ekansekans's blog: "df"

PHILADELPHIA -- Add catcher to the Philadelphia Phillies needs this off-season. All-Star Carlos Ruiz was suspended Tuesday for the first 25 games of next season following a positive test for an amphetamine. The 33-year-old catcher had a career year in 2012, hitting .325 with 16 homers and 68 RBIs in 114 games. "I am sincerely regretful for my mistake in taking a prohibited stimulant," Ruiz said in a statement issued by the Major League Baseball Players Association. "I apologize to my teammates, the Phillies organization and the Philadelphia fans. I will serve the imposed 25-game suspension to begin the season and I look forward to returning to the field and working toward bringing a championship back to Philadelphia in 2013." Ruiz will be eligible to participate in spring training, including exhibition games. "The Phillies fully support Major League Baseballs drug program," the team said. "We are disappointed by the news of this violation of the program. We will support Carlos in an appropriate manner and move forward to achieve our goal to play championship-calibre baseball in 2013." Erik Kratz will likely begin the 2013 season as Philadelphias starting catcher while Ruiz serves his suspension. Kratz, a career minor-leaguer, filled in nicely when he finally got a chance after Ruiz went down with a foot injury. Kratz hit .248, but had nine doubles, nine homers and 26 RBIs in only 141 at-bats. Kratz also threw out 45 per cent of base-stealers (15 of 33). Still, losing Ruiz hurts a lineup that struggled mightily last year. Ruiz moved up from his usual No. 8 spot and took over for an injured Ryan Howard as the teams cleanup hitter for a chunk of the season. He batted fifth after Howard returned in July. The Phillies, who finished 81-81 after winning five straight NL East titles, have several holes to fill. Only Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins are certain regulars. Utley, though, didnt play until late May in 2011 and late June in 2012 because of chronic knee injuries. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. hopes to add a starting centre fielder, another starting outfielder and a third baseman either through free agency or trades. Now hell also need a backup catcher for Kratz for the first month. Brian Schneider served as the teams primary backup the last three seasons, but only batted .212 in 122 games. The Phillies have two top prospects catching in the minors. Sebastian Valle hit .253 with 17 homers and 58 RBIs in 80 games at Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Tommy Joseph, acquired in the trade that sent Hunter Pence to San Francisco, hit .257 with 11 homers and 48 RBIs for the Giants and Phillies Double-A affiliates. Ruiz became the eighth player suspended this year under the major league testing program, the second for amphetamines following Baltimore shortstop Ryan Adams. The eight suspensions are the most since 2007. This had to be Ruizs second positive test for a stimulant. An initial positive for a stimulant does not trigger a suspension, only that the player must undergo follow-up testing. There have been 102 suspensions this year under the minor league testing program. 49ers Kaepernick Jersey . The former WBO and WBU champion was 46. Sanders was shot in the hand and stomach at a family members 21st birthday gathering at the restaurant in Brits, in South Africas North West province, on Saturday night, police said. He died in a hospital in the capital city Pretoria in the early hours of Sunday morning. Colin Kaepernick Womens Jersey . They acquired a new catcher, very possibly annoyed a catcher they already had, and wound up with a doubleheader split. http://elevatedcolor.com/new.html . -- High-scoring Steven Stamkos is not alone when it comes to Tampa Bays offensive attack.A day after talks broke off between the National Hockey League and the Players Association, NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr sent a memo to the players outlining the three proposals that the union made. The following is an excerpt of the memo sent out on Friday. --- Brief summary of the three core-economic proposals we made yesterday. Each has the players share declining over the life of the agreement. Each of the proposals has substantial cost reductions – lower player salaries – that would be realized by the owners. However, we maintained our position that given the concessions made by the players in the last agreement, and the 7 years of record revenue which followed, there is no reason for the absolute amount of the players share to be reduced. Under the owners most recent proposal – a 12.3% reduction in the players share – compensation is reduced by about $1.65 Billion over the 6 year agreement they propose, if HRR grows at only 5%. ( The owners say that future growth will only average 5%, even though that is well below the 7.2% average since the last lockout, much less the 10.2% and 9.6% of the last two seasons.) At 7.2% growth, the share falls by about nearly $1.80 Billion over that period. We have proposed a 5 year agreement. The NHL proposals over 5 years would reduce the players share by $1.34 Billion at 5% and $1.43 Billion at 7.2%. We gave them three alternative proposals. Option 1: This is a revision of a previous proposal. We would see a fixed player share the first three years of 1.92 Billion, 1.98 Billion and then 2.06 Billion. After that, the players share is frozen until revenues reached $4.12 Billion (that is, when 2.06 Billion is 50% of HRR). After revenues reach $4.12 Billion, the players share is 50% of HRR (plus a small increment if yearly growth exceeds the predicted 5% -- 57% of revenue above 5% and 61% of revenue above 7.2%). Option 2: Option 2 is similar in its effects. Simply, the players share will grow each year by 24.7% of any HRR increase (down from the current 57%). If HRR growth is at the 5% rate the owners predict, then the players share falls to 50% in year 5. At 7.2% the share falls faster. (After revenues reach 4.216 Billion, the players would also receive the same small increment of yearly growth as in Option 1.) Option 3: This idea proceeds from an entirely different approach. We take two principles of this negotiation: the owners stated desire to reduce the players share to 50% of HRR, and the Players position that there is no reason to go backwards. This proposal bases that second principle on existing player contracts, not the players share. Here is how it works: - A reduction to 50% from 57% of HRR is a 12.3% cut (that is, 7/57), but the loss in an individual players salary would be about 13%.dddddddddddd (This is because benefit costs do not fall and these come off the top.)  The owners honor all existing player contracts. We do this by dividing an existing contract, on a yearly basis, into two separate parts: the 13% and the remaining 87%.  The 13% is paid to the player in any event, and it is not counted in the players share and is also off the cap. - The remaining 87% of existing contracts, plus all new contracts, go into the players share (plus all benefits). Thus constructed, the players share will become 50% of HRR, immediately. - This means that an individual player under an existing contract would receive the 13% segregated, plus a normal payment, subject to escrow, of 87% of his salary. A player with a new contract would have 100% of his salary subject to the 50/50 split. However, since the 13% of existing contracts are off the cap, this should create more cap space, which will be important as the cap will be squeezed. - Over time, the existing contracts expire, and the share will fall towards 50%. Below is a chart showing the anticipated savings, but these could be greater if there are a significant number of buyouts. Our hope was that the owners would find one of these three approaches worthy of serious discussion, but the owners rejected these ideas in less than 15 minutes, and further advised the players that their last offer was, in essence, a take it or leave it offer, subject to "tweaks only". That proposal contains, as you know, an immediate reduction in the share to 50%, a 2012-13 cap with a 51.9M mid-point, and, among other things, player contracting provisions including a change in the ELS, a reduction in salary arbitration eligibility, no UFA status until after 8 years or at age 28, no contract longer than 5 years, no contract may have a year to year variability of greater than 5%, and all money paid under NHL contracts to players playing in the minors or in Europe counts against the team cap (except for the first $105,000 per player). Last, there is the "make whole" provision of their last offer. In short, player compensation which is below the players share total of last season would be "deferred" and paid out over time, except that the players share in subsequent years would be reduced by the amount of all such "make whole" payments. In other words, players salaries in later years are reduced to make these" make whole" payments. Players bear all of the "make whole" costs. At the end of yesterdays meeting, Gary did say that the players were prepared to agree to all of the other parts of their offer (subject, perhaps, to "tweaks") then I could call him about this issue. ' ' '