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      Yankees after Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira

      December 15, 2008 /

      The New York Post is reporting that the New York Yankees will pursue free agent outfielder Manny Ramirez and first basemen Mark Teixeira.

      “If they can’t get Teixeira, they are right there on Manny,” an official with knowledge of the Yankees’ plan said yesterday.

      The attention being paid to bolster the lineup that lost Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi doesn’t mean the Yankees are out of the pitching business. They remain engaged with Andy Pettitte, Derek Lowe and Ben Sheets. Eventually, the Yankees believe Pettitte will take their $10 million offer.

      Only fools count out the Yankees when it comes to free agents. Nevertheless, Teixeira has eight-year offers for $160 million from the Angels and Nationals. The Red Sox are wary of eight years but aren’t shy of six for $150. Having already spent $243.5 million for CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, the Yankees may not want to go that high (or for that many years) for Teixeira.

      If they pass on Teixeira, the Yankees will try and bolster a sagging lineup with Ramirez, one of the greatest run producers in baseball history. And to clear some money, they might entertain offers for outfielder Xavier Nady, who made $3.35 million last year, is arbitration eligible and a free agent after the 2009 season.

      I wouldn’t doubt the Yankees landing any top free agent, but I don’t think Teixeira will be playing in pinstripes next year. I think they entered the Teixeira-talks to drive up the price for Boston.

      Manny, on the other hand, is a different story. I think he’s pissed that he wasn’t offered a contract yet and will jump at the chance to join the Evil Empire so he can stick it to teams – especially the Red Sox.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Torry Holt claims ref used scoreboard to make call

      December 15, 2008 /

      St. Louis’ wide receiver Torry Holt is claiming that an official during the Rams’ 23-20 loss to the Seahawks on Sunday used the scoreboard to call an offensive pass interference penalty on him in the second half.

      Torry Holt“He said he looked up in the Jumbotron and saw that I pushed off,” said Holt, who is in his 10th year with the Rams (2-12). “I told him I never extended my arm. It is one thing if you extended, because that is pass interference. But everything was in motion catching the football. I don’t even know if I had my hands on the guy.

      “That was his explanation, and I told him it was a bad call.”

      With the Rams leading 17-13 with 4:40 left in the third quarter, St. Louis took possession on its 20 and moved to the Seattle 46. On second down, Marc Bulger threw a strike down the right sideline that Holt caught at the 26 against cornerback Marcus Trufant.

      The play was brought back on the penalty, pushing the Rams to their 44. St. Louis moved the ball to the Seattle 29 and settled for a field goal with 11:09 remaining. The Seahawks trailed only 20-13 and were still in the game.

      “I was surprised,” Holt said of the key penalty. “I could understand if I did because I would take that, but I could not understand it. It was a big play for our team. It was something that we needed. We needed some energy, something to get us going.

      “Torry made such a nice catch there. I think he did (push off),” Bulger said. “It wasn’t just one play that cost us this game.”

      Here’s the thing, Bulger’s right. One play doesn’t make or break an entire game. The Rams were up 17-7 at one point and couldn’t put a bad Seahawks team away at home.

      This season couldn’t end any faster for the Rams.

      NFL

      Should Herman Edwards be fired?

      December 15, 2008 /

      After their stunning, last-second collapse against the Chargers at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, Joe Posnanski of the Kansas City Star writes that Herman Edwards and the rest of the Chiefs’ coaching staff should be fired.

      Herman EdwardsThat was pretty much all I could come up with. And really, even if you total up all the positive vibes, it probably does not quite make up for the astounding way that the Chiefs blew an 11-point lead in the final 5 minutes Sunday.

      They blew it by punting on fourth and inches, then by allowing the Chargers to drive 89 yards in about 3 1/2 minutes (all without using a timeout), then by Dwayne Bowe dropping the onside kick, then by forgetting to cover a Chargers receiver deep (even though they were in a coverage conveniently designed to have four defensive backs deep), then by forgetting to cover a receiver in the end zone, then by pulling out their Three Stooges playbook for the final offensive drive, then by missing a 50-yard field goal at the buzzer.

      The only thing missing was the “Psycho” music and the see-through shower curtain.

      And the truth is that, after that sort of mind-shattering collapse, it’s hard to come up with a single good reason why anybody involved with the Chiefs should be back next season. Sure, everyone knew that this year would be trying, that there would be more losses than wins, that young players would make lots of mistakes. But there was no way to see this mess coming.

      After a game like Sunday’s, it’s kind of hard not to share Posnanski’s feelings on the subject. But in the coaching staff’s defense, this is a young team severely void of talent. They don’t have an offensive line, the secondary is littered with inexperienced players and quarterback Tyler Thigpen (who has made strides this season) is in his first year as a starter. Look what Edwards is working with. You actually have to hand it to him because for the most part, the Chiefs have been somewhat competitive even though they’ve found every way possible to lose this season.

      Then again, sometimes it’s just better to blow up the entire thing and start fresh. Turnarounds in the NFL happen all the time (see the Dolphins, Ravens, Falcons and Jets this year), so regardless of the situation, maybe it is time for the Chiefs to start anew.

      NFL

      Fantasy Fallout: Week 15

      December 15, 2008 /

      QUARTERBACKS

      Matt Ryan (206 yards, 2 INT) struggled some against a good Bucs pass defense, but he had a TD pass taken away when Jason Rader fumbled the ball at the goal line…Shaun Hill (233 pass yards) threw the ball 46 times, but failed to throw a TD for the first time since he took over the job midseason…It looked like Phillip Rivers (346 yards, 2 TD, INT) was going to have a bad day, but he bounced back with two late TDs to get the win and finish with a great stat line…Considering the opponent, Ben Roethlisberger (246 yards, TD) posted great stats. It’s not often that a QB moves the ball this well on the Ravens…Matt Cassel (218 yards, 4 TD, INT) has been excellent for much of the year and he took advantage of a Radiers secondary still reeling from last week’s blowout at the hands of the Chargers.

      RUNNING BACKS

      Warrick Dunn (19 touches, 90 yards) is splitting carries with Cadillac Williams (15 touches, 59 yards), but Dunn caught seven passes so he’s still starter worthy in PPR leagues…Cedric Benson (24 touches, 161 yards) was surprisingly productive against a pretty good Redskins rush defense. I wouldn’t be shocked if Benson is the starting RB for Cincy heading into the 2009-10 season…Clinton Portis (26 touches, 83 yards) go a lot of work but wasn’t all that productive. The Redskins elected to give the ball to Mike Sellers at the goal line instead of giving the ball to Portis…Surprisingly, the Texans contained Chris Johnson (15 touches, 67 yards) while also limiting the Titans pass offense…Ryan Grant (24 touches, 88 yards) didn’t have as good of a game as I expected, but it was nice to see him involved in the passing game (3-32)…Maurice Jones-Drew (16 touches, 70 yards, 2 TD) scored twice, but he was somewhat limited yardage-wise against a sketchy Packer rush defense…Steven Jackson (28 touches, 127 yards, TD) looks like he’s back to his old self…The Bills continue to use Fred Jackson (7-31-1) in the redzone and it cost Marshawn Lynch (24 touches, 140 yards) an even bigger stat line…If you’ve been watching our fantasy Q&A thread, you’d know that I was a big fan of Dominic Rhodes (24 touches, 116 yards, 2 TD) this week and he didn’t make a liar out of me…The worry with Kevin Smith (26 touches, 119 yards, TD) was that the Lions would fall behind and abandon the run, but Detroit stayed close and Smith had a big day…LeRon McClain (23 carries, 87 yards) once again carried the load, but Willis McGahee (8 touches, 33 yards) did play. Since the Ravens face Dallas next week, McClain wouldn’t be a terrible start…Willie Parker got twice as many touches as Mewelde Moore, but he’s still just a so-so start in Week 16 against a pretty solid Titans defense…DeAngelo Williams (12 carries, 88 yards, TD) continued his torrid run, but Jonathan Stewart (16 carries, 52 yards, TD) got most of the work when the Panthers built the lead…Marion Barber (10 touches, 26 yards) was active, but Tashard Choice (13 touches, 143 yards, TD) was the much better play. Keep an eye on this situation this week. The Cowboys might be wise to let Barber heal up for the playoffs, assuming they can gain a berth. Choice has proven that he can carry the load.

      WIDE RECEIVERS

      Antonio Bryant (8-108-1) owners probably don’t need to worry about Brian Griese filling in for Jeff Garcia. Bryant was every bit the playmaker this week…Chris Henry (4-54-1) is starting to eat into the targets for Chad Johnson (3-33) and T.J. Houshmandzadeh (3-19)…Andre Johnson (11-207-1) picked a great time to have an apeshit game…Isaac Bruce (7-71) continues to defy the space/time continuum…Deion Branch (5-76) caught a long pass late in the game and has now put together three pretty good games in PPR leagues…Jerricho Cotchery (4-34-1) and Laveranues Coles (5-82) bounced back with nice games after playing horribly last week against the 49ers…Marvin Harrison (2-22) has been very good all year at home, but he picked a bad week to disappear…Hines Ward (8-107) bounced back from a horrible Week 14 performance to post big numbers against a great defense…

      TIGHT ENDS

      It looked early on like Jason Witten was going to be the top tight end this season, but he got injured and Tony Gonzalez (6-62-1) just kept trucking along…Antonio Gates (7-78) busted out of a bad run with a solid game, but he did most of his damage when the Chargers fell behind…Dallas Clark (12-142-1) came up HUGE when fantasy owners needed him most. He singlehandedly knocked a couple of my teams out of the playoffs. (Bastard.)

      FREE AGENTS

      Brian Griese (269 yards, TD, INT) stepped in for Jeff Garcia and played pretty well…With Matt Jones gone for the rest of the season, David Garrard turned to Dennis Northcutt (5-127-1) who responded with a great game…DeShaun Foster (23 touches, 101 yards) filled in nicely for Frank Gore, even though he failed to score…Dan Orlovsky (233 yards, TD) looked pretty good and was quite productive against a good Colts pass defense…Tarvaris Jackson (163 yards, 4 TD) was tremendous, but before you run out and snag him off the waiver wire, he posted these numbers against the Cardinals’ poor pass defense. He has the Falcons next week and its doubtful that the receivers will be quite as open as they were on Sunday…Who knows what’s going on in Denver. P.J. Pope (10 touches, 75 yards, TD) was the most productive, but Tatum Bell (9 touches, 50 yards) started and Selvin Young (6 carries, 19 yards) also saw some work. Stay away from this next week.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

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