Offseason happenings

I failed to mention some more awards in the majors this past week: The MVP and Cy Young awards. Clayton Kershaw won both the Cy Young and MVP awards this year, the first time that that has happened since Justin Verlander in 2011 for the Tigers. It was the first National League pitcher to accomplish that feat since Bob Gibson in 1968 with the Cardinals. What an amazing accomplishment! In the AL, Angels CF Mike Trout won the MVP while Kory Kluber took home the pitchers' hardware for the Indians. Exciting things there. Congratulations to all the winners this year. Meanwhile, the offseason hot stove is heating up at a rapid pace. The highlight in the MLB trade department so far is a trade between the Cardinals and Braves. The Braves sent Jason Heyward to St. Louis along with a teammate while the Braves received Shelby Miller along with a teammate. The Padres have been in the news a lot this week. They made a trade between minor league players this week sending Reymond Fuentes to the Royals in exchange for a hard-throwing left-handed reliever, Kyle Bartsch. Even bigger news, however, is the fact that the Padres are pursuing two major free agents. Historically the Padres have never been close to signing a big-time free agent. I believe that this is the time that changes. In a report earlier today, the Padres have become the front-runners along with the Braves in acquiring Cuban sensation, Yasmany Tomas. I have a lot of faith that this goes through. The report concluded that we as fans should not be surprised to see a deal made by Monday. Another player involved in the talk is current Giants' third baseman, Pablo Sandoval. I don't know how I feel about his pursuit to PETCO Park, but hey, it's an improvement. He knows how to play in the postseason and has become one of the majors most pesky hitters. Looks like A.J. Preller really knows what he is doing and is not afraid to open the checkbook in order to put a winning team on the field. Another possible player the Padres have been looking to acquire is Reds' outfielder, Jay Bruce. Bruce's season ended early this year with arthroscopic knee surgery, but he is expected to be ready for spring training at the end of February. With the Reds in need of lots of pitching, they are looking, perhaps, to get Ian Kennedy or another one of the Padres' three-headed mound monster (Cashner, Ross, and Kennedy). Perfect solution, right? Overall, something is going to happen this winter that has never been seen before in Padres history (except maybe before the 1998 season when the Padres went all the way to the world series).

 

Now on to college football. There has been some shakings in the top four over the past week. After Alabama dismantled Mississippi State last week, they jumped from #5 to #1 in the college football rankings. Oregon stayed at #2 and Florida State at #3. I honestly believe that the Seminoles ought to be on top because they are the only undefeated team left. But as long as they remain in the top 4, I can be satisfied. Here are your top games for the weekend.
25Minnesota at 23Nebraska noon ET ESPN
Boston College at 3Florida State 3:30 ET ABC
15Arizona at 17Utah 3:30 ET ESPN
19USC at 9UCLA 8ET ABC
There are not as many highly anticipated games as there were last week, but it is exciting to see the schedule this week. Check out the game of your choice.

This week in the NFL, the Chargers beat the Raiders on Sunday and then the Raiders went on to beat the Chiefs in Oakland Thursday night for their first win of the year. Looks like they will be in place for the top spot in next year's draft. Let us wait until the end of the year to make it official. The Buffalo Bills were going to host the NY Jets in Buffalo this coming Sunday, but because of snow drifts bringing that city 4+ feet of snow, the game has been moved to Detroit on Monday night instead. In fact, the players for the Bills had to be taken to the airport on snowmobiles from their homes. It was interesting to see the huge walls of snow covering cars.

In the NBA, the Cavaliers and their hyped squad are a woeful 6-6 so far this year after losing tonight to the Wizards in D.C. It is believed that they will turn their season around, though. It is looking like this will be the first season without someone with the name of LeBron James in the finals for the first time since 2010 when the Lakers defeated the Celtics in 6 games.

I am looking forward to a great Thanksgiving break as we give thanks and prepare for more exciting news in all the world of sports!