Francisco Liriano lands with Pirates

Free agent starting pitcher Francisco Liriano has finally signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates, for a two-year deal, worth $12.75 million. Liriano has first signed with the Pirates on December 21, 2012. The Pirates later found out that Liriano had hurt his right arm (his non-throwing arm). The Pirates and Liriano agreed to a reduced salary in the first year of his contract, because of the injury and the Pirates being concerned about his injury. Liriano comes to the Pirates after finishing half of the 2012 season with the Chicago White Sox.

He was signed as an international free agent back in 2000 by the San Francisco Giants. Liriano was later traded to the Minnesota Twins, that deal included catcher A. J. Pierzynski going to the Giants for Liriano, closer Joe Nathan, and relief pitcher Boof Bonser. Liriano reached the majors in 2005, his first career start was on September 30, 2005 against the Detroit Tigers. His MLB debut came as a relief pitcher on September 5, 2005 against the Texas Rangers. Liriano ended up missing all of the 2007 season, due to having Tommy John surgery, after having pain in his left elbow during the 2006 season. During the 2006 season, Liriano made the American League All-Star team for the first time in his career, he would finish the season 12-3 with an era of 2.16, pitching in 28 games, while starting 16 games. After having bad season in 2008 and 2009, he came back strong in 2010. And ended up winning AL Comeback Player of the Year for 2010, that award is given to any player for both leagues. It goes to a player who re-emerges himself during the season, only one player for both the AL and NL can win it though.

In 2011, Liriano would throw his first ever complete game, that ended up also being a no-hitter. It came against the Chicago White Sox in U.S. Cellular Field on May 3, 2011. He threw 123 pitches, while facing a total of 30 batters and striking out two batters, and walking 6. Only 66 pitchers during the game were strikes. On July 13, 2012 the Oakland Athletics faced Liriano and the Twins, he would lose the game, but struck out a career high fifteen batters. Before striking out fifteen batters in the game, his career high for strikeouts had been twelve.

The Chicago White Sox traded for Francisco Liriano on July 28, 2012. The deal sent shortstop/third baseman Eduardo Escobar and pitcher Pedro Hernández  to the Minnesota Twins. Liriano would finish the 2012 season with a record of 6-12 with an era of 5.34, while pitching 156.2 innings, with 167 strikeouts and 87 walks. So far Liriano's career record is: 53 wins - 54 losses, era 4.40, and 840 strikeouts, with a WHIP (a pitcher's ability to prevent batters from reaching base) is 1.35,

The question is which Liriano will the Pirates get during the two seasons. Will they get a healthy one, who has shown flashes that he can be a good starting pitcher or an injured one, and the one that doesn't show flashes? I guess soon, everyone will find out which Liriano the Pirates end up getting for their two years of him on their team. It would be nice to see Liriano finally figure out that he can pitch well, and do it for the Pirates. After all the Pirates are a young team, and have talent, even though they haven't made the playoffs since the 1992 season and have been losing ever since their playoff exit. The Pirates have shown flashes of having their first winning season since 1992, but then find ways to turn it into another losing season.

Free Agent defenseman Wade Redden joins Blues

Wade Redden found a new time along with new home right away, after having his contract bought out by the New York Rangers. Redden was drafted by the New York Islanders in the 1995 NHL drafted, he is picked in the first round, second overall. The Islanders ended up trading Redden to the Ottawa Senators on January 23, 1996. So, Redden never made it to the NHL with the Islanders, instead he was able to come into the league with the Ottawa Senators. He turned out to be a good top four defenseman for the Senators, and helped them later during playoff runs (like in the 2006-2007 when they went to the Stanley Cup, only to lose in five games to the Anaheim Ducks). While in Ottawa, Redden was paired up with another star defenseman in Zdeno Chara (now with the Boston Bruins).

Redden was later let go in free agency by the Senators, and would sign a big deal with the New York Rangers for six years, worth $39 million. He signed that contract with the Rangers on July 1, 2008. That contract by the Rangers, would end up being one of their worst contracts ever. He would play only two seasons for the Rangers (2008-2009, and 2009-2010). After the 2010 season, the Rangers tried to get rid of him and his contract by putting him on waivers, hoping someone would claim him. Instead no team claimed him, and the would end up playing the AHL (American Hockey League). Redden became the highest paid player to play in the AHL during that time. Redden served as the captain for the Rangers AHL team for the 2011-2012 season.

Before joining the Rangers, Redden had been a two time All-Star in the NHL while on the Senators (2002, and 2004 .... even though he didn't play in the All-Star game in 04, due to having the flu). Redden won an award for the 2005-2006 season, NHL Plus/Minus Award (that award is given to the best player who leads the NHL in plus/minus statistics, the player also needs to play a minimum of 60 games). Redden was a +35, playing in 65 games, scoring 10 goals, with 45 assists. Those statistics added up to 50 points, which as of right now is a career high for him.

The Blues signed him to a one-year deal, worth $800,000. Redden could end up making a total of $1 million in bonuses, for playing a certain amount of games. What do the Blues hope to get in Redden? Pretty much depth on defense, and to help out the Blues young defensive core, like Ian Cole (who as of right now is a work in progress).  Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock likes Redden as a player, and knows him well. So, all in all the Blues hope that Redden can re-find his career and that he has something left in him. After all, people thought that Sheldon Souray's career was done, he proved people wrong last season playing for the Dallas Stars and only spent one season playing in the AHL.

Redden could turn out to be a low risk/high reward for the Blues, and it could turn out to be a win-win deal for both sides. Redden's career stats in the NHL in thirteen seasons: he's played in 994 career games, 106 goals, 344 assists, and 450 points. He's also a +162 for his career. If Redden does have anything left in his NHL career, St. Louis should be an easy place for him to try to rebound and get his career back on track, he wont have much pressure on him, like he would in a bigger market like New York or Los Angeles (the LA Kings had been one of the teams wanting him after his contract was bought out). New York has also been known to eat up players, and then once lots leave New York, they seem to re-find their careers.

Marc Trestman joins Bears as head coach

The Chicago Bears have hired Marc Trestman as their fourteenth head coach in franchise history, he replaces Lovie Smith as head coach. Lovie Smith last nine seasons as the Bears head coach, going 81-63 during the regular season, and 3-3 in the playoffs. Smith only had three losing seasons while he was the Bears head coach. In 2006, in his third season as the Bears head coach Smith lead the Chicago Bulls to the Super Bowl, only to lose 29-17 to the Indianapolis Colts. That Super Bowl also made history with Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy (the Colts head coach at the time) both became the first African-American head coaches in the NFL to coach in a Super Bowl.

Who is Trestman might you ask? He was the most recent head coach for the Montreal Alouettes (a Canadian Football League team). Trestman served as their head coach from 2008-2012, during that time he had a record of 59-31. All of his five seasons coaching the Alouettes were winning seasons, and he made the playoffs in each season. In the playoffs he went 5-3, winning two Grey Cups and losing one. The Grey Cup for the CFL is pretty much their Super Bowl. Trestman has been an NFL coach before, but never was a head coach, he's had stops in Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, San Francisco, Detroit, Arizona, Oakland, and Miami. He's also helped train QB's for the NFL draft, those QB's include: Brandon Weeden (1st round pick by the Cleveland Browns), Brock Osweiler (2nd round pick by the Denver Broncos), Tim Tebow (1st round pick by the Denver Broncos), Jimmy Clausen (2nd round pick by the Carolina Panthers), and Jason Campbell (1st round pick by the Washington Redskins). So, he's been known for being able to work with QB's. The Bears hope Trestman can improve their offense and help out their QB Jay Cutler.

As of me I think it could turn out to be a solid hire by the Bears. There's also been QB's in the NFL who did well under Trestman when he was their coach those include: Bernie Kosar, Steve Young, Scott Mitchell, Jake Plummer, and Rich Gannon. Gannon even won the MVP (Most Valuable Player) award in 2002 while playing for the Raiders, and Trestman was his coach. Will Jay Cutler listen to Marc Trestman, will the offense improve for the Bears and can Trestman be an NFL head coach? Those are pretty much the only three questions surrounding the Bears for the 2013 season.

Blues keep GM Doug Armstrong around

The St. Louis Blues and general manager Doug Armstrong have agreed to a five-year extension, Armstrong's deal had been set to expire on June 30, 2013. The new deal will keep Armstrong with the Blues through the 2017-2018 season. Last season, Armstrong won the General Manager of the Year award for the 2011-2012 season, after the Blues went 49-22-11. The Blues finished with 109 points in the Western Conference (second best record in the conference), and that won the Central Division for the Blues for the first time since 1999-2000.

On July 1, 2010 Doug Armstrong became the Blues 11th GM in franchise history, after Larry Pleau retired as the general manager. Armstrong had first joined the Blues in 2008 and served as the vice president of player personnel. He came from the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars organization after spending seventeen years with the Stars. Armstrong was the Stars general manager from January 25, 2002 until the 2007-2008 season. Under Armstrong as GM, the Stars had the third most regular season point total (427), they also collected the third-most wins (190), and they were second for home the most home victories (110) and points (240) in the entire NHL (Nationals Hockey League). The Stars also won the Pacific Division two times under Armstrong in the 2002-003 season, and the 2005-2006 season. In his first year as the Blues general manager, they went 38-33-11 with 87 points.

As GM of the Blues Doug Armstrong's record under them is 87-55-22 with a total of 196 points. Armstrong has pulled off two big trades since becoming the general manager for the Blues. He traded center Lars Eller and right-winger Ian Schultz to the Montreal Canadiens for goaltender Jaroslav Halak. Armstrong would follow that trade by trading defenseman Erik Johnson and center Jay McClement to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and right-winger Chris Stewart. Both of those moves, as well as a few other moves would help the Blues posts 109 points last season, which is their second most in team history (most points for the Blues during a season is 114 back in 1999-2000).

The Blues would end up making the playoffs for their first time since the 2008-2009 season, which included a first-round series win over the San Jose Sharks, that was the Blues first time past the first-round since 2002 (that season they beat the Chicago Blackhawks, and then lost to the Detroit Redwings in the second round). The Los Angeles Kings would knock the Blues out of the playoffs last season in the second round by sweeping them in four games, the Kings would later go onto the the Stanley Cup.

It's great to see Blues owner Tom Stillman keep Doug Armstrong around, Armstrong has proven that he knows how to build teams. And that he knows how to build winning teams in the NHL. So, everyone should look for more success coming from the Blues under Armstrong and company. The Blues also had one of the NHL's lowest payrolls last season. Coming up Armstrong will have some players to choose to keep around and try to get signed to long-term deals those players include: defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, right-winger Chris Stewart, and center Patrik Berglund. Stewart is an interesting player, he has the talent to be a good goal scorer in the NHL, but seems to fall off after starting off well or get into slumps, other than that he has the potential to be a good player, and he's still young.

Rafael Soriano lands in Washington

Free Agent closer Rafael Soriano and the Washington Nationals have agreed to a two-year contract, worth $28 million. The deal includes a $14 million vesting option for the 2015 season, that's if Soriano reaches 120 games pitched between the 2013 season and the 2014 season. Soriano has spent eleven seasons in the MLB, starting out with the Seattle Mariners (who signed him as a free agent out of the Dominican Republic back in 1996). He later wound play for the Atlanta Braves from 2007-2009, Tampa Bay Rays in 2010, and the New York Yankees in 2011 and 2012 (he opted out of his final year with the Yankees, which made him a free agent). While with the Rays in 2010, Soriano was a closer full-time. He would finish the season with an era of 1.73 and 45 saves, while pitching 62.1 innings. Soriano also made the 2010 All-Star game for his first time in his career, was the leader in saves for the American League, and won the AL Rolaids Relief Man Award in 2010 (that award is given out to the best two closers in both the National League and the American League).

Starting off the 2012 season for the Yankees Soriano was a setup man for Yankees future Hall Of Fame closer Mariano Rivera (Rivera ended up injuring himself while taking flying balls in Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri; which belong to the Royals). Rivera would later be done for the season after getting hurt. At first the Yankees tried to use David Robertson as closer, but he hurt himself just after closing two games for the Yankees. So, the Yankees turned to Soriano to be their closer. When he become closer he first went 12 for 12 in save opportunities. Soriano would finish 2012 with a 2-1 record, with an era of 2.26, 42 saves in 46 save opportunities, while pitching 67.2 innings.

Soriano should help out the Nationals bullpen a lot, and improve their bullpen even though the Nationals already have Drew Storen (2.37 era with 4 saves in 2012) and Tyler Clippard 3.72 era with 32 saves in 2012). Soriano gives a Nationals tougher bullpen and should be able to help them repeat as NL East Champions. So far for his career Soriano has a career record of 15 wins and 24 losses, an era of 2.78, 132 saves, 527 strikeouts, and 160 walks. He's pitched 502 innings for his career in 453 games.

Adam LaRoche stays in Washington

Free agent first baseman Adam LaRoche and the Washington Nationals, have agreed to a two-year deal to keep LaRoche in Washington. The LaRoche deal will be worth a total of $24 million, it also has a mutual option for the 2015 season, in 2013 he'll make $10 million, and in 2014 he'll make $12 million. The deal also includes a $2 million buyout. LaRoche was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 29th round in the 2000 MLB draft, overall he was picked at no.880. He's spent nine seasons in the MLB while playing for the Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Washington Nationals. He also suffers from ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

In 2012 for the Washington Nationals, Adam LaRoche had a career season hitting 271, with 155 hits (a career high), 33 home runs (a career high), and 100 rbi's (tied a career high from 2010 when he was with the Diamondbacks). He also picked up two awards for his first time in his career, he won his first Gold Glove (which goes to players who are best at fielding for their position), and a Silver Slugger Award (that award goes to the best offensive player at each position). LaRoche came back strong in 2012, after being hurt in 2011 and only playing 43 games after needing labrum surgery on his left shoulder. The Nationals did a great job to re-sign him and to keep him around. He brings a nice bat in their line up, and is a leader on and off the field for their young team.

He's the son of former MLB pitcher Dave LaRoche who played 14 seasons in the MLB for the California Angels, Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, and the New York Yankees. Adam also has a younger brother Andy LaRoche who has played in the MLB before, he was last in the MLB in 2011, while playing for the Oakland Athletics.

Lance Berkman "Big Puma" lands back in Texas

Free agent 1B/OF Lance Berkman and the Texas Rangers have agreed to a one-year deal, worth $10 million, the deal includes a vesting option for the 2014 season, that's if Berkman reaches 550 plate appearances. The deal also includes a $1 million buyout. So, the deal could end up being worth a total of $11 million. Berkman was born in Waco, Texas and later played college baseball for Rice University in Houston. The Houston Astros would end up drafting Berkman in the 1997 MLB draft in the first round, overall he was pick number sixteen. He spent eleven and a half seasons on the Astros, before being traded to the New York Yankees in July 2010 for third baseman Jimmy Paredes and relief pitcher Mark Melancon.

After leaving the Yankees, he would end up signing with the St. Louis Cardinals and would spend the 2011 season and the 2012 season on the Cardinals. In 2011, Berkman would win his first World Series in his MLB career and he won National League Comeback Player of the Year award in 2011, while hitting 301 with 31 home runs, and 94 rbi's. Berkman was hurt in 2012, only playing a career low 32 games. For Berkman he will become the Texas Rangers designated hitter, and at times play first base, and he'll turn 37-years old in February. So far for Lance Berkman's career he has a career batting average of 296, 360 home runs, 1,200 rbi's, and 1,843 hits. He's also been an All-Star six times in: 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2011. So, hopefully in 2013 Lance Berkman will be able to have another comeback season after being hurt, this time for the Texas Rangers. Berkman also will be in the Hall Of Fame someday in the future once he retires from the MLB, and gets his name on the Hall Of Fame ballot. I'm sure Berkman will be happy being close to home, and on a team that has a chance to win. There were other teams who were also after Berkman before he signed with the Rangers, those teams were the Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, and the Houston Astros. Berkman is also one of the last two "Killer B's" still playing, the other is current Cardinals right-fielder Carlos Beltran. The others are now retired those were Craig Biggio, Derek Bell, and Jeff Bagwell. The nickname "Killer B's" were the Houston Astros nickname starting in the 1990's when they had Biggio, Bell, and Bagwell and then for part of the 2000's.