Post by buwu on Jan 15, 2013 6:53:05 GMT -5
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Setup reliever Jason Frasor signed a $1. Garrett Reynolds Jersey .5 million, one-year deal Thursday with the Texas Rangers. The 35-year-old right-hander spent most of his career with Toronto, setting a Blue Jays franchise record with 505 appearances since his major league debut in 2004. Frasor was 1-1 with a 4.12 ERA in 50 games last season, when he was on the disabled list more than six weeks because of right forearm tightness. He returned for the final month of the season after the only DL stint in his career. Frasor said he feels good, which he said was confirmed by the extensive physical he underwent Wednesday including X-rays and an MRI. "Picture after picture," Frasor said. "The doctor afterward, he said everything went great. That goes along with how I feel, really, really good." Frasor was traded from Toronto to the Chicago White Sox midway through the 2011 season, but was dealt back to the Blue Jays at end of that year. He is 26-31 with 26 saves and 3.77 ERA in 525 career games, including 20 with the White Sox. "When it became clear the door in Toronto has closed ... I just wanted to go to a winner," Frasor said. "I didnt sniff a playoff race. I wanted to be on a great team. Im thrilled. This is a perfect opportunity." Texas designated catcher Eli Whiteside for assignment to make room on its 40-man roster. Notes: The Rangers will play their season opener at new AL West rival Houston on Sunday night, March 31, for a national ESPN broadcast. After an off day Monday, the rest of that season-opening series will be played Tuesday and Wednesday (April 2-3). ... The Rangers announced their minor league coaching staffs Thursday. That includes the return of minor league managers Bobby Jones at Triple-A Round Rock and Steve Buechele at Double-A Frisco. Kroy Biermann Jersey . Bellucci, ranked No. 60, got his third career title and second at Gstaad. He won the clay-court event as a qualifier in 2009. Tipsarevic was denied a second straight title after winning on clay last week at Stuttgart, Germany, where he beat Bellucci in the semifinals. Tony Gonzalez Youth Jersey . Nick Kimmel hopped out of his wheelchair on a new pair of prosthetic legs to throw out the ceremonial first pitch with his right arm and lone remaining good limb. www.shopnflfalconsgears.com/nike-william-moore-pink-jersey/ . Calgary ended its regular season with a fourth straight victory, a 30-27 decision over the Edmonton Eskimos on Friday night. Matt Ryan Red Jersey .S. athlete Carl Lewis. Soon after winning gold in the 200 metres at the London 2012 Olympic Games for 100 and 200 titles at back-to-back games, Bolt said Thursday he had "lost all respect" for Lewis after the American was quoted as saying Jamaicas doping controls were not as strong as other countries. Roddy White Jersey . The New England Patriots (4-3) will play a regular-season game in London for the second time in four years on Sunday when they face the St. Louis Rams (3-4) at Wembley Stadium, the iconic venue that is the home of Englands national soccer team.TORONTO – Mike Kostka realizes that his ambitions are not particularly unique as it pertains to the game of hockey. "Ive still never played in the NHL," said Kostka, an engaging personality born in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke and raised in not-so-distant Ajax. "Its still a dream of mine, thats still my goal." The now 26-year-old defender was on the cusp in the Sunshine State last fall, among the final cuts at training camp for the Florida Panthers. "They were like Yeah you did a great job, you outplayed some of our D that we have here, but theyre on one-way [contracts]. Theyre like Go down, youll get called up, youll get a ton of games, dont worry about it. And then in two months I was traded." He eventually landed with the Norfolk Admirals, the American League affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning, a club whose dominance last season included not only a Calder Cup – defeating the Toronto Marlies no less – but a ridiculous 29-game winning streak. Undrafted out of the University of Massachussetts-Amherst, Kostka might just be your prototypical late blooming defenceman. The shaggy-haired local product began his pro career with two inconsistent seasons in Portland before breaking out in full offensive force with Rochester in 2010-2011, blasting 16 goals and 55 points from the blueline. While not quite as strong statistically last season – he ranked 15th among defencemen in the regular season – Kostka wrapped up the American League post-season in superb form, totalling more points than any other defender. "I still feel like Im getting better," he said. "Its funny, a lot of 21-year-olds on the [Marlies], Ill be 27 in November, but Im in the best shape of my life, I feel like my game is still improving, theres always room for improvement." Kostka was of course most notorious in these parts for his one in a million overtime goal in Game 3 of the final against the Marlies, bouncing a puck off the corner stanchion for the third win in an eventual series sweep. It was less than one month later that he joined the hometown enemy. His phone rang with an offer from Toronto no more than five minutes into the free agency blowout, the organization keen on snatching a defenceman whose progress theyd monitored closely over the previous three seasons. "We played them in the final and theyre the enemy for that time, but I grew up just down the street," said Kostka with a ggrin. Julio Jones Youth Jersey. "Its always trying to weigh the balance between the offer financially and what you see for opportunity of yourself moving up. A combination of both helped me make that decision; happy I did." The Marlies have a pretty good idea of what theyre getting in Kostka, first and foremost from their most recent head-to-head experience, but also from the small-world familial ties within the game. Gord Dineen, an assistant coach and the man charged with spearheading the defence, rang up his brother for insight; Kevin Dineen, now the head coach of the aforementioned Florida Panthers, had coached Kostka in Portland. "The one thing that Kevin always said about him is that hes got a real high hockey IQ," said Dineen, noting Kostkas strong fitness testing scores as an indication of his work ethic. "Hes not a real riverboat gambler out there, he makes high percentage decisions and he moves the puck quickly. Thats the way youve got to play the game nowadays." Kostka has evolved into an effective point-producer from the back-end, but its not a skill-set that was immediate to him, rather one that he worked to polish. Granted steady opportunity in Rochester, he also progressed into a wily quarterback on the powerplay. "Maybe hes been a guy that early on, it took him a little while to develop the skill to be a top-end American Hockey League player which he is now," said Dineen. "…we feel like he can evolve into an NHL player in the same regard." Its hardly unusual for defencemen to progress at slower speeds, no better a recent example than Jason Garrison, the newly-minted Vancouver Canucks blueliner who broke out in earnest as a 27-year-old with Florida. The Leafs dont boast an especially deep defence, keeping open the prospect of Kostka as a darkhorse when and if the lockout lifts this season. Jake Gardiner, his current defence partner and the organizations crown jewel is more exception to the rule, a defender who burst into the NHL as a 21-year-old last season. Seasoned with experience, Kostka continues to chase the familiar dream. "The hockey world is crazy," he said. "You talk to any guys that have gone through it, no ones alone in their pursuit of their goals and the ups and downs and sometimes more downs than ups. The biggest thing is staying focused on where you are now. You cant control where youre not, all you can do is take care of your business." ' ' '