Overnight at the Winter Baseball Meetings

The Central Maine Sports Blog is reporting that Francisco Rodriguez is not as close to signing with the Mets as widely reported. The CMSB sources tell us that K-Rod came out of meetings disappointed to the point that reps told other teams K-Rod was available to talk to them at any time. It looks like the Mets offered only 2 years, far from the 5 years K-Rod is looking for. Our source also stated opinions have surfaced in Las Vegas to not be surprised if K-Rod stays put in Anaheim(or Los Angeles, wherever the are).

Our source also states things are very slow otherwise.

Baseball Winter Meetings

The Central Maine Sports Blog has a source attending the Baseball Winter Meetings in Las Vegas. Fresh poop from the lobby of the Bellagio Hotel (and there isn’t much of it)…

The New York Mets seem to be very close to signing K- Rod

Look for something brewing with the Astros. Other outlets have SS Miguel Tejada being moved, so stay tuned for that deal.

Maine Native Jim Beattie is attending the Winter Meeting and has promised a wrap up for us at the conclusion. Who knows, maybe the CMSB could be breaking news after the meetings. Stay right here for first-hand info from the meetings.

Saturday Morning Quick Hitters

Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell came back from the DL with a bang and propelled the Sox to an 8 – 1 win over the Texas Rangers. Lowell hit a HR in his 1st at bat back and Beckett pitched 5 innings, giving up no runs, 4 hits, walked none and struck out 7 for the win.

The Tampa Bay Rays couldn’t surpass possible Cy Young winner Roy Halliday, dropping the game in Toronto 6 – 4. The loss with the Red Sox win shrinks Tampa Bay’s lead to 2 1/2 games.

No movement in the AL Central last night as both Chicago and Minnesota won their games. The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers behind a huge pitching performance from Francisco Liriano, 10 – 2. The Chicago White Sox beat up on the AL West leading California Angels 10 – 2. In other White Sox news, it appears Carlos Quintin will be lost for the rest of the regular season.

Brett Myers said “Boom…..Outta Here” to the Mets last night as he pitched 8 shutout innings to help Philadelphia gain a game on the Mets with a 3 – 0 win at Shea. The Phillies are back to 2 games behind the Mets in the NL East.

Apparently ther Chicago Cubs got lost on their bus trip to the ballpark and it didn’t get much better on the field as they lose to the Cincinnati Reds 10 – 2.

Eric Gagne tried to give the game away from the Brewers, but they survive in 11, beating the San Diego Padres 3 – 2. The win combined with the Cubbies loss puts Milwaukee 4 games back of the Cubs and 4 game lead in the Wild Card over the Phillies.

The Los Angeles Dodgers moved to within 1/2 game of the Arizona Diamondbacks, beating them 7 – 0 Friday. Derek Lowe gave up 2 hits over 8 innings and Andre Either went 5 – 5 on the way to the win.

Sports Vortex Guest Paul Kuharsky has a nice piece on the Jags Richard Collier, who remains in critical condition after being shot.

Jason Peters ends his holdout on the Buffalo Bills.

Former Boston College player Mathias Kiwanuka thinks Redskins DE Chris Samuels play at the end of the game was dirty.

Looks like newly re-instated Packman Jones will start for the Cowboys.

Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon enter the Basketball Hall Of Fame. Oh yeah, Pat Riley too.

The Cleveland Cavaliers signed Lorenzen Wright.

ESPN reports Zach Randolph may be headed to the Grizzlies.

Tuesday Quick Hitters

Adrian Beltre and Stephen Drew each hit for the cycle yesterday…..first time in 88 years that two players hit for the cycle on the same day.

Dustin Pedroia helped the Sox get past the Orioles.

Cliff Lee picked up win number 20 as the Indians dropped the ChiSox into a tie with the Minnesota Twins.

The Diamondbacks picked up some help over the weekend as they beat St. Louis and remain 2.5 games up on the Dodgers.

Ben Sheets went down with an injury as the Brewers fell to the Mets.

A-Rod and the Yankees, hoping to somehow make the playoffs, outlasted the Tigers.

Despite 4 turnovers, UCLA continued the upset trend from this weekend.

Clemson, Pitt, and Va. Tech were the other top 25 teams going down at the hands of the unranked.

Number 2 ranked OSU could be in trouble as they head into their meeting with USC on the 13th.

Also hit by the injury bug were Auburn and Mizzou while 2 OU players were reportedly involved in an altercation.

Outside of Mizzou/Illinois and Utah/Michigan, the rest of the weekend was filled primarily with blowouts.

Maine was on the losing end of one of those blowouts.

Both Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are set to start week 1…….we think, and the fans for their respective teams hope so.

The Ravens handed the keys to the offense to a rookie.

The Oakland Raiders continue to stockpile discarded receivers and are possibly interested in another.

Former Pats S Eugene Wilson was released by the Bucs….could Minny be his next stop?

Ocho Cinco says he is good to go.

Jags T Richard Collier is fighting for his life after being shot early Tuesday morning.

The Pats sign CB Deltha O’Neal who was released early by the Bengals.

Initial injury reports for the upcoming Redskins/Giants game are out…..by the way, isn’t it about time for a name change controversy in DC?

The Lions added Rudi Johnson to their backfield.

Meanwhile in KC, players their “feel good” going into the opener….translation: they heard the rumor Brady may be out and Matt Cassel is still the back up.

The four letter network released their “experts'” picks.

New England fans had a few questions about the Pats’ recent roster moves.

Thursday Morning Quick Hits

MLB

The Red Sox put another nail into the Yankees coffin last night.

Hank Steinbrenner is not impressed.

The White Sox got rundown by Orioles magic…

Denard Span saved the Twins, and helped the Twins gain a game.

The Mets bounced back against the Phillies.

The Cubs finished off the Bucs. Craig Hansen was shipped to the minors.

NFL

Ahman Green took a pay cut to stay with Houston.

Good news for one of my fantasy teams (not the case in real life), Peyton Manning looks good so far.

Sports Illustrated will have 6 regional covers for the NFL preview, who do you think gets the nod in the northeast?

NBA

With the injury to Monta Ellis, Marcus Williams will get a chance to run the point for GSW Hoops.

NCAAF

College football starts tonight. My wife is less than thrilled.

Friday Morning Quick Hitters

The Toronto Blue Jays continue to climb the wild card standings by demolishing the New York Yankees 14 – 3.

Carlos Delgado continues his offensive surge, leading the New York Mets over the Atlanta Braves 5 – 4. The Mets now have a 2 1/2 game cushion over the Phillies.

The Philadelphia Phillies lost that ground on the Mets by allowing the Washington Nationals to stop their 12 game losing streak. The Phils lost to the Nats 4 – 3.

The Minnesota Twins move back to within 1/2 game of the Chicago White Sox as they beat the California Angels 2 -1.

The LA Dodgers kept pace with the Arizona D-Backs by beating the Colorado Rockies 3 – 1.

The US Woman’s Softball Team lead by Jenny Finch, take a second but turn down the sound, lost their first game since 2000, in a 3 -1 loss to Japan in the gold medal game.

the IOC is asking for an investigation of Chinese atheletes ages.

US Mens Indoor Volleyball Team, after early tragedy, are poised for a Gold Medal run.

Players Association President Gene Upshaw lost his short battle with pancreatic cancer.

The Pittsburgh Steelers signed James Farrior to a 5 yr deal.

Philadelphia Eagles, in dire need of a wideout, have interest in Anquan Boldin.

St. Louis Rams RB Steven Jackson officially signs deal.

The New Orleans Hornets, which NEVER sounds right, unveiled their new logos.

The Miami Heat signed Dorell Wright and seem close on Jamaal Magloire.

NBA Teams have been cleared to attemp the signing of Iranian 7ft 2in Center Hamed Ehadadi.

Thursday Quick Hitters

The California (editor’s note:Jeff just won’t call them anything else, seriously, it must be his love for Brian Downing) Angels pulled the rug out from under the Rays.

The New York Yankees rode the left arm of Andy Pettitte to a win.

Clay Buchholz continued his stellar play. Josh Beckett is looking to return on Tuesday. A discussion you heard on The Sports Vortex last night, before the game was over, was nailed on the head by Matty! Clay Buchholz was demoted to the Portland Sea Dogs.

The White Sox continued to blister the Mariners, and Ken Griffey, Jr hit another milestone in the process.

The Twins kept pace and remain one game back in the AL Central.

The Mets took advantage of the Braves, again. They also added another arm to their bullpen.

Brett Myers told the Nationals “Boom outta here!” as the Phils remain a game and a half back.

Cincy held the Cubs in check.

JJ Hardy powered the Brew Crew to victory.

The Cardinals got good news and bad news.

The D-Backs and Padres had quite a pitcher’s duel.

Chad Billingsley threw a lot of pitches for the Dodgers and their atrocious defense beat them again.

Steven Jackson will apparently end his holdout. He may even practice on Thursday.

Oklahoma City waives Donyell Marshall.

Commercial Wars

When you watch certain teams, you get doused with commercials from the same sponsor on every break. Today starts a tournament and is very simple, which commercial do you hate more? Today’s contestants-Procede (with a very special Gary Busey cameo) which floods Mets broadcasts every single commercial break. Who the HELL is Giueseppe Franco?

The next one is the FreeCreditReport.com guy. Personally, I think if the Jimmy Fund wanted to make some money, they should put up the opportunity to punch FCR.com guy in the face in an auction. The newest one with him on a bike is below.

Here’s the deal, send an e-mail to sportsvortex@centralmainesportsblog.com and tell me which one you think is the worst, and they will advance to the next round. Also, if you have a commercial that you hate to see when watching a game on a regional broadcast that you would like to nominate, send a link to it in the e-mail. By the way did I mention this contest is F-R-EE that spells free? (please make it stop, please)

Tuesday’s Links

Today’s links are brought to you by Jeff’s alarm clock….

Josh Beckett pitched to form last night as the Red Sox survived being no-hit through 6 innings and beat the White Sox 5-1.

The Yankees continued to slide, and lost to the Twins 4-0. Joe Girardi addressed his teams lack of hustle, as well.

The White Sox bats went quiet, on a night when John Danks was perfect through 6 1/3 innings.

The Twins got a hell of a performance from a new dad.

The New York Mets bullpen continues to be a bone of contention, and this team’s Achilles heel. Pedro refused to throw his teammates under the bus, at least in the press.

Kyle Kendrick tossed a stinker in LA. Brad Lidge says he is good to go.

Manny-Mania is just getting ridiculous, and the Dodgers knocked off the Phils at home. TJ Simers is concerned about haircuts. The Dodgers are also keeping an eye on the innings of youngster Clayton Kershaw.

Aaron Rodgers took the field to a standing ovation from the Packers faithful. No word on whether they did the same thing when Tony Kornhesier stopped talking.

The Bengaals starters did not start the preseason well.

Manny To Mets Still Viable?

Updated 11:50 am- According to Gotham Baseball Magazine, one potential replacement for manny could be Pittsburgh’s Jason Bay. The Pirates would want minor league catcher George Kottaras in a package for Bay, the Red Sox would want Mets phenom Fernando Martinez. Yet another win, win, win (except for the Mets farm system, yeesh). Also, Bay would be under Red Sox control until after next year.

11:10 am-According to the Newark Star-Ledger, the Mets have contacted the Red Sox about disgruntled slugger Manny Ramirez, as it appears Omar Minaya wants him more than Mets management. I have no clue what the Mets could offer at this point(maybe Fernando Martinez), but Ramirez in a lineup with Wright and a red-hot Delgado couldn’t hurt. On the flip side, the Mets can also pick up his option for next season at 20 mil if they decide to keep him, so this would not have to be a rent-a-player philosophy. If the Red Sox do trade Man-Ram, I also wonder if that puts them back in the Teixeira race, and moves Kevin Youkilis to left field. If the Red Sox talk to Atlanta, and say figure out what the Braves might want from the Mets farm system, they could take the Manny haul and turn that into Teixeira. If Big Tex leaves at the end of the year, the Red Sox are compensated with 2 #1 picks in next years draft, and a farm system as deep as the Red Sox can afford that kind of turnover. If the Red Sox are serious about being done with Manny, and want to stop taking years off of Terry Francona’s life, they need to move this guy within the next 48 hours. Keep in mind though, if something changes withing the next couple of weeks, the Red Sox could conceivably trade Manny next month during the waiver-deadline, because I find it unlikely someone will claim him on waivers. Maybe Ted Thompson could trade Brett Favre for Manny?