The Water Cooler

Still many questions about Yankees

Seeded on Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:26 PM EST (NBC Sports)

Blyleven: The Yankees have doled out $423 million this offseason on free agents CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett. Tons of money well spent? Maybe, but coughing up all the cash does not make manager Joe Girardi's club a lock to make the playoffs.

sports, yankees, baseball, bert-blyleven, hot-stove

Selig pushes for earlier World Series start times

Seeded on Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:08 PM EST (NBC Sports)

Seeded by Bob Harkins

Baseball owners met with Fox Sports president Ed Goren, and commissioner Bud Selig pressed for earlier start times for World Series games, which usually begin at around 8:30 p.m. EDT.

sports, baseball, world-series, bud-selig

Red Sox get creative with free agent dollars

Seeded on Thu Jan 15, 2009 5:53 PM EST (NBC Sports)

Seeded by Bob Harkins

Creative Red Sox GM Theo Epstein has added John Smoltz, Brad Penny, Takashi Saito, Rocco Baldelli and Josh Bard. That's a lot of potential production for about the cost of one season of Mark Teixeira. And it's not as if the Red Sox needed any major retooling.

sports, red-sox, baseball, john-smoltz, hot-stove

Cowboys might release Terrell Owens

Seeded on Wed Jan 14, 2009 9:57 PM EST (NBC Sports)

Seeded by Bob Harkins

Concerned about team chemistry more than their talent level, the Dallas Cowboys are considering releasing receiver Terrell Owens, according to a report on Wednesday night.

nfl, sports, dallas-cowboys, terrell-owens

117

Tussling coaches hurt in fall from 4th-story window

Seeded on Tue Jan 13, 2009 8:53 PM EST (NBC Sports)

Seeded by Bob Harkins

Two assistant coaches apparently wrestling with each other fell through a hotel window Tuesday morning and fell four stories to a concrete sidewalk, leaving one in serious condition.

football, sports, college

McGwire getting raw deal from Hall of Fame voters

Seeded on Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:57 PM EST (msnbc.com)

Seeded by Bob Harkins

Mark McGwire is a Hall of Famer. Today, tomorrow, forever.

sports, baseball, hall-of-fame, mark-mcgwire, ted-robinson

These super six deserve Hall of Fame nod

Seeded on Thu Jan 8, 2009 8:09 PM EST (NBC Sports)

Seeded by Bob Harkins

The only mystery left to Rickey Henderson's Hall of Fame candidacy is how close he'll come to going in unanimously. His set of base-stealing and leadoff-hitter accomplishments makes him that much of a first-ballot lock. A 90-to-95 percent approval rate seems likely.

sports, baseball, hall-of-fame

Smoltz on verge of joining Red Sox

Seeded on Thu Jan 8, 2009 1:03 AM EST (NBC Sports)

Seeded by Bob Harkins

The Boston Red Sox are reportedly on the verge of signing a sixth starter: John Smoltz.

sports, baseball, boston-red-sox, john-smoltz, hot-stove

Dodgers offer Trevor Hoffman 1-year deal

Seeded on Wed Jan 7, 2009 9:53 PM EST (The L.A. Times)

Seeded by Bob Harkins

The ninth inning at Dodger Stadium could be Trevor Time this year. As the San Francisco Giants consider trumping the Dodgers' offer to Manny Ramirez, the Dodgers have offered all-time save leader Trevor Hoffman a one-year contract to be their closer.

sports, baseball, los-angeles-dodgers, trevor-hoffman, hot-stove