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Fri Nov 20, 2009 8:45 am EST
Jason Bay getting lots of free-agency attention
Midnight last night was the moment that the 171 free agents currently on the market can start negotiating with any team they want and it appears that former Boston Red Sox slugger Jason Bay(notes) might be the most popular guy out there right now, according to the Boston Herald.Bay apparently has an "unbelievable" number of teams making calls for him, says his (totally unbiased) agent. Bay, Matt Holliday(notes), and John Lackey(notes) will be the three biggest free agents on the market this off-season but Bay seems to be the most accessible of the three to more clubs.
Bay reportedly wants a five-year deal worth $17 million annually and supposedly declined a four-year, $60 million proposal on the table from the Red Sox. Now he's waiting to see what kind of dollars and years will be offered by such clubs as the New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Seattle Mariners.
And, of course, the Red Sox will keep a watchful eye over the proceedings and try to get back in at an opportune moment.
Source: Boston Herald
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Fri Nov 20, 2009 8:20 am EST
Rockets' Tracy McGrady demands to be activated
The Houston Rockets have gone 41 straight games without the services of Tracy McGrady(notes) and he's getting extremely peeved about it. In fact, he's so annoyed that he showed up at the Target Center in Minneapolis and dressed in his game uniform and went through all his pregrame rituals, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.He and coach Rick Adelman then apparently had an "emotional and sometimes loud" meeting about what the plan is for McGrady. The meeting supposedly kicked off with McGrady slamming the door shut.
McGrady is apparently feeling recovered from the microfracture surgery on his left knee and wanted to hear straight from Adelman - not Rockets general manager Daryl Morey or trainer Keith Jones - about his plan for McGrady, who apparently has to wait to play till at least next week when he will get another MRI to see if everything looks healed up.
Source: Yahoo! Sports
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Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:41 am EST
NFL Players Association wants league concussion expert ousted
After careers of getting knocked around, NFL players are suddenly discovering that this kind of behavior doesn't do wonders for the long-term health of their brains and a lot of reports and studies are backing them up on this.
But Dr. Ira Casson, who is the co-chairman of the league's committee on concussions, is ready to contest anything or anyone that suggests that concussions and the brain trauma that occurs during the natural progression of a professional football game have anything to do with former players having brain-related problems.
So the NFL Players Association is supposedly trying to get Casson ousted from the committee, according to the New York Times. "Our view is that he's a polarizing figure on this issue, and the players certainly don't feel like he can be an impartial party on this subject," George Atallah, the union's assistant executive director for external affairs, told the paper.
Source: New York Times
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Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:28 am EST
Yankees claim to not be dealing Nick Swisher
New York Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher(notes) had a tough postseason at the plate but still got to celebrate at the end of the whole shebang when his team became the World Series champions. Word came out yesterday that the team was supposedly making the switch hitter available on the trading block, leading some to believe that he could have been part of a package for the Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay(notes), who the Yanks are rumored to be interested in bringing to the Bronx.However, an exec on the team has apparently told the New York Post that Swisher isn't going anywhere and the Yankees are very happy with having him out in right field.
So now Swisher can just go ahead and relax and get that tattoo he was planning to get this winter to honor his departed grandfather that will match the one that he has on his chest in honor of his grandmother. The pair basically raised him after his folks got divorced.
Source: New York Post
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Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:09 am EST
Minnesota Vikings moving to L.A.?
The Minnesota Vikings want a new stadium. And the team wants one that will likely cost $900 million-plus. In case you haven't noticed, money is tight for everybody these days and the folks in Minnesota aren't excited about the idea of shelling out all that dough for a football stadium. The Vikings' current 30-year lease runs out at the end of 2011 and the team is making it pretty clear it's not planning on playing one more game than necessary in the Metrodome.
So the Vikings are apparently starting to use the threat of moving the team to Los Angeles a little more often these days, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and one wonders if there is a growing truth to the threat.
L.A. has been without a team since 1995 when the Rams and Raiders left town and a new stadium is apparently going to go up there to hold whatever financially strapped team decides to move there.
"There is a very real and meaningful risk we could lose the franchise. It's clear," said Mike Kelly, a Vikings' executive vice president till 2005. "I did a lot of work when I was there on stadium financing and generally on team finances and even when we sold out, it was clear that the team could not be profitable in that stadium."
Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press
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Fri Nov 20, 2009 6:43 am EST
Bengals going without Cedric Benson?
It's looking like running back Cedric Benson(notes) won't be taking the ball at all this Sunday when his team takes on the Oakland Raiders, according to NFL.com.Benson's hip injury kept him out of a second straight practice and the rumor is that he just won't be ready to bear a full load on Sunday. So the recent signing of Larry Johnson(notes) may come in handy pretty quickly. There is talk that Johnson has gotten a lot of repetitions in practice and will be getting the ball a fair amount this weekend if all goes as planned but the conventional wisdom has Johnson sitting well behind Bernard Scott(notes) on the depth chart.
Johnson has only had two days of practice with the team though he's apparently said that he's feeling pretty comfortable with quarterback Carson Palmer(notes).
Source: NFL.com
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Fri Nov 20, 2009 6:33 am EST
San Francisco Giants not going after Holliday or Bay
The San Francisco Giants sure would like to have free agents Jason Bay(notes) and Matt Holliday(notes) sign with the team this winter, but Giants GM Brian Sabean apparently doesn't think either player really has any desire to come to the Bay Area, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.For that reason, Sabean isn't even going to extend any kind of offer to either one of the top offensive free agents on the market this year now that any team can make offers to any free agents. Sabean is saying that he doesn't want to be a "stalking horse" this off-season and get used as a negotiating tool for these players with other clubs.
So Sabean says the Giants will be focusing on so-called second-tier players to fill out the batting order and bullpen. That terminology sure is going to make those players feel good about themselves, too.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
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Fri Nov 20, 2009 6:21 am EST
Catcher Paul Lo Duca wants back in the big leagues
Catcher Paul Lo Duca(notes) spent 10 years in the big leagues with four different teams and wasn't signed last year. Now he's apparently telling Sirius XM Radio that he wants back in, according to the New York Daily News.Lo Duca told the satellite radio station that he's completely healthy and everything he's had surgery on (hamstring, knee) feels perfect. "I want to go back in it full bore and [do] whatever needs to be done," he said. "I want to play on a team that wants to win and wants a player that wants to win. I'll do whatever I need to do. If it's come off the bench, if it's spot starts, I'll do whatever they need me to do."
The 5'9" 36-year-old who has a .286 career average and popped only 80 homers in his ten years in the league isn't expecting to be the starting catcher for anybody. "I really feel like I can offer a good bat off the bench to somebody and do whatever needs to be done," he said.
Guess he was getting bored as a horse-racing analyst for the TVG Network.
Source: New York Daily News
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Fri Nov 20, 2009 6:05 am EST
Allen Iverson deal with Knicks "near certainty"?
It's looking like former Memphis Grizzlies guard Allen Iverson(notes) is getting extremely close to signing a deal with the New York Knicks, according to NBA.com.Earlier this week, Knicks prez Donnie Walsh said it was a long shot but he must be liking what he's hearing and seeing of Iverson because a deal is supposedly imminent. There are other sources to NBA.com that are saying the deal isn't so close to happening and the 2-9 Knickerbockers are still looking at the plusses and minuses of signing Iverson.
But what do the Knicks have to lose? They've blown a lot more money on far worse players to try and inject some energy into this losing franchise. Then again, the last thing this team needs is another diva who is going to fill up gossip pages rather than the basket.
It certainly can't hurt Iverson's chances for a deal that Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni seems to think that Iverson could help lure LeBron James(notes) to New York when he becomes a free agent from the Cleveland Cavaliers next summer, according to the New York Post. The pair share an agent, at least.Source: NBA.com
New York Post
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Fri Nov 20, 2009 5:55 am EST
Bruins' Marc Savard about to sign multiyear extension
Boston Bruins center Marc Savard(notes) has missed fourteen games in a row with a broken foot and isn't likely to play tonight against the Buffalo Sabres, but the Bruins are ready to throw a bunch of cash at him, anyway, to extend his contract, according to the Boston Herald.The deal for the 32-year-old is supposedly for seven years and $39 million. That's $5.7 million a year for those of you keeping score at home. He reportedly could have signed an extension worth $6.5 million a year, but that was only for three years.
He supposedly will be back in action on Monday against the St. Louis Blues: "I feel great out there. You've got to put in your time, though," Savard said. "You've got to skate a couple of times. I'd love to be playing ... but I've got to wait a bit."
Source: Boston Herald
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