I Was Right

The silence from my sparring partner confirms it: acquiring Zach Randolph was the right move for the Knicks.

Why the Randolph Trade Was the Right Move

There has been plenty of talk regarding the recent Zach Randolph trade to the New York Knicks and I am baffled at how there are any negative opinions about it at all. One of the major sticking points I've heard is regarding Randolph's contract, which will pay him $61.2 million over the next four seasons. Big contracts like Randolph's have burned Knicks fans in the past with Allan Houston just coming off the books this year after signing a 6-year, $4.9 billion contract extension in 2001. Allan Houston is actually talking about a comeback now, after being the second highest paid player in the NBA the last two seasons.

But back to Randolph. Despite the $61.2 million that he will earn the next four years, the Knicks actually save money for a future season. The salaries of Randolph, Fred Jones and Dan Dickau equal $19,933,333 for this season, which is slightly more than the $18,927,240 that Steve Francis and Channing Frye will cost the Trail Blazers. However, Fred Jones and Dan Dickau are both in their last seasons for their current contracts, which means that they will come off the books after this year. For the 2008-09 season, Randolph will be the only one under contract, which will be for $14,666,666. Francis has two years remaining and Frye three, so the 2008-09 season will cost the Trail Blazers $20,343,769, which is more than $5.5 million in savings for the Knicks.

Randolph will make $16,000,000 in 2009-10 and $17,333,333 in 2010-11, which seems like a lot, until you realize who the Knicks won't be paying in that time frame. 2008-09 will be Stephon Marbury's last season under his current deal, which will pay him more than $42 million over the coming season and the following one. Malik Rose is owed almost $15 million in the same two seasons. For players with three years left (meaning their last year on the Knicks payroll will be Randolph's third) include Quentin Richardson at $9+ million and Jerome James at $6.6 million.

In the end, Randolph does have significant money coming to him over the next four seasons, but his contract almost looks frugal next to the guys already stealing from the Knicks. Adding additional salaries to the cap has been something that Knick fans cannot seem to look past, but it's essential when adding a player of such quality.

Speaking of quality, did you know that only 5 players in the NBA averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds last year? Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer and, you guessed it, Zach Randolph. Not bad company to be in, especially when Randolph scored more than any of the other players in the group at 23.7 points per game. Randolph shot 81.9% from the free throw line, which would have been third on the Knicks. The Knicks struggled mightily at the end of the season and a lot of it had to do with poor free throw shooting, especially from their big men.

Zach Randolph will be 26 later this month, which is just before the prime of his career. There is nothing about Channing Frye that makes me think his prime will come close to Randolph's, or frankly, any time soon (Frye is one year younger). Randolph is coming off the best season of his career and moving to the Eastern Conference should only help. He was able to average 23.7 points per game and 10.1 rebounds while playing against the likes of Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Camby, Dirk Nowtizki, Elton Brand, Carlos Boozer, and Amare Stoudemire. Power forward is much lighter in the Eastern Conference with Antawn Jamison, Al Jefferson, Chris Bosh, and Rasheed Wallace to name a few of the better ones.

There are a couple of knocks against Randolph's defensive abilities, which make Eddy Curry look average. Stats can be deceiving though and I believe Randolph is better than what the stats say (or at least not as bad). He averaged 0.2 blocks per game last season, which is slightly worse than the 0.3 that Carlos Boozer averaged. Would you consider Carlos Boozer an awful defender? Though I think the Knicks will be signficantly slower on the defensive end with Randolph and Curry clogging up the middle, it's not like the Knicks had Ben Wallace playing the 4. They did not necessarily get better defensively, but they didn't get worse. Offensively, it's not even a contest.

I was never a big fan of Channing Frye and last year just made those feelings stronger. At his age (which included four years in college), you would expect to see considerable growth from his first year to his second. Unfortunately, Frye was a victim of the sophomore slump, where is scoring went down from 12.3 points per game to 9.5, rebounds decreased from 5.8 to 5.5 and blocks went down from 0.7 to 0.6. I brought up the last two stats to show that Frye was very weak on the defensive end and he shows no desire to rebound despite being 6-11. At 24 years old, I would hope to see development instead of the step back that Frye took.

The last point which must be made is that in any trade situation, you always want to end up with the best player in the deal. The Knicks did that, while being able to shed salary for the 2008-09 season and acquiring one of the five players in the NBA to average 20 and 10. Overall, this was the right move for the Knicks and should drastically increase their win total to around 40.

AL Starting All Star - OF

I love sushi, and I love watching Ichiro play baseball. While often people complain that starting all-stars for baseball are purely based on popularity and who has cooler commercials (or more internet savvy fans) Ichiro actually deserves to start purely on the numbers. He is second in the league in batting at .364 (and climbing). 7th in the league in runs scored at 53, and would probably have a lot more if not for the anemic mariners offense, I mean cmon, Richie Sexson suuuucks. Ichiro leads the league in hits, and is tied for second with 22 stolen bases. He even has 37 rbi's out of the lead off spot 3 more than Grady Sizemore. Plus Ichiro may be the best defensive outfielder in the AL. Think about this, he is a gold glove right fielder and this year moved to center because the Mariner's asked him to. So what happens? Not a single error, 5 outfield assists and i'm shocked it's that high cause who the heck runs on Ichiro? You can't have an all-star game without the Madonna of baseball.

Ichiro, Ichiro!

AL Starting All Star - C

Catcher in the AL could be the most stacked position in the league after NL shortstop. Well, except for Jason Kendall. So why Victor Martinez over Jorge Posada? Both players are terrible at throwing runners out, although both call good games and have had to deal with some pretty bad pitchers (Chase Wright & Jeremy Sowers anyone?). Posada has been hitting for a much higher average, but Martinez has been more of a run producer and power threat. Martinez has 101 Runs + RBI’s and 14 homers. Posada has 84 Runs + RBI’s and only 9 homers. They both hit in stacked lineups with good protection and a lot of runners on base. Posada’s high average in my mind hasn’t produced nearly as many runs, and ultimately that is what counts for a team. Plus Yankee fans have now stolen Jose Reyes’s chant and given it to Jorge. You know, like they did for Billy Wagner’s song.

Hip Hip Vic!

AL Starting All-Star - C

The debate for the best catcher in the American League pretty much comes down to Jorge Posada and Victor Martinez. Not to take anything away from Pudge Rodriguez, Kenji Johjima or Gerald Laird, but Posada and Martinez are on a level above the others. Their stats are relatively similar, with Posada 24 points ahead in batting average, 26 points higher in on base percentage and 3 more runs scored, versus Martinez's lead of 4 more home runs and 14 more RBI. I would argue that the additional RBIs are a result of Posada batting behind Alex Rodriguez, who leads the Major Leagues in RBI, but I don't have to go there.

They are nearly identical defensively, with Martinez playing a couple of games at first in addition to catcher. This in no way should get him additional votes for playing behind the plate. If it does, then I'll note that Posada has had to catch for (by my last count) 13 different starting pitchers this year. That can't be easy on a catcher.

A close call I think, but Posada's third best average in the American League should make the difference.

HIP HIP JORGE!

AL Starting All-Star - SS

Yes, I am here to convince you that Derek Jeter should be an All-Star over Orlando Cabrera. Don't worry, it won't take long. It has been pointed out that their stats nearly mirror each other, which is certainly true. Jeter is hitting 1 point higher, has 2 more home runs, 2 more runs scored, two more triples and 9 more walks, whereas Cabrera has 4 more hits (in 2 more games), 1 more stolen base and 6 more RBI.

The difference that was pointed out was that Orlando Cabrera was the "life blood" of a division leader and Jeter is not. Has someone forgotten about Vladimir Guerrero? Without Vlad's .328 average, 12 home runs and 63 RBI, this team would be no where near the top of the weakest division in the American League (make your arguments that it's better than the AL East, but I only argue that Toronto would be in second in the West if not for the injuries they've had this year). Heck, I would even take the Devil Rays over the Mariners at this point. If there is anyone who gets this team going other than Vlad, it's Chone Figgins, not Cabrera.

Cabrera has 1 Gold Glove and Jeter has 3. I will not discuss defense again.

I think it should also be noted that Orlando Cabrera has never hit .300 for an entire season in his Major League career. Shouldn't we have someone in the All-Star game who at least represents what they have done for their whole career (or at least more than one season) vs. some random fluke season?

No thank you to Orlando Cabrera from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

AL Starting All-Star - 2B

I agree with my small-ball loving friend that the AL second base position is one of the weakest, only because Robinson Cano started off so cold, but the answer clearly is not Placido Polanco. Yes, he is hitting .337 on the year, but of his 92 hits, only 19 are for extra bases. Do you really want someone starting an All-Star game who hits a single almost 80% of the time that he does actually get a hit?

The answer to this question is clearly BJ Upton. Though currently limited by injuries, in his first 56 games (vs. Polanco's 64) Upton is batting .320, with 9 home runs and 13 stolen bases. Let me rephrase: that is 9 home runs vs. Polanco's 1 and 13 stolen bases vs. Polanco's 2. Though Polanco does have 28 more hits (again, playing 8 extra games), his on base percentage is still 16 points lower than Upton's and his slugging percentage is 124 points lower as well.

Defensively, Polanco absolutely gets the edge, as Upton has been playing out of position at second base for most of the season. Nevertheless, this is the same All-Star squad that will start David Ortiz at first base, so I can't have Upton's clear offensive accomplishments get diminished because of poor defensive statistics.

Placido Polanco an All-Star? Please. I'd rather have Brian Roberts (who also has more home runs, stolen bases, and a higher on base percentage).

AL Starting All Star - SS

While my tomato loving co-writer may try to convince you that Derek Jeter should be the starting shorstop, this is not a popularity contest, I’m basing my opinions on actual performance this year, and if you go by the numbers Orlando Cabrera is nearly mirroring Jeter in every category (Jeter has a few more homers, Cabrera has more steals). To me the real tie breaker is two things – Cabrera is the lifeblood of a division leader and Jeter is not. Cabrera also is a better fielder than Jeter with a .986 fielding percentage. In fact, I still don’t believe Jeter ever should have won the gold glove, but that is an entirely different debate. I would be happy to see either player representing the AL at shortstop, but for me Cabrera has been ever so slightly betters even though we all know Jeter will be voted in. Plus Cabrera is a survivor of the Expos organization, that's got to count for something!

Fight the evil empire, Vote Orlando!

AL Starting All Star - 2b

Probably the weakest position out of any in both leagues except NL catcher, AL second basemen doesn’t have that stud like Chase Utley or even a great defender who is a pretty good hitter. Luis Castillo is having a great year, but his offense isn’t what it used to be, even if his defense is gold glove. Because of this, I think the best of a mediocre bunch is Placido Polanco. His numbers won’t wow you but they are very good, and he is an above average defensive second basemen on a contending team. His numbers: .336, 1 hr, 35 RBI’s, 48 runs scored. He also has a .377 OBP and is an excellent number two hitter, advancing runners, getting on base and scoring with the big bats behind him. In my mind you can’t ask for another second basemen who does as much as him in the AL, and doing it on a winning team only shows off his value. Plus I love seeing first time guys making the team and he is has an enormous head.

Vote Polanco Now!

Welcome...

Welcome to Swishing and Dishing, an online forum for two friends to argue continuously about sports in a non-violent manner. Growing up in New York City, we have taken separate paths while choosing sides of important battles; Yankees vs. Mets and Jets vs. Giants is where it starts, but the opiniative disagreements are aplenty.

Despite learning over the years to hate the other person's teams, we've been brought together by the New York Knicks, who seem to be ripping fans away every year that Isiah Thomas continues working for (against) the team. During these trying times, it's important to remember that we'll always have the best color commentator in basketball, Walt Frazier. Famous for such sayings as (you guessed it) "swishing and dishing," "bounding and astounding," "swopping and hooping," and "hustle and muscle," Frazier constantly reminds us that no matter how hard it is to watch the Knicks struggle through another losing season, he will always be there to show us that rhyming two words together is simply serendipitous.