Tuesday 25 March 2014

NFL odds: Michael Vick will get chance to win Jets starting job

The New York Jets didn’t sign free agent Michael Vick to a one-year deal simply to be a mentor to Geno Smith — New York expects Vick and Smith to compete for the starting job.
 
For the second straight year, the Jets will have a full-blown quarterback competition on their hands at training camp. Last year Smith essentially won by default when the projected starter, Mark Sanchez, was injured in the preseason.. He was recently cut.
 
“I would say, ‘yes,’” Coach Rex Ryan said of Vick having a chance to be the starter for the season opener. “We want that competition. We’ll let it all play out.”
 
Smith appears to be the frontrunner. Ryan alluded to the last year’s second-round draft choice getting the first crack at running with the first team in organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamp later this spring. Smith threw 12 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions as a rookie last season. Vick lost his starting job in Philadelphia to Nick Foles when he was unable to stay on the field because of injuries.
 
Ryan acknowledged that Vick, even at age 33, can still do so much athletically that most quarterbacks can’t do.
 
“He’s an unusual guy. He was unusual when he came out of the league because of how athletic he was but I think he’s definitely still … you see all that athleticism he has,” Ryan said. “He can still run, moves well in the pocket, he’s more accurate when throwing from the pocket than he used to be when he came into the league.”
 
If Vick doesn’t win the job in training camp, he’ll probably get a chance at some point, either by injury or ineffectiveness. If Vick becomes the Week 1 starter, let’s be honest, he probably won’t last the season, considering his durability issues. Chances are, the Jets will need both quarterbacks.
 
The Jets’ offense could be much better this year. The team already has added former Broncos receiver Eric Decker and reportedly is in talks with the Eagles for star receiver DeSean Jackson. There is also talk the Jets are looking at former Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew.
 
Here is the full list of the Jets’ 2014 opponents. Here is the full list of opponents. The schedule will be announced at a later date.
 
HOME: Buffalo, Miami, New England, Denver, Oakland, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh
 
AWAY: Buffalo, Miami, New England, Kansas City, San Diego, Green Bay, Minnesota, Tennessee
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MLB betting: Indians to open season without Michael Bourn

The Cleveland Indians will open the 2014 season on March 31 in Oakland in a matchup of American League playoff teams from a year ago and the Tribe won’t have outfielder Michael Bourn for at least the first week or two of the campaign.
 
Bourn, who had injury problems last season after signing as a free agent, will open the regular season MLB Picks on the DL due to a hamstring injury. He was only expected to miss about a week, but will apparently need more time to get healthy and ready for game action.
 
“I’d rather have my leg healthy and be ready to play for the long haul,” Bourn said, “than try to make it for Opening Day just because.”
 
Bourn, who tweaked his hamstring in a game against the Giants on March 16, has progressed only to running forward on the grass agility field at Cleveland’s complex in Arizona. The center fielder said he might test his leg on the bases as early as Tuesday but that it was subject to change. Bourn has been able to hit and throw, but the running program has been conservative given the importance of speed to his overall game. Because of the timing of the DL stint, Antonetti said that Bourn would miss at least the first four games of the season, meaning April 5 would represent the earliest possible return date.
 
After signing a four-year, $48 million deal last spring with the Indians, Bourn hit .263/.316/.360 (93 OPS+) with 21 doubles, six triples, six homers, 50 RBI, 75 runs and 23 stolen bases. It wasn’t up to what he did as an All-Star in Atlanta in 2012. With Bourn sidelined, Michael Brantley figures to take over in center field with Ryan Raburn playing left.
 
The Indians will face off against Oakland’s Sonny Gray in the opener. He’s the ninth straight different pitcher to get the Opening Day call for the A’s. Gray was projected as the No. 2 in the rotation before No. 1 Jarrod Parker was lost to season-ending Tommy John surgery. Gray has never faced Cleveland. He was 5-3 with a 2.67 last year as a late season call-up. Bourn was 2-for-9 with a homer against the A’s in 2013.

Tuesday 18 March 2014

NFL Cleveland Will Browns keep Alex Mack?

The Cleveland Browns slapped center Alex Mack with a $10 million transition tag with the belief that, since they have plenty of cap space, they would be able to match any offer sheet another team might give him. So far, it seems their thinking has been spot on, because we've heard zero buzz about any teams making a pitch for Mack.
 
However, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com believes that Mack's agents may be able to manufacture an offer sheet that could allow Mack to hit the free-agent market next offseason.
 
"For example, Mack could be signed to an offer sheet that pays him $10 or more for 2014, with an enormous option bonus or roster bonus due on the first day of the 2015 league year. If the Browns were to match the deal, they’d have to cut Mack before, for example, $50 million is owed in March of next year," he wrote.
 
"The offer sheet also could consist of a one-year deal with a commitment to not use the franchise or transition tag in 2015. This would ensure that Mack hits the open market next year."
 
The catch with that plan would be convincing another team it's worth the effort to make such an offer.
 
One way or another, Mack is going to get overpaid, and Browns reporter Pat McManamon believes the Browns can't afford to let him go:
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Pirates shopping Tabata?

With top outfield prospect Gregory Polanco on the horizon, the Pittsburgh Pirates are shopping Jose Tabata, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune Review.
 
Tabata posted a solid .282/.342/.429 slash line for the Pirates last season and is just 25, but any deal will hinge on how many teams will take on the three years and $12.25 million left on his contract. The Bucs are believed to be looking for a first base upgrade over Gaby Sanchez and could use Tabata as a trade chip.
 
Assuming Polanco needs at least a few more months of minor league seasoning, the Pirates could open the season with Travis Snider in right field if a deal were to come together quickly.

Philadelphia Phillies - Possible destinations for Rollins

Is the spring training feud between Jimmy Rollins and Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg nearing a tipping point?
 
Rollins was benched on three successive days last week by Sandberg, who has downplayed any talk of a rift. But ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney reports Tuesday that “there is strong sentiment within the organization that the Phillies would be better off trading him and establishing a new tone with a new shortstop.”
 
Completing a deal for Rollins is another matter, even though there is a team in Detroit that needs to fill a hole at shortstop following an injury to Jose Iglesias. But as a veteran of 10 years in the major leagues and five with the same club, Rollins has full no-trade rights, and he tells Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com that he has no intention of waiving those rights.
 
The New York Mets, currently left with the light-hitting Ruben Tejada as their shortstop, also are looking for an upgrade.
 
Andy Martino of the New York Daily News says he asked Yankee people if Rollins might be a fit in the Bronx. "The impression I’ve gotten is that is would just be too awkward to have a name that big, while Derek Jeter is still around," Martino writes.
 
At this point, it looks like Rollins isn’t going anywhere, but maybe the plot turns if the feud continues to simmer. Extra money has a way of getting some players to waive those no-trade rights.
 
If Rollins is indeed shopped, that can’t be good news for free agent Stephen Drew, whose price could drop further with another shortstop available.
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Sunday 16 March 2014

Position battle: Orioles second base

The oft-injured Brian Roberts, who for years the Baltimore Orioles would turn to at the second base position when healthy, is no longer with the team; he's with the New York Yankees trying to fill Robinson Cano's shoes. While the footprint Roberts leaves behind in Baltimore is much smaller than Cano's, there's still a need for someone to step up and claim the everyday role.
 
Here are the candidates:
 
Ryan Flaherty, age 27, bats left
Jemile Weeks, age 27, bats both
Jonathan Schoop, age 22, bats right
 
Flaherty: He hasn't done much with his bat thus far in his big league career, having hit just .221 in 162 games over the past two seasons. However, his versatility -- he's already played seven different positions with the Orioles -- is sure to keep him on the roster in some capacity.
 
Weeks: Came to the team from Oakland in the Jim Johnson trade. After a promising rookie campaign in 2011 (.303 average, 22 steals), poor play and injuries the past two seasons made him expendable to the Athletics.
 
Schoop: Started four times in a September cup of coffee in 2013, and had two multi-hit games. The prospect missed several months of action due to a fractured back suffered in May, and nobody would blame Baltimore if they decided to send him back to the minors to get a little more seasoning.
 
Latest update: According to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun, "Schoop's inclusion in the second base competition initially seemed to be a simple courtesy to the organization's top position player; it seemed inevitable that he'd begin the regular season at Triple-A Norfolk, where he played just 70 games last year because of a stress fracture in his lower back that cost him more than two months of the season... But manager Buck Showalter maintains that Schoop has a chance to break camp with the major league club, given how well he has played so far."
 
Current leader: Schoop. It would have been Flaherty, but as Connolly also reports, while Manny Machado is not yet not ruling out being ready for Opening Day, the third baseman says he's neither optimistic or discouraged. He's "just dealing with a tightness in knee that was inevitable." It's looking more and more like Flaherty will be needed at third base, freeing up Schoop to start in the Orioles infield, at least until Machado returns. 
 
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Position battle: Diamondbacks shortstop

Back in February,  Buster Olney said that the Arizona Diamondbacks have "a good ol' fashioned showdown" on their hands this spring for their starting shortstop job, and whoever wins "bears a lot of responsibility, considering how the D-Backs have loaded up and taken their payroll over $100 million." It's now mid-March, and the winner of that competition may finally be in sight.

The candidates:

Didi Gregorius, age 23, bats left
Chris Owings, age 22, bats right

Gregorius: A strong defensive shortstop, but over the course of starting 97 games for Arizona last year, his batting average dropped steadily with each passing month.

Owings: Played in 20 games for the Diamondbacks after a September call-up, hitting .291 in 55 at-bats. Clearly the better offensive option at shortstop, he hit .330 for Triple-A Reno prior to the promotion.

Latest update: According to ESPN.com's Jim Bowden, "I'm hearing that Owings will be the everyday shortstop. It hasn't been announced yet, but word is they are going to start him over Gregorius because of his bat. Gregorius should be a good trade piece for them at some point this summer because I expect Owings will be a Rookie of the Year candidate."

Current leader: Seems like it's clearly Owings, who has outhit Gregorius .279 to .222 so far this spring. As for Gregorius, the New York Mets have been rumored to be "continuing to monitor" this Diamondbacks competition and, according to John Harper of the New York Daily News, "could jump in" before the end of spring training.
 
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