01-18-2020, 06:10 AM
NEW YORK -- Rather than ban home plate collisions outright, Major League Baseball and its players adopted a rule limiting them this season. In what both sides said was a one-year experiment, the rule allows collisions if the catcher has the ball and is blocking the runners direct path to home plate, and if the catcher goes into the basepath to field a throw to the plate. "Its not a radical departure from what it had been," Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon said. The new rule, 7.13, states "a runner attempting to score may not deviate from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher (or other player covering home plate)." A runner violating the rule shall be declared out, even if the fielder drops the ball. "Its good, I think it takes away the malicious intent behind the play at the plate," Texas Rangers catcher J.P. Arencibia said. "Obviously the runner doesnt always have to slide, and the catcher still has the ability to block the plate once he has the ball in hand." Along with the rule, the sides agreed to a pair of comments umpires use for interpretation. The first comment says "the failure by the runner to make an effort to touch the plate, the runners lowering of the shoulder, or the runners pushing through with his hands, elbows or arms, would support a determination that the runner deviated from the pathway in order to initiate contact with the catcher in violation." The comment says players who slide appropriately are not in violation of the rule. The second comment says that "unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he is attempting to score." The runner shall be declared safe if the catcher violates that provision. In addition, it is not a violation "if the catcher blocks the pathway of the runner in order to field a throw, and the umpire determines that the catcher could not have fielded the ball without blocking the pathway of the runner and that contact with the runner was unavoidable." "There are some things that often times can make the water a little muddy," union head Tony Clark said after meeting with the New York Yankees. "Over the course of the off-season, the concern was protecting players, but trying to draw up something that not only made sense on paper, but also was going to make sense to the players that were playing on the field." The umpire crew chief can use the new video-review system to determine whether the rule was violated. "It stops guys just going out of their way just to try to dislodge the baseball when they (catchers) have the plate," Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington said. Debate over plate collisions has intensified since May 2011, when San Franciscos Buster Posey was injured as the Marlins Scott Cousins crashed into him at the plate. Posey, an All-Star catcher, sustained a broken bone in his lower left leg and three torn ligaments in his ankle, an injury that ended his season. In Game 5 of last years AL championship series, Detroit backstop Alex Avila was pulled a couple of innings after being run over at the plate by Bostons David Ross, a fellow catcher. "I think its fair. A runners path is to home plate," Oakland catcher Derek Norris said. "Any deviation and hes not trying to score, hes trying to harm. A runner going out of the basepath trying to break up a double play is declared out. This is the same concept as a double-play slide." Deivi Garcia Jersey . - The Clippers have signed guard Dahntay Jones to a second 10-day contract. Mike Mussina Jersey . PAUL, Minn. http://www.customyankeesjersey.com/custo...1724i.html. Brassard and Coyotes defenceman Derek Morris were battling for position in the crease when a nudge from Morris sent Brassard on top of Smith late in the third period. Miguel Andujar Jersey . - Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Jason Babin is now a free agent. Cheap Custom Yankees Jersey . - Regan Smith had the checkered flag in sight at Daytona a year ago and a freight train of cars in his rearview mirror.The NFL Combine wrapped up this week and the impact on the mock drafts and predictions around the league is already being felt. While some players merely solidified their standing on big boards and mock drafts, several others saw their Combine results either boost or drop their placing in the mind of scouts and general managers across the league. Some notes from the NFL Combine Two-Horse Race A look at the most recent batch of mock drafts has two players showing up more often than any others at the top spot. One wont surprise you – South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney – but one certainly could – UCF quarterback Blake Bortles. While questions about his work ethic may knock Clowney out of the top spot, his blistering 40-yard dash time (4.53) ensures that if he does fall, it wont be very far. Bortles meanwhile impressed both on the field and off. Almost all draftniks and experts consider the once unknown QB to be a legit top end prospect. Of the 15 expert mock drafts gathered for TSN.cas database, Bortles had the most first overall picks of any player. Quarterback Battle While mock drafters are slotting Bortles into the first pick (owned by the Houston Texans) more than any other quarterback, that doesnt necessarily mean hes viewed as the top quarterback. Of the 15 expert mock drafts culled by TSN.ca, Bortles had just the third highest average draft position. First was Texas A&Ms Johnny Manziel with an ADP of 3.1 followed by Louisvilles Teddy Bridgewater (3.9) and then Bortles at 4.7. Dont Forget Me While hes not in the same boat as Manziel, Bridgewater, or Bortles, Fresno States Derek Carr reportedly had a very strong NFL Combine showing, particularly while interviewing with teams. At this point Carr appears to be a mid-first round pick at best but his showing has some quarterback-needy teams considering passing on one of the top three QBs early in the draft to fill other positions, while hoping to land Carr later on. There are reports the gap between the Big Three and Carr is not very wide. Moving Up The biggest benefactors of the NFL Combine, among the early picks at least, were Auburn OT Greg Robinson and Buffalo LB Khalil Mack. Robinsons athleticism seems to have solidified him as the top offensive tackle on the board and boosted his projected status from Top 10 pick to Top 5. Robinson could even hear his name as early as second overall to the St. Louis Rams. Mack is another former potential Top 10 pick that could easily find his way iinto the Top 5 come May.dddddddddddd While his destination is hard to pinpoint at this point in the evaluation process, respected NFL Network draftnik Mike Mayock said he would consider Mack with the first overall pick. Thats high praise! Moving Down The rise of Robinson and Mack is having adverse effects on players of similar talent at the same position of the two in Jake Matthews and Anthony Barr. Once considered two of the top three players in the draft (alongside Clowney) by some, Matthews and Barr are no longer locks to be Top 5 picks and thats in large part due to Robinson proving hes the better offensive tackle, and Mack proving hes far closer to Clowney than originally thought. At this point it wouldnt be shocking to see Barr fall out of the Top 10 picks (ADP currently 8.9) while even Matthews could see himself suffer the same fate (ADP currently 5.9) the way things are playing out. To be fair, in Barrs case, Mack isnt the sole reason the UCLA pass rushers stock is falling; only 15 reps on the bench press could scare away a few teams. Lions targeting a CB The Detroit Lions need help at cornerback and most draftniks expect them to get it at the draft. Of the expert mock drafts culled by TSN.ca, 86% of them have the Lions taking a cornerback 10th overall. The only question in their minds is if it will be Oklahoma States Justin Gilbert, taken by the Lions in 53% of mock drafts, or Michigan States Darqueze Dennard, taken by Detroit in 33% of mock drafts. The current draft landscape lays out with a slight drop off after the top nine players. From there its still anyones guess as to who leads the second tier of players. Many mock drafters see the Lions filling a need and taking whichever cornerback they have ranked the highest. Wide Receiver Battle This position battle is unlike the quarterback battle as Clemson standout Sammy Watkins is the clear cut top pass catcher in this years draft. The battle is for the second best receiver with USCs Marqise Lee losing his spot to Texas A&Ms Mike Evans in 80% of mock drafts gathered. The receiver class is very deep this year with good pass catchers still likely to be available midway through the second round and if Lee finds himself engulfed in the second tier of receivers, hes no lock to hear his name on the first day of the NFL Draft. The true battle could be between Evans and North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron. The difference between their ADP is currently only a couple of picks (Evans: 13.8 to Ebron:16.0). ' ' '