The Mavs were still awaiting takeoff on the plane, stranded on the tarmac in Dallas as of 3 p.m. CT for their originally scheduled 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) tip-off in Milwaukee. Dallas Hoops Journal's Grant Afseth reported the start time had already been pushed back by an hour to 8 p.m. (7 p.m. CT) before the NBA postponed the game.
The Mavericks-Bucks game is now the third NBA matchup this weekend impacted by the winter storm as midwestern and east coast states have experienced several inches of snow, and southern states have been hit by icy conditions with temperatures expected to drop to as low as -58 degrees in some areas. A total of 17 states have declared a state of emergency.
NBA insider Marc Stein reported that the Los Angeles Lakers, who played in Dallas on Saturday night, will attempt to fly to Chicago Sunday afternoon for Monday's game against the Bulls. The Lakers, like the Mavericks, remained stuck in Dallas, however.
We don’t get to see Gregg Popovich often these days.
The longtime former San Antonio Spurs head coach and still current team president was present at an NBA G League game on Friday night, where the Spurs’ affiliate of the same nickname in Austin was locked into a duel with the Capital City Go-Go — the affiliate of the Washington Wizards.
Popovich, 76, was seen walking across the court, accompanied by a cane and two other people, and was given a rousing ovation from the Austin Spurs crowd in attendance at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park in Texas.
Coach Pop got an ovation at the Austin Spurs G-League game
Popovich, the winningest head coach in NBA history, took a leave of absence during the 2024-25 season while dealing with an increase in health complications after suffering a stroke on Nov. 2, just five games into the season.
Ultimately, Popovich stepped down from his role prior to this season, and the Spurs promoted interim coach Mitch Johnson to full-time, while the five-time NBA champion transitioned to team president duties.
Popovich coached the Spurs from 1996 until last season, ending his coaching career with the most regular-season wins (1,390) in NBA history, 55 ahead of second-place Don Nelson, whom Popovich served under as a Warriors assistant from 1992-94.
Gregg Popovich yells to his team during the second half of a game against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center on October 31, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Getty Images
At 170 playoff wins, Popovich only trails Phil Jackson (229) and Pat Riley (171) all-time.
His five titles with the Spurs came in the 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014 postseasons.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ game against the Dallas Mavericks was postponed due to the winter storm blanketing much of the country, preventing the Mavs from taking off for Milwaukee. Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News reported the development this afternoon, before the league made an official announcement. Here is their complete statement:
According to Christian Clark of The Athletic, the Mavericks tried to get out of Dallas last night after their loss to the Lakers, but weren’t cleared for takeoff at the airport. With that option gone, they tried to take off by 11:30 a.m. Central time, but their flight kept getting delayed. According to Townsend, as of 12:30 p.m., they were still de-icing the plane. He later reported that the frigid temperatures in the area prevented the plane from being adequately de-iced, preventing the Mavs from being able to take off.
League officials are still working out when the makeup game will be. According to Townsend, they could play either on Feb. 19 after the NBA All-Star break or as soon as tomorrow (if they can get out of Dallas). Regardless, the postponement will create a back-to-back for the Bucks. We’ll keep you updated once we know the official makeup date.
The Dallas Mavericks had a quick turnaround after a 116-110 loss to the Lakers Saturday night. The original plan was for the Mavericks to fly from Dallas to Milwaukee after last night’s game, for their 6 p.m. game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday. The massive snowstorm affecting a significant portion of the United States had other ideas.
The Mavs were unable to fly out Saturday night, opting instead to make an attempt Sunday morning. To no one’s surprise, nothing came easy. The NBA announced Sunday afternoon that the Mavericks-Bucks game was officially postponed “due to the Mavericks’ inability to leave Dallas as a result of inclement weather.”
Several reports on Sunday indicated that a make-up date against the Bucks would likely be scheduled on Feb. 19, shortening the Mavericks’ All-Star Break by a day.
Mavs won’t play the Bucks tonight. No announcement from the NBA, but the most likely make-up date for Mavs at Bucks is Feb. 19. Officials hoped Mavs still might get out of Dallas today to play tomorrow in Milwaukee, but frigid temps prevented plane from being adequately de-iced.
The Mavs are already scheduled to at the Minnesota Timberwolves on Feb. 20, so as inconvenient as shortening their break may seem, it’s the lesser evil here. Had the Mavericks tried to play the Bucks on Sunday, they likely would have been forced to field a roster that more closely resembles the Texas Legends than a real, competitive NBA team. Cooper Flagg was previously listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game at Milwaukee, and Max Christie was questionable.
I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.
The Perth Scorchers’ continued dominace of the Big Bash League has seen them secure an incredible sixth title on Sunday night, defeating the Sydney Sixers by six wickets at Optus Stadium.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been playing better basketball of late, but there’s reason to believe they could make a move before the Feb. 5 trade deadline. One of the players that teams have reportedly been trying to target recently is versatile defensive forward Dean Wade.
According to Chris Fedor of cleveland.com, “no fewer than 10 teams have reached out and expressed interest” in Wade. Up until this point, the Cavs have rejected those offers. We’ll see if that continues for the next week and a half.
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Wade is an attractive asset for contenders. He’s an incredible defender who can guard numerous positions. The Cavs have used him as both the primary defender on guards like Devin Booker and as a small-ball center when the team needs to space the floor.
That unique skillset is useful when playing alongside two shot-blocking centers in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Lineups with that trio on the court are outscoring opponents by 16 points per 100 possessions (97th percentile) with a 101.6 defensive rating (99th percentile).
Aside from his value on the court, Wade’s expiring $6.6 million contract fits into a lot of teams’ cap sheets. And if a team were to trade for Wade, they would have his Bird Rights, which means that they could go over the salary cap to sign him. A team trading for and signing Wade to a larger contract this offseason could also create an additional salary slot that they could trade in the future, which is incredibly beneficial if you’re a team that’s already over the salary cap.
Trading Wade wouldn’t make sense for the Cavs right now. They don’t have any other bigs that can provide what he does, even if the Cavs don’t think they’ll be able to sign him this upcoming offseason.
We’ll see what moves, if any, the Cavs make at the fast-approaching trade deadline.
As a role player, Marcus Smart’s job is fairly simple: play hard on defense, hit your open shots and be a banshee. That means doing all the dirty work that goes unnoticed so the Lakers can be in a position to win games.
What also went unnoticed was a bit of medical work he did to himself during the fourth quarter. Smart appeared to jam his finger after deflecting a pass in the final frame, but never came off the floor.
After the game, he revealed that he dislocated his finger but just popped it back in and kept playing.
Marcus Smart said his right index finger – which he had surgically repaired last summer – popped out in the 4th quarter, but he didn’t want to come out of the game, so he just bent over and popped it back in. He’s about to go get it wrapped and iced up now.
It’s unreal that Smart didn’t miss a beat, given that it was the right index finger he had surgery on last summer that got dislocated. Smart injured this finger late last season when he was a member of the Wizards. He missed a few games down the stretch and had surgery this summer.
It’s on-brand that Smart just kept on playing. Plenty of other players would’ve been done for the night, or at the very least, taken a moment to have a medical staff member pop it back in place for him.
Smart, being the competitor he is, didn’t want to miss a second. So he just took care of it himself and kept playing.
Regardless of whether Smart has a good game or not, his toughness is never in question. He’s always preaching defensive physicality and leading by example.
These are the kind of moments that need to be remembered and celebrated when it comes to Smart and what he brings to this team. It’s why the Lakers stars were so excited about Smart’s arrival in the first place.
He’s a winning player and raises your team’s level of toughness just by his mere presence. While the lows can be infuriating, the highs are equally impressive.
And thanks to Smart contributing to Lakers head coach JJ Redick’s small-ball unit in the fourth, they completed their comeback, ensuring Luka Dončić remained undefeated against his former team.
So credit to Smart, for stepping up in the moment and doing what a banshee needs to do, whatever it takes to win.
Andrew McCutchen during batting practice before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on September 26, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Andrew McCutchen is presently unsigned for 2026, but the former NL MVP is still miffed that the Pirates did not invite him to their annual preseason fan fest.
McCutchen, who has played 12 of his 17 MLB seasons in Pittsburgh over two stints, took to social media Saturday night to express his unhappiness.
He cited Albert Pujols, Clayton Kershaw, Miguel Cabrera and others as examples of longtime stars who attended team functions in the past despite not being under contract for that upcoming season.
“I wonder, did the Cards do this [to Adam] Wainwright/Pujols/Yadi [Molina]? Dodgers to Kershaw? Tigers to Miggy? The list goes on and on,” McCutchen wrote on X. “If this is my last year, it would have been nice to meet the fans one last time as a player.”
Andrew McCutchen during batting practice before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on September 26, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images
Pirates GM Ben Cherington gave vague answers Saturday about why McCutchen — a five-time All-Star outfielder and the 2013 NL MVP — was not in attendance.
“Andrew has meant a ton to the team. He’s had an incredible run at two different times. Certainly, his legacy as a Pirate is secure,” Cherington said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Everybody with the Pirates, it’s our desire to maintain a really good relationship with Andrew well into the future.”
The 39-year-old McCutchen, who appeared in 25 games for the Yankees in 2018, batted just .239 with 13 home runs, 57 RBIs and a .700 OPS in 135 games — 120 as a designated hitter — for the Pirates last season.
Andrew McCutchen bats against the Atlanta Braves in the third inning at Truist Park on September 26, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images
“Then we come back to our team. What is the job? The job is to build a team that gives us the best chance to win games when you’re at the ballpark in June and July,” Cherington added. “Our approach this offseason has been laser-focused on what gives us the best chance to win more baseball games in Pittsburgh than we have in the past seasons. That’s gonna continue to guide our decisions. So much respect for Andrew. That relationship is really important to us.
“We’ll continue to communicate with him directly as the team comes together. We have more work to do.”
Watch: Arizona’s Family 3TV, Arizona’s Family Sports, NBATV
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Alright, Game 46 of the season, and once again you’ll be spending your Sunday night with me. Which, you know, I truly appreciate. Our Suns host the Miami Heat for the last time this season (unless we somehow meet in the NBA Finals…), and there’s definitely a revenge vibe around this matchup: Phoenix lost to them in crunch time 12 days ago.
The Heat haven’t really found their rhythm yet, as they’ve posted a .500 record and a 5–5 stretch over their last ten games. On our side, I’d like to stay optimistic: the recent record is solid, but losing Devin Booker and Jalen Green back-to-back in the last game hurts. A lot.
First, as mentioned earlier, this is an immediate rematch of a highly offensive duel. The two teams faced each other on January 13, 2026, with Miami winning 127–121 in a wide-open game. Bam Adebayo (29 points) and Norman Powell (27 points) punished Phoenix in crunch time. On our side, the Booker–Brooks–Allen trio combined for 74 points.
Second, it’s always a stylistic clash. And statistically, the contrast is fascinating. Miami plays fast (1st in pace), constantly trying to score in transition or early in the shot clock. Phoenix, on the other hand, plays slower (20th in pace), preferring half-court sets, three-point shooting, and structured offense.
And finally, no matter the outcome, this game matters. The Suns are hovering between 6th and 8th in the West, while the Heat want to escape the middle of the Eastern Conference pack. Every win matters in the seeding race, especially for Phoenix, who are clearly looking to secure a playoff spot without going through the play-in.
Key to a Suns Win
I don’t have 20,000 reasons. I have one. And it includes several layers: Phoenix needs to impose itself where it is strongest. That means generating and exploiting second-chance opportunities and extra possessions, especially through offensive rebounding (6th in the league with 12.8 per game) and steals (1st with 10.4).
Our win will also depend on three-point shooting and how easily we can generate those looks. Without Booker, late-clock situations, mid-range creation, and overall offensive organization will be more complicated, so they’ll need to play faster, cleaner, and smarter. And limit turnovers.
Finally, the defense has to show up. The Suns have been elite on that end in 2026 (4th-best defense in the league since January 1st). They need to limit the guys who hurt them last time: Bam and Norman. Forcing Bam to shoot from distance and attacking Powell’s playmaking weaknesses by trapping or isolating him could be options. Obviously, they’re not the only threats, but they’re the pillars of Miami’s system.
Prediction
I’m expecting an exciting, fast-paced game with shots falling and possessions rarely ending in wasted opportunities. I can’t wait to watch this one, and I think the Suns pull it out, painfully, but this roster will get it done. I believe in them.
We have reached the portion of the offseason where most of the major pieces have come off the board (and shocker — for the third offseason in a row, the Dodgers are drinking everybody’s milkshake, allegedly bullying everyone, much to everyone’s agita).
Never mind that the Dodgers have created an environment that both keeps and attracts the league’s best talent. No one can accuse the Dodgers of sitting on their laurels.
“We’ve agents reach out and say, ‘Hey, I know you haven’t called, but our player would really like to play there.’”
Andrew Friedman on the Kyle Tucker signing & the Dodgers culture.
At this point, as fans, we await the upcoming World Baseball Classic and the potential returns of Kiké Hernández (think when the 60-day injured list goes live) and Evan Phillips (think All-Star Break).
Rather than devote column inches today on the Gondola, or the absurd narratives that the Dodgers are responsible for the impending lockout in December of this year, which is just so dumb, but when does a lion worry about the shrill bleating of sheep, it’s really the same story but from different angles.
Let us instead look northward and at our northern cousins to see what, if anything, they have gotten up to.
As for the Arizona Diamondbacks, I have nothing to say as they are the last team to vanquish the Dodgers in October. Game recognizes game, even if you only thumped a now-retired-as-a-three-time-champion Clayton Kershaw, Bobby Miller, and Lance Lynn. I have been respectfully silent for three offseasons, which will be long enough once play resumes in March.
As for the Colorado Rockies, well, my mother picked Denver for the August trip.
But the Giants? I always pay attention because of the fact I live less than an hour from Oracle Park. Even if I wanted to ignore them, the citizenry will not oblige. And the Giants’ offseason can be summarized as follows:
Firm, Masterly Inactivity
To quote one of my favorite British comedies, Yes, Prime Minister, which debuted in 1986, featuring Paul Eddington playing Jim Hacker, a well-meaning doofus who ascended to Prime Minister at the conclusion of Yes, Minister (the previous series), squaring off against Sir Nigel Hawthorne playing Sir Humphrey Appleby, the Cabinet Minister: the Giants have mastered “firm, masterly inactivity” during this offseason.
I have been on record lamenting the obstinate, persistent mediocrity of our northern cousins during these past five years. Apart from a sugar high fluke of 2021, you can basically write the Giants being non-contenders in pen, while glancing and wondering whether a chisel and stone tablets might be more appropriate.
When I last left off, I had the following to say about our northern cousins:
Much like a kid who peaked in high school, instead of engaging in self-reflection and therapy when life did not go according to plan, the Giants assumed everyone else was the problem, 2021 was the norm, and they continued to double down.
And double down and double down. The fun part, especially as a Dodgers writer who lives in the Bay Area, the locals are starting to notice and grouse about this fact.
The Giants signed pitchers Tyler Mahle, Sam Hentges, and Adrian Houser…in a market that had Tatsuya Imai, Bo Bichette, Kyle Tucker, Edwin Diaz, etc. The Dodgers paid almost as much in luxury tax as the Giants paid in total to their roster last year. Talk about not leaving home.
When a head-scratching manager hire is the most notable thing about your offseason, even the locals are starting to wonder if Buster Posey has lost the plot. Sure, he will likely get elected into the Hall of Fame next year, but at this rate, he is mimicking the arc of other star athletes who went into the front office: woefully inadequate.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle spoke to Foul Territory on January 20, and she did not hold back.
To gently disagree with Ms. Slusser on one point, yes, the Giants finished two games out of a playoff spot.
However, portraying the Giants as having any serious postseason aspirations in 2025 is generous to the point of absurdity, without discussing the LOLMets trainwreck. The Mets started 45-24 with the best record in MLB on June 12 before melting down over the next 93 games, going 38-55, worse than everyone except the Rockies, the Washington Nationals, the Minnesota Twins, and the Chicago White Sox.
Yes, the Dodgers were maddeningly inconsistent this summer and even putrid in stretches, but they managed to right the ship, which clearly the Mets did not.
And even if the Giants had somehow bumbled their way into the postseason a la the Cincinnati Reds, their prize would have been facing…the Dodgers, who could be forgiven for what that thumping noise was while easily dispatching the Queen City boys.
Ms. Slusser summarized how team president Buster Posey has said he will make moves, yet ownership has largely been absent in this postseason regarding Bo Bichette (Mets), Tatsuya Imai (Astros), Cody Bellinger (Yankees), and Munetaka Murakami (White Sox). All were available at non-exorbitant contracts.
"He seems convinced that when he wants to spend big, they will let him, but we just aren't seeing it."
Attendance was up marginally in 2025, finishing 7th in baseball while averaging 36,121 per game, compared to 10th in 2024, when the average was 33,096 per game. At this rate, one wonders why.
Farhan 2.0?
Dave Tobener of SFGatewas even less complimentary of the Giants’ offseason on January 22 in a delightful essay titled “I thought Buster Posey had changed the SF Giants’ ways. Looks like I was wrong.” Some highlights to bask in include:
It’s been an underwhelming offseason for Farhan Zaidi and the Giants. Coming off a year when they missed the playoffs by a handful of games, it seemed like the organization was just a few key moves away from making a real push this season. But instead of addressing their most pressing needs in free agency or through a trade, the Giants instead settled for a series of moves that Zaidi is known for: signing pitchers coming off major injuries, loading up on backup catchers, and crossing their fingers that platoons can give them enough offensive production to get by. Very, very underwhelming.
Whoops, hang on – sorry, this is a lede I wrote a few years ago. I opened the wrong Word doc. Let me see here… well, actually, it still works. I just have to change Zaidi’s name to Buster Posey, and it’s good to go…
…As it stands now, the Giants are going to roll out a team that’s remarkably like the one that just went 81-81, only this time with a weaker bullpen, clear lineup holes and a shaky rotation beyond their ace. They seem to be counting on a new manager to generate excitement and right the ship, but has anyone ever bought a ticket to see the manager? Tony Vitello has been making the rounds lately to talk about how he wants the Giants to be the villains of baseball this season (which is laughable considering the team they share a division with), but what reason would anyone have to hate this Giants team? What have they done to make anyone fear them, let alone hate them?
The only vitriol may be coming from their own fan base. There’s a clear path to the playoffs in the National League that they seem to have no interest in taking. It’s maddening. Posey may not be turning into Zaidi, but the differences are getting harder to spot.
When it rains, it pours, because just before this essay was to be submitted, a news alert gave us one last gift.
A thimble for the ocean
To conclude, the media asked Giants’ pitcher Logan Webb after the Giants’ FanFest in San Ramon about his participation in the upcoming WBC. During the scrum, someone asked Webb his thoughts about the Giants’ offseason.
To his credit, Webb was diplomatic, while looking like someone being asked to empty an ocean with a thimble.
“It’s not my job to add guys or do anything,” Webb told reporters Saturday at Giants FanFest in San Ramon. “It’s our job to just go out there and try to compete. Obviously, yeah, it’s not fun for me to watch the team that won it and the team that kicked our ass a lot last year go out and get some really good players just to make it more difficult.
The Dodgers prevailed in nine of 13 contests in 2025. For the record, if not for Blake Treinen and Tanner Scott, that count would have been eleven out of 13 contests. And the Dodgers just added to their bullpen and upgraded their corner outfielder play, while likely saying goodbye to Giantkiller Michael Conforto.
Do I have much pity for an organization that helped nudge the Oakland Athletics into their exile in West Sacramento? Sometimes you reap what you sow.
The Giants did make an acquisition back in December that I almost forgot about: the Curran Theater, which is about a mile and a half from the ballpark and the Mission Rock development. I do not recall the McCourts ever buying a theater, but considering that 15 years ago, the Dodgers were the punchline, the recommendation for the Dodgers faithful is to enjoy every drop of this golden era.
If we were to do a Sporcle of the Diamondbacks current 40-man roster, I strongly suspect that Fernandez would come bottom of the list, in terms of name recognition. Jose is the youngest player there, having turned just 22 in September – beating Mitch Bratt by a couple of months. He was added to the 40-man in November, in order to keep him from being picked in the Rule 5 draft. As that implies, he has been in the organization for some time, signing to a $275,000 bonus in February 2021. However, he has moved through the ranks quite quickly, spending all of 2025 with the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles, in his age 21 season.
Bar Manuel Pena, Fernandez was the youngest player on the Sod Poodles’ Opening Day roster, and close to three years younger than the average player in the Texas League. In addition to his youth, Jose also had to handle a change in role this year. He switched to shortstop, having played mostly at third-base to that point. The position adjustment does appear to be a work in progress, Fernandez making 22 errors at SS over 104 games – though the play below was certainly nice. But with LuJames Groover likely embedded as the Diamondbacks prospect of choice at the hot corner (and recently named the #6 prospect in baseball there), changing direction might represent a clearer long-term path to the majors for Jose.
Looking at the raw stats, you would be forgiven for thinking that Fernandez enjoyed a break-out campaign with the bat. He had never posted a .700 OPS at any minor-league level, putting up a slash of .256/.292/.344 (.636 OPS) with High-A Hillsboro in 2024. So it might seem that batting .272 with 17 home-runs, for a .775 OPS, was a great improvement. However, Amarillo, which sits 3,600 feet above sea-level, is a total launching-pad. You think Reno is bad? And it is, in the 93rd percentile as a hitter-friendly environment. But Amarillo is more extreme still: #1 among all 120 minor-league parks. Fernandez’s OPS in 2025 was almost exactly at the Sod Poodles’ team average (.777).
Still, there weren’t many 21-year-olds playing a full season of Double-A baseball. The decision of the team to add Jose to the 40-man roster speaks to their interest in ensuring he remained within the Arizona farm system, and was seen as a credible selection onto another major-league roster. While he has yet to make an appearance on the MLB Pipeline top thirty, Fangraphs ranked him in December as the team’s #42 prospect, saying “He has the kind of wiry frame to make you think there could still be a little more pop coming even at his age, and you can dream on a utility guy with enough power to be dangerous. More likely, he’s a depth middle infielder.”
His presence on the roster was likely a decision made for protection, rather than any immediate expectation that Fernandez will reach the major leagues. Obviously, the team has its literal everyday shortstop in Geraldo Perdomo, who skipped only 19 innings there all last season. Should need arise – and I imagine we all fervently hope it doesn’t – Arizona has reasonably experienced backup options, already on the 40-man roster (or NRIs, such as Ildemaro Vargas). With no immediate rush for 40-man spots, I imagine Fernandez may well start the year again in Double-A. If we see him in the majors this year, that suggests something has gone rather wrong.
When I evaluate the St. Louis Cardinals actions during the offseason so far, there’s only one thing I’m certain of and that’s the fact that President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom and his team are smarter than I am. That realization gives me peace because otherwise I would have to wonder if the Cardinals are the kings of the waiting game or if the team is once again overvaluing players.
As of this moment, the St. Louis Cardinals have yet to deal arguably two of their most valuable players. All-star Brendan Donovan and lefty JoJo Romero are still on the St. Louis Cardinals roster despite the assessment by many that their value will never be higher than it is right now. I saw a conversation on the St. Louis Cardinals sub-Reddit which made me think. One commenter mentioned that he believed Brendan Donovan was comparable to Tommy Edman who the Cardinals traded away too late according to some opinions and didn’t receive the return they would have gotten if John Mozeliak had been willing to trade him at the height of his value. The general theme was to learn from mistakes of the previous administration.
Last time I checked, I am still not a mind-reader which is a shame because I would love to know what Chaim Bloom is really thinking when it comes to Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero. That means we’ll have to settle for hearsay for now. A report from Sodo Mojo claimed that the St. Louis Cardinals asks for prospects with the Seattle Mariners were treating him as a cornerstone player “while other clubs view him more like a high-end supporting piece”. A report by Ken Rosenthal The Athletic inferred that the Cardinals prospect demands for Brendan Donovan were on the same level as Nico Hoerner and Ketel Marte who are both WAR rated about 1.5 higher than Brendan.
There is hope that Chaim Bloom’s patience might still be rewarded as many believe the New York Mets traded prospects they shouldn’t have for Freddy Peralta. The same can be said for the Chicago Cubs who traded their #1 prospect and two other players for Edward Cabrera. Could it be that Chaim Bloom really does have the winning hand that he’s betting on? The “experts” at ESPN still believe that the San Francisco Giants will eventually give the Cardinals the prospects they want for Brendan Donovan. Buster Olney says that the Seattle Mariners will end up with JoJo Romero. I’m frankly surprised that JoJo hasn’t been traded already, but that makes me wonder if a blockbuster deal that includes Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero to the Seattle Mariners is a real possibility. If the Giants aren’t willing to let go of their #1 prospect Bryce Eldridge, I prefer many players the Mariners reportedly are willing to make available.
I’ve seen the last few weeks of this offseason before Spring Training begins described as a game of chicken. Will Chaim Bloom blink before his competitors do? If the Cardinals are found guilty of overvaluing their players again like many of us believe they have done in the past, we risk of passing the opportunity to turn this rebuild into a supercharged juggernaut instead of a tepid work in progress. I’m gonna fall back to my first thought. Chaim Bloom and his team are smarter than me and that’s a fact that gives me hope that we’ll be the benefactors of the perfect waiting game and not a what could have been.
