Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1029 of 1503)

      Nobody wants Manny Ramirez?

      December 10, 2008 /

      Now that CC Sabathia is set to become a Yankee, the attention will start to turn to finding Manny Ramirez a home. According to YAHOO! Sports, there’s no market for Manny at this point.

      Manny RamirezThe Dodger offer, the only known offer, is for $45 million over two years.

      “Was for $45 million over two years,” one Dodgers executive corrected.

      It’s off the table, along with the third-year option that, if exercised, would have brought the contract’s worth to $60 million.

      The Dodgers are still in on Ramirez. Their offer could be reheated and reserved. But, they could in the coming days or weeks re-sign Furcal and find themselves up to their credit lines in Sabathia, and quickly turn away. So, what of the others out there?

      The Angels? Teixeira comes first, Sabathia second. Manny?

      “It’s not a likely scenario,” Angels GM Tony Reagins said. “We think there are opportunities we see that are more important at this time.”

      The Red Sox? Please.

      The Yankees? Sabathia first, then Burnett and Lowe, then more pitching, then Teixeira, then Manny. GM Brian Cashman believes nearly all the problems of recent seasons can be fixed on the mound. They could eventually turn to Manny, but it sounds like a distant priority.

      The Mets? GM Omar Minaya loves Manny. But he’s just added Francisco Rodriguez and he needs at least one starting pitcher and his owner is cutting payroll, not adding, say, $75 million over three years.

      I thought for sure that the Yankees would lose out on Sabathia and turn their attention to Manny, but obviously it’s a long shot that Ramirez winds up in the Bronx now. A potential sleeper candidate could be the San Francisco Giants. They’ve got plenty of pitching both at the big league level and in the minors, yet absolutely nothing in terms of bats. (Unless you consider Randy Winn, Bengie Molina and Aaron Rowand has heavy hitters.)

      Buuuuuuuuuut, I don’t know if the Giants will come up with the money. And compared to their needs in the infield, the Giants need another outfielder like Barry Bonds needs another federal charge filed against him. But if no market is established for Manny in the upcoming weeks, maybe the G-Men will make a move and finally get a true cleanup hitter back in the lineup.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Pacman Jones done for the year…only this time it’s because of an injury

      December 10, 2008 /

      Adam “Pacman” Jones’ season is officially over. No, not because he spit in a woman’s face or had one of his friends shoot a woman in the ear. This time it’s because of a neck injury.

      Sources close to Adam Jones have informed Fanball.com’s Ryan Houston that the turbulent CB / KR / PR suffered a neck injury and will miss the rest of the season.

      Our View: What started out as a promising “fresh start” ends with more controversy and an injury. It’ll be interesting to see if Jerry Jones allows Adam Jones to come back in 2009. Regardless, neck injuries are always serious concerns and we should know more as test results are released later today.

      This is good – Pacman with free time. Yikes.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Who’s your Heisman: Bradford, McCoy or Tebow?

      December 10, 2008 /

      The 2008 Heisman Trophy Award will be handed out this Saturday and FOXSports.com ranks their top three candidates after Week 15 of the season:

      Sam Bradford1. QB Sam Bradford, Soph. Oklahoma
      Bradford completed 34 of 49 passes for 384 yards and two touchdowns in the 62-21 win over Missouri in the Big 12 Championship.

      2. QB Tim Tebow, Jr. Florida
      Tebow completed 14 of 22 passes for 216 yards and three touchdowns, and he ran 17 times for 57 yards in the 31-20 win over Alabama in the SEC Championship.

      3 QB Colt McCoy, Jr. Texas
      McCoy completed 23 of 28 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran 11 times for 49 yards and two scores in the 49-9 win over Texas A&M to end the regular season.

      Considering the Heisman is supposed to be awarded to college football’s best player, this might be the closest race ever. With a little help from the broke ass BCS system, Bradford led his team to a Big 12 Championship and a national title. (I said a little help Oklahoma fans – don’t rip my face off.)

      Outside of failing to pick up that one yard at the end of the loss to Ole’ Miss, Tebow has been damn near perfect in leading the Gators to a national title appearance, while McCoy’s numbers are off the charts, but he never got the opportunity to lead his team to a title berth.

      I would have to go with Tebow at this point. He lead his team to convincing wins over LSU, Georgia and Alabama this year – three SEC programs with tough defenses. Nothing against Bradford because the kid put up unbelievable numbers, but the defenses in the Big 12 just don’t compare to the ones in the SEC. And when he faced the best defense in the Big 12, Texas, he lost. That said, nobody should be up in arms if Bradford, Tebow or McCoy won the award because they’ve all been sensational.

      College Football

      Dominic Raiola fires back at Lion fans

      December 10, 2008 /

      Detroit Lions’ offensive lineman Dominic Raiola is tired of taking abuse from fans. And damn it, he’s not going to stand for it anymore.

      Raiola, one of the team’s captains, responded verbally to the heckling — and also with an obscene hand gesture — late in Sunday’s 20-16 loss to the Vikings at Ford Field.

      Asked Monday if he regretted “giving the fans the business,” Raiola, while not directly acknowledging the gesture, didn’t mince any words.

      “Nope. Not one bit,” said Raiola, who returned to the lineup Sunday after missing four games because of a broken right thumb. “Because I wish everybody out there came into the film room and watched the film, watched the effort put out there. And, yeah, everybody makes mistakes, everybody messes up — and I’m talking for everybody right now — and, yeah, they’re paying customers. But we’re trying to put some wins on the board and give them something to cheer about. And I don’t know what to say, other than what I said yesterday.”

      “I don’t take one thing back,” said Raiola, an eighth-year pro whose streak of 104 starts ended after he was injured Nov. 2 at Chicago. “I’ll say the same thing to a fan that I see on the street. I wish I could give my address out to some fans — I’d do that. But you can’t. Nobody plays with fists. Everybody wants to play with metal. So I can’t.

      “I’m just so frustrated. I’m tired of being a doormat. For people to just talk to us how they want to talk to us, I’m just not gonna put up with that anymore.”

      I don’t blame Raiola for getting frustrated and firing back at fans that take personal shots at him. But when you’re making millions of dollars for playing a kid’s game, getting heckled by fans comes with the job. You still have to be a professional and try to ignore it, especially when you’re on a team that can’t produce one lousy win for a fan base that has already suffered enough throughout the years.

      Honestly, if I were in Raiola’s shoes, I’d probably be giving the fans the ol’ double-fingered salute on the way out of the stadium, too. But I’d be in the wrong, just like Raiola is. Buying a ticket to the game doesn’t give you the right to act like an idiot, but it also doesn’t give Raiola the right to take his frustrations out on paying, unsatisfied customers, either.

      NFL

      Yankees ready to sign CC Sabathia

      December 10, 2008 /

      There was talk about wanting the opportunity to hit, to play for his home state and the desire to be a Dodger. But in the end, it was all about the money.

      CC Sabathia is on the verge of signing a seven-year contract with the New York Yankees worth at least $160 million according to ESPN.

      CC SabathiaAfter three straight days of face-to-face meetings between GM Brian Cashman and Sabathia, the big lefty decided he wants to spend the next six years of his career as a Yankee. The decision came late last night after Cashman flew to see Sabathia at his home in San Francisco. By the time the meeting was concluded, Sabathia had informed the Yankees that he had made his decision to call New York his baseball home, the Post has learned.

      There are still minor hurdles to finalize, notably that Sabathia must pass a physical. But after so much belief that Sabathia was stalling because he wanted to avoid New York, he agreed to the largest pitching contract in major league history, at least $140 million.

      It means that the Yankees have lassoed the player they were building their offseason around: An ace in his prime. Sabathia is just 28, and last year between the Indians and Brewers he went 17-10 with a 2.70 ERA. The previous season he won the AL Cy Young. Now he is the first major new piece to be put into the new Yankee Stadium.

      Should we be surprised? No. Money talks and the Yankees have a lot of it. Maybe he had other reasons to sign with the Bronx Bombers that aren’t being reported yet, but it really appears that the cash trumped all.

      You have to hand it to the Yankees. They had to get pitching this offseason and they landed the biggest fish in the free agency pond. But it’ll be interesting to see if CC goes the way of Mike Hampton, Barry Zito and all of the other pitchers who got massive free agency deals and then effectively became dog crap. Either way, the Yankees got their guy.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

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