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SAN DIEGO - Clayton Kershaw is considered the top pitcher in baseball, with three Cy Young Awards in four years for the Los Angeles Dodgers, an NL Most Valuable Player award and a $215 million, seven-year contract. Clearance NBA Jerseys .Max Scherzer may be seeking an even bigger deal as his talks on the free-agent market move forward.Im not sure Kershaw is relevant, agent Scott Boras said Wednesday at the winter meetings, because hes not a free agent.Jon Lester became the first top-level, free-agent starting pitcher to reach an agreement this off-season, a $155 million, six-year deal with the Chicago Cubs that came together late Tuesday night and still must be finalized.Scherzer turned down an offer from Detroit last March that would have paid $144 million from 2015-20. Kershaw has the largest contract for a pitcher in total dollars and has the sports highest average salary at $30.7 million.The prominent pitchers that have signed, (Justin) Verlander or (Felix) Hernandez or Kershaw, were not free-agent players, Boras said. And certainly if you put a performance like Kershaw into a free-agent market, youre going to get a much, much different calibration of value.Scherzers negotiations figure to stretch on for weeks or even into next year.But other players were on the move or close to switching teams.The Dodgers acquired second baseman Howie Kendrick from the Los Angeles Angels and were working to obtain shortstop Jimmy Rollins from the Phillies in a remake of their middle infield.In a flurry of moves late Wednesday, the Dodgers dealt All-Star second baseman Dee Gordon, right-hander Dan Haren, infielder Miguel Rojas and a player to be named or cash to the Miami Marlins as part of a seven-player trade for left-hander Andrew Heaney, right-hander Chris Hatcher, infielder Kike Hernandez and catcher Austin Barnes.The Dodgers then sent Heaney, considered one of baseballs top pitching prospects, to the Angels for Kendrick.Philadelphia started retooling by shipping left-handed reliever Antonio Bastardo to Pittsburgh for minor league lefty Joely Rodriguez. Boston was discussing a deal to obtain left-hander Wade Miley from Arizona.Among free agents, Houston agreed to an $18.5 million, three-year contract with Luke Gregerson and a $12.5 million, two-year deal with Pat Neshek, people familiar with the negotiations said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deals with the right-handed relievers were subject to physicals.And the Chicago White Sox finalized a $46 million, four-year contract with closer David Robertson after signing first baseman Adam LaRoche and reliever Zach Duke, and acquiring pitcher Jeff Samardzija in a trade with Oakland.I love what Rick Hahn has been doing this off-season, Robertson said of Chicagos general manager. I feel like hes building a good squad thats really going to be a competitor next year, and Im hoping that we end up back in the playoffs.Lesters deal could open up the marketplace for other free agents and for top pitchers who may be available in trades, such as Philadelphias Cole Hamels, Detroits David Price, Cincinnatis Johnny Cueto and Washingtons Jordan Zimmermann.That pitching market is going to move fast, New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said.Lester helped the Red Sox win World Series titles in 2007 and 13. Boston made a $70 million, four-year offer during spring training, and after the Red Sox couldnt reach an agreement on a new deal in July, they traded him to Oakland. Boston fell about $20 million short with its offer this week.I think we would have liked to have had more chance for dialogue prior to the season, Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said. Why that didnt happen, maybe theres more than one reason. I think we can certainly learn from the process.San Francisco and the Los Angeles Dodgers also had sought the left-hander.I think it raises the bar on all pitching, New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said. Heretofore, theres been a lot of conversation about how valuable offence could be and, of course, we got (Giancarlo) Stanton, we got the big $300 million-plus contract. But right behind that, the next-highest is Lester. So I think it re-establishes the notion that pitching is still at a premium and highly desirable and costly.While some teams were making progress toward the moves they wanted, others preferred to be patient. Spring training is more than two months away.Were in San Diego. Ill use a surfing analogy, Cashman said. If we see the right wave, well get on the board and ride it. But otherwise, well just sit and wait for the next wave to come.___AP Sports Writer Howie Rumberg contributed to this report. Wholesale NBA Jerseys . The Argentina striker has not played for the Premier League leaders since September when he refused to warm up during a Champions League match and only returned last week from a three-month unauthorized absence at home. City coach Roberto Mancini had initially told Tevez he would never play for City again after his act of public insubordination, but later softened his stance and only asked for an apology. Fake NBA Jerseys .Patterson marked his anniversary by proving his worth — once again.Lou Williams poured in 26 points, and Patterson drained two huge three-pointers late in the fourth quarter, as the Raptors topped the Denver Nuggets 112-107 in overtime Monday. https://www.nbachinajerseys.us/ . The Canadian tennis players first full season on the WTA Tour was a strong one. She has risen to No. 32 in the world rankings and will likely be seeded at the first Grand Slam event of the 2014 season.With a new NHL season upon us, hopefully this will be a refreshed blog, with plans to post every day Monday-Friday, and include stats, lineup notes, injuries and other details from the night before. Im also going to try to use it as an outlet for responding to e-mail and Twitter questions, and -- please note -- Ill be doing chats on TSN.ca every Friday. So come with questions, whether they involve fantasy hockey or analytics and lets have a great season. Today, its Grabovski making a point, Eller in fine form, Troubas instant impact and some recommendations for stats-oriented hockey fans. 1. After one game for the Washington Capitals, it turns out that Mikhail Grabovski is still a pretty decent hockey player. Grabovski scored three goals, added and assist while starting more of his shifts in the offensive zone, at least compared to last year, when his usage was drastically different in Toronto. Its only one game, of course, but its notable that Grabovski was among the Capitals leaders in offensive zone starts and hes being used in an offensive capacity, which plays to his strengths. This comes on the heels of Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle saying that he wants the Leafs to be more of a puck possession team this year, as though the decisions made in the summer (like buying out Grabovski and re-signing Tyler Bozak, for example) have no bearing on the teams ability to play an improved puck possession game. Even after being put into a defensive role last season, Grabovskis puck possession numbers have been better than those recorded by Bozak over the past three seasons. Why compare Grabovski specifically to Bozak? Because the decision to buy out Grabovski only came into play because the Maple Leafs were choosing to re-sign Bozak, who was an unrestricted free agent in the summer. If they let Bozak leave, Grabovski would fit in an open scoring centre slot, not unlike the one hes found in Washington. While Grabovskis buyout doesnt affect the Maple Leafs cap, it still required more than $14-million and I dont care how much revenue pours in to MLSE, no one likes paying a player $14-million to play somewhere else, especially if turns out that he could be better than the guy theyve agreed to pay $21-million over the next five seasons. 2. Now, in the interest of fair play, it should be pointed out that Bozak scored a shorthanded breakaway goal and took 27 (winning 15) of the Maple Leafs 55 face-offs against Montreal Tuesday, his 21:13 of ice time leading all Maple Leafs forwards. His possession numbers werent ideal but, again, this is one game and Grabovski did much of his damage (two goals and one assist) on the power play, so his even-strength possession numbers werent great either. At the same time, these comparisons are going to get made. When teams choose one player over another, especially at the same position, its inevitable. 3. The Canadiens had a productive game out of what is ostensibly their third line -- C Lars Eller (2 G, 1 A, +2, 6 SOG) , LW Alex Galchenyuk (2 A) and RW Brendan Gallagher (1G). The oddity of it all is that Montreal didnt seem to use Galchenyuk and Gallagher as much as they could. The sophomore wingers played 13:23 and 11:26, respectively. Brandon Prust and Travis Moen both played more than 12 minutes against Toronto, so there was more of an emphasis on the physical game, it appears. For Eller, whose 2013 season ended when he was knocked out by Senators D Eric Gryba, it was an ideal return to action from an individual standpoint, showing that he is strong, healthy and capable of being productive right awway. Discount NBA Jerseys. 4. Jets rookie D Jacob Trouba announced his presence in his first NHL game. After one year at Michigan, the 9th overall pick from 2012 stepped into the Jets lineup, played 25:02 to lead both teams, and scored his first NHL goal along with an assist. If hes a top four (or even top pair) defenceman right out of the gate -- he was paired with Zach Bogosian -- then Trouba can be a difference-maker for the Jets. 5. Blackhawks sophomore LW Brandon Saad (1 G, 2 A, +2) opened the season on Chicagos third line, with Andrew Shaw and Jimmy Hayes, but was still plenty productive. Bryan Bickell, who has the top line left wing spot, alongside Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, had one shot on goal in 15:05. 6. Capitals RW Alex Ovechkin (1 G, 1 A, -2, 9 SOG) had a strong opening game. In 126 games over the previous two seasons, hed registered nine shots or more twice, so doing it in Chicago, against the Blackhawks, seems like a decent initial indication that hes on his game. 7. Oilers LW, er, C Taylor Hall played 23:30 against Winnipeg, a threshold hed crossed twice in 171 previous NHL games. Playing primarily with Ryan Smyth and Ales Hemsky, they took puck possession lumps against the Jets. 8. Were going to wrap up todays blog with a few recommendations. First, for anyone interested in hockeys advanced stats or simply taking a different look at the game, this seasons Hockey Prospectus is a must-read. I wrote the Foreword to the HP annual a couple of years ago, emphasizing that hockey analytics should be a growth industry, and appreciate the work that some very smart people put into the analysis every year. Ive been fortunate enough to meet some of them at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, including editor Timo Seppa and Brian Macdonald. Ive worked on a few things with Rob Vollman (who published his own, also recommended, Hockey Abstract this summer too) and have chatted with a few more on Twitter, including prospect ace Corey Pronman and I appreciate people challenging the status quo when it comes to player and team analysis. Its good stuff. 9. Not to be confused with TSNs Fantasy Hockey League Manager (which is also great!), Ive started playing Franchise Hockey Manager, a hockey simulator presented by OOTP, makers of Out of the Park Baseball. Ive played their baseball game and enjoyed it, but was anxious for their release of the hockey product. I spent way too much time in my youth playing Hockey League Simulator II and loved the idea of picking my teams, setting lines, making trades etc -- this was really before fantasy hockey had taken hold online -- and you could play through a season in a night. Maybe a long night, but it could be done. The amount of detail involved is great -- they have rosters and prospects for all NHL teams, but also for junior and European leagues -- and its still fun to mix and match line combinations. If youre into that kind of stat-nerdy thing, give it a look. 10. Finally, research is the heart of this job. I watch and I listen and I read and I dig for more and there are many websites that I turn to in order to have a handle on whats happening in the NHL. These are some that I will link to a lot throughout the season: www.behindthenet.ca www.capgeek.com www.leftwinglock.com www.hockey-reference.com stats.hockeyanalysis.com www.extraskater.com www.hockeyfights.com www.hockeydb.com Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '