Boston Red Sox GM Ben Cherington is really trying hard to avoid having any case go to arbitration. If he succeeds, he’ll keep up the legacy that former GM Theo Epstein left him with.

Going into Wednesday, Cherington only had to sign Alfredo Aceves, Andrew Bailey and David Ortiz. Now, we can narrow that list down to two players, Aceves and Big Papi.

According to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, the Red Sox and Bailey came to terms on a one-year, $3.9 million deal. Bailey had requested $4.7 million while the Red Sox were offering $3.35 million.

Here’s the full release from the Red Sox:

BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox today agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher Andrew Bailey on a one-year, non-guaranteed contract for the 2012 season, thus avoiding salary arbitration.  Terms were not disclosed.

The announcement was made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Ben Cherington.      

Bailey was acquired by Boston from Oakland on December 28, 2011.  The 27-year-old right-hander converted 24 of 26 save opportunities (92.3 percent) for the A’s in 2011, the second-highest success rate among American League closers.  He posted a 3.24 ERA (15 ER/41.2 IP) in 42 relief appearances overall with Oakland last season, compiling 41 strikeouts compared to 12 walks while holding opponents to a .218 average (34-for-156).    

Selected by the A’s in the sixth round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, Bailey has converted 75 of 84 (89.3) save opportunities while posting a 2.07 ERA (40 ER/174.0 IP) in three Major League seasons from 2009-11, the third-highest save percentage in the American League in that time (min. 40 chances) and second-lowest ERA among relievers (min. 125.0 innings).     

With today’s agreement, designated hitter David Ortiz and right-handed pitcher Alfredo Aceves are the only remaining unsigned Red Sox players eligible for salary arbitration.

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When you play against the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team, you need to give it your all for 40 minutes. Anything less isn’t going to cut it because you know their going to go on one of their patented runs.

Trailing by just seven points at halftime, the Syracuse Orange found that out on Wednesday night.

Behind a 55 point second half and 35 points from senior Tiffany Hayes, the Huskies were able to turn a close game into a 95-54 blowout win over the Orange in front of a women’s basketball record crowd of 4,357 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY.

With the win, UConn improves 18-2 (7-1 Big East). The Orange fall to 13-8 (2-5).

Hayes probably thought the basket was about 10 times bigger than it was as it seemed like everything she threw up at the basket went in. She got her 35 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc. She was also a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line and pulled down seven rebounds.

Making her first career start in place of the injured Caroline Doty, freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis responded with a nice game of her own. She had 19 points, a team-high eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Bria Hartley added 18 points, three rebounds and seven assists.

With Stefanie Dolson battling foul trouble in the first half, Kiah Stokes had another great game as she chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds. For good measure despite only scoring two points, Kelly Faris also pulled down seven boards.

Iasia Hemingway led the Orange with 15 points and five assists while grabbing five rebounds. Carmen Tyson-Thomas was the only other member of Syracuse in double digits with 11 points. Shakeya Leary led the Orange with eight rebounds to go along with her six points.

After Hayes got the Huskies going just 24 seconds into the game with a basket, they went cold. And during that time, the Orange was able to build a little bit of a lead. Early on, it was as high as five at 9-4 before they increased to six at 14-8. Hartley would cut the lead to three before the Orange increased their lead to 18-11.

But as we’ve come to expect, the Huskies bounced back with a 9-0 run to take a two point lead. The two teams would exchange baskets but with the scored tied at 24, UConn used a 6-0 run to open up their lead. They would build that lead to 12 points at 40-28 before the Orange came back with the final five points of the first half.

UConn’s big run didn’t come in the first half though, it came at the start of the second half.

The Huskies opened up the second half with a 22-5 run behind Hayes, Hartley and KML. From there, the lead just continued to grow and grow until the final whistle.

UConn will be back in action on Saturday afternoon as they’ll host the South Florida Bulls at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. Tip is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the game will be televised locally in Connecticut on CPTV.

To continue reading the UConn Huskies @ Syracuse Orange recap, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Notes and musings:

UConn Huskies @ Syracuse Orange 1.25.12 box score

In case you missed it, here are the new UConn women’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms that they’ll wear on February 27th against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The crowd of 4,357 was the biggest crowd ever to see a women’s basketball at the Carrier Dome. Included in that crowd was UConn committ Breana Stewart who hails from the Syracuse area.

For the first time all season, due to the injury to Caroline Doty, the Huskies had a different starting lineup. The starters were Bria Hartley, Tiffany Hayes, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Kelly Faris and Stefanie Dolson.

UConn shot 51.5% (34-66) from the floor while the Orange shot 30.6% (19-62).

The Huskies had 21 assists on their 34 made baskets.

UConn was shot 48% (12-25) from beyond the arc. Syracuse was just 4-of-14 (28.6%).

The Huskies went 15-of-17 from the charity stripe (88.2%).

UConn won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Orange 45-34.

The Huskies outscored Syracuse 32-24 in the paint and 21-6 on the fast break.

UConn had 24 points off of 17 Orange turnovers. Syracuse had 10 points off of 13 Huskies turnovers.

Syracuse had 15 second chance points to 14 for the Huskies.

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Photo credit: Lauren Mackson – US Presswire (No. 15 in gallery)

As I stated a few posts ago, I had the pleasure of attending the release event held by Nike for their new Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms.

There are eight schools, nine teams that are considered Hyper Elite. The UConn Huskies are the only school that are represented by both their men’s and women’s basketball programs.

The others are the Arizona Wildcats, Duke Blue Devils, Florida Gators, Kentucky Wildcats, North Carolina Tar Heels and the Syracuse Orange. The Baylor Lady Bears are the only other women’s team represented.

All of these schools are currently wearing the Hyper Elite uniforms from Nike. But for one game this season, they will be wearing the new Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms. Besides the uniforms, they’ll be sporting Nike Zoom Hyperenforcer shoes and Nike Hyper Elite warmups.

In an era where we are environmentally conscious, Nike is doing their part as well.

Each of the uniforms are made from the equivalent of 24 recycled plastic bottles (15 for the tops, nine for the shorts) that are converted into polyester. The uniforms are also much lighter than the current Hyper Elite uniforms that they are wearing now. They also made some changes on the “sweatback” which is now extended over the whole backside of the uniform which is different than their current Hyper Elite uniforms as well.

click on image to see full size

The UConn women will be wearing their new Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms on Monday, February 27th, when they host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

I know some people aren’t going to like the red in the uniform. We do have to remember one thing.

Nike had to design two different uniforms for UConn because of the women’s and men’s basketball teams being represented. If you know what the UConn women’s logo looks like, you’ll know it has some red in it. So that’s what Nike went with.

Honestly, the pictures don’t do the red justice. We were able to see all of the uniforms on the models at the event and the UConn women’s uniform looks great on. Hopefully people will see that when they wear them.

Ironically enough, when all of the nine teams wear their new Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms (thanks to Sean from Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, who also attended, for that fact), they will be doing so against other manufacturers.

I can’t thank Nike Basketball enough for inviting me to the event and giving me the opportunity to be one of the first people to see the new uniforms.

For your full look at the UConn Huskies women’s basketball Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms, please click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

UConn Women’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniform

Back of UConn Women’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniform

UConn Women’s Nike Hyper Elite Warmup top

UConn Huskies Women’s Nike Zoom Hyperenforcer

Side of UConn Women’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum shorts

Neck Detail of UConn Women’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniform

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

As I stated in the last post, I had the pleasure of attending the release event held by Nike for their new Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms. 

There are eight schools, nine teams that are considered Hyper Elite. The UConn Huskies are the only school that are represented by both their men’s and women’s basketball programs.

The others are the Arizona Wildcats, Duke Blue Devils, Florida Gators, Kentucky Wildcats, North Carolina Tar Heels and the Syracuse Orange. The Baylor Lady Bears are the only other women’s team represented.

All of these schools are currently wearing the Hyper Elite uniforms from Nike. But for one game this season, they will be wearing the new Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms. Besides the uniforms, they’ll be sporting Nike Zoom Hyperenforcer shoes and Nike Hyper Elite warmups.

In an era where we are environmentally conscious, Nike is doing their part as well.

Each of the uniforms are made from the equivalent of 23 recycled plastic bottles (12 for the tops, 11 for the shorts) that are converted into polyester. The uniforms are also much lighter than the current Hyper Elite uniforms that they are wearing now. They also made some changes on the “sweatback” which is now extended over the whole backside of the uniform which is different than their current Hyper Elite uniforms as well.

click on image to see full size

I know there are a lot of purists out there who aren’t probably going to like the look of the uniforms. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure about them either at first especially because I thought the trim was black. And we all know that’s not one of UConn’s colors.

But after talking to Terry Teague, who is the Global Creative Director for Nike Basketball, they are not actually black but a very deep navy blue that looks black.

The UConn men will be the first of the nine teams to don the uniforms. They will be wearing them on Sunday, January 29th, against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Ironically enough, when all of the nine teams wear their new Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms (thanks to Sean from Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, who also attended, for that fact), they will be doing so against other manufacturers. And I can tell you that when you see the whole UConn’s men’s basketball team in the uniforms, they’re going to look very sharp.

I can’t thank Nike Basketball enough for inviting me to the event and giving me the opportunity to be one of the first people to see the new uniforms.

For your full look at the UConn Huskies men’s basketball Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms, please click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

UConn men’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniform


Back of UConn Huskies men’s basketball Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniform

UConn Men’s Nike Hyper Elite Warmup top

UConn Huskies men’s Nike Zoom Hyperenforcer

Side of UConn Men’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum shorts

Neck Detail of UConn Men’s Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniform

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

If you aren’t on Twitter or don’t follow me on Twitter, you weren’t among the first fans of the UConn Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams to see some special uniforms released by Nike today.

I had the pleasure of attending the release event for the Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms for college basketball in New York City this morning. There are eight schools, nine teams that will be wearing the special one-time uniforms.

UConn is only the school to have both their men’s and women’s basketball teams represented.

Here are the first pictures of the uniform from this morning that I posted on Twitter.

For those wondering when they’ll be worn, the UConn men will be wearing them this Sunday when they take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. The UConn women will be wearing their special uniforms on Monday, February 27th when they play Notre Dame as well.

In the coming posts, I will go into a little more detail about each of UConn’s teams separately.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Photo credit: Ian Bethune

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they are in Syracuse to take on the Orange at the Carrier Dome. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game can be seen locally in Connecticut on CPTV.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Syracuse game brings reunion with Stefanie Dolson’s high school rival [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Emptying The Mental Notebook [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Mosqueda-Lewis To Start For Huskies At Syracuse [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Women’s Basketball At Syracuse Wednesday At 7 p.m. [UConnHuskies.com]

Banks’ role increases for UConn women [CT Post]

With Doty Out, UConn Expects More From Mosqueda-Lewis And Banks [Hartford Courant]

Brianna Banks to play bigger role in Syracuse game [New Haven Register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Calhoun Starts New Autism Event [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Boatright Still in Limbo [Hartford Courant]

Jeremy Lamb seeks an answer for his ‘struggles’ [New Haven Register]

UConn Football links

Report: Penn State Joining UConn And Syracuse In Fight For Talented S Recruit Wayne Morgan [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

DC also answered a question in his mailbag [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

The University of Connecticut Welcomes Navy To The BIG EAST! [UConnHuskies.com]

DeGuglielmo hired as Jets line coach, worked at UConn [New Haven Register]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

With their former QB coach Joe Moorhead off to Fordham to be their new head coach, the UConn Huskies football team was without one. Now head coach Paul Pasqualoni has filled the position, hiring Shane Day to be the new QB coach.

Here’s the release from UConn:

STORRS, Conn. – Shane Day, who spent the past two years as the quarterbacks coach for the Chicago Bears, has been named to the same position at the University of Connecticut. Day is an 11-year veteran of the coaching profession – and has worked at all levels of football, including professional, high school and college.

As a member of the Bears’ staff, he helped led the team to the NFC North Division championship with a record of 11-5 and the team advanced to the NFC Championship game. He worked alongside offensive coordinator and former NFL head coach Mike Martz in Chicago.

Day joined the Chicago staff after spending the 2007-09 seasons as a quality control coach for the San Francisco 49ers under head coach as he worked with the offensive coaching staff in game planning and practice preparation. He worked with the quarterbacks in 2007, the running backs in 2008 and the offensive line 2009. He was part of the coaching staff for the 2008 Senior Bowl along with Martz.

Day was an offensive quality control coach for the University of Michigan in 2006 working with the quarterbacks. Among his duties in Ann Arbor were the evaluation of quarterback recruits and the development of the QBs already in the program. The Wolverines played in the 2007 Rose Bowl (a 32-18 loss to USC) while Day was part of the staff.

Day began his coaching career at Auburn (Wash.) Riverside High School, where he spent one season coaching the wide receivers (2001) and three overseeing the quarterbacks (2002-04), adding the duties of offensive coordinator during his final two years.

Day played collegiate football as a wide receiver at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., where he also lettered in baseball. He graduated from Kansas State in 1999 with a degree in English.

Day and his wife Christie are the parents of a newborn daughter, Vivienne.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Ruling expected soon on Ryan Boatright’s eligibility [CT Post]

Boatright’s Family Stands By UConn Guard [Hartford Courant]

Living in Fear of the N.C.A.A. [NY Times]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

An update on Moriah Jefferson [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

UConn’s Doty has bone bruise [CT Post]

Only A Bruise For Doty, But Still Being Careful [Hartford Courant]

Caroline Doty not expected to be sidelined for long [New Haven Register]

Forget rebuilding years, UConn women’s basketball team just reloads with top talent [The Post-Standard]

UConn Football links

Big East in the Super Bowl [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Here’s the release from the Boston Red Sox announcing their extension of their Player Development Contract with the Greenville Drive of the South Atlantic League.

The Boston Red Sox and Greenville (SC) Drive today announced the extension of their Player Development Contract (PDC) for an additional four years. The extension keeps the Red Sox South Atlantic League Single-A affiliate in Greenville through the 2016 season.

Red Sox Director of Player Development Ben Crockett and Drive Co-Owner/President Craig Brown made the announcement.

“As an organization, we truly value our relationship with the Drive and the City of Greenville, and we are excited to extend our affiliation for an additional four seasons,” said Crockett.  “Our minor league players benefit greatly from their experience with the Drive’s outstanding staff under the leadership of Craig Brown and Mike deMaine, as well as Greenville’s state-of-the-art ballpark and passionate fan base.”

The Red Sox originally entered into an agreement with the Drive when the franchise moved from Columbia, SC to Greenville for the 2005 season.  The PDC had since been extended twice, most recently for four years through 2012 prior to the 2008 season.

“This is a great day for the Greenville Drive and the entire Upstate of South Carolina,” said Brown. “The partnership we have forged with the Boston Red Sox is of enormous importance to us and the very talented Major League prospects that consistently play for the Drive at Fluor Field.  The true test of a world class organization is the delivery of sustained success over a period of time and the Red Sox have set the standard in this regard.  In the end, the success of an organization is the result of its people, and working with the Red Sox ownership group, Ben Cherington, Mike Hazen, Ben Crockett, the coaching staffs and entire the Red Sox organization has been a wonderful experience.  The Red Sox set the bar very high both on and off the field, which serves as an inspiration to our organization.  We are delighted to formally extend our relationship and look forward to the continued development of our partnership for many years to come.”

The Drive have compiled a winning record in five of seven years since becoming an affiliate of the Red Sox, including each of the last four seasons, and have made the playoffs twice in the last three years, reaching the South Atlantic League Championship Series in 2010.  Alumni who have recently appeared in the Majors with the Red Sox include Lars Anderson, Daniel Bard, Michael Bowden, Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront, Ryan Kalish and Ryan Lavarnway.  Greenville’s Fluor Field at the West End, which opened in 2006, is modeled after Fenway Park.

Greenville is one of Boston’s six minor league affiliates, joining Triple-A Pawtucket (International League), Double-A Portland (Eastern League), High-A Salem (Carolina League), Short-A Lowell (New York-Penn League) and Rookie Gulf Coast Red Sox (Gulf Coast League).

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine is scheduled as the featured guest at the Sixth Annual Greenville Drive Hot Stove Event tonight at the Huguenot Mill in Downtown Greenville, SC.

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With Carl Crawford possibly out for the beginning of the season and well, no sure thing in right field, the Boston Red Sox had a little bit of a conundrum as far as outfield depth.

But now, that doesn’t appear to be an issue.

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com and confirmed by Alex Speier of WEEI.com and Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston, the Red Sox have signed free agent outfielder Cody Ross to a one-year contract. Edes reports that the deal is worth $3 million plus performance incentives.

Ross spent last season with San Francisco Giants after joining them in late August of 2010 off of waivers from the Florida Marlins. He played an integral part in helping the Giants win the 2010 World Series over the Texas Rangers.

Before the signing of Ross, the Red Sox had only one starter from last year’s outfield, Jacoby Ellsbury, healthy. Ryan Sweeney, who came over in the trade with Andrew Bailey for Josh Reddick, along with Darnell McDonald and even possibly Mike Aviles, were also in the mix for some time in the outfield.

But it looks like the trade of Marco Scutaro to the Colorado Rockies did more than one thing. Obviously it freed up the payroll to sign Ross. But it also meant that Aviles probably wouldn’t be spending too much time in the outfield with him and Nick Punto as the obvious choices to play shortstop in 2012.

Now it looks like once Crawford is healthy and back patrolling the outfield, Sweeney and Ross will split time in the outfield. I’m guessing that new skipper Bobby Valentine will use Sweeney against righties (he bats lefty) and Ross against lefties (he bats righty). Where DMac figures in this is anyone’s guess but unless the Red Sox carry three catchers (highly unlikely), he’ll probably be the fifth outfielder again.

Ross is a career .261 hitter with a career OBP of .323 and OPS of .779. He plays a good outfield and unlike previous years past, he’ll get to learn how Fenway plays since the Red Sox’ new spring training home, Jet Blue Park, has the same exact field dimensions as the Fens.

Another good low cost option for new GM Ben Cherington. Now the question remains, does he have enough money to pursue a trade for another starting pitcher or even a free agent pitcher like Roy Oswalt.

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Photo credit: Getty Images