Perth one game away from Australian title

Here's how I started this blog, before news came down that the Diamondbacks had signed free-agent RHP Bronson Arroyo:
Some fairly small moves could make a larger difference for their teams this year and into the near future.
The Orioles and C Matt Wieters reached agreement on a $7.7-million contract for this season, thus avoiding arbitration. The greater significance is that he can have a better feeling about the team, which could lead to a longer-term contract down the road.
The Athletics signed CF Coco Crisp to a two-year contract extension through 2016 with a vesting option for 2017. He's a keystone in center field and at the top of the lineup -- when he isn't injured. That's why the team took the precaution of a vesting option instead of a guaranteed third year. If it vests, no one would be happier than Oakland's management.
The White Sox agreed to a 1-year, $1.1-million contract with RHP Mitchell Boggs. He was briefly a closer for the Cardinals, and could take over that role with Chicago. Currently penciled in for the job is RHP Nate Jones, but RHP Matt Lindstrom and LHP Scott Downs also have experience locking up games.
Now, on to Arroyo.
Arizona reportedly signed him to a 2-year, $23.5-million contract with an option for 2016 that could bring the total value to $29 million. Could the D-backs be overpaying? Well, he'll be 37 years old this season -- and he's Bronson Arroyo, not Tim Hudson.
Also, though I haven't seen an official acknowledgment from the Mariners, they reportedly signed RHP Fernando Rodney for two years and $14 million. That signing would impact every team that unsuccessfully sought Rodney. For example, I read a report that said the Orioles now would go with RHP Tommy Hunter as their closer.
Speaking of closers or ex-closers, the Brewers are bringing back RHP Francisco Rodriguez on a 1-year contract believed to be for $3.25 million with another $550,000 in incentives. Which reminds me. In a few days, I hope to post another residual fantasybaseballscout.com article about closers for 2014. To make room for K-Rod on the 40-man roster, Milwaukee designated RHP Donovan Hand for assignment.
I have been working on this post off and on for most of the day. It has been interrupted by visitors to the house, taking a battery for one of our cars to be recharged and going to the Jazz-Mavericks game. Some of this I wrote at the American Airlines Center before the game.
As I was about to go courtside, I saw this -- well, probably not bombshell, because in the end he really didn't have a choice, but revelatory item that caught most of us by surprise.
3B Alex Rodriguez has dropped his suit against Major League Baseball, the players association, the commissioner and probably even the batboys. He won't follow through on his threat to show up for spring training. And he won't play this season.
So now I'm writing about that back home. 
I wrote the headline for this post several hours ago here. I suspect by the time I get up Saturday morning, we'll already know whether there will be a decisive Game 3 in the Australian Baseball League Championship Series or whether the Perth Heat swept the Canberra Cavalry in two games.
That's because Saturday's Game 2 at 7 p.m. Australia Western Time would begin at 6 a.m. EST.
The Heat overcame a 3-0 deficit in what must have been one of the classic games ever Down Under. Perth then prevailed 4-3 in 14 innings. Joey Wong's double drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 14th. He batted .240 with two homers and 19 RBI at Double-A Tulsa last (Northern Hemisphere) summer, so he's a marginal prospect for the Rockies. I saw him play, and he didn't make a big impression positively or negatively.
If the Heat win, it would be the third championship in the last four years.
By the way, you can watch the ABL Championship Series on ESPN -- if you live in Australia or New Zealand. 
* * *
Basketball. Similarly, I started out by seeing that on Thursday my three active players made only one 3-point field goal, so I was still behind by one in that category against an opponent who had no one active. My lead was 7-1, and the second-place team was ahead 8-0, so I stood to lose some of my lead.
Now, literally at the end of the day -- no, early Saturday morning (late afternoon in Perth), I'm looking better. Two of my players -- Jose Calderon, whom I saw in person, and Carmelo Anthony -- threw in four 3s each, helping me to take the lead in that category. Three of my players scored 30-plus points, two had double doubles and my best draft pick, Serge Ibaka, blocked five shots while he wasn't putting in 26 points at the other end. My lead is now 8-0, and the second-place team dropped to 6-2, so I could actually extend my lead. Two days left this week, so I don't want to look ahead too much.
* * *
Hockey. My starting goalies, Steve Mason and Ben Scrivens, both won Thursday, giving up only one goal in 60 minutes, and had a combined .973 save percentage. That improved my stats in all three categories, but not enough to gain any points.
Important key: Don't make the same mistake I did of leaving a problem area unresolved too late into the season. You've heard of small sample sizes. Well, the large sample size of nearly three-quarters of the season means that one or two days of performances won't make a major difference in the standings.
I still hold out hope of being able to overtake the second-place team in my league, but I know it won't be easy.
Hey! There were games Friday night too. Let's see how the Puckin Penguins did. The only active players, Joe Pavelski and Matt Niskanen (one of my best draft picks or early season pickups, I don't remember which), were plus-1 each. That restored some order, but it appears that the team still is eight points behind the second-place team.

Little things could mean a lot in final standings

I have some extra baseball information ready for later today, to commemorate the Diamondbacks pitchers and catchers' reporting today. I'll post that after this usual report.
Today's report is dedicated to the memory of Ralph Kiner. RIP to the Pirates' second-leading career home run hitter.
The Marlins have agreed to terms with RHP Carlos Marmol, but aren't expected to announce that move until they squeeze him into the 40-man roster and move someone else off. More about Marmol in one of what now appear to be two extra posts today.
Signed to minor league contracts:
C Koyie Hill by the Nationals
Infielder Justin Turner by the Dodgers
1B/OF Bryan LaHair by the Indians
The Rangers have picked up some extra revenue by renaming the stadium Globe Life Park in Arlington. Don't expect me to tell someone I'm going to Globe Life Park. I'll also refer to it by that name in writing about as often as I refer to Arlington's football stadium as AT&T Stadium.
* * *
Basketball. After Wednesday's games, Team Fresh Prints' lead increased to 7-1. I trail only in 3-point field goals, 19-17. Six of the guys in my lineup combined for nine 3s. New addition Jose Calderon made only one. Somehow I went ahead in field goal percentage even though Calderon and fellow new Fresh Print Boris Diaw were 4 for 14 combined. They were also the only two players in the full 10-man lineup who didn't score in double figures. Marco Belinelli, on my bench, scored 14 points in his real game for the Spurs despite not hitting any 3s. He'll be one of three players active Thursday; my opponent had no one playing tonight when I last looked at his lineup.
Important key: Find some time or typical times during each day when you can update and upgrade your lineup for daily league.
For me, that time is late the previous night or early in the morning. My sleep is on an irregular schedule, so sometimes late night and early morning are the same thing. I didn't sleep much Tuesday night, so I went to bed at 8 p.m. Wednesday and got up at 1:30 a.m. to start Thursday.
* * *
Hockey. Watching the schedule and switching Joe Pavelski for Corey Perry was somewhat successful. Pavelski played 22 minutes, with only one shot on goal, and was at 0 in plus/minus. Perry was minus-1, but he did take six shots.
Dustin Penner, Perry's teammate in Anaheim and with the Texas Puckin Penguins. was minus-2. Penner was on my bench. So observing that the Ducks were playing the Blackhawks, while Pavelski's Sharks were going against Dallas, was helpful.
Matt Niskanen was plus-1, with a power-play assist, increasing his season lead for my team to plus-27. He's also averaging better than 20 minutes per game.
Two important keys here: 1. I should have begun monitoring games played earlier in the season. Instead of just throwing every available player on fantasy ice, I should have avoided unfavorable matchups and sat players such as Penner against Chicago. 2. Don't always listen to the "experts." Teams will always find a place for those who are playing well. After I picked up Niskanen, every time a Penguins defenseman was returning from injury, I'd read how much playing time Niskanen would be losing and how I should replace him. I figured I'd wait to see if he actually was playing less. As it turned out, it was never enough time that I should give up his strong performance in other statistical categories.
As it happens, the only owner with more games already played than I have is the owner of the second-place team just ahead of me. His skaters have 30 more games, and his goalies 22.
While my team remained at 67 points, each of the top two teams lost half a point to teams in the lower half of the standings. I trail the second-place team by nine assists and nine power-play points, and it's conceivable that I could catch him by season's end by taking advantage of my extra games (really his fewer games) and judicious selection of players for each day's lineup.
From the Thursday lineup I laid out Monday, I made two changes. I replaced forward Paul Stastny with Clarke MacArthur, in part because MacArthur has been filling up more categories recently and also because Stastny will be playing against my only starting goalie, Steve Mason. I don't want anyone, even Stastny, to score against Mason. Well, OK, if another Avalanche player, Nathan MacKinnon, scores Colorado's only goal, that would work. The other change was Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson for teammate Jan Hejda. Johnson has more shots, penalty minutes and ATOI than Hejda.Who knows? An assist, a penalty, or a few extra seconds could make a difference in the final standings.

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.
* * *
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.
* * *
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.

Fantasy hockey

This season I decided, pretty much last minute, to get into a fantasy hockey league for the first time. That's because I'm covering a lot more hockey this year after covering virtually none during the truncated 2013 (there was no 2012- in front of it) season. In the wee hours of Oct. 1, I went to espn.com and found a league that was drafting early that morning, maybe 5 a.m., and had 9 of 10 spots taken. I clicked the appropriate links to allow me to join, looked around for how I could customize the draft list, had trouble finding what I wanted, decided I was too tired to make credible moves anyway and went to bed. When I woke up, fairly early but not at 5 a.m., I saw my new team's roster. Lots of guys I'd never heard of. And that wasn't a bad thing because I'm trying to familiarize myself with the players around the league. I didn't even know a whole lot about the Stars. Their roster has changed a lot in the last two seasons. Anyway, my autopicked team quickly plunged to the bottom of the league. I found that out the next time I checked, a few days later. With a lot of moves, a couple of trades that didn't go through but pointed me in the right direction and more attention paid to the league, I've moved up to third place. But it isn't a good place. I'm closer to seventh or eighth place than I am to the two teams ahead of me. Here are some tips I've learned for myself that I can pass on to you. 1. Avoid signing up at the last minute, not customizing the website's draft list and above all else, having your team autopicked. I'm pretty sure I missed a run of goalies somewhere that would have led me to draft at least one higher than their autopick value indicated. 2. Learn what the categories mean. I saw PIM, but wasn't sure whether having a lot of penalty minutes was good or bad. (It's good.) But what the heck is ATOI? Nothing like Bill James' Favorite Toy, but instead Average Time on Ice. It's an equalizer to help give defensemen more value. There's also a category called PPP. I figured it had something to do with power plays, but I wasn't sure what. Power Play Points. Again, it can be an equalizer for defensemen. They're not going to score many goals, even on the power play, but if they spend a lot of time on the ice at the point on the power play, they're going to get assists when a teammate tips in or gets in the way of a slap shot. 3. Follow the action daily, and make sure you check in early enough to make moves. Unlike the fantasy football and even baseball leagues I'm in where the lineup changes are weekly, you can have a new lineup every day. It doesn't do you any good to have all of your fantasy bench on teams that are playing that night, while your marginally better or even stud players' teams are taking the night off. Conversely, if you don't switch back the next night, you might miss out on some good performances from players you sat the night before. 4. Don't overreact to short-term problems. This is one I should have remembered from any other fantasy sport. I spent the first couple of weeks picking up goalies who had played one good game to replace established players who might have given up 4 or 5 goals the night before. As a result of No. 4, I still have just 4 points in 3 categories from my goalies. I'm trying to rotate them in and out, in accordance with point No. 3 above. If all three happen to be playing, which sometimes happens on Tuesdays or other busy nights, I try to pick the two hot hands or the two with the easiest opponents. That's still a bit of a guessing game. But my GAA and save percentage are dropping slowly, to the point where I might even pick up 1 or 2 points in the next week or so. Hockey is not the marathon that the baseball season, but at least this season it's a half-marathon. * * * Thursdays are a busy fantasy day this year. They start with a reminder from an office football pool I'm in from my daughter Diana's former employer. I make those picks, with the spreads. I'm pretty much in the middle of the pack, one game under .500 for the season. I need to make up seven games in seven weeks to get into the money. If I could do that, it would also be more likely that I'd win a weekly prize of almost twice my investment for the season. After that, I check out any waiver claims I made after the weekend's games, plus injury reports on my players and bye-week information to see if I have to make any changes in either of my fantasy football lineups. This week, the Rams are off so I replaced Greg Zuerlein with Matt Bryant and Rob Bironas. I also picked up Andre Brown on waivers in one league. He replaced a wide receiver as my flex player, with two other pretty good RBs in that league. In the other league, I culled through the scrapheap of RBs to find a replacement for Arian Foster and came up with Bernard Pearce. He's just a backup. I elevated D'Angelo Williams to the starting lineup in that league, which counts only scoring and not yardage. As with the office pool, I'm mediocre in both fantasy football leagues. 5-5 in one, 4-6 in the other, but still with playoff chances if I manage my lineups correctly or get lucky. Peyton Manning's gimpy ankle has been carrying me in one league; Matt Stafford is my man in the scoring-only league. This season, I'm now also somewhat micromanaging my fantasy hockey team. On waivers, I picked up Anaheim defenseman Francois Beauchemin to put me on a good road, as well as Ottawa forward Clarke MacArhur, whom I hope has Kent or even Douglas as his middle name. Today's lineup changes put Beauchemin in for Pittsburgh's Matt Niskanen, Boston defenseman Torey Krug as my utility player in place of Ottawa forward Milan Michalak and Islanders goalie for Toronto's James Reimer. Time to eat. More, including baseball, to come soon.