at the end of the tunnel was always near for Tampa, with four top five finishes on defense in six years, the wheels have finally fallen off.

The Bucs have as many losses this year (seven) as they did last year, and it only took them seven games to get there. And while their offense is bad as usual (28th in the league), their defense has finally caught up (27th in the league.)

So how did the Bucs go back to being the Yucks?

Following that Super Bowl victory, the Bucs turned their attention to an offense that ranked 18th in the league. Brad Johnson was an efficient, but not spectacular, quarterback. Their leading rusher Michael Pittman gained just 718 yards on the ground and leading receiver Keyshawn Johnson managed 1088 yards through the air.

Take an all-time great defense and improve your offense and you've got the makings for one of the great teams ever, right?

Four of the Bucs next five top picks after their Super Bowl victory were spent on offensive players. But whether it was because they failed to live up to early signs of promise (Michael Clayton) or were devastated by injury (Cadillac Williams) the players that the Bucs chose were never able to sustain any kind of success in the NFL.

This is part of the reason the Bucs have not had any kind of stability or consistency on offense.

Over the last seven seasons, including this season, six different quarterbacks have led the team in passing. Only Jeff Garcia managed to hold onto a job for more than one season.

Four different running backs have led the team in rushing over the last six seasons. And five different wide receivers have led the team in yards since 2003.

Legendary players like Bruce Gradkowski, Chris Simms, Earnest Graham, and Michael Clayton have been focal points of this offense.

That's not a good sign.

But it was okay because the defense was always solid. Even last year the Bucs finished 9th in the league in yards allowed and at one point were 9-3 before losing their last four games and falling short of the playoffs.

But years of losing players to free agency and retirement and not replacing them will eventually catch up with you.

When the Bucs sent five players to the pro bowl after becoming world champions, the average age of those players was 29.8. After 2003, Warren Sapp and John Lynch were released and left to go try and help other franchises. Pro Bowl linebacker Shelton Quarles never made another pro bowl roster and retired after the 2006 season. Defensive End Simeon Rice hasn't played in the NFL since 2007 and is now playing in the UFL. Future Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks decided last season would be his final season. (EDIT: Bucs fans really want me to point out that Brooks did not "decide" anything. He was kicked out. The fact still remains, he isn't there and he should be happy he got kicked out.)

Maybe he was onto something.

Those legendary names of 2002 have been replaced by names like Sabby Piscitelli, Geno Hayes, Jimmy Wilkerson, and Quincy Black. Ronde Barber still remains, but at 34 he is the oldest player on the team.

All that time spent on trying to improve the offense, meant that they were losing ground on defense.

Their top pick in 2007, defensive end Gaines Adams, was traded away after two disappointing seasons. Currently their defensive is set to build around linebacker Barrett Ruud and cornerback Aqib Talib. But its slim pickings after those two.

On offense, Cadillac Williams tries to revive a once-promising career. However its one thing to lead your team in rushing yards and its another thing when that total is only 305 yards in seven games.

Also on offense, Kellen Winslow Jr. has been a great pickup for a team in need of a player that can actually make catches. Winslow has been the only bright spot on offense though.

The team dropped Byron Leftwich after week three and decided to go with unknown Josh Johnson at quarterback after the team gained a total of 86 yards against the Giants. The response? The Bucs have averaged 254.25 yards per game, 2.5 turnovers, and 14 first downs with Johnson at QB. In the three games that Leftwich started at QB, including the 86 yard debacle in which they totaled 5 first downs, the Bucs averaged 296.3 yards, 1 turnover, and 16.6 first downs.

They haven't even come close to the 450 yards they gained in week one or the 353 yards they gained in week two.

I suppose people in Tampa are so used to the Bucs being a great defensive team that they ignored the 450 yards per game and the 33.5 points per game that they gave up in those first two weeks.

Not that Leftwich got completely screwed by that organization. But let's point the finger where it right belongs.

Ownership had blamed Gruden, Garcia, Keyshawn Johnson, and anyone else they could for not winning a playoff game in five years. But they were the ones that made the hires, the fires, the signings, the releases, and the picks.

They were the ones who drafted Cadillac Williams, even though he had two season-ending injuries at Auburn.

They drafted Gaines Adams over Adrian Peterson.

They release Lynch and Sapp.

Former GM Bruce Allen is former for a reason.

And while new GM Mark Dominik might be doing a lot of things right, his first season is looking very wrong. And it starts with releasing Leftwich and not having a viable backup plan.

QB Josh Freeman was their first round pick this season. But unlike Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan, and Mark Sanchez, he hasn't shown the ability to start in his first year.

This is hurting the Bucs and perhaps could be a reason to worry for the future. What if Freeman won't be ready until the players around him are also ready? What wide receivers does he have to throw to? What running back can he rely on? How many lineman can be relied upon to protect him?

Josh Johnson is completing fewer passes for less yards, less touchdowns, and more interceptions than what Leftwich was doing. The real question is: How can 17th overall pick Josh Freeman do any worse?

Johnson is 23-years-old. Is he supposed to be a wise sage compared to the 21-year-old Freeman? Or is that management knows they've really not built a foundation to build a house on?

I've always believed that you've got to build an offense from the outside-in. Surround the quarterback position with talent and fill that gap in last. The Bucs have instead seen an empire crumble and thrown unproven and far-from-ready men in the fire, waiting to get eaten alive.

This franchise may only get worse before it gets any better. The defense is awful and the offense is worse. The stars are gone and the remaining ones may want to leave while they still have a chance.

Yes, the Yucks are here to stay. Again.

There's No Defense for the Rams Offense: Why St. Louis Has Fallen on Hard Times

Kenny Stein — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:24:36 -0400

When the New England Patriots beat the Tennessee Titans 59-0 in week six, it was a sight to behold. You knew you were watching a highly talented offense firing in perfect harmony on all cylinders.

They were working so well together that they had put up 45 points by halftime and the full 59 by the end of the third quarter.

There were a lot of amazing topics of discussion to come away with after a game like this, such as Tom Brady's five second quarter touchdown passes or Randy Moss and Wes Welker catching two TDs apiece.

But as I sit here this afternoon, there's just one fact that has been boggling my mind: The New England Patriots managed to put up 59 points in three quarters, whereas the St. Louis Rams didn't surpass 59 points in the season until the third quarter of their seventh game of the year.

A decade after winning the Super Bowl with one of the greatest offenses of all time, I must stop to wonder: What the heck happened?

Ten years ago the Rams shocked the world. They went 13-3 and averaged over 32 points per game on their way to a Super Bowl win over the Titans. Their defense was fourth in the league in points allowed at just over 15 per game.

But the next season they were the league's worst defense and lost six of their last 10 games before a first round loss in the playoffs to the New Orleans Saints. Just as the Rams had become used to scoring at will, so did their opponents.

Despite the fact that the Rams would make the Super Bowl the following year, this really was already the beginning of the end.

The bread and butter of the Rams was really quite simple: Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, and Orlando Pace—five Hall of Famers on the same offense. Mix in a little Az-Zahir Hakim and some Ricky Proehl, and you've got a team that won 56 regular season games between 1999 and 2003, with two Super Bowl appearances and one championship.

So why then is this team headed for its sixth straight non-winning season?

When the Rams got the reputation of a horrible defensive team, that's where they started focusing all their attention. It's a strategy that makes sense when your offense is No. 1 in the league for three straight seasons (1999-2001).

However, as the years went on, the Rams got older, and coaches got fired (Mike Martz specifically), the offense got awful.

In the draft, the Rams completely switched their gameplan from previous seasons.

Flashback to 1996 when St. Louis had five picks in the first three rounds. All five of those picks were on offense. Specifically, all five were skill position players (Lawrence Phillips, Eddie Kennison, Tony Banks, Ernie Conwell, and Jerald Moore).

Back in 1994 they drafted Bruce. In 1997 they took Pace. And in 1999, the year they won it all, they drafted Holt and traded for Faulk.

The Rams plan was clear: Get very talented on offense. That's exactly what they did, and they made history.

However, despite the fact that the plan worked very well, they didn't stick to it.

In the 10 NFL drafts since their Super Bowl win, the Rams have drafted 29 players at skill positions. Most of them were taken on day two, and most of their names have never been uttered in a game telecast. Out of those 29 players, just two were drafted in the first round (Trung Canidate and Steven Jackson) and just two more in the second round (Brian Leonard and Donnie Avery).

In 2001, the Rams found themselves with five picks on day one of the draft again, and like 1996, every pick was dedicated to one side of the ball—only this time, that side of the ball was defense.

With three first round picks, the Rams selected Damione Lewis, Adam Archuleta, and Ryan Pickett. They passed on such players as Marcus Stroud, Nate Clements, and Steve Hutchinson.

It's okay to focus on an area of need, but it also helps when you're good at finding talented players for that need.

In 2002, a year after going 14-2 and just barely losing to the Patriots in the Super Bowl, Kurt Warner played below expectations and got injured. By 2004, he was let go as the team decided to go with the younger and cheaper Marc Bulger. Five years later and it's Warner who is still going to the Bowls (Super and Pro), while Bulger looks like the aging vet who needs to hang it up.

Perhaps Warner's departure from St. Louis set off a curse that may never be broken. That curse rings out in first round busts like linebacker Robert Thomas, Jimmy Kennedy, Tye Hill, and Adam Carriker—all defensive players who have yet to show they belong on this level of play.

They could have also focused some of that attention on offense. Like after Bulger went 2-10 as a starter in 2007, they could have drafted Matt Ryan over Chris Long. When Isaac Bruce started to truly show signs of aging in 2005, they could have drafted Santonio Holmes over Hill in 2006.

This isn't pure shoulda, coulda, woulda. This isn't rosterbation. This is a matter of "you have a need, you need to fix it."

This is an organization ignoring a problem that's been developing over several seasons. The only smart move they've made in the last 10 years was drafting Steven Jackson.

It's not a move they've even tried to replicate.

They've spent so much time trying not to ignore the bleeding on defense that they've completely ignored the slow but steady crumbling of any talented players on offense. Despite all that effort they've put into improving the defense, they haven't finished in the top 20 in that category since 2004.

So how can the Rams improve on their 5-34 record since the start of the 2007 season?

The first step would be to not forget what got you to the Super Bowl: acquiring highly talented players at the skill position. Many people say that Kurt Warner lucked out by being the quarterback of that team, just like he's lucky to have Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald in Arizona. But luck had nothing to do with it.

Those players were there because management made smart moves. They're no longer making smart moves.

It's not that they're just trying and failing either. In the last nine first rounds the Rams have drafted just one skill player (Jackson) and not attempted to get a fresh set of hands in the wide receiver corps or a fresh arm at quarterback. Because of that they've finished 28th and 30th in points the last two seasons and currently sit dead last this year.

Drafting Jason Smith second overall this year is a start. If he can turn into the type of player that Pace was, they've got a foundation. Now they just need to find the next Warner, Bruce, and Holt.

Or at least...try to.

Romo Arigato Mr. Choke-Arto

Kenny Stein — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 08:05:29 -0500

Is Tony Romo a good quarterback?

Yes. There isn't any doubt about that in my mind; Tony Romo can play the position better than probably half of the starters out there today.

However, what I won't ever be able to wrap my head around is how quickly Tony Romo became a household name, and that it seemed it was a foregone conclusion that Romo belonged in discussions alongside players like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

At this point, his name doesn't even belong next Jeff Garcia.

Forget the 43 interceptions in 36 career regular season starts. That's not what this discussion about. Romo's numbers speak for themselves. He does have an impressive 77 touchdowns during that span as well.

But this isn't about what Tony Romo can do. It's about what Tony Romo can't do.

Tony Romo can't win when it matters. Through two-and-a-half seasons. he's proven to me that he is a certified choke artist more than he's a certified All-Pro Quarterback.

Romo burst onto the scene with the Cowboys midway through the 2006 season.

After a loss to the New York Giants in his first start, the Cowboys went on to win five of their next six games with Romo tossing 12 TD's (five in one game against the Buccaneers) against seven interceptions and the Cowboys were 8-4.

Then December hit.

After a big win over the rival New York Giants on December 3rd, the Cowboys lost three of their next four games. In the month of December, Romo threw six touchdowns and eight interceptions, and the Cowboys had to settle for a wild card road game against the Seahawks. That's when Romo really put his name on the map.

Forget that Romo was a meek 17-for-29 for 189 yards and 1 TD. It was his bobbled hold on a potentially game-winning Martin Gramatica field goal that had fans calling for his head. Little did we know this was just a sign of things to come.

Romo would stop being the holder after that game, but he wouldn't drop his choke artist mentality.

Through 13 games of the 2007 season, the Cowboys were top dogs in the NFC with a record of 12-1. Romo was enjoying a banner sophomore season as the new star in Big D with 35 TD's against 14 interceptions after a week 14 win at Detroit.

But Romo still had three more December games to overcome.

The Cowboys lost two of their final three games.

Romo's numbers during that span: 48-of-94 (51%) with 1 TD and 5 Int's.

No skin off Romo's back though. Cowboys had the comfort of knowing they were going to get a bye week and a home game. Enough time for Romo to snuggle next Jessica Simpson in Mexico, and rest easy until the next game.

That first game was against the New York Giants. That proved to be no problem for Romo; he torched them for eight touchdowns and only two interceptions during the regular season as they swept the Giants.

However, there would be no such luck when it mattered.

Romo completed just half his passes for 1 TD, 1 INT and a QB rating of 64.7 as the Giants left Dallas and left Tony Romo with an 0-2 playoff record.

Could he recover from that?

Up until Sundays game against Pittsburgh, we had no way of knowing. But we did know that Romo was 7-2 as starter for the Cowboys and had thrown 21 touchdowns against just eight interceptions.

However, none of that came in the month that matters second most (behind January of course).

Yes, the Steelers are the leagues best defensive team. But if you are going to be a star, if you are going to be considered one of the best, you better show up when it matters.

Tony Romo was 19-of-36 with 1 TD and 3 INT's on Sunday, as the Steelers not only won 20-13, but won on a pick six courtesy of Romo. He made sure there wasn't any doubt about who lost this game. He threw an absolute duck right into the hands of the Steelers as they scurried in for the game-winning drive. As much flack as the Dallas defense gets at times, they did their part on Sunday, but Romo could not do his.

Will Romo ever turn around his career and be the superstar so many people already claim he is? Perhaps.

But a quarterback gets all the credit when the team wins, and needs to get just as much credit when they lose. Especially when that quarterback has 43 career interceptions, 27 career fumbles, a 4-7 record in December and zero career playoff wins.

NFL: How the West Was Lost

Kenny Stein — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:42:35 -0500

Between 1997 and 2002 the NFL's Western Divisions (or what would become their Western divisions) sent five teams to the Super Bowl.

The Broncos and Rams ruled the late 90s and early 00s, while the Raiders offense dominated during the 2002 season.

But over the last five seasons, just one team out of the current eight in the AFC and NFC West has made the Super Bowl (the 2005 Seattle Seahawks) and as of right now it doesn't seem like that streak will stop in 2008.

The eight teams that comprise these two divisions are some of the worst in football. A strange but unavoidable coincidence.

Just at look at the following statistics (put together before last nights game between the Chargers and Raiders):

Combined record of every team that plays in the West divisions: 31-65, a .322 winning percentage

Number of team with winning records: 2. Cardinals and Broncos at 7-5.

Number of teams that would have a top 10 draft pick of the season ended today: 6. Yeah, the other six teams that play in the West make up more than half of the worst 10 teams in football.

Number of teams that have scored more points than they've allowed: 2. Cardinals and Chargers. No, not the Broncos. They've given up 27 more points than they've scored.

Number of teams with a winning road record: 1. Broncos. No other team is even at .500 on the road.

Non-Divisional Records

Arizona: 3-5

SF: 2-5

Seattle: 0-8

St. Louis: 2-7

Denver: 5-3

SD: 2-7

Oakland: 1-6

KC: 0-8

Combined record against those teams: 15 - 49 a .234 winning percentage

AFC Ranks out of 16 teams for total defense:

12 (Oak) 14 (SD) 15 (Den) 16 (KC)

NFC Ranks out of 16 for total defense:

7 (Ari) 13 (SF) 14 (STL) 15 (Sea)

NFC Offense: 13 (SF) 14 (Stl) 16 (Sea)

Besides Arizona, the other seven teams comprise seven of the worst 10 total defenses in the NFL and those are defenses that are facing the bad offenses of Oakland, St Louis, Kansas City, San Fransisco, and Seattle. Plus Arizona is the worst rushing team in the league.

Even the teams that sit atop the two divisions and with a stronghold on becoming division champions aren't much to write home about.

While the Cardinals boast one of the top passing games in the league, they are 3-5 against teams that don't play in the NFC West and are 3-4 on the road. Those 3 wins came at San Francisco, at St Louis, and at Seattle. Three teams with a combined eight wins.

In their other four road games they are giving up an astonishing 38.75 points per game including 56 to the Jets and 48 to the Eagles.

The Cardinals more than likely will not get a first round bye (they are two games behind the Panthers and Bucs for 2nd place) meaning they'll have to go on the road to either New York or Carolina/TB and will have a very good shot of being one win and done.

And that's only if they can win the first game which could come against Dallas or the TB/Car loser; all of whom have better records than the Cardinals.

In the AFC the Broncos sit atop the division at 7-5. But they've been outscored this season by 27 points.

They probably felt pretty good about themselves after a 3-0 start that saw them averaging 38 points per game. However, they didn't top 20 point again until Week 10 against Cleveland and have averaged just 19.7 points per game since Week Four.

The Broncos have won 3 of their past 4 games including impressive wins at Atlanta and at the New York Jets, but they also lost 31-10 against the Raiders at home. Showing they've still got work to do.

Additionally, many of the "stars" are starting to fade for these eight teams:

LaDainian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson and Steven Jackson all look like players who have lost a step.

Frank Gore is averaging a full yard per carry less than his breakout season of two years ago.

Denver is no longer churning out pro-bowl running backs, the Raiders can't even get a first down, and the Seahawks have a full running back by committee going and haven't had a star skill position player all season.

Of the five teams in the NFL that have been outscored by 100 points or more, three reside in the West (Oakland -120, Kansas City -124, and St Louis -201) Seattle has been outscored by 95.

It almost seems like a mathematical impossibility.

San Diego and Arizona combined point differential: +68

The other six: -618

Couldn't they at least beat each other?

Pittsburgh Pirates: There's Always Next... Decade?

Kenny Stein — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 06:49:34 -0400

A Forgotten Franchise

Remember Barry Bonds?

Of course you do, though we haven’t seen him play in almost a year. It seems like he’s been gone forever.

It's hard to believe that it was just a season ago that he passed Hank Aaron for the home-run crown.

Now, remember Barry Bonds...On the Pirates?

Yeah, that certainly seems like ages ago. It was actually 16 years ago to be exact.

It’s also the last time (1992) that the Pirates finished a season with a winning record.

That means that there are Latin American players signed by major-league clubs that were possibly not even born the last time that the Pittsburgh Pirates were north of .500.

A Franchise Restored

The Pirates certainly looked the part of a perennial contender back in the early ‘90s.

They had won three-straight division titles and had the best young player in the National League in Bonds.

One of the most storied franchises in baseball (if you can believe that now) was back on top after just one winning season between 1984 and 1989, five years after they won the last of their five championships in 1979.

In the final game that Barry Bonds ever played for the Pirates, they were leading the Braves 2-0 going into the bottom of the ninth, with 15-game-winner Doug Drabek just three outs away from sending the Bucs to their 10th World Series.

It was all for naught though, as the Braves scored three in the ninth, and the Pirates were sent packing. Little did they know that was also the last time they’d get a glimpse of glory, for what’s going on almost two decades.

Sid Bream scored the winning run in that Game Seven after a Bonds throw to the plate was not in time. You can’t really blame Bonds for that Game-Seven loss, but you can’t help but think that the 16 years that have followed don’t have anything to do with the Pirates' two-time MVP leaving town for a record contract with the Giants.

It was a blow that the team has simply never been able to recover from.

A New Era

Barry Bonds led the Pirates in almost every important offensive category in the 1992 season. You name it, and he pretty much did it.

He wasn’t a great player on a great team. He was the team.

There is almost no modern comparison to what it was like for the Pirates to lose Bonds at that time.

Remove Manny Ramirez or David Ortiz from the Boston Red Sox, and they still win.

Take away Alex Rodriguez from the Yankees, and they’ll be okay, too.

Those are teams with a lot of good players. They can sustain such a blow and not even have to replace a singular superstar to still complete.

I suppose the best comparison would be the St. Louis Cardinals and Albert Pujols. They wouldn’t be a very good team without him, but would they go from three outs from a World Series title to the worst team in baseball over the next 16 years?

The following year, after Bonds left, the Pirates dropped from 96 wins and a division title to 75 wins and a fifth-place finish.

Still, not all the blame falls on Bonds for the big collapse in the year after he left.

For one, management could have done something about it. Let’s face it, management has everything to do with this record run of ineptitude.

As for that one season, Andy Van Slyke, the second-best hitter behind Bonds on the ’92 team, missed half of the season and was at the end of his career. Also, the team ERA jumped from 3.35 to 4.77.

The only pitcher to start a game that season and finish with a winning record was 29-year old Jeff Ballard, who started five games and was 4-1 on the season in 25 appearances. Only Steve Cooke was a starter with an ERA under four (3.89), and that would be far and away the best of his three full major-league seasons.

Al Martin became the new “slugger” on the Pirates, with his team-leading 18 home runs and .481 slugging percentage. You can compare that to Bonds' .624 slugging percentage from the previous year, but why torture yourself?

1994 would be better for the Pirates for only one reason: It was shortened by a strike.

Prospects Don’t Deliver on Their Promise

As the early '90s became the mid-'90s, the Pirates were still a team stuck at the bottom of the division, but it seemed like they were getting younger and had a few bright spots to look forward to in the future.

By 1995, the young staff was anchored by Denny Neagle, Esteban Loaiza, and Jon Lieber.

Orlando Merced, Jeff King, and Al Martin were becoming reliable veterans that you could at least count on to keep you in the game.

But they weren’t just lacking a Barry Bonds-type star. They were lacking any kind of star.

In 1996, it looked like Jeff King was finally going to step it up another level. He belted 30 homers and drove in 111 runs for the Pirates, but they still finished in fifth place.

On the bright side, 1996 saw the debuts of 22-year old Jason Kendall and 23-year old Jason Schmidt—a player they acquired in a deal with the Atlanta Braves for the 14-6 Denny Neagle.

At the very least, it seemed the Pirates could be fun to watch again.

Flip This House

The trade of Denny Neagle would be just one of the many moves the Pirates would make during their run of awful baseball. It would also be one of the very few to work out well for them.

It wasn’t just the baseball played on the field that made the Pirates bad, but the moves made in the front office.

The year after they acquired Schmidt was their best season by far since 1992.

That year, 1997, saw them finish second in the division and just two wins away from an 81-81 record—what could have been their saving grace from these 16-straight losing seasons.

They were led by Kendall, Martin, Kevin Young, Tony Womack, and 21-year old Jose Guillen on offense. The pitching had a very respectable 4.28 ERA, with no starting pitcher older than 27.

Sure, Neagle went 20-5 for the Braves, and they made an awful offseason trade of leading hitter Jeff King for one year of Joe Randa, but they did finish in second-place, and they had a young, up-and-coming squad.

Except that the moves didn’t stop there.

In 1998, the wheels fell off, and the Pirates slipped back to sixth in the division. Despite getting good production from Kendall, Young, Womack, Jose Guillen, the debut of Aramis Ramirez, and having a team ERA of 3.91, they won just 69 games.

Before the 1999 season, they had traded Tony Womack to the Arizona Diamondbacks. While Womack isn’t a superstar, he did steal 118 bases for the Bucs in his two years as starter, and he went on to win a World Series with the D’Backs. The Pirates couldn’t replace Womack, and they started five different players in the next six years.

Those second basemen were baseball “legends” Warren Morris, Pat Meares, Pokey Reese, Jeff Reboulet, and Jose Castillo.

Near the trade deadline in 1998, they sent Esteban Loaiza to Texas for Morris and Todd Van Poppel.

In the offseason, they sent Lieber, a reliable innings-eater, to the Chicago Cubs for utility player Brant Brown. He played for the Pirates for one year.

In July of ’99, they sent Jose Guillen to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Joe Oliver and Humberto Cota.

Two years later, they sent Schmidt (and John Vander Wal) to the Giants for Armando Rios and Ryan Vogelsong. Rios was out of the league two years later, while Schmidt twice finished in the top-five for Cy Young voting with the Giants.

Now, in 2003—11 years after their last winning season—the Pirates made another deadline deal, and this one probably takes the cake for the worst trade of all. They sent third baseman Aramis Ramirez (and Kenny Lofton, I might add) to the Cubs for Jose Hernandez, Bobby Hill, and minor leaguer Matt Bruback.

Hernandez played 58 games for the Pirates that year and was gone for good. Hill played 126 games for the Pirates in 2004, batting .266 with 27 RBI. He would be gone a year later. I don’t need to remind baseball fans about whether or not Aramis Ramirez has been good since the trade.

The one good deal they made was trading their star, Brian Giles, to the Padres in return for Jason Bay and Oliver Perez. While Perez faded after his first year (which was brilliant) in Pittsburgh, it was worth it just to get Bay for Giles.

But that’s only one good deal after dozens of bad ones.

Through all of those years, they said goodbye to Jason Schmidt, Aramis Ramirez, Brian Giles, Esteban Loaiza, Tony Womack, Jon Lieber, and Jose Guillen. Today, they have Jason Bay to show for it.

On top of that, they released Tim Wakefield, Bronson Arroyo was picked up by the Red Sox on waivers, and Gary Matthews Jr. was sold to the New York Mets.

After all of those years of holding onto Jason Kendall and refusing to trade their overrated catcher, they traded him to Oakland before the 2005 season for Mark Redman, Arthur Rhodes, and cash. Rhodes never pitched for the Pirates, and Redman went 5-15 in his one season there. I hope they spent the cash wisely.

The Pirates are a team that completely changes from year to year. The only sure thing about the players is that they will get dealt when it appears they will become too expensive.

Ryan Doumit is the third starting catcher since Kendall’s departure.

Since Kevin Young left after 2002, Randall Simon, Daryle Ward, Sean Casey, Craig Wilson, and Adam LaRoche have all seen significant time at first base. Rookie Steven Pearce will most likely be the sixth by next season.

It would take forever to count the number of pitchers to start for the Pirates in the 2000s. They have more turnover than a local Starbucks.

What Can the Future Bring?

I could say, “Now is the time for the Pirates to show what they are made of.” But the truth is, that time should have come 15 years ago, and every year since. What the ownership in Pittsburgh is doing makes very little sense.

Last week, the Pirates made their annual deadline deal, sending Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to the Yankees for four players.

I actually don’t mind this deal, as Nady was having a career year and you get Jose Tabata, a Baseball America top 100, in return. For the Pirates, a team without much of a farm system, any prospect helps.

On the downside though, this is how they go every season, losing more than they win. The Pirates are eight games under .500, so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that they could have finished with a winning record.

But sending off one of your best hitters and best relievers for a player who probably won’t see the majors before 2011 doesn’t send a message to the fans that the time for winning is now.

So when will that time be?

If they finish off the deadline by trading Jason Bay to a contender, that time won’t be coming anytime soon.

If they hold onto Bay, they could start a trend not yet seen in Pittsburgh. Currently, the outfield includes Bay and Nate McClouth, one of the best young outfielders in the game. By next season it will include Baseball America’s 14th best prospect heading into the year, Andrew McCutchen.

That outfield, plus Doumit, Pearce, and third baseman Neil Walker, is a pretty good start for the Pirates, and this could feel like 1997 again. Of course, their current team ERA of 5.25 doesn’t help matters, but at least it’s a start.

The biggest test for the Pirates won’t come this year, it will come next year when Jason Bay will be looking for a contract extension. He’ll either get the extension that the Pirates have refused to give so many times to so many stars, or he’ll be traded for players that could be ready in two or three years.

The problem being that three or four years after those players debut, it will be time to trade them for the next batch of prospects. Meanwhile, the fans don’t recognize the names on the backs of the jerseys anymore, and one of baseball’s oldest and most decorated teams will fade off into oblivion.

If they aren’t going to pursue free agents (when’s the last time you ever heard the Pirates sign a big-name free agent?), then they are going to have to start holding onto their own.

Their biggest deals right now pay Jack Wilson about $6 million a year and Jason Bay about $5.5 million. Both of those contracts expire after next year.

While it’s going to be, “See you later!” to Wilson, what to do with Bay? He’ll most certainly be asking for a raise in the eight-figure range. Can the Pirates do that when their payroll is only $48 million?

It certainly isn’t all about having the biggest payroll. The Rays lead the AL East while paying their players the least amount in baseball.

But can there even be a comparison to the Rays and the Pirates? Even the 2007 Rays, who had the worst record in the league?

Even before they added David Price, the top pitching-prospect in baseball, the farm was loaded with Evan Longoria, Reid Brignac, Wade Davis, and others. The team had already been getting production out of young players like Carl Crawford, James Shield, and Scott Kazmir.

Is there one pitcher on the Pirates as good, or with the potential to be as good, as any of those two pitchers? Even to be as good as Matt Garza?

No, and not even in the farm system is that true.

Neil Walker could be a very good third baseman, and McCutchen could have a great career in centerfield. Top pick Pedro Alvarez (if he ever signs) appears to be a great hitter that would nicely fill in that hole left by Aramis Ramirez.

But even with that, they still don’t match up with the Rays. After adding Tabata, the Pirates now have four players in the Baseball America's top 100. The Rays could have probably had four in the top 10.

What’s a Buc To Do?

If management had any sense, they’d get out there and sign some free agents, but they won’t do that. Not any good ones at least.

They won’t sign a shortstop like Orlando Cabrera or Rafael Furcal because they’d cost too much, and they’d have to pay Jack Wilson $6 million to ride the pine.

They won’t do what they really should do, which is say “screw it” and break the bank on CC Sabathia or Ben Sheets. If they did that, not only would they win more games, but they’d keep them away from a division rival.

There are other options though.

They could sign a guy like Randy Wolf. Someone that is cheaper than the stars, but would still be consistent and an innings eater.

They could get bullpen help in Dan Wheeler or Rafael Soriano. These moves would at least improve the pitching, if not by a lot, then at least by enough to keep them close in a few more games.

By the end of next season, some more attractive free agents become available. Bobby Crosby and Khalil Greene could be less expensive (yet very intriguing) options at shortstop.

Octavio Dotel and Fernando Rodney to improve the bullpen.

And if you were feeling like making a splash, there’s always Matt Holliday, Vladimir Guerrero, Carl Crawford, and Rich Harden.

No, they won’t sign those guys, but they should.

They should at least make an effort.

I have never seen a team worse than the Tigers of 2003, when they lost 119 games. But it wasn’t too long before they went to the World Series.

How’d they do it? By making a splash.

They signed Ivan Rodriguez and traded for Carlos Guillen. Subtle, but very significant moves that saw them improve by 29 wins.

The next year, they traded for Placido Polanco and signed Magglio Ordonez, who was cheaper because he was coming off injuries.

Before 2006, they signed veteran pitcher Kenny Rogers and brought up minor leaguers Curtis Granderson and Justin Verlander.

All of these moves were relatively inexpensive and very low key, yet they propelled them to the AL Pennant.

It’s not rocket science to sign a few key players that are at least better than what you have now, take some risks on players who are coming off injuries and can be had for cheaper, and make smaller trades to acquire players that aren’t wanted by their current ballclubs.

Fantasy managers sell high and buy low all the time. Why can’t real general managers learn how to do the same?

The Pirates sold high on Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte, and in the future, it could be a great move, but it also keeps them that much further from ending this streak of 16-straight losing seasons.

They’ll need to start buying low as well.

Well, they need to start buying...Period. Just ask Barry Bonds.

SuperSonics: For the City of Seattle, It Was All About the Benjamins

Kenny Stein — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:24:35 -0400

I only have five minutes to write this before I have to go, but let me say a few things about the Seattle—scratch that—Oklahoma Supersonics.

To the city: How dare you pick money over everything. How dare you lead on the fans and waste taxpayer dollars on a trial that you had no intention of winning. The ONLY reason that you went to trial and dragged it on this far was so you could squeeze as much money out of Clay Bennett as possible.

Don't get me wrong—I wanted Clay to pay, but not in $. I wanted him to pay in that he goes back where he came from empty-handed. I don't care if you got $75 million or $75 billion—that doesn't do ME or any of the FANS any good.

This is a city and community, and you aided in ripping away a part of that without any conscience of how it would affect the people that voted (but not this year) for you.

To Clay Bennett: Good for you—you got your team. I think that any rich person in any town without a sports franchise that wanted one would have done the same thing. I can't blame you for that.

But you are a filthy liar, and you aren't getting what you deserve. You deserve to get lied to by somebody else and have them rip a team out from under you. Then you'll know what I feel like right now. You deserve pain, and heartache, and the feeling of being royally cheated.

To Howard Schultz: Good luck with your trial. It's the only shot you have to ever be accepted in this city again.

You bought a team without any commitment to making it through the rough times or getting an arena deal, and you quickly flipped it to a person you KNEW was lying and you KNEW had real intentions of moving the team. It doesn't matter when he was going to do it—you knew it was going to happen.

To the media: Thanks for nothing. Any inkling of the Cubs being sold, and it's all over SportsCenter, Around the Horn, and PTI. But the Sonics are gone now, and nobody even had any idea what was going on outside of the Pacific Northwest.

Maybe a little public outcry could have helped a little, but how can you have public outcry when the public had no idea? Sorry we aren't the Yankees and Red Sox. We'll try better next time—if there is one.

To David Stern: You're like the friend that makes moms say, "Well, if he's going to act like that, he was never your friend to begin with." You run a corrupt league, so why should Bennett having you in his back pocket be any different?

With Bennett as the owner, you said, "Key Arena is not a viable NBA arena." Now that's it over with, you state that if the NBA is to return to Seattle, "there must be a deal in place to renovate Key Arena." So before it wasn't good enough to even renovate, and now it's got to be the place?

You are a smug, arrogant, stupid little man—I hope you get what you deserve.

Why You Need Evan Longoria on Your Fantasy Team

Kenny Stein — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:24:44 -0400

I've been trying—for weeks now—to pry Evan Longoria from a rival fantasy owner in my keeper league.

Officially, it's too late.

The third-base prospect with loads of talent has hit his stride, and there simply isn't any turning back. There's just that moment in every great prospect's career when you say to yourself, "he'll never be in the minors again." And when that happens after 259 at-bats, you know he's really special.

Based on the Yahoo! fantasy format, Longoria has soared up the rankings in a matter of weeks. What once was still a player ranked in the triple digits, he currently sits at No. 76, and that's a player who didn't play in the first 20 games this season.

For his season average, which can be a better indicator when a player doesn't play a significant amount of games, he sits at No. 49 on the season.

Over the last month, Longoria has been ranked as Yahoo!'s 18th best player in all of baseball, and that's for a rookie. A kid who's facing the best pitchers the world has to offer. He has hit .300, with eight HR and 19 RBI, and has also scored 19 runs.

He's hitting for average, power, and now he's got a healthy and revitalized Carl Crawford hitting in front of him. It's only going to get better for Longoria owners now.

As I said, I've been trying and trying to get Longoria before this happened. But I guess I wasn't the smarter fantasy owner.

Recently, I had offered up Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino for Longoria and Dan Haren. I figured that Howard was a proven HR hitter and Victorino could provide a lot of runs and a lot of steals. I couldn't just give up Howard for a rookie straight up, so I had to ask for Haren, too.

Maybe I shouldn't have asked for Haren after all.

Over the last seven days, Longoria has produced three homers, 10 RBI, 27 total bases, 13 hits, seven runs, one stolen base, and a .433 average.

Yeah, that makes him No 1. You guessed it.

There are downsides to his game. And I must point these out to try and make myself feel better for not having him.

He doesn't walk as much as a stud hitter should, and he strikes out more than a quarter of the time. Which probably means his downside is something closer to Ryan Howard. But more than likely, he will hit for a much higher average than Howard, and the walks will come with the respect.

There's another player who he almost resembles perfectly, from a fantasy perspective: Ryan Braun.

Braun came on the scene early last year and fully exceeded expectations. Once he hit his stride, the manager was never going to trade him unless he got A-Rod in return. Now Braun is ranked 10th overall. 13th on the 2008 season. A-Rod is ranked 29th for the year in the Yahoo! game.

In a keeper league, it's imperative to get these guys while they're young so you don't have to give up as much. But also to move at the right time. In our league, Tim Lincecum was dealt straight up for Jay Bruce. One of those guys could win the Cy Young, and the other may need more seasoning in the minors.

But Longoria won't be headed to the minors any time soon. And this certainly doesn't look like a case of the Burrells. This looks like the Rays made a great move by signing him long term early on, and they will have gotten a great discount. This looks like Braun of 2007, and it feels like it Pujols in 2001.

If you are lucky, maybe in your league you can trade your top pitcher and your third baseman to pry away Longoria. (I don't place much value on pitchers. They come around 10 times as often as a Longoria.) I sure wish that I had.