Anliegen » rs (7-5-3), who have at least one game in hand on

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Mike Trout has his first seven-figure contract. Up ahead is what figures to be a nine-figure deal. "It feels good," Trout said Wednesday after agreeing to a $1 million, one-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels. The salary is the highest for a one-year major league contract for a player not yet eligible for arbitration who wasnt coming to the big leagues from Japan or Cuba or wasnt required to have a larger amount because of the maximum cut rule. Ryan Howard earned $900,000 with Philadelphia in 2007 and Albert Pujols with St. Louis in 2003. Trout will become eligible for arbitration after this season and could become a free agent after the 2017 World Series. The sides are thought to be discussing an agreement through 2020 in the $150 million range. Trout wouldnt talk about the possibility of a multiyear contract. "I just go out there to play the game," he said. "If the money is where its at, thats where its going to be." By agreeing to a one-year contract now with the 22-year-old, the Angels avoid having a long-term deal count toward their 2014 luxury tax payroll. "Its a landmark to do a $1 million with a two-plus player," Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto said. "I think its fitting and Mikes earned that and were glad to provide that for him." Trout was voted AL Rookie of the Year and finished second in MVP voting in 2012, when he hit .326 with 30 homers and 83 RBIs, and led the majors with 129 runs and 49 steals. He was second again to Detroits Miguel Cabrera in MVP voting last year, when he batted .323 with a .432 on-base percentage, 27 homers, 97 RBIs and 33 steals. "We thought his performance was exceptional," Dipoto said. "There are players that force you to break rules. What he did for two consecutive years forced us to break our own rule. His performance certainly merited us to do differently than any of the others." Trout had a $482,500 salary as a rookie and earned a $10,000 bonus for winning Rookie of the Year. The Angels renewed his contract last year for $510,000 -- just $20,000 above the major league minimum at the time. "The Angels could have easily just done the same thing that they did last year," Trout said. "It makes you feel good inside. It makes you feel like they really want you here. It means a lot to me." NOTES: Because of the maximum cut rule, some players not eligible for arbitration have had higher salaries. Shortstop Jose Iglesias agreed to a deal with Detroit in January that pays $1.65 million while in the major leagues and $1,237,500 while in the minors. The major league base represents the maximum 20 per cent cut from the average of the $8.25 million, four-year deal he completed. Morten Andersen Youth Jersey . However, Jim Popp isnt sure how long hell be able to admire wide receiver Duron Carter. TreQuan Smith Youth Jersey . As if he had been rehearsing it, Vasquez looked around with a grimacing stare as he clinched two fists and flexed his muscles. What do you think of DeMar DeRozans face after he hits a big shot, he was asked moments earlier. http://www.shoptheofficialsaints.com/Elite-Ryan-Ramczyk-Saints-Jersey/ . THE MICHAEL JORDAN FLU GAME First this famous basketball moment. The story goes like this. “Game 5, known as "The Flu Game", was one of Michael Jordans most memorable. Marshon Lattimore Jersey . - Robert Griffin III has a sprained throwing shoulder that limited him in practice Wednesday as the Washington Redskins prepared for their season finale against the Dallas Cowboys. Michael Thomas Jersey . -- Canadas Justin Shin shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday on PGA Wests Nicklaus Tournament Course to take the first-round lead in the Web.While reading this week that two very good players - Lance Berkman and Michael Young - had decided to retire, I started to wonder about the perfect way to go out. Berkman and Young both could have kept on playing, but decided the time was right. Ive alway been fascinated by Ted Williams final at-bat for the Red Sox. He homered off Jack Fisher of the Orioles in the bottom of the 8th at Fenway Park on September 28, 1960. "The Spendid Splinter" trotted out to left field for the start of the 9th, whereby his manager Mike Higgins took him out of the game so he could get one last ovation from the fans in the Bosox final home game of the season. Boston rallied for two in the bottom of the 9th to win 5-4. Williams opted to retire immediately and did not go to New York for the final series of the season against the pennant-winning Yankees. So Williams, arguably the best hitter of all time, ended his career with a home run. What I was surprised to discover is this isnt nearly as rare as I thought it would be. Twenty-three American League players have homered in their final at-bat and 22 have done it in the National League. The last to do it was Jim Edmonds on September 21, 2010. A couple of others who accomplished the feat had Blue Jays connections. Wille Mays Aikens slugged his final homer in a Jays uniform on April 27, 1985, and Tony Kubek, star shortstop with the Yankees who later worked on Blue Jays telecasts, homered in his final big league at-bat on October 3, 1965. The saddest of all though was the home run hit by Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane on May 25, 1937 off the Yankees Bump Hadley. Next time up in the game, Hadley nailed the Tigers player-manager in the head with a pitch. His skull was fractured, and it was weeks before Cochrane recovered. He never played again so for the record, his final official at-bat was also a home run. Mickey - for whom Mickey Mantle was named - returned and finished out the 1937 season as manager only of the Tigers before calling it quits at the end of that season. Cochranes .320 career batting average for a catcher was the all-time record, until the Twins Joe Mauer broke it in 2009. Hitting a home run in your first Major League at-bat is far more common. It has been accomplished 113 times - 47 in the American League and 66 in the National. Twenty-eight were hit on the very first pitch the batter saw. Four were grand slams and 19 of those who homered in their first Major League at-bats never hit another one in their entire careers. Three Blue Jays homered in their first at-bats. Al Woods hit a pinch homer in the Blue Jays first-ever game on April 7, 1977. Junior Felix followed that up nearly a dozen years later on May 4, 1989. J.P. Arencibia, the last in the trio, did it more than 11 years after Felix on August 7, 2010. All three homered on the first pitches they saw. This is the real rarity though, and I didnt even realize it had ever happened before. There are actually two players inn Major League history who slugged homers in their first and last Major League at-bats.dddddddddddd John Miller, a journeyman first baseman who later played five years in Japan, played parts of two seasons in the Majors back in the 60s. His first was with the Yankees where he hit a homer in his first Major League at-bat and then on September 23, 1969, he connected in his final Major League at-bat for the Dodgers. Oddly enough these were also his only two Major League homers. The first to accomplish the feat was a catcher by the name of Paul Gillespie who was a back-up catcher with the Chicago Cubs during the Second World War in 1942, 44 and 45. He connected for his first in 1942 and then belted his final home run in his final regular season at-bat on September 29, 1945. If you want to add a caveat to Gillespies mark, he did play in the World Series for the Cubs in 1945 - their last World Series appearance - and went hitless in the three games he played. I started with Ted Williams, so let me add this personal footnote. Im not old enough to have seen Ted Williams play in person, however there is a bit of a connection. The first Major League game(s) I ever saw was a doubleheader at old Tiger Stadium in August of 1968 against the Chicago White Sox. Pitching for Chicago in that first game was the man who gave up that final home run to Williams, Jack Fisher. He was nearing the end of his career which would wind up the following season in Cincinnati. This particular night in Detroit wasnt good for Fisher. He only lasted four innings and wound up taking the loss. Strangely enough he gave up a home run to the Tigers Gates Brown. Brown, a veteran by this time, is one of the 47 American Leaguers to homer in their first bat and so it comes full circle. Dud of a Deal Michael Youngs retirement re-ignites the debate over the worst trade in Blue Jays history. This one just might be it. The Jays sent third base prospect Young to Texas along with swing reliever Darwin Cubillan for right-hander Esteban Loaiza. Esteban was supposed to help round out the rotation when he was picked up on July 17, 2000 for a Blue Jays playoff push under manager Jim Fregosi. Instead Loaiza went 5-7 the rest of the way and was basically a non-factor. Adding on the next two seasons with the Jays, he went 25-28 with a 4.96 ERA. Then in 1993, he had the best year of career after signing with the White Sox, winning 21 games and coming close to winning the Cy Young Award. Young, meanwhile, played 14 seasons, was versatile enough to play all four infield positions and wound up with a career .300 batting average. Hes not a Hall of Famer by any means but was a classy talented player who would have been of far greater value to the Blue Jays than Loaiza was. Michael Youngs best friend in his early years in the Jays organiztion was Vernon Wells. Still not sure yet if Vernon is going to try to play out the final year of his contract or like Young, call it a career. ' ' '