COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

 The Jets have their man ... again ... at least they think.  Like the rite of spring the Jets once again have convinced themselves that a 21-year old college kid will be their franchise savior at quarterback, this time in the form of BYU quarterback Zach Wilson.  There was really no suspense with this. It was obvious for weeks that the Jets were going Wilson rather than more experienced, higher rated quarterbacks like Justin Fields and Mac Jones, when Joe Douglas and company were seen in full force at Wilson's Pro Day.  Wilson is small in stature, about 6-2, 210 lbs, but he has a big arm. He completed 73 percent of his passes and threw 33 touchdowns to just three picks last year. He can make all the throws, and people love his fit in an offense that focuses on play action and RPOs. However, the knock on him, the lack of a competitive schedule; injuries in 2019, and his propensity to gamble with his arm are all concerns. We'll see how it plays out.  Many have com...

 The New York Jets have a tortured history when it comes to the quarterback position. Since Joe Namath left the Jets in 1976, New York has started 34 different quarterbacks; 20 since 1997. They have even drafted quarterbacks in the first round as recently as 2009 and 2018, and neither worked out. What will change this time as BYU's Zach Wilson appears destined for Green and White?  Oh, and the Jets rivals, the New England Patriots appear linked to Justin Fields, the guy the Jets will pass on in order to get Fields. Check out the vlog! 

 RAYS 6 - YANKEES 3 Even a closed door meeting between Manager Aaron Boone and the Yankees wasn't enough to get things turned around -- at least right away -- as the Yanks suffered another loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, dropping the last place Bombers to 5-9 on the year.  Saturday's 6-3 loss was a microcosm of all the things that ail this team right now. They still can't hit in the clutch, they were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position; and they unless Gerrit Cole is pitching, they have no chance to begin with.  And this followed a game on Friday where the Yankees were trounced 8-2 , and the fans were tossing baseballs onto the field.  Jordan Montgomery got the ball Saturday, and struggled for the most part, as he was more of victim of the long ball than anything else. Francisco Mejia's solo shot in the second gave the Rays an early 1-0 lead. Tampa would tack onto that advantage when Manuel Margot crushed a Montgomery fastball over the center field wall for a two-ru...

METS 5 - PHILLIES 1  Behind a stellar outing for second year starting pitcher David Peterson, and a breakout performance at the dish by catcher James McCann, the Mets earned their first series win of the year with a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.  The Mets turn to Jacob deGrom tomorrow afternoon at noon with a chance to sweep the series. Maybe they'll score some runs for him this time?  As for the lefty Peterson, he was every bit as good as deGrom would be on most nights. He carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning, and would have had a perfect game going were it not for Dom Smith dropping a fly ball by J.T. Realmuto in the third inning.  Peterson overpowered the Phillies lineup by mixing his stuff, and striking out 10 in the process. It was a heck of a response from the 25-year old out of Denver, Colorado, who just a week ago was shelled by this same Phillies lineup for six runs over four innings in a frustrating 8-2 Mets loss.  It was a totally d...

 BLUE JAYS 5 - YANKEES 4  Another series in the division, another loss. Yeah, it's only 12 games into the season, and you don't want to hit the panic button when there are 150 games to go, but at 5-7 there are too many red flags now not to be concerned.  The Yankees lost to the Blue Jays 5-4 in Dunedin, Wednesday after Bo Bichette connected on a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to send the Jays to their second straight victory against the Bombers, and their second consecutive series win against the Bombers this season.  After 12 games the Yankees have lost three series combined, with two of those coming against the Jays, and the other against Tampa Bay. The Yankees squeaked by Baltimore in between this for their lone series victory. The Jays and Rays were expected to be really good this year, both were expected to challenge the Yankees all year.  However out of the blue have come the Boston Red Sox, who have stunned everyone in baseball rallying off nin...

 YANKEES 8 - RAYS 4  For the better part of three-plus hours it was looking pretty ugly for the New York Yankees. They were down 4-3 heading into the eighth inning, starring at an uncertain future. Could the Yankees actually get swept away by the Rays and fall to 3-6 in the cellar of the AL East?  It look entirely possible. Nothing had been going the Yankees way in this series. They were shutout Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday Jordan Montgomery got smacked around by the Rays, continuing the disturbing fact that the Yankees do not have enough starting pitching behind Gerrit Cole.  Yet somehow the Yankees hung around long enough for struggling shortstop Gleyber Torres to break out of his early season slump when he lined a RBI single to center, scoring Aaron Judge to tie the game at four.  Finally, some life from a lifeless offense.  After a stellar job by Chad Green and Darren O'Day to work a scoreless eighth inning, Aroldis Chapman worked around a Mike Zun...

 After striking out in his pursuit of the New York Mets, former Yankees slugger A lex Rodriguez appears safe at home with the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves .  Rodriguez and billionare business partner Marc Lore are closing in on a deal to buy the T-Wolves and the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx for $1.5 billion. According to ESPN, when the deal is finalized, A-Rod and Lore won't take over until 2023.  Lore, who is a New Jersey native, was the former CEO and President of Walmart.  It will be fascinating to see how A-Rod will be as an owner, and what kind of influence his on-again, off-again, on-again fiance, Jennifer Lopez will have. When they were bidding for the Mets, it was assumed that J-Lo would have had a lot of say on the ownership side of things, while A-Rod would have had say in the baseball office. The NBA would be a different kettle of fish for A-Rod.  Also would A-Rod/J-Lo be looked upon as minority owners to Lore, whose billions surely played a very large role ...

 MARLINS 3 - METS 0  It has been an epidemic for the Mets for years. Jacob deGrom toes the rubber and the Mets can't score for him. Since 2018, the Mets are 36-42 in games deGrom pitches. Considering the "ace" of the Mets staff, and arguably the best pitcher in the sport has an ERA just above two, and owns a pair of Cy Young Awards in that span speaks to how embarrassing it is that his teammates never have his back.  Saturday was another case study in the Mets total ineptitude when it comes to helping him. deGrom tossed eight brilliant innings, allowing only a solo homerun, scattered five hits overall, and struck out 14 batters. And yet when he left the game, he was down 1-0.   This is not to take anything away from Miami's Trevor Rogers who was up to the task holding the Mets scoreless on three hits over six innings, and recording 10 strikeouts of his own.  But, really?  Really, New York Mets?  What does it take for deGrom to get a win around here?...

 PHILLIES 5 - METS 2  If Monday night's 5-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies is going to be a microcosm of things to come for the 2021 Mets, it's going to be a long season.  Because on Monday, Mets fans were treated to a familiar script.  - Jacob deGrom pitches brilliantly.  - The Mets fail to get him much run support, as he clings to a 2-0 lead, before exiting the ball game after just 77 piches.    - 77 pitches? Really Luis Rojas.  - The bullpen implodes.  - The Mets rally late, but fall short.  Yep, same story as we've become accustomed to from the Metropolitans.  deGrom was indeed brilliant. In fact he was virtually unhittable. At one point he was hitting 100 mph on his heater in the sixth inning, and had Bryce Harper and the rest of the Phillies lineup completely flabbergasted.  deGrom even helped his own cause with a pair of singles, including an RBI single in the fifth that gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. James McCann was the ...

 YANKEES 7 - ORIOLES 0  After struggling for three days against the Toronto Blue Jays, the heart of the Yankees order was alive and well against the Baltimore Orioles, as both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton broke out of their early season malaise to power the Bronx Bombers to a 7-0 victory over the previously undefeated Orioles.    It all started in the bottom of the fourth when Judge took a 2-0 fastball from Jorge Lopez and deposited it over the right field wall to hand the Yankees a 1-0 lead.  Judge who was hitting .214 coming into the game, had two hits Monday night to push his average back to .294.  As for Stanton, the Designated Hitter who hadn't gotten one hit in two games against Toronto, saved his best for fifth inning, Monday, when he crushed the second pitch he saw to straight away center field at 471 feet for a grand slam homer to blow the game wide open at 6-0.  On the mound, Jordan Montgomery was excellent for the Bombers. He tossed six...

 It appears more and more likely that the Jets are going to go all in on Zach Wilson come the NFL Draft in 3-weeks, after the team traded away their former franchise quarterback Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers for a sxith round pick in 2021, and a second and fourth round pick in 2022.    The Darnold era ends sooner than anyone thought it would when the Jets traded up to draft him in 2018. Darnold never had a chance to succeed in New York. The Jets let him down at every step of the way with instability in the front office, buffoonery on the sideline in the form of ex-head coach Adam Gase, and talent that precipitously worse as the years went on.  Sure Darnold didn't play well. He suffered a number of bizarre injuries, i.e. mono.  But it was a teamwide effort when it came to failing Darnold. Even Douglas has to take a brunt of the responsibility. He didn't give Darnold an offensive line that could protect him, and as a result he was under center for the leagu...

 COVID-19 has wiped out the entire Mets-Nationals series this weekend.     Both teams were scheduled the open the season on Thursday night, but three Nationals players were tested positive for the virus forced the postponement of Thursday's game. Now the entire series is off after the Nationals fear there could be another player who has it -- it  all depends on how contact tracing is conducted.  As a result the Mets will now open the season at Philadelphia on Monday night. It won't be a typical opener for the Mets since the Phillies will already be three games into their season.  As for the Nationals it is anyone's guess at this point when they will play. The face the Braves starting on Monday, but until contact tracing is completed, and the spread of COVID is contained, they won't play ball.  The news is sobering as the sport is trying to comeback from a 60-game, fanless season in 2020. Fans were in full force yesterday in most parks, and a lot ...

 BLUE JAYS 3 - YANKEES 2 - 10 Innings Rob Manfred 1, Yankees 0. That was basically the final Thursday afternoon in the Bronx as the Major League Baseball's horrendous runner-on-second rule bit the Yankees in the behind on Opening Day, as New York fell to the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2.  The second base rule was implemented last season by Major League Baseball, with the commissioner using the Coronavirus as a excuse to implement a rule the sport had been toying with down in the minors for years.  The result is one of the most archaic and childish finishes to any baseball game. Beginning in the 10th inning the last person to bat in the ninth inning takes his base at second before a pitch is ever thrown. It puts the pitcher and everyone in the field under tremendous pressure. Baseball has stated it implemented this rule to speed up the game, but all they did was create an unmitigated disaster.  Sure enough with Jonathan Davis starting the 10th inning at second base, Randal G...

 It's official! Francisco Lindor is a member of the New York Mets not only in the present, but in the future. The Mets and the All Star short stop agreed to terms on a 1 0-year $341 million dea l just hours before Lindor's self-impossed deadline struck on Opening Day.  The agreement comes after it appeared negotiations were dead when the Mets made a final offer of $325 million, while Lindor's camp wanted a deal around $385 million over 12 years. Both sides wound up in the middle.  The deal is the third richest in MLB history according to both Jon Heyman of MLB Network and Joel Sherman of the New York Post, trailing only Anaheim's Mike Trout ($426.5 million) and the Dodgers' Mookie Betts ($365 million) in total value. It is $1 million more than the deal Fernando Tatis Jr. signed with the Padres this winter.  The deal includes upwards of $50 million in deferrals according to Sherman, and a limited no trade clause, and no opt-outs.  The Mets and Lindor had to get ...