MLB Team-By-Team Review LA Dodgers || MLB A's Story || TNF Predictions and Super Bowl Predictions || NBA's Newest Rivalry
Edition #21
BREAKING NEWS:
Peter Seidler, Padres chairman and owner, dies at 63
LEARN MORE HERE (Friar Wire)
ALL 7 FREE AGENTS WHO RECEIVED QUALIFYING OFFERS REJECTED IT!
LEARN MORE HERE (CBS Sports)
BRANDON HYDE AND SKIP SCHUMAKER WIN MANAGER OF THE YEAR!
LEARN MORE HERE (MLB.com)
Intro
We have another long newsletter today. There will be no newsletter tomorrow, but we need you to ask QUESTIONS FOR THE NEWSLETTER! Yeah, that changed. I ain’t gonna do the podcast, but the Friday Newsletter will be nothing but questions! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! You have to create an account on substack first to chat it, but if you don’t want to do all of that, then PLEASE, PLEASE email me at thebest616161@gmail.com or sportssquare@substack.com. This is the newsletter I’ve been waiting for. Hope you enjoy it!
MLB A’s Story
On November 16, baseball team owners will vote on whether to relocate the Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas. In an effort to convince the owners to keep the team in Oakland, a group of fans partnered with Last Dive Bar and sent "Stay in Oakland" boxes to 15 different MLB owners. The boxes contained a green Athletics hat, a customized baseball card, a postcard advocating for the team to remain in Oakland, and a personal note from Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. The note highlighted the fact that public funding for a new ballpark has been secured in Oakland and that the proposed funding is nearly triple the amount reportedly secured in Las Vegas. Despite a 27,759-fan reverse boycott game during the 2023 season, the future of the Athletics in Oakland remains uncertain. The team's lease in Oakland is set to expire after the 2024 season. They have called Oakland home for the last 55 years.
NBA’s Newest Rivalry
This is a long story, so be ready. (Source, ESPN)
ABOUT 30 MINUTES after his first NBA preseason game in October, having missed the entire 2022-23 campaign with a foot injury, Chet Holmgren bounded out of the Oklahoma City Thunder's locker room and ran into Victor Wembanyama's family.
When Wembanyama saw Holmgren in the hallway, he smiled and turned to introduce Holmgren to his mother, Elodie, who was making her first visit to Oklahoma to see the game. And what a show she and the rest of the fans at Paycom Center had taken in that night.
It was more than an appetizer for the two fascinating rookies. Wembanyama, too energy-filled to make it through a planned afternoon nap, had been brilliant for the San Antonio Spurs in his first NBA preseason game, registering 20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block. Holmgren was just as impressive (21 points, 9 rebounds, and a block), as the two had several moments of controlled but unmistakable one-upmanship.
To know these two young stars on any level is to understand the stage is set for what could be an intense rivalry between them in the coming years. While they've been careful to remain mostly respectful of each other in media settings, watching their actions the few times they've shared the floor forecasts a coming intensity when they compete against each other.
Their first NBA matchup that counts comes Tuesday back in Oklahoma City -- and with extra stakes: an in-season tournament game the Thunder need to win to maintain their hopes of advancing out of group play.
Wembanyama, 19, has made it known he has long-standing goals of becoming the NBA's best big man, and Holmgren, 21, is directly in his path, as they are slated to compete at every level, starting with the Rookie of the Year Award.
Gregg Popovich offered his impressions after watching the first NBA meeting.
"They went at each other a couple of times, and it was interesting," the Spurs coach said. "It shows their character, their competitiveness, and they did it within reason. Neither one was shooting a horrible shot to try to outdo the other one. It was basic basketball that the basketball gods would agree with. They will be a lot of fun for everybody to watch over their careers."
Wembanyama plays more at forward than center, which is where Holmgren has spent most of the time for the Thunder. There might be limited head-to-head moments, such as the one that delivered that contested highlight between them in the preseason. But the link is undeniable, and the time to start making memories may have arrived.
"I plan to play a long time, and I'm sure he does too," Holmgren said. "So I'm excited for the future down the road, as well."
These guys are the future superstars, and I’m ready for it. I'm going to watch every single matchup these guys play, which includes yesterday’s one which I watched which didn’t really excite me too much. Both of these stars basically did nothing and booth had pretty limited minutes. Sucks to be both of them.
NFL TNF Predictions
Thursday Night Football this week is going to be the best one so far. I mean, Bengals, Ravens? Both are AFC North Division Rivals, except I forgot one thing. The lowest place in this division is 5-4 which is the Cincinnati Bengals. The highest place in this division is 7-3 which is the Ravens. I certainly did not expect the Browns to be so good, and I guess I somewhat expected the Steelers to be 3rd, not 2nd. This is going to be a big test for Baltimore though. They couldn’t win against the deadly Browns offense, but they still lost last-second. Meanwhile, Cincy couldn’t win against Houston because of another last-second point try, the field goal kick.
Since this isn’t just a freebie TNF like last week, I have 3 key injuries for both teams now.
Ravens:
Kyle Van Noy
Odell Beckham Jr.
Ronnie Stanley
Bengals:
Chidobe Awuzie
Sam Hubbard
Akeem Davis-Gaither
Who’s winning it? Who do I bet on?
Bengals.
Why do I say this?
The Ravens are banged up. We all know that. In fact, yesterday, 7 Ravens didn’t practice. All of those guys are great players. They impact the team very much. The Bengals don’t have many injuries and had a 4 win streak before losing to a game-winning field goal. You can say the same for the Ravens, but again, injuries. Burrow will have a big night. He had more yards than Lamar last week and all, although you can say that was because the Browns have a better defense than the Texans, Burrow had the same number of picks. This game will definitely get ugly with turnovers, but there will be so much offense to add to that.
Who’s Winning the Super Bowl?
Who’s winning the Super Bowl was a thread I asked in my chat a while back. 3 weeks ago, this anonymous user responded by saying Lions. I asked them again, and now they say the Browns. To me, that was a pretty good choice. The next thing I said was why? They said this exactly. “The Browns easily have the best defense in the NFL. 2 picks on one of the most elite quarterbacks is something BIG. Sure Watson has a pick every game or gets sacked a million times, but he’s still leading that to wins. Wins are the most important. It doesn’t matter how you get it, just like how Jalen Hurts said it.” I knew I had to add that kind of segment to this newsletter. It was very thoughtful. I certainly agree that the Browns could win it all, but I don’t want to pick more underdogs and lose.
Who’s winning the Super Bowl, then, Smayan?
The Arizona Cardinals…
Nah, I’m joking.
The Philadelphia Eagles.
They have one of the easiest chances of winning it. Who knows if Patrick Mahomes can even win his division with the Raiders and Broncos suddenly on fire? Maybe he can’t get the bye because the Ravens and Browns are coming at that first. The Eagles, on the other hand, have a division where 1 team doesn’t have a QB, the other team just can’t find a way to win, and a team that can’t win against contenders. (Giants, Commanders, and Cowboys (in order)) The Eagles do have a tough stretch coming up, but after a nice rest week, they should be able to win against teams like the Chiefs, Bills, and 49ers in a row.
Team-By-Team Review: Los Angeles Dodgers
If you know me very well, you must know I love the Dodgers. I put this last because this is the one where I probably have to put in a lot of work, but also because I need to save the best for last.
Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani!
Hope you loved that allusion. Yes, the main importance is for the Dodgers to sign Shohei Ohtani. As you may have seen at the top, he rejected his QO (Qualifying Offer) and is ready to sign elsewhere. If he prefers geography, LAD is the place where he needs to be. Else? The only other fit is San Francisco. Maybe a long shot, Texas? I would love to see him in Arizona though because that’s the perfect fit (to me).
Who else should the Dodgers target? They have an unlimited source of money so…
Aaron Nola
Blake Snell
Jordan Montgomery
Yoshinubo Yamumoto
Matt Chapman
These five are the top they should target. Although adding Cody Bellinger would be perfect, I don’t think he’ll sign with LA, besides they already have a top-tier outfield and probably want to save up for next year with Juan Soto. The only non-position player is Matt Chapman. Why him when you already have a 3B? Max Muncy has a great bat. I don’t want to say anything about that, but he made multiple errors, and the only reason we say he has a good bat is because he can hit homers. Far. Deep. But not all the time. Either Homer or K. Homer or Strikeout. Homer or upside down K. Whatever.
You know why the other 4 are pitching. I mean, the pitching staff this year was very, let’s just say, “ .”
These pitchers will definitely be expensive, but they could probably cut down Jordan Montgomery or Aaron Nola if they sign Ohtani. Notice I still said IF, even though it’s almost certain that’s going to happen.
Conclusion
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