Articles
The McPherson Post •

I See Your MVP Candidates and Raise You Shane Bieber

José Abreu, Tim Anderson and now José Ramírez are just a handful of names that have been leading the AL MVP race for the past few weeks as this shortened 2020 MLB season comes to a close, but let me give you one name you should be thinking about. Well, maybe two.

For the first time since Justin Verlander in 2011, Shane Bieber has a chance to become the first pitcher since Verlander (and Clayton Kershaw in the NL) to win the Triple Crown of pitching. Now, what did Verlander do that Kershaw did n
The McPherson Post •

What Mookie’s Extension Means for Major League Baseball

As we all know, Major League Baseball has no salary cap and that was on display once again as OF Mookie Betts signed a 13-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Dodgers for $392 million.

A smart move by both parties as the Dodgers would be foolish to let a player of Betts’ worth and his talent to test the free agent market, and Betts gets his security with a team that has won the NL West each of the past seven years and reached at least the NLDS in four of those seasons.

Looking at the b
The McPherson Post •

Winning in L.A. is Not a One-Way Street for LeBron

There’s been a lot of talk about how LeBron James needs to not only win with the Los Angeles Lakers, but win big and soon. James is 34 years old and about to enter his 17th NBA season for crying out loud. That means James does not have much time to wait, and his first season with the Lakers was certainly not a successful one.

Something that not many people, if any, are talking about is how James’ need to win in L.A. is not a mutually exclusive situation. Yes, James needs to win and needs the La
Cleveland Sports Talk - Built By Fans! •

Why This Cavs Rebuild Feels Different From the Last

Last season, the Cavs still had LeBron James, finished with 50 wins and made their fourth consecutive appearance in the NBA Finals. This season, the Cavs finished 19-63, didn’t even sniff the playoffs and are tied for the second-worst record in the league. Yet, why does it feel like the Cavs are in better shape now compared to 2011 when the first post-LeBron season ended with the same record?

For starters, that 2010-11 team had practically no players that were relied on on a nightly basis. No d
Cleveland Sports Talk - Built By Fans! •

How the Indians' Grip of Dominance is Slowly Unraveling

After losing a 3-1 lead in the 2016 World Series and having one of the most dominant pitching staffs to go along with youthful talent, even the most skeptic of Indians fans wouldn’t think the Tribe would struggle to get back The Fall Classic like they have the past two seasons.

To make matters worse, the Indians now seem to be heading in the wrong direction while the rest of the American League Central is slowly becoming better.

The Indians have traded away All-Star catcher Yan Gomes, a home r
The McPherson Post •

How Cam Reddish Became the “Forgotten” Star in Duke’s Big Three

Coming into the 2018-19 season, there was much hype about the current Duke Blue Devils team, and rightfully so. Finally embracing the “one-and-done” culture of college basketball, Coach K was able to land THREE of the top-five recruits for the upcoming year, firmly placing the Duke program among the top teams to compete for a national championship.

R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish and Zion Williamson, the number one, two and four recruits, respectively, have stormed onto the scene and propelled Duke i
The McPherson Post •

How Moving Back Home Made the Rams Into a Winning Team Again

After what seemed like decades of mediocre football, a Cleveland football team is good once again.

Except that team now plays in Los Angeles.

Born in 1994, the same year Los Angeles lost BOTH of their NFL teams, I grew up with L.A. not having an NFL team, and that was weirdly the norm because the city had two major teams in every other sport! But, L.A. is where the Rams belong, even if it meant ripping the team from another fan base of 20 years (sorry, St. Louis).

Almost miraculously, the Ram
The McPherson Post •

The Best Player in Baseball is Being Wasted Away…and it’s Not Pretty

Let’s get straight to the point.

Mike Trout and his talents are being wasted away in Anaheim and it’s not easy to watch. In Trout’s seven and a half seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, he has gotten to the playoffs only one time. Meanwhile, in that same time, Trout has been either the winner or runner-up for AL MVP five times, winning it two times, made the All-Star team seven times, won a Silver Slugger Award five times and was named the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year.

In the seven seasons prior
Fear The Sword •

Would Carmelo Anthony make sense for the Cleveland Cavaliers?

For the past few seasons, the Cavs have relied on players like Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade, Lauri Markkanen and Cedi Osman for wing minutes, all with varying degrees of success and availability. It’s no secret that the Cavaliers need some help on the wing, both in depth and overall productivity.

Would a future Hall of Famer make sense? If the Cavaliers are looking for some decent production from a wing, Carmelo Anthony is one of the few names left on the market.

Over the past two seasons, Anthony,
Fear The Sword •

Can the Cleveland Cavaliers make the play-in tournament?

It was not that long ago when the Cavs got off to their best three-game start to a season that did not involve LeBron James since the 2000-01 season. Now, these same Cavs are, to some degree, reeling after four of their last six games and are searching to get back to how good they looked back in December.

Sure, injuries to Kevin Love, rookie Isaac Okoro, Darius Garland and Dante Exum do not help because, in one way or another, they all contributed to the team’s 3-0 start.

Love provided 15 poin