He’ll be a candidate for any head coaching job that opens up. Maybe the Blues will fire Mike Kitchen soon?

TSN.ca Staff with files

Columbus GM Doug MacLean has submitted a list of coaching candidates to Blue Jackets owners to replace Gerard Gallant, and former Philadelphia Flyers head coach Ken Hitchcock is first in line.

Looks like he might be done for the regular season…

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich will have surgery Tuesday on his injured left ankle, possibly ending his season.

Leftwich missed three games before visiting renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., this week. He was told to rest the ankle, then return for a re-evaluation.

The Jaguars released a statement Saturday that said Leftwich has opted for surgery. But the team also said he still might return this season.

Ken Rosenthal / FOXSports.com

The White Sox are close to trading right-hander Jon Garland, according to a rival executive, and the Rangers appear to be the most logical fit.

The Rangers pursued Garland at the general managers’ meetings in Naples, Fla., and White Sox G.M. Ken Williams is intrigued by several of the Rangers’ pitching prospects.Minor-league left-hander John Danks likely would be part of any Rangers package for Garland, a sinker-baller whose style would adapt well to Texas’ hitter-friendly Ameriquest Field.

At an apparent $8 million annual salary.� Also looks like OF Lastings Milledge may be finding a new home soon.

ESPN.com news services

At the end of the Mets’ playoff run last season, Cliff Floyd said he wanted to return to the team. It now looks like New York will replace their oft-injured left fielder with a player who was also hobbled much of last season.

Multiple media outlets in New York reported on Saturday that the Mets were close to completing a deal with free agent Moises Alou. Newsday said the deal would be for at least two years at $8 million annually.

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Interesting news for the fine folks in KC — good luck buying a team to move into it. Special to my KC buddy ‘Coach’ for sending this one in.

By RANDY COVITZ The Kansas City Star

William �Boots� Del Biaggio III, a limited partner of the San Jose Sharks, has announced his intentions to purchase a National Hockey League team to play in the Sprint Center when it opens in October 2007.

Del Biaggio, president and chief executive officer of Sand Hill Capital, a venture finance company based in Menlo Park, Calif., was to be introduced at a news conference on Saturday afternoon by Tim Leiweke, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which will manage the new downtown arena.

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Interesting read from ESPN’s George Johnson on John Davidson, former hockey analyst for MSG and NBC, who stepped down to take on the task of bringing the St. Louis Blues back to respectability….

Danger pay is nothing new to John Davidson.

Not for a man who worked on northern Alberta power lines in his teens, or verbally jousted Canadian hockey columnist Al Strachan during countless “Hot Stove Lounge” segments of “Hockey Night in Canada” telecasts.

But this �this assignment just might beat them all.

“You know what bothers me,” momentarily bristled the Blues’ new president of hockey operations, “this obsession with our attendance figures. Look, facts are facts. You can’t dispute the numbers.

“But when I read [Oilers defenseman Marc-Andre] Bergeron saying things like ‘We get more people for practices,’ that pisses me off. It’s as if they’re laughing at us.

More after the jump »

News and notes from Buster Olney’s ESPNInsider, which is free this weekend…

Tim Purpura has never delivered a blockbuster move, writes Brian McTaggart, but the first may be close. Folks around baseball believe the Astros have the inside track on signing Carlos Lee, so this is what the Houston lineup might look like next year:

CF Willy Taveras
2B Craig Biggio
1B Lance Berkman
LF Carlos Lee
RF Luke Scott
3B Morgan Ensberg (or Aubrey Huff, if Huff re-signs with Houston)
SS Adam Everett
C Brad Ausmus

This would be an upgrade over a team that finished 25th in the majors in runs scored last year, but the Astros would still need more production out of one of three players — Biggio, who had a .309 on-base percentage last year; Everett, who hit .239 and ranked fourth from last among all qualifying players in ‘06 OPS; or Ausmus, who ranked 538th among all players in OPS.

Another excerpt after the jump…

More after the jump »

A few days ago, it was noted here that the Boston Red Sox were on the trail of J.D. Drew, the mercurial outfielder formerly of the Los Angeles Dodgers. According to Los Angeles Times write Mike DiGiovanna, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim might make Drew their centerfielder.
Here’s an excerpt (registration is required for the full article) –

Dodgers fans who are upset about J.D. Drew’s decision to opt out of his contract last week might not have to travel far to express their displeasure with the outfielder. The Angels, according to industry sources, are interested in signing Drew to play center field.

Drew, who forfeited $33 million in guaranteed salary from the Dodgers, might not be the Angels’ No. 1 choice. Alfonso Soriano remains the team’s top free-agent target, and the Angels are believed to have extended the slugger an offer of five or six years for about $14 million a year.

The Angels, according to sources, also have made an offer to left-hander Barry Zito, who could command a seven-year deal for as much as $100 million.

Signing Zito would give the Angels enough pitching to pursue trades for sluggers such as Toronto center fielder Vernon Wells, Atlanta center fielder Andruw Jones, Boston left fielder Manny Ramirez and Baltimore shortstop Miguel Tejada, all deals that probably would cost the Angels a pitcher such as Ervin Santana, Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders or Kelvim Escobar.

More after the jump

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He will remain with the Dodgers in a front office capacity…cheers to Bill, class of ‘89.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former AL batting champion Bill Mueller, limited to 32 games with the Dodgers last season before undergoing what turned out to be career-ending knee surgery, retired Friday and will serve as a special assistant to Los Angeles general manager Ned Colletti.

“In one way, it’s really disappointing, because I love what he brings to the table as a player,” Colletti said. “When he got hurt last year, it was probably as big an injury as we had for what it meant to the club.”

Yep, these are his readers…

Brad from Chicago writes, “Do a mailbag you [expletive]! Enough of this Doc Rivers sucks crap. Mailbag! Mailbag!!!!!!!!!”

All right, fine. We’ll skip the NFL column this week and try to bang out as many mailbag questions as possible without making the column so long that you can’t read it on the john without both legs falling asleep. Please note: We won’t be answering any e-mails relating to one Vincenzo Testaverde today. I’m not emotionally prepared to discuss him yet. As for everything else, as always, these are actual e-mails from actual readers.

More after the jump »