Sonstiges » Boston expects its new closer to emerge from the current

FORT MYERS Glenn Hubbard Jersey , Fla. (AP) — Red Sox roster.All-Star Craig Kimbrel turned down a $17.9 million qualifying offer from the World Series champions, and the seven-time All-Star remains a free agent.“Any time you say you’re going to replace a player of Craig Kimbrel’s caliber, with the type talent he has, it’s not easily done,” Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Wednesday as spring training workouts started. “He’s to me a future Hall of Fame reliever and one of the best closers in the game. But sometimes other guys get the opportunity and they step up.”Dombrowski mentioned three possibilities to close: Matt Barnes, Ryan Brasier and Tyler Thornburg“I know you have to be careful in any world of an old-fashioned mindset, but I will tell you that I still believe in talking to people, that pitching the ninth inning is different than pitching the other innings for many guys,” Dombrowski said. “Not everybody can do it.Brasier did not agree.“I feel like every inning’s a big inning Rickey Henderson Jersey ,” he said. “When it gets down to it, everyone has to be a closer to get out of a tough inning and tough situations.”Boston doesn’t expect to be adding any more top free agents.“Of course we’ll still keep an eye on what’s taking place outside the camp, but we think our answers come from within,” he said. “We have guys who have the ability to pitch the ninth inning, there’s no question.“You look at guys like Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier, they have the pure stuff to pitch the ninth inning. Will they do it on a consistent basis? Time tells. And that’s why in spring training you’ll never really find that answer out. It’ll be the regular season when you find it out because we know in spring training it’s not the same game.” ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Anaheim Ducks raised Paul Kariya’s No. 9 to the Honda Center rafters Sunday night, honoring the high-scoring forward who became a Hall of Famer.The Ducks celebrated Kariya’s career before their game against Buffalo with an emotional event ending with the hanging of Kariya’s banner alongside the No. 8 of Teemu Selanne, Kariya’s longtime linemate and close friend.“Thank you for making tonight the most memorable night of my life http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-catfish-hunter-jersey ,” said the 44-year-old Kariya, who voluntarily spent several years at a distance from hockey and the Ducks after his playing career ended in 2010 due to concussions.Kariya was the first draft pick in the history of the then-Mighty Ducks, and he spent his first nine NHL seasons with Anaheim. He scored 300 of his 402 career goals for the Ducks and served as their captain for seven seasons, leading them to their first Stanley Cup Final in 2003. He joined the Hockey Hall of Fame last year alongside Selanne.“He’s so humble,” Selanne said. “He almost thinks he doesn’t deserve this honor, but I don’t care.”Kariya and Selanne have the only retired numbers in Anaheim’s 25-year franchise history, although the Ducks will retire Scott Niedermayer’s No. 27 next year.Kariya was joined on the ice by Selanne and Steve Rucchin, reuniting the three forwards who formed the most memorable line in Ducks history. Dozens of former Ducks from Jean-Sebastien Giguere to Stu Grimson also traveled to Anaheim to celebrate their former teammate.Niedermayer didn’t play with Kariya in Anaheim, but they won Olympic gold medals together for Canada in 2002. He praised Kariya as “truly an example of how to always try our best and how to carry ourselves while doing it.Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli Rollie Fingers Jersey , who bought the team after Kariya had left, have been eager to bring Kariya closer to his first NHL franchise.“Paul played the game with heart and soul,” Henry Samueli said. “Simply put, he was the Ducks’ first franchise player.”The speedy, goal-scoring forward was a fan favorite from his very first Ducks practice in Orange County, where he recalled nearly 9,000 fans were in the stands to watch him at Honda Center. He scored 50 goals and 108 points as a 21-year-old prodigy during the 1995-96 season, and he produced four additional 80-point seasons for Anaheim.“I couldn’t have asked for better teammates, and I certainly could not have asked for a better group of friends http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-terry-steinbach-jersey ,” Kariya said. “I was very lucky to start with an organization that gave me an opportunity to have a big role right away, and to be asked to be a leader early in my career.”Kariya scored one of the most important goals in Ducks history in June 2003, but it also epitomized the brutal nature of his career and its eventual end. After New Jersey’s Scott Stevens left Kariya motionless on the ice with a devastating hit in the second period of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, Kariya shockingly returned to the Anaheim ice and scored a goal that helped to force a seventh game.Kariya played parts of six seasons for Colorado, St. Louis and Nashville after leaving Anaheim, but his sixth recorded concussion in December 2009 eventually made it too risky to continue playing.Kariya still lives in coastal Dana Point, where he is an avid surfer. The Ducks patiently waited for his disappointment about his career’s end to subside before luring him back to an active role with the club in recent years, culminating in this poignant ceremony.“Over the years, many of the games Dave Henderson Jersey , the wins and losses, have faded from my mind,” Kariya said. “But I can remember, like it was yesterday, the ovation I received stepping on this ice for my first practice here, and the roar of this crowd when we beat the Phoenix Coyotes for our first playoff series victory here (in 1997). … You literally and figuratively picked me up off the ice in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Thank you to all the fans for supporting me for nine incredible years.”