I really don’t understand the Bucks. They traded away Richard Jefferson, so they have a lack of scoring to make up. They drafted a point guard, so they have some depth there. So what did they do? Offered a contract to their free agent point guard and not the solid scoring threat. Ramon Sessions will likely be back with the team, but Charlie Villanueva has been cut loose. Very bizarre. I was certain that it was going to go the other way. It looks like things could end up very well for Villanueva – he looks like he will take he mid-level exception in Cleveland.
There is a depressing story on SI.com today that looks at the age off 33 as the time when baseball players have a tendency to see their skills decline. As a 33 year old this doesn’t make me very happy. Interesting, though – A-Rod and Big Papi are both 33.
Truly disastrous news for the Rockets – Yao Ming could be out for a year and maybe longer because of his ongoing foot problems. It’s hard to overstate the potential impact of this.
Andy Murray had a long a grueling five-set match at Wimbledon yesterday. I’ll be curious to see how he bounces back, but I’m not optimistic.
Tough break for Roy Halladay in his return from the DL yesterday against the Rays. He looked decent – two runs in six innings with seven Ks and just two walks – but he was let down by his bullpen and didn’t get any run support, so he dropped to 10-2. Despite that setback, though, he looked like he’s in fine form after the injury – still the beast he always is.
This is getting ridiculous. Former rookie of the year Eric Hinske has been traded yet again – this time from the Pirates to the Yankees for a couple of minor leaguers. This is an obvious upgrade for him, but he won’t want to get comfortable – this is his fifth team since 2006, so chances are he’ll be moving on again soon enough. I watched Hinske play a lot as a rookie, so I can’t believe that he hasn’t found a more permanent home. If anything, his problem is that he’s too versatile – he plays first, third, or the field competently, so teams are happy to have him as an insurance policy when needed. That means he’ll keep finding jobs, but it won’t do much for his stats or his chances of ever starting again. Of course, a big part of the problem is also that he seems to have forgotten how to hit. It might be hard psychologically to have peaked as a rookie.