Forum » Chase Utley and former Cubs catcher Dioner Navarro

PHILADELPHIA - After sitting idle without a first-rounder in the NHL draft, one Ottawa Senators scout was thrilled to get to make some picks on Day 2. "The scouts were happy," general manager Bryan Murray said. "I think somebody shook my hand at the end." That wasnt the handshake Murray went into the weekend hoping for. And try as he did, he was unable to consummate a trade to give centre Jason Spezza his wish to leave Ottawa. "I called the teams or took calls from teams that were interested," Murray said Saturday. "We talked about the return, the type of deal we wanted to make. In a couple of cases there was real interest and it went away. So I dont know whether it was because of the draft and on the day of the draft picks are very valuable, whether that was part of it or it was something different." Murray wanted a first-round pick, a roster player and a prospect for his captain, who has a limited no-trade clause and thus the power to refuse to go to 10 teams. One of those 10 is Nashville, which had a deal worked out to get Spezza that couldnt go through because he didnt agree to go to the Predators. "David (Poile) talked to me and we couldnt go there," Murray said. "I told (Spezzas agent) Rick Curran that today, I had a deal sitting there if I wanted to do it, but he was on the list of no-gos." A Senators-Predators deal mightve landed Ottawa the 11th pick. Instead, Poile pulled the trigger on getting winger James Neal from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling. Considering that and the Anaheim Ducks trade with the Vancouver Canucks for centre Ryan Kesler, Murray knows that "the field narrows a little bit." Murray estimated that he talked to four or five teams about Spezza and that three expressed fairly serious interest. It never worked out, leaving everyone in the situation still hanging. “Im sure its disappointing for him, its disappointing for me because Id like to accommodate him if I could, but he does have a year left on his contract," Murray said. "If thats the case well have a pretty good player for next year." Or its possible that teams circle back to the Senators after July 1 if they dont land Paul Stastny or another free-agent centre. As far as Ottawas approach to the start of free agency, thats affected by Spezza, too. "I dont know, thats the problem," Murray said. "Part of your decision is what can you spend, where does it fit and what do you get in return for a certain player? If you dont know that, then its harder." Unable to get anything done on the Spezza front, the Senators made five picks to stock up for the future. They took defenceman Andreas Englund 40th, defenceman Miles Gendron 70th, forward Shane Eiserman 100th, defenceman Kelly Summers 189th and left-winger Francis Perron 190th. The 189th pick, a seventh-rounder, Ottawa got from the Winnipeg Jets for a 2015 sixth-rounder. That was the only trade Murray was able to make in Philadelphia. "It just seemed to me there were a lot of phone calls, a lot of talking, people interested, but nothing really happened," he said. "I had to make one trade at the end, a seventh-round pick for the sixth next year just to say I did something. So that was my accomplishment." Cheap Air Max Outlet . Hicham Khalouas late goal improved Almerias chances of avoiding relegation in a match dominated by contentious calls, including three penalties. 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Now he has a complete game. Scherzer tossed a three-hitter in his 179th career start for his first complete game and Victor Martinez hit his 16th homer to lead the Detroit Tigers a 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.DUNEDIN, Florida - Blue Jays players assembled Monday afternoon for their annual spring meeting with the Players Association, the first gathering chaired by new executive director Tony Clark. Just as the meeting was beginning, Major League Baseball unveiled Rule 7.13, an experimental rule for the 2014 season aimed at eliminating what the league calls “egregious” runner/catcher collisions at home plate. See a full explanation of the rule here: http://tinyurl.com/l4zaqo5 Here is a link to a play at the plate last season, involving Phillies base runner Chase Utley and former Cubs catcher Dioner Navarro, now with the Blue Jays. Watch the clip, keeping in mind the new rule didnt exist, and guess based on the new rule whether Utley would be safe or out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0Qe310Bn4g Assembled media, waiting for Clark to emerge from his seminar with the Jays, couldnt agree on the call. Some saw fault with Utley for initiating contact with Navarro. Others believed Utley would be called safe because Navarro blocked the pathway of the runner to the plate prior to receiving the baseball. If you think Utley is safe, based on the new rule, Clark agrees with you. “My guess is, according to the rule, (Navarro) cant be sitting on the plate without the ball,” said Clark. “Its one thing to catch it and then move and block the baseline. Its another thing to block the baseline and not having the ball.” Blue Jays catchers hadnt seen the new rule as of Mondays availability and had plenty of questions, including the wisdom of asking an umpire to make a split-second determination about more than whether a runner is safe or out. “I think its tough to make that out/safe call at home and theyre always trying to get good positioning,” said Erik Kratz. “Now, is their positioning going to have to change? Are they going to have to talk about that? Are they going to have to look at the runner as hes running, ‘I saw the runners eyes, he was looking at the catcher. You did? What about the ball? What about the catchers eyes? Did he have his fist clenched?” “Im going to do you one better,” said Clark. “During a play on the field you may also have a rotation component here where youve got the home plate umpire running to third and the first base umpire running to home. Its a tough enough play as it is as hes running to try and call a close play but now youre also talking about trying to determine intent and where guys are positioned. Its difficult.” Many other nuances were discussed, which is why, according to Clark, the rule has been made public and is being explained to players only two days before Grapefruit League play is scheduled to begin. A Major League Baseball representative and an umpire will be visiting all 30 teams during spring training to further explain the rule. Manager John Gibbons has met with MLB Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Joe Torre and his right-hand man, Tony La Russa. The intent of the rule is to make close plays at the plate safer for both the catcher and the runner. A catcher in his playing days, Gibbons is skeptical. “I dont know about that,” said Gibbons. “I think when you start trying to mess with the game too much, I mean, youre going to run into problems. Its a big part of the game. The game on the line, thats the winning run or something, guys are trying to stop that run. Instinct tells them to do one thing. But if thats the rule then we live with that. Nothing we can do about that.” Clark of Free Agency Ervin Santana and Stephen Drew are two high-profile free agents whove yet to find work, in large part because there is draft pick compensation tied to their next contracts.dddddddddddd “As a union its our responsibility to make sure that player rights are defended, protected and advanced,” said Clark. When asked over the course of the winter about the Blue Jays interest in select free agents, general manager Alex Anthopoulos repeatedly opined that market prices were too high and that the club was willing to wait for player demands to come down. Clark, speaking in general terms, not specifically about Anthopoulos or the Blue Jays, says the union will review the offseasons free agency activity. “If the free agent market as a whole is being manipulated on some level and we have an opportunity to reflect on this offseason, comments that were made, where those comments came from and how they may have affected the free agent market then it is a conversation were going to have going forward to make sure the integrity of the Collective Bargaining Agreement is upheld and that we dont find ourselves in a place where certain information is lending itself to certain understandings and appreciations publicly with respect to free agents,” said Clark. Clark on A-Rod Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez wont play in 2014, suspended for his role in the Biogenesis performance enhancing drug scandal. Rodriguez has since dropped a lawsuit which named, among others, the Major League Baseball Players Association. Clark says if A-Rod is playing in 2015, hell be welcomed back into the union he briefly considered taking to court. “Over the course of 140 years there have been, I believe, a little less than 20-thousand players who have ever worn a major league uniform for one day,” said Clark. “If you have worn a major league uniform for one day then you are part of that fraternity. There are guys that make decisions that guys dont appreciate, that guys dont like, but after Alex serves his suspension he will come back as a member of that fraternity and we expect to see him in 2015.” Clark on an openly gay player Jason Collins is back in the NBA, making history on Sunday night as the first openly gay athlete in the leagues history. Michael Sam appears poised to become the first openly gay player in the NFL. Is baseball ready for such a scenario? “I dont see it being an issue,” said Clark. “Our locker rooms are more diverse than most and as youve heard with a lot of the leagues, whether its the NFL or any other place, inevitably its going to come down to can you help us win ballgames?” Pitching Schedule Manager John Gibbons has drawn up his pitching schedule for the first five Grapefruit League games. Here it is: Wednesday at Phillies: J.A. Happ (2 innings,) Todd Redmond (2,) Kyle Drabek (1-2,) Chad Jenkins (1,) Neil Wagner (1,) Mickey Storey (1.) Thursday vs. Phillies: R.A. Dickey (2,) Esmil Rogers (1,) Dustin McGowan (1,) Brett Cecil (1,) Aaron Loup (1,) Jeremy Jeffress (1,) Rob Rasmussen (1,) Marcus Walden (1.) Friday vs. Pirates: Mark Buehrle (1-2,) Brandon Morrow (1-2,) Steve Delabar (1,) Sergio Santos (1,) Liam Hendriks (1,) Sean Nolin (1,) Aaron Sanchez (1,) Juan Perez (1.) Saturday at Orioles: Drew Hutchison (2,) Ricky Romero (1-2,) Marcus Stroman (2,) Tomo Ohka (1-2,) Deck McGuire (1-2,) Mickey Storey (1.) Sunday vs. Yankees: Esmil Rogers (2,) Todd Redmond (1-2,) Brett Cecil (1,) Aaron Loup (1,) Jeremy Jeffress (1,) Chad Jenkins (1,) Neil Wagner (1,) Casey Janssen (1.) NOTE: Brandon Morrow experienced tightness in his calf on Monday. Gibbons says there is no concern the injury is serious and the plan is for Morrow to pitch on Friday. ' ' '