Good morning, all! TGIF!
Another NFL weekend is upon us. Already we are in Week 10. Above are the picks in my weekly Picks for Kicks segment.
Here are some other thoughts as I ponder what might have been, if Don Mattingly had become the Yankees manager in 2008:
Mattingly, the bench coach for the AL champion Blue Jays is not returning to that team, parting on amicable terms, we are told. His contract expired after the season. The 64-year-old former AL MVP with the Yankees and a .307 lifetime hitter, also let it be known he is not retiring. Mattingly has been in the game for 36 years as a player, coach and manager. Yankee Universe is clamoring for his return, making a big push on social media. Don’t bet on it. His most likely landing spot will be the Philadelphia Phillies, where reports are there is interest. Mattingly’s son Preston, a former minor league player, is the Phillies GM.
Several reports indicate the Colorado Rockies have settled on their new head of baseball operations: Paul DePodesta. For the last 10 years, he has been the chief strategy officer for the Cleveland Browns, but DePodesta has always been a baseball guy. He rose as high as GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers and was portrayed in the movie Moneyball by Jonah Hill as Billy Beane’s assistant. The sports world was shocked, when DePodesta left MLB for the NFL. It was an unusual move. Now the media is questioning why an NFL guy would transition to MLB, but that is mostly because most of the “experts” never had DePodesta on their bingo card as the Rockies next head of baseball ops. DePodesta is a baseball guy first, and I expect that point will be emphasized throughout his introductory news conference.
If you want to know why these sports leagues are transitioning from linear television to streaming, these two stories might help. A new report shows streaming has exceeded traditional television as the avenue by which Americans consume their video content. Then there is this: One-third of households in the U.S. are cutting their costs to hold on to streaming packages. Now toss in that live sporting events draw the most eyeballs to TV screens and you have the perfect explanation why traditional TV is in big trouble. The blueprint is changing before our very eyes.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. As always, thank you for subscribing and have a great Friday!
DAN
