It's Almost Baseball Season...kind of

Brand New Padres Outfield (NY Post)

We are about two months away from baseball season and there have been a number of offseason moves that will impact Major League Baseball. From the likes of Jon Lester to the Cubs, Max Scherzer to the Nationals, this season will be quite an interesting one. Our hometown Phillies will likely still be one of the bottom feeders as it is probably time to blow that team up as they began to with trading Jimmy Rollins and Marlon Byrd. They still have a decent one, two punch with Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee in the rotation, but the offense will probably struggle this year. With that being said, other than the Phillies it’s time to take a look at a few teams who made big moves this offseason.

Sport for Thought: 2015 NFL Free Agents - Game Changers

This season's class of free agents can shake up the power landscape in the NFL like no other season. Big name players are available on both sides of the football, and their is a significant chance many of these players may not return to their current team.

Offensive players: Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Dez Bryant, DeMarco Murray, Peyton Manning and Randall Cobb.

Defensive players: Ndamukong Suh, Gerald McCoy, Justin Houston, Darrelle Revis, and Jason Pierre-Paul.

On Deck: The Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations, Theo Epstein

Sports are cyclical, I'm sure you have heard from someone at some point.  Sometimes the cycle lasts over 100 years, sorry Cubs fans.  However, there are some teams that seem like they are never out of the hunt year in and year out.  The St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees might be the best examples of this, each with their own formula success that allows them to play October baseball more times than not.  Their cycle for winning is much smaller, plain and simple, their formula for success is successful.  Without a successful formula the cycle becomes much, much longer, and then it becomes a drought.  While the results aren't there playing on Wrigley Field 81 times a year yet, I'm here to tell you disgruntled, impatient Cubs fans that your cycle is almost over and there is a formula in place to point towards, be proud about and root for.

The Future of the Miami Big 3

Now that the NBA Playoffs have ended and the ageless Spurs have taken the throne from King James and co., we can all relax and await the futures of the "Big 3":  LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.  Each of the three have a player option available to take (one more year with Miami) or they can decline and become an unrestricted free agent.  We all remember what happened the last time James hit the free agent market.  However, are we going to see more decisions to be made?  Is this the end of an era for the Miami Heat?

An Offer You Can Refuse: A Look at the Qualifying Offer

Baseball free agency allows players to be signed to some of the largest contracts in all of sports. Alex Rodriguez was able to command a contract that had him being paid just shy of $30 million last year, while Clayton Kershaw just signed a contract extension that will give him an annual salary of over $30 million dollars. Talks of money this high have led to certain agreements being made in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between Major League Baseball executives and the Players' Union. These changes made it so that teams with very high payrolls, such as the Yankees or Dodgers, would not be able to sign all the top players in free agency without giving up some sort of compensation in return to the team that the player is leaving.

NFL Free Agency: It's Not Personal, It's Business

It's almost time for NFL Free Agency to begin and to most fans that means the excitement of their favorite team getting a shot at some of the top talent in the NFL, but for the business side of the NFL it means millions of dollars will be tossed around in an auction like fashion. Coveted players such as the Pittsburgh Steeler's Mike Wallace could see contracts with numbers like 5 years with $60 million and $30 million guaranteed. That is a lot of money, and if you are the general manager that is going to pay him that kind of money you better be sure he is worth it.

Grading the NBA Offseason: Winners and Losers

With the NBA offseason winding down, teams around the league are almost done making new signings and transactions. Some teams have helped themselves, while others haven’t done much to improve and compete next season. Here’s a look at some of my winners and losers.

Winners:

Brooklyn Nets

If any team swung for the fences this offseason, it was the Brooklyn (no longer New Jersey) Nets. General Manager Billy King made a bold move last season by acquiring star guard Deron Williams, with no promise that he would stay beyond that year. Incredibly, by trading for former All-Star Joe Johnson, and re-signing Gerald Wallace, King convinced Williams to sign a long term deal. He then proceeded to re-sign/ possibly overpay Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries, creating a very interesting starting lineup. It’s clear the Nets don’t care about spending money and want to compete now in their brand new arena. Look for them to possibly make the playoffs next season and compete with Miami, Chicago, and Boston for the top seeds in the rapidly improving Eastern Conference.

New Orleans Hornets

The Hornets are one team who accomplished everything they set out to do this offseason. They drafted stud Anthony Davis and promising scorer Austin Rivers with the first pick and tenth picks in the draft, respectively. They also retained their best player, Eric Gordon, after he signed an offer sheet with Phoenix Suns. They were also able to dump the salaries of Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza. Done, done, and done. I'm really looking forward to see how the Hornets continue to develop and add to their promising core.

Los Angeles Lakers

(Note: As a Celtics fan, the following paragraph was incredibly difficult to write.)

The Lakers made one move this offseason (minus the pending signings of Antawn Jamison and Jordan Hill). ONE!! And it’s arguably the best acquisition of the entire offseason. Scrapping their future for the present, Los Angeles miraculously traded for aging star point guard Steve Nash without giving up any players in return. They did trade 4 draft picks, but it’s hard to believe that this was the best trade option available for the Phoenix Suns. The Suns receive no players to help them next season, and hand Nash over to division rival Los Angeles so they can make a run for a championship. Compile this with Memphis gift-wrapping Pau Gasol to them a few years ago, and it seems like every other team wants the Lakers to win. Can they be unlucky once??? I know the Chris Paul veto was bad, but that doesn’t count (I'm bitter).

Losers:

Toronto Raptors

Speaking of Steve Nash, he was one of the only offseason targets of the Toronto Raptors. They could pay him more than anyone else, and had home-court advantage in a sense, considering Nash is Canadian. Unfortunately, the Raptors were unable to lure him to Toronto. To compound their loss, Toronto signed guard Landry Fields to an exorbitant offer sheet to make it harder for the New York Knicks to sign-and-trade for Nash. With Nash going to the Lakers, the Raptors were left with Fields and his unnecessarily large contract. Toronto did add Kyle Lowry and last year’s #5 overall pick Jonas Valanciunas, but losing Nash had to hurt the most.

Orlando Magic

The Magic were in the news often this offseason because of the ongoing trade rumors involving star center Dwight Howard. As of today, Howard is still on the team, with the Magic’s future direction up in the air. They still don’t have a coach, and this isn’t exactly a dream starting scenario for new GM Rob Hennigan. The team still looks the same as last year for the most part, except for loss of Ryan Anderson, who ended up being too expensive for Orlando to re-sign. This is particularly ironic when you consider all of the bad contracts the Magic have, including the recent contract extension of Jameer Nelson. Not quite sure what this team is up to, but they’ll have to make a decision soon regarding Howard in order to move on.

Philadelphia 76ers

The Sixers were last season’s Cinderella team, defeating the #1 seeded Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs, before forcing #4 Boston to seven games. After that successful run, you’d think Philadelphia would try as hard as possible to improve in the short run and try to compete. I’m not quite sure they’ve done that at all. They selected two promising prospects in the draft (Maurice Harkless and Arnett Moultrie), but it’s very unclear if either of them will produce right away. They also re-signed center Spencer Hawes, who has his bright moments, but he isn't someone I would not give $14 million dollars to, especially when they had to amnesty Elton Brand to afford him. The Sixers also replaced Lou Williams with Nick Young, so those two moves kind of cancel each other out. Philly then signed much-maligned big man Kwame Brown, creating one of the more bizarre frontcourts in recent memory. If Hawes and Brown both start, the Sixers will have one player who can’t guard anyone, and another whose offensive game revolves solely around wide-open dunks. This is going to be interesting. 

Diehard NHL Fan Hits Free Agency

On today of all days, I come to a crossroads. Enough years of abuse (which is pretty much what it comes down to at this point) have taken a toll. So, as a (hopefully humorous) coping mechanism, I’ve put myself up for free agency. I’ll listen to the offers from prospective teams who want my services as a die hard, intelligent hockey fan.

A little background: After moving to Pittsburgh, I started my hockey days as a fan of the Penguins in 2001, towards the end of the Lemieux era. When we moved to Columbus, I sort of followed the Pens and Blue Jackets for a few years, but it wasn't until the lockout in 2004 that I really became a true hockey fan. In the 05-06 season I jumped onto the hometown Columbus Blue Jackets train, taking in everything I could. In the five seasons since then, I've been as devoted and intelligent a fan as you're likely to find. I stuck with this team through the muck thus far (and trust me, there was a lot. Thanks Doug MacLean!) The menagerie of questionable draft choices, signings, trades, personnel moves, and empty promises over the years culminated with the trade of my favorite athlete in any sport last week. I'm not ruling out a return to the Jackets. The look to "free agency" is to give me an opportunity to test the market. I love hockey and want to a fanbase that's passionate and a franchise that I can put my faith in.

That's where you, the readers, come in. What I need from you is submissions! Please send an email to rmpratt827@gmail.com explaining why I should join your (or another) team’s fanbase. I’ll put together a blog post after a week or so going through the teams I get offers from. Take it seriously, humorously (Desperately, blindly-homer Toronto fan? Please apply. I need something to laugh at), or anything in between. Make it good! Write it as yourself if you like, or a player, coach, front office person, anything! I want creativity! Every team I get is one fewer I have to do.

So please, email me your submissions ASAP! I’ll probably post one of the conferences this upcoming week, and the other the week after (most likely East than West). 

-Ryan Pratt

NOTE: This is a joke. I will not be selecting a new NHL team based on your submissions, but it is an amusing blog post idea, ain't it?