Granderson posted a collective 105 wRC+ with the Mets and the Dodgers, but his time in Los Angeles during the stretch run was debacle (-0.2 fWAR). Still, the Blue Jays gambled that Granderson at $5 million was better than whatever Jose Bautista was looking for (assuming there was any modicum of interest in Bautista).

Lucroy was once one of the premier catcher’s in the game. As with other backstops, Lucroy’s ability to stay atop his game as he aged (he turns 32 in June) became harder and harder. Despite a lackluster 2017 season, Lucroy secured a decent one-year deal from the Athletics, which is mostly paying off thus far, especially behind the dish.

Lucroy has yet to homer this season, but owns a .267/.331/.343 slash line with a 91 wRC+ and 0.6 fWAR, which is worth $5.4 million. All of Lucroy’s positive WAR value comes from his performance behind the plate where he has glowing defensive metrics.

But as Boldin said in his video, There are a lot of people out there like Ms. Johnson that should be pardoned that don’t know a celebrity or a NFL player.

A handful of pardons will not address the sort of systemic injustice that N.F.L. players have been protesting, the letter to the New York Times read. These are problems that our government has created, many of which occur at the local level. If President Trump thinks he can end these injustices if we deliver him a few names, he hasn’t been listening to us.

As Americans, it is our constitutional right to question injustices when they occur, and we see them daily: police brutality, unnecessary incarceration, excessive criminal sentencing, residential segregation and educational inequality. The United States effectively uses prison to treat addiction, and you could argue it is also our largest mental-health provider. Law enforcement has a responsibility to serve its communities, yet this responsibility has too often not met basic standards of accountability.

Carson Wentz ‘s rehab continues to be on the fast track.

Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson said Wednesday that Wentz has been cleared for 7-on-7 work this week at organized team activities.

Boasting a pair of new quarterbacks, a diverse backfield and a deeper wide receiver corps, the Browns ‘ offense should be among the NFL’s most improved.

The tight end group is even more unproven in the wake of Witten’s surprising late-April retirement. Fourth-year veteran Geoff Swaim is the elder statesman of the group now but has nine career catches. Rookie Dalton Schultz or 2017 seventh-round pick Blake Jarwin, who played in just one game as a rookie and had no catches, could ultimately wind up as the team’s starter by September.

All of the change in the passing game has yielded some ugly stretches during these offseason practices. But Frederick, a four-time Pro Bowler who has started every game since he was drafted in the first round in 2013, sees opportunity amid the shift. Frederick said that right now, and during next week’s mandatory minicamp, the Cowboys are hoping to get a sense for what works and what doesn’t before training camp in late July.

Miller, 33, joined the Bears in 2015. Under the so-called split contract with the Bears, he’ll earn $458,000 for 2018, whether he plays or not.

If he somehow is able to play, he would make $790,000 in 2018.

It’s a class move by the Bears, who otherwise wouldn’t have owed Miller a dime, since his contract expired after the 2017 season. And it sends a message to the locker room that the Bears don’t automatically regard players as nameless, faceless, fungible commodities who come and go on a constant basis, and who get nothing more than what the CBA entitles them to.

Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has reportedly been preparing federal legislation to enact legalized sports gambling.

(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) More The NFL has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons recently, thanks to the ongoing furor over its new anthem policy and President Donald Trump’s insistence on taking shots whenever his mood suits him, and the last thing the it needs is to evoke a game-fixing scandal — like something you might see in Europe — by rushing to capitalize off sports betting profits without first putting the proper protections for its teams, players and fans in place.

He’s still trying to learn the footwork and where we want to go with the ball, Marrone said. You’re going to see players that right now are going to make mistakes for not being in this type of environment before — as long as you see what you see, which is players learning from those mistakes and getting better as you go.

The topics ranged from the important to the amusing, including the story behind my favorite photo of Pereira, who is seen on the wrong end of the Wrath of Tuna.

Every minutes of the interview is worth your time. You’ll be entertained, you’ll learn some things, and you’ll emerge with a better understanding of the challenges that officials face.

You’ll also learn about Battlefields2Ballfields, a foundation started by Mike and his wife to help veterans transition from the military to civilian life by getting them involved in officiating. You can (should) make a contribution here, and you also can help the effort by thinking of a veteran you know who may benefit from the program.

Berry reports he’s healthy and feeling good after spending 2017 trying to help the Chiefs in other ways than making tackles and intercepting passes.

You can make an impact even when you’re not playing, Berry said. You can still be in-tune to the game plan and in-tune to the situations that are happening. I have a lot of experience now, this is my ninth year. There are a lot of guys that are younger than me that can learn from what I know.

So, even with the young guys, I just keep spilling in knowledge to them because I know it’s going to help us as a team.

Berry has made the Pro Bowl every healthy year of his career.

Every time has been a D-lineman or a linebacker head first, Foster said, via Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Last year when we played the Patriots, 52 [linebacker Elandon Roberts], the same thing, head first. He’s a heady guy. I hate heady guys.

So Foster welcomes the new rule with open arms, and non-lowered helmet.