Hilfestellungen » And nobody has won four for a team tha

CLEVELAND -- As the Cavaliers await word from Andrew Bynum, two other teams have joined the chase for the free agent centre. Bynum, who didnt play a single second for Philadelphia last season because of knee injuries, is considering a two-year offer from the Cavs, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Cleveland made the offer, which includes a team option in the second year, during his visit to the Cavs facility Monday. Bynum did not work out but the team examined him thoroughly. The person with knowledge of the negotiations spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Yahoo! Sports first reported Clevelands offer and said it was worth $24 million. While mulling Clevelands deal, Bynum visited the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday and plans to meet Wednesday with the Dallas Mavericks, his agent, David Lee, told the AP on Tuesday night. Lee said there has been no decision made on Clevelands deal. He would not say if the Hawks made Bynum an offer. Bynum lives in Atlanta and could be convinced to stay home. "I dont want to comment about any ongoing negotiations," Lee said. The 25-year-old Bynum had arthroscopic surgery on both knees in March, but the Cavs apparently are confident he will return to the form that made him one of the NBAs best centres and a two-time All-Star. Theyre also counting on him thriving under Cleveland coach Mike Brown, who has returned to the Cavs after being fired three years ago. Brown and Bynum spent one season together with the Los Angeles Lakers and the 7-footer had his best year, averaging 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds. Over the past four seasons, Bynum has averaged 14.7 points and 9.5 rebounds. Cleveland would like to get an answer from Bynum as soon as possible, but the team did not give him any deadline. The NBAs free-agency moratorium period ends Wednesday. The Cavs have already landed forward Earl Clark and guard Jarrett Jack in free agency and are looking to move up quickly. They would immediately vault into contention in the Eastern Conference with a healthy Bynum paired with All-Star guard Kyrie Irving and a roster that includes forward Tristan Thompson, guard Dion Waiters and forward Anthony Bennett, the No. 1 overall pick in last months draft. Lee has said Bynum will be ready to play by the start of training camp. The Sixers acquired Bynum last summer from the Lakers as part of a four-team trade. But Bynum, who made $16.9 million despite not playing last season, never got healthy enough to get on the floor and the Sixers crumbled. The Cavs would be taking a risk with Bynum that could have huge rewards. He would instantly raise their profile and probably get them back to the playoffs after winning just 66 games combined the past three seasons. In giving him only a two-year deal, they would not be tying up much money which would allow them to stay flexible next summer when several top-tier free agents -- possibly LeBron James -- will be on the market. Tyler Cook Jersey .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. Shawn Kemp Jersey .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. https://www.cheapcavaliers.com/632q-j-r-smith-jersey-cavaliers.html . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Custom Cleveland Cavaliers Jerseys . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Kyrie Irving Jersey . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. So here we go. The Chicago Cubs are going to ...Wait. Get a grip. What am I doing? What am I saying? What am I getting myself into?Yes, its time for that column youve been looking, waiting for all these months. Time for that moment when I (incorrectly) tell you exactly who will (translation: wont) win the World Series.And it would be soooooo easy, soooooo safe, soooooo obvious to pick You Know Who. The best team in baseball. The winningest team in baseball. The team with the legendary 798-year World Series drought. (OK, so its 108 -- whatever.) The team that would rock the planet like no one else if it actually, finally, magically wins the World Series.But sorry, my friends. Cant do it. I made up my mind eight years ago that I am never, ever going to pick the Cubs to win the World Series again. They can thank me later.The Boston Red Sox are going to win the 2016 World Series. Thats my actual (guaranteed to be inaccurate) prediction. But when it came time to write this piece, I felt there were just as many reasons to explain why I WASNT picking the Cubs as why I WAS picking the Red Sox.So why not the Cubs? Ill get to that momentarily. But first, its time to reveal the results of my annual Whos Going to Win the World Series survey of 25 astute baseball executives. And if youre expecting a Cubs landslide here, well, the results are revealing.I asked the group to pick the team that would advance to the World Series from each league and then predict who would win it. In the case of execs from clubs in contention, I asked them just to pick a team in their league they feared most, along with the club they thought would get to the Series from the other league.I conduct this survey every year because A) its fascinating and B) hey, nothing makes me feel better about my own prognostication ineptitude than knowing that the smartest front-office minds in the game are just as awful at this as I am.Over the past two years, do you want to guess how many execs who took part in this exercise guessed the eventual winner of the World Series? That would be exactly ONE. None predicted the Giants in 2014. One picked the Royals last year. So keep that in mind as we unveil the results of this years voting:American League Favorite (or Most-Feared Team) Red Sox 16 Rangers 7 Blue Jays 2*(*Survey conducted while the wild-card race was still raging.)National League Favorite (or Most-Feared Team) Cubs 13 Dodgers 10 Nationals 2World Series Winner Cubs 7 Red Sox 6 Dodgers 4 Rangers 4So did you expect it to be that close? Nope. Me, neither. But I got the distinct vibe that many of these folks felt much like I did -- that picking the best team never makes you look like a genius anyway, so why not go down some other road?Obviously, the pick is the Cubs in the National League, quipped one NL exec. So I like the Dodgers.Too much hype about the Cubs, said another.Out of principle, I wont pick them, said an AL exec.Well, Im not sure precisely what principle is at work here. But you get the idea. So why not the Cubs? Here are four reasons why not:1. Beware of the No. 1 seed: Only two times in the past 25 postseasons has the team with sole possession of the best record in baseball won the World Series (2009 Yankees, 1998 Yankees). And to find the last time a National League team had the best record and won it all, you need to go back (gulp) 30 years -- to the 86 Mets. So theres that.2. The pressure is about to mount: In the postseason, the pressure on both teams to win is usually about 50-50, one exec said. But in this case ... the pressure is on the Cubs every game, because of how well theyve played, because of their record and, most of all, because of the expectations, especially in that city. If they lose one of the first two games at Wrigley, the pressure will be incredible.3. Whats up with Jake? Two different execs went out of their way to discuss the recent issues of Jake Arrieta, a guy whose work over his past 16 starts (4.44 ERA) looks a lot different than the superhuman impression hed been doing over the previous year and a half. Never seen him look so ordinary, one NL exec said after Arrietas last start. I would be concerned if I was them.4. The voice of doom: Finally, the last thing a team saddled with a 108-year title drought needs is MY support. Ive been writing this column before every postseason for more than a decade. Ive picked the Cubs three times -- 2003, 2007 and 2008. If you dont recall their jubilant World Series parades in any of those years, you would be correct. Thats all my fault. My prediction record is so disastrous, Im practically the Cleveland Browns of prognosticators. So why would I want to go and doom the Cubs at a time like this? If the bitter residents of Chicago ever decide to blame someone besides a billy goat, I dont need that someone to be me. I think the Cubs will get to the World Series. But somebody else can piick them to win.dddddddddddd Im out.Phew. Glad I got that out of the way. I feel better now. But more importantly, that allows me to move along to the other big theme of this column:Five reasons the Red Sox will win1. What a lineup: The Red Sox have scored an incredible 83 more runs than the next-best offense in the American League (Cleveland). While the Blue Jays had a similar run-scoring gap last season, only one other AL team in the past 80 years has managed to put up a 100-run gap between itself and the pack -- and you need to go back all the way to the 1950 Red Sox to find that one. Their lineup is so deep and so good, said one AL exec. The way they work counts, foul balls off, wear down pitchers, theyre just so good. And they hit good pitching.2. Their strength is greater than any other teams strength: Lets get back to that last line: They hit good pitching. Or to put this in the words of a rival GM: Bostons offense is the singular best strength of all the teams. Now those are words that get my attention this time of year. When we try to break down which clubs profile best to survive the four-week October marathon, isnt that what we look for -- a team so dominant that even the best teams in the sport cant stop it from doing what it does best? And thats the Red Sox. Against pitchers who average a strikeout per inning or better, the Sox lead the major leagues in average, on-base percentage, slugging and OPS. Against pitchers defined as power pitchers, Bostons OPS (.798) is 65 points higher than the next-best team. But the Red Sox are also first in OPS against finesse pitchers (.848). And they went into the weekend as the only team in the past five years with an OPS of .800 or better against both left-handed and right-handed pitching. So good luck finding a matchup that looks like this teams kryptonite.3. Their rotation is better than you think: It would have been easy to theorize a month ago that this team didnt have enough starting pitching to navigate October. But you might want to rethink that. Clay Buchholz and Eduardo Rodriguez have made 11 starts between them since Sept. 1. Theyve allowed two runs or fewer in eight of those starts. Nobody questions whether Rick Porcello is the real deal anymore. (Hes dangerous, super-confident, incredibly intelligent and super-aggressive, said one rival exec. Hes put it all together.) And while you can feel free to question David Prices 5.12 career postseason ERA, Id rather have him pitching Game 1 or 2 than a lot of guys, a longtime NL exec said. Price is 8-0 and 2.37 in his past eight starts against teams other than the Yankees (who wont be participating), for what thats worth.4. Their bullpen is hot: Amazing how the return of Koji Uehara has put the pieces of this bullpen back in place. Since the beginning of September, the Red Sox pen ranks second in the AL in ERA (1.81), and first in opponent average (.198) and strikeout rate (10.4 K/9). The funny thing is, aside from concerns about their left-handed relief, the most questions I heard about anyone in this bullpen were about the closer, Craig Kimbrel, mostly because of his 15 walks in his past 20 innings. (There are days it looks like he just doesnt trust himself, and I dont know why, said one scout.) But if the biggest worry in this bullpen is a man with 83 strikeouts and just 28 hits in 53 innings, that doesnt sound like much of a crisis to me.5. Papi Power: Every once in a while in sports, the script writes itself. So theres just something about the way the stars keep lining up for David Ortizs retirement tour that feels as if there could be one more incredible chapter to come. One NL exec admits that when he picked the Red Sox, thats part of the equation. Theres definitely something magical about it. Well, if there is, you might want to file this away. According to Elias Sports Bureau research, only two position players in the past 60 years (Dal Maxvill and Gene Tenace, back in the 1960s, 70s and 80s) have won four World Series without sneaking onto the Yankees. And nobody has won four for a team that wasnt the Yankees since Jim Gilliam did it for the Dodgers in the 50s and 60s. Well, Big Papi already has three rings. And October looms.So there you have it. Five carefully thought-out reasons why this pick makes sense, backed with the reassuring support of a bunch of really bright people in the game. Now what could possibly go wrong?Outside of the fact that any team in this tournament (including the Cubs) could turn into the 2014 Giants as soon as this fun begins, I can think of only one thing that could get in the way of the Red Soxs fourth ride on the duck boats in the past 12 years:Th