Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
Redux PicturesQ: Why wasn’t Eric Byrnes considered a hot target at the trading deadline? He is a five-tool player, a young, exciting player, in the last year of his contract, and his team doesn’t want him next year. Where do you see him playing next year?
— Ernie Chang, Taiwan
A: You are pretty much correct across the board, Ernie, although Byrnes actually is 31, so he’s no kid. While the Diamondbacks won’t be re-signing Byrnes this winter due to their large number of young outfielders in the majors and on the way — Chris Young, Carlos Quentin, Justin Upton, Carlos Gonzalez — they felt it vital to hang onto him this season. That’s because they remain in the thick of the National League West race (leading by one game as I write), and didn’t feel they could get by without him, especially with their offense in need of a veteran run producer.
The same pretty much goes for Livan Hernandez, who probably would have been dealt if the D-Backs had fallen back a bit in the playoff chase. But especially with Randy Johnson out for the rest of the season, they need Hernandez’s veteran presence and ability to gobble up innings.
As for where Byrnes ends up next season, there no doubt will be at least a handful of solid possibilities. One I see is in Texas, where they will be seeking two new outfielders. The Giants definitely need a makeover and more offensive firepower, and the Angels could be a fit, as Garret Anderson clearly is on the back end of his career, and Vlad Guerrero might be better off as the designated hitter. A couple of other opportunities also will surface, and I expect Byrnes to cash in nicely. Teams could do a lot worse than to sign somebody who plays as hard as Byrnes does all the time, if you ask me.
Q: Do you think Reggie Willits will be Rookie of the Year in the American League?
— Richard Flores, Santa Clarita, Calif.
A: Willits has come from relative anonymity to put together an excellent rookie season, but winning the Rookie of the Year Award could be a tall order for the Angels outfielder. Among position players, I’d have to give Tampa’s Delmon Young the edge at this point.
Willits leads Young in batting average, run scored, steals and on-base percentage, but Young has the advantage in hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, at-bats and slugging percentage. A couple of others putting up solid first seasons are Boston’s Dustin Pedroia, Oakland’s Travis Buck, and Tampa’s Akinori Iwamura, and Kansas City’s Alex Gordon is overcoming a slow start.
But your winner very well could be a pitcher — and a ‘veteran’ pitcher at that — Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka. If he does win the award, and he has sizable leads over other AL rookie pitchers in wins, strikeouts, starts and innings — we’ll no doubt hear the debate once again about a Japanese League star being classified as a Major League rookie. But that’s the rule as it stands now, and I don’t think any rookie has been more impressive and had more impact than Dice-K. My ballot today would read: Matsuzaka, Young, Willits.
Q: What are the chances that Ron Santo gets into the Hall of Fame soon?
— John Manos, San Diego
A: If things go as they have with the Veterans Committee, chances aren’t very good for Santo, who has been shut out in two previous votes since the committee was reworked several years ago. But a sliver of hope may have presented itself with the latest changes in the ballot and review process announced during last weekend’s induction ceremonies.
In previous elections, the Veterans Committee — composed of living Hall of Famers, plus a select few executives, writers and historians — considered a ballot of 25 or so candidates of players, managers, umpires and executives. But that now will be broken into two separate and smaller ballots, with the 63 living Hall of Famers voting only on players, while another committee of hall members, executives, writers and historians will vote on a ballot of managers, executives and umpires.
The logic being that the old process gave voters too much to consider, and by narrowing the fields of candidates, those candidates now will get a better look and longer consideration — all while not lowering the standard for election. But that remains the key point, as the living Hall of Famers haven’t considered Santo to be qualified enough to join them. I happen to respectfully disagree, based on the simple fact that Santo’s numbers put him among the top 10 third basemen of all-time.
Q: With a pitcher like Carlos Zambrano who can hit, if he was in the American League, could he be a DH when he pitched? If so, would it be possible to win a batting title as well as a Cy Young Award?
— James Bartle, Victorville, Calif.
A: Wow, Big Z definitely can hit, but a batting title? That’s not going to happen, James, for one simple reason. Yes, a pitcher can be used instead of a designated hitter in AL lineups. But there is no way he would amass enough plate appearances (501 is the minimum requirement) starting once every five games. Unless you plan on using him as the DH on days he doesn’t pitch.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
DeMarco: Plug in a well-heeled ownership group and negotiate one of those mega-bucks TV deals that are going around, and the Dodgers could become the west coast version of the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.
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Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.