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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.