Chen's a good middle-of-rotation fit for KC

The latest free-agent signing is LHP Bruce Chen, back with the Royals at least for 2014.
He signed for 1 year and $3.25 million, with a mutual option for $5.5 million in '15 with a $1-million buyout. There also are incentives built in. Chen said he signed with Kansas City, even though other teams (Rangers, for example) showed interest, because the Royals said he could pitch in their rotation.
This was not a bad signing. He's a known quantity, not just another one from the pile of question marks that were considered as possibilities for the last two spots in KC's rotation behind RHPs James Shields and Jeremy Guthrie and LHP Jason Vargas.
During the last four years, Chen has won 12, 12, 11 and 9 games -- with last season's drop-off only because he spent much of the season in the bullpen. In 15 starts, he was 6-4 with a 3.61 ERA. Consider him in the safe middle-of-the-rotation mold inhabited in recent years by Jeff Suppan, among others.
Some players were signed to 1-year contracts to avoid arbitration:
Tigers C Alex Avila, for $4.15 million, with a team option for 2015
Angels 3B David Freese, for $5.05 million
Angels RHP Kevin Jepsen, for $1.4625 million. Not sure what the extra 500 bucks are for.
And there were plenty of players signed to minor league contracts to extend the box scores for early exhibition games:
OF Roger Bernadina by the Reds
C Yorvit Torrealba, Angels
OF Reed Johnson, Marlins
1B Matt Clark, Mets. The former Padres farmhand hit 25 home runs for Japan's Chunichi Dragons last year. He's either the replacement for 1B Ike Davis, or just another pretender like Davis.
SS Alex Gonzalez, Orioles. This is the soon-to-be 37-year-old Alex Gonzalez who was an all-star with the 1999 Marlins and played (poorly) at first base for the Brewers last year.
RHP Daniel Bard, Rangers. He's recovering from surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome, an ailment that seems still to be waiting for a success story such as Tommy John's to give a name to the surgery. Bard joins a growing list of Texas pitchers who won't be ready when the season begins -- such as LHPs Derek Holland and Joseph Ortiz, who will miss at least the first month because of a broken right foot caused when a motorcycle ran over it in Venezuela.
There's more on the Orioles from the Baltimore Sun. They have purchased the contract of alleged 17-year-old 1B Carlos Diaz from the Mexico City Red Devils and signed "16-year-old" Dominican third baseman Jomar Reyes. Diaz was compared to DH/1B Kendrys Morales, and Reyes to Clete Boyer, for those old enough to remember the Yankees third baseman from the 1950s and '60s. Baltimore's signees are expected to play this season in the Rookie Class Gulf Coast League, so you don't have to look for them as fantasy prospects for several years, if ever.
The Sun also reported that 3B/1B Wilson Betemit has signed a minor league contract with the Rays, and RHP Jason Hammel has signed or will sign with the Cubs, who would put him in their rotation.
* * *
Basketball. My lead is down to 6-1-1 through Friday. With only one big man active for me, my team fell behind in rebounds. Team Fresh Prints also dropped into a tie in assists, despite eight from Ricky Rubio and seven from Victor Oladipo. My one big man, Serge Ibaka, had such a big game that the Thunder didn't even need him in the fourth quarter at Brooklyn. Former President Bill Clinton saw at least some of Ibaka's 25 points on 12 for 12 shooting, and nine rebounds. I'll have a stronger lineup, especially up front, on Saturday, and hope to make up the lost ground and more.
I was at the Kings-Mavericks game, which in part was a battle between Rudy Gay's 35 points and 12 rebounds and Dirk Nowitzki's 34 points. But especially with DeMarcus Cousins injured for Sacramento, Nowitzki had a much better supporting cast. The supporting-actor nominees were Monta Ellis and Brandan Wright.
* * *
Hockey. The four forwards active for my team combined for no goals, assists or penalty minutes, and were minus-4. Thomas Vanek was the star because he was neither plus nor minus and put four shots on goal. The wonder was that my team didn't lose any points. It did, however, drop 9 1/2 points behind the second-place team, which gained a point. I'll also have more hockey lineup slots  filled Saturday.

Young cuts short his career

Announcing his retirement Friday will be 3B/1B Michael Young. And he's coming back to Arlington to do it. The 37-year-old Young had a good 14-year career, all but 2013 with the Rangers. I first saw him in an exhibition game with the Blue Jays, the team that drafted him, before they put him into a trade with Texas for RHP Esteban Loaiza.
Like Lance Berkman's, Young's career was a little short of the Hall of Fame. They both would be in the Hall of Very Good Players.
Just a thought: The Royals' trade of LHP Everett Teaford may have foreshadowed Kansas City's re-signing LHP Bruce Chen, a good guy to have on a team. He may not have reached the level envisioned for him when he was coming up through the Atlanta organization, but Chen certainly has made a lengthy career for himself. Because he's left-handed?
* * *
Hockey. My newest goalie, Frederik Andersen, picked up a win but I still lost half a point in that category Thursday. Going into the evening, three of us were tied with 35 wins. But another one of us also had one win, and the third had two wins to move 1 1/2 points ahead of us.
Saw the Devils' defense shut down the Stars and their power play to win 3-2 in overtime. You can read my edited account.
* * *
Basketball. I improved to 8-0 this week, but I'm still ahead in rebounds by only one, in both assists and blocks by eight and in field goal percentage by less than .004. I was surprised, because my three players combined for 69 points but did very little else.

Minor league free agents -- what are they good for?

Gotta love those minor league contracts.
Actually, there are a few players each year who stay in the game and get more major league playing time by agreeing to minor league contracts, which also save their new organization some money. But there are very few who make big contributions and extend their careers for a period of years.
That doesn't stop players from trying to hang on. And there are a number of free agents who have gone into that remaindered bin marked "minor league contracts," with or without invitations to spring training with the major league team. Most recently,
RHP Scott Baker with the Mariners
SS Ramon Santiago with the Reds
RHP Matt Guerrier, back with the Twins
1B/3B Chad Tracy with the Angels
Speaking of minor, here's a minor trade:
OF Carlos Peguero from the Mariners to the Royals for LHP Everett Teaford, or pretty close to nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin'.
Another trend this year that could help veterans cling to their career is the old I-haven't-played-in-a-couple-of-years-but-I-miss-the-payday routine. RHP Ryan Madson, who hasn't pitched in two years, will be auditioning Feb. 7 in Phoenix for major league teams.
Arbitration season is near, which means that the sign-before-it-goes-to-arbitration season is in full swing. The Cardinals did that with 3B/SS/2B Daniel Descalso, and the Cubs with OF Justin Ruggiano. When did the Cubs get him, anyway?
No longer hanging on is 1B/DH Lance Berkman. Last winter, the Rangers gave him an offer he couldn't refuse, but for most of the season his knees wouldn't allow him to perform. It would have been nice to see him come up in a pinch-hitting role at the end of the season, but that didn't happen. Now he has retired from a highly productive 15-year career. Berkman wasn't a Hall of Famer, but he was a very good player who contributed to championship-caliber teams and was a baseball solid citizen. He will be missed.
* * *
Hockey. Just two forwards were active for my team Wednesday, and there was no change among those of us among the league's top three. My players didn't do much, but at least they both played more than 20 minutes so they didn't hurt my ATOI. Thursday's a bigger night in the NHL, which gives me a bigger roster to work with. And sue me for the preposition at the end of the sentence. But don't really, or I might go all Mr. T in "D.C. Cab" on you.
* * *
Basketball. My first team is 7-0-1 this week, tied in rebounds at 95. It's really more like 6-0-2. Apparently, I'm ahead in field goal percentage if it's taken out to five decimal places, because we're both listed at .4581.
I had been concerned about rebounds, but Jared Sullinger -- who had been playing like, dare I say crap? -- pulled down 17 of them to go along with 24 points. Joakim Noah did return from an illness for a double double with 10 rebounds to go along with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Chris Bosh and Serge Ibaka also scored in double figures, with nine and eight rebounds.
I was at Wednesday's Rockets-Mavericks game, which featured a couple of double doubles. Not surprisingly, Dirk Nowitzki went off for 38 points to go along with a by-far season-high 17 rebounds. The surprise was Houston 7-footer Donatas Motiejunas, who had a double dozen in points and rebounds, with his boards the highest total in his two-year career. You might want to watch and consider him. He played much of the time with Dwight Howard also on the floor. The Rockets dressed just 10 players, but seven scored in double figures in a skin-of-their-teeth 117-115 victory. Jeremy Lin played well, and showed me more with his quickness and defense than I'd seen before.

Peace of mind could help Chapman's performance

There's some baseball news today. Not necessarily real meaty stuff for fantasy purposes, but there could be some clues to mental states that could affect performance.
The Reds and LHP Aroldis Chapman agreed to avoid arbitration by splitting the difference between their requested salary figures with a $5-million contract for this season. The amicable settlement could do a lot more for the closer's pitching than the extra $400,000 he'll receive.
Some day the Drew brothers could become a case study for young athletes who've been told how good they are and had their butts kissed for so long that they believe they're better than they are and somehow above the fray of petty matters such as living a life. Of course, nobody ever listens to such cautionary tales.
Since J.D. Drew turned down a contract offer as a No. 1 overall draft pick and signed as the next year's No. 1, he and SS Stephen Drew have had a litany of issues in negotiations, scads of games missed because of injuries, travels from team to team and potentially shorter careers than expected. (For the purposes of this discussion, Tim Drew doesn't count because he was never very highly regarded or effective.)
On the other hand, the Drews and their agents got their money up front, so perhaps the brothers don't care that they had to go to work only for a few years.
The latest Stephen Drew news is that he still hasn't signed. MLB.com pointed out that the primary unsigned free agents such as Drew, OF Nelson Cruz, DH Kendrys Morales and RHPs Ubaldo Jimenez and Ervin Santana haven't signed because they would cost the team signing them a draft pick. The baseball draft is hardly an exact science, so second-round, supplementary and even first-round picks aren't a given. But all five players in this paragraph are flawed in their own ways.
1B Yuniesky Betancourt is off the free-agent market. He has signed a guaranteed one-year contract to play in Japan. That sounds like a definite winner, doesn't it? It's not as if he'll face a steady diet of off-speed pitches that he can't hit over there. Or will he?
* * *
Basketball. My lead is down to 6-2 this week. I'm now behind in rebounds and assists. I could have as many as eight players in the lineup Wednesday to seven for my opponent. He appears to have a lot of rebounders in the lineup. Ricky Rubio should be able to help me in assists, and I hope that rebounder Joakim Noah has recovered from the illness that caused him to miss his last game.
* * *
Hockey. Lost half a point in both power-play points and goalie wins. My only goalie in action Tuesday was Tim Thomas. His former team, the Bruins, roughed him up for six goals, dropping me even farther into last place in GAA and save percentage. For the record, Thomas didn't win either. It's a good thing I didn't use Jonas Gustavsson; he gave up five goals and lost.

Utility infielders? Time to get those pitchers and catchers reporting

Some very exciting stuff on the lukewarm hot stove Monday -- especially if you're a fan of utility infielders.
Three or four of them signed minor league contracts. The Indians agreed to terms with Elliot Johnson, whose base stealing actually can give him some fantasy value; the going-several-directions-at-once Brewers welcomed Pete Orr, and Chris Nelson signed with the Reds, one of the few teams he didn't play for in 2013. I still haven't seen a confirmation that the Rockies and Paul Janish made a deal. If you're looking at Janish for your fantasy team, you're in a for a long season. He can help a team's defense for a few late innings a week.
And there's speculation that LHP David Huff, newly acquired from the Yankees, could fill a role as the Giants' fifth starter. If Huff's a viable major league starter at this point, why wouldn't New York keep him? Is his salary too small?
* * *
Basketball. I'm off to a 7-1 start this week, but I don't put much stock in that. I had four players active Monday to my opponent's one. He's leading in free throw percentage because his player, Trey Burke, made his only attempt. So my .875 is second to Burke's 1.000.
My division and league leads are 8 1/2 games with six weeks remaining. I don't plan to let up. My belief is that fantasy owners, winning or losing, owe it to the rest of the league to play from the first week to the last. On my part, there won't be any of the thinking that some NBA fans try to mind-meld on to their favorite team: "If we could finish seventh instead of sixth, we wouldn't have to face the (current hot team in third place in the conference)." I wouldn't look at overall lineups and say during the last week, "If I lay down against this fifth-place team, it could move into fourth and I'd have an easy road in the semifinals."
But you know what? I still have to win the league to get the first seed.
* * *
Hockey. All four of my bench players were from the Avalanche. Two factors went into that decision. 1) I have to limit the games played, as I outlined in the previous post, so that I'm not sitting on the fantasy sidelines for the last week or two, and 2) The Stars have been hot lately, so the matchups might not be good.
That strategy didn't look good as I watched at the American Airlines Center when "my" Nathan MacKinnon scored in the first minute or when Paul Stastny scored on a power play or later when it appeared that Stastny might have deflected what became the game-winning goal.
But in the end, the four Colorado players were a combined minus-4.
Here's an edited version of what I wrote about the game itself.
My acquisition of Kevin Bieksa looked good. He provided an assist and two penalty minutes to help me within within one PIM of the team directly ahead of me. A question I've often asked: Why the "I" in PIM?
* * *
The line for the big game 48 in my "Bet a Thousand" pool was set today at Denver minus-2. My own research had come up with this: Denver minus-2.
What to do? At the time I made the line, I established this line of thinking. If the weather is reasonable (which it is expected to be Sunday), that could be to Denver's advantage. Also, it's Peyton Manning against Russell Wilson. Of course, it's really Manning against the Seahawks' scary defense, but still he's Peyton Manning. Also -- and this is a line of thinking that could get you killed if you always used it -- a rule of thumb is to ask yourself whether a team is likely to win by a field goal or win by a touchdown. If Sunday's game comes down to the last minute tied and the Broncos have the ball, could they be likely to get a field goal?
An even more dangerous way to approach the decision is to look at history. We've had 47 years of big games. In that time, there has been only one game decided by 1 point: the Bills' wide-right loss to the Giants in big game 25. Six games were decided by 3 points, with five of those during the past 12 years. What I think we can take away from this is that it's likely whatever team wins will do it by 3 or more points.
So the question is "Are the Broncos likely to win?" I think so, even as much as I respect Seattle's defense.
I expect the people in my pool to be about evenly split. That would mean of the five people ahead of me in the pool, two or three of those ahead of me would be likely to take Seattle. So if Denver covers, I'd move up from sixth to third or fourth. If the Broncos win by 2, I'd remain sixth, the last place in the money. If Seattle wins, I'd lose anyway -- which I would also do if Denver somehow won by 1.
I think the Broncos will win, quite likely by a narrow margin such as 3 points. If I made a token "wager" such as $100, it's likely that at least one person would pass me and I'd be out of the money no matter who wins the game or covers.
On the other hand, if those at the top take Seattle, and one or more of the others take the safety-first approach, I could move up even higher than third or fourth.
The most I could finish with in my hypothetical bank would be $5,800, which would keep me in the money somewhere. Obviously, I would lose with $0, but I might also lose with $3,000.
It doesn't hurt that I have some other irons in the fire. In the Pittsburgh playoff pick-'em pool, I think I would finish first if Seattle wins. Also, I have a puncher's chance to win at least my original entry fee in a traditional 100-square Super Bowl pool with winners each quarter and prize money for diagonally touching squares.

Garza contract could set a bar too high

The baseline has been set for contracts for the remaining veteran free-agent pitchers. If I were a general manager, that baseline would frighten me.
$50 million for four seasons for RHP Matt Garza? What did he do last season to earn that kind of money? He also has $4 million in incentives, and a $15 option for 2018 that would be vested by a number of innings pitched.
Prediction (and please come back in four years to taunt me or tell me I was right): Garza not only would be with a new team by 2017, but also would not see that option vested.
The other weekend news concerned veterans who might retire. The Dodgers reported have made an offer to 3B+ Michael Young, who is contemplating retirement. And the Pirates are waiting to hear whether RHP A.J. Burnett would retire.
Another prediction: Garza's contract could tell Burnett that he can make a lot of money in 2014. He'll sign a contract with provisions for his family to travel with him at times. That family time seems to be a sticking point.
* * *
Hockey. I had just three players active Sunday, but still gained a point to 67, moving me within eight points of second place. The half-point I gained was in goalie wins, with Tim Thomas pulling it out in overtime even though he didn't play very well and allowed four goals. The other two goalie categories took additional hits from his performance.
I made some moves to try to improve, picking up essentially backup goalies from good teams. Their decimal categories of goals against average and save percentage should be helped by the defense in front of them. And their teams should score enough goals when they play to give them wins. So Jonas Gustavsson and Frederik Andersen are in, and Antti Raanta (who hardly ever plays) and Steve Mason are out. Mason hasn't seemed to recover from that rapid-fire three-goal barrage I saw in Dallas a month or so ago.
I also picked up Vancouver D Kevin Bieksa to replace the minus-14 Keith Yandle. In addition to being plus-4, Bieksa could help in shots and penalty minutes, and marginally in power-play points and ATOI.
Important key: In addition, I finally addressed my league's games limits. With roughly nine weeks remaining (a couple slightly truncated by the Olympics break), I can fall within the limits with games from 26 forwards, 14 defenseman, two either/or utility skaters and eight goalies. So I scheduled a plan for this week that knocked off a total of seven games from what I would have used with no limit. The tricky part is the days when almost every team plays. There are just four spots for skaters on the bench, so I have either to play more skaters than I want or to waive some to add players who aren't actually playing. Let's see how my method goes; I'll keep you posted.
With this plan, I wouldn't come up to the last week or two with no games remaining. But if I had implemented something like it at the beginning of the season, I could have gotten by with maybe one or two players per week sitting out.
* * *
Basketball. I might have outsmarted myself on this one. Playing my strongest (field-goal) shooting percentage lineup may have carried me to a narrow win in FG% by .0012, but could have cost me a point in free throw percentage.
I benched Victor Oladipo, who was 6 for 12 from the field and 6 for 6 at the foul line. The thinking was that bigger men closer to the basket would have higher percentages than outside shooters such as Oladipo.
The thinking was partially correct. Inconsistent G Joe Johnson was 2 for 7 from the field and missed 1 of 2 free throws. But Anderson Varejao was 1 for 9 from the field, and Jared Sullinger went 1 for 7. Carmelo Anthony's 35 points didn't help because he was 14 for 31 from the field. Can't really complain, though, because his 23 for 35 in Friday's 62-point effort was the biggest difference for me in FG%.
Even more damaging, big man Varejao also was 0 for 3 at the foul line. His knee could have been bothering him after he fell to the floor hard in a collision with Markieff Morris, but still ...
I can't find the team totals for the week, but substituting Oladipo's perfect free throw shooting for Varejao's perfectly awful night could have made up the difference in my .7664-.7582 loss. On Sunday, my team was 17 for 23 (just .7391) with Varejao, and would have been 23 for 26 (.8846). My opponent's players were on fire at 20 for 23 (.870).
The 7-1 week still increased my lead over two teams tied for second place to 8 1/2 games. I'm surprised, after it took so many weeks to make up the last few games to get into first place that I have built such a big lead in just two weeks. Can't let up, though.
Also made a player move at guard, with the Lakers' Jodie Meeks replacing Mo Williams.

How successful was Holland's surgery?

Even the Yankees' signing of Masahiro Tanaka, the backlog of free-agent pitchers hasn't been reduced.
There's still not much going on in baseball. I did hear that Rangers LHP Derek Holland, on crutches, said the microfracture surgery on his knee wasn't as bad as what RHP Scott Feldman had when he was Holland's teammate. Feldman missed most of the season after his surgery, but has bounced back with other teams.
How Holland would know that isn't clear. In any event, it sounds like wishful thinking. You know, like how every player's surgery is deemed "successful" on the day it's performed. Who's going to remember that two years later when the guy has pitched 12 innings and can sign only a minor league contract with a non-contender?
* * *
Hockey. Saturday night was good.
I saw the best game, with the best crowd, that I've seen in the eight seasons I've been going to Stars game. Dallas stayed hot, defeating the Penguins 3-0 before the second sold-out house this hockey season at the American Airlines Center.
My fantasy team picked up 2 1/2 points, 2 in plus/minus (despite a combined minus-4 for my two Colorado defensemen) and 1/2 in power-play points. So I'm up to 66 1/2, but still third among 10 teams.
I have to do a better job checking out matchups. Philadelphia's Steve Mason was in goal against the Bruins, who all but skated on his face in a 6-1 victory. My goalies are down to 5 points in wins, with three teams below them within three wins. Of course, I'm already at the bottom of the league in GAA and save percentage. It could get worse.
I've set my team up for Monday so that the Avalanche players on my roster won't be in my lineup on the road against the suddenly red-hot Stars. We'll see how that works.
* * *
Basketball. I've made some lineup moves for Sunday, the last day in this week's competition. I'm ahead by about a 2:1 ratio in all six counting categories, but have slim leads in both field goal and free throw percentage.
I'd like to preserve that 8-0 lead, so I've benched the active players, Victor Oladipo and Mo Williams,  with the poorest shooting percentages. My opponent still might overtake me. Among the players in his lineup are Dirk Nowitzki, Manu Ginobili and David Lee. I'll get to see Dirk against the Pistons. I wouldn't wish ill on him, but if he has a cold night, so be it.
* * *
Football. Does anyone know who's even playing the Pro Bowl Sunday? Somewhere, I'm sure, bookmakers have set a line for the game? exhibition? farce? And somewhere, someone will bet on it.

Consider the Rays' latest moves as positives

The Rays are having a good week.
They signed RHP Grant Balfour for $12 million to be their closer for the next two years.
That might sound familiar, because he has pitched for Tampa Bay before, but in a setup role. For the last three years, he was a closer -- with the Athletics.
Balfour almost had a contract this year with the Orioles, but he failed his physical. That fact and his age (36) could make the Rays' move a bit iffy. However, if you read these posts, you'll quickly learn how much respect I have for the Tampa Bay and Oakland organizations and their decision-making ability. Even more than I have for the Rangers' and ascending Pirates' organizations.
That respect is a reason why I also like the trade the Rays made with the Padres. Tampa Bay sent a couple of viable relievers, LHP Alex Torres and RHP Jesse Hahn, to San Diego for five players who haven't yet or haven't had a chance to prove their major league readiness.
The key player going to the Rays is 3B/2B Logan Forsythe. I saw him play at the University of Arkansas and in the Texas League. You may wonder why, with 3B Evan Longoria already on Tampa Bay's roster, the team would need Forsythe. But have you noticed Longoria's amount of time on the disabled list? And even if he could play every game this year, Forsythe would be around to play some second base, freeing 2B/OF Ben Zobrist (for whom I also have a ridiculous amount of respect) to spend more time in the outfield. That would add even more versatility to a pretty versatile team.
There also could be strength in the numbers of trading two players for five. Four of the five new players going to the Rays organization can be considered at best prospects. We know that not every prospect actually becomes successful in the majors. But what if two of the four among RHPs Brad Boxberger, Matt Lollis and Matt Andriese and 2B Maxx Tissenbaum turn out to be serviceable major leaguers? Or if even one becomes a contributor?
The only player among those four that I have seen much is Lollis, and he wasn't really impressive out of Double-A San Antonio's bullpen. Tissenbaum appears to be on a career track similar to ... Logan Forsythe's.
Which reminds me that the Giants avoided arbitration by agreeing to a two-year deal with 3B/SS Joaquin Arias. I'd rather have Logan Forsythe.
Another former Rays right-hander, Matt Garza, reportedly is close to a four-year, $52-million contract with the Brewers, who apparently didn't observe his work down the stretch with the 2013 Rangers.
The big signing, of course, was RHP Masahiro Tanaka's seven-year, $155-million contract with the Yankees. Again, if you've been reading this blog, you'll know this surprises me only in that he'll be making more than $20 million per season.
If you're really Jonesing for signings, you might even be interested in the fact that two righties found lacking as closers have new minor-league contracts, Jon Rauch with the Royals and David Aardsma with the Indians.
* * *
Basketball. Thursday night, I got 31 points but just six rebounds from Chris Bosh, and very little from Mo Williams. I'm still ahead 7-1 this week, trailing only in field goal percentage.
* * *
Hockey. In the Stars' 7-1 win over the Maple Leafs, even Brenden Dillon from my team picked up one of those good stats that I no longer talk about. I dropped half a point when the next-lowest team in goalie wins moved into a tie. Antti Raanta played in goal for me for the first time, but lost 2-1 to Minnesota. The worst part was that his save percentage was below .900. That's one stat where I could pick up a point or two in the standings by improving by a .001 or .002.

First base in Milwaukee still looks like a mess

There are metrics indicating that the 2013 Brewers had the worst offensive first basemen in major league history.
They have made two moves purported to improve that situation by signing 1B Lyle Overbay and Mark Reynolds. They certainly wouldn't help the batting average dragged down by players such as Yuniesky Betancourt and Juan Francisco last season. Overbay at least can catch the ball. But he apparently has run out of teams that would allow him to suck in their batting order.
This week's big news, whenever it happens, will be the announcement of the team that will sign RHP Masahiro Tanaka.
Not far over the horizon are the days when pitchers and catchers will report, less than four weeks from now.
* * *
Basketball. The first day of the first place vs. second place showdown went well for my team. I lead 7-1, with my opponent ahead in field goal percentage by .0048. If I were making an Oscar-acceptance speech for last night's competition, the first person I would thank would be Joakim Noah, whose double double included more than 20 rebounds. I believe he also led Team Fresh Prints in assists. Anderson Varejao also had a double double and 20-plus rebounds. My hat's off to the two big guys. Carmelo Anthony had a double double with a modest 12 boards.
* * *
Football. I was told yesterday that I have a chance to win an NFL playoffs pick-'em pool in Pittsburgh. I'm pretty sure I picked Seattle to win big game 48.
The point spread for that game varied between Seahawks minus-2 and Broncos minus-2 1/2 during the day after the matchup was finalized. The official line for the Winston-Salem pool where I'm entered will be set Tuesday, Jan. 28. All I'll say for now is that my calculated line is within yesterday's range. Depending on where the final line falls, it could be a difficult decision. I'm figuring I have a 50-50 chance to win some money in that pool. More likely tens of dollars than hundreds.
* * *
Hockey. Neither of my goalies whose team played was in the net Monday. That can't be good. I can't get any wins that way, though my GAA and save percentage can't be hurt much.
Glad to see Alexander Steen back, picking up two assists and filling several categories.
Bottom line: Still stuck in third place with 65 points.

The Brewers have signed free-agent 1B/3B Mark Reynolds. Apparently, their 1,183 strikeouts last season weren't enough. Milwaukee actually was under the major league team average of 1,224.
In my brief analysis of the Rangers' left-handed pitching maneuvers, I failed to mention that Texas re-signed LHP Neal Cotts for their bullpen. In 2013, he had by far his best season since he helped the 2005 White Sox to a World Series championship. The Rangers used Cotts almost to the point of overuse, but he always seemed ready and almost always was effective. He could have an expanded role in their bullpen this year, possibly with LHP Rafael Perez becoming the one-batter lefty.
Former Pirates catchers on the move: the Mariners signed C John Buck -- whose only offensive skill, hitting home runs, is largely negated in Seattle -- and the Rockies re-signed C Michael McKenry, who came up through their farm system.
Expect the decibel and hot-air levels to rise in Cleveland this summer if OF Nyjer Morgan makes the Indians' roster.
The Royals signed RHP Brad Penny.
* * *
Basketball. My season-long rise has finally reached first place. My 7-1 record last week improved the season record to 58-37-1, or 53-19 since I finished the draft at 5-18-1. I'm first both in my division and overall.
This week's opponent is the only one I didn't defeat since the draft. We tied in Week 5. He's newly reduced from first place to second, three games behind.
For Monday night, I have seven players active and my opponent has six. I'm hoping to get off to a good start.
* * *
Football. I'm no longer active in fantasy football, but I think I'm currently in the money in the betting pool for which we received a hypothetical $1,000 bankroll at the beginning of the playoffs.
After the Broncos covered the spread Sunday -- adding $1,400 to the $1,600 with which I entered the conference-championship weekend -- I realized that I'd be better off losing my $100 bet on the 49ers. There were eight (of some 60) entries ahead of me, and three of them had hefty wagers on San Francisco. No Seahawks supporters had enough to pass me, so I finished the weekend sixth with $2,900.
I'm pretty sure the pool is paying six places, and by my calculations, I'm currently sixth.
The leader has $5,800, and would have to bet more than $4,600 to guarantee he would remain ahead of the two-man team in second place at $5,200 if both entries had winning bets.
I looked at a strategy of guaranteeing that I could maintain at least sixth place by wagering $2,000 to remain ahead of the three entries next behind me, all tied at $2,400. But then I realized that to do that I'd have to have a winning bet.
Pretty much I'd have to win my bet to stay in the money -- unless everybody picked a team that loses the Super Bowl. I'd expect most of the people ahead of me to bet the whole wad or close to it to maintain their position.
So the only viable strategy seems to be to bet all of it and hope that at least some of the five ahead of me lose their bet -- or possibly have gone light, trying to make sure they win something. The top two would be guaranteed a spot in the money if they didn't bet more than $900 and $300, but I'm figuring they'd both bet as much as they could to try to beat the other guy.
My chief concerns are the three ahead of me at $3,800; $3,400, and $3,000, as well as the $2,400 trio behind me.
If I win and double my money to $5,800, I'd finish no worse than sixth and could even have a chance to place first. I'm 6-3-1 against the spread so far in the playoffs. That means either that I should feel confident that I know what I'm doing and would make the correct choice, or that I've been lucky and the luck could run out this week, leaving me in the crowd at $0.
Hey, it's not my money anyway! I'd be out just the $10 entry fee. I couldn't make more than a few hundred dollars. My cup is half-full. I'll figure out a line sometime soon, before I look at the real line. Then when I compare it to the actual line, I'll hope the difference between my line and the real line is 4 points or more and bet accordingly. If I win, great. If not, no big deal. But I'm planning to win some money.
* * *
Hockey. Still third, still at 65 points, 8 behind the second-place team. The whole league standings seem to have standings, with no one gaining or losing more than a point or so. The fourth- through ninth-place teams remain within about 10 points top to bottom.
For Monday night, I have nine skaters active and potentially two goalies. I'm maintaining a positive outlook, and that's all I'll say about that.

There's always a job for a middle-of-the-road lefty

The Rangers and Mets made blip-on-the-radar news this weekend. Not a bad time for lefties either.
Texas signed LHP Rafael Perez a minor league contract with a chance to compete for a spot in their bullpen. He's a sidearmer effective against his kindred left-handers. Kind of like a southpaw Darren O'Day from the Rangers' glory days. Texas had Michael Kirkman in its bullpen most of last season. I'm fairly confident the Rangers could do better with Perez, who pitched only in the minors in 2013.
With LHP Derek Holland out for half or more of this season, Texas reportedly has been exploring signing LHPs Paul Maholm or Bruce Chen. Maholm had some success when the Pirates were really bad. Chen has pitched for just about everybody, including parts of two seasons for the Rangers, and brings a high-end personality to a clubhouse. He even pitched well as a swing man for Kansas City last season.
Texas also avoided arbitration by signing one-year contracts with RHPs Neftali Feliz ($3 million) and Alexi Ogando ($2.625 mill). That's probably more than $10,000 per pitch for the pair who were hurt most of last year. Ogando was on the DL three different times. Feliz took more of the long-term approach by not pitching in the majors until September.
The Mets signed LHP John Lannan, who could be their fifth starter, and are bringing back SS/utility infielder Omar Quintanilla. Each would go to spring training with a minor league contract.
Another guy, or perhaps I should say just another guy, is trying to make a comeback after being out of pro ball last year. The Mariners have agreed with LHP Joe Beimel on a minor league deal. Not sure why they think he suddenly might know how to pitch.
The list of teams that reportedly have offered RHP Masahiro Tanaka more than $100 million for six years shows that the Diamondbacks want to become major, big-market player. The other teams on the list are the Yankees, Dodgers, White Sox and Cubs. Hey, the Cubbies could win 70 games with Tanaka on the staff.
* * *
Basketball. It's still 7-1 going into the last day of the week.
I'm down by six 3-pointers, and think I have sufficient leads in the other categories unless my shooting percentages go down significantly (which always can happen).
Team Fresh Prints has five players going Sunday, to four for my opponent. However, three of his players are guards, but one is Rajon Rondo, whom we shouldn't expect to play much for a while.
I also have three guards in action, but I'll need good performances from Gerald Green, Victor Oladipo and Marco Belinelli to have a chance to sweep the week.
Covered the Trail Blazers' devastation of the Mavericks tonight. Mo Williams, who comes off Portland's bench in much the same way that he comes off my bench, had a good game with four rebounds, three assists, two steals and eight points, but didn't hit any 3s.
A player to watch for Dallas is Devin Harris, who played for the first time this season. He could give them a legitimate point guard, but tonight he had just six points in 17 minutes and missed two free throws.
* * *
Hockey. Can't say much because I dropped a point and had poor performances in my Categories That Shall Not Be Named. On the down side, there are four other teams creeping up close behind me in goalie wins. Let's put it this way, they're closer to me than I am to the team ahead of me.
* * *
Football. After being eliminated from the AMFL playoffs last week, I have no fantasy football teams active.
I'm pretty sure I'm out of contention in the Pittsburgh pick-'em playoff pool. Don't remember whether I told you my strategy for this week in the hypothetical bet-a-thousand pool. I'm putting $1,400 on the Broncos at (I believe) minus-7 1/2 and $100 on the 49ers at (I think) plus-3 1/2. A Denver win could at least narrow the gap between my $1,600 and the $3,700 that leads the pool. If the Patriots and Seahawks cover, I'd at least be left with $100 that I could double with a winning Super Bowl bet. Of course, it's not real money unless I finish in the top three (maybe top six, don't remember) and then I'd win just a percentage of the $10 entry fees put into the pool. I'm currently 18th among about 60 in the pool.

Could more replay make Yankees-Red Sox games even longer?

The news in baseball is that instant replay.
I would be in favor of that development if
1) We're not just substituting possibly wrong umpires' decisions for possibly wrong replay rulings.
2) Umpires don't use replay as a crutch by making a safe ruling they know could be overturned.
Both of those problems have occurred to some degree with football replays.
But the really big one, which has slowed NFL games and made some college football games interminable:
3) The average game time for all major league games doesn't move to more than 3 hours, and the average game time of Yankees-Red Sox games still allow them to play the whole game in one day.
Other than that, no real movement in baseball
* * *
Hockey. Got to see Zdeno Chara and Jarome Inginla play Thursday night for the Bruins. Chara made his presence felt on defense and in a fight with Dallas' Vernon Fiddler. They received penalties just for roughing. My team could have used the three extra minutes for a fighting major. As it was, Chara had the only two penalty minutes from my roster.
Speaking of Chara, he's going to be leaving early for the Olympics because he has been chosen to carry Slovakia's flag in the opening ceremonies. He's likely to miss Boston's games Feb. 6 and 8.
Inginla, one of my favorite players, is not -- or at least hasn't been lately -- the same player he was just a couple of years ago. I barely noticed him on the ice.
My team had plenty of shots on goal (34), but just three goals.
I did regain the point I'd lost in save percentage. Neither Steve Mason, who lost in a shootout, nor Tim Thomas, won, but they each had save percentages above .900 and goals against averages under 3.00. I sent Vancouver's Eddie Lack packing and replaced him with Chicagos' Antti Raanta. He won't play a lot, but his team should help him do well. Like a few NHL teams Thursday, I may be making another change to my goalie configuration.
Well, maybe not. I just noticed that new Nashville Predator Devan Dubnyk already was owned in our league before Edmonton traded him.
* * *
Basketball. I'm leading 7-1 this week, and trail only by one 3-pointer. Both my opponent and I have full 10-man active rosters Friday. To try to overcome the lead in 3-pointers, I have four players listed as shooting guards in my lineup, plus 3-point-shooting forward Carmelo Anthony. Unfortunately, Joe Johnson's Brooklyn Nets are not playing so he'll be on my bench.

Mamas, let your babies grow up to be pitchers

It looks like a good week to be a major league pitcher. Almost as good is being agent Casey Close.
The Rays and LHP David Price announced a $14-million contract for 2014, the largest in franchise history. This tells me that they're all in for this season, and that Price wouldn't be available in trade unless Tampa Bay is out of the race near the trade deadline. It's also conceivable that if the team looks strong going forward, the Rays might even try to sign him to some sort of rewarding contract of medium-range length -- maybe $75 for three years, with options for additional years and reachable incentive clauses.
That might not be enough, because there are reports that the Dodgers and LHP Clayton Kershaw have agreed on a 7-year, $215-million deal that would be a record for a pitcher anywhere.
Waiting in the wings, for a contract that could be escalating by the day, is free-agent Japanese RHP Masahiro Tanaka, who also is represented by Close.
Even the remaining free-agent starting pitchers such as RHPs Matt Garza and Bronson Arroyo could see their contracts bumped up a few hundred thousand by the pitching sellers' market. You never know when a starting pitcher might fall down the stairs.
Continuing another recent trend of oldtimers/has-beens/previously enjoyed players contemplating a return to the bigs, LHP Dontrelle Willis signed a minor league contract with the Giants.
Other big news from San Francisco, via Venezuela, is that 3B Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval has lost 42 pounds (19 kilos) while playing in the Venezuelan Winter League. It's a contract year for the gifted hitter. How much he makes might depend on how much he weighs as the 2014-15 off-season becomes a reality.
* * *
Hockey. A couple of things, one of them not funny at all, have happened during the past few days. When I turned on my computer at the Oilers-Stars game Tuesday night, I couldn't see the screen. After a while, I could vaguely make out my sign-on prompt. Eventually, if I swirled my finger around the touch pad enough, I could find the cursor and guess whether I was clicking on the right icon. I was able to write about 300 words about the first two periods. Then I realized I would have to open AOL to send in the article to The Associated Press after I'd written.
Could not find the cursor, nor the Firefox icon. I realized I would have to write the article on my phone. It's a three-part sequence. First, write 150 words or so with the basic information and send that in. Second, add enough on to that for about 500 words and send. Third, ideally, interview some players and coaches, and add their quotes and a catchy lead for an article of about 900 words.
By the time the game ended, I hadn't even finished my 150 words. Those little keys on the Galaxy 4 are way smaller than my fingers. Got that done, but missed any interview opportunities, while I was writing the rest of the 500-worder. The Stars provided me with audio of their post-game interviews, and another freelancer sent me quotes from the Oilers' side. By the time I sent the new material and indicated where it should go, it was well past the time the article was expected in New York. I must say, though, that the editors there were very understanding.
Did some research Wednesday and discovered that it's not uncommon for the backlight on HP laptops to go out. Too bad, because generally I like the computer, but I'd never had a problem with backlighting in any of the -- I don't know, half-dozen? dozen? -- computers I've had before. I visited the Geek Squad and was preparing to have the geeks send away my computer for a couple of weeks for not-inexpensive repairs when the technician casually mentioned that they might have to wipe my computer. Wipe? Yes, as in clearing everything from the hard drive. That screech you hear is me putting the brakes on. I can't have everything erased. I have some projects and databases there that I've worked on literally for months. So the alternative, I was told was getting a VGA cable and hooking my laptop up to a TV. Next stop, Target, for a VGA cable. When I got home, that cable didn't really work, but fortunately the HDMI cable (which before seemed to have no apparent purpose) did. Thus, I'm writing this now from my dark laptop to a bright screen on our new bedroom TV. That's in part because I still find it very cumbersome to use the MacBook Pro at home, which I will be taking to tonight's Bruins-Stars game. Wish me luck.
BTW, I still have some things to clear from my HP laptop before I send it away. So by Friday, I expect to be doing all of my work on the MacBook.
Aside: if anyone from Samsung, HP or Apple wants to sponsor this blog, be my guest. You're welcome for the product placements.
Also on Wednesday, I interviewed the Stars' Brenden Dillon and Alex Goligoski about skate/foot protectors and whether those facilitate blocking shots for an article another AP writer is doing. Didn't sound like a very interesting idea to me at first, but the conversations I had with the players were very informative, dare I say enlightening, on the topic. That article is supposed to be on the wire sometime next week.
Dillon happens to be on my fantasy team, about which I have two things to say. 1) I will not write anything more about plus/minus. In the first two nights after I pointed out that I had skyrocketed within 4 of the next-higher team in plus/minus, my players combined to go minus-5 each night. I saw a note from Wednesday's game that Keith Yandle was only minus-1 or minus-2, which was an improvement because he had been minus-3 in each of the previous two games. 2) I will not write anything more about goalies until I figure them out. Don't hold your breath. With Eddie Lack giving up something like 200 goals Wednesday, I'm now at the bottom of the league in both goals against and save percentage. It helps that Steve Mason has won his last two starts, but didn't help at all that he essentially sucked in both games while the Flyers scored a bunch of goals at the other end.
* * *
Basketball. I'm just now taking a look at Team Fresh Prints' performance Wednesday night. Be right back. ... While the teams ahead of me in the standings are playing each other, I'm leading this week 6-1-1, tied in 3-pointers and trailing in field goal percentage.
Hmmm. The Nets and Hawks are playing a Thursday afternoon game in Atlanta. How quaint. And, look, Joe Johnson has 15 of Brooklyn's first 31 points, shooting 6 for 8 from the field. Too bad, because I hadn't adjusted my roster yet today and he's on my bench. I did move my other two bench players, whose teams are playing tonight, back into the starting lineup.

A-Rod did not get a raw deal

Today's big player move in baseball was that the Orioles signed OF Delmon Young to a minor league contract.
Beyond that, there were reports that OF Jack Cust and RHP Bobby Jenks are interested in making comebacks after being out of baseball. Really? I guess the money if whatever field they're working in isn't as good as a major league salary.
You might also have heard some things about sometime Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez.
The latest is that he wants to sue Major League Baseball and the MLBPA in federal court over his suspension.
I expect that will go essentially nowhere. An arbitrator ruled that Rodriguez broke baseball's PED rules, based largely on Anthony Bosch's testimony and text messages between them. The arbitrator said there was sufficient evidence indicating that A-Rod used banned substances on at least three occasions and that he tried to block MLB's investigation (think obstruction of justice) at least twice.
So where's the smoking gun? Or maybe the dripping syringe?
There doesn't have to be one. How often is there a smoking gun even in a murder case.
Baseball doesn't necessarily have to follow all of the rules that would apply in a court of law. The idea is that people have rights, but there is no "right to play major league baseball." There has been a long history of instances where players have been suspended or banned with less evidence than would convict them in court. Baseball banned eight Chicago White Sox for at least knowing but not reporting attempts to fix the 1919 World Series. More recently, Pete Rose received a lifetime ban for betting on baseball, possibly including his own team, when he managed the Reds.
In my mind, baseball has allowed the dispute over Rodriguez's suspension to last far too long. I'm not sure how the figure of 211 games was decided for his original suspension. Perhaps the idea was to keep him from playing in 2013 or '14. For some reason, he was allowed to postpone his hearing until the off-season. Those hearings usually are held and adjudicated within a matter of days or weeks.
He was allowed to play while the other players brought down in the scandal involving Bosch's PED lab sat out suspensions. And his suspension was reduced to 162 games.
There probably wasn't enough hard evidence to give A-Rod a three-strikes-and-you're-out lifetime ban. Still, he seems to be getting off easy. However, he seems to have the sense of entitlement that says the rules aren't meant to include him.
It seems likely that fans will not be very forgiving. They/we don't like the idea that star players can get off on a technicality, as Ryan Braun did the first time, or that they should be allowed to buy their way out of suspensions.
A side note, or perhaps a historical note: It seems clear that Rodriguez lied through his teeth (as so many other accused players have done) a few years back when he said that he had used PEDs only while he played for the Rangers and only before baseball banned such substances. His most recent run-in lends credence to Selena Roberts' reporting in Sports Illustrated and a note of embarrassment for Peter Gammons' softball interview with A-Rod that let him slide for a while.
* * *
Basketball. My 7-1 win for last week moved me into third place, just two games behind the league leader. My signing of Marco Belinelli to give me an extra guard Sunday didn't hurt my team, but it wasn't enough to complete a sweep by also winning in 3-pointers.
My original intention was that Belinelli would be a short-term acquisition, and that I would bring Taj Gibson back on to my roster. Then I did some homework.
The question was whether I should bring Gibson back for help up front and waive Belinelli, or possibly another newly acquired guard, Mo Williams.
First I compared their raw numbers to see which two of them had the best overall statistics. Gibson led, as we'd expect, in rebounds and blocks, and also in scoring. Williams had the highest free throw percentage and led, not unexpectedly, in assists and steals. Belinelli was best in just two categories, field goal percentage and 3-pointers.
However, when I assigned 3, 2 and 1 points in each category, with 3 being the highest, the totals were Gibson 15, Williams 16 and Belinelli 17.
The second step was determining in which categories my team needed the most help. Through Sunday, I was below average in four categories -- sixth in assists, seventh in points, tied for seventh in 3-pointers and ninth in field goal percentage. Look above and you'll see that Belinelli has had the best season in the team's worst categories, FG% and 3s. Williams leads the three-man group in assists.
Third, because it's my first year in a fantasy basketball league, I tried to determine how successful teams are set up. Are they oriented toward big men, or more toward speed and other small-man skills. My short, small-sample-sized, research showed that the team currently in first place had a 13-man roster including seven players each who qualify as guards or forwards, and three qualifying at center. My current roster, without power forward Gibson, has six guards, six forwards and a center.
The first-place team outnumbers mine at shooting guard and small forward. My roster has more power forwards than his does.
By any measure, it seems, my best move would be to keep Belinelli and Williams on the roster and leave Gibson in the free-agent pool.
* * *
Football. At last night's Islanders-Stars game, I tried to keep up with the playoff scoring through ESPN.com. I'd check the box score on occasion, and write down updated point totals for each player. I left the hockey game thinking I'd won 29-26 to reach the AMFL Super Bowl. I noted that Colin Kaepernick had thrown a touchdown pass and put down 3 points next to his name. pass. I wasn't looking at the touchdown runs because neither of us had Frank Gore. I was surprised when the commissioner wrote today that I'd lost 32-29. Then I saw Kaepernick's TD run. Oh, well.
Things are going better in the bet-a-thousand pool. I had three wins and a push -- at least the Saints didn't score again to beat the spread -- so my bankroll is up to $1,600. That might not help much. The current leader is at $3,700. I pretty much have to win the final three games, and make big bets on the right teams. Off the top of my head, I'll probably bet $1,000 on one team and $500 on the other. Maybe 8 on one and 7 on the other if I don't have a real favorite, so a split wouldn't kill me. Another possibility is going $1,400 and $100 if there's a team I reeeaallly like. I noticed that almost all of the teams currently leading had the 49ers, and they all put significantly more than my piddly $100 on San Francisco.
* * *
Hockey. Last night I got to see the Islanders' Thomas Vanek in person, probably for the first time since 2005 but probably not going back as far as when he played for the University of Minnesota in the Frozen Four. He had two assists, and even better was plus-3. My team's plus/minus has been taking off lately. I'm up to plus-40 and just four behind the next team ahead of me. The leader is at 100 and something, so that's probably out of reach. I entered Monday still third with 66, and eight points out of second place. Again, first place seems ridiculously out of reach.
BTW, Vanek leads the Islanders in plus/minus (+8, I think), and he was well below zero when he arrived on the island after the Sabres traded him.

What? There are game limits?

The only recent movement in baseball's off-season has been sideways or downward rather than moving any player or team's prospects upward.
The Rangers' bad news is that LHP Derek Holland could miss half of this season. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee after a fall in his home.
Rockies OF Carlos Gonzalez had his appendix removed, but that doesn't seem likely to cost him any playing time in 2014. Other injuries? Those seem probable, given his history.
The Nationals signed RHP Stephen Strasburg to a one-year contract for $3.975 million plus incentives, to avoid arbitration.
The Yankees designated OF Vernon Wells for assignment, officially to clear room on their 40-man roster. For what? Unless it's Masahiro Tanaka, the move could be no more than addition by subtraction, removing Wells from consideration in a crowded outfield picture. Too bad for them that they'll still be on the hook for most if not all of his contract. Most likely, Wells will simply go into the pile of mostly scrap-heap free agents. He would fit in there.
* * *
Hockey. I'm still treading water in third place, at 67 points. Five out of second place. I'm above average in every category except for goals against average (10th) and save percentage (ninth). I just recently realized that we have a limit for games played -- for forwards, defensemen, utility players and goalies. I can't find on the ESPN site a breakdown of games played by position. But the total games played seems to indicate that the league's top three teams could be on a pace to run out of games before the season ends. There is a gap down to the other seven teams, but guess who they would catch first if they're playing longer into the season. I think that even though the first-place team has more games played than anyone, it's so far ahead that none of us could catch up.
The games limit makes it most important to build a lead in the "average" categories -- GAA, save percentage and ATOI -- as well as plus/minus. If you run out of games at any position, those "average" figures wouldn't change. And they'd have to add a positive performance in plus/minus. Someone would have to outperform you in those categories. In the other seven categories, just showing up every day would build the totals and allow them to pass the teams with exhausted player limits. Not sure whether I could devise a strategy for limiting games played during the time remaining this season, but if I do, I'll pass it along. But I will observe the stretch run, and have a strategy before next season.
* * *
Basketball. Before I fell asleep at about 9:30 last night, I had a 5-1-2 lead this week. Right now, it's 7-1. If all of this week's matchups remain the same -- and I probably shouldn't be saying or even thinking this because it could jinx me -- I would move into third place (from fourth) but just two games out of first place (seven games coming into the week).
Several categories are close. I'm trailing by three steals, lead by one 3-pointer, two blocks and five assists. I currently have just two players active for Sunday. My opponent has three, but two are point guards. I might have to pick up a viable point guard of my own, one who's playing Sunday, to protect my lead. I'll figure that out more after Saturday's games.
* * *
Turns out I placed third in a Pittsburgh bowl pool. My winnings will pretty much cover my entry fees in the bowl and NFL playoff pools I entered.
Just realized I don't have any choice in the AMFL playoffs. I have eight players on my roster: Chagers QBs (hoping it's all Philip Rivers), D'Angelo Williams and Danny Woodhead at RB, Keenan Allen and Danny Amendola at WR, Vernon Davis at TE, Patriots Ks (Stephen Gostkowski) and Seahawks D/ST. This is a scoring-only league. This week is our league semifinals. The two winners in the top-division playoffs advance to the two-week AMFL Super Bowl. For this week at least, I have to hope the Chargers' offense performs well. There's a good chance against the Broncos. Also a good chance San Diego would lose 45-42. That would be OK as long as I could win and advance, and get good draft picks for the conference finals and big game 48.

Baseball fans: Try to stay awake during Countdown to Tanaka

The Countdown to Tanaka has overshadowed what little real news there has been about Hot Stove League acquisitions.
Oh, there will be announcements about the Hall of Fame in a few minutes as I write this, and the sacred names most likely will appear farther down in this post. But that really has nothing to do with fantasy baseball.
Or if you're a relative of Ramon Hernandez, Robert Andino or Xavier Nady, you might be interested to know that they have signed minor league contracts with the Royals, Pirates and Padres. Re-signed in the case of Andino and Nady -- and possibly with Hernandez, who has been with more teams than I can remember.
Oh, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas. No Jack Morris? It helped Glavine to be associated with Maddux, but after all, Glavine was a 300-game winner in his own right. Thomas might have stayed a year or two too long, but before that he was clearly a dominant player.
In case you haven't noticed, there's a new look to the blog.
* * *
Football. We're going through the draft for the playoff semifinals in the Andy Memorial Football League. I'll keep you posted. Remaining from my regular-season team were RB D'Angelo Williams, WRs Keenan Allen and Danny Amendola and Seattle's D/ST. My first draft pick was San Diego's QBs, which I'm hoping is Philip Rivers alone. The top four teams in the league are taking part in the championship playoffs draft. This is a scoring-only league.
* * *
Hockey. Lately, for every point or half-point my team has gained, I have lost a corresponding point or half-point. So I'm spinning my wheels at 66 points, in third place. Currently, I'm five points behind the second-place team, which has been fluctuating more than I have.
There are areas where I can gain: 1 power play point out of the league lead, 10 penalty minutes away from a point, 7 seconds from another point in ATOI. My goalkeeping still sucks. I'm 8 wins away from another point and .18 away from the ninth-place team in goals against average. There are three teams within .055 in save percentage. The problem with being close is that there are teams similarly close behind me.
My team was plus-6 Tuesday, so I'm up to 31 points but still 19 behind the next-higher team total.
* * *
Basketball. I made a mistake by not updating my lineup Tuesday. I was up late Monday working on fantasy baseball projections, up late Tuesday morning and as a result I missed out on Joakim Noah's double double by leaving him on the bench. I'm down 5-3 to the team immediately ahead of me in the division, and need to win at least 5-3 to move ahead of that team. Noah's strong points were not in the areas where I'm trailing, but my feeling is that you can't have too big a lead in any category. I understand that if I have 100 more assists than the rest of the league heading into the final few weeks, I could deal assists for shooting percentage or something else I'd need. (You're on notice, Ricky Rubio. Don't be surprised when you hear those trade rumors.) Though first I'd have to get ahead by 100 assists. Another problem is that it's a head-to-head league, so my final Rotisserie (R) totals have no impact on the final standings.
I'm very close in field goal percentage, steals and blocks. It should help in steals, at least, that six of the eight players in my lineup tonight are guards. I don't believe that I have lost since Week 3, and I don't intend to lose this week.

Let's see the NBA at Yankee Stadium in April 2015

Still not much going on in off-season baseball. Unless you count the guys who are retiring but you thought they were already retired. Yes, I mean you, RHP Jeff Suppan and 1B/OF Aubrey Huff. Both had their days in the sun without really catching fire or gaining widespread acclaim. Suppan seemed to have the potential to be very good when I saw him in the minors. That potential became the ability to win 10-12 games a year seemingly forever. Huff was instrumental in bringing the first World Series championship to San Francisco, as well as being part of the Rays' growth into a contending team.
The other big baseball news seems to be that Rangers -- New York Rangers, that is -- goalie Henrik Lundqvist will be wearing a mask featuring the likenesses of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio for the Stadium Series hockey at Yankee Stadium.
The NHL will be coming out of its shutdown for next month's Olympics with a series of outdoor games, like the one that drew 105,000 people to Michigan Stadium on New Year's Day. The most exotic locale will be Dodger Stadium, which last saw ice in a cocktail glass inside a luxury suite.
Yankee Stadium just had the Pinstripe Bowl football game. Hockey is next.
Let's get with it, NBA! Schedule at game at the new House That Ruth Built. Try to make it The House That Carmelo Brought Down. A Saturday or Sunday afternoon game in April (while the Yanks are out of town) should due. That's April 2015, and not a day later.
* * *
Basketball. I'm ahead 5-3 going into the last day of this week's competition. That would keep me in fourth place. But I'm down by just two assists, so I could pick up another game and possibly move into third.
With Ricky Rubio not playing today, I decided to pick up free-agent PG Mario Chalmers. I contemplated dropping up-and-down SG Joe Johnson, but I might need him to boost my 3-point total, so I waived Taj Gibson for the second time this season. I may try to pick him up again.
Eight of my 10 roster spots are filled tonight. I figure Chalmers at least has plenty of options of people to pass to who are likely to shoot and even make some shots. If I'm really lucky, he'll be getting assists for Chris Bosh.
* * *
Hockey. Still at 66 points, and sliding slowly farther behind the second-place team, currently at 73.
The biggest chances for me to gain ground are in assists, where I'm just 8 behind the team in second; power-play points, 4 behind both teams ahead of me in the standings, and save percentage, .027 behind No. 2.
Last night's game before my very eyes was a mixed blessing. Henrik Zetterberg scored two goals and was plus-2, but Brenden Dillon was minus-2. The goals weren't terribly important, because I already lead the league. Last night's plus/minus was up and down, but finished plus-1, boosting my season total to plus-19. That's still 21 points away from catching the next higher team.
My lineup for Sunday will have six skaters and possibly goalie Eddie Lack (Roberto Luongo was in goal for Vancouver Saturday).
* * *
Football. It seemed weird Saturday when I got up thinking I needed to make an 11th-hour check of my fantasy roster, then realized that I didn't have a team playing. Then as I listened to the first half of Kansas City-Indianapolis on the way to the Red Wings-Stars game, I was wondering whether I could retain RB Jamaal Charles on my playoff roster even if he wouldn't be able to play in the Divisional round.
I don't think it was just because I had the Colts in both of my playoff pools, but I found the KC radio crew very annoying. I just looked up the name of the Chiefs' play-by-play guy. He's Mitch Holthus, and he must have some following in Kansas and Missouri because he's been on the job for 20 years. The annoying part was when the Chiefs were tearing it up, he kept repeating a mantra that the Chiefs would be doing it "all day," which apparently included saying "all day" all day. He also seemed very impressed with himself for knowing the small town in Kansas where the head linesman lived, and the location of Mary Hardin Baylor University in Texas.
It wasn't until after the hockey game that I learned the Chiefs had blown their big lead and lost. All day apparently had a second half.
It didn't help the broadcast that color man Len -- turned out to be the one-time great Len Dawson -- was one of the type who pretty much agree with and parrot what the play-by-play guy says. Dawson has seen better days, and I think those are in the past. (All day.)
Anyway, in my pick-'em pool, both the Colts and Saints advanced, as I predicted, but by the skin of their teeth.
Fortunately, in my $1,000-bankroll, pick-with-the-spread pool, I "wagered" $200 on the Saints and just $100 on the Colts, who didn't cover as 2.5-point favorites. So my hypothetical bankroll is up to $1,100.
In my college pools, I don't expect I'll win anything despite picking up 28 points from Vanderbilt in the pick-winners confidence pool. I have 1 point on Ball State tonight and 5 on Florida State Monday. I'm not even sure Vanderbilt covered the spread, but going into that game I was just 11-16 in my point-spread pool.

If Orioles reach postseason, Berry could be a weapon

Still not much cooking on the hot stove barely five weeks before pitchers and catchers report.
1B James Loney has signed his 3-year, $21-million contract to return to the Rays. That's bad news for rookie 1B Vince Belnome, who has hit in the minors without reaching the majors and wasn't likely to have much playing time anyway.
A nice small deal was the minor league contract Quintin Berry signed with the Orioles. He's a good candidate as a fourth or fifth outfielder who can add a left-handed bat and even more important, a pair of legs with great base-stealing prowess (29-for-29 in the majors). His skills would be more important should Baltimore reach the postseason.
The Astros must project a big role for RHP Jesse Crain, a Canadian who signed a 1-year, $3.25-million contract with his adopted hometown's team.
The Reds are contemplating signing OF Grady Sizemore. The oft-injured 31-year-old has not played in the majors since 2011.
* * *
Hockey. My team remained at 66 points, now 6 1/2 points out of second place. All but one of my skating positions will be filled Saturday, with possibly two goalies starting.
* * *
Basketball. My team is stuck at 5-3 in this week's head-to-head competition. Jared Sullinger's 3-for-17 shooting took a heavy toll on my field goal percentage, which trails my opponent. I'm also trailing by seven 3-pointers and eight assists.
* * *
Football. Don't think I'll win anything in the pick-winners bowl pool. I lost 17 points with Ohio State and gained just 4 for Missouri Friday. I have just 35 points total remaining for the final three bowls. If Vanderbilt, with its 28 points, loses Saturday, I'm sure I'll have no chance to finish in the top three.
Haven't seen the standings on the point-spread bowl pool for a few days.

Downs could help White Sox bullpen

The White Sox have announced their 1-year, $4-million contract with free-agent LHP Scott Downs, with an option for 2015.
Their bullpen has been rebuilt, with Downs and RHP Ronald Belisario replacing RHP Addison Reed and LHP Joe Thornton.
Losing a closer (Reed) and left-handed setup man could seem like a big deal, but it's not as if the Sox bullpen was very effective last season.
The leading candidate for the closer's role is RHP Nate Jones. The 37-year-old Downs has 26 career saves, and RHP Matt Lindstrom also has been a closer.
To make room on the 40-man roster, Chicago designated LHP Santos Rodriguez for assignment.
Another up-in-the-air closer situation is in Texas, where RHP Neftali Feliz is considered the front runner, but could face challenges from RHPs Joakim Soria, Alexi Ogando, Miles Mikolas and Tanner Scheppers. Mikolas has been traded from the Pirates. I've seen him and Mikolas pitching in the Texas League. Scheppers was lights out before an arm injury, but pitched very well for most of 2013 in a setup role. For my money, Soria, Scheppers and Feliz would be the top relievers, with the order depending on their physical condition.
Any team needing a closer still could hold out hope to sign free-agent RHPs Grant Balfour (again depending on physical well being) or Fernando Rodney.
The Angels have taken a mild gamble by signing LHP Mark Mulder to a minor league contract. He hasn't pitched in the majors since 2008, but he could earn as much as $6 million this season from an incentive-laden contract.
* * *
Football. Shouldn't have said anything about my success in a college bowl confidence pool. I think I had only one winner in Wednesday's six games. I'm still sixth but down to about plus-170, and some 30 points out of third place and the money.
In my hypothetical $1,000-wager NFL pool, I am putting $200 each on the Saints and Packers and $100 each on the Colts and underdog Chargers. I expect to be in a straight pick-'em pool, where I'd probably take the same teams, except for Cincinnati over San Diego.
* * *
Hockey. Still at 65 points, and in third place seven points out of second. My plus-minus dropped from plus-13 to plus-12. Thursday's lineup has all but three skating positions filled, plus one goalie. I can pick up a point with five assists, plus-two in plus/minus and .04 in save percentage.
* * *
Basketball. After Wednesday, a poor shooting night dropped me down to a 7-1 lead. My team's field goal percentage is down to just .4395, trailing my opponent's .4412. I still lead by only one 3-pointer, two steals and 17 points. I'll have nine players going Thursday, to seven for my opponent.

Astros improving one bite at a time

Happy new year.
And it should be a happier new year in Houston. That's not just because the Astros have signed free-agent RHP Jesse Crain.
Crain is more a symbol of change than a game-changer.
Houston's management has made a series of incremental improvements that won't move the Astros into contention this season, but should move them to a point where they are more competitive on a daily basis.
The change is most evident in the bullpen -- where Crain joins other new RHPs Chad Qualls, Matt Albers, Anthony Bass, Darin Downs and Raul Valdes.
That might not sound like much, but doesn't it sound better than Josh Zeid, Kevin Chapman, Chia-Jen Lo and Josh Fields? They were the unproven youngsters in a bullpen that led or tied for the lead in negative categories with a 4.92 ERA and 29 blown saves.
Fields and Lo were among the part-time closers Houston employed in what we now can call last year.
The most obvious weakness, even with the influx of veterans, is that there is no proven closer. Qualls would be the closest to matching that job description. He and Crain are tied for the most relief wins in the majors over the last 10 seasons, with 45. That says more about their longevity than their ability.
It's quite possible that some of the new Astros won't open the season on the major league roster. Well, Crain might not because he's still recovering from surgery following a bout with biceps tendinitis that ended early a 2013 season during which he was an All-Star for the White Sox (who weren't a whole lot better than Houston).
But let's say Downs and Valdes could go back to the minors or be shipped off to another organization. And maybe Zeid and Lo could be major leaguers in April. The point is that there would be greater competition for jobs, and even the losers in that competition could be viable major leaguers at some point in the season.
I'm planning to do some analysis during the next few days to determine who might be the best closer candidate in Houston. My gut feeling is that the Astros would start with Qualls, but we'll see.
* * *
I'm in two football bowl-picking contests. One is with point spreads, the other without. Haven't seen a recent report on the point-spread pool, but I started out something like 2-7. In the pick-winners pool, I've rallied after a slow start, and went 4-0 Tuesday. It's a pool in which you assign point values based on how much faith you have in a team's winning. Confidence pool, I think it's called. Texas A&M's rally helped because I had 30 points on the Aggies. I'm a little over plus-200, but haven't seen that report since early Monday.
By the way, I ended up making no money in my regular-season office pool. I made a rally in Week 17, tying for third at 12-5, but still finished 13 points behind the winner and four behind third place, the last with prize money.
Now I have a couple of different NFL playoff pools to master. One of those is straight pick-'em; the other is pick-'em while assigning wagers best on a theoretical $1,000 bankroll to begin the playoffs.
* * *
Hockey. I'm stayed at points, but fell 1 1/2 points farther out of second place. I got excited when I saw Keith Yandle, heretofore a drain on my plus/minus, was plus-3 Tuesday. However, my team still dropped another point in the plus/minus. Not many players going today, but I've set up my lineup for the next couple of days so that I'd have pretty much a full roster Thursday.
* * *
Basketball. My team currently is leading 8-0, but four categories are very close. Over the next two days, I had a choice for the 10th player in my lineup between Victor Oladipo and Taj Gibson. Because three of my closest categories are 3-pointers, assists and steals, I'm going with Oladipo.