No news is good news for Yankees fans

Not much going on for the Hot Stove as the year ends, and that could be good news for Yankees fans.
The less they hear about Masahiro Tanaka, the better. It could be that the Bronx Bombers have the inside track because Tanaka is represented by Casey Close, once a hot prospect in the Yanks' organization who didn't make it past Triple-A as a player. But he has been a major player as an agent, pretty much ever since he took on Derek Jeter as a client 20 years ago. That relationship has brought hundreds of millions to Jeter and tens of millions to Close.
Elsewhere, the Marlins made a minor move by signing 1B/3B Casey McGehee. That means Miami probably won't go after a similar player, free-agent 1B Yuniesky Betancourt. Until pitchers stop throwing breaking balls, Betancourt will not be a viable fantasy option.
The Rangers might try RHP Miles Mikolas as an option to become their closer after trading 1B Chris McGuiness to the Pirates for the former Padre. If RHP Joakim Soria had showed more last season, there wouldn't be any question. But as it is, RHPs Neftali Feliz or Alexi Ogando also could be candidates. McGuiness didn't impress in his limited major league time this year, but he became available (designated for assignment) after Texas acquired 1B Prince Fielder and OF Shin-soo Choo.
A more valuable pitching option is RHP Joaquin Benoit, officially signed by the Padres for 2 years and $15.5 million to be a setup man for their closer, RHP Huston Street. (And possibly the closer himself if Street is ineffective or hurt again.) The 36-year-old Benoit showed promise with the Rangers, but has become much more valuable playing home games in pitchers' parks, first in Detroit for three seasons and now in San Diego.
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Football. I finished seventh in my ESPN scoring-plus-yardage league with a 150-108 victory in the consolation consolation matchup. Just 60 points for Week 17. I didn't start Danny Amendola (OK) or Shane Vereen (not such a good idea), but players in my lineup such as Frank Gore, Andre Brown and Delanie Walker didn't do much.
My scoring-only league team finished 10-7 and in third place with a 48-20 loss. Not sure yet how our playoffs will work. In the past the 12-team league has been divided into three groups for the playoffs, which begin with the divisional round. I would be in the top level, playing in a four-team single-elimination tournament against the second-place team. Our league's Super Bowl runs two weeks, the conference championships and big game 47. The second-place team was 11-6. We would draft to fill positions where we don't have players on playoff teams. But this season the league has been set up through ESPN.com, so there could be changes. I'll keep you posted.
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Hockey. My goalies have started winning games. Vancouver's Eddie Lack posted a shutout on the day after I signed him. So I'm actually above average in wins with 6 points in a 10-team league. My plus-minus continues to drop (down to 5 points at plus-13), but with ATOI and power play points up, I have at least 8 points in every other skating category. I'm still third, but with 65 points and 5 1/2 behind the second-place team.
I won't be at the Stars' games tonight or Friday. We're spending a family holiday in Pittsburgh. I'll be back to watching live hockey at the American Airlines Center Saturday (plus the Mavericks Sunday).
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Basketball. Another winning week (6-2) shot me up from seventh overall to fourth, and third in my division, at 38-33-1.
Started this week off with a 5-3 lead, and I'll have 9 of 10 lineup spots filled tonight. As I write this, my opponent has just four players going tonight, with only one other available from his bench. My team has gone into a bit of a scoring slump, and trails by 19 points. I'm also behind in field goal percentage, where my opponent shot better than .500 Tuesday, and in assists (17-13). Ricky Rubio could go a long way toward erasing that deficit by himself, but the Wolves aren't playing tonight so George Hill will be my point guard. Similarly, Chris Bosh won't be playing, so Anderson Varejao will be my starting center, probably with considerably fewer points than Bosh could provide.
This week's opponent beat me 8-0 retroactively after we drafted during the season's third week.
I entered this week 2 1/2 games out of second place (overall and in my division), and 9 games behind the leader.

Balfour still in demand

Now that the Shin-soo Choo thoughts are off my chest, I'll catch up some on other baseball Hot Stove activity and update my running-in-place, if not futile, efforts in other fantasy sports.
RHP Grant Balfour's deal with the Orioles fell through because of something Baltimore didn't like about his physical exam, but other teams looking for a closer supposedly still are interested in him.
OF Carlos Beltran and the Yankees made his 3-year, $45-million contract official. No problems with his physical, but he did fade at the end of last season.That's not a good sign for a 36-year-old.
My recent posts have had a number of references to age. It's a huge factor in assessing player performance. I hope to write more about the topic, and hope to resurrect something I've done in the past, an age chart that will help you tell at a glance which players should be in optimum stages of their career, and which could be in danger zones.
RHP Brad Ziegler re-signed with the Diamondbacks with a contract that guarantees 2 years and $10.5 million.
The Twins signed C Kurt Suzuki for a year at $2.75 million. That makes it easier for them to use C Joe Mauer at first base and DH.
The Athletics avoided arbitration with 1B Daric Barton by signing him to a 1-year contract.
LHP Mark Mulder, whom you've probably seen wearing a business suit on ESPN, is attempting a comeback. He hasn't pitched in the majors since 2008. Comebacks after such a long absence rarely, if ever, work out.
Aside from Balfour, the most significant current story is Japanese RHP Masahiro Tanaka. According to Baseball America, his team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles, is expected to decide by Christmas Day whether to post him and enable him to sign with a North American team. Tanaka was 24-0 (not a typo) with a 1.37 ERA in 27 starts this year. If he is posted, that will mean a lot of baseball writers sitting by the tree tweeting from their cell phones.
The Golden Eagles, by the way, also signed 1B/3B Kevin Youkilis to a 1-year contract.
Former Giants OF/1B Brett Pill has signed a 1-year contract to play in Korea next season.
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Football.
In case you haven't been keeping up with your playoff scenarios ... An NFC team with at least 10 wins will not make the playoffs. It's possible that an 11-win team won't get in. At least every division winner will have a winning record. Every AFC division champ will have at least 10 wins, but it's conceivable that an 8-8 team would get the second wild card.
Important key: These are the teams with something to play for, either a playoff berth or better postseason seeding: Eagles, Cowboys, Bears, Packers, Panthers, Saints, Seahawks, 49ers, Cardinals, Dolphins, Ravens, Chargers and I think Jets. This information is important to know for your fantasy lineup so that you can be aware of which players might be in action and not resting for the playoffs. The biggest problem is that you might not know for late games which teams have been eliminated or assured of playoff position.
Speaking of playoffs, it's official now that I'll be in the top division of the postseason playoffs for the AMFL, my scoring-only fantasy league. I'm still in third place, and possibly could move up to second by winning this week. A loss also could put me in fourth, but I have a two-game lead over the teams tied for fifth.
I'm ahead in the first week of my two-week consolation consolation playoff for seventh place in my scoring-plus-yardage ESPN league. I have a 65-47 lead with Frank Gore and the Niners' defense playing tonight. My opponent has K Phil Dawson going. In addition to being for seventh place in a 10-team league, this playoff is unsatisfying because my opponent's lineup includes two players who aren't even playing.
Another Important key: You can improve your position just by staying active longer than others who give up on your team. You also owe it to the other team owners to continue making an effort.
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Hockey.Third place with 63 points, 8 1/2 out of second, 12 ahead of the fourth-place team. I have a full lineup going tonight. Even my bench players' teams are playing tonight. It appears that the NHL is taking Christmas Eve off. Henrik Zetterberg and Alexander Steen are injured. Dustin Penner, Brenden Dillon and Jean-Sebastien Giguere are my healthy scratches. The skaters are sitting primarily to keep my ATOI up. It's a very close competition for points in that category. My only defenseman with a negative plus/minus is Keith Yandle, but he also is averaging more than 23 minutes a game and had 13 power play points. Thomas Vanek is minus-2 but he's moving up. Somehow, I can't get my team plus/minus out of its rut. My goalies' season averages all are better than average, but they have been sliding lately. I'm hoping I can figure out an answer to this problem. Trade a defenseman for a goalie?
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Basketball. Wrapped up a 5-3 victory last night. I was hoping for a good shooting night that could pick me up another win in field goal percentage, but that wasn't happening. I'm starting the new week with seven of my 10 lineup spots filled. I'm not going with Joe Johnson, who missed Friday's game because of a personal issue. If I have time -- there is Christmas shopping to do, you know -- I'll check before the Nets' game to see whether he's playing and if the personal matter has been resolved.
The good news is that I'm over .500 (32-31-1) after coming out of the draft, three weeks into the season, already 13 games under .500. I even moved up out of last place to fourth in the my division, but remained seventh overall in the 10-team league because a team from the other division passed me.
This week's opponent is the team directly ahead of me in my division. By winning 6-2, I could move into third place.