COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

 The Giants answered some major questions on the offensive side of the ball Friday night when they drafted center John Michael Schmitz with the 57th overall pick and, later, traded back up to the 73rd overall pick to take receiver Jalin Hyatt, who was a dynamic playmaker at Tennessee.  This coupled with the Giants selection of cornerback Deonte Banks, and Joe Schoen had another stellar draft night for Big Blue.  Read more from my story about these players on FOX SPORTS NEW JERSEY .

 As I wrote for Fox Sports New Jersey on Friday evening; "A wild off-season dedicated toward securing a trade with the Green Bay Packers for quarterback Aaron Rodgers wound up producing a uneven opening two rounds of the NFL Draft for the New York Jets. This is what happens when a team like Gang Green has to trade a first and second round pick to get a future Hall of Fame quarterback, and as a result, General Manager Joe Douglas was unable to truly match the magic he had a year ago in the draft. The Jets selected defensive end Will McDonald IV with the 15th overall pick of the first round to mostly negative reaction from Jets fans, who were disappointed a left tackle didn’t fall to them. The response was much more cordial in the second round as the Jets nabbed center Joe Tippmann from Wisconsin. A 6-foot-6 beast of a man, who fits an huge need in the middle of the Jets beleaguered offensive line." If you want to read more, CLICK HERE!

 The New York Jets and Green Bay Packers have finally agreed to a deal. Aaron Rodgers is coming to the Big Apple. The Jets agreed to mortgage a big part of their future in draft capital in order to get the four-time League MVP and Super Bowl champion to New Jersey to play for Gang Green. Will it work? That is the million dollar question. The Jets swapped their first round pick (13th overall) for Green Bay's first rounder (15th overall), and received a fifth round pick (#170) in this year's draft. Going back to Green Bay in addition to the 13th overall pick is a second rounder in this year's draft (#42 overall); a sixth round pick #207, and a conditional 2024 second rounder that could turn into a first round pick if Rodgers plays in 65% of the Jets games this year.  So that's it, the Jets got their man and can now focus on building an offensive line around him in the draft with the picks they do have this coming Thursday. While the Jets are giving up a lot. Don't tel...

 Mets staff ace Max Scherzer has been hit with a 10-game suspension by Major League Baseball for violating the prohibition of foreign substances, according to Mets beat reporter Anthony DiComo.    This is really no surprise. Once Scherzer was ejected from Wednesday's game against the Dodgers, he was at great risk of getting the automatic suspension for having an illegal substance on his hands.    Umpiring crew cheif Dan Bellio, who was the crew chief at the Mets-Dodgers series called Scherzer's hand the "stickiest" he had ever seen.    Scherzer plead his case that he did everything the umpires asked him to do to clean his hand, and said the stickiness came from rosin (which is legal if applied on the mound).  The Mets will likely appeal one would imagine. A ten game suspension means Scherzer would likely lose two starts at most before being allowed to return to the rotation.   

 Max Scherzer was ejected for having what Phil Cuzzi's umpiring crew deemed to be a foriegn substance on his pitching hand, yet the former Cy Young Award winner pleaded his case to the media afterwards that he did everything within the legal boundries of the rules. Scherzer recounted to reporters that he cleansed his hands with alcohol after the second inning, and the only substance on his hands were rosin (which is a legal substance, pitchers can use it) and sweat.  "I would have to be an absolute idiot to try to do anything in the fourth. I washed my hand with alcohol in front of  the official and grabbed rosin. When you use sweat and rosin your hand can get stickey," he said. It will be interesting to see what baseball decides to do. If the umpires deemed it a violation, Scherzer could face a 10-day suspension. Meanwhile, the good news for the Mets was they won the game 5-3 thanks in major part to a five-hit day from Brandon Nimmo. His two-run bomb gave the Mets a 2-1 ...

 The New York Rangers made a massive statement on Tuesday night in Newark, pounding and pushing around the New Jersey Devils to a tune of 5-1 in Game 1 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Veteran Chris Krieder was unstoppable, as he notched a pair of power play goals to set the tone, while the Devils -- despite attempting more shots on goal, 28 to the Rangers 23, couldn't get much done against Igor Shesterkin.  Shesterkin was brilliants, recording 27 saves against a Devils team that was the one of the highest scoring teams in franchise history. As for Krieder, his pair of goals made him the Rangers all time playoff goal leader. When Krieder broke the record with his first goal of the game, Prudential Center sounded like the Garden. Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan Lindgren and Filip Chytil also scored for the Blue Shirts, who jumped out to a 4-0 midway through the third period before the Devils finally put one in the net on a penalty shot by Jack Hughes.

 CAVALIERS 107 - KNICKS 90  The Knicks had no answers for the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday night, falling 107-90 in Game two, as the series now shifts to Madison Square Garden, even at a game a piece.  New York had no answer for Darius Garland, who put down 32 points on 8-of-17 shooting for Cleveland. Former Net Caris LeVert was also a prickly thorn in the Knicks side, adding 24 points off the bench for the Cavaliers. New York trailed by only three points, 25-22 after the first quarter, before Cleveland exploded in the second quarter, doubling up the Knicks 34-17 in the frame. They would never look back the rest of the way. The Knicks had trimmed the deficit to a single point, 25-24, on a pair of R.J. Barrett free throws, before Cleveland went on a 15-4 run to increase their lead to 12-points with 5:07 to go before the half. Julius Randel led the way for the Knicks with 22 points, while Jalen Brunson contributed 20 points and six assists. Expect a wild, and raucou...

 METS 4 - ATHLETICS 3 - 10 Innings  Talk about a hard earned victory. That is exactly what the Mets did on Sunday afternoon by the Bay in Oakland, California, holding off a the A's in a 4-3 extra inning thriller to complete a weekend series sweep.  The Mets head to Los Angeles riding a four-game winning streak and a record of 10-6.  New York led 2-1 going into the bottom of the eighth inning when things got real interesting. John Curtiss couldn't get out of the inning as he labored against the A's, eventually serving up a two-run double to Shea Langeliers to put Oakland in front for the first time all day 3-2.  In the top half of the ninth, Pete Alonso crushed a 1-0 fastball off the facing of the outer center field wall for a solo homer to tie the game back up at three.  The Mets would load the bases, but Eduardo Escobar grounded out, ending the inning.  Later, Jimmy Yacabonis worked in and out of trouble in the bottom half of the ninth thanks in major...

 Brett Baty is on his way back to the Major's, at long last.  The Mets recalled Brett Baty on Sunday morning before the team's series finale in Oakland, and will rejoin the Mets when they hit LA on Monday to open up a three-game series against the Dodgers.  Manager Buck Showalter would not comment on Baty's promotion before the game, but it is pretty obvious why this move has to be made.  Baty has been tearing the cover off the ball this season down in Triple-A, hitting .400 with five homers and 15 RBI.  Eduardo Escobar has struggled at third for the Mets, hitting only .114 through 15 games.  It's time for a change.

 As I wrote for Fox Sports New Jersey It had been 17 days since Julius Randle last played in a game for the New York Knicks this season. After nursing an ankle injury down the stretch, Randle returned to contribute 19 points, while Jalen Brunson — also back to full strength after a hand injury, dropped down 27 points, and the Knicks held off a late Cleveland charge 101-97. New York leads the best-of-seven 1-0.  The Knicks had led virtually all night, enjoying a 10-point lead (84-74) as late as 7:08 to go in the regulation, before Cleveland stormed back, and flipped that score into a Cavaliers’ one-point lead with 2:12 to go on Jarrett Allen’s tip in shot.  Give credit to the Knicks, they battled back. Josh Harris drained a three, and Brunson hit an 18-foot jumper to put the Knicks back up by four points, 97-93 with 1:15 to go. Brunson would hit one more shot, an eight-footer to give New York a 99-95 lead.  Allen would respond for Cleveland with a bucket of...

 76ERS 121 - NETS 101  Despite their best efforts, the Brooklyn Nets didn’t have enough punch to make up for an early deficit, falling to the Philadelphia 76ers 121-101 in the opener of the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. The Nets trailed predominately throughout the game, never enjoying a lead once, and after cutting the Sixers lead to three-points on a Mikal Bridges three-pointer with 5:14 to go before halftime, the Nets never got close again. As for Bridges, it was the same story as it has been all year, especially in the second half of the year when he became the face of the team since the Kyrie and KD trades; he was impressive. Bridges was 12-of-18 from the field for 30 points. The Nets even out-shot the Sixers, connecting on 55 percent of their shots, but Philly made theirs count when it mattered. It didn’t help matters the Nets turned it over 19 times to just eight for Philly. Five players were in double-figures for the Sixers, with Joel Em...

 New York Jets Woody Johnson might be the one who has poured cold water on the Aaron Rodgers trade -- at least in the interim -- according to Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson .    Appearing as a guest on ESPN Milwaukee's Wilde and Taucsch, the Jets and Packers had the framework of a deal in place that included a 2023 2nd round pick, a 2024 first round pick, guaranteed, and the Packers willingness to send the JEts back a 2025 pick should Rodgers retire after one season.  And the Jets reneged.    Why? Because the Jets didn't like it when Rodgers announced on the Pat McAfee show that Rodgers was "90 percent" certain about retirement before going into his darkness retreat. As a result, Johnson, thinking about the situation the Denver Broncos find themselves in with Russell Wilson, and the Rams find themselves in with an injured Matthew Stafford and no draft picks in the first round, put the kebash on the deal.  As Robinson described, and I paraphrase -- the ...

 So Odell Beckham will not be joining the New York Jets after all.  With reports late last week that Gang Green would host Beckham in Florham Park, with the hopes of wooing him once more to sign with them in order to satisfy Aaron Rodgers' wish list, Beckham called an audible after the Ravens ponied up $18 million, with $15 million guaranteed for the 2023 season.  The choice at that point was easy for Beckham who went for the money.  For the Jets, they dodged another bullet.   Ever since Gang Green became the focus of the football world with speculation and assumptions that Rodgers would be joining the Jets via trade with the Green Bay Packers, they have been linked to top free agents.  Zeke Elliot floated the idea he would consider the Jets, Gang Green never had any desire to sign the former Cowboys running back. And the idea didn't sit well with the likes of Breece Hall and Michael Carter who slammed the rumor on social media.  Then there was Ca...