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.
APLast offseason Gil Meche was a 28-year-old righthander with 55 career wins coming off an improved but unspectacular season when the Royals gave him a stunning five-year, $55 million deal .
Fast-forward to the present : Carlos Silva is a 28-year-old righthander with 55 career wins coming off an improved but unspectacular season. In a pitching-thin free-agent market , Silva is poised to land a huge deal of his own.
Though Meche and Silva have followed similar career paths, they have different styles. Meche is a power pitcher; Silva relies on a sinker and changeup. After giving up a major league-high 38 homers in 2006, Silva allowed only 20 last season, when his ERA dropped from 5.94 to 4.19.
At last week’s G.M. meetings in Orlando, there was talk that teams will try to trade for a starting pitcher before possibly handing over a four-year, $40 million deal to Silva. But this time last year, no one figured Meche would land the kind of deal he did, either.
— S.M.
THE BAGGAGE: BARRY BONDSIn a recent interview on MSNBC, Barry Bonds said, “I have never brought any baggage to a team.”
Hmm. Then why aren’t teams clamoring to sign baseball’s home run king, who is 43 but coming off a season in which he hit 28 home runs in just 340 at-bats?
The Giants have severed ties with their franchise player, and wherever he winds up (except retirement), Bonds will assuredly do the following: bring a gaggle of curious media, anger some fans who see him as a cheater and require the special treatment that was a persistent annoyance in San Francisco. Sorry, Barry, but that’s baggage. Despite all that comes with him, he’ll be a player of interest as the o_ season wears on.
“He is going to help someone as a DH,” says Indians general manager Mark Shapiro, who adds he has no interest because the Indians have Travis Hafner. “He is still, clearly, a middle-of-the-order run producer, and those are not easy to come by.”
Bonds would prefer to play for a contender, but his options may be limited, depending on how the winter shakes out for teams like the Tigers, Angels, Mariners and Yankees. Second-tier teams like the Orioles and Royals could come into play. The Bay Area A’s would be a natural fit, but their youth movement probably quashes that possibility.
No matter where he winds up, Bonds’ new team will have to prepare for a jolt. But, as Shapiro says, “You know that going in. If it was a pure baseball decision, it would be a no-brainer. But there’s no such thing as a pure baseball decision.”
— S.D.
THE AGENTS: SAM AND SETH LEVINSONScott Boras will make a grand production out of shopping Alex Rodriguez. Only a few teams, at most, will be involved in a process that is sure to drag deep into the offseason.
More teams will call on ACES, the firm headed by brothers Sam and Seth Levinson. They will be busy.
The Levinsons represent numerous high-quality free agents. Third baseman Mike Lowell and catcher Jorge Posada, who have been key ingredients in championship teams, top the list.
Lowell has been a major player on two World Series winners in the past five seasons, including this past season as a heart-and-soul player with Boston.
In 10 years with Posada as their front-line catcher, the Yankees reached the World Series five times and won it thrice. Posada is coming off a season in which he hit a career-high .338, and his clubhouse value is immense.
Other Levinson clients of note: Royals DH Mike Sweeney, who also is a plus in terms of makeup; enigmatic Padres outfielder Milton Bradley; and Mets second baseman Luis Castillo.
— G.F.
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.
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.
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