Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 936 of 1503)

      Twins sign 3B Joe Crede to one-year deal

      February 21, 2009 /

      After weeks of back and forth contract talks, the Minnesota Twins and free agent third basemen Joe Crede have finally agreed on a deal.

      Joe CredeThe Twins will sign Crede to one-year deal with a base salary of $2.5 million with the chance to earn $7 million in appearance bonuses. The bonuses begin once Crede reaches 250 plate appearances and tops out at $7 million when he makes his 525th plate appearance.

      This a is very, very good deal for the Twins. A $7 million base salary seemed too high. A $5 million base seemed reasonable. But a $2.5 million base really helps the Twins out from a risk standpoint. If Crede is healthy, he should play like a $7 million player. If he breaks down, the Twins have a good Plan B in Brian Busher and Bredan Harris. And there’s money available to add move talent – perhaps a free agent reliever like Juan Cruz.

      Crede’s solid when he’s healthy, but staying healthy isn’t exactly one of his strengths. At least they have Busher and Harris as backups.

      MLB

      Michael Crabtree to have foot surgery

      February 21, 2009 /

      Texas Tech wide receiver Michel Crabtree will not be able to work out for the next 10 weeks after being required to have surgery for a stress fracture in his foot.

      Michael CrabtreeThe injury and surgery is expected to sideline Crabtree for at least 10 weeks, jeopardizing his NFL pro day, which now is expected to be cancelled, and raising questions about when he will be healthy again. Doctors believe that with the precautions the All-American wide receiver is willing to take, Crabtree will be sufficiently recovered in time for training camp this summer.

      After doctors found the slight stress fracture on Friday they conducted more testing on Crabtree, including a bone scan that revealed that the injury happened only recently, possibly during training for the combine. Since finding it, Crabtree has been investigating the best and smartest way to treat the injury.

      Crabtree also measured slightly shorter than expected, coming in at 6-foot-1 3/8 and weighing 214 pounds. Most teams thought Crabtree was 6-foot-3. But as Seahawks head coach Jim Mora pointed out, Crabtree had the longet arms of any receiver in the draft, and it easily would cancel out whatever the wide receiver was missing in height.

      The only two-time Biletnikoff Award winner as the nation’s top wide receiver, Crabtree was regarded as a surefire top-five pick. He still is expected to be a top pick, but how his injury will affect his draft status will be one of the most hotly debated questions.

      If Crabtree falls in the first round because of this injury, whatever team snags him will get a steal. Regardless of his size and the fact that he had to have surgery – the kid can play. He draws comparisons to Larry Fitzgerald for a reason and if he falls out of the top 5, I highly doubt Al Davis passes on him at No. 7.

      College Football, NFL

      Offseason Blueprint: Oakland Raiders

      February 20, 2009 /

      Notable Free Agents: Nnamdi Asomugha (re-signed), CB; Shane Lechler (re-signed), P; Chris Johnson (re-signed), CB; Jake Grove, C; Cooper Carlisle, G.

      Projected 2009 Cap Space: $4,000,000

      Draft Order: 7

      Top Needs: Not unlike other teams selecting at the top of the draft, the Raiders are mostly in need of offensive line help. Defensive line, wide receiver and linebacker could also be addressed.

      Offseason Outlook: The Raiders’ top priority was to ensure that cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha didn’t hit the open market, and they accomplished that by inking him to a new three-year, $45 million contract. Asomugha’s deal is complex and you can read more details here, but the bottom line is that he’ll once again anchor the Raiders’ secondary in 2009.

      Al Davis also re-signed punter Shane Lechler to a four-year, $16 million contract. That might not be big news to some, but considering how much the Raiders punt during the regular season, re-signing Lechler was a wise move.

      The biggest challenge Davis now faces is how will he free up enough cap space to address other needs. The Raiders were sitting at $4 million under the cap before the re-signings of Asomugha and Lechler. Are cuts coming? If so, who will be shown the door?

      One name that has recently come up in trade speculation is defensive end Derrick Burgess, who the Raiders are rumored to be shopping. Burgess becomes a free agent after the 2009 season so it would make sense that Oakland would trade him now in order to gain compensation. If they were able to trade him, they would free up $3.5 million in cap space, which isn’t a huge amount but it would help.

      Even if they were able to free up some cap space, don’t expect Davis to go hog wild this offseason, although it won’t be because he doesn’t want to. Davis is always willing to spend big for talent, but the cap is going to hamstring him this year. Instead, expect the Raiders to make a push to re-sign center Jake Grove and then focus on mid-level free agents and the draft.

      Oakland head coach Tom Cable is apparently confident in Mario Henderson as his starting left tackle again next season. Robert Gallery is entrenched at the left guard position and assuming the team can re-sign Grove, center will be taken care of as well. But the entire right side of the line needs to be addressed.

      The Raiders are in prime position to take one of the top offensive tackle prospects that’ll be available in April. Virginia’s Eugene Monroe and Baylor’s Jason Smith are regarded as the top tackle prospects, but they might not fall to Oakland at No. 7. Instead, Ole Miss offensive tackle Michael Oher could fall right into the Raiders’ laps at that spot. Monroe and Smith are getting more attention, but Oher is a fantastic athlete who has the size, strength and athleticism that all teams covet on the offensive line.

      Assuming Davis goes with Oher in the first round, he then could address the right guard position in the second or third round. Oregon State’s Andy Levitre, Cincinnati’s Trevor Canfield and Wisconsin’s Kraig Urbik are just three guard prospects that could be available in the second or third round.

      Of course, this is assuming that Davis decides to rebuild the offensive line, which would be wise considering the money he’s already spent on quarterback JaMarcus Russell and running back Darren McFadden. Why spend millions of dollars on Russell and McFadden if you’re not going to protect them? But again, this is Davis we’re talking about – he loves speed and flash. That said, Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree and Missouri wideout Jeremy Maclin will also be considered at No. 7. (It should also be noted that Oakland is also considering cutting Ronald Curry and bringing back Jerry Porter, who spent last year in Jacksonville.)

      Defensively, the Raiders re-signed cornerback Chris Johnson, who filled in admirably once bust DeAngelo Hall was released in midseason. Rumor has it that Michael Huff will be cut this offseason, which means Rashad Branch and Hiram Eugene will be given a chance to start at free safety, although Branch would need to be re-signed.

      If the Raiders do trade Burgess, they may consider selecting Texas’s Brian Orakpo, who is regarded as the best defensive end prospect in the draft. If they keep Burgess, upgrading the defensive tackle position will need to be a priority. A top dollar free agent like Albert Haynesworth is out of the question, but Missouri’s Evander Hood and Auburn’s Sen’Derrick Marks will be available in the second round. If they’re lucky, maybe Ole Miss’s Peria Jerry will slip to the second. But that’s unlikely.

      Fantasy Football, NFL, NFL Draft

      MMA Review for Friday, February 20

      February 20, 2009 /

      Kimo LeopoldoHere’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

      – Could we try to go one week without an MMA fighter getting arrested? The latest cage-fighting jailbird is Kimo Leopoldo, a UFC old-schooler who got caught impersonating a Long Beach police officer while carrying around “a small amount” of methamphetamine.

      – MMA hottie/former American Gladiator Gina Carano took some sexy new photos for Maxim.

      – At last Friday’s Wargods event, UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock armbarred some fat dude, while Tank Abbott scored a brilliant KO via illegal rabbit punches.

      – BJ Penn has put his frustrations about his slippery loss to Georges St. Pierre into a charming little conspiracy-video. Meanwhile, legendary UFC ref John McCarthy says that the greasing thing has “always been an issue” in MMA.

      – The UFC’s new action figures will armbar the crap out of your little Ninja Turtles.

      – Montreal will allow the UFC to return to their city as long as there’s none of that barbaric foot-stomping going on. You can check out the fight lineup here.

      – UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson goes down tomorrow night in London. Swing by CagePotato.com for our liveblog of the tape-delayed Spike TV broadcast at 9 p.m. ET/PT, and prepare thyself by checking out this roundup of the fighters who will be making their Octagon debuts, our occasionally-helpful betting advice, and our interviews with main-card fighters Nate Marquardt and Chael Sonnen.

      Mixed Martial Arts

      Rodriguez had relationship with banned, steroid-linked trainer

      February 20, 2009 /

      Alex Rodriguez’s claim about stopping the use of steroids after 2003 is already being shot full of holes.

      According to a report in the New York Daily News, A-Rod has had a long relationship with a man named Angel Presinal, a trainer who has been banned from private areas of every MLB ballpark for being linked to steroids. Apparently Presinal roomed with A-Rod’s now famous cousin, Yuri Sucart, at every hotel Rodriguez went to in 2007. The report also states that Presinal wasn’t around A-Rod in 2008, although Sucart “remained a constant presence.”

      In his press conference on Monday, A-Rod claimed that he and Sucart injected each other with steroids in the Dominican Republic from 2001 to 2003. While that might have been the case, the question now becomes: Where did Rodriguez and Sucart get the steroids? And if A-Rod claims he’s been off performance-enhancers since 2003, why would he continue a relationship with Presinal up until 2007? (Assuming the report is true, of course.)

      I’m naïve to how athletes go about things when they travel in-season, but I’d have to imagine that not even the best of friends are staying with players at every single hotel like Presinal did in 2007. Again, why did Rodriguez remain close with Presinal after his claimed use of steroids from 2001 to 2003? It’s hard to imagine that a steroid-linked trainer was staying at the same hotel as A-Rod just to fluff his pillows and make sure he had enough clean towels in the bathroom.

      If the Daily News report is true, then A-Rod is still lying and there’s a good chance that he took steroids while a member of the Yankees. And this BS that he took roids because he was “young and naïve” doesn’t hold water either (not that it ever did). You don’t seek the help of a steroid-linked trainer if you’re just trying stuff on a whim with your cousin in the DR. Rodriguez knew he wanted to take performance-enhancers, knew who could supply them and reached out to Presinal. It looks like Sucart was just A-Rod’s smokescreen for Presinal, but it didn’t take long for that story to unravel.

      Not that he will at this point, but A-Rod needs to stop taking everyone for a ride and admit the truth. He took steroids because he was making a lot of money, wanted to live up to the new contract and wanted to perform at an elite level. Sports are a performance-based world. Clearly Rodriguez wasn’t confident in his abilities (which is freaking unfathomable when you think about it) and sought the use of enhancers. That’s it. He did it to remain the best and so he could continue to make an absurd amount of money. He wasn’t naïve – he knew what he was doing the entire time. And with this report, there’s a great chance that someone will prove that he took steroids long past 2003.

      This report is only the smoking gun. More is sure to follow because the New York media has only started to dig into this story. A-Rod better hold onto his nuts because everything he’s ever said and done over the past six years is going to come out. Suspension is the last thing that he should be worried about right now.

      MLB

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