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:

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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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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Will Marcus Paige consider going pro?

North Carolina sophomore Marcus Paige hasn't really been in the 2014 NBA draft conversation to this point, but after a big year at North Carolina, the 6-foot point guard could have a tough decision to make after the season. Would he leave Chapel Hill for the NBA?

Judging by where Paige currently stands on Chad Ford's Big Board -- No. 69 overall and No. 14 among point guards -- the answer is probably no.

But by no means is it a sure thing that he'd pass on the draft for a third year at UNC. Just last year, in fact, we saw Shane Larkin, another 6-foot point guard, leave Miami after a huge sophomore season. Larkin went from scoring 7.4 points per game as a freshman to 14.5 as a sophomore. Paige, meanwhile, has gone from 8.2 PPG to 16.9, and done so at one of the biggest basketball schools in the land.

On Wednesday, ESPN Insider Paul Biancardi ranked Paige as college basketball's most improved player, which may be even more reason to believe the Iowa native could follow in the footsteps of another Iowan, Harrison Barnes, and leave UNC after two years for the bright lights and big dollars of the NBA.

I reached out to our own Jeff Goodman today for his take, given Paige's hot play and possible rising stock, and here's what he had to say: "I think Paige will stay another year and could be a guy who winds up moving into the equation for a late first-round pick a year from now. The hard thing is he had to play off the ball the majority of the time earlier this season, and he may have the same issue next season when Joel Berry arrives."

NBA News More extended minutes for Brand

On Tuesday, Atlanta ruled out Paul Millsap (knee) and Pero Antic (ankle) for yesterday's game against Chicago as well as tonight's contest at Boston, but they held out some hope that Gustavo Ayon (shoulder) may be able to play against the Celtics. On Wednesday, Ayon was ruled out, putting the Hawks' frontcourt in a bad spot for at least one more game.

Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer elected to use Elton Brand and DeMarre Carroll as his two starting big men, and it'll be interesting to see if that's the case again tonight.

Even if Brand and Carroll remain the starters, with Mike Scott serving as the lone big man option off the bench, Budenholzer may have to find a way to reduce Brand's workload. The 34-year-old eclipsed 42 minutes in each of the last two games, and probably can't keep that up for too much longer without the strong likelihood of joining Millsap, Antic and Ayon on the injury list.

Look for more minutes tonight from Carroll and Scott, and possibly the NBA debut of 2013 second-round pick Mike Muscala -- a skilled 6-foot-11 big man who can flat-out shoot -- to help preserve Brand.