Forum » next-to-last in runs scored in 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. - With no picks in this years NBA draft, the Portland Trail Blazers still made news in offering All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge a maximum contract extension. The offer was confirmed Thursday by a person close to the negotiations who could not comment publicly because the team had not formally announced it. The offer, made to Aldridges representatives last week, was first reported by Yahoo! Sports. Aldridge, in the fifth and final year of a $65 million contract, is set to become a free agent next summer. The Blazers hope to lure him to stay with a five-year, $108 million extension. Aldridge averaged a career-best 23.2 points and 11.1 rebounds last season for the Blazers, who went 54-28 and advanced to the Western Conference semifinals before losing to eventual NBA champion San Antonio. The move does not come as a surprise after general manager Neil Olshey emphasized the importance of getting the deal with Aldridge done. "The most important thing is everybody, including LaMarcus, knows hes the number one priority in the organization right now," Olshey said when the season ended. There was talk last summer that Aldridge was interested in entertaining other offers, but as the season drew to a close he said several times that he was happy in Portland. The Blazers have been known in recent years to pull off draft night surprises, but the team was quiet with no picks this season. It was the third time that the Blazers had gone without a selection, but first since 1999. The team surrendered its picks in this years draft because of earlier trades. The No. 24 overall pick went to the Charlotte Hornets as part of a 2011 trade that brought Gerald Wallace to Portland. The No. 56 pick went to the Denver Nuggets in the 2011 trade that sent Andre Miller to the Nuggets. Fake Balenciaga From China . Subway workers in Rio de Janeiro, meanwhile, were holding an assembly to vote on whether they would strike to demand higher wages, threatening to disrupt transportation. By late Tuesday night there was no announcement of their decision. Balenciaga Shoes Sale . Ontario Superior Court Case Management Master Ronald Dash released the decision on Monday, saying John McCaw Jr. must testify in front of a jury by live video conference. Moores lawyer, Tim Danson, asked the court to compel McCaw - who is based in Seattle - to testify in the case back on February 27. https://www.fakebalenciaga.com/.com) - Eric Fehr and Marcus Johansson each registered a pair of goals, as Washington spoiled the head coaching debut of Peter Horachek by picking up a 6-2 victory in Toronto on Wednesday. Fake Balenciaga . Lineup news, Fantasy and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES St. Louis Blues – After rolling the San Jose Sharks for seven goals, for the second time in a week, the Blues have a bunch of players on hot streaks. Fake Balenciaga Shoes . LaQuinton Ross scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half, hitting his first four 3-pointers, to send No.ATLANTA - The Atlanta Braves are clearly rebuilding.The guy responsible for their overhaul insisted Thursday they can still be a contender.Long one of baseballs most consistent franchises, the Braves have dealt away three of their top hitters — Justin Upton, Jason Heyward and Evan Gattis — and received only one player assured of being in the majors next season, pitcher Shelby Miller.President of baseball operations John Hart acknowledged that the Braves made all the trades with an eye toward their long-term future. Yet, in a city that has endured only three losing seasons in the last 24 years, the deals have caused major consternation among the fan base, with many complaining that the team has given up on the next two seasons and is more concerned about being competitive when it moves into a new suburban stadium in 2017.Not so, Hart told The Associated Press.We may not be the prettiest girl at the dance, he said in a telephone interview, but were going to be a lot of fun to dance with.On Wednesday, Hart dealt the power-hitting Gattis and a minor-leaguer to the Houston Astros for three prospects. Already this winter, the Braves got four prospects from San Diego Padres in exchange for Upton, while Heyward and reliever Jordan Walden were sent to the St. Louis Cardinals for Miller and another pitching prospect.Hart, who took over the de factor general manager role after Frank Wren was fired with a week to go in a disappointing 2014 season, said it was imperative that the Braves moved boldly to get something in return for players such as Upton and Heyward, who were entering the final year of their contracts, and bolstered a depleted farm system that ranked among the worst in the game.Gattis wasnt a contract issue — hes still got four more years before hes eligible to become a free agent — but Hart said the Braves determined he wasnt a viable full-time player at either catcher or as Uptons replacement in left field because of defensive limitations.A Texas native, Gattis said he was glad to be heading to a team that seems to have higher goals than the Braves.It seems like they are going into rebuilding mode, he said Thursday. Im excited to be on a team that is looking to win — this next yeear, immediately.dddddddddddd Thats a really good situation for me.Those words must be stinging to a franchise that won a record 14 straight division titles from 1991-2005, and captured the NL East title just two years ago. Under former owner Ted Turner, the team was able to spend freely to fill whatever need it had. The current owner, Liberty Media Corp., has imposed much tougher salary constraints.It was highly unlikely that either Heyward or Upton would have re-signed with the Braves after the 2015 season, especially with the team still saddled with three more years on B.J. Uptons $75.25 million contract. He has been one of the biggest free-agent busts in baseball history, and theres little hope of team dumping his contract unless he has a major turnaround this season. The team also owes another $13 million to second baseman Dan Uggla, who was released by the team last season.We realized we couldnt fix everything, Hart said. That gave us sort of a road map for what we wanted to do this winter.The team picked up two of Houstons top-ranked prospects, right-handed pitcher Mike Foltynewicz and third baseman Rio Ruiz. The trade with the Padres brought prized left-handed pitcher Max Fried, a former first-round pick coming off Tommy John surgery. The deal with the Cardinals included right-handed pitcher Tyrell Jenkins, who is now listed among the Braves top prospects in the latest rankings by Baseball America.Hart said there could be some minor tinkering before the start of spring training, but no other major deals are expected. He said its likely the Braves will do a lot more platooning this season and look to be more creative in scoring runs, rather than relying mainly on the long ball.Even with Justin Upton, Heyward and Gattis, the Braves still ranked next-to-last in runs scored in 2014. The offensive woes led to a late-season collapse that resulted in a 79-83 record, 17 games behind NL East-winning Washington.Look, we werent going to be favoured even if we kept everybody and added two pitchers, Hart said. But I think the future is significantly brighter because of what we were able to do this winter.___Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 ' ' '