Twins Give Ervin Santana 4 Year Deal

The Minnesota Twins have given free agent Ervin Santana a 4 year deal worth 55 million dollars according to ESPN.

The right-hander is guaranteed $54 million over the four years, with a conditional option worth $14 million in 2019 if he throws more than 200 innings, a source said. He will receive a $1 million buyout if the Twins don't exercise the option.

Read the ESPN article here.

Reds Make Moves at Winter Meetings

The Cincinnati Reds have traded Mat Latos to the Miami Marlins in exchange for RHP Anthony DeSclafani and catcher Chad Wallach. latos was 5-5 for the Reds last year being limited to just 16 starts because of elbow and knee problems.

The reds also traded Alfredo Simon to the Detroit Tigers for infielder Eugenio Suarez. Simon had his best year in the majors last year going 15-10 for the Reds

Yoenis Cespedes to Tigers

The Boston Red Sox have traded Yoenis Cepedes to the Detroit Tigers for starter Rick Porcello.

Between the Oakland Athletics and the Red Sox, Cepedes hit 22 home runs and drove in 100 runs. Porcello had his best year at 15-13 with a 3.43 ERA

Read the ESPN article here.

Culiacan Rebounds, Takes Game 2 of the Series 11-3

The Tomateros de Culiacan got their bats working last night and overpowered the Charros 11-3 behind the pitching of Francisco Campos, who worked 5 innings and gave up 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 4 Charros.

Culiacan jumped out to the lead 2-0 in the top of the 3rd. Max Leon and Eric Farris singled and after Russell Branyan struck out, Issmael Salas drew a walk to load the bases. Arturo Rodriguez then hit a fly ball to right that Leo Heras dropped and Leon and Farris scored.

Ramiro Pena doubled for the Tomateros in the 4th and scored on a single by Rico Noel for a 3-0 lead.

Jalisco would get a run back in their half of the 4th when Jesus Cota doubled and, after a wild pitch, scored on a sac fly by Amadeo Zazueta to cut the lead to 3-1.

Joey Meneses reached on a fielding error by the Charros to lead off the top of the 6th. Sergio Gastelum sacrificed Meneses to second and Meneses scored on a single by Ramiro Pena. Rico Noel hit a 2 run home run to left for a 6-1 Culiacan lead. One out later, Eric Farris hit a solo home run to cap a four run inning and the 7-1 Tomateros lead.

Japhet Amador hit his 12th home run of the year, a solo shot, in the bottom of the 6th and the Charros had narrowed the lead to 7-2.

Manny Rodriguez was hit by a pitch withone out in the bottom of the 7th and came around to score on a Marquez Smith double to left to make the score 7-3 Culiacan.

The Tomateros scored a run in the 8th and added 3 more in the 9th on 2 walks, a ground rule double by Joey Meneses and a run scoring double play ball off the bat of Ramiro Pena for the final score of 11-3.

The Charros did not help themselves in the field, committing 4 errors. They also left 9 men on base for the game and went 1 for 7 with men in scoring position.

NFL Game Picks 12-11 to 12-14

After an outstanding week, finishing at 13-3, I feel confident I can do at least as good this weekend. There are a lot of divisional games that have playoff implications.

Arizona @ St. Louis     Cardinals 24-13     Can the Rams shutout a 3rd team in a row...nah
Pittsburgh @ Atlanta     Falcons 27-17     Falcons fly high in the Dome
Washington @ NYG     Giants 30-14     Eli finally reaches week 1 potential
Miami @ New England     Patriots 35-17   Can't go against Belichick/Brady
Oakland @ Kansas City     Chiefs 17-16     Tossup...Raiders looking better
Houston @ Indianapolis     Texans 24-23     Texans have some "luck" of their own
Jacksonville @ Baltimore     Ravens 27- 10     Too much "D" by the Ravens
Green Bay @ Buffalo     Packers 31-13     Only 8' of snow can stop Rodgers
Tampa Bay @ Carolina     Buccaneers 19-16     Newton not playing...only Bucs chance
Cincinnati @ Cleveland     Bengals 17-14     Johnny Football wins job, not game
NY Jets @ Tennessee     Jets 21-20     Titans looked so bad last week...Go Geno
Denver @ San Diego     Broncos 35-31     Warm weather...rest the running game Peyton
Minnesota @ Detroit     Lions 21-17     No excuses Lions...keep up with Pack
San Francisco @ Seattle     Seahawks 23-16     Problems in 49er locker room
Dallas @ Philadelphia     Eagles 24-21     Toss up game...advantage home team
New Orleans @ Chicago     Saints 28-17     Saints can't let me down 3 weeks in a row

Some Details of Jon Lester's 6 Year 155 Mil Deal With the Cubs

By now, everyone knows about Jon Lester signing a 6 year 155 million dollar deal with the Chicago Cubs. Here is a paragraph from the ESPN article on the deal as told to Jayson Stark.

Among other incentives negotiated by Lester and his agents, Seth and Sam Levinson, the deal includes a signing bonus of $30 million to be paid over the life of the contract and a full no-trade clause. Lester will earn $145 million between his base salary and signing bonus and receive either a $10 million buyout after six seasons or a $25 million vesting option for the 2021 season that could bring Lester's total take to $170 million, a source familiar with terms of the contract told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.

Congratulations to you Mr. Lester. Read the ESPN article here.

Phillies Trade Jimmy Rollins to Dodgers

ESPN and Yahoo Sports are reporting that the Philadelphia Phillies have traded shortstop Jimmy Rollins to the Los Angeles Dodgers. There is no mention of who the Phillies will get in return for Rollins.

Here is the Yahoo Sports article.

Charros Ride an 8 Run 2nd Inning To Victory Over Culiacan

The Charros scored 8 runs in the bottom of the 2nd and coasted to a 13-6 win over the Tomateros de Culiacan. Jalisco had 15 hits with Amadeo Zazueta going 3 for 5 with 5 RBIs while Jesus Cota was 2 for 3 with 3 runs scored.

Russell Branyan led off the top of the 2nd for the Tomateros with a walk but was erased on a double play grounder by Issmael Salas. Arturo Rodriguez singled and went to third on a single to right by Oscar Robles, who went 4 for 4 for Culiacan. Ramiro Pena singled to score Rodriguez and Ali Solis singled to center to score Robles for the 2-0 Tomateros lead. Solis was caught trying to steal second for the third out and the Charos were out of the inning.

Jalisco struck back in their half of the 2nd. With one out, CJ Retherford singled to center. Jesus Cota drew a base on balls and Gabriel Gutierrez loaded the bases with a Texas League single to center. Amadeo Zazueta, the hero of Sunday's game with Mexicali, hit a 3 run double off the wall in center scoring Retherford, Cota and Gutierrez. Eduardo Arredondo hit his third double of the year to score Zazueta for a 4-2 Charros lead. After a wild pitch by the Culiacan starter Marco Camarena put Arredondo on third, Manny Rodriguez doubled to left to score Arredondo. Leo Heras drew a base on balls. With one out, Japhet Amador flied out to center moving Rodriguez to third and Heras to second. Marquez Smith followed with a single to score Rodriguez and Heras. CJ Retherford hit his second single of the inning to put runners on first and second with 2 outs. Jesus Cota singled to right to score Smith with the eighth run of the inning. After two innings the Charros led 8-2.

The Tomateros used consecutive singles by Arturo Rodriguez, Oscar Robles and Ramiro Pena to score a run in the top of the 4th. Ali Solis grounded out 6-3 to score Robles. Rico Noel then laid down a perfect squeeze but to score Pena. Maxwell Leon followed with a single. With the score now 8-5 Charros, Manuel Flores relieved Graham Godfrey. Flores gave up a single to Eric Farris. Russell Branyan singled to score Leon. Flores got Issmael Salas to ground out to third but the lead had narrowed to 8-6 Jalisco.

Jalisco scored a run in the bottom of the 5th. Jesus Cota led off with a walk and went to second on a ground out to short by Gabriel Gutierrez. Cota scored on a single by Amadeo Zazueta to give the Charros a 9-6 lead.

Jesus Cota singled to center to lead off the 7th for the Charros. After a walk to Gabriel Gutierrez, Amadeo Zazueta singled to score Cota, Zazueta's 5th RBI of the game. Eduardo Arredondo laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third with 1 out. Gutierrez scored on a passed ball as Zazueta moved to third. Manny Rodriguez and Leo Heras walked to load the bases. Japhet Amador singled to right to score Zazueta and Rodriguez for the 13-6 lead.

Hugo Castellanos worked the 9th, giving up a walk to Russell Branyan with two outs before striking out Joey Meneses to end the game.

Carlos Vazquez picked up the win in relief to improve to 3-1 on the year and Marco Camarena took the loss for Culiacan to fall to 3-2 on the season.

Changes Coming For The 2015 Pecos League

After vacillating for months on who would and would not be in the Pecos League for the 2015 season, Commissioner Andrew Dunn has announced that the Bisbee Blue are out and the Las Cruces Vaqueros are in.

Here is an article I wrote for the Big Bend Courier in Alpine Texas.

Dunn has finalized the 2 division league like this:

Northern Division: Taos Blizzard, Trinidad Triggers, Las Vegas (NM) Train Robbers and the Santa Fe Fuego.

Southern Division: Roswell Invaders, White Sands Pupfish, Las Cruces Vaqueros and the Alpine Cowboys.

I'll have news on exciting roster changes for the Cowboys in the coming days and I will be reporting on the Pecos League here in my blog starting in late April, early May.

Cam Newton Injured in Traffic Accident

Cam Newton suffered two transverse process fractures of the lower back during a 2 vehicle traffic accident at around noon on Tuesday in Charlotte. This is the same type of injury that kept Tony Romo out of one game for the Cowboys earlier this year.

There was no announcement at this time on whether or not Newton would miss any time.

The club did say that Newton would be kept overnight for additional observation.

Green Bay outlasts Falcons 43-37 on MNF

The Green Bay Packers held off the Atlanta Falcons last night on MNF by a score of 43-37. The game was still in doubt late in the 4th quarter until the Packers recovered a Falcon's onside kick attempt and James Stark took a handoff from Aaron Rodgers 41 yards to the Falcon's 6 yard line with just over a minute to go in the game.

It was a game of two halves as the Packers built a 31-7 lead after two quarters and the Falcons held Green Bay to 12 points in the second half while scoring 30 points of their own.

Aaron Rodgers connected on 24 of 36 passes for 327 yards and 3 touchdowns. Rodgers has now thrown 35 TD passes with just 2 INTs all year. Matt Ryan, of the Falcons, was equally effective going 24 for 39 for 375 yards and 4 touchdowns.

The Packers rushed for 179 yards on 30 carries with 2 touchdowns. James Stark led the Packers with 75 yards and a touchdown and Eddie Lacy ran for 73 yards and a TD. Lacy also caught a touchdown pass from Rodgers.

Although Atlanta was held to 91 yards on the ground for the night, Steven Jackson gained 50 yards and had a 4 yard touchdown run.

Julio Jones had a career best receiving game with 11 receptions for 259 yards with a 79 yard touchdown catch and run. Roddy White, Harry Douglas and Eric Weems also caught touchdown passes from Ryan.

Jordy Nelson caught 8 passes for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns for Green Bay including a 60 yard touchdown reception.

3 Heisman Trophy Finalists Named

This year there are 3 finalists for the Heisman Trophy. They are Marcus Mariota, oregon Ducks, Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin Badgers and Amari Cooper of the #1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.

Mariota of Oregon, threw for 3783 yards and 38 touchdowns with just 2 interceptions. Marcus also ran for 669 yards and 14 touchdowns for the Ducks.

Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin running back, leads the nation in rushing with 2336 yards on the ground and an average of 179.7 yards rushing per game. Gordon rushed for 408 yards against Nebraska, at the time an NCAA record.

Amari Cooper caught 115 passes for the #1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide for 1656 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Although Mariota appears to be the odds on favorite in this year's voting, the three individuals named as finalists are well deserving of the Heisman Trophy.

Congratulations to Mariota, Gordon and Cooper.

Current NFL Playoff Teams With Tie Breakers

Here is the way the NFL Playoffs break down before the Monday Night Football game with all of the tie breakers included.

Check out the breakdown for your team here.

Kentucky Receives all 65 First Place To Remain #1

The University of Kentucky, under John Calipari, remained #1 in theland of NCAA Men's Basketball, garnering all 65 first place votes in the AP Poll.

Last weeks #2, Wisconsin, fell to #5 after an 80-70 loss to Duke. The Blue Devils jumped 8-0 #3 Arizona to grab the #2 slot. Louisville is at #4 with the Badgers at #5.

Virginia, Villanova, Texas, Gonzaga and Kansas round out the Top 10 in this weeks voting.

Bowl Schedule Set With Baylor and TCU on the Outside Looking in

The Bowl schedule for the 2014-2015 college season is set. Although Big 12 teams TCU and Baylor finished #5 and #6 respectively and cannot win the National Championship, they will be in the "Top 6" Bowl Games.

Ohio State jumped over both the Horned Frogs and the Bears with their resounding 59-0 win over the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big 10 Championship. The Big 12 does not have a conference championship which some have said forced the CFP Committee to choose the Buckeyes.

Here is the Bowl Schedule for this year.

Ottawa Senators Fire Head Coach Paul Maclean

The Ottawa Senators have fired head coach Paul Maclean after an 11-11-5 start to the 2014-2015 NHL season.

Just two years ago, Maclean was the winner of the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's Coach of the Year.

The Senators were 114-90-35 in the four years that Maclean was their coach.

Knicks at 4-18 Developing an Adverse Mentality Says Phil Jackson

The President of the New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, sees something developing in his 4-18 team, a "losers" mentality.

When asked about the team's record thus far he had this to say. "Obviously, we're disappointed," said Jackson, who has won a record 11 NBA championships as a head coach. "... I think guys understand what we're trying to do. Hopefully, they're getting to be more compliant. There's some resistance to discipline and order and culture change and things like that. I will call it a crucible for what we're going through here. The process, maybe the heat, is going to refine some of the stuff so that we come out and be a pretty good team after all is said and done."

Before the season started, Jackson said that this Knicks team was a potential playoff caliber team. They now have the same number of loses as the Philadelphia 76ers. 

Indians Trade for Brandon Moss

The Cleveland Indians have acquired Brandon Moss from the Oakland Athletics for minor leaguer Joey Wendle.

The 31-year-old Moss batted .234 with a 25 homers and 81 RBIs in a career-high 147 games for the A's. The left-handed hitter drew 67 walks and scored 70 runs. Moss hit .268 with 21 homers in the first half of the season to earn his first All-Star selection, but a nagging hip problem cut into his production.

Infielder Joey Wendle hit .253 for Double A Akron last season.

Patriots Down Chargers 24-13 on Sunday Night

The New England Patriots defeated the San Diego Chargers 24-13 on Sunday to improve to 10-3 on the year. This is the 12th consecutive season of 10 or more wins for the Patriots. Only the '83-'98 San Francisco 49ers have more, winning 10 or more for those 16 seasons. I think they also had a couple of pretty good QBs during that time, Joe Montana and Steve Young. Tom Brady must be in the conversation when talking about the "greatest" quarterback of all time.

Brady threw a 69 yard catch and run touchdown pass to Julian Edelman with 8:41 left in the game to give the Patriots the 24-13 lead and the defense did the rest. The defense sacked Philip Rivers 4 times and intercepted him once. They stopped the long pass and were tremendous against the run, holding the Chargers to 53 yards on 17 carries.

Read the ESPN article here for more detail.

Charros Out Pitch Aguilas 3-2 to Take Game Three of the Series

The Charros salvaged one win of the three game series with the Aguilas de Mexicali on a 3-2 win on Sunday afternoon. It was a pitchers duel on both sides as the Charros scored all of their runs in the bottom of the 5th and the Aguilas scored their runs in the top of the 6th.

CJ Retherford led off the bottom of the 5th for the Charros with a single to left. With one out, Mexicali starter, Marco Quevedo threw a wild pitch to move Retherford to second. Gabriel Gutierrez reached safely on an error by the Aguilas second baseman. Retherford and Gutierrez scored ahead of a 3 run home run by Amadeo Zazueta that put Jalisco up 3-0.

Mexicali came right back in the top of the 6th. Lead off batter Misael German struck out but reached first on a passed ball by the Charros catcher. Gil Velazaquez singled and German scored on a single by Dave Sappelt. Walter Ibarra followed with a single to load the bases. Adrian Ramirez relieved Charros starter Ben Kozlowski and got Luis Juarez to ground into a 5-2 fielder's choice that cut down Velazaquez at the plate. Carlos Vazquez replaced Ramirez on the mound for Jalisco and Josh Whitesell greeted him with a sac fly to center that scored Sappelt with the second and last run for the Aguilas.

Ben Kozlowski pitched 5 innings of 4 hit ball giving up the 2 runs while striking out 3. Adrian Ramirez, Carlos Vazquez, Mario Mendoza and Ivan Salas recorded holds and Brian Broderick pitched a perfect 9th to get his 14th save of the year.

The Charros improve to 29-21 overall and 8-7 in the second half standings. Mexicali is 28-22, one game behind the Charros overall, and 9-6 in the second half.