andere Teams » a new coach or a new system. I

CLEVELAND -- Serious about winning the World Series, the Indians batted .500 in making a pair of major trades on Sunday.Call it an All-Star split doubleheader.Going all in for October, the AL Central leader acquired All-Star left-handed reliever Andrew Miller from the New York Yankees for four minor leaguers.The deal came less than 12 hours after the Indians had reached agreement on the parameters of a swap with Milwaukee for Brewers All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy. However, that trade was stopped by Lucroy, who refused to waive his no-trade clause and turned down a chance to join a contender.There were some circumstances that came up that made me void it, obviously, Lucroy said in Milwaukee. I think when it eventually comes out, everyone will understand why. Im not going to comment on any specifics.Lucroys decision would have been a huge blow to the Indians if not for the addition of Miller, who will help Cleveland manager Terry Francona shorten games and gives the Indians a legitimate shot at winning their first World Series title since 1948.It certainly should help us a lot, Francona said before the Indians beat the Oakland Athletics 8-0 to complete a three-game sweep. I know when we go into New York next week, we don have to face Andrew Miller, which will be really nice.So will his ability to mix and match Miller with right-hander Bryan Shaw in the late innings before handing the ball to closer Cody Allen.The Indians sent four minor leaguers, including highly touted outfielder Clint Frazier, to New York for the 31-year-old Miller, who is expected to arrive in Cleveland on Sunday night and could be ready to join the bullpen when the club opens a four-game series against Minnesota.When the team officially welcomed Miller with a photo on the scoreboard during Sundays game, the crowd at Progressive Field burst into a loud ovation knowing he is on the way.Although they have one of the games best starting staffs, the Indians bullpen needed a proven lefty and there is none better than Miller, who possesses a nearly unhittable slider and brings a 6-1 record, 1.39 ERA and postseason experience to Cleveland.The Indians had been tracking Miller for weeks but were reluctant to part with any of their top prospects, especially Frazier, a 21-year-old who can hit with power and was recently promoted to Triple-A Columbus.However, with the club leading its division and showing signs of being able to compete in October, Indians owner Paul Dolan and president Chris Antonetti felt the time was right to go all in and see if they can win their first World Series in 68 years.We want to try to do what we can to get to the postseason and win a World Series, Antonetti said. Thats why we do what we do, and we felt that this team has done its part.For weeks, there have been rumblings about what the Indians might or might not do before the deadline. Fans grumbled, players worried and no one was sure if the club would be buyers or sellers.Hes the perfect guy to have and we got him, Indians closer Cody Allen said before the clubs series finale with Oakland. It breathes a lot of life into this clubhouse. Were in first place with the guys we have, but to get a game-changer like Miller, that lets us know everybody in the front office wants to win as badly as we do right now. Were not thinking about two years from now, were thinking about winning in 2016.After the Yankees dealt closer Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs, Miller knew he might be next and was not shocked by the deal. Miller spoke to Francona shortly after the trade was finalized and told him he would do whatever is needed.For me now, its a chance to go to a team thats in the thick of it and has big plans for this year, said Miller, who is signed through 2018 at $9 million annually. Im not going to change one bit, whatever they ask me to do, hopefully do it up to their standards. Theyve got a pretty darn good team. Theyve got some good pieces out in the bullpen. Theyve got a great lineup, rotation.In making two significant moves, the Indians are also feeding off a positive vibe in the city started when the Cavaliers, their next-door-neighbors in Gateway Plaza, won the NBA championship last month to end Clevelands 52-year title drought.Francona, who helped the Boston Red Sox win their first Series in 86 years, believes the trade for Miller should quiet those Cleveland fans critical of the teams hesitancy to aim high.Chris and the guys just went and got the very best guy there was, he said. And if you dont think other teams wanted him, youre crazy. They went and got the best there is. Theres no better message.Miller didnt come cheap. The Indians had to part with Frazier along with minor league pitchers Justus Sheffield, Ben Heller and J.P. Feyereisen. Frazier was the No. 5 overall pick in 2013. In 94 games this season at Double- and Triple-A, hes batting .273 with 13 homers and 48 RBI.---AP freelance writers Steve Herrick in Cleveland and Mark Didtler in Tampa, Florida, contributed to this report. Wholesale Air Max 270 . Speaking to the Chicago Tribune at baseballs Winter Meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Boras called the former home of the Expos a "tremendous environment" for baseball. Cheap Air Max 270 China . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. http://www.discountairmax270.com/ .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. Wholesale Air Max 270 China . Bradwell was scheduled to become a free agent Tuesday. Born and raised in Toronto, Bradwell is entering his sixth CFL season, with all six played for his hometown Argonauts. Air Max 270 Cheap Online .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. One of the great advantages of fantasy basketball over football is sample size. Eighty-two games versus 16. Six months versus four. Twenty-six weeks versus 16. Two hundred possessions versus 25.Theres plenty of time to revert to the mean. Whether a player is flourishing (Gorgui Dieng) or floundering (Kristaps Porzingis), they have about 78 games or so to get back to normal.But what if a player is coming to grips with a new normal?The NBA posted a particularly dramatic offseason this summer with 10 coaching changes and high-octane free agency ... fueled by an ungodly amount of newly created cap space.Players were placed within new zip codes ... systems ... rotations. Many of the factors that drive fantasy production are driven by chemistry. Sometimes, just a single new element can throw off a players entire fantasy outlook.One should never, ever overreact to the opening week of the NBA season. But it is more illustrative of a players fantasy value than a month of preseason activity.And right now, there are a few players you may need to be just a little concerned about.Karl-Anthony Towns, C, Minnesota Timberwolves2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 7 (13.69 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 48 (5.03 points)Tom Thibodeau is one of the NBAs finest coaches. A hyper-intense, defense-first maven. A culture transformer. A leader who stresses the little things that dont end up in a box score.And therein lies the problem.Because things that dont end up in box scores dont help us.Thibodeau is a noted fantasy-value serial killer. But in a way, the notation is unwarranted. If youre a selfish offensive player more concerned with getting yours? Thibodeau can chew your numbers up.But if you defend your position and rebound well, you wont have too much to worry about. Just ask Jimmy Butler.Towns is an across-the-board producer. He generates numbers in nooks and crannies (4.3 assists per game, 1.0 3-pointers) that lie beyond the parameters of a post player.But his rebounds per game are decidedly down -- from 10.5 to 6.7. And while were dealing with an astonishingly small sample size, there is one large variable that concerns me.An active, high-minute, fully operational, recently well-paid Gorgui Dieng is a very large variable.Long one of fantasys most underrated players (due to Sam Mitchells inexplicable penchant for giving lesser talents his minutes), Dieng is going predictably nuts under Thibodeau. Because Dieng is Thibodeaus kind of guy.He rebounds. He blocks shots. He protects the rim with aplomb.Towns is 48th on the player rater. Dieng is 12th. Towns is collecting under seven rebounds a game. Dieng is hoarding 11.Its only three games. Yes, Dieng could be celebrating his new four-year, $64 million extension. But if he continues to harness 34.0 minutes per game, he could erase just enough of Towns rebounds and blocks to drive Towns down into a late-first-round valuation.Klay Thompson, SG, Golden State Warriors2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 18 (11.29 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 128 (1.46 points)There was a lot of preseason palaver concerning Kevin Durants siphoning of Stephen Currys production. And while Curry hasnt been quite his league-leading 2015-16 self to date (20th overall), it seems as if he will adjust.Curry produces in many areas. He has several statistical categories he can draw upon for fantasy value.Klay Thompson is another story. Thompsons top-20 2015-16 campaign relied on his elite standing in two areas: points and 3-pointers.(Thompson also shot 87 percent at the free throw line. But he averaged only 2.8 free throw attempts a game. I would argue that Thompsons .425 3-point percentage -- across 8.1 attempts a game -- made his .470 field goal percentage borderline elite.)I never quite understood why there wasnt more concern surrounding Durants effect on Thompson. Thompsons a catch-and-shoot player. Maybe the NBAs best catch-and-shoot player. He doesnt require a high usage rate to deliver value.Thompson just needs to catch and shoot 3-point attempts ... and make them.But if Thompson isnt making his 3-point shots? If hes, say, 3-for-28 from deep over his first four games? Thats a serious fantasy problem. Because shooting about 42 percent from deep is the fulcrum that leverages Thompson into the top 20.The volume isnt that far off. Thompsons 16.5 field goal attempts per game is right up there with his 2015-16 average (17.3 FGA). His 7.0 3-point attempts are within striking distance of last seasons 8.1 (a 14 percent drop-off).So what gives?Thompson is a rhythm guy. A system guy. A player that relies on pace and spacing. By the way, thats a condition for most elite shooting guard production, since so much elite SG play is 33-point-driven.ddddddddddddThompson can be streaky. He can let emotion interfere with his play. Shot makers thrive on flow. Confidence. (Which really means little more than, Yeah, hes a shooting guard.)But when you go from option two on offense to a distant, remote third option? Behind two top-five players? And you have a shooters mentality? And youre the emotional opposite of your combustible power forward (who doesnt need to make shots to create elite value)?It may portend a permanent shift in overall production.Thompsons the clear victim of KD-to-CA. But Thompson isnt going to shoot 11 percent from behind the arc for an entire season. Its just a bad opening week.But I do believe those of you that drove Thompsons average draft position up to 24.9 are going to walk away slightly disappointed.Trailing behind Curry and Durant, Thompson may be more of a fourth-round kind of guy. Thats not bad. But changes in rotation can hurt when youre elite in one to two categories.Kristaps Porzingis, PF, New York Knicks2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 47 (6.90 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 87 (3.23 points)Of just about any NBA player in fantasy, it would have been easiest to predict an early season dip for Porzingis.New coach. New system. Several new veteran teammates. New point guard. Heightened expectations. (And Porzingis punches the clock in the NBAs toughest place to play given heightened expectations.)Porzingis nadir arrived last night against the high-pace, Mike DAntoni-driven Rockets. He didnt convert a single field goal attempt. He scored three points and sat most of the fourth quarter.The Knicks need to get Porzingis the ball. More explicitly? Derrick Rose needs to get Porzingis the ball. Plain, clear and simple.Porzingis can still block shots (1.8 per game). His 3-point production has increased in both volume and efficiency (1.5 3-pointers on .375 shooting).But Rose is averaging only 2.5 assists per game. I dont know how many of those dimes went to Porzingis, but from watching last nights game? It hasnt been much.I was excited to see how Joakim Noah meshed up front with Porzingis. And Noah has delivered in the assist column to date (5.5 per game).Rose badly needs to find some rhythm with Porzingis in the post.Porzingis was advertised as entering the season with more of a commitment to low-post play. And while his percentage of 3-point attempts has risen (from .274 to .348), his attempts from 3 to 9 feet have dropped (from .184 to .152).In what is supposed to be a sophomore leap year, Porzingis usage rate is regressing, from 22.9 to 18.4 (when its projected to rise to 25.6).Its waaaaay early. The new-look Knicks arent clicking as of yet. Jeff Hornacek is a fine coach. Porzingis is still an All-Star in the making ... with top-20 fantasy upside.But you have to wonder if the Rose experiment at PG isnt going to shave a round off Porzingis season-long value.Andre Drummond, C Detroit Pistons2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 114 (3.19 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 119 (1.93 points)DeAndre Jordan, C, Los Angeles Clippers2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 56 (6.00 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 204 (-1.21 points)Im not concerned with Drummond. I didnt draft Drummond.Meanwhile, Drummond is leading the league in rebounding (13.6 REB). Jordan (11.3 REB) isnt too far behind.Both players are averaging double-digits in points (12.6 for Drummond, 10.0 for Jordan). Both players are struggling just a little from the field versus their historical output (.429 for Drummond, .571 for Jordan).Drummond is 119th on the player rater. Jordan is 204th.Jordan is dealing with an early-season finger injury. He will start blocking more shots. Jordans elite shot-blocking averages mean he will eventually swat his way into fantasys top 60.Drummond will make a few more shots per game. But because he hasnt displayed a propensity for elite shot-blocking production, Drummonds ceiling is probably in the 80s at best.And Drummonds ADP was 26.6. Jordans ADP was 31.8.If you drafted either of them in the third round? You made a sucker bet. Because their values wont go anywhere near where you predicted as long as they continue to be two of the worst free throw shooters of all time!This has nothing to do with player movement, a new coach or a new system. It has to do with everyone in Fantasyland starting two below-rock-bottom free throw percentages and ignoring them in favor of volume-based stats.Jordans floor rises because hes insulated by his shot-blocking. But Drummonds value doesnt have that kind of protection.Dont say I didnt warn you. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '