This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, Winners! Happy Friday Jr. It’s almost the weekend, folks. Can’t you just feel it?
Let’s talk about the Yankees for a second. The blockbuster deal between New York and the San Diego Padres has all of the Lakers and Cowboys fans on my timeline ecstatic.
For those of you who may have been out of the loop, the Yankees sacrificed a bunch of pitching to land Juan Soto and Trent Grisham from the Padres. Our Charles Curtis has trade grades here. The Yankees’ grade was an A, of course, because how could it not be?
New York just landed a 25-year-old star heading into the prime of his career coming up on a contract year. We haven’t seen the best of Juan Soto yet but what we’ve already seen was good enough to lead the Nationals to the franchise’s first World Series back in 2019. That’s terrifying.
Trent Grisham is a fine piece in the outfield. Losing pitching always sucks. But, folks. It’s Juan Soto. I mean, have y’all seen the Yankees’ projected lineup? This thing is bananas.
Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Standon, Gleyber Tores and Juan Soto? Come on, man.
Yankees projected starting lineup after adding Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo pic.twitter.com/vNT8rrEZuR
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) December 7, 2023
The Evil Empire vibes are so back, man. Can’t you just feel it? This lineup has the vibe of all the old George Steinbrenner teams. The ones that had irrationally large payrolls with gobs of talent — not the more analytical ones we’re used to these days.
The scary part is the Yankees don’t seem to be done. The Yankees are currently in the middle of a bidding war with the Mets for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. If they land him? Whew, boy. It’s going to be a rough year for the rest of the American League.
Let’s find the Pistons next win
Welp, folks. The Pistons losing streak continues. After a 116-102 loss to the Grizzlies with Desmond Bane dropping a career-high 49 points, it’s starting to look bleak. The Pistons have lost 18 straight and that felt like Detroit’s best chance to win for…a while.
The upcoming schedule is TOUGH. Let’s do a quick exercise. I’ll keep rattling off games until we get to one where it feels like there’s a solid chance for a win.
Let’s start:
— @ Orlando Magic on Dec. 8
— vs. Indiana Pacers on Dec. 11
— vs. Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 13
— @ Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 15
— @ Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 16
— @ Atlanta Hawks on Dec. 18
— vs. Utah Jazz on Dec. 21
THERE IT IS. The Utah Jazz on the 21st. If the Pistons haven’t caught someone slipping by then, that’ll be the game it happens. Detroit will get a win for Christmas.
Book it. Also, sorry, Jazz fans.
JJ Watt gets it
It’s nice to see someone come to the defense of Shohei Ohtani and his quiet free agency period so far.
JJ Watt saw all the complaining over the last day or so and had enough. He fired this tweet off in Ohtani’s defense.
Athlete does public free agency tour…
Media: “Look at the ego. All about themselves. Attention seeker.”
Athlete tries to keep everything private:
Media: pic.twitter.com/D92wk8EJVD
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) December 6, 2023
Here’s our Andrew Joseph on Watt’s read of the situation. He’s spot on here:
“Just in the past 24 hours, we’ve seen Buster Olney, Stephen A. Smith and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo criticize Ohtani on ESPN. The Athletic’s Braves beat writer David O’Brien also called Ohtani’s approach pretentious.
But as Watt pointed out, there isn’t really anything Ohtani could do here to keep reporters satisfied. If he let the entire free agency play out in the public eye, he’d get criticized in a similar way LeBron did when he signed with the Heat. It would be a circus, and sure, someone would probably scoop the decision. Yet, by taking this private approach, Ohtani gets to focus on the decision on his own terms and see which teams he can actually trust.”
Let Shohei Ohtani cook. Quietly.
Quick hits: The NBA In-Season Tournament might be as good as it gets for LA … Adam Silver’s weird comparison … and more
— Prince Grimes thinks the Lakers might be peaking at the right time. That’s not great for their championship hopes, but it is good for the IST.
— Speaking of the In-Season Tournament, watch Adam Silver fumble all of the good will from it away with this weird appearance on the Pat McAfee show.
— John Rahm is leaving the PGA for LIV Golf and it has fans worried. Charles Curtis has more.
— The Yankees are the favorite to make it to the World Series out of the AL now. Prince Grimes has more.
— Caitlin Clark is well on her way to the NCAA’s scoring title. Meghan Hall has more on her path here.
— Jets fans, you will absolutely love this NFL Mock Draft. Here’s Charles Curtis with more.
That’s all, folks! Thanks so much for reading today. We’ll catch you here again tomorrow. Until then, peace!
-Sykes ✌️
