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.
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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.
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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.
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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.

Cleaning up, but not cleanup batters

Part of the cleaning up is sweeping up the crumbs from the winter meetings.
The latest contract agreement and near agreement are hardly crumby, though.
The Rays ponied up some cash to keep 1B James Loney on a reported 3-year contract. The Royals are close to a 4-year deal for more than $30 million with 2B Omar Infante, according to his agent.
These aren't big deals for big hitters such as Giancarlo Stanton or Nelson Cruz, but they are important to teams who want to be in the playoff picture for 2014 and not standing outside the frame like Broadway Danny Rose.
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Hockey. With only one player -- Matt Niskanen, who helped with minutes and a plus-1 rating -- active Friday, I still managed to gain 1 1/2 points on the second-place team. By not playing, my goalies picked up a point in goals against average. I'll have a full complement of skaters and possibly a goalie or two going tonight. I don't want my players scoring on my goalie, the way my remaining Senators did last week.
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Basketball. Picking up Gerald Green did get me two 3-pointers, and the rest of my lineup came up with enough to take the lead by four in that category. And that put me ahead for the week 8-0. If that holds, and the other contests in my league go as they have been, I would pass only one team but would move into a tie with two or three other teams as close as three games to first place. I should have a good lineup going tonight to help me hold at least most of my lead. Five players are active, including Chris Bosh and the recently hot Carmelo Anthony.