Monthly Archives: December 2018

Monday Morning Coffee

December 31, 2018

This is going to be one of the more brutal stretches of the NBA season for the Lakers. Lebron is injured, and could be out for a few more games. Rajon Rondo is out again, and Javale McGee has the plague. That means it’s all on the kids. That was cute when the Lakers were a lottery team, but now it’s just scary. Even if the Lakers tread water at .500 while Lebron is out, they could easily drop from say 4th place to 11th or 12th in the West. That’s a scary thought when the Western Conference playoff race is tighter than a Beyoncé jumpsuit. I like what I’ve seen from Ivica Zubac though. If he keeps playing this well, Mitch Kupchak might end up giving up $72 million this offseason. Speaking of Lebron, how much of a bad ass do you have to be to walk into an NBA arena drinking a glass of wine on game night?

The Rams took care of business yesterday against the 49ers to lock up the #2 seed. That’s a big relief because I was rather concerned about Sean McVay’s competency as a head coach when I learned earlier in the week that he didn’t consider “Die Hard” a Christmas movie. Nevertheless, I feel a little bit better about the way the defense has performed the last couple of weeks. Jared Goff still hasn’t gotten his groove back though. That bye week is going to be critical to getting Todd Gurley healthy. The idea of playing Seattle, Dallas, or even Chicago doesn’t sound very appealing, but the Rams should be ok with home field advantage and the extra rest. I’m still expecting a big showdown in the Super Dome between the Saints and Rams for the right to go to the Super Bowl, in another game between these two teams that should break the scoreboard.

The Chargers won, but played yesterday’s game like they knew the Chiefs weren’t going to lose to the Raiders. If you love touchbacks, you must have loved watching that game. It was threatening to be the worst game of all-time early on, and there wasn’t even any bad weather. I have a very hard time seeing the Bolts beating Baltimore, Kansas City, and then New England on the road in order to get to the Super Bowl. The Bolts have to play at 10:00 am PST next week. They are toast. Dean Spanos is such a cheap skate he might as well just save the money and not charter a plane to Baltimore. This team is talented, but not more talented than the Chiefs, not as well coached as the Patriots, and will have a difficult time with the Ravens defense.

Elsewhere around Week 17 in the NFL, Kirk Cousins will have to use the money from his contract to dry his tears after the Vikings were eliminated from the playoffs. I have no idea how Nick Foles did it, but he got the Eagles back to the playoffs. What the hell were the Giants and Cowboys thinking playing their starters in a meaningless game? The Cowboys were risking injury and the Giants were ruining their draft position. Somewhere, Tiki Barber is rolling over in his high heel boots. The Bills won, and Kyle Williams scored more touchdowns this season than Kelvin Benjamin. The Packers got blown out by the Lions to end the season, and somehow people will still pick them to win the Super Bowl next year. The Patriots beat the Jets to clinch the #2 seed. Next year the rest of the AFC East will need to kidnap Tom Brady and feed him unhealthy food to give themselves a chance.

It was finally time. Steve Alford has been fired by UCLA. Where the hell is Liberty? UCLA is now losing to schools on their home floor where you wouldn’t even be able to find them on a map. I’ve never missed the days of Ben Howland so much. At least that team had a coach who could convince his players to play tough defense and to do the fundamentals. Steve Alford couldn’t even convince his freshman 5-star recruits to complete basketball basics that 6th graders are able to execute. I don’t care if the whole PAC 12 stinks. UCLA should never be this bad. At least with this move the Bruins have a chance to salvage some of their season, and see what an interim like say, Tyus Edney might look like. Still, I have little faith Dan Guerrero will make a good hire. He doesn’t even care anymore and is just drinking latte’s in his office while counting the days until his retirement. Better hope Casey Wasserman is willing to rally the alums.


Cris Cyborg put up more of a fight in 51 seconds than Notre Dame did against Clemson. That was embarrassing, and even more embarrassing was Brian Kelly’s explanation that the loss had nothing to do with talent, but lack of execution. That’s like saying “We just got outcoached.” As painful as it was to watch for the Irish faithful, the Irish went undefeated on a tough schedule. It would be hard to put any other team in, and even more difficult to find any teams that could compete with Clemson and Alabama on the big stage. Just ask Oklahoma, who was getting abused by Alabama just a few minutes into the game. Kyler Murray should have retired by halftime and started his baseball career.

I’ve beaten up the Angels all offseason for dumpster diving. However, I have to give them credit for signing Jonathan Lucroy. They badly needed a catcher, and Lucroy is a good value that isn’t far removed from being an all-star. If anything, this might even screw over Yasmani Grandal, who is looking for big money. The Dodgers are hoping Grandal returns on an inflated on year deal, and Lucroy’s move to the Halos might actually make that happen.

I have three words for the LA Kings: BLOW IT UP. They are dead last in the league at almost the halfway mark of the season. Worst offense in the league, among the worst in special teams, and no longer an elite defensive team. The Dallas Stars, who are holding the final Wild Card spot, are underperforming and their CEO just came out and publicly said their team is playing like garbage. If the President of the LA Kings came out and said that it would be considered a compliment right now. At this point the dumbest thing the Kings could do is win. Tanking would make the most sense so they can secure the top pick in the draft.

Monday Morning Coffee

December 24, 2018

The Lakers have been losing to some teams they shouldn’t over the last week. But that’s not what’s got me annoyed. It’s these cry baby small market General Managers and owners. Lebron says it would be amazing to play with Anthony Davis, and suddenly all these GM’s think a tampering rule should be made up against players. If Lebron was on any team other than the Lakers, nobody would say anything. Why doesn’t the league create a whole new set of rules against the Lakers while they are at it? It’s a players league folks. The players are eventually going to end up in the markets they want. These small market GM’s need to shut up and stop being jealous of Lebron’s relationships with other players because it was relationships that put their incompetence in an NBA front office. Those small market owners also need to shut up because the Lakers are putting money in their pockets with revenue sharing.

To baseball where Andrew Friedman and the Dodger front office is just infurating. In typical Friedman fashion, his computer program convinced him that trading Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, and Alex Wood to the Reds for a can of Coke was a good idea. This was not a blockbuster trade. It’s only a blockbuster if you actually get something of value in return and they got absolutely nothing. I realize that some people think the Dodgers are going to do something with the $25 million in payroll they just freed up, but the optics here look horrible as of now. Most of the players that they are rumored to have acquired would have required trading Puig or Wood. Too bad analytics don’t show how much more valuable Puig and Kemp are to the Dodgers than any other team, or that they just traded 43 homers and got nothing in return. Better do something fast Andrew “Fraudman” or else the fans are going to be coming after you with pitchforks like the villagers went after Frankenstein.

I have no idea what the Angels are thinking. The Halos are on the clock with Mike Trout, who is a free agent in two seasons. They claim they are trying to do whatever it takes to be competitive to win with Trout. Then they turn around and go shopping at the junk yard by picking up Trevor Cahill and Matt Harvey. They might as well have taken $20 million and lit it on fire like the Joker did in Batman. If the Angels want to get serious about improving their pitching staff, they’ll try to make a deal for Madison Bumgarner, Trevor Bauer, or Corey Kluber. Their farm system is much improved and they have the prospects to get it done. If not, they might as well trade Mike Trout now, and complete a real rebuilding process.

UCLA basketball is becoming more embarrassing with every Monday Morning Coffee posted. Last week consisted of losses to unranked Cincinnati, and #15 Ohio State. At this point I’m not even sure why Alford should finish out the season. One thing big time college basketball coaches can do is convince very talented teenagers to do the fundamentals. At this point Alford probably couldn’t even convince his assistant to pick up his dry cleaning. The man is losing all credibility with his players, and the alumni has no faith in him either. Can’t wait to see what embarrassments lie ahead for this team because it’s getting even more so for Dan Guerrero, who is looking just as incompetent.

To the NFL where the Rams returned to the win column yesterday against the Cardinals. Sean McVay is such a genius, he can even make CJ Anderson look like Barry Sanders in his offensive system. Anderson came off his couch to rush for 167 yards and a touchdown. More importantly though, Jared Goff actually remembered how to be an NFL quarterback, not turning the ball over and making a couple of nice throws. The Rams probably shouldn’t feel as great as the Saints right now, but they need to focus on getting Todd Gurley healthy, and getting their offense back in rhythm. Ever since Goff started yelling Haley Berry’s name before every play things have gone south for him. Maybe McVay should change some of the audibles to something more common to NFL players like “Kardashian”?

Meanwhile, the Chargers found a way to blow a big opportunity against the Ravens on Saturday night at home. Of course I use the term “home” loosely, because all 4 of the Bolts’ losses have come at Stubhub Center this year. As talented as this team is, I’m still having a hard time envisioning them winning 3 playoff games and going to the Super Bowl. The Chiefs are still an offensive powerhouse. The Patriots still have Tom Brady. The Texans are also looking dangerous as ever. All of these teams are imperfect, but if one of your imperfections is the inability to come up big when it matters, that’s a major problem that can’t be overcome. I bet the NFL didn’t want to deal with the embarrassment of having to show a playoff game on TV at Stubhub Center. Now they are sure of that thanks to both the Ravens and the officials.

Elsewhere around the NFL in Week 16, good strategy by the Steelers. They realized that Chris Boswell can’t blow a game-winning field if they managed to blow the game on a JuJu Smith-Schuster fumble. Poor Cowboy fans. They are going to have to deal with winning the division and keeping Jason Garrett around. They are going to throw a parade in Cleveland since the Browns have made it all the way to Week 16 before being eliminated from the playoffs. The Eagles are back in contention with Nick Foles, and now everyone wants to get rid of Carson Wentz. Don’t worry Carson, if things don’t work out you can always double as the lead singer of Fall Out Boy. I’m not sure what worse for Giants’ fans: that they lost to the Colts or that Eli Manning will reportedly be back in 2019?

Finally, because it’s Christmas time, everyone wants to talk about what their favorite Christmas movie is. My favorite Christmas movie? It’s definitely Die Hard. That’s right. It’s always a controversial topic around this time of year, but make no mistake about it. Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Also, I realize in the clip below Bruce Willis himself says that Die Hard isn’t a Christmas movie. But come on! You can’t have Die Hard take place without it being Christmas. John McClane isn’t in LA if it’s not a Christmas party. Al Powell also isn’t in LA if it’s not Christmas, and McClane wouldn’t have had a greater desperation to save his family if it wasn’t the holidays. Sorry Bruce but you are dead wrong!

Monday Morning Coffee

December 17, 2018



So you still think that Lonzo Ball sucks? I’m not even talking about the fact that he and Lebron were the first Laker duo to each record a triple double in the same game since Magic and Kareem.  I’m talking about his All-NBA defense.  That’s right.  He locked down Kemba Walker on Saturday, holding him to 4 points on  2-10 shooting.  He also held Chris Paul to 3-10 shooting on Thursday.  He’s doing much more than the box score shows.  I think it’s safe to say that Kyle Kuzma is the Lakers second best player at the moment because he’s a great fit next to Lebron.  However, Ball and Brandon Ingram are very key components to their success.  If only the Lakers could have traded for Trevor Ariza.  All they needed to do was tell the Suns that they were getting “Ingram” in return.  They didn’t have to know it would be Andre.

Speaking of the Suns, the fact they were initially unable to complete a 3-team trade for Trevor Ariza because they thought they were receiving Dillon Brooks instead of Marshon Brooks is hilarious.  I don’t care if you are an NBA GM, or playing fantasy basketball, you have a list of every player on every roster.  This confirms exactly what I’ve been thinking for years: the NBA is made up of a number of front office executives that are idiots.  It always cracks me up when dude’s like Dwight Howard or other athletes say “You didn’t play the game” so therefore a front office executive doesn’t know anything.  That’s exactly the problem.  These dudes that played the game that got put in the front office don’t actually know anything.

To baseball where the Winter Meetings came and went with very little happening.  It was a bunch of hype.  Andrew Friedman simply went to Vegas to sit in his Power Ranger pajamas and play video games in his hotel room.  However, I do have to give Friedman credit for one thing: signing a capable veteran reliever in Joe Kelly.  Kelly has been a reliable postseason performer, and just might be a trustworthy arm in the bullpen outside of Kenley Jansen.  Heck, if the Dodgers can get one or two more of these, it would be money much better spent than on Bryce Harper.

What the hell happened to Jared Goff and the Rams? It’s like Jeff Fisher is coaching them again.  In the last two weeks Goff looks nothing like the quarterback he was in the first 14 weeks of the season.  The circumstances are less than ideal with the line getting pushed around and Cooper Kupp injured, but Goff doesn’t look the same.  Goff was fumbling footballs on plays he was hardly touched.  I was starting to wonder if he bet on the Eagles.  At this point the Rams just need to hang on to the two seed and make sure they get Goff and the offense clicking again before the playoffs.

I’m officially impressed with what the Chargers are doing.  Now it would be even more impressive if people actually showed up to their games.  The Bolts took down the Chiefs on the road, and just might end up as the #1 seed in the AFC.  I’m always leery of the the Chargers in the playoffs, especially if they have to go up against the Patriots, but this team is looking great.  They not only managed to beat Kansas City on the road, but did it without Melvin Gordon and Keenan Allen.  Philip Rivers should just bring all his kids to every game and the stadium would at least be half full.  Bold move by the Chiefs here…….

“OK guys we’re up by 1 let’s not got within 30 feet of of #81.” pic.twitter.com/sBcxKuChwW— The Fake ESPN (@TheFakeESPN) December 14, 2018

Elsewhere around the NFL, we have an Amber Alert on the Dallas Cowboys.  Last seen building a hype train in the middle of 5 straight wins.  If you have any information after their loss to the Colts, please contact Jason Garrett immediately.  If you think Donald Trump is bad you should have tried watching the Jaguars and Redskins play football yesterday.  Of course the Browns won.  Kobe gave them a pregame pep talk.  Khalil Mack destroyed Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, and now he has more sacks than the entire Raiders team.  The Titans shut down the Giants and definitely had the best celebration of the week with their “Remember The Titans” dance.  This week is also a reminder of how dumb Fantasy Football is, yet we all continue to play it and frustrate ourselves.

Finally, UCLA basketball is a total disaster, as is the entire Pac-12.  The Bruins just got punked at home by Belmont.  Let me be clear, UCLA should never lose a basketball game to a mid-major school like Belmont.  Their talent level is and should always be superior to them.  The Bruins already showed they couldn’t hang with real teams like Michigan and North Carolina earlier in the year.  However, this game just demonstrates that Alford can’t develop the fundamentals in his squad.  They can’t shoot free throws, they can’t play defense, and a total inability to keep Belmont players in front of them.   This is Alford with a very good recruiting class.  The best it gets is when you have Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf, and you’re no better than a Sweet 16 Team.  Time to throw up a post for a basketball coach at UCLA on LinkedIn. 

Monday Morning Coffee

December 10, 2018

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m hoping the Lakers can find a way to lure Kevin Durant here next summer, but he sure sounds like a whiny baby who is jealous of Lebron.  KD thinks Lebron creates a toxic environment? The only thing that’s toxic right now is his relationship with Draymond Green and the rest of his teammates, who have already called him out by saying they don’t even need him to win titles.  I’d like to think this is just a smokescreen for Durant eventually leaving the Warriors for the Lakers in the summer, but who knows with a guy that uses burner accounts to argue with 13 year olds on Twitter.  As for the Lakers, they are continuing the roll and creeping further up the West standings thanks to Lebron’s brilliance.  Since most of you haven’t noticed and just complain about Lonzo’s shooting, he’s actually playing All-NBA level defense.  Kyle Kuzma is not only playing well, but roasting Lebron on Twitter too.

Meanwhile, I think the Clippers are blowing a major opportunity here.  Yes, they’ve been a surprise, but they’ve lost 3 of their last 4, including getting blown out at home by the Heat on Saturday.  More importantly though, they have assets and are missing the opportunity to make a deal for an impact player.  They easily could have acquired Jimmy Butler, and they have the pieces to trade for a Bradley Beal.  Those are proven all-star talents they probably won’t get in free agency.  They are also looking at losing Tobias Harris, who is playing well and going to get serious money from somebody in free agency this summer.  The Clips might be in the playoff picture now, but don’t be surprised if the the red headed step child of LA basketball falls out of it in the coming weeks.

To the NFL, where the Rams just couldn’t get their offense going in the cold yesterday against the Bears, who handed them just their 2nd loss of the season.  I haven’t seen anybody so useless in cold weather since Lloyd and Harry drove to Aspen in the Movie “Dumb and Dumber”.  It’s like Jeff Fisher was calling the plays.  The Rams can probably kiss home field advantage goodbye after this, but the good news is that they probably won’t have to play in cold weather again.  However, there’s some scary matchups out there that could give them trouble.  The Bears, Cowboys, and Seahawks are all dangerous teams with underrated defenses that can give the Rams trouble, even if they have home field.

Yesterday was very weird.  A Charger kicker was actually making his field goals and extra points.  It was like watching a game in the Twilight Zone.  That game was sloppier than Charlie Sheen at happy hour, but the Bolts beat the Bengals and improved to 10-3.  They barely beat a banged up Bengals team, and a Broncos team that is booking their offseason vacations, so I’m still not convinced.  However, they do have a chance to take Kansas City on Thursday and potentially get the #1 seed in the AFC.  If they find a way to do that, I’ll be impressed.  The Chargers better also hope that Austin Ekeler isn’t seriously hurt either, because he’s a key component to their offense.  At least the Bolts actually had more fans cheering for them in their stadium yesterday than the Bengals.

Elsewhere around the NFL in Week 14, the Jaguars got crushed by the Titans.  Sorry Cowboy fans.  You’re winning so it’s going to be hard to fire Jason Garrett now.  Going from Blake Bortles to Cody Kessler is like replacing a Ford Fusion with a Ford Fiesta.  The Giants tortured Mark Sanchez all day and destroyed the Redskins like it was 1492 all over again.  Colin Kaepernick has to be having a good laugh somewhere.  The Jets got by the Bills, but Bills Mafia still celebrated by jumping on tables and having sex in the parking lot.  Lamar Jackson can barely throw a pass, but he’s going to keep Joe Flacco and his $20 million paycheck chained to the bench.  Miami got a Christmas miracle by beating New England, but the Patriots are like cockroaches that never die.  Who did this?!!!!!

To baseball where the Dodgers have a big shopping list to take care of at the Winter Meetings.  It includes finding a starting catcher and getting some bullpen help.  Notice I didn’t say it includes a starting pitcher or a $300 million outfielder named Bryce Harper, because those would be luxuries and not necessities.  However, the real notable Dodger news last week was the fact they extended Manager Dave Roberts.  For those of you wondering why this happened, I’m wondering why you still don’t get it.  Dave Roberts simply carries out the decision making that Andrew Friedman and his computer tell him to.  It isn’t Roberts who decides to use 5 different second baseman in a World Series game, or sit his top 3 home run hitters.  It’s what Roberts is reading off in line 57 of the spreadsheet.  If anything, he deserves the extension for taking public criticism that Friedman should be getting, and for getting his players to buy into this crazy system.

In College Hoops UCLA barely got Notre Dame on Saturday night on a buzzer beater by Kris Wilkes.  I’m not sure what was worse? Watching UCLA struggle with an average Notre Dame team, or watching a telecast that at one point involved both Digger Phelps and Bill Walton.  Donald Trump called and thought that part of the telecast was too narcissistic.  This Bruins team has talent, but looks like they don’t belong with any of the Top 25 teams in the country.  If Alford can’t do much with this group in the tournament, he needs to go.  No, Fred Hoiberg isn’t the answer either after he just got let go by the Bulls.  Hopefully something better will come along between now and the end of the season.  In case you missed the final excitement on Saturday, here it is:

Finally, the LA Kings are in more denial than an alcoholic.  They are tied for dead last in the league more than a third of the way through the season.  We can’t exactly say that “it’s early” anymore.  They officially stink, and should strongly considering rebuilding.  However, one of the clear strengths of the franchise is goaltending.  I know some of you will want to take out the pitch forks and tiki torches when I say this, but it’s probably time to think about trading Jonathan Quick.  He’s reached his peak, he takes up a decent amount of cap space, still has trade value, and the team still has quality goaltending without him.  It’s going to take some serious creativity to get the Kings out of cap hell, but trading Quick is probably necessary.

Monday Morning Coffee

December 3, 2018

I thought the sky was falling and the Lakers sucked? Oh I guess they aren’t that bad because they’ve won 3 in a row and are creeping up on the top seed in the Western Conference.  If you’re complaining it’s because you have no perspective.  The Lakers are right where they should be, they are improving, as are their young players.  Kyle Kuzma is solid, Brandon Ingram is getting better, and Lonzo Ball is doing more than you think.  However, Mo Wagner looks like a fan that stole a jersey and somehow got on the court for playing time.  The real question is how they take the next step.  They need to sign one max free agent this summer and trade for another star, like Anthony Davis.  Don’t tell me they should trade everybody for Bradley Beal, because you won’t win any titles with him as your second best player.  My head also tells me that KD, Klay, and Kawhi aren’t going anywhere, but when i listen to Magic talk, he sounds convinced one of those guys are coming.  I believe in Magic and so should you.

Meanwhile, you’ve gotta give the Clippers credit.  Nobody thought they would be anywhere near the top of the Western Conference without having a star player.  Frankly, most of us thought Doc Rivers became a bum as a head coach.  However, Shai-Gilegous Alexander can actually play,  and the team doesn’t actually hate each others guts anymore.  I’m still not convinced free agents actually want to come play for the Clips, but they are much more interesting than we thought. The only problem for them is that their 1st round pick is lottery protected, so they are much better off missing the playoffs.

To the NFL where the Rams got a gift from the football gods with the Saints losing on Thursday night, allowing them to reclaim the best record in the NFC with yesterday’s win over the Lions.  They also clinched the NFC West title for the 2nd year in a row.  Aaron Donald should probably get MVP votes, but because the voters have no idea what a Defensive End is, but he probably will be completely ignored like that girl you didn’t want to go to Prom with in high school.  Next week makes me really nervous though.  The Bears seem very capable of knocking off the Rams in cold weather.  In any case, Todd Gurley doesn’t give a crap about your fantasy team.

Monster win for the Chargers. if only anyone cared.  It would have been very “Charger-esque” of the Bolts to lose the game yesterday on a couple of missed field goals with the game on the line.  I’ve seen better officiating in bar brawls.  The Chargers benefited from the officials, and now might even get themselves a first round bye if things break right for them.  In any case, it’s safe to say that home field doesn’t mean a damn thing for them, since they have no fans that show up to their games and cheer for them.  Perhaps if Philip Rivers brings all of his kids to the game, he might be able to fill up the stands.

Elsewhere around the NFL, it doesn’t matter if it’s Kareem Hunt or Hunt’s Ketchup, the Chiefs keep winning.  The Packers lost, but Aaron Rodgers was seen popping champagne in the locker room after the game when he learned that Mike McCarthy was fired.  I have no idea why Bill Belichick was yelling at Adam Thielan.  He’s white and he’s a good receiver, which means he’ll be on the Patriots in the next year or two.  Joe Flacco might never get to play again after the Ravens beat the Falcons.  Since it’s the holiday season, Cam Newton is obviously in a generous mood throwing 4 interceptions in the Panthers loss to the Bucs.  Meanwhile, every Cowboys fan has already booked their trip to the Super Bowl after they beat the Saints.

I feel like Cliff Kingsbury is just trolling every major college and NFL team at this point, just so he can get free dinners from them.  Everybody wants to hire him as their offensive coordinator.  If USC is able to hire him, I’d be very impressed. It looked like that was going to happen, then for some reason Kingsbury got cold feet.  He probably realized that he has competition with Sean McVay for the most handsome football coach in LA, and just couldn’t take it.  I think it’s safe to say Kingsbury is going to make or break the Trojans offseason.  We’ll find out within a couple of days if he’s coming.

To baseball where the Dodgers and Indians keep talking about a big trade.  That proposed trade would involve pitcher Corey Kluber going to the Dodgers, with Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, and top prospect Yadier Alvarez going to Cleveland.  Kluber is a nice pitcher and all, but this is so typical of Andrew Friedman.  He’s the kind of guy who learns that his house needs a new roof, and instead he decides to remodel his kitchen.  The Dodgers need bullpen help, not starting pitching.  Instead, Friedman is leaning on unproven and untalented arms he hopes will miraculously come through out of the pen.  Sadly, there is plenty of bullpen talent on the market that can help.

Finally, the Angels badly need to make some moves.  Mike Trout is two years away from free agency, they now have decent prospects in their system, and they can take on some money.  The Halos need to call the Giants about Madison Bumgarner, and the Mets about Noah Syndergaard or Jacob DeGrom.  They badly need pitching, and it’s only going to come via the trade market.  Of course knowing the Angels’ luck, Garrett Richards will win the 2020 Cy Young award after he just signed a 2-year deal with the Padres.