The Weekly Sports Roundup

This Week’s Winners:

Golden State Warriors:

On July 1st, National Basketball Association teams were able to start negotiating with the 2013 NBA free agent class. In a few days, these negotiations can be finalized into contracts, and then signed. Why is this relevant to the Warriors? A team that has relatively no cap room to sign free agents (they are already over the soft cap, pushing toward luxury tax threshold), no first round draft picks (Thanks to the Marcus Williams trade), nor second round draft picks (NY Knicks got it from the David Lee trade)? How can it be relevant to a team that bought a second round pick and used it to draft a 22-year-old Nemanja Nedovic of Serbia? The reason? The 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist and 2012 NBA All Star Andre Iguodala.

News broke earlier this week that the 6 foot 6, 29 year old was heading to the Golden State Warriors. The deal cannot be finalized until July 10th. The contract is worth 48 million dollars over the next four years. The former 76er and Nugget is averaging 15.1 points, 4.9 assists, and 5.8 rebounds per game over his 9-year career. Iguodala is known for his defense (Named to NBA All-Defense Team in 2010-2011), athleticism (67 double-doubles for his career), and versatility (Since the 2006-2007 season, he is the only player with at least 7,500 points, 2,500 rebounds, 2,400 assists, and 800 steals).

More importantly, he is a perfect fit for how the Warriors play offensively (fast and spread the floor), provides the Warriors with a tougher, grittier defense approach, and he can help the already impressive evolution of Harrison Barnes. For these reasons, the free agent signing of Iguodala is a win-win situation. The Warriors get a flexible wing player, who prefers the small forward position, but can also play shooting guard, and provides depth at these positions. Iguodala will come to a place where he does not have to be the team’s main superstar (a Philadelphia critique of him) and will have an opportunity to improve upon his career numbers due to his style fitting the Warriors’ brand of basketball.

Buster Posey, Marco Scutaro, Madison Bumgarner, and Barolo Colon:

These four Major Leaguers will represent the Bay Area at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at the New York Mets’ Citi Field on July 16th. Catcher Buster Posey, Second Baseman Marco Scutaro, and starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner will play on behalf of National League and the San Francisco Giants. Neither Bumgarner, Scutaro, nor Posey will start the game. Starting pitcher Bartolo Colon, on the other hand, will be the sole representative of the first place Oakland A’s. Like his Giants counterparts, Colon will not start the game. Although it can be debated that the Bay Area deserved more players to the Mid-Summer Classic (i.e. Sergio Romo, Hunter Pence, Josh Donaldson, or Grant Balfour), these three Giants and one A’s, are worthy representatives for Bay Area Baseball, and are this week’s winners.

Starting second baseman Marco Scutaro, as of July 8th, is batting .310 with 2 home runs, and 19 runs batted in for the San Francisco Giants. Throughout his 12-year career, Scutaro had yet to make an all-star team. Due to his excellent play so far this year and during the Giants second-half run toward the 2012 World Series Championship, Scutaro is definitely deserving of being sent to New York.

The Giants’ Buster Posey, now in his 4th year MLB season, is heading to his second all-star game. So far this year, Posey is batting .310 with 48 runs batted in and an On-Base plus Slugging of .906. Posey was second to St. Louis Cardinals’ Catcher Yadier Molina for the most votes in the National League for the catcher position. Posey’s continued excellent offensive play from his hot second half to the 2012 season, his ability to call a baseball game, and his defensive improvement behind the dish, make Posey a deserving selection for the 84th edition of the Mid-Summer Classic.

The kid from “Bum-Town”, Madison Bumgarner, like his teammate Scutaro, is also a first time all-star. Although his wait was roughly a decade shorter than Scutaro’s, Bumgarner is just as deserving to be a representative for the National League in New York. The 6 foot 5 23 year old is the Giants most consistent and reliable starting pitcher this season. The left-hander has 9 wins, a 3.05 earned run average, and 116 strikeouts as compared to 33 walks. His ERA is good for 14th in the National League, while his strikeouts place him for seventh best in the National League. Bumgarner’s successful young career (two world series championships) and his continued success this season enabled Bumgarner to be selected to pitch on July 16th.

The last few years of Bartolo Colon’s career, have taken another interesting turn, this time for the best, as Colon was selected as the A’s representative in New York. Following last year’s steroid debacle and the ensuing 50 game suspension, Colon, 40, has turned it around this year (presuming he is still clean). As of July 8th, Colon has 11 wins (one more than last year’s total of 10) with a 2.78 earned run average and 61 strikeouts as compared to 14 walks. The 16 year veteran is putting together his best year since his last all star appearance in 2005, when he also won the A.L. Cy Young Award for the League’s best pitcher. By reclaiming his early 2000’s form, Colon has been a steady force for the A’s, as they try to wrestle the A.L West away from the formidable Texas Rangers and the steadily improving Los Angeles Angels.

This Week’s Losers:

Yaisel Puig and the Giants:

Yaisel Puig.  Is he the next Bo Jackson? The next Joe DiMaggio? Or, maybe, the greatest ever? These questions surround the Los Angeles Dodgers Outfielder as he completes his first month in the MLB. One thing is for sure, Puig is a five-tool player and he is, unfortunately for Giants fans, here to stay. As of July 8th, the 22-year-old Cuban defector is batting .409 with an On Base Plus Slugging of 1.114. In addition, the outfielder has 8 home runs, 19 runs batted in, and 3 outfield assists. More impressive, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, Puig is the third player to get 50 hits in his first 30 Major League Baseball games. That puts Puig in the company of Joe DiMaggio (arguably one of the best pure hitters of all time) and Roy Weatherly. 

However, the San Francisco Giants, in terms of Puig’s torrid start, were able to turn the tide and cool down Puig’s bat. In this past series with the Giants in San Francisco, Puig went 3 for 13 (.230 average), with 7 strikeouts, and no runs batted in. A closer look reveals Puig struck out five times consecutively and had his first ever four-strikeout game. Puig’s tough trip to AT&T Park makes him a loser this week in the Weekly Round Up.

Puig’s porous play was one positive in a week full of negatives for the San Francisco Giants. The Giants have continued their recent descent toward becoming obsolete in the N.L. West. In the span of 8 days (July 1st-July 8th), the Giants were no-hit by Homer Bailey and the Cincinnati Reds, and lost two series (to the Reds in Cincinnati, Dodgers at home). This culminated in a 1- 5 record and made them losers for the week. The Giants need to regain their 2012 mojo to remain relevant into the second half of the season.

Ahmad Brooks:

Troubling news broke out of Santa Clara this past week, when it was discovered that San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker, Ahmad Brooks, was in an altercation with a fellow 49ers teammate, nose tackle Lamar Divens. The confrontation, according to CBSSports’ Ryan Wilson, occurred earlier last month on June 8th. It followed a night spent at a bar by Divens, Brooks, and a few others. The ruckus occurred when Divens drove back Brooks’ car (due to Brooks’ being too intoxicated) and playfully pretended to throw Brooks’ car keys. Angered, Brooks grabbed a beer bottle and hit Divens in the head three times with it. On top of that, Brooks ended the fight by punching Divens in the face.

This news makes the 49ers a loser this week due to the potential consequences that can stem from Brooks’ fight with Divens. Will the National Football League suspend Brooks? If so, how will this impact the 49ers’ quest to get back to the Super Bowl? Even worse, what if Brooks’ actions result in legal trouble? Does he miss part of the season due to jail time? These questions will be answered soon, but still creates an unwanted mess for the Red and Gold.