One of the big reasons that I can’t stand Andre Iguodala is the fact that he plays so much. He’s being paid way too much and the Philadelphia 76ers think he’s an important part of their team. He’s not, he ruins everything.

But, there is another guy I want the hell off my basketball team and that’s Marreese Speights. The one saving grace that he has over Iguodala is that he never plays. I don’t even think they assigned him an authentic jersey. He’s soft, gutless and oft-injured. Yay.

Well, worry about Speights taking up valuable bench space no more, because he’s been shipped to the Memphis Grizzlies in a three-way deal that also sends guard Xavier Henry to the New Orleans Hornets. The Sixers will get a medium-sized package of assorted Kuerig cups couple second-round picks at some point.

Speights might actually be pressed into action quickly in Memphis. The knee injury to Zach Randolph that everyone was hoping wasn’t that big of a deal? Yeah he’s going to miss up to eight weeks with a torn ligament. And Darrell Arthur is already out for the year following his Achilles injury.

Have fun with Marreese, Memphis!

Is it physically impossible for the Oakland A’s to keep any good players? Every time you turn around, they are shipping off proven talent for prospects. And they just did it again.

The A’s have sent closer Andrew Bailey and OF Ryan Sweeney to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for RHP Raul Alcantara, 3B Miles Head and OF Josh Reddick. The Red Sox get their closer to replace Jonathan Papelbon, and the A’s get whatever these three become. If they turn out to be stars, great, they can trade them.

The Red Sox had previously shown interest in Phillies closer Ryan Madson. As did the Phillies before signing Papelbon. But, now, it seems like Madson has been left out in the cold as neither team went with him.

So, poor Ryan Madson, who now is still a free agent and may have to sign for less with a team that just doesn’t have a sizable payroll.

Remember when we told you about 20 minutes ago that the Boston Red Sox were trying to trade for Oakland A’s pitchers Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey? Well…we ummm…see it wasn’t our report, we were just running with someone else’s crap.

Anyway, my point is that you can ignore that talk. There was too much of it anyway. According to Keith Law on Twitter, the A’s have sent Gonzalez to the Washington Nationals in exchange for four prospects. He’ll also be asked to help with the federal deficit, and to urge Republicans to extend the Payroll tax cuts.

“Gio to Nats for Cole, Norris, Peacock, and Milone. Love this for Oakland,” he tweets.

So, Gio is now a National (our condolences to him and his family) and A.J. Cole, Brad Peacock, Derek Norris and Tommy Milone are headed to Oakland.

Here is a breakdown on the new A’s from Rotoworld.com:

Cole, a 19-year-old right-hander, posted a 108/24 K/BB ratio in 89 innings this past season at the Single-A level. Peacock, a 23-year-old righty, had a 2.39 ERA and 177/47 K/BB ratio in 146 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A in 2011. Norris, a 22-year-old catcher, has an .861 career OPS in the minors, and Milone registered a 155/16 K/BB ratio in 148 1/3 innings this past season at Triple-A.

It looks like Billy Beane has done it again. Maybe it’s time for another movie.

Perhaps the biggest offseason priority for the San Francisco Giants (besides finding out a way to rid themselves of Barry Zito’s awful pitching and huge contract) was to improve their lineup. Their pitching has always been stellar, but they have about two guys in the lineup that can hit a curve ball and one was hurt.

So, the Giants seem to have done just that. They sent Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Melky Cabrera.

Sure, Melky isn’t going to be a great defensive player in that huge outfield, but he hit .305 last year with 18 home runs and the Giants could sure as hell use that. He also stole 20 bases last season, so that should help too.

Sanchez was phenomenal in 2010 when the Giants won the World Series with a 3.07 ERA that year. He dropped to 4.26 with a 4-7 record this past year, but should still be a boost to that Royals staff.

You may have heard that the Denver Broncos put WR Brandon Lloyd on the trading block recently. Several teams popped up as being interested in his services, including the New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans and St. Louis Rams.

According to Jason La Canfora of NFL Network, it looks like the Rams will be the winners.

“Brandon Lloyd is being dealt to the Rams. More to come on NFL.com and NFL Network,” La Canfora tweets.

This is all the information we have right now. No word on compensation, but with Lloyd in the final year of his contract, we can’t imagine that they give up higher than a third-round pick, but that’s completely just a guess.

We would have to guess that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels lobbied hard for Lloyd, who he had when he was the head coach in Denver.

We may or may not pass along more information when we hear more about it.

The NFL trade deadline is on Tuesday.

The capital of Nebraska is Lincoln.

UPDATE: We were way off on the trade compensation. It’s actually a conditional sixth-round pick that can jump to a fifth. Unless they sign him to a new contract (which they’re likely to do), it’s a complete waste for the Rams, who are going nowhere this year.

In 2009, the Seattle Seahawks made LB Aaron Curry the No. 4-overall pick in the NFL Draft. In 2011, they are still waiting for him to do something. Anything.

Apparently, they don’t want to wait any longer, because they have shipped him to the Oakland Raiders, according to FOX’s Jay Glazer.

“Sources on Raiders & SEA tell me they’ve agreed to a trade sending Aaron Curry, 4th pick in 09 draft, to OAK for pick this yr, 1 next yr,” Glazer tweets.

It looks like it’s a seventh-round pick in 2012 and a mid-round choice in 2013. Not much of a return for a guy you invested all that money and time into.

Rolando McClain, another high first-round pick, suffered what could be a nasty ankle injury on Sunday and Curry could be some sort of insurance for that. Darryl Blackstock is backing him up now.

Not sure what kind of insurance Curry is though. He’s there just in case you need someone with no visible instincts and can’t cover anyone?

The Baltimore Ravens’ offense didn’t look so hot Thursday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. After losing Todd Heap and Derrick Mason, Anquan Boldin is their only real outside threat in the passing game. Rookie Torrey Smith didn’t look ready to be an NFL starter, as Nnamdi Asomugha had his way with him in coverage.

The Ravens apparently watched the game, because according to Adam Schefter they have traded for Lee Evans of the Buffalo Bills.

“Filed to ESPN: Buffalo has traded WR Lee Evans traded to Baltimore,” Schefter tweets.

According to Rotoworld, the Ravens gave up a 2012 fourth-round pick, which is a steal. Evans is a vertical threat with great speed and his talents were largely wasted in Buffalo’s trademark Don’t-Move-The-Ball offense. Evans should help take some pressure off of Boldin, who gets shut down at this point in his career by extra coverage.

Free agency is not over. There are still several players available that can come in and help the Philadelphia Eagles. However, as I sit here on Friday morning, I can’t help but feel the Eagles have misplayed their hand. In poker, you can slow play pocket kings through the entire hand and probably come out on top through the river. You may take in a small pot, but it isn’t nearly as big as you could have made it with a smart, aggressive approach. Kevin Kolb was your pocket kings.

It’s no surprise that the Eagles had a hole at right corner. It’s no surprise that they were looking to deal Kolb. Add to the equation that the Arizona Cardinals had a need for QB and had a corner they were looking to ship and it appears to be a no brainer. However, instead of accepting the marginal return in the pot, there was plenty more value that could have been had for their backup QB. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a bad trade for Philadelphia. They made a move with their top “chip” and filled a position of need on the defensive side of the ball. I just don’t think it was the best overall FOOTBALL move for the team.

Simply put, cornerback was probably the deepest and most talented group of this year’s free agency. Leading the pack is Nnamdi Asomugha, followed by names such as Johnathan Joseph and Antonio Cromartie. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, not a free agent, is probably better than Antonio Cromartie, but clearly 3rd in comparison to Asomugha and Joseph. So why not be “aggressive” and pursue a better player in free agency then use your “chip” to address other areas of need?

I know the lockout severely limited the teams in play for Kolb. The draft came and went and many teams elected to select a QB with a high pick and it probably took their names off of the potential suitors list. But don’t sit here and tell me that there weren’t teams willing to give up a 1st and a 3rd for KK following the draft. Don’t tell me that there weren’t teams willing to move a player (other than corner) and a pick for KK.

Would the Eagles not be in a much better place right now if they were able to lure in a FA corner, while trading Kolb for a strong safety and a pick? What about some defensive line help? Do we all realize that the Eagles have two linebackers with any experience? Would the smarter play have been to trade Kolb for Daryl Washington and a 2nd? 

You tell me what the better scenario is: Rodgers-Cromartie and a 2nd, OR, Johnathan Jospeh, Daryl Washington and a 2nd?
Which one do you take? Which one fills the most holes? Which one seems to be the best FOOTBALL move for the team?

If I had to parallel this to another team, I can easily refer to the Philadelphia Flyers, albeit a little different circumstances. The Flyers knew they had goaltending issues. They also know that they had a few “chips” on that team worthy of getting a good goaltender in return. That chip was the team leader in goals, Jeff Carter. But instead of shipping out Carter simply to get a goaltender in return, the guy they wanted happened to be better than anyone they would potentially get in a trade. He was a free agent (Editor’s Note: Sort of. They traded for him, but it was next to nothing because was going to be a free agent in a couple weeks). He was Ilya Bryzgalov. Sure, they had to pay him some money, but it was a great hockey move and a solid organizational move. Then, they moved Carter for a solid player in return in Jakub Voracek and even netted the 8th-overall selection in the draft (immensely talented kid in Sean Courturier).

Again, I’m not saying the Eagles didn’t get value for Kevin Kolb. Sure they did. But did they really make the best potential moves to help this team? I don’t think so. Instead, they stared at Rodgers-Cromartie’s rookie contract and elected a cheaper option. “Let’s be prepared for the long term so we can continue to come up short.”

Photo Caption: No need to cry, we are only a solid cornerback away from losing an NFC championship game this year.

If they had recently won a Super Bowl title, fine. I can understand that you can’t make the big moves every year. But this team and this organization has so much arrogance in regards to who they are or who they “think” they are, that it is more than obscene.

Because the Eagles failed to capitalize on the potential size of the pot, they are left with a former 7th-round pick at strong safety in Kurt Coleman (although I like the kid). They are left with gaping holes at linebacker including handing the reigns to another former 7th-round pick, Jamar Chaney. He has a lot of promise, but has yet to prove he can handle the load for 16 games. Other than Moise Fokou, the linebacker corps are all rookies.

I don’t dislike the Jason Babin signing as much as I did initially.  In fact, I might like it at this point.   I’m not one to throw money at a guy who has a “career year,” but his contract is Eagle friendly and if Jim Washburn can get the same motivation and success out of him that he did in Tennessee, then it is a good move. In addition, if Washburn is this defensive line genius as he is so frequently touted, then he should be able to increase the play of Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley. Notice the “ifs?” When you have an opportunity to eliminate “ifs,” be aggressive and PLAY the hand rather than letting the hand play you… I think you have to strap on your boots and make it happen.

To me, the Eagles didn’t do that. There are still moves to be made, but have you gotten any indication that the Eagles will be a part of them?

Man, there is a ton of NFL activity this week. Tough to keep up. We all know that Mike Martz can’t stand pass-catching TE’s, and now the Chicago Bears have proven it. According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, the Bears have sent Greg Olsen to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for an autographed Cam Newton 8×10.

“Just filed story: #Bears have traded Greg Olsen to #Panthers for player (not Steve Smith) & draft pick,” Biggs tweets.

The Bears actually got a pick and a player to be named later as Biggs points out. Olsen joins his fellow University of Miami alum Jeremy Shockey, who breaks down all the time and isn’t very good anymore.

Olsen could be headed for a big fantasy year. Young QB’s like Cam Newton like to have tight ends as safety valves.

The New England Patriots aren’t afraid to make trades. That much we know. Earlier, they picked up Albert Haynesworth in a low-risk trade with the Washington Redskins. Apparently, they weren’t done gathering problem children.

They sent a couple of late-round picks to the Principle Champion Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for loquacious WR Chad Ochocinco. Ocho was due $6 million this year in salary, but instead restructured his contract to have a three-year deal with the Pats.

A big reason the Pats got choked out by the New York Jets last year was because they had no one on the outside who could make plays. Their offense was based on TE’s Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. That’s all well and good, they are nice players, but at some point you need someone other than Deion Branch on the outside.

While Ochocinco can’t stretch the field like he used to, he can still run nasty routes, make great catches and give Tom Brady a bigger target.

According to Jeff Darlington, a trade has been completed between the Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints for Reggie Bush. And Bush has now agreed to a new contract with his new team to complete the move.

“The early-morning negotiations that leaked beyond 2 a.m. have resulted in an agreement today between the Dolphins and RB Reggie Bush,” Darlington tweets.

Reports are that Bush agreed to a two-year, $10 million contract with the Dolphins, who sent an undisclosed late-round pick to the Saints.

To be clear, this isn’t a feature role for Bush. He’ll be a third-down back while rookie Daniel Thomas is the starter. Thomas will get the bulk of the work, with Bush being the support guy.

The Chicago White Sox are making some moves! The team has sent Edwin Jackson and utilityman Mark Teahen to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for reliever Jason Frasor and starter Zach Stewart. They also sent stinkbomb Alex Rios to the bench because they are tired of him wasting at-bats for the team.

The move is expected to set up a trade that will land the Blue Jay’s Colby Rasmus from the St. Louis Cardinals. A Cardinals official told Bob Nightengale of USA Today that that’s a distinct possibility.

Meanwhile, Jackson has been traded five times in his career, so he’s used to packing up and moving to a new town. He’s got the whole packing process down. He’s the Jeff Lewis of starting pitchers in MLB.

“I was born on the move,” said Jackson. “There’s no bitter feelings. It’s not the first time I’ve been traded. I liked it here, a great group of guys, but at the end of the day, you have to do what you have to do.”

In other White Sox news, their repeated requests to Alex Rios to stop sucking have fallen on deaf ears. He’s hitting .208 and they can’t take it anymore. They tried having him drinking glasses of water while upside down, holding a deep breath and then slooooowly exhaling, and even random scare attempts from teammates’ lockers and nothing has worked. So they benched him.

The Sox called up Alejandro De Aza from the minors and he’ll start in center for now. Rios is owed $12 million next year, $12.5 million in 2013 and 2014 and $13.5 million or a $1 million buyout in 2015. WOW. And he’s hitting .208 right now.

Jason La Canfora of NFL Network reports that the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings have agreed to a deal that will send QB Donovan McNabb to the purple guys. The only thing now is that McNabb has to agree to a new contract for it to go through.

McNabb signed a ridiculous extension last season with a Redskins team that didn’t seem to want him. So now, he’s due $12.5 million and the Vikings don’t want to a pay that to a guy who is a seat warmer for first-round pick Christian Ponder.

While it’s not a done deal yet, it would be a pretty good situation for McNabb as long as they don’t make him feel like he has to look over his shoulder. He’d have the running game he never had (early in his Eagles career they ran the ball a bit, but you know what I mean) and an offensive line that doesn’t have Stephon Hoyer on it.

Stay tuned.

The Florida Panthers just signed big defensman Ed Jovanovski to a four-year, $16.5 million contract today. At 35-years old and coming off of a 14-point season, we aren’t so sure exactly what he’s going to contribute to the club unless he’s a hilarious locker room prankster who really enjoys keeping the team loose.

They are keeping it going with adding guys who aren’t going to help much by trading for Philadelphia Flyers forward Kris Versteeg. The Panthers gave up 2nd- and 3rd-round choices to get a guy that excels at disappearing during games.

The Flyers needed a goalie last year, but instead traded for Versteeg. He successfully did nothing to help the team. However, he did cause many fans to openly wonder why they traded a first- and third-round pick to get him.

In 27 games with Philadelphia, he had seven goals and four assists, with each and every one of them going unnoticed.

The Philadelphia Flyers may have finally added a goaltender! In case you didn’t notice, and judging by the ratings you didn’t, the Flyers had awful netminding in the playoffs this year (and end of the regular season).

Brian Boucher might start, but Sergei Bobrovsky would finish the game. Or vice versa. Or maybe Michael Leighton would get thrown in there. But the bottom line is that none of these guys were good enough to start on a team with Stanley Cup aspirations.

But now, the team has made a trade that should help shore up the goalie position. Phoenix Coyote’s GM Don Maloney announced the trade that many thought would happen, as he shipped the rights to Ilya Bryzgalov to Philadelphia in exchange for a 2012 third-round pick, future considerations and forward Matt Clackson.

“After several discussions with Ilya and his agent, it became very clear to us that we were not in a position to sign Ilya to a long-term contract,” said Maloney. “We will now focus our efforts on adding another goaltender to our roster for the upcoming season.

Bryzgalov is a free agent on July 1st, as is Clackson. So there is no guarantee that the Flyers will be able to keep him. But I think it’s safe to say that the Flyers wouldn’t be trading for his rights if they had any doubt that they’d be able to sign him to a new deal.

Bryzgalov is now free to pursue a life of religious fulfillment.

While no one should be excited about being traded to the horrific Cleveland Cavaliers, the exception might be Baron Davis. Now, he won’t have to be heckled at home games by his team’s own friggin’ owner while he tries to play basketball.

So, excited or not, Davis was sent packing to the Cavs along with a 2011 first-round pick in exchange for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon. Yay! Let’s swap dysfunctional point guards!

The Clippers should be excited to be getting rid of Davis’s untradable contract, which will pay him almost $30 million over the next two years. SIDE NOTE: Just more evidence that the NBA is screwed up and needs a new CBA.

The Cavs should be excited to…be getting a first-round pick? What do they really need with Baron Davis other than the fact that his contract comes off the books in the next couple years?

This is a big trade that should be relatively worthless for both sides. Hopefully the Cavaliers use the first rounder wisely, and hopefully the Clippers can make some magic between Mo and Blake Griffin.

We’ve heard the rumors for a while, but it’s now official. The Toronto Maple Leafs have shipped puck-moving defenseman Tomas Kaberle to the Boston Bruins. In return, the Leafs get AHL tree trunk Joe Colborne, a 2011 first-round pick and a conditional pick.

The conditional pick is, according to the Toronto Star, thought to be a second-round pick if Kaberle signs an extension with the Bruins.

The 6′ 5″ Colborne is currently in the AHL. He was a first-round pick back in 2008 for the Bruins.

The 32-year old Kaberle had previously resisted the club’s attempt to trade him. He had to waive his no-trade clause in order for Boston to make this happen.

But, now Kaberle thinks it’s fine to leave Toronto. He told Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos that “it was just time to move on” and that he was “excited.”

We can imagine. He’s now on a Stanley Cup contender and not wasting away on a lousy Toronto team.

The Tampa Bay Rays made the playoffs last season, but fizzled once they got there. Maybe they lacked playoff experience on the team. And if that’s the case, they may have just helped themselves out.

According to SI.com‘s Jon Heyman, the Rays have signed Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez to lifetime contracts, complete with blank checks for them to fill out on their own whenever they please.

Photo Caption: The Rays are desperately hoping that he can make these kind of plays in their uniform for 2011.

Wait….what? Oh wow. We got that really wrong! They each got one-year deals.

“#damon gets $5.25 mil from #rays plus 750 grand in attendance bonuses, manny gets $2 mil from rays. #doubleplay,” Heyman tweets.

While they probably overpaid for Damon, they did indeed get Manny on the cheap. Remember this was a guy getting $20 million per just a couple of years ago. Then again, if starts acting like the royal prick that he is, maybe anything over minimum wage is too much.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States of America have just made a trade for 32-year old Vernon Wells. It seems pretty damn stupid, but they made the deal with the Toronto Blue Jays anyway.

In exchange for Wells, the Blue Jays get C/1B Mike Napoli and OF Juan Rivera. And while neither team said anything about money changing hands, SI.com’s Jon Heyman reports that the Angels will receive $5 million from the Blue Jays.

And didn’t Juan Rivera just get kicked off of NPR? That can’t be good.

Is that supposed to put a dent in the remaining four years and $86 million that Wells has on his contract? Wells hit .273 with 31 bombs and 88 RBI’s in 2010, but is he supposed to continue that? It was the first time he hit 30+ HR’s in a season since 2006.

And it’s not like Napoli and Rivera are future Hall of Famers, but we just don’t understand why the Angels would trade for Wells’ contract.

Amid much trade speculation, the New Jersey Devils have finally sent Jamie Langenbrunner packing. Many in Philadelphia were hoping it would be to the Flyers, but instead, they have sent him to the Dallas Stars.

In return, the Devils will get a conditional third-round pick in 2011. If Dallas wins a playoff round this year or they re-sign Langenbrunner, then the pick becomes a second rounder.

“When it’s a quality person who has given you what Jamie has given, been part of success, a Stanley Cup, then certainly (the trade) is difficult,” Devils’ President/CEO/GM Lou Lamoriello said. “But if it were easy, anybody could do some of these things we have to do. Unfortunately, the decision with the status that we’re in, is being made for the right reasons.”

Langenbrunner had been a Devil for the past eight years, and he now returns to where he started his career.

According to ESPN‘s Buster Olney, the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres have agreed to a trade that would send Adrian Gonzalez up to New England. He says that the players have been agreed to, they just need Gonzalez to pass his physical.

“Sources: Padres and Red Sox have agreed to a Gonzalez trade, pending physical — and perhaps negotiations with the first baseman. We’ll see,” Olney tweets.

Gonzalez is coming off of shoulder surgery, so it might not be a foregone conclusion that he’ll pass his physical. The Red Sox also have a window to negotiate a long-term deal with Gonzalez. We wouldn’t think that would affect the trade though.

The Padres are expected to receive minor leaguers in exchange for their best hitter. Right hander Casey Kelly is thought to be involved, as are Jose Iglesias and Anthony Rizzo. We don’t know that for sure just yet though.

The Florida Marlins just continue to baffle everyone. Last week, they sold off once-promising outfielder Cameron Maybin to the San Diego Padres. Now, they’ve handed the division rival Atlanta Braves Dan Uggla.

They sent the second baseman to the Braves in exchange for a pair of cellphones that flip open and closed. It was actually Omar Infante and Mike Dunn, according to Jerry Crasnick on Twitter.

“Braves deal is complete. It’s Dan Uggla to Atlanta for Omar Infante and Mike Dunn,” he tweets.

This is not a fair trade and we aren’t sure exactly what the Marlins are doing here. Uggla hit .287 with 33 bombs last year. Really, Florida? And you got a utility player and a reliever in return?

Must be time for some belt tightening down there. Nothing like opening a brand-new stadium with a poor team!

Looks like the grass is greener in Cleveland. In what is essentially an exchange of crappy RB’s, Jay Glazer of Foxsports.com reports that the Philadelphia Eagles have sent Mike Bell to the Cleveland Browns for Jerome Harrison. Harrison couldn’t take over the job when it was handed to him on a silver platter, and the Eagles are the third team to say “no thanks” to Bell since 2007.

Harrison kind of was anointed the starter in Cleveland when second-round pick Montario Hardesty went down for the year with a torn ACL. It wasn’t because he was playing so well, he was just kind of the next guy in line. That was until Peyton Hillis took over as the starter.

As for Mike Bell, he’s the kind of guy that you’ll see pop up on an Eagles clip five years from now and you’ll say, “oh yeah, that’s right! Remember they used to have Mike Bell?” But, he certainly won’t be remembered in Philly for much of what happened on the football field. He’s just never gotten it going.

There has been speculation for quite some time now that the Buffalo Bills were trying to move Marshawn Lynch. When Ryan Grant went down for the year, the Green Bay Packers wanted him. When LeSean McCoy showed up on the injury report with cracked ribs, the Philadelphia Eagles wanted him.

Or so we thought. It turns out, the Seattle Seahawks wanted him. At least enough to part ways with something of some kind of significance. They sent a fourth-round pick this year and a conditional 2012 pick to the Bills.

In return, the Seahawks get Marshawn Lynch and all the illegal guns they could ever want.

That means that the inevitable has happened for veteran RB Julius Jones. He has been sent packing, and given his paltry per-carry average this year (2.5), don’t expect a bunch of teams to come knocking.

Unless he has a torn ACL, in which case the Eagles will sign him.

Apparently satisfied with the 72 marginal running backs they have in their backfield, the New England Patriots felt they no longer needed 2006 first-round pick Laurence Maroney. They have traded him to the Denver Broncos for undisclosed compensation. Usually, the term “undisclosed compensation” means two first-round picks and Tim Tebow.

We don’t think this has anything to do with Knowshon Moreno. He looked pretty good coming back from his hamstring injury on Sunday.

This probably says a lot more about where Correll Buckhalter is as far as age and injury. He’s coming off of neck/back issues and isn’t getting any younger. The Broncos are pretty thin at RB and Maroney is familiar with Josh McDaniels from his time in New England.

The Broncos are now instant favorites to come out of the AFC.

The New York Mets find themselves only 12 games back out of first place in the National League East and nine games back in the wild card.  So, with 30 more games left in the season it was time for the Metropolitans to make one last move to give them that extra push in hopes of making the playoffs.

Tuesday night the Mets found that help.  They traded for second baseman Joaquin Arias, who some say has the eye of an eagle and the patience of a cheetah in an African hunt.

PHOTO CAPTION: Arias was named after his mother’s favorite actor of all-time, Joaquin Phoenix

“He’s the younger version of a Dominican Chase Utley who bats right handed,” someone once said.

In return, the Texas Rangers landed right fielder Jeff Francoeur, who the Rangers hope can help extend their 8.5 lead in the American League West.  Obviously, the trade was made to benefit Texas, not New York.  Jeff gives them another right-handed bat coming off the bench for the post season.

Frenchie is batting .237 with only 11 homeruns this year, but maybe a change of scenery will help him get back to performing the way Major League fans expect him to perform.  Playing in New York for the Mets only helps a player accomplish two things: getting hurt and becoming awful.

The fact that Mets GM Omar Minaya got anything in return for Francouer is somewhat amazing.  Earlier in the day, the St. Louis Cardinals offered New York tickets to next seasons premier of Last Comic Standing.

A source tells Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee that the San Francisco 49ers have solved their little problem with AWOL Kentwan Balmer. The source says that the Niners have traded the former first-round pick and current first-round bust to the Seattle Seahawks, who seem to like collecting other people’s junk lately.

Terms of the deal aren’t known right now, but we can’t imagine the Seahawks giving up much more than a late-round pick. This deal makes more sense when you figure that former San Fran GM Scot McGloughlan is now with the Seahawks. He drafted Balmer with the 29th-overall pick back in 2008.

Balmer has been missing from 49ers training camp since Wednesday without an excuse. They sent him the five-day letter, which would allow them to put him on the reserve/left list. That would have shut down his 2010 season for good.

At first, Balmer was excused for personal reasons, but then he never came back. Head coach Mike Singletary was asked on Friday about him returning to the team.

“If Kentwan wanted to be here, he’d be here,” Singletary said.

Balmer has had trouble cracking the lineup since he was drafted. The Seahawks are hopeful that he can come into camp with a new attitude and fail to crack their starting lineup as well.

The Philadelphia Phillies took yet another hit to their infield when they had to shelve first baseman Ryan Howard on the 15-day DL. They brought up John Mayberry, Jr. from Triple-A, but they needed to do something else.

That something else was trade for Mike Sweeney from the Seattle Mariners. When Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik saw the 215 area code on his phone, he probably knocked over an assortment of small house pets and potted plants in an effort to make sure he got to pick it up. Thinking back to the trade that got them Cliff Lee, he was probably drooling over what he could do to the Phils next.

So yeah, the Phils got him to send them Sweeney in exchange for a player to be named later (Roy Halladay?) or cash considerations. The 37-year old is hitting .263 with six home runs this year, which means he’ll be the exact same thing as having Howard in the lineup.

The Philadelphia Eagles had notoriously awful linebacker depth last year. But, apparently they feel like with Stewart Bradley back, they have a full stable of capable backers. They must, or else they wouldn’t have cut Alex Hall this week and then traded Joe Mays to the Denver Broncos for J.J. Arrington and a 2012 conditional draft pick.

Mays is undersized and doesn’t have great range, two qualities the Eagles value in players. He is a head cracker though, this dude can hit. But, he does tend to shoot gaps (the wrong ones) which leads to big plays and he wasn’t really a threat to make this roster. He’s more suited to play in the Broncos 3-4 scheme anyway.

Photo Caption: In typical Eagles fashion, the team tries to make Joe Mays a running back.

Arrington is a guy that fits exactly into what the Eagles look for in a player. He’s an undersized RB who can catch passes out of the backfield. And then there is their favorite part – he’s coming off of microfracture surgery on his knee. He didn’t play at all last year.

While he’s been quoted recently as saying that the knee is feeling a lot better, microfracture surgery is no sure thing. Neither are his chances of making this roster with LeSean McCoy, Mike Bell, Eldra Buckley and Charles Scott all in the mix.

Finally, the rumors are over and the deal is done. According to Ken Rosenthal of Foxsports.com, Roy Oswalt is the newest member of the Philadelphia Phillies. And yes, that includes even Domonic Brown, who just came up to the team yesterday.

“The players in the Oswalt deal, which is still not official: J.A. Happ, OF Anthony Gose, SS Jonathan Villan [sic]. #Phillies #Astros #MLB,” Rosenthal tweets.

A few minutes later he tweeted, “done deal.”

The names Happ and Gose have popped up repeatedly, but Villar is a new one. Villar is 19-years old and was hitting .272/.332/.358 with two homers, 36 RBI and 38 stolen bases with Single-A Lakewood this year.

And as far as that $16 million option for 2012? It’s a mutual option and, with this trade, will increase from $1 million to $2 million if the Phils pick it up and Oswalt declines.

This is the third major acquisition the Phillies have made in the last calendar year. Last year at this time they traded for Cliff Lee. In the offseason, they acquired Roy Halladay. Now? It’s Roy Oswalt. Welcome to the Phillies.