The most recent news to come out of the Flyers camp is that the orange and black are close to reaching an agreement with journeyman goaltender Michael Leighton. As we all know, Leighton played a large part in the teams’ turnaround last year during the regular season and played well enough to help the Flyers earn a trip to the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately for him, the lasting memory most Flyers’ fans have of him is the soft five-hole goal he allowed to Patrick Kane in overtime of Game 6. Reports are that he will contend for the starting job, (meaning the Flyers will probably look to bring in another mid-level goalie like an Antero Niittymaki to challenge Leighton).
If these reports are accurate, it means the chances of seeing Evgeni Nabokov in a Flyers uniform are slim to none. It sounds like he wants multiple years at $5+ million per year. If I were the Flyers I’d turn my back to that as well. They have to think about the future; locking up a 34 year-old goalie (35 next month) at that price could jeopardize their ability to re-sign some of their young guns — mainly Claude Giroux and Ville Leino. In addition to Giroux and Leino becoming free agents after this upcoming season, Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne are also due new contracts. Jeff Carter is already making $5.5M this year, so he’ll most definitely be looking for a raise. The Flyers have been rumored to be using Carter as trade bait for a top-end goaltender because they know it’ll be tough to give him an extension and the numbers he’s looking to get. If Simon Gagne is willing to take a home-town discount, I could see the Flyers bringing him back. He showed this postseason that he still has some magic left.
Update: As I’m writing this, it’s official: Michael Leighton signs for 2 years, $3.1 million TOTAL.
- Elin hits the jackpot in her divorce with Tiger.
- Rent-A-White Person - Dom B dominates in his first two home games at the AAA level.
- Walter Payton running the “super-innovative” wildcat offense in 1984.
- TV Ratings for the US-Ghana World Cup match were higher than 2010 NBA Finals, 2009 World Series.
- Cliff Lee took the subway to Yankee Stadium for his start last night.
- We all need to continue to root for Paraguay.
Fan favorite and former Eagle great, Randall Cunningham suffered a deep loss on Tuesday. His 2 1/2 year-old son, Christian, tragically drowned in the family’s backyard hot tub. Randall was not home at the time and was on his way back from a trip to San Diego. His child was presumably being baby-sat at the time of incident.
Below is the report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
A woman at Cunningham’s house was with several children when she found the boy at about 4:30 p.m., Las Vegas police Lt. Dennis Flynn said. She removed the boy from the hot tub and began performing CPR. Paramedics took the child to St. Rose Dominican Hospital, Siena campus, where he died, Flynn said.
Abuse and neglect detectives were investigating the incident at the house on the 300 block of East Robindale Road, near Paradise Road. Flynn said the drowning appeared to be an accident.
Cunningham received immediate support from his church, but we can’t begin to imagine the pain he is going through. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Randall and his family.
- Hatian Sensation wins an award.
- Phils will make up the rained out Rockies game on 9/2.
- Peep some of the free shit the Phils are giving away this summer.
- It looks like the Mets don’t have what it would take to land Cliff Lee. Somewhere, Ruben Amaro puts away his noose.
- World Cup goal tracker.
- Evan Turner sings Take Me Out to the Ball Game.
- An interesting read on autograph requests from Phillies prospect Michael Schwimer.
- Athletes have made several “interesting” forays into the rap game.
- Joel Zumaya breaks elbow throwing a pitch.
- Possible tension within Team LeBron?
Snoop Dogg caught up with Evan Turner and Wesley Johnson at 2K sports (thanks, Frank) two weeks before the Sixers and Timberwolves made them the 2nd and 4th overall draft picks, respectively. Snoop called the two “future NBA stars” and said that he’ll see them at the Rookie/Sophomore game in L.A. next year. Go Turner, go Snoop.
Rut roh… According to Zolecki, “Chase Utley (sprained right thumb) and Placido Polanco headed to the DL. Greg Dobbs and Brian Bocock are up.”
As per Matt Gelb, Phillies don’t have a timeline on Utley yet. He is officially listed with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament of the right thumb. The timetable for Polanco has not yet been reported either. Let’s pray Jimmy’s calf holds up, because an infield comprised of Dobbs-Valdez-Castro would make me cry. The Phillies now have 7 people on the DL. This could turn into the 2009 Mets real fast…
The Phils have had a rough go at it this year. The following players have already spent time on the DL: Lidge, Romero, Happ, Blanton, Bastardo, Durbin, Madson, Castro, Schneider, Rollins, Ruiz, Utley, Polanco.
More on Chase’s injury here and here. “Injuries to it cause instability and loss of function of the thumb.” Not cool.
Keith Law released his latest Top 25 MLB Prospect list today and, to the delight of Phillies fans, he now has Domonic Brown at the #1 spot. Brown was #7 on the previous list which included four players who are now in the majors, Stephen Strasburg, Carlos Santana, Buster Posey and Mike Stanton. Since that list was released, Dom has continued to rake and was promoted to AAA Lehigh Valley. He finished his run in AA Reading hitting .318/.391/.602 with 75 hits in 271 plate appearances including 15 home runs. What a beast. (more…)
Ya gotta love when ESPN does something like this. Instead of pointing out that CB Buckner is a moron and completely blew the call at first, ESPN simply decides to make this non-double play the top highlight on Sports Center because Brandon Phillips made the sexy stop. Great stuff! This screen shot is perfect because, in addition to showing Raul safe at first, it also shows ESPN ball-washing Stephen Strasburg. Knock it off already. The dude is good real good, but it was his 5th start, and he took the loss. Does he really need his own ticker on the bottom line? I guess he’s just next up in the FaRve-Hansborough-Tebow line.
Damn that Scott Rolen. Ever since his bad breakup with the Phillies, he’s come back to bite them in the ass time and time again. He did it again Monday night. Rolen hit his 300th career HR and knocked in 3 runs to lead the red-hot Reds over Cy Kendrick and the Fightins. Kendrick was cruising until the 4th inning when Rolen broke the scoreless tie with his dinger.
The Phillies offense just couldn’t get on the same page. They managed 8 hits, but left 10 men on base. All 3 runs came via Rauuuuul’s bat. Ibanez was 2-4 with a HR and RBI single. The Big Piece also hit the ball well, going 2-3 with a double and triple; unfortunately, no one was on base. It’s only the Phillies 4th loss in their last 12 games, so there is no immediate need panic. There is, however, reason to be concerned. Chase Utley left the game with an apparent thumb injury, and he will have an MRI on Tuesday to determine the severity. He tried to leg out a double in the 4th inning and was thrown out sliding into 2nd, where he appeared to catch his thumb on the bag. A serious injury to Utley would be terrible. Polanco and Rollins are already fighting off ailments, and winning the division with Valdez and Castro playing every day would be tough. Fingers crossed.
