The 2009 Seattle Mariners were one of those teams that seemed to fly under the radar of many national MLB fans. Not very much was expected of them, and they had four of their top players playing in final years of their contracts. Even though they added Ken Griffey Jr. this was a team built around good pitching and defense, and they were able to use that formula to put together a winning record. Down the stretch they traded away one of their expiring contract, Pitcher Jarrod Washburn, and even though e was having a fine season up to that point, he had an injury and was ineffective for the Detroit Tigers.
Adding players via free agency is not the preferred way to build a team in the NHL. However, once clubs have built a nice foundation of players they have developed, adding a free agent here and there can put a team over the top. Through the early part of the 2009-10 NHL season here is a look at five NHL free agents who are paying off for the teams that signed them:
The general rule for TV ratings is the NFL is King. Regular season NFL games are almost always higher rated TV broadcasts than MLB post season games, and even NFL pre-season games generally out rate MLB regular season games. For the most part once the leaves start to change colors each fall, the NFL becomes the strongest TV property going. This past weekend that changed a little. Game six of the ALCS between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim scored an 11.4 overnight rating, compared to a 10.4 rating for NBC's Sunday Night Football broadcast of the Arizona Cardinals versus the New York Giants.
After taking sometime to think about his future, it seems that St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa will return to the team in 2010 for his 15th year as Manager. Now ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting that La Russa is close to hiring former star slugger Mark McQwire to be his hitting coach. We can go ahead and file this one under one of the worst ideas ever, as McQwire will forever be linked to the MLB "Steroids Era" and that many fans have yet to forgive McQwire's shameful performance in front of Congress in 2005.
Three months after being fired as manager of the Washington Nationals, Manny Acta is back. The Cleveland Indians announced today that Acta will become their manager starting in 2010. While financial terms of the deal were not announced the deal is for three years. The Indians front office chose to ignore Acta's terrible record as manager of the Washington Nationals, believing that bad record was due to a poor roster. One then has to wonder just how much better the Indians roster will be?
Family, friends and teammates of slain Connecticut football player Jasper Howard say they will remember the small-framed cornerback for his swagger, heart and devotion to his family.
In a spectacular and no doubt impressive loss, Mauricio Rua knocked Lyoto Machida around and in to uncharted waters last Saturday night at UFC 104. Rua put on quite a show, pushing Machida around and nearly snatching the crown from the king.
Alex Smith is the San Francisco 49ers' new starting quarterback. Coach Mike Singletary made the announcement Monday after sitting down with Shaun Hill, who was benched at halftime of the Niners' 24-21 loss at Houston on Sunday.
This is a Sept. 28, 1997, file photo showing St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, left, giving first baseman, Mark McGwire a hug after the Cardinals defeated the Chicago Cubs 2-1 at Busch Stadium in St.
