them a chance to watch the New York captain take batting practice.

ATLANTA -- Braves third baseman Chris Johnson gets to keep his dream job for another three years. Atlanta was the team he cheered for while growing up in South Florida, and he idolized third baseman Chipper Jones. "In this game, not many times does a team tell a player they want him to be around for a really long time," Johnson said. "Im excited they feel that way about me and have the confidence in me to be around for a little while. Now I just want to work as hard as I can to prove theyre right." After agreeing to a $23.5 million, three-year deal announced Friday, Johnson is under contract through 2017. The 29-year-old was among the teams biggest surprises last season. A supposed throw-in to the Justin Upton trade, Johnson ranked second in the NL with a .321 average. He had 12 homers and 68 RBIs. His agreement continued Atlantas recent trend of signing a core of players to long-term deals. First baseman Freddie Freeman ($135 million over eight years), closer Craig Kimbrel ($42 million over four years), pitcher Julio Teheran ($32.4 million over six years) and shortstop Andrelton Simmons ($58 million over seven years) agreed to long-term deals before or during spring training, and right fielder Jason Heyward struck a $13.3 million, two-year deal. General manager Frank Wren said Johnsons agent approached the team early last month to see whether the sides could work out a new deal. Wren said the Braves arent placing unrealistic expectations on their third baseman. Johnson is off to a slow start, hitting .255 with one homer and four RBIs in 26 games. "I think what we saw last year -- maybe hes not going to hit .320, but weve always felt he was somewhere in the .280-.300 range as a hitter," Wren said. "His career will tell you that." In the first 304 games of his career with Houston and Arizona, Johnson hit .276 and averaged eight homers and 43 RBIs. "I think as we go forward," Wren said, "thats the kind of player he can be -- somewhere in that .285-.300 range -- and hit 10-15 home runs, drive in 70 and play solid third base." Johnson was part of the trade that brought Upton, a slugging left fielder, to Atlanta and sent fan favourite Martin Prado, pitcher Randall Delgado and three minor leaguers to Arizona on Jan. 24 last year. "Theres not many people that are going to be traded with him that arent going to be the other guy, " Johnson said. "But Im fine with that. Its good because it doesnt bother me really to be the other guy. It kind of gave me the fire to prove I need to be here and was not just a name in the trade." Johnson is making $4.75 million this season under a one-year deal. The agreement includes salaries of $6 million next year, $7.5 million in 2016 and $9 million in 2017. Atlanta has a $10 million option for 2018 with a $1 million buyout. Wren is grateful that Liberty Media, the Braves owner, has committed the money to keep another part of the core group together as the team prepares to move into a new ballpark in suburban Cobb County in 2017. "You have to be careful," Wren said. "You have to have that combination of players and especially what we did all winter was looking at really high level young talent that was either pre-arbitration or first-year arbitration and extending them. It fits into that mould." Johnson, who would have been eligible for free agency after the 2016 season, met Jones was he played for Stetson and Jones father Larry was an assistant coach with the school. Johnson never imagined he would replace Jones the year after the longtime Braves star retired after the 2012 season. "Its nuts," he said. "Its crazy. I cant believe it. Its awesome, but Im going to try to make sure I keep grinding and keep working and try to get better every day." Cheap Minnesota Vikings Gear . Fans holding laudatory signs started showing up at Yankee Stadium when the gates opened at 4 p.m. Monday, an hour early in order to give them a chance to watch the New York captain take batting practice. Discount Minnesota Vikings Jerseys . Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley told local media in comments published Wednesday that John Tomic would not be allowed into Melbourne Park in any official capacity or as a spectator. http://www.cheapvikings.com/72w-cheap-custom-jersey-vikings.html . -- When Steve Blake checked in at the scorers table with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter, Stephen Curry shook his head and shouted across the court, asking Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson not to take him out. Cheap Minnesota Vikings Jerseys Online . Players suspended during the season for a performance-enhancing drug violation will not be eligible for that years post-season. In addition, discipline will increase from 50 games to 80 for a first testing violation and from 100 games to a season-long 162 for a second. A third violation remains a lifetime ban. Minnesota Vikings Dru Samia Jersey . -- C.J. Wilson parked his car and laughed while signing autographs for faceless fans who handed bats, balls and cards to the pitcher from the other side of a brick wall.A 12-game winning streak has landed the Boston Bruins on top of the TSN.ca NHL Power Rankings, overtaking the St. Louis Blues. The Bruins have been consistently among the top teams for the past few months, but their current run has taken them to the top, despite not having a strength of schedule deficit compared to the Western Conference powers. Moving up this week, the Pittsburgh Penguins go from nine to six. Even though they have just one regulation win in the past six games, the Penguins also got wingers Chris Kunitz and James Neal back from injuries and that provides a relative boost compared to last weeks ranking. The never-say-die Detroit Red Wings are still hanging around in the playoff race, thanks largely to Gustav Nyquist, who has seven goals in the past six games, to help Detroit go 4-1-1 and jump to seventh in the Eastern Conference. The Red Wings, still depleted by injuries, are up from 24 to 21. Heading the otther way, the Toronto Maple Leafs have dropped five straight as goaltender James Reimer has struggled to fill in for injured starter Jonathan Bernier and the Leafs dont play a structured enough game to get by without great goaltending.ddddddddddddAs a result, they sink from 17 to 22. Both the Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators dropped three spots, to 25 and 26, respectively, not through any great failings of their own, but the Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames all performed better and/or got healthier. Among other Canadian clubs, the Montreal Canadiens are up one spot, to 12, and the Winnipeg Jets are up two spots to 17. The Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames are both up a couple of places, to 23 and 24, respectively. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. 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