Bleacher Report - Articles by Sydney Hunte

Teixiera, Sabathia Signings Show Why Baseball Needs A Salary Cap

Sydney Hunte — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 08:51:43 -0500

If you believe the headlines, Mark Teixeira is worth $22.5 million a year.

If you believe common sense, he isn't nearly worth that much.

Let me preface my point by saying this: Mark Teixeira is a good player. Any team that picked him up, except for a handful, would be better at first base than they are now.

Are the Yankees better at first base with Teixeira than they would be with Jason Giambi? Yes. Teixeira is one of the best fielders in the game, recording a .994 FLD% last year, for an average of .996% in his career at his natural position at first.

Giambi has struggled at many times first base, and is not getting any younger--but his power has been his main draw. That has begun to drop off in recent years. However, his 32 home runs last year show that his bat still has some pop.

Teixiera has relatively good power, but is a better situational hitter--121 RBI in 2008. He will fit right into the Yankees lineup.

But is he worth $22.5 million a year? I don't think so.This is the game the New York Yankees play every single season. They see a player they want, overbid to the point that no other team can match them, and then snap up their prize.

CC Sabathia had some solid years in Cleveland and a Cy Young-worthy season in 2008. But he's not worth $23 million a year.

With the cash the Yankees are playing Teixiera and Sabathia, does this mean that they consider them on nearly a par with Alex Rodriguez, who is making $27 million a year?

What if these deals don't pan out? What if one or both turn into another Carl Pavano?

The Yankees aren't the only ones. Detroit gave Miguel Cabrera $152.3 million over eight years in the 2008 offseason. Johan Santana is getting paid $22.9 million a year to pitch for the Mets. The list goes on and on.

It appears that if teams want to be successful, they have to have a lot of money. Because of that, the poorer teams like Kansas City get shut out each and every year because they can't keep up with this salary-cap free system.

Tampa Bay built from within. They went to the World Series last year. But that doesn't guarantee that another small-market club will do it next year.

A salary cap has worked for NFL, NBA, and NHL--even small-market franchises have a shot at winning. Why can't it work for MLB?

The luxury tax does nothing. Big market teams can afford to pay it because their owners are making too much cash for it to matter.

Baseball needs to do something soon. In this economy, unless the league can put a stop to this nonsense of bloated contracts to the people that honestly aren't worth the money they're given, small-market teams will go under; lack of money to get good players leads to a poor product, which leads to a lack of ticket sales, which leads to less money, threatening viability.

I love baseball. But I hate what it appears to be turning into. Let's hope MLB can do something about it before it gets worse.

Countdown to NFL's Black Monday: Four Coaches That Could Be On the Hot Seat

Sydney Hunte — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:04:54 -0500

As the NFL regular season draws to a close in a few weeks, the day many coaches dread is imminent: Black Monday. With December 28 marking the final day of the season, owners and GMs everywhere take the opportunity to evaluate what went right, what went wrong, and if it's time to make a change. Time may be up for four NFL coaches--with their teams struggling, they may find themselves without a job in a few weeks. Anyone to add? Feel free to add a comment at the end of this article.

Begin Slideshow

Buffalo's Turner Gill Proving a Hot Commodity; How Long Before He Moves On?

Sydney Hunte — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 10:03:54 -0500

As the old saying goes, the numbers don't lie. The same can be said for the Buffalo Bulls football program.

When Turner Gill arrived at the university in 2006 after leaving a player development post with the Green Bay Packers, he inherited a team that had recorded back-to-back 1-11 seasons under Jim Hofher.

That quickly changed. Under Gill's tutelage, Buffalo went 2-10 in his first year, then 5-7 in 2007, with a 5-3 Mid-American Conference record good for a three-way tie for first in the MAC's East Division.

Nebraska took notice—after Bill Callahan was fired in 2007, Gill and LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini were favorites for the job, with Big Red eventually picking Pelini.

Gill remained at Buffalo. Then, the breakthrough: An 8-5 record in 2008 (6-3 in the MAC, including winning the MAC East outright), a stunning 42-24 win over then-No. 12 Ball State in the MAC Championship, and a berth in the International Bowl on Jan. 3.

Again, BCS programs took notice—this time Syracuse, who dropped Greg Robinson after a forgettable four years at the Dome, and Auburn, after Tommy Tuberville resigned amidst pressure after a 5-7 season and a disappointing fourth-place finish in the SEC West.

The Orange hired one of their own—Saints offensive coordinator Doug Marrone—and the Tigers have reportedly hired Iowa State's Gene Chizik.

Bulls fans will be thrilled that their coach isn't going anywhere, as of yet. But they may not have him much longer, especially if Buffalo replicates (or even improves) what they did this year. The chances are good, especially since in 2009, Gill's fourth year, the team will consist solely of his recruits.

Will the Buffalo administration be willing to pay enough to keep their man in town? The problem is, the school does not have the amount of money the big-time BCS programs like Syracuse and Auburn have, so it will be a challenge.

Gill will apparently have another year to increase his coaching stock. If he does, don't expect to see many schools pass on his services after next season.

Ryan Miller, Sabres Look to Regain Form in Quest for the Cup

Sydney Hunte — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:33:52 -0500

Last year was a huge disappointment for the Buffalo Sabres.

Not only did the team have the propensity to fall behind early and try in vain to come back (in contrast to the 2005-06 and 2006-07 campaign, where the "Cardiac Kids" thrilled fans on their way to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals appearances), the team missed the playoffs for the first time in the post-lockout era.

Of course, the loss of Chris Drury and Daniel Briere after the '06-'07 season goes without saying, as well.

This year got off to a red-hot start, with a 6-2-2 record in October and a 9-3-3 mark in the first 15 games.

Then the wheels came off.

A brutal 6-1 loss to the Blue Jackets. A 5-2 loss to the resurgent Penguins. Then three straight losses to Boston, Philadelphia and the Islanders. The Sabres avenged their losses to the Bruins and Pens at home, but subsequently went on a three-game losing streak.

Things looked to improve with a squeaker in Tampa and a comeback from 3-1 down to beat Pittsburgh, followed by another comeback victory against the lowly Lightning.

However, a disappointing third period against the Leafs on Friday night, which saw the Sabres on a prolonged powerplay, led to a 2-1 loss, snapping Buffalo's three-game winning streak.

Despite all this, the Sabres find themselves barely hanging on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. It's still early with 43 games remaining for the team, but can they continue to stay in the thick of things and return to the postseason?Strengths:

The Vanek Factor

You can't mention the Sabres without mentioning the tremendous year Thomas Vanek has had. He was held scoreless in Friday night's loss to Toronto, yet he still leads the NHL with 22 goals. The driving force behind the Sabres' comeback wins over Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, Vanek seems to have had a knack for the clutch goal so far.

"Kill"er Instinct

Buffalo's penalty kill has been outstanding this year. They ranked third in the league with 88.8 percent going into Friday night's action, with only the Rangers and Wild killing off man-down situations with greater success.

Weaknesses:

Less Than 60 Minute Efforts

While Buffalo tends to play well for a couple of periods a game, there seems to be one period where things fall apart. Example: the Bruins game at the Garden on November 19.

The Sabres entered the second period with a 4-3 lead only to give up four unanswered goals, including two in the second, to lose 7-4. Friday night's game was no different, with a sub-par third period effort being the difference. Which leads to...

"Power"less Play

Buffalo essentially found itself on an almost six-minute powerplay to begin the third on Friday night, but Toronto seemed to get the better chances. All the Sabres managed was one powerplay shot in that span.

The team hasn't fared much better on the man advantage this season as a whole: 17.6 percent, or 17th in the league going into tonight's game.

Who Else Will Step Up?

The Sabres had 77 goals in all before Friday. Vanek had 22 of them. That's 55 goals scored among the rest of the team; Jason Pominville and Derek Roy have 17 of them.

More players like Drew Stafford, Ales Kotalik, and Jochen Hecht need to take a greater role in offense. In goal, Ryan Miller has been shaky at times, so can he become the goaltender he was a few years back?

Summary:

It's not impossible for the Sabres to get into the middle of the conference: six points separate them from fourth-place Montreal (as of this writing). But many things need to be addressed if they are to return to the postseason.

The Sabres seem to have the most success when they stick to a more traditional style, rather than trying to make pretty plays all the time. Again, it's a long season, but every point counts.

Can Buffalo Sports Fans Get Any Relief?

Sydney Hunte — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:37:42 -0500

First of all, you'll have to forgive me if I seem a little rusty. I haven't done much sports writing since my time at The Griffin—the student newspaper at my alma-mater of Canisius College—and at a Sabres fan site.

So I'm a bit new to the game. But the events of past weekends have led me to let off a little steam at the current state of Buffalo sports.

On Sunday, I watched the Canisius women's basketball team lose to Marist, the Canisius hockey team give up a shorthanded goal late in a game against Army to end up losing, and then found out that the Canisius men's hoops team was blown out by MAAC cellar dweller St. Peter's.

Oh, and the Bills barely showed a pulse against Miami. More on that later.

This feeling is not really anything new. We here in Buffalo are used to seeing heartbreak when our teams get to the big games (see No Goal, Wide Right, Music City Miracle). But this year has been especially torturous for Bills and Sabres fans.

Before I go any further, let me congratulate the Buffalo Bulls for their victory in the MAC Championship Game vs. no. 12 Ball State. I admit, I was thinking of a ton of ways they could mess it up in the final moments, but Turner Gill has worked wonders with that program.

Now, on to the year so far in Buffalo professional sports:

Buffalo Bills. The Bills started out 5-1 and everyone was talking playoffs. Then, the trouble started.

Three straight losses to division opponents and a gut-wrenching loss to the Browns on Monday Night Football. A blowout win over the Chiefs had everyone thinking things were on the right track again (face it, who can't beat the Chiefs? Besides the Broncos and Raiders)—but six points scored in the next two games against the 49ers (the 49ers?) and Dolphins (in Toronto) still have people talking about a possible Bills playoff appearance...next year.

I won't even go into how Trent Edwards' numbers have dropped off since his concussion against the Cardinals.

BTW, Sunday's game against the Dolphins in Toronto was probably the first Bills game I hardly cared about in a while. After checking the score on my cell phone and seeing the Bills were down at halftime, I wasn't holding my breath for a possible comeback. Goodbye, Dick Jauron. No way the Bills bring him back after the year's up.

Buffalo Sabres. Like the Bills, the Sabres had a promising start, and it looked like the team was back to its 2005-06 form. They began the year with a 6-2-2 record in October, and a 10-3-2 record over the first 15 games.

Then things turned sour—Buffalo lost five in a row, but bounced back to beat the Bruins and Pens at home, and things were looking up. But they went on to lose the next three, scoring a grand total of three goals in that span. Buffalo did beat the Lightning 4-3 the other night, but it wasn't easy at all.

By the way, Thomas Vanek has 19 goals this year, tied for the league lead. Sources say the Sabres considered cloning him, but were disappointed to find out such technology wasn't quite ready yet.

So there you go. Buffalo professional sports in a nutshell. Like everyone else, I'm hoping things change soon. But win or lose, I'm still sticking by them.