SAN DIEGO - The San Diego Padres took a break from a dizzying series of trades Friday afternoon to introduce one of their new sluggers, Matt Kemp.Kemp, in turn, put the blockbusters by general manager A.J. Preller into perspective as only a guy fresh from Hollywood could.This is unbelievable. Hes a GM rock star right now, moving in and out and doing so many things right now, said Kemp, who sat between Preller and manager Bud Black at news conference at Petco Park. Every day theres something different.Preller smiled and said, Thats definitely the first time Ive gotten the rock star tag.Later, Preller, a native New Yorker, said he listens to Frank Sinatra most mornings, but I dont know if that characterizes me as a rock star.Preller has certainly gotten the Padres humming with a badly needed new identity in just more than a week.Since Dec. 11, Preller has worked a five-player deal with the division rival Los Angeles Dodgers to get Kemp; an 11-player deal with Tampa Bay and Washington to get outfielder Wil Myers, the 2013 AL Rookie of the Year with the Rays; a six-player deal with Atlanta for slugger Justin Upton; a four-player trade with Oakland that landed All-Star catcher Derek Norris; and a straight-up trade with Boston to get third baseman Will Middlebrooks for catcher Ryan Hanigan, who came over from Tampa Bay.Prellers wheeling and dealing isnt over yet, since he has a surplus of outfielders.Its a stunning haul for a team that has had only two winning seasons since its last playoff appearance, in 2006.Preller said acquiring Kemp kicked-started the process, and the other deals started falling into place.Preller has managed to give Black a more well-rounded club that gives us a chance, while retaining top three starters Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross and Ian Kennedy, and most top prospects.We wanted to get a core group that we could give to Buddy and his coaches and hopefully have that group play together for a long time, Preller said.Preller said the Padres are taking a win now and win later attitude. I dont think we went out and just emptied the cupboards and dont have any other players in the system. We definitely looked at different paths to the off-season and one of the things that was attractive to us was to find a way to get offence without touching the front-line pitching in the big leagues.Black said the calibre of players that have come in in a short period of time is extremely impressive, from All-Stars to MVP candidates to guys who are talked as potentially some of the best players in the game as far as talent and production.Preller was hired in August after developing a reputation as a hard-working, hard-charging scouting and player development executive with the Texas Rangers.Kemp and Upton are among the games top power hitters.Kemp had a strong second half in 2014 for the NL West champion Dodgers. He finished the season with a .287 average, 25 home runs and 89 RBIs. That deal, agreed to early the morning of Dec. 11 at the winter meetings in San Diego, was finalized Thursday night.Although hes hit well at Petco Park, Kemp said he hated facing Padres pitchers.Now we have some offence and were going to help them score runs, he said.On Thursday, there was a report the Padres were concerned that Kemp had arthritic hips.Ive got a little arthritis, he said, adding that its nothing to worry about.These hips are unbelievable, man, he said to laughter. These hips are great. You all keep talking about my hips. You want to see my hips, man? Strong hips.Upton, who will earn $14.5 million in the final year of his contract, had 29 homers and 102 RBIs last season. That deal has yet to be finalized.Preller seems to be a later-day Trader Jack McKeon, just without the cigar. McKeon was general manager of the Padres when they went to the World Series in 1984, earning his nickname for his fondness for deals.The Padres also got catcher Tim Federowicz and $32 million from the Dodgers to help defray the remaining $107 million on Kemps deal. The Padres obligation of $75 million to Kemp during the next five years becomes the biggest contract in club history. The Dodgers got catcher Yasmani Grandal and right-handers Joe Wieland and Zach Eflin.Myers and Hanigan came over from Tampa Bay in an 11-player, three-team deal. The Padres gave up catcher Rene Rivera and four prospects. Shortly after that trade was finalized Friday morning, Preller flipped Hanigan for Middlebrooks.Upton and a minor league pitcher cost Preller four prospects, including lefty Max Fried.The Padres had a historically awful offence in the first half of 2014. Although they played better in the second half, they finished at the bottom of the majors with a .226 average, .292 on-base percentage and 535 runs. Their 109 homers were the second fewest in the baseball.___Follow Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson
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Jamarca Sanford Saints Jersey Mark Ingram Saints Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla.The Rangers force Game Seven, the Blackhawks hold on home ice; notes on Martin St. Louis, Sidney Crosby, Rick Nash, Ryan Suter, Jonathan Toews, Bryan Bickell and more. RANGERS PUSH BACK Facing elimination once again, the New York Rangers took a 3-1 decision against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Six, forcing the series to Game Seven. In the wake of his mothers sudden passing this week, Rangers RW Martin St. Louis has been put more in the spotlight, particularly with Sundays game falling on Mothers Day, and St. Louis got the Rangers on the board first, scoring 3:34 into the game. It hasnt been a glorious run for St. Louis with the Rangers, scoring four goals and 15 points in 32 (regular season plus playoff) games, but this was his first goal since Game Three against Philadelphia. If hes able to perform through this adversity, thats a real credit to him in what is surely a difficult time. Pittsburghs lone goal of Game Six came from C Brandon Sutter, who now has five goals in the playoffs; only Evgeni Malkin and Jussi Jokinen, both with six, have more for the Penguins. Penguins C Sidney Crosby was held off the scoresheet again, despite playing 24:23. Crosby has been a dominant player in the playoffs, even though his point totals havent followed. He has three points in the series, and one goal in a dozen playoff games, but the Penguins ultimately need goals when Crosby is on the ice and, to this point in the postseason, Crosby has been on the ice for eight goals for and eight goals against during 5-on-5 play. That frustration appeared to boil over in Game Six, with Crosby getting into a confrontation with Rangers C Dominic Moore, which then led to Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist squirting Crosby with a water bottle in the ensuing pile-up. The best of the Rangers in terms of Game Six possession stats was D Kevin Klein, on for 11 5-on-5 shot attempts for and five against. Klein is getting limited ice time, ranking sixth among Rangers defencemen in the postseason, but he has the best possession stats among Rangers blueliners and the second-best on the team. The one player with better possession stats than Klein, RW Rick Nash, maintains that lead despite getting overrun Sunday. With Nash on the ice, at 5-on-5, the Rangers had four shot attempts for and 22 against (15.4%); with Nash off the ice, the Rangers had 52.1% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. A bad possession game puts the exclamation mark on Nashs postseason struggles -- he has no goals in his 51 shots on goal. Hes now seven away from the playoff record for most shots on goal without scoring, set last year by Jaromir Jagr. That the Rangers are taking this series to Game Seven, despiite Nashs ongoing struggles and limited production from St.dddddddddddd. Louis, is a testament to the rest of the club but, to some degree, the same can be said for the Penguins, who are still waiting for Crosby to break out offensively. With Game Seven all thats left to decide which team goes to the Eastern Conference Final, its a prime opportunity for the stars on either side to make the difference. BLACKHAWKS HOLD HOME ICE After a slow start at home in Game Five, the Chicago Blackhawks picked up their game, and won 2-1 over the Minnesota Wild, taking a 3-2 lead in a series in which the home team has won every game. Minnesotas first-period goal came from rookie C Erik Haula, who has been a nice playoff contributor with three goals and six points in a dozen games, and the line of Haula, Matt Cooke and Justin Fontaine had the best possession stats among Wild forwards. D Jared Spurgeon had the best possession stats for the Wild, on the ice for 19 5-on-5 shots for and and nine against (67.9%). On the other hand, Wild D Ryan Suter, who played a game-high 28:32, was on the ice for 14 shot attempts for and 28 against (his most against in the playoffs). Suter gets charged with facing both of the Blackhawks top scoring lines but, on this night, he was getting stuck in his own end all too often. Chicagos second-period rally brought goals from LW Bryan Bickell and C Jonathan Toews. Bickell scored his team-leading sixth goal of the playoffs, on the power play, but was part of a very effective line with Peter Regin and Kris Versteeg; all three were on the ice for at least 68.8% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. The game-winner came from C Jonathan Toews, who was re-united with LW Patrick Sharp and RW Marian Hossa, as Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was shuffling lines. Toews had a dominant game, with 76.0% of shot attempts. Chicago set the pairing of Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya out, primarily, against Zach Parise, Mikael Granlund and Jason Pominville, and Oduya had the games best possession stats, on the ice for 16 shot attempts for and four against. The Blackhawks controlled play significantly, but the win didnt come easily for them, and isnt really a surprise given how the first four games of the series played out. Theyll have a chance to finish off the Wild in Minnesota for Game Six but, considering that the Wild are 5-0 at home in the playoffs, outscoring opponents 16-5, it will come as no surprise if this series has to go the distance. Scott Cullen can be reached at
[email protected] and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook.
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