PITTSBURGH, Pa.
[b]Geron Christian Jersey[/b] . - Even though the Pittsburgh Pirates employ one of the largest analytics departments in baseball, they are not exactly sure how Jung Ho Kangs outstanding statistics in South Korea will translate to the major leagues.They are willing to find out.Pittsburgh and the 27-year-old infielder finalized an $11 million, four-year contract on a busy Friday for the Pirates. The deal includes a $5.5 million club option for 2019 with a $1 million buyout.Meanwhile, closer Mark Melancon was among nine of the Pirates 12 players who filed for arbitration earlier this week and agreed to one-year contracts. The 29-year-old will make $5.4 million, more than double the $2,595,000 he earned last season when he converted 33 of 37 save opportunities and had a 1.90 ERA in 72 games.Joining Melancon in agreeing to one-year deals were left-handed relievers Antonio Bastardo ($3.1 million) and Tony Watson ($1.75 million); right-handed reliever Jared Hughes ($1,075,000); catchers Chris Stewart ($1,225,000) and Francisco Cervelli ($987,500); third baseman Josh Harrison ($2.8 million); infielder Sean Rodriguez ($1.9 million); and outfielder Travis Snider ($2.1 million).The Pirates were unable to reach terms with right-hander Vance Worley, first baseman Pedro Alvarez and second baseman Neil Walker and the sides exchanged arbitration figures. If management sticks to its intended plan of refusing to negotiate now that figures have been filed, then the three players will end up in hearings in February.Kang is trying to become the first position player to make the jump from the Korean Baseball Organization to the major leagues.This is an unprecedented situation, so its difficult to truly project how he will perform, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. That is why we had multiple people watch him play multiple times. We feel good about bringing him into our organization and we feel that this is going to be a very good investment for our organization.Kang hit .356 with 40 home runs in 117 games last season for the Nexen Heroes, who play in Seoul. He had a .383 on-base percentage and a .503 slugging percentage.During his nine-year career in the KBO, Kang hit .298 batting with 139 homers in 902 games. He also played for South Korea in the World Baseball Classic in 2013.The Pirates will pay a $5,002,015 posting fee for Kang.Im very excited and humbled by this opportunity, he said in a statement released by the Pirates.Most of the ballparks in South Korea are smaller than in the major leagues. The Pirates, however, believe Kang will hit for power.He hit a lot of balls in Korea that would have been out of the ballparks in the major leagues, too, Huntington said. What we really like about him is that he has a good overall approach to hitting.Kang was primarily a shortstop in Korea but will begin his career as a utility infielder, backing up Walker, Harrison and shortstop Jordy Mercer. Huntington dismissed the idea of having Kang start the season in the minor leagues in an effort to better adjust to the American style of play.The best way to transition him to the major leagues is by having play in the major leagues, Huntington said. Our challenge, as it would be with any role player, is giving him enough playing time to stay sharp.In arbitration, Walker is seeking $9 million while the Pirates filed at $8 million. The 29-year-old switch-hitter set a career-high 23 home runs last season and batted .271 while earning $5.25 million.Alvarez is seeking a raise to $6 million from $4.25 million while the Pirates filed at $5 million. After leading the NL with 36 home runs in 2013, he hit just 18 last season to go with a .231 batting average in 122 games.Worley is looking to boost his salary from $527,500 to $2.45 million while the Pirates countered with a figure of $2 million. The 27-year-old went 8-4 with a 2.85 ERA in 18 games, all but one a start.Harrison quintupled his salary of $523,000 last year, when he finished second in the NL batting race with a .315 average after beginning the season as the last man on the bench. He hit 13 home runs and stole 18 bases.Bastardo was acquired from Philadelphia during the winter meetings for minor league pitcher Joely Rodriguez. The 29-year-old gets a raise from $2.15 million after going 5-7 with a 3.94 ERA in 67 games.The 29-year-old Watson, along with Harrison, was selected to the All-Star game for the first time in his career last season when was paid $528,500 while leading the NL with 78 appearances. He was 10-2 with two saves and a 1.62 ERA.Hughes got a boost from $513,500. He pitched in 63 games last season, going 7-5 with a 1.96 ERA.Stewart made $1 million last year, when he hit a career-high .294 in 49 games. He is expected to split time with Cervelli, a 28-year-old acquired from the New York Yankees in November. He hit .301 with two homers in 49 games in an injury-filled season and made $700,000.Rodriguez, 29, was acquired from Tampa Bay on Dec. 1 for pitching prospect Buddy Borden. He had a $1,475,000 salary last season when he hit .211 with a career-high 12 home runs in 96 games.Snider, 26, is expected to compete with Gregory Polanco for the starting right fielders job in spring training after hitting .264 with 13 home runs in 140 games last season while making $1.2 million.The Pirates are 10-10 all-time in arbitration and won the last time they went to a hearing, beating Garrett Jones in 2012.
[b]Alex Smith Redskins Jersey[/b] .com) - Devan Dubnyk stopped all 30 shots fired his way and made several big saves down the stretch for his third shutout of the season as the Minnesota Wild beat the Calgary Flames 1-0 on Tuesday.
[b]Pernell McPhee Jersey[/b] .com) - One point guard will return, while another will sit when the Minnesota Timberwolves visit American Airlines Center to take on the Dallas Mavericks.Stat of the week!!! Torontos back-up quarterback, third-year player from Edinboro, Trevor Harris, had two special teams tackles. Never a good thing when thats happening. Although Harris did show us 400-metre strength, speed and endurance while tracking down the speedy returner from West Virginia, Jock Saunders, on the missed field goal return of 121 yards. That play showcases how unpredictable and explosive our great brand of football can be here in Canada and also gives us an insight as to how you can make a bye week only two weeks into the season pay off. To ensure there were no blues, loss of continuity or complacency pertaining to the execution of schemes, the Stampeders coaching staff and players reloaded and actually extended their playbook. This was evident on Saunders missed field goal return. Coach Mark Kilam, in his tenth year coaching for the Stampeders, and fifth as special teams coordinator, had his return teams locked, loaded and dialed in, ready to pounce on this very opportunity. Anticipating a missed field goal, a wall return left was executed like clock work. Saunders, while making an acrobatic catch on the errant field goal attempt as he was tight roping the very back of the end zone, started to his left and quickly became the beneficiary of his teammates hustle and preparation. Before you knew it, Saunders, the first year Stampeder, was bursting down the sideline with Kilam himself not far behind. With sheer determination and athletic ability, Argonaut Harris, who was holding for third year kicker from Alabama-Birmingham, Swayze Waters, on the field goal attempt, somehow tracked down Saunders. Sometimes we see these extra effort and hustle plays pay off, but in this case the Stamps third year quarterback, from Eastern Washington, Bo Levi Mitchell cashed in quickly with a quick TD strike. Bang, ten-point swing just like that! Exciting and unpredictable. To have a designed missed field goal return implemented at this juncture of the season is one thing, but to be able to execute all the moving parts that are required in order to pull it off, is really heady stuff. Another example of how Calgary used the extra prep time to their advantage was the direct snap to Saunders, throwback to Mitchell, chunk it over the top to Anthony Parker. This early in the season, teams are working diligently to find rhythm and consistency in the basics of their respective systems, let alone trying to master plays like the flea-flicker. Maybe Saunders was the only running back who had the ability to throw it back to Mitchell, but to have that play in the game plan at this stage and the way it was executed, is an indicator that Calgary had the extra time and spent it wisely. If you still are not convinced that this extra week of prep time holds merit for teams and in this case the Stampeders, look to whom the Stamps had to replace in only their second game of the season. Missing was Jon Cornish, reigning Most Outstanding Player in the CFL and two electrifying receivers in Nik Lewis and Mo Price. The Stamps offence found a way to survive and even thrive. Second year receiver from Texas A&M,, Jeff Fuller flexed his athletic ability and found the end zone twice, picking up some of the slack.
[b]DaRon Payne Redskins Jersey[/b]. Fourth year receiver from University of Calgary, Anthony Parker seemed well versed and more at ease performing his responsibilities, contributing four catches for 101 yards and a score. Third year running back, also from the University of Calgary, Matt Walter continues to round out into form when given the opportunity. Id also say that Walter took on more of a work load than usual in this contest because of the added time the Stamps were afforded. Walter was involved downfield in the passing game on play 115 from scrimmage, a fake screen pass. This is when he releases out of the backfield giving the defence a look like he is going to block the defender whos covering the receiver faking the hitch screen and then at the last possible moment, he turns it up the rail as the defence bites on the screen. You see it all the time in the CFL but primarily with your starters executing these timing plays, not your back ups. Not a believer yet? How about the Stampeders defence shutting down the high powered offence of Toronto led by 12-year veteran quarterback from Sacramento State, Ricky Ray. Ray had his streak of ten games in a row throwing a touchdown pass broken. We are talking about an offence that put up 559 total yards of offence against the defending Grey Cup Champion Saskatchewan Roughriders defence the week before and looked lethal. Defensive coordinator Rich Stubler had his men on point to where they held the Ray-led Argos out of the end zone for just the second time since Ray has been an Argo. Now I must say Ray and company moved the ball between the twenties but thats where the well devised defensive gameplan came into play. Dont give up the big play and make Toronto be patient series after series. In other words, play everything in front of you and rally to the ball. Certainly easier said than done, but the plan was implemented and well executed. So an early quirk/bye in the schedule actually pays off for the Stampeders as they were able to prepare, plug and play players without missing a beat and actually extend a few of their philosophies and schemes in only Week 2 of the season. Calgarys next bye week is a long ways off, coming in Week 16. Ill bet you they will embrace that bye week as much and if not more than they did in Week 2! Heres a look at the remaining bye weeks for each CFL team. Week 1 Ottawa (makes sense to give them a bit more time)Week 2 Calgary (see article above)Week 3 Hamilton (able to get Masoli and LeFevour up to speed and Fantuz and Ellingson another week)Week 4 Saskatchewan (ouch, a two-game losing streak going into this stretch is ugly)Week 5 MontrealWeek 6 EdmontonWeek 7 Toronto (seems like they could use it now)Week 8 None, that means somebody has to play twice during this week and thats TorontoWeek 9 Hamilton Week 10 BCWeek 11 TorontoWeek 12 OttawaWeek 13 WinnipegWeek 14 Toronto (Damn, Toronto gets three, making up for Week 8)Week 15 MontrealWeek 16 CalgaryWeek 17 BCWeek 18 EdmontonWeek 19 SaskatchewanWeek 20 Winnipeg Ready Break!!!
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