lucylily's blog: "ght"

BOSTON -- David Ortiz is set to make his return for the Boston Red Sox following an eight-month layoff. Ortiz was in the batting order to hit cleanup and be the designated hitter in Saturdays game against the Kansas City Royals. The 37-year-old was activated from the disabled list Friday. Ortiz injured his right Achilles tendon running the bases on July 17 and appeared just once in Bostons final 72 games, going 2 for 3 against the Royals on Aug. 24. Ortiz was bothered by inflammation in both heels during spring training, and he went 4 for 18 (.222) with a home run during a six-game injury rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket from April 11-18. www.nflbrownsteameshop.com/Elite-Ahtyba-Rubin-Kids-Jersey/ . Ben Revere and Denard Span can still put on quite the skills competition. www.nflbrownsteameshop.com/Elite-Joe-Haden-Kids-Jersey/ . Yankees manager Joe Girardi expects leadoff hitter Brett Gardner will be out for a lengthy stretch and possibly the rest of the regular season. http://www.nflbrownsteameshop.com/Elite-Billy-Winn-Kids-Jersey/ . -- Phoenix Coyotes coach Dave Tippett knew it only was a matter of time before Steve Sullivan scored again.www.nflbrownsteameshop.com/Elite-Brian-Hoyer-Kids-Jersey/ . -- A finger blister, not the Kansas City Royals, knocked Tampa Bay rookie Alex Cobb out of the game Sunday. www.nflbrownsteameshop.com/Elite-Jason-Campbell-Kids-Jersey/ .J. Pierzynski on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left oblique muscle.ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Change is clearly afoot in the NHL. It was only a year ago that the salary cap appeared to have killed the trade market. Impact players were available during the off-season, but there simply werent any teams willing or able to take on the contracts. That ceased being the case during an interesting few days at the NHL draft. With the 2011-12 salary cap getting bumped by another US$5 million -- bringing the floor up along with it -- the trade market came alive and saw players once thought to be unmovable getting shipped around. It could also have an affect on how free agency plays out this week. "Its an unusual landscape right now," Phoenix Coyotes GM Don Maloney said Saturday at Xcel Energy Center. "Quite frankly, Im not sure whats going to happen July 1. It might just go berserk and the people who have money just blow their brains out." The spenders this off-season arent only limited to the teams traditionally right at the top of the cap. Florida still needs to add in the neighbourhood of $25 million to reach the $48.3-million salary floor -- even after acquiring Brian Campbell and his $7.142-million annual salary from Chicago. Panthers GM Dale Tallon signed the defenceman to that massive contract while working for the Blackhawks and believes the addition will make his team better. Interestingly, he doesnt think that will be the case for all the moves hell have to make this summer. "The floor is going to get in the way of us trying to become a good team," said Tallon. "The focus is not the floor, the focus is to become a really good team as quickly as possible without jeopardizing our future. The floor is going to accidentally get in the way. "Thats the way Im looking at it -- Im not doing this (Campbell trade) to get to the floor, Im doing this to become a good team. Period." There are 18 teams currently sitting below the cap floor, according to capgeek.com, although a number of them will move above it once they sign the restricted free agents on their roster. Even still, there is clearly the need for some to take on payroll. Campbells deal still has five years remaining on it and would have been virtually untradeable prior to now. With the market shifting, could the likes of Wade Redden, Jeff Finger or Sheldon Souray find NHL homes after being buried in the minors? Its not unthinkable. After a couple seasons where trades seemed near impossible to make because of salary cap constraints, teams seem to be finding more common ground. Enough are looking to gain flexibility by unloading big-ticket assets (Calgary, Chicago) while others are more than willing to take on the talent. Thats the case even when the talent comes with serious commitment, as evidenced by the Kings acquisition of Mike Richards (owed $51.6 million over nine years) and the Blue Jackets acquisition off Jeff Carter (owed $58 million over 11 years).dddddddddddd Both came from Philadelphia -- where GM Paul Holmgren is trying to shake up his team -- and figured to be Flyers for life with no-trade clauses set to kick in next summer. Clearly, pricey long-term deals arent as scary as they once were. "Other teams know what theyre getting," said Pittsburgh Penguins player development coach Bill Guerin. "They know what theyre getting not in just the player, but theyre signed. Theyre not going to have to deal with a UFA, its right there in front of him. "L.A. knows that Mike Richards has nine years left on this (deal) -- they want him and theyre happy to pay him that." Even a no-trade clause doesnt stand as a barrier to a move. Two of the players dealt in recent days had to sign off on a trade that they didnt necessarily want to be part of. In Robyn Regehrs case, he originally declined a move from Calgary to Buffalo before reconsidering. He spoke with Sabres owner Terry Pegula and was convinced to waive his no-trade. Pegula even went so far as to personally visit Regehr in Prince Albert, Sask. The Flames were so desperate to gain flexibility that they were willing to part with a player who appeared in 827 games for them. "Its the toughest thing that you do," Calgary GM Jay Feaster said of asking Regehr to waive his no-trade clause. "I went through it in Tampa with Brad Richards and I mean there was a guy that won a Stanley Cup for us. When you have a warrior like Robyn is, a guy who has been there as long as hes been there and has done as much for the franchise as he has, thats a very very difficult phone call to make. "Its a difficult discussion to have." Its particularly tough when a player gave a hometown discount on his contract before finding out hed be spending some -- or all of it -- in a new home. That is arguably the case for Richards, Carter and Regehr. Some teams have found success in the salary cap era by getting their top players to take slightly less money, forcing everyone else to fall in line on an internal scale. The Vancouver Canucks are a good example of that with twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin leading the way at a reasonable cap hit of $6.1 million. It should result in more loyalty. "We feel that we have a covenant with these players in a sense that if theyre willing to take less money to play in our organization we agree that were going to keep them," said Canucks assistant GM Laurence Gilman. "Having said that, things change. Sometimes they change from the players perspective as well as the teams. "Coaches change, sometimes philosophys change and when a player and a team make a deal at one point in time it may be different two, three, four, five years later. Its a very fluid business." That seems true now more than ever. ' ' '