Projecting the NCAA Tournament field (2/4)

ACC (7)

Automatic bid: North Carolina

At large: Wake Forest, Duke, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Boston College

Bubble: Miami

AMERICA EAST (1)

Automatic bid: Vermont

ATLANTIC-10 (2)

Automatic bid: Xavier

At large: Dayton

Bubble: None

ATLANTIC SUN (1)

Automatic bid: East Tennessee State

BIG 12 (5)

Automatic bid: Oklahoma

At large: Kansas, Texas, Missouri, Texas A&M

Bubble: Kansas State, Baylor

BIG EAST (8)

Automatic bid: Connecticut

At large: Pittsburgh, Louisville, Marquette, Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown, West Virginia

Bubble: Providence, Notre Dame

BIG SKY (1)

Automatic bid: Weber State

BIG SOUTH (1)

Automatic bid: Liberty

BIG TEN (7)

Automatic bid: Michigan State

At large: Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio State, Penn State, Northwestern

Bubble: Michigan

BIG WEST (1)

Automatic bid: Pacific

COLONIAL ATHLETIC (1)

Automatic bid: George Mason

CONFERENCE USA (1)

Automatic bid: Memphis

HORIZON LEAGUE (1)

Automatic bid: Butler

IVY LEAGUE (1)

Automatic bid: Cornell

MAAC (1)

Automatic bid: Siena

MAC (1)

Automatic bid: Buffalo

MEAC (1)

Automatic bid: Morgan State

MISSOURI VALLEY (1)

Automatic bid: Illinois State

MOUNTAIN WEST (3)

Automatic bid: San Diego State

At large: UNLV, Utah

Bubble: None

NORTHEAST (1)

Automatic bid: Robert Morris

OHIO VALLEY (1)

Automatic bid: Austin Peay

PAC-10 (6)

Automatic bid: Arizona State

At large: UCLA, California, Washington, Arizona, USC

Bubble: None

PATRIOT LEAGUE (1)

Automatic bid: American

SEC (3)

Automatic bid: South Carolina

At large: Florida, LSU

Bubble: Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi State

SOUTHERN LEAGUE (1)

Automatic bid: Davidson

SOUTHLAND (1)

Automatic bid: Stephen F. Austin

SUMMIT LEAGUE (1)

Automatic bid: North Dakota State

SUN BELT (1)

Automatic bid: Western Kentucky

SWAC (1)

Automatic bid: Alabama State

WAC (1)

Automatic bid: Utah State

WEST COAST (2)

Automatic bid: San Diego

At large: Gonzaga

Bubble: None

Friday deadline for Varitek; Pirates active

• Jason Varitek reportedly has until Friday to either accept or decline Boston's offer.
• The Marlins are still fishing for a catcher, and most seem to think that they would rather trade for a young backstop (like Max Ramirez, for example) than sign a veteran like Ivan Rodriguez.
• Minnesota signed Jason Kubel to a two-year, $7 million deal with a third-year option.
• The Pirates are interested in both Luis Gonzalez and Pedro Martinez. They also appear to be on the verge of locking up Paul Maholm with a long-term deal and are close to signing Eric Hinske.
  
• Arizona is closing in on a deal with Jon Garland.
• The Padres are looking for a cheap, left-handed bat. Players like Bobby Abreu and Adam Dunn are obviously out of the question, but San Diego will probably explore options such as Luis Gonzalez, Doug Mientkiewicz, Brad Wilkerson, and Daryle Ward.
• Brewers' GM Doug Melvin said that his team is not at all interested in Oliver Perez. He did make it seem like they would welcome Ben Sheets back, but only at the right price.
• Speaking of Oliver Perez, reports say that negotiations with the Mets are beginning to improve. I find it hard to see Perez donning anything other than a Met uniform in 2009. Still, New York is examinining options, such as Randy Wolf.
  

Yankees sign Pettitte; Royals extend Greinke

• The Yankees and Andy Pettitte have finally come to terms, as New York inked Pettitte to a one-year, $5.5 million deal today. The deal could reach $12 million with incentives.
• Atlanta remains interested in both Nick Swisher and Xavier Nady; the Braves prefer Swisher.
• Marlins' President David Samson says that the club has "zero" interest in Ivan Rodriguez. One must wonder if this is just a bargaining ploy by Florida to get Pudge to bring his price down. As of right now, no other teams aside from the Fish have shown interest. Baltimore was thought to be intrigued, but it signed Gregg Zaun.
• Kansas City signed Zack Greinke to a four-year, $38 million extension.
• The Red Sox reportedly made an offer to Jason Varitek consisting of $5 million for 2009 and a $5 million club/$3 million player option for 2010. The offer has a deadline. I still can't see this not getting done.
• Texas is very interested in Ben Sheets, but is also very concerned with his injury history. The Yankees are out of the running for Sheets now that they've inked Pettitte, and the signings of Tim Redding and Freddy Garcia for the Mets probably means that they will not make a push for the 30-year old right-hander, either. The Rangers would prefer to sign Sheets to a one-year contract, but he wants a multi-year deal.
• Nothing new on the Manny Ramirez front other than the fact that the Dodgers are still in a position of strength. Los Angeles also does not believe that San Francisco is a serious player for Ramirez.

Projecting the NCAA Tournament field

ACC (6)

Projected champion: North Carolina
At large: Wake Forest, Clemson, Duke, Miami, Florida State
Bubble: Maryland, Virginia Tech

AMERICA EAST (1)

Projected champion: Vermont

ATLANTIC-10 (2)

Projected champion: Xavier
At large: Dayton
Bubble: None

ATLANTIC SUN (1)

Projected champion: East Tennessee State

BIG 12 (5)

Projected champion: Oklahoma
At large: Texas, Kansas, Baylor, Missouri
Bubble: Texas A&M, Nebraska

BIG EAST (9)

Projected champion: Connecticut
At large: Pittsburgh, Louisville, Syracuse, Marquette, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Villanova, West Virginia
Bubble: Providence

BIG SKY (1)

Projected champion: Weber State

BIG SOUTH (1)

Projected champion: Liberty

BIG TEN (6)

Projected champion: Michigan State
At large: Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State
Bubble: Penn State

BIG WEST (1)

Projected champion: Pacific

COLONIAL ATHLETIC (1)

Projected champion: George Mason

CONFERENCE USA (1)

Projected champion: Memphis

HORIZON LEAGUE (1)

Projected champion: Butler

IVY LEAGUE (1)

Projected champion: Cornell

MAAC (1)

Projected champion: Siena

MAC (1)

Projected champion: Buffalo

MEAC (1)

Projected champion: Morgan State

MISSOURI VALLEY (2)

Projected champion: Illinois State
At large: Creighton
Bubble: None

MOUNTAIN WEST (3)

Projected champion: UNLV
At large: BYU, Utah
Bubble: None

NORTHEAST (1)

Projected champion: Robert Morris

OHIO VALLEY (1)

Projected champion: Austin Peay

PAC-10 (4)

Projected champion: Arizona State
At large: UCLA, California, Stanford
Bubble: Washington

PATRIOT LEAGUE (1)

Projected champion: Navy

SEC (4)

Projected champion: Kentucky
At large: Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida
Bubble: South Carolina

SOUTHERN LEAGUE (1)

Projected champion: Davidson

SOUTHLAND (1)

Projected champion: Texas-Arlington

SUMMIT LEAGUE (1)

Projected champion: North Dakota State

SUN BELT (1)

Projected champion: Western Kentucky

SWAC (1)

Projected champion: Alabama State

WAC (1)

Projected champion: Utah State

WEST COAST (3)

Projected champion: San Diego
At large: Gonzaga, Saint Mary's
Bubble: None