Monthly Archives: May 2017

The Packers lost TJ Lang in free agency

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Desmond was one of the steals of last offseason, as, following a career-worst season in a contract year with the Nationals, Texas nabbed the former shortstop late in free agency on a one-year, $8 million deal and moved him to center field. He responded by hitting 22 homers, stealing 21 bases, slashing .285/.335/.446 and playing decent defense for someone new to the position. The Rockies rewarded the 31-year-old by signing to a five year, $70 million contract.

All three players are capable major leaguers, although Choo and Gomez aren’t the upper-echelon players they used to be. Still, the Rangers are well-armed to survive Desmond’s departure and maintain what was one of the best offenses in baseball last season.

The Packers lost TJ Lang in free agency, and GM Ted Thompson’s commitment to ignore free agency as much as possible resulted in another top offensive lineman leaving. Feeney fits the Green Bay prototype well.

Lawson recently said that he doesn’t believe he’ll be available by the second round, and this came after an impressive Pro Day NFL scout representation that included Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. The Steelers do need pass rushers.

The Browns may have to move up to get Deshaun Watson if he is, in fact, their target. Watson impressed at the NFL Scouting Combine in interviews, and all but assured himself a top-15 pick.

Mahomes has plenty of fans in the NFL, and his awesome arm talent and Matt Stafford/Brett Favre upside should land him a spot in the top-15. Teams such as the Chiefs and Texans may Wholesale NBA Jerseys look to trade up to secure him if the Cardinals/Browns pass.

ESPN to have first woman announce Monday Night Football game, per report

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The first week of the NFL’s regular season features a Monday night doubleheader, and while the first game will have the typical crew (Jon Gruden, Sean McDonough) the second game of the evening will be making history, according to a report from Sports Illustrated.

Beth Mowins will become just the second woman to announce an NFL regular-season or postseason game when she’ll handle play-by-play duties in Week 1 during the Chargers and Broncos matchup. The only other woman to call a game was Gayle Sierens for NBC back in 1987.

There have only been a few more women who have had a non-sideline role in an NFL game, all of which were during the preseason. Mowins is one of those women, as she has called preseason games for the Raiders over the past two seasons.

Dyson figures to man a corner outfield spot, with Leonys Martin likely to remain in center field. The other corner outfield post is open, although Ben Gamel and Mitch Haniger could form a platoon. Nelson Cruz, more than ever, is best suited to being an everyday designated hitter.

The Mariners lose Smith’s left-handed power in the batting order, but M’s revamped infield (Danny Valencia, Robinson Cano, Jean Segura and Kyle Seager) can compensate for that. Dyson is not a power threat at all; he has seven career homers in 1,539 plate appearances. His game is speed; he has stolen 26 or more bases for five consecutive seasons as mostly a part-time player.

Dyson became expendable in Kansas City after the Royals NBA Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping acquired Jorge Soler from the Cubs for closer Wade Davis.

Seattle gave up a fringe starter/swing man in Karns to get better in the outfield. The 29-year-old regressed last season with Seattle (5.15 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, .259 opponents’ average) after a reasonably effective season in the Rays’ rotation in 2015 (3.67 ERA, 1.28 WHIP over 147 innings). He’ll likely fill a similar role in Kansas City.

Royals’ Eric Hosmer talks extension, but knows KC core headed to breakup

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All-Star first baseman Eric Hosmer, agent Scott Boras and the Royals are discussing a contract extension, but Hosmer “indicated that he’ll test free agency” if no extension is agreed upon by opening day,” Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported.

“I don’t know if it’s going to heat up now in spring training,” Hosmer said. “But during the season, I don’t like being bothered with that stuff. If something doesn’t happen here, I don’t see anything during the season really happening.”

Still, Mets manager Terry Collins recognizes two things: First, that Tebow Man Utd Cheap Jerseys has a long way to go in his baseball climb, but, second, fans in Florida — and MLB players, too — want to see him take those steps this spring.

“If they decide to send him to [big-league] camp, we’ll get him better,” Collins said. “I can tell you, I certainly hope you will see Tim Tebow in some of our games. … I think he’s a name in Florida. He’s a star in Florida. He should be. I think it would be fun to have Tim come over. And certainly one thing about our players, they’re athletes. They’re fans, too. They would probably like to know how to run a quarterback sneak one day.”

Alderson said the former Florida Gators football star and ex-NFL player probably would break camp with a full-season minor-league team.

He struck out 20 times in 62 Arizona Fall League at-bats, finishing with a .194 average with two RBIs.

“We knew he’d be overmatched in the Arizona Fall League. We also felt that he needed to play games,” Alderson said. “And so, as we look at going into spring training and his first full season, I think the same priorities would hold true — he needs to play games. Under most circumstances that would mean, look, he’s in minor-league camp. He’s playing games every day. He comes over once in a while. And at the end of camp, he goes to a full-season team. I think that’s what we would foresee.”

New York moved into a tie for the AL East lead with the Orioles

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Brett Gardner also went deep twice and Aaron Hicks homered as part of a 16-hit night for the Yankees. Matt Holliday added three hits, including an RBI double, as New York Cheap Tigers Jerseys jumped to a 7-0 lead against Latos and held on for their 15th win in their last 20 games.

Masahiro Tanaka (4-1) kept the Blue Jays at bay, pitching into the seventh inning to win his fourth straight start. Steve Pearce was the lone star for the Blue Jays after going 4 for 4 with his first two homers his his new club.

With the win, New York moved into a tie for the AL East lead with the Orioles, who had more than their fair share of trouble against the Red Sox in a 5-2 loss.

Ervin Santana moved to 5-0 with a 0.66 ERA after delivering six scoreless innings of three-hit ball in a 9-1 Twins win over the A’s. The right-hander struck out seven and walked three as Minnesota moved into a tie with the Tigers and Indians for second place in the AL Central.

Revere had a less-than-desirable offensive season in 2016, far and away the worst season statistically of his career. His season was derailed on opening day by an oblique injury that sidelined him for a month. He couldn’t get in a groove upon returning, eventually losing his starting job to Trea Turner.

But the Angels — who are stuck in a rut and would need nothing short of Danny Glover, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Christopher Lloyd for a miracle season in 2017 — needed to make something happen. A team with a farm system ranked as one of the worst across the board last season has to restart somewhere. And Revere on a one-year deal is at least part of somewhere.

Seahawks’ Michael Bennett to donate endorsement money to minority causes

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Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett has promised to donate all the money he earns from endorsements in 2017 to causes benefiting minority communities and empowering women of color, ESPN reports.

Bennett said he was inspired to make the pledge by Chance the Rapper, who is giving $1 million to the children of Chicago and the city’s public schools.

“That’s our guilty pleasure,” Zimmerman said. Some people like to go to the movies but we like nice food and nice drinks, which ties into why I wanted to get into the restaurant industry.”

Despite his agent warning him about the restaurant industry, he is confident in the ability of Long Shot Hospitality — a restaurant company that owns two other D.C. restaurants — to keep the venue open.

Zimmerman, 32, also said that he is three to five China Cheap Jerseys years away from retiring from baseball, but that opening the restaurant is a good step in preparation for the inevitability of the day he walks from the game.

“This is sort of a first step, a way of seeing if I really like it and enjoy it,” Zimmerman said. “I know I like food.”

As for the actual menu at The Salt Line, Zimmerman suggests lobster rolls.

Andrew McCutchen struggled with Pirates’ decision to move him to right field

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It’s been a tough offseason for Andrew McCutchen. Coming off his worst season, he spent the past few months listening to trade rumors involving his name and several other teams.

Finally, when it appeared he would start 2017 in Pittsburgh, he Cheap Zach Parise Jerseys got some surprising news — the Pirates were shuffling their outfield, moving McCutchen from center field to right, with Starling Marte going to center, and Gregory Polanco shifting to left.

With that in mind, Alderson assured Tebow he could continue to pursue other opportunities — most notably his on-air duties with the SEC Network — while betting that the former Heisman Trophy winner’s work ethic would leave a positive impression no matter how well he actually performed.

Eight months into the experiment, there’s little question the Mets organization has benefited from the association. Tebow was called in from minor league camp for several Grapefruit League games and didn’t embarrass himself, then hit a home run in his first at-bat for the Denver Broncos Cheap Jerseys Single-A Columbia Fireflies in his full-season minor league debut. His presence also has generated large crowds at Fireflies home games and perhaps even greater buzz on the road. Columbia was in Hickory, N.C., last week, welcomed by standing-room-only crowds for the four-game set.

Entering Wednesday, Tebow is hitting .231/.318/.372 with two homers and nine RBIs in 22 games. Those aren’t the kind of numbers that would get most players fast-tracked to the next level in the farm system, but as a 29-year-old who has more to offer than whatever his stat line indicates, Tebow figures to be moved up the ladder at a quicker pace than his peers.

And the Mets aren’t about to apologize for it. As Alderson put it to SI: “Would we have done it without the celebrity element? Probably not. … So?”

Reds’ Billy Hamilton challenges 40-yard dash king John Ross for Cincy speedster supremacy

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It’s not a showdown with Usain Bolt, but Bengals draft pick John Ross has a local challenger for the title of Cincinnati’s fastest speedster.

Reds outfielder and base thief extraordinaire Billy Hamilton said he’s up for racing Ross, who in March broke Chris Johnson’s coveted 40-yard dash record by running it in 4.22 seconds at the NFL Combine. The Bengals selected the former Washington wideout with their No. 9 overall pick in last month’s draft in part because of said speed.

Bellinger, 21, is off to a monster start in Triple-A, hitting .343/.429/.627 with five home runs in 18 games. While the small sample size makes those numbers stand out, Bellinger has a track record of power production.

He hit 30 homers at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2015, then Cheap Miami Heat Jerseys added 26 more homers and an .872 OPS between Double-A and Triple-A last season before an impressive showing in the Arizona Fall League.

Baseball America ranked him the No. 7 prospect in baseball entering 2017. The left-handed hitter was a fourth-round pick by L.A. in the 2013 MLB Draft and is the son of former Yankees infielder Clay Bellinger.

The NFL insider appeared on FS1’s “Undisputed” Monday to provide some additional details into the discovery of Brady’s jerseys. In the process, he revealed the Denver Broncos believe this culprit also took Von Miller’s helmet and/or cleats. The connection between all items is that they were memorabilia from the Super Bowl MVPs.

Glazer also added “there’s other things,” although he did not elaborate fully as to what else could be stolen.

Mariners place Felix Hernandez on DL with shoulder problem

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The Mariners placed ace Felix Hernandez on the disabled list Wednesday, according to multiple reports, the day after he left his start in Detroit after two-plus innings with what manager Scott Servais described as “a dead arm.”

Hernandez was diagnosed with “shoulder inflammation,” MLB.com reported, and is expected to miss “at least” two to three weeks.

“He had some tightness in his shoulder when he went out for the second inning,” Servais told reporters Tuesday (via the Seattle Times). “It’s really a dead arm situation.”

Hernandez asked not to speak to the media — which is unusual, the Times noted — after what became an ugly 19-9 loss. More telling: The right-hander was visibly upset as he exited the clubhouse.

While Nathan seems unlikely to be the answer — though he does have a history with both Baker and pitching coach Mike Maddux — the Nationals appear set to head to camp with in-house options the main focus for ninth-inning duties.

Shawn Kelley saved seven games last season (while sporting an impressive 80-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio) and would appear to be the early favorite, though Blake Treinen could also get a look. The Washington Post also reported recently that Koda Glover could get a look as the closer at some point, though he is coming off a hip injury and has pitched fewer than 20 innings in the majors.

The notion of the closer role has taken a beating in analytics-oriented baseball circles, but those in the dugout and bullpen still prefer to know who’s going to get the ball when. With Cheap Jerseys Website the Nationals this spring, that’s anyone’s guess.

Mets’ Steven Matz reels in gigantic shark on fishing trip

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Arguably the best catcher of his generation, Posey’s also an integral member of one of its most successful teams. Three World Series titles and an MVP before his 30th birthday isn’t too shabby.

Catchers can go downhill in a hurry after turning 30. As it stands, two months before his 30th birthday, Posey has 1,005 hits and is no sure bet to double that. No player who’s retired since 1959 with fewer than 2,000 hits is in the Hall of Fame. This trend will hopefully change in the years to come as the Hall of Fame electorate continues to undergo a metamorphosis. For now, to wager that Posey will come remotely close to being a unanimous selection is laughable.

The MLB season hasn’t started, but Steven Matz has already made an impressive catch.

After spending some time at sea with teammate Sean Gilmartin and online fishing show BlacktipH in Florida, the Mets left-handed pitcher on Tuesday shared a photo of Cheap Jerseys And Hats From China himself reeling in a large white shark.

Matz was shut down with a sore shoulder in August last season and eventually underwent surgery to remove bone spurs in his elbow.

Thankfully, he made it through his fishing expedition without losing his arm and is still on track to make his anticipated return after finishing with a 3.40 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and 129:31 K:BB ratio in 132 1/3 innings in 2016.

this may be the Trail Blazers’ best chance in the series to prevent a sweep with an upset.

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After combining for 75 points in Game 1, C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard were ice cold in Game 2, and managed just 23 points between them. Portland will only go as far as their two star guards take them, and so far we’ve seen both the good and the bad from this duo through the first Direct Cheap Jerseys two games of the series.

The Trail Blazers are 5-0 ATS in their last five games as home underdogs and are 3-1 SU in their last four.

Saturday’s total is set at 217 points. The OVER is 13-4 in the last 17 games between the Warriors and the Trail Blazers.

Portland is 2-12 SU and 6-8 ATS in its last 14 games against Golden State, but only five of those games were at home. The Trail Blazers are 2-3 SU and 3-2 ATS in their last five home games against the Warriors.

With their backs against the wall in Game 3 and Durant likely to either be sitting out or limited in action, this may be the Trail Blazers’ best chance in the series to prevent a sweep with an upset.

In lightning time after that, Carolina jumped in to choose offensive tackle Jordon Gross. Minnesota finally exercised its pick at the No. 9 slot, selecting defensive tackle Kevin Williams, one of the fastest-rising players in the lottery.

“I’m pissed,” Vikings coach Mike Tice said via ESPN. “There is no other way I can put it.”

Williams turned out to be successful with the Vikings, playing with them for 11 years and earning six Pro Bowl spots in that span. Minnesota came out of it saying Williams was who they wanted all along.