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BOSTON -- Jacoby Ellsbury went to the New York Yankees. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Free Shipping . Jarrod Saltalamacchia is gone, too. The Boston Red Sox began rebuilding for their World Series title defence Wednesday when they signed free agent catcher A.J. Pierzynski to a one-year contract. "Its not every day you get a chance to play for the defending World Series champions. Looking at what they have coming back, theres definitely a chance to do it again," Pierzynski said in a conference call with reporters. "It was a place that you always want to go to because they win and they try to win every year. When they called, it was hard to say no." A two-time All-Star, Pierzynski will take over for the switch-hitting Saltalamacchia, who agreed to a three-year, $21 million deal with the Miami Marlins on Tuesday at about the same time the Yankees pried Ellsbury away from their rivals with a seven-year, $153 million contract. "We wish Jacoby well," general manager Ben Cherington said. "He was obviously a real good player here. He was a big part of two World Series teams and we would have loved to keep him. But we felt that there was an area or range that we were willing to go to, and the market just went past that." The best candidate to replace Ellsbury in the Red Sox system is Jackie Bradley Jr., who batted .189 in 37 games in the majors last year and .275 with 10 homers in 80 games at Triple-A Pawtucket. Cherington said it was too early to say whether there would be other candidates brought in through free agency or trade. "We feel good about some of the in-house alternatives, and one of those is certainly Jackie Bradley," Cherington said. "We feel fortunate that Jackie is in our organization, and we will feel good that he is playing centre field, if thats the way it works out." Pierzynski, who has played for four teams over parts of 16 seasons, said he talked to several former teammates who were on the Red Sox this year, including David Ortiz, Matt Thornton and Jake Peavy. He also bumped into Mark Kotsay while on vacation in Hawaii. "They all said, If you get an opportunity to come, youve got to take it," Pierzynski said. "Every person I talked to has had a positive experience there. I was grateful that Ben reached out and gave me an opportunity." Saltalamacchia had been a solid catcher in Boston. But his last play in a Red Sox uniform was the ill-advised throw to third base that led to the obstruction call against Will Middlebrooks, which gave the St. Louis Cardinals a victory in Game 3 of the World Series. David Ross took over, and the Red Sox went on to win the Series in six games -- their third title in 10 years. Both catchers were also a big part of the clubhouse chemistry that was helped erase the stigma of the fried chicken and beer collapse of 2011. Pierzynski has a mixed reputation in baseball -- including a conflict with Peavy that the two say is long behind them -- but his own teammates usually defend him. "(He has) the reputation across the field of not being the best guy," Boston manager John Farrell said on WEEI-AM. "But there are guys you get that feel from across the field and then when they get in your dugout, you love him. He was on board with everything. The bottom line is he wants to do nothing more than one thing: win." Pierzynski, a left-handed hitter, and Ross, a righty, will both be 37 next season. The Red Sox have two catching prospects in the minor leagues, Christian Vazquez in Triple-A and Blake Swihart in Single-A. "What were looking at is a short-term situation that really points toward Vazquez and Swihart, that are coming," Farrell said. "That doesnt mean that in 2015 Vazquez is a starter, but it gives us the flexibility that if he makes another good step in the minors the next year, its the potential that a guy could step in." Cherington also said his goal was to make the 2014 team stronger without hindering flexibility in the future, an outlook that made a one-year deal for a veteran catcher more attractive than the three years Saltalamacchia got. "We really appreciate everything he did," Cherington said. "If reports are accurate, were happy for him that he gets a good deal. We wish him well, but we feel like A.J. is the right fit for us right now." Pierzynski batted .272 with 17 homers and 70 RBIs last season with Texas -- the 13th season in a row in which hes caught at least 110 games. In his career with the Twins, Giants, White Sox and Rangers, Pierzynski is a .283 hitter with 172 homers and 800 RBIs, with a .322 average in 33 games at Fenway Park. "The combination of A.J. and Ross will allow that to be a position of strength for us, as it was this year," Cherington said. Pierzynski has caught two no-hitters, including Philip Humbers perfect game April 21, 2012. He made the All-Star Game in 2002 and 06 and won the World Series with the White Sox in 2005. He has a .300 career average with five homers and 17 RBIs in the post-season. Wholesale NFL Jerseys China . Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas appeared to be on track to gain election from the Baseball Writers Association of America on Wednesday, and Craig Biggio could join them. Nike NFL Jerseys China . The top-ranked Spaniard won his fourth Madrid Open on Sunday after Kei Nishikori was forced to withdraw with a hip injury when trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the final. And Nadal, who is coming off to uncharacteristic quarterfinal losses on clay, said his mental strength is still lacking just two weeks ahead of the French Open. https://www.chinajerseysnfl.us/ . The R&A announced Monday that golfs oldest championship will return to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland for the first time since Max Faulkner won in 1951.RALEIGH, N.C. -- Jordan McRae flew in to throw down a dunk on the break and increase Tennessees big first-half lead, then came down the floor to scream triumphantly toward the orange-clad fans near the court. Confident? Check. Enthusiastic? Yep. Maybe playing in the First Four to get the jitters out wasnt such a bad thing for these Volunteers after all. Jarnell Stokes scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help Tennessee beat Massachusetts 86-67 on Friday in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional, earning the programs most lopsided win in the tournament in seven years. Now 11th-seeded Tennessee faces 14th-seeded Mercer, which beat No. 3 seed Duke 78-71 on Friday, in the third round on Sunday. The game is a rematch of an NIT game won by Mercer at Tennessee last year. "We didnt come into this tournament saying, OK, if we beat UMass we can play Duke. Not at all," Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin said. "Our guys understand that its one game at a time. Anything happens this time of year." McRae added 21 points for the Volunteers (23-12), who had little trouble with the sixth-seeded Minutemen (24-9) in a surprisingly one-sided performance. Tennessee shot 54 per cent from the field, led by 20 points before halftime and used another strong defensive performance to shut down UMass. "We just wanted to keep our foot on the gas the whole time," McRae said. With that mentality, Martins club is building momentum at the right time of the season. "They understand and I guess they realize when you defend at the level were capable of defending at, these are the results behind it," Martin said. "Theyve really bought into it and embraced the fact that we can defend the way we defend because you can still score the ball, but scoring is a lot better when you can defend like this. "Theyre just playing with confidence as a team. Everybody understands their role and just wants to win as a family." The Volunteers had missed the past two tournaments and squeaked into this years field of 68, earning a trip to Dayton, Ohio to face Iowa in the First Four. But they controlled the boards and dominated the overtime to beat the Hawkeyes 78-65 in the programs first NCAA game since Bruce Pearls final game as coach in 2011. Martin had said he thought the win helped his Vols get the jitters out -- they didnt score until 6 minutes into that one -- while also giving them a taste of tournament intensity by fighting through a tough game. Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap. He was right. Tennessee protected the ball against UMass pressure by committing three first-half turnovers, while Stokes and McRae led an offence that shot 52 per cent in the first half and kept coming up with press-breaking answers to turn away every spurt. "The Iowa game, we were just getting our feet wet, first time being here," said Jeronne Maymon, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Tennessee. "Then it was time to get down to playing basketball." This was Tennessees biggest margin of victory in an NCAA game since beating Long Beach State 121-86 in the 2007 first round, which came near the start of a six-year run of tournament appearances under Pearl. Stokes 14 rebounds tied the school record for an NCAA tournament game, equaling the mark set by Isiah Victor in 1999 and Reggie Johnson in 1980. Throw in Maymons performance, and it marked the first time the Vols had multiple double-doubles in an NCAA game since 1977. Chaz Williams and Maxie Esho scored 12 points each for UMass in its first NCAA appearance since 1998. But the Minutemen fell behind by double figures early, trailed by 19 at halftime and never got closer than 10 again. "We had a couple of great practices the past couple of days, and I felt like we were going to come out great," Williams said. "But once get under these lights and the crowd starts roaring, you start second-guessing." UMass came in averaging 76 points and shooting 46 per cent, but finished well short of those numbers with much of its production coming after the Vols had seized control. Tennessee led 38-18 on McRaes first-half dunk and pushed the lead to 24 points late. "This dont even seem real right now," said sophomore Derrick Gordon, the only UMass player to have tournament experience from his previous stop at Western Kentucky. "Its just a loss that just like, Man, am I still sleeping? Reality sets in, like we really just lost and it wasnt a loss by like four points. It was a loss by double digits." It was a frustrating finish for the Minutemen under coach Derek Kellogg, who was a player during Massachusetts 1990s surge under John Calipari. He started on a team that reached a regional final in 1995 during a run of seven straight NCAA appearances for the program, but his team never gave itself much of a chance to stick around Raleigh for another game. UMass shot 42 per cent and went 3 for 11 from 3-point range. ' ' '