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NEW YORK, N.Y. - Baseballs business season began Thursday when 121 players became free agents, a group that includes Pablo Sandoval, Michael Morse, Jake Peavy, Sergio Romo and Ryan Vogelsong of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants.James Shields, Nori Aoki and Jason Frasor of the AL champion Kansas City Royals also were among the players who became free.Approximately 28 more players can become eligible, depending on contract options.Top free agent pitchers also include Max Scherzer and Jon Lester. Among the top hitters are shortstop Hanley Ramirez, outfielder Nelson Cruz and designated hitter Victor Martinez.The first big deadline is Monday, when teams must decide whether to make $15.3 million qualifying offers to their eligible players who became free agents. An offer can only be made to a free agent who was with the team for the entire season, and players have until Nov. 10 to accept.If a player rejects a qualifying offer and signs a major league contract with another club before the June amateur draft, his former team would receive a draft pick as compensation at the end of the first round.The club signing that player loses its first-round pick in the following amateur draft, unless that pick is among the top 10, in which case the club signing that player loses its next-highest pick.None of the 22 qualifying offers made after the past two seasons was accepted.Free agents can start discussing money with all teams starting Tuesday.Rather than test the market, reliever Koji Uehara agreed to an $18 million, two-year contract to stay with the Boston Red Sox, a deal announced just a few hours after he had become free.Centre fielder Denard Spans $9 million option was exercised by Washington, which declined its half of first baseman Adam LaRoches $15 million mutual option and reliever Rafael Sorianos $14 million club option. LaRoche gets a $2 million buyout.Cincinnati exercised pitcher Johnny Cuetos $10 million option and declined a $9 million option on outfielder Ryan Ludwick and a $4 million option on infielder Jack Hannahan. Ludwick gets a $4.5 million buyout and Hannahan $2 million.St. Louis exercised an option on pitcher John Lackey for the major league minimum, which next year will be $500,000 plus a cost-of-living adjustment to be determined Nov. 20 — likely to be $9,000 to $10,000.The right-hander agreed to an $82.5 million, five-year contract with Boston in December 2009 that contained a provision for a conditional team option at the minimum if he missed a season due to specified injury. Lackey did not pitch in 2012 after reconstructive elbow surgery.Lackey, who turned 36 on Oct. 23, was 14-10 with a 3.83 ERA last year with the Red Sox and Cardinals and was 1-0 in two post-season starts for the NL Central champions.Lackey was acquired at the trade deadline in July in a deal that sent outfielder Allen Craig and pitcher Joe Kelly to Boston. Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said the contract option was a key to the deal.The Los Angeles Angels exercised a $7 million option on reliever Huston Street and declined a $4.5 million option on left-hander Sean Burnett, who gets a $500,000 buyout.Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Dan Haren exercised his $10 million player option rather than become a free agent, and Philadelphia declined a $6 million option on pitcher Mike Adams.Baltimore exercised a $4.75 million option on left-hander Wei-Yin Chen and a $4.25 million option on right-hander Darren ODay, and the Chicago Cubs declined a $5.5 million option on reliever Kyuji Fujikawa, who gets a $500,000 buyout.San Diego declined a $4 million option on right-hander Josh Johnson, who didnt throw a pitch for the Padres in 2014 while making $8 million. He injured an elbow during spring training and had reconstructive surgery.Oakland turned down a $5.5 million option for shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima and instead owes him a $500,000 buyout. Nakajima, 32, never played a major league game after receiving a $6.5 million, two-year contract in December 2012. Stitched Atlanta Falcons Jerseys . The teams all-time leading scorer, DeRo has won everything there is to win in MLS. Atlanta Falcons Kaleb McGary Jersey . With their coach gone, they finally played offence the way he would have wanted. Amare Stoudemire made all seven shots in the first half, Anthony passed and shot well, and the Knicks shook off the surprising departure of their coach to rout the Portland Trail Blazers 121-79 on Wednesday night, snapping a six-game losing streak. http://www.cheapfalcons.com/177y-cheap-qadree-ollison-jersey-falcons.html . -- Fantasy football owners and Denver Broncos fans can rest easy: Peyton Manning is back. Cheap Atlanta Falcons Gear . The Mets made the announcement Sunday night. Parnell blew a save on opening day against Washington and the next day it was revealed he had partially torn right elbow ligament. Wholesale Atlanta Falcons Jerseys . With the suspension, Nigeria is unable to take part in any kind of international fixtures. FIFA had issued a warning to the NFF last week after the federation was served with court proceedings from the government that prevented the NFFs president from running the NFFs day-to-day affairs.Following their unexpected Champions League exit at the hands of Atletico Madrid, we examine Barcelona’s slump. Is an over-reliance on that famous forward line to blame? Adam Bate reports from the Vicente Calderon... Sergio Busquets lingered to clap the away fans in the top tier. Andres Iniesta and Jordi Alba joined him. But most of their team-mates shuffled down the tunnel. Barcelona, the defending European champions, had been vanquished by Atletico Madrid.It will have been a huge blow. For while Barcelona remain favourites to complete a domestic double, such are the expectations placed on this group of players that the season is likely to be laced with disappointment whatever happens now. Atletico eliminate Barcelona Antoine Griezmann scored twice to knock the reigning champions out of Europe. Thats the nature of it when Lionel Messi is in your side. When you have Neymar, a man whod joined him on the Ballon dOr shortlist in January. Luis Suarez didnt receive that honour but hes more than made up for it with his scoring feats this season.And yet, for all the brilliance of that formidable forward line, its Luis Enriques reliance on it thats played a part in his sides downfall. Maybe that was in the Barca coachs mind when he insisted on taking 100 per cent of the responsibility for the defeat afterwards. Luis Enrique took full responsibility for Barcelonas Champions League defeat Its funny how defeat can shift the tone. While once the goalscoring heroics of that celebrated front three were a source of wonder, the statistics now feel like a note of caution. A warning that was left unheeded.Messi, Suarez and Neymar have scored 44 of Barcelonas 53 Champions League goals since the start of last season. Thats 83 per cent. Individually spectacular but when the dip came it came collectively and Barca have suffered as a result. After a 20-game sequence in which they won 19 - the other was the drawn second leg of a Copa del Rey tie in which they were already 7-0 up - theyve now won only once in their last five. Even that was against a 10-man Atletico, a game they were losing prior to the red card. What the papers said How the Spanish press reacted to Barcas defeat Neymar looks like a man who has played too much football - no wonder he is set to skip the Copa America - and Messis goal drought has now passed the seven-hour mark. The Argentine is coming deeper and deeper in search of the ball and it has left Suarez isolated. Lionel Messi stands dejected after Atleticos second goal of the night Its now tempting to conclude that overplaying them all was folly. Barca have endured 27 games in 106 days. Thats a match every fourth day since a winter break that was barely worthy of the name given the clubs trip to Japan to contest the Club World Cup.Luis Enrique was unwilling to use that as an excuse but hell have noted too the recent international break that took all three of his forwards to South America to play a further five matches of football between them. The team hasnt looked the same since their return. Barcelona have played 12 more games than any other La Liga rival, with a front three that have not rotated, and all of a sudden they have hit a bit of a wall. Guillem Balague Barcelona have played 12 more games than any other La Liga rival, with a front three that have not rotated, and all of a sudden they have hit a bit of a wall, said Sky Sports Spanish correspondennt Guillem Balague ahead of the game.ddddddddddddThe front three find themselves now having played far too many minutes when that extra gear is needed. Neymar, you can see it in his face, is struggling to find the extra gear. Lionel Messi has found in the past few weeks that physically, perhaps, he is not at his sharpest. Why are Barca struggling? A look at their recent defeat to Real Sociedad That certainly appeared to be the case on Wednesday night as Messi was content to probe and pass away without ever looking likely to provide the moment of incision himself.He has been averaging more than six dribbles per game in the Champions League over the past two seasons, but managed only three against Atletico and none of them in positions where he could hurt his opponent. Europes toughest team? Atletico Madrid were too strong for Barcelona. Maybe theyre too strong for everyone… Maybe Messi was hoping to ride this spring-time lull without too much damage being done. But when the going got tough, and thats precisely what it is against Atletico, the solutions could not be found. More worryingly, Barca didnt even come up with too many ideas.Its a natural step in the life of a team when you have a front three that wins every game for you, added Balague. You stop working on things that made you so good when that front three was not performing, or when you needed to find collective answers to problems. Of course, when it gets to this stage of a season, teams hardly train. Its all about recuperation and there is less and less work on organised attack. What that means is that the team depends more and more on the front three as the season progresses.What they have discovered is that even the best individuals can be stopped. It will have come as shock. This is only the second time in nine years that Barcelona find themselves dumped out of the Champions League at this stage. Atletico Madrid ended a run of seven consecutive defeats to Barcelona Even on the night, a claustrophobic affair in a boisterous Calderon, the elimination might still have felt abrupt. After all, Atletico had taken the lead in all three of their previous encounters this season and each time Barca had turned it around for 2-1 victories.But the omen was merely ominous. The identity of the scorers of those six goals? Three by Suarez, two by Messi and the other by Neymar. The lesson? Barca may still have the better players but somewhere along the way they forgot about the need to be the better team too. 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