Wire Check - 7/31/09

Baseball

Ray Ratto thinks the Alderson-Sanchez deal will turn out good for the Giants just because the Pirates suck and his evidence to back it up? Armando Rios. I was listening to Tim Kawakami on with Ralph Barbieri yesterday and was surprised that Ralph said most of the response to the trade was positive. Kawakami was quick to note that the response was less positive outside the Bay Area. The fact is, most fans don't know about minor league prospects, especially AA prospects. Ignorance is bliss.

This is what you call "turning the corner" and I ♥ Matt Cain.

Despite our recent Beane bashing, at least he was able to turn his SS into a new prospect while the Giants are stuck with their SS for another season and $9.5M.

Jonathan Sanchez had a "show me" start last night and fared well.

Football

DHB has signed his contract and is at Raiders' camp. Best DHB related tweet from Nancy Gay yesterday: nancygay Did his hamstring hold up? RT @bydavidwhite DHB is stretching. I know, breathless stuff. I'll post if he actually gets on the field.

Andrew Walter was released yesterday, and if you read between the lines, he couldn't be happier.

If you listened to the latest amateur RT and Koski podcast you'll hear that my assumption that contract talks with Crabtree would be resolved after DHB signed his contract. WRONG!

Meanwhile, the 49ers camp schedule has been termed "brutal" by several vets. Included in the schedule will be tackling drills. Justin Smith says he's never done tackling drills in the NFL. To me, that's ridiculous. I know injuries are a main concern and most season ending injuries occur in training camp, but how frustrating is it to see missed tackles in the NFL? "They" often say you play how you practice, so if you don't practice tackling...?

Candid Cam went to Raiders' camp and came away yawning.

Basketball

MTII asks if the Warriors should pick up Brandan Wright's option? I say yes. If you saw Kawakami's blog yesterday you'd know the Warriors have ZERO of their first round picks on their roster since 2002 (Wright was acquired via trade). It's time to put some faith in their youth.

Miscellaneous

Gwen Knapp says it's Diva Time in the sports world.

TENNIS stuff, OMG!