We mentioned back in November that, following his ACL tear, Denver Broncos RB Knowshon Moreno was starting to head towards bust status. It’s not just that he gets injured too much to be a reliable bell cow, but he hasn’t shown any flashes of “special” that one would expect to see from the 12th-overall pick in the 2009 draft.

So, now, not only is he injured, he’s heaping more problems on top of himself. He was arrested on DUI charges after he got pulled over for doing 70 mph in a 45 mph work zone. Now let’s see, you’ve been out drinking a bit. Should you A. try to stay as close to the speed limit as possible and lay low, or B. Go as fast as you like and law enforcement be damned?

Offices say that Moreno was polite the entire time they were hauling him in, which is always a good thing. Oh and another note? His personalized license plate on his Bentley says “SAUCED.” That’s great.

As for the Broncos, they are aware of the incident.

“We take the incident involving Knowshon Moreno very seriously and are thoroughly reviewing this matter,” the Broncos said in a statement Monday. “Our organization will continue to gather information and closely monitor this issue while the legal process runs its course.”

It will be interesting to see what the Broncos do this offseason as far as running back. They’ll probably bring back McGahee as the starter, but who knows what they think of Moreno at this point. John Elway is running things and he was not an Elway draft pick, so he could have a shorter leash than other first-round picks.

You may or may not have heard about the little incident involving Minnesota Timberwolves big man Kevin Love. On Saturday, Love took umbrage with Luis Scola of the Houston Rockets being on the floor.

So, he decided to stomp on him as they ran back up the floor and the NBA certainly took notice. Love has been suspended for two games without pay, even though he contends that it was an accident.

Yeah right.

Love will be able to come back to play against the Mavericks on Friday night, but will miss the Grizzlies and Kings. Expect Derrick Williams and Michael Beasley to pick up more minutes.

Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton has had some issues in the past. After being the No. 1-overall pick by the Tampa Bay Rays, he missed the 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons due to drug and alcohol addiction. Some would say that it was disappointing.

But, Hamilton battled back and has become the player everyone thought he’d become. He cleaned himself up and became the AL MVP in 2010.

For the most part he’s been completely straight, but you may have heard about his relapse at a Dallas bar/restaurant this week, in which he says he had “three or four” drinks. The media has made a big deal about this, even though it’s really not. And Hamilton is now apologizing for the incident, even though he shouldn’t. Why shouldn’t he? Because it’s no one’s business but his and his family’s

“Things happened that me, personally, I’m not proud of after I drank, and they are personal and are being handled as that,” he said Friday. “Knowing this was going to get out in social media, Twitter, people get excited. There was no pictures taken of me having a beer with somebody or anything like that, but I did take pictures with people.”

Hamilton said that his latest actions “hurt a lot of people very close to me.” He also said that his relapse stemmed from “personal reasons,” but didn’t elaborate, mainly because it’s no one else’s f’ing business.

After apologizing for the incident, he still kept his appearance at a Christian event in Katy, TX that night.

“I could hide in shame, and not show up tonight and be withdrawn, but I didn’t want to do that,” Hamilton told the group. “I’m doing what I had to do today. I am fessing up. I am going to be a man about it; I am fessing up. People are going to call me a hypocrite, but I am a sinful man.”

Hamilton has a tough road ahead of him. It can’t be easy to want booze and drugs that badly and not be able to have any of it.

If any of this speculation is true, it’s beyond stupid. Darren McFadden is by far the most dynamic player that the Oakland Raiders have. And when you don’t make the playoffs in a weak division, you don’t have any room to be dropping your best players.

What is true, however, is the that the Raiders are going back to a zone blocking scheme, similar to what they had under Tom Cable. And McFadden never flourished under that scheme, instead blossoming under Hue Jackson, who catered to his strengths.

ESPN’s John Clayton thinks that McFadden could be moved since the zone blocking scheme Gregg Knapp is expected to install doesn’t suit him.

“Once the Raiders go back to a zone blocking scheme, they have to decide whether to re-sign Michael Bush or trade Darren McFadden,” Clayton tweets.

McFadden certainly would have value, although his injury history would be the A1 problem preventing the Raiders from getting a ton for him. I believe McFadden could thrive in most any system, but the dude is hurt constantly.

The timing of this report is a bit curious. Just a couple days ago, there was a report from sources who would know about Peyton Manning’s neck condition that said he’d probably never play again.

Now, Chris Mortensen is reporting that Manning has been medically cleared to resume his NFL career. Of course, it’s Mort, so take this with a grain of salt.

“Peyton Manning medically cleared to resume NFL career, per sources. More coming on ESPN now. #NFL32,” Mort tweets.

Doctors said that “if the nerves in his arm had regenerated to a satisfactory performance level.” So basically, he’s safe to play, if he can play. It’s only a medical issue in the sense that he might not have the arm strength to be a stud anymore.

Time will tell, but let the “where will Peyton play” sweepstakes bonanza circus begin.

It’s generally well known that the Washington Nationals blow. The main team down there is sadly the Baltimore Orioles and people just tend not to care about the Natties. But, could that be changing? They already went out and got Gio Gonzalez and they have young guns like Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg on the way. Could people actually start to care about this team?

Well, for one thing it seems that they aren’t done this offseason. According to Ken Rosenthal, the Nationals are actively shopping left-hander John Lannan, who will certainly command a huge haul after a 10-13 season. The biggest problem with that is where you’ll play all the great players that you get in return.

Actually, it seems like they are clearing up some money (his arbitration got him $5 million this season) to make room for Edwin Jackson, who Rosenthal says they are making a pitch for. Landing Jackson (or maybe Oswalt, but I doubt he’d go there) would actually make for a decent rotation with Strasburg and Gonzalez. It wouldn’t make them the Phillies, but they also wouldn’t be an easy sweep every time either.

Regardless, it’s clear that the NL East is getting better and better (except for the Mets) and the Phillies will not remotely be able to walk away with the division like they did last year.

UPDATE: The Nationals have agreed to sign Jackson, so it doesn’t seem like moving Lannan had to come first.

Last year at this time, New York Jets WR Plaxico Burress didn’t have the choice of when he was able to eat or go outside. But, since being released from prison, he has choices now. Like, whether or not he wants to play with the New York Jets and Mark Sanchez (not totally his choice, the Jets would have to want him and they most likely don’t, but just play along).

And if he doesn’t want to play with the Jets and Sanchez and doesn’t want anyone to know that, he needs to tell New York Giants RB and good friend Brandon Jacobs to shut his pie hole.

Jacobs is telling everyone at the Super Bowl that Plaxico doesn’t want to play with the Jets and that he would have preferred the Giants in the first place.

“Oh, no question, I know he did. I know he wanted to come to the Giants,” Jacobs popped off. “We just didn’t think it was going to be able to be done financially. But he may be (back) next year, who knows?”

Jacobs continued with the “Plax is done with the Jets” rhetoric.

“I don’t see him back with the Jets next year at all,” said Jacobs. “I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I don’t see that. They’ve got a lot of things going on over there, and I don’t know if he wants to be part of that.”

Jacobs was of course referring to the turmoil in the locker room. As a side note, when you’ve got Plaxico Burress thinking he doesn’t want any part of the tumult inside your building, you know you’ve got problems.

A source close to Burress told ESPN that the receiver also has serious doubts about the abilities of Sanchez. Jacobs didn’t deny that.

“I don’t see him there due to (the limited) success he had last year, and I don’t think it had anything to do with him,” Jacobs said. “And I’ll leave it at that.”

But, Jacobs wasn’t done.

“How many receiving yards did he have last year? How many catches did he have? He’s a starting wide receiver — (45) catches,” he said. “We got three guys, four guys on our team that have that. He’s a much better wide receiver than (45) catches, I tell you that.”

So basically Burress thinks Sanchez blows and he’d like to be with a better QB.

There has been a lot of talk lately – maybe too much talk – about Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning. He’s gone back and forth in the media with owner Jim Irsay, he’s due a $28 million bonus in March and there has been a ton of speculation about who could sign him if/when the Colts eventually cut him.

But, in the end will any of it really matter? All signs point to Peyton being toast due to his three-time surgically repaired neck.

Two sources with knowledge of Peyton’s neck condition tell Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports that the nerve cells are not healing as hoped and not progressing at a rate that would allow him to play again. They say he began throwing in December, but that his velocity isn’t coming back and they don’t think it ever will.

Photo Caption: “Of course you can’t read it, there’s nothing written on it. So you don’t have a concussion, get back in the game.”

Yeah, that’s not good. OTR’s father-in-law is a doctor and he keeps telling us, “necks are a tricky thing” while shaking his head. So all this talk about where he’ll end up next season is probably a waste of time. Maybe the Colts should just make him their QB’s coach and have him develop Andrew Luck.

The sports world is stunned today as they have learned that Pat Burrell plans to retire. The 35-year old has had foot problems that will just make it too painful to continue.

He told the AP back in November that it’s too problematic to keep playing, even though he wasn’t sure of his decision at the time.

“I have not decided yet, but I don’t think I can play anymore [due to a chronic foot injury]. It hurts me to say that,” he said.

He will retire with the fourth most home runs in Philadelphia Phillies history with 251. He’s behind Del Ennis, Ryan Howard and Mike Schmidt.

The first-overall pick in the 1998 draft, Burrell will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2016.

Any time you lose a big game it hurts. Especially when you lose a very winnable NFC Championship game like the San Francisco 49ers did last Sunday to the New York Giants. And when dealing with that frustration, there are a variety of different ways that people choose to cope.

For 49ers rookie Aldon Smith, he chose to get busted for a DUI.

Smith was arrested and booked into Miami-Dade County Corrections at 9:32 AM on Saturday morning. Think about that…9:32 AM. Jesus, that’s a late night. And what is it about Miami? Seems like a great place to drive drunk or get into altercations outside of clubs.

If found guilty, the rookie sacks leader would most certainly be facing a league-mandated suspension. Not a good way to start year two.

Pittsburgh Penguins fans have been worried now for quite some time about star Sidney Crosby and his concussion issues. There were reports earlier that he would be doing some on-ice workouts in Los Angeles, but the latest news kind of cancels that out.

Bob McCown of SportsNet 590 is reporting that Crosby saw a specialist in Utah who found abnormalities in his C1 and C2 vertebrae.

Yikes!

Crosby is supposed to meet with team doctors this week to get an update on his post-concussion symptoms, and I’m not sure if this news will affect any of that.

But, this can’t be good. He’s only 24, but concussion and neck problems aren’t a good thing. While many people hate the guy, the fact remains that the NHL as a whole is better off when this hero/villian is on the ice.

When it comes to the Philadelphia Eagles and the re-signing of their own players, they usually lock up young talent early. They get them signed to long-term deals that are perhaps over market value at the time, thinking that they’ll be very good in a few years and then they’ll have them on the cheap.

That’s why it’s been relatively surprising that the Birds never extended the contract of DeSean Jackson. People in Philly have been yelling about this for a while now. Pay the man! Many blame the Eagles for Jackson’s turdish, “I can’t get hurt” style of play the last couple of years.

But, is it really their fault? According to Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News, maybe it’s not.

Domowitch says that league sources tell him that “Jackson’s opinion of his worth continues to be night-and-day different from the Eagles’”

Jackson said that he wouldn’t mind being franchised and that’s not surprising. That would be a $9.5 million pay day and I can’t see the Eagles paying that. Jackson is a difference maker for sure, but he’s not Larry Fitzgerald and never will be.

Maybe Jackson is the big reason that Jackson hasn’t gotten paid.

For San Francisco 49ers fans, last Sunday’s crushing defeat to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game will be in their minds forever. Chances are, they will also remember Kyle Williams, the backup punt returner who had two costly fumbles while replacing the injured Ted Ginn.

Williams was absolutely skewered for his mistakes, the latter of which led to the game-winning field goal in overtime. He even received death threats from people who obviously have no idea how to place sports in its proper context.

But, there was one person who felt awful for him and reached out to him. Seven-year old Owen Shure from Los Angeles.

He was so upset that he was crying his eyes out when his Niners lost. He was apparently doing that little-kid cry where you can only get one word out at a time, asking why Williams had to fumble.

His dad suggested that maybe he write a letter to Williams and tell him not to feel so bad. And that’s what Owen did. Here is the transcript of the letter:

Dear Mr. Williams:

We just watched the Playoff game. I feel really bad for you but I wanted to tell you that you had a great season. you sould be very proud, so I wanted to say thank you.

I am your #1 FAN!

Owen Shure
Los Angeles, CA

p.s. your awsome

If you don’t like this story, you don’t have a heart.

You can never have enough depth. For the Philadelphia Phillies, that depth is needed in the outfield. Shane Victorino is back in centerfield, but they are trusting John Mayberry to play a full season in left and maybe hoping that Dom Brown emerges in right after competing with some of the average joe’s they signed in the offseason.

So, why not roll the dice on a low-risk, decent-upside deal with a guy who was once a damn good player?

According to Jim Salisbury of CSN, that’s what the Phillies have done. He says they’ve signed Juan Pierre to a minor-league deal.

“Confirmed. Pierre agrees to minor lg deal. “@Ken_Rosenthal: Pierre minor-lge deal with #Phillies – @JSalisburyCSN reports serious talks,” Salisbury tweets.

If Pierre even has a decent spring, expect him to stay up with the club.

Jon Heyman of SI reported earlier that the Boston Red Sox have made an offer to free agent right-hander Roy Oswalt. Oswalt must have plenty of options out there, because Heyman says that he hasn’t accepted it yet.

“#Redsox made offer to oswalt but are unsure hed go since hes yet to accept. he rejected det. may prefer cinc, tex, stl,” he tweeted with terrible use of capitalization.

But, maybe they are hoping he doesn’t accept the offer. According to Jim Bowden of ESPN, they have also reached out and made an offer to former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Edwin Jackson. And Bowden says they’d actually prefer Jackson over Oswalt.

“Red Sox have made offers for Edwin Jackson and are presently in discussions with him and prefer him over Roy Oswalt according to source,” Bowden tweets with much better use of punctuation and capitalization than Heyman.

Jackson is a nice pitcher, but he’s not on Oswalt’s level when healthy. Then again the “when healthy” part could be what the Red Sox aren’t thrilled with.

One of the highest profile free agents in baseball this year is/was Prince Fielder. It was believed that he was looking for a deal in the neighborhood of eight years, $200 million.

And obviously, he wasn’t worth that because no one would give it to him. Hell, that’s why he was on the market for so long.

But, it only takes one team. And that team is the Detroit Tigers.

According to SI’s Jon Heyman, the Tigers have signed Fielder to a nine-year, $214 million contract. Seriously.

Fielder is a phenomenal hitter, but is he really worth that much? He’s only 27-years old, which means I automatically like this deal better than Pujols’ deal with Anaheim. But, Fielder hit a career high .299 last year and you have to think that won’t happen again as he’s .282 for his career. He’ll always get you 30 HR’s and might even get 40 or 50. For that money, he better be north of 40 every year.

Time will tell if it’s truly a bad signing, but right now, I can’t see committing that many years and that much money to one guy.

Hope you like chubby guys, Detroit. ‘Cause you just got a very pricey one.

The Baltimore Ravens lost the AFC Championship game on Sunday in heartbreaking fashion to the New England Patriots. Down by just three points, Lee Evans dropped a game-winning TD pass and then kicker Billy Cundiff blew a 32-yard field goal.

So, one could imagine that guys like Terrell Suggs might not be in the best of moods. On Monday, T-Sizzle went on ESPN to be interviewed by Skip Bayless about the game. They were talking about the end of the game and the confusion when Anquan Boldin fumbled the ball forward and out of bounds.

Bayless tried to insinuate that Suggs was saying that the hometown Pats were messing with the down and distance on the scoreboard. Suggs insisted he wasn’t…and then called him a douchebag.

Hahahaha….check it out:

We already know about the issues the New York Jets are having with Mark Sanchez and their possible desire to go after Peyton Manning. But, we couldn’t possibly think that they would be the only team interested in one of the best QB’s in NFL history should be become available.

And ESPN‘s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen are reporting that you can add the Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins to that list. The Dolphins are hardly surprising given that no amount of second-round picks or free-agency signings have filled the QB void since Dan Marino left. And no, Chad Pennington and Jay Fiedler don’t count.

But the Cardinals? The Cardinals just gave up a second-round pick and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to the Philadelphia Eagles for Kevin Kolb. And then they gave him a big contract. So…you are admitting that you made a major screw up and Kolb isn’t remotely who you thought he was?

On one hand, that’s a big mistake to admit that quickly. On the other hand, I give them credit for moving on before the error is compounded by more losing.

Well isn’t this interesting? If this doesn’t shine even more light on the fact that MLB has no clue what it’s getting from player’s from foreign countries, I don’t know what does. First we had the Leo Nunez fake identity scandal, and now this.

You know that pitcher on the Cleveland Indians, Fausto Carmona, that you love so damn much? Well, his name ain’t Fausto. It’s Roberto Hernandez Heredia and he’s been using the identity of Fausto Carmona since he’s been in baseball. Heredia was arrested by the U.S. government when he went to show up for his work visa, because Carmona’s actual mother outed him on a radio station several weeks before.

Heredia was paying Carmona to use his identity, but apparently Carmona wanted more when Heredia got his $7 million option picked up. So, you get this situation.

Heredia was released from jail on $13,000 bond and has apologized to the U.S. government and his fans. But, what about the fact that he’s supposedly 31-years old now, a full three years older than the Indians and everyone else thought he was? I guess it’s a good thing it was just a one-year deal. If it was four or more, this thing really could have gotten ugly.

Most are speculating that Heredia won’t be charged with anything because “Leo Nunez” wasn’t. Not sure how they’d let this slide, but whatever.

You may remember back in September that Cincinnati Bengals WR Jerome Simpson ran afoul of the law when he had more than two lbs. of marijuana delivered to his home. Once investigators got a hold of the package, they searched his residence to find six more lbs of pot, along with smoking and scaling devices.

Yeah, he wasn’t just smoking it.

Well, today Simpson was indicted on a charge of trafficking more than eight ounces of marijuana, but under five pounds. It’s a Class D felony and he’s facing 1-5 years in prison if convicted.

Maybe Simpson will be more attractive to the Bengals to re-sign. He’ll come cheaper and he’s been indicted on a felony. These are two of the top things that the Bengals look for.

We mentioned previously that actor Rob Lowe was tweeting about Peyton Manning’s retirement. He said that he could be wrong, but that his people tell him that Manning will retire today from the Indianapolis Colts and NFL as a whole.

Well, Jason La Canfora of NFL Network got a hold of Manning’s agent Tom Condon, who was unaware of any plans that Peyton may have had to retire today.

He told La Canfora that these reports were “news to me.” He also told him that all of this was “the first he’d heard of it.”

Photo Caption: “Hey Curtis, shut it for two seconds. I’ve got Rob Lowe on the line and he watches a lot of CNN.”

That’s not to say that an agent would put out false information. Hell, they do it all the time. But, it’s another side of the story and, if Condon is to be believed, you’d think that Peyton would have discussed this with him at some point. That $28 million roster bonus doesn’t all belong to Peyton, you know.

Stay tuned.

There has been a lot of talk (maybe too much talk) about the future of Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning. With an injured neck that just can’t seem to get right, many have speculated that he will just retire.

And now, we get word from someone who says that Manning will retire today. Everyone’s favorite boss on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” Rob Lowe, tweets that he’s hearing that Manning will hang them up. Here are his tweets:

Hearing my fave, #18 Peyton Manning will not return to #NFL. Wow. #Colts

@richeisen My people are saying Manning will retire today. What do you hear? #NFL

#Colts fans, let’s hope my info is wrong. Don’t like being wrong, but this time… I’m hoping #NFL #Manning

As of this posting, Manning has not yet made any announcement and Lowe is hardly known for breaking sports stories. But, hey, he’s a high-profile Colts fan who probably knows several people in the organization. And, his sitcom is based in Indiana, so there is that sitting right out there too.

I know, I know. You’re sick of hearing about Tim f’ing Tebow. So are we. But, this isn’t about him loving Jesus or not supporting gay people.

It’s actually about his toughness. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Tebow was seriously banged up last week in the Denver Broncos loss to the New England Patriots.

An NFL source tells Schefter that Tebow “tore cartilage on his first rib where it attaches to his sternum, bruised his lung and had fluid buildup in his pleural cavity.”

Yikes!

No one can say the kid isn’t tough. Supposedly, he wouldn’t have been able to play in the AFC Championship game had the Broncos won. Thank god that didn’t come close to happening!

Tebow, who had trouble sleeping over the weekend due to the pain (why do I think he doesn’t believe in booze or pain killers?), apparently won’t have his offseason regimen affected by the injuries. He should be back throwing those ultra-tight ducks in no time.

But seriously, this could be a concern for Tebow and the Broncos. The way he plays the game, it’s entirely possible that it will take a toll on his body as the years go by.

Not sure that this is a shock really. There was a good portion of the season spent wondering whether or not the Indianapolis Colts would be joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only two teams to lose all 16 games.

But, without Peyton Manning, was head coach Jim Caldwell really culpable? The Colts think so, as they have shown him the door and fired him not long after the Polians got the boot.

In short, the Colts are rebuilding. And that might just be yet another reason for Peyton to play elsewhere next season (if he’s able to play at all). All new coaches, front office execs, new systems….nah, Peyton can’t be bothered with that crap.

And he likely won’t have to. It’s widely expected that the Colts will take Stanford QB Andrew Luck with the first-overall pick in next April’s draft.

The Peyton Manning era is likely over in Indy.

Green Bay Packers fans may or may not have noticed that their team lost this weekend to the New York Giants. Actually, it was more of a stomping, where the Giants overcame two horrific calls to still soundly beat the Pack.

You know who definitely noticed? This Packers fan right here in this video.

I’m hoping to god this was some sort of joke. This is the female equivalent of the crying Giants fan from 2009.

Really? You think they lost because of your sparkly nail glitter? Or the fact that you should have worn your Aaron Rodgers jersey instead of Clay Matthews. Here’s a tip: You won the Super Bowl last year…stfu.

Normally, it’s not a big deal for the Philadelphia 76ers to hear that Spencer Hawes is dealing with some sort of injury. He’s been a marginal player in the past so who really cares?

But, this year has been different. Hawes has been playing very well at center for the 10-3 Sixers and because of their lack of big men, they really need him. He missed some time recently with back issues, but now, according to Sixers PR guy Mike Preston, he’s also dealing with Achilles problems.

“Coach Collins tells media that Evan Turner didn’t participate walking through plays today, Spencer Hawes now dealing w/ left Achilles strain,” Preston tweets.

Hawes is averaging 10.4 ppg and 8.8 rpg, so they can’t afford to have him out for too long. The Sixers next game is against the Nuggets on Wednesday.

Maybe this really isn’t a very big deal, but when you have other off-field issues, you lose the benefit of the doubt. And Dallas Cowboys WR Dez Bryant doesn’t need to be in these situations because if just makes him look bad.

WFAA in Dallas is reporting that Bryant was detained by police over the weekend after an altercation at a Miami nightclub. PFT reports that he was neither charged nor arrested.

Photo Caption: Brandon Hughes tries to detain Dez Bryant.

We still don’t know what happened so we can’t say much more. Maybe some tough guy singled him out because he’s an NFL player. Happens all the time.

But, the fact that he’s in these situations while many still question his judgement is not a good sign.

Last night there were a series of trade rumors that cropped up involving the Philadelphia Flyers’ James van Riemsdyk. With Chris Pronger out for the season and the defense not exactly keeping their goalies clean, the Flyers could use some help in the back. It was floated that GM Paul Holmgren would be speaking with the Nashville Predators when the two teams this meet this weekend regarding Ryan Suter. There was also the Toronto Maple Leafs rumor that would have them sending the Flyers Luke Schenn in exchange for JVR.

But, you can probably squash all that talk for now. JVR has been diagnosed with a concussion and is out indefinitely.

“James was hit in the head in each of our last two games,” Holmgren said in a statement. “He reported yesterday not feeling like himself. He will be out indefinitely with a concussion.”

That sucks. JVR had 11 goals this year even though his play is down from the level of last season. He’s only 22-years old and hopefully the Flyers don’t just ship him out for a few Mac Miller CD’s.

“It’s unfortunate it happened, I actually like the way he was moving on that line,” said coach Peter Laviolette. “I like the way it was moving. When guys come out, it’s a setback for them and a setback for the team. Now, Zac [Rinaldo] comes back in the lineup and brings his energy. We’ll move other lines around a bit. We’ve been through it before and we’ll get through this.”

I’ll be curious to see what happens to those trade rumors now.

The New York Yankees have been a bit quiet this offseason. That is, until now. It seems to have started yesterday, and now the news just keeps on coming.

It was reported on Friday that the Yankees had agreed to a trade with the Seattle Mariners. They would be sending catcher Jesus Montero and right hander Hector Noesi to Seattle in exchange for rookie phenom Michael Pineda and prospect Jose Campos. Pineda had a 3.74 ERA last year and will most likely be the Yankees No. 2 behind C.C. Sabathia.

Then, we hear that they are after Hiroki Kuroda, the 37-year old right-hander whose price had supposedly come down. And yes, they got him. They agreed to a one-year deal worth between $10-$11 million. His 3.45 ERA over the past four seasons should help the Yanks rotation tremendously.

So after all this, the Yanks still need another bat. Montero was penciled in as their DH this season, so they’ll need to replace that. And according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, the Yankees are turning their attention to free agent Carlos Pena. Pena was damn good a few years ago with the Tampa Bay Rays, but hit just .225 last season. However, he did still hit 28 bombs so his power could still be there. It’s not like they’d need a ton from him anyway with that lineup.

There have been a lot of hot stove rumors about starting pitchers in the last few months, but not a ton of action. That’s probably because starters such as Roy Oswalt, Edwin Jackson and Hiroki Kuroda have been way too high.

But, ESPN‘s Buster Olney says that’s changing. We’re roughly a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training and teams would like to get their rosters nailed down. And these pitchers would like to know what the deal is so they aren’t twisting in the wind in February. So, it looks like they are willing to be more reasonable in terms of pay.

“The asking prices have come down significantly for veteran FA starters: Oswalt (said to be at $8m), Kuroda (10-11m), Edwin Jackson,” Olney tweets.

Jackson was supposedly looking for some $15 million per year. Really? $15 million for 12-9 with a 3.79 ERA? And no one lined up to sign him immediately?! Christ, what is this world coming to?

Oswalt had back trouble (again) in 2011, but at $8 million, he’s worth a gamble. When he’s healthy, he’s still as sharp as ever. I have a feeling he’s got “Washington Nationals” written all over him, but that’s just a guess.