Leadoff with Lee 2.17.15

By @cleeverizon

-With playing stints with the Athletics,Yankees,Rockies and his last team the Indians Jason Giambi announced his retirement from MLB. In his most productive years, he won numerous awards including: 
- 5x All-Star (2000-2004)
- 2x Silver Slugger Award (2001-2002)
- AL MVP (2000)
- AL Comeback Player of the Year (2005)
- TSN AL Comeback Player of the Year (2005)
- Home Run Derby Champion (2002)

- Pitcher Bruce Chen agreed to minor league deal with Cleveland Indians. His contract is a $1M base, plus $1M performance bonuses

- The Yankees will retire Andy Pettite's No. 46, Bernie Williams' No. 51 and Jorge Posada's No. 20 this season. These three will join numbers Billy Martin 1, Babe Ruth 3, Lou Gehrig 4, Joe DiMaggio 5, Joe Torre 6, Mickey Mantle 7, Yogi Berra & Bill Dickey 8, Roger Maris 9, Phil Rizzuto 10, Thurman Munson 15, Whitney Ford 16, Don Mattingly 23, Elston Howard 32, Casey Stengel 37, Mariano Rivera & Jackie Robinson 42, Reggie Jackson 44 and Ron Guidry 49 at the Yankees Monument Hall. Obviously, Derek Jeter's 2 will be next up.              

- The Western Conference won the NBA All-Star Game, 163-158 on Sunday.

The 321 combined points are the most in an NBA All-Star Game. Coming off the bench for the West, Russell Westbrook scored 27 points in 11 minutes in the first half of the game. Westbrook was the 2015 All Star MVP scoring 41 points on 16/28 shooting, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals in 26 minutes. His 41 points are 1 shy of Wilt Chamberlain's All-Star Game record for most points in a game, 42.

While scoring 30 points, LeBron James passed Michael Jordan (262) for 2nd on the all-time All-Star Game points list. Only Kobe Bryant (280) has more than LeBron (278).  

-The New York Knicks announced the official buyout of forward Amar'e Stoudemire. Stoudemire gave back nearly $2 million dollars in his buyout of the final year of his contract. It's reported that he has committed to signing a deal with the Dallas Mavericks.

-Yesterday was the first official day NFL teams were eligible to franchise (one year deal for a player guaranteed) and use the transition tag (other team may sign with  current team having first rights to match) on their players. 

Tag projections on offense are based on $143M cap:
QB $18.51M
RB $10.93M
WR $12.80M
TE $8.33M
OL $12.92M.  

Tag projections on defense/ST (based on $143M cap):
DT $11.17M
DE $14.78M
LB $13.17M
CB $13.05M
S $9.60M
P/K $4.12M.