Gruppen » starter and when he touched the ball. He did

NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees traded veteran catcher Brian McCann and $11 million to the Houston Astros on Thursday for a pair of young minor league pitchers.Houston sent right-handers Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman to the Yankees.?The Yankees are kicking in $5.5 million of the $17 million McCann will make in each of the next two seasons.It had to be the right fit, McCann said on a conference call. It wasnt going to be just anywhere.The Astros busy day also included the signing of free-agent outfielder Josh Reddick?to a deal that is reportedly for four years and worth $52 million.?In Reddick, the Astros get a steady glove in right field, who in 155 combined games last season between the As and Dodgers hit .281 with 17 doubles, 10 home runs and 37 RBIs.McCann is a seven-time All-Star, but his playing time diminished in the second half of the season as rookie Gary Sanchez emerged as a power hitter behind the plate. Sanchez hit 20 home runs in just 53 games.The 32-year-old McCann hit .242 with 20 homers and 58 RBIs this year.We entered the offseason with the acquisition of a catcher as a primary focus, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said in a statement.Brian McCann is a great fit for the Astros as he is not only a good defensive catcher, he is also a left-handed hitter with proven run-producing ability, Luhnow said. His experience and his ability to impact his teammates will be a significant benefit to our team.Jason Castro made the most starts at catcher for the Astros last year, batting .210 with 11 homers and 32 RBIs.Houston and the Yankees met in the AL wild-card game in 2015, but neither team reached the playoffs this year.McCann made his big league debut with the Braves in 2005. He hit 24 homers the next year and has hit at least 18 home runs in every season since then.McCann has 245 career homers with 888 RBIs while batting .266.This was McCanns third season in New York after signing an $85 million, five-year deal as a free agent. The Yankees had a $15 million option for 2019 with no buyout.?I wanted to catch every day, he said. I feel like I still have a lot of good years left.McCann likes what he sees in the Astros, praising a lot of great young pieces.I wanted to be a part of it, he said.The 21-year-old Abreu was a combined 3-8 with a 3.72 ERA for two teams in Class A. The 20-year-old Guzman was a combined 3-4 with a 4.05 ERA with two rookie-level teams.The Yankees signed McCann in the winter prior to the 2014 season, with a full no-trade clause. McCann is entering the fourth year of the contract.The deal includes a vesting option that, in theory, he will now have a better chance of achieving. If McCann has a total of 1,000 plate appearances combined in 2017-18 and he plays 90 games at catcher in 2018, while avoiding the disabled list, he would add another $15 million for 2019.With the Yankees, it would seem unlikely he would reach those goals, unless Sanchez underperformed or were injured. With McCann gone, the Yankees have catchers Austin Romine and Kyle Higashioka as possible backups to Sanchez on the 40-man roster.Information from The Associated Press, and ESPNs Buster Olney and Andrew Marchand was used in this report. Patrick McCaw Jersey . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. C.J. Miles Raptors Jersey . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. https://www.raptorsrookiesshop.com/Sagaba-Konate-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Malcolm Miller Raptors Jersey . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. Patrick McCaw Raptors Jersey . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. PHOENIX -- Eric Bledsoe scored 14 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Phoenix Suns rally for a 107-100 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.Bledsoe added 11 rebounds and eight assists for the Suns (3-6), who got a season-high 19 points off the bench from Jared Dudley. Alex Len added 16 points and 14 rebounds.Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the Pistons (4-4) with a season-high 27 points, making 5 of 10 3-point attempts, but he missed a potential tying 3 with 1:35 to play and the Suns up 99-96. Andre Drummond added 18 points and 14 rebounds.The Pistons went on a 14-0 run between the end of the third quarter and early in the fourth to take an 87-81 lead. Former Sun Jon Leuer scored six of the points and finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.Phoenix went back ahead 92-90 when Dudley fed Len for a dunk with 5:02 to play. Dudleys fourth 3 of the game made it 99-93.The Pistons led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter and 28-19 going into the second. Caldwell-Pope scored nine points in the first.The Suns made only 6 of 22 shots in the first quarter.Phoenix rallied in the second quarter, going on a 16-4 run with Dudley leading the way. He knocked down three 3s as part of his 15 points in the quarter and gave the Suns a 49-47 lead with 3:17 left.Suns leading scorer Devin Booker didnt make his first field goal until early in the third quarter, but his three-point play with 6:15 to go gave the Suns a 66-60 lead.Booker had scored 100 points in his previous three games. He had 11 on Wednesday.Len had sseven points in the third quarter, two on a power move inside to give the Suns a 78-69 lead at the 1:02 mark.dddddddddddd But Caldwell-Pope hit a 26-footer at the third-quarter buzzer to cut the Suns lead to 81-76.TIP-INSPistons: G Reggie Jackson remained out with a left knee injury ... F Marcus Morris, a former Sun, was roundly booed when introduced as a starter and when he touched the ball. He did have the dunk of the night in the second quarter when he flew in for a one-handed slam.Suns: C Tyson Chandler remained away from the team for the second straight game due to the death of his mother.VAN GUNDY RIPS TRUMPPistons coach Stan Van Gundy went on a near 6-minute rant about the election of Donald Trump before Wednesdays game. I dont think anybody can deny this guy is openly and brazenly racist and misogynist and ethnocentric, and say thats OK, were going to vote for him anyway, Van Gundy told reporters. We have just thrown a good part of our population under the bus.Van Gundy said what the country has done to women and minorities in electing Trump is despicable, and that hed never been ashamed of the United States until Wednesday.LOVE FOR BOOKERVan Gundy said a case can be made that Booker is the best player in his draft class at present. He doesnt have a lot of holes in his offensive game at all, Van Gundy said.UP NEXTPistons: At San Antonio on Friday night.Suns: Host Brooklyn on Saturday night. ' ' '