Its not the first time that the New York Yankees have raided the Boston Red Sox for a free agent outfielder -- Johnny Damon comes to mind -- and the Bronx Bombers werent shy about offering big money for an outfielder that is a premier base stealer, when healthy. Numbers Game looks at the Yankees addition of Jacoby Ellsbury. The Yankees Get: CF Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury, 30, has been a productive player when healthy, a career .297 hitter who has led the American League in steals three times. However, hes missed a lot of time -- 264 games to be precise -- over the last four seasons, which makes a long-term investment risky, particularly for a player on the north side of 30 years of age. While Ellsbury had a 32-home-run season in 2011, thats the only season of his career in which hes finished with more than 10 home runs so, even in new Yankee Stadium, which plays well to lefthanded hitters, its not likely that Ellsbury will be a significant power threat. He could hit double figures in home runs, but its a long way from 10 or 12 to 30-plus. But, a little power to go with tremendous base-stealing ability makes Ellsbury an asset offensively. Over the course of his career, he has stolen 241 bases in 287 attempts (83.9%), including a ridiculous 52 in 56 attempts (92.9%) last season. The question, on top of whether Ellsbury can stay healthy, is for how much longer can he be that top-of-the-order base-stealing threat? Is it three years? Five? Given Ellsburys speed on the bases, it should come as little surprise that he covers a lot of ground in centre field. Over the last four seasons, he ranks among the Top 10 centre fielders with 25 Defensive Runs Saved, while ranking sixth in Ultimate Zone Rating. Putting Ellsbury in centre field, moving Brett Gardner back to left field and Ichiro Suzuki in right will give the Yankees exceptional range in the outfield and ought to help their pitching staff to some degree. Despite his injuries, Ellsbury has accumulated a fWAR of 22.4 since 2008, which ranks fourth among centre fielders. The odds are that, over the course of the deal, there will be years that the Yankees regret because injury and/or age prevent Ellsbury from contributing like he has to this point in his career, but if there are five really good years in there, then that might be enough for the Yankees. A healthy Ellsbury improves their chances of returning to the postseason. The Red Sox are likely to move Shane Victorino to centre field to make up for the loss of Ellsbury and they could still be active in the free agent market looking for a corner outfielder. Additionally, prospect Jackie Bradley Jr. could be ready for another chance to stick as an every day player in the majors. Signed for seven years and $153-million, with an option for an eighth year that would run the contract to $169-million, Ellsbury is the latest in a long line of lucrative Yankees free agent signings, many of which have not panned out, but its only money and the Yankees generate enough of it that they can afford to swing and miss every so often, particularly with the chance to hit a proverbial home run. 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. ... Roshe Run Dames Goedkoop . Home opener. Packed park. New managers Coors Field debut. Francis wanted this day to be memorable. So, he made sure it was. Nike Roshe Run Kopen .A. Dickeys dancing knuckleball that he didnt even expect to play Tuesday night. http://www... . Niese said Monday that hes expecting to have a procedure called an ablation next month at the All-Star break to help the condition. [url=http://www.nlgoedkoopschoenen.com/]Nike Air Max Nederland . As a rookie this year, the 27-year-old Lough batted .286 with five homers and 33 RBIs in 96 games. He played all three outfield positions. Nike Air Max Schoenen Outlet Online .C. -- NASCAR honoured a pair of its most famous and successful families with inductions into the Hall of Fame on Wednesday.Join TSN in a 30 teams in 30 days tour of the NHL in preparation for the upcoming season. This edition looks at the Calgary Flames. Get the lowdown on their off-season and the issues they face this season. And use the Your Call feature to give us your take on the Flames. Change was good for the Calgary Flames last season. After dwelling in the cellar for much of the start of the year, GM Darryl Sutter stepped down and the team got into a winning groove. The team went on a 27-11-9 run the rest of the way and nearly snuck into the post-season. Trying to continue that momentum into this year will be the task, but it wont be so easy. The Flames didnt make many moves in the off-season and will try to grind it out with an aging core that doesnt include mainstay Robyn Regehr on the blue line. Heres a look at whats in store for this season. Additions: RW Lee Stempniak, D Scott Hannan, C Paul Byron, D Chris Butler, LW/RW Pierre-Luc Letourneau-LeBlond. Subtractions: C Daymond Langkow, D Robyn Regehr, D Adam Pardy, LW Fredrik Modin, RW Ales Kotalik. Prospect Report: The Flames scooped up forward Sven Baertschi from the Portland Winterhawks in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. The 18-year-old from Switzerland is already considered the top prospect in the organization. T.J. Brodie made the big club at the start of last season, but couldnt stick. He could be in position to be a regular this season, but there are a lot of names ahead of him on the depth chart (Giordano, Bouwmeester, Babchuk, Sarich, Hannan, Butler, Carson and Mikkelson). Breakout Player To Watch: Mikael Backlund. Trying to find a skilled playmaker to make life easier for Jarome Iginla has been top priority for years - with little or no luck. The 22-year-old Backlund is pencilled into that duty this coming season. He finished with 10 goals and 15 assists as a rookie and his talents will get a chance to be showcased this season. Marquee Matchup: Nov. 4 at Buffalo - The team will get their one aand only look at long-time Flame Robyn Regehr, who was a cornerstone of Calgarys blue line for more than a decade.dddddddddddd Other Dates To Watch: Feb. 23 vs. Phoenix – It will be the first game against former Flame Langkow, who waived his no-trade clause to allow Calgary to deal him for Lee Stempniak. Reason To Get Excited: The way it all ended last year. Sure, they didnt make the playoffs, but the GM change to eventually bring in Jay Feaster got Calgary back to playing a level of competitive hockey that was expected of them to start the year. That and watching Backlund fill the top line with Iginla should be a treat for Flames fans. Home Hardware: It could be a long shot, but Jarome Iginla scored 43 goals last year and could be enough of a goal-scoring threat this season to challenge for another Rocket Richard Trophy. Hot Seat: Jay Bouwmeester. The gift and the curse of talent is eventually reaching that potential. With Bouwmeester, he needs to tap into it for the Flames to be successful. Your! Call: Do the Flames have enough to get back into the playoffs this year? The Flames are banking on a lot of things working in their favour this season. They need Jarome Iginla to keep up his star status. They need Bouwmeester to move to the elite level on defence. They need Miikka Kiprusoff to be better and durable at the same time (he had 71 appearances last year). More than anything else, they need their supporting cast to play at a consistent level all season long. Players like Alex Tanguay, Matt Stajan, Olli Jokinen and David Moss have to bring the effort every night and be productive. Save for maybe Stempniak, Feaster did not add any impact players to the roster in the off-season. So, unless hes got something in the works, he thinks this group can be just as competitive as the one that was among the NHLs best from January onwards. In the ultra-competitive Western Conference, that level of play all season might just have them in the playoffs. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '