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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had 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.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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.
AP
NEW YORK - When Javier Vazquez last threw a pitch for the New York Yankees, it was a nadir in the team’s storied history. He gave up two homers to Johnny Damon, including a key grand slam, as the Yankees lost Game 7 of the 2004 AL championship series to Boston.
Now Vazquez is back, acquired Tuesday from the Atlanta Braves for outfielder Melky Cabrera as New York tweaks its championship roster in an effort to win back-to-back titles.
“Hopefully, I can erase those memories,” Vazquez said.
And while Vazquez has returned to fortify a rotation headed by CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte, there still appears to be no room on the 2010 Yankees for Damon, a key to this year’s World Series win.
General manager Brian Cashman said he didn’t intend to add another “high-end player” with “dollars attached on a large scale.” That would appear to exclude Damon, who turned down the Yankees’ $14 million, two-year offer last week and countered at $20 million as the team was reaching an agreement with Nick Johnson to become its designated hitter.
Coming off a $52 million, four-year contract, Damon hasn’t lowered his price enough for suddenly budget-conscious New York.
“The Yankees have always been about impact players and Johnny certainly has proven his value to the team in the locker room, on the field, in key situations in the postseason,” Damon’s agent, Scott Boras, said Tuesday. “It’s rare that those types of players are available to you at short-term reasonable costs to assist a team in repeating a world championship.”
In a trade that pushed New York’s payroll for next season over $200 million, the Yankees also obtained left-hander Boone Logan and sent the Braves a pair of pitching prospects, left-hander Mike Dunn and right-hander Arodys Vizcaino, along with about $500,000.
It’s hard to imagine the Yankees using Brett Gardner or winter meeting draft pick Jaime Hoffman as their regular left fielder. While Cashman sounded as if he was ruling out Damon and fellow free agents Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, Mark DeRosa could fit into his price range. While DeRosa’s agent, Lonnie Cooper, has spoken with Cashman, Cooper said the GM hasn’t discussed any “next steps.”
Atlanta had six starting pitchers after giving Tim Hudson a $28 million, three-year contract in November. The trade left the Braves with a rotation that includes Hudson, Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson, Derek Lowe and Kenshin Kawakami.
“We knew that we would have an extra pitcher that would allow us to improve our club in another area and so we have worked hard the last two months to try to figure out the best package that we could acquire,” Braves general manager Frank Wren said.
Vazquez, a 33-year-old right-hander, is coming off an outstanding season. He was 15-10 with a 2.87 ERA and 238 strikeouts this year for the Braves and finished fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting.
One of baseball’s most durable pitchers and top strikeout artists, Vazquez has reached at least 198 innings and 32 starts in each of the past 10 seasons.
He started 10-5 with a 3.56 ERA for the Yankees in 2004 and made his only All-Star team but faded to a 4-5 record and 6.92 ERA after the break, when he was bothered by an aching shoulder.
His first stint in New York ended miserably, when he relieved Kevin Brown trailing 2-0 in Game 7 of the ALCS and allowed a first-pitch grand slam to Damon, then gave up a two-run homer to Damon in the fourth.
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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Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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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