Trade

The NL East-leading Atlanta Braves have acquired outfielder Rick Ankiel, reliever Kyle Farnsworth and cash from the Kansas City Royals in a five-player deal. Atlanta sent pitchers Tim Collins and Jesse Chavez and outfielder Gregor Blanco to Kansas City on Saturday. The 31-year-old Ankiel hit .261 with four home runs and 15 RBIs in 27 games for Kansas City.  The 34-year-old Farnsworth is 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired outfielder Scott Podsednik from the Kansas City Royals for a pair of minor leaguers. The trade was announced before the Dodgers played Wednesday night at San Diego. The Dodgers began the day five games behind the Padres in the NL West. Podsednik hit .310 and stole 30 bases for the Royals this season. He had two hits for Kansas City in its 6-4 loss to Minnesota earlier in the day. The Royals got catcher Lucas May and pitcher Elisaul Pimentel from the Dodgers.

The Kansas City Chiefs intend to resume trade talks with Miami on Friday that could ultimately send franchise left tackle Branden Albert to the Dolphins. The two sides had been discussing a potential trade that would land the Chiefs a second-round pick, shelved the talks while the first round of the draft was going on Thursday night. Chiefs general manager John Dorsey said he spoke with Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland midway through the round and they agreed to speak again Friday. Kansas City chose a potential replacement for Albert in Central Michigan's Eric Fisher with the first overall pick.

Today the Wichita Wingnuts traded outfielder Stephen Pearson to the Sioux City Explorers for right-handed pitcher Jae Jung. Pearson has been with Wichita since the team's inception in 2008.  This season Pearson is hitting .306 for the Wingnuts with 3 home-runs and 33 RBI. Jung is 5-7 this season for Sioux City with a 4.44 ERA in 13 games.  The Wingnuts are off today and continue their 13 game road trip tomorrow at Sioux City.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have acquired defensive end Alex Magee from the Kansas City Chiefs in hopes of improving the NFL's least productive pass rush. The Bucs are last in the league with four sacks through five games. Magee was obtained Tuesday in exchange for an undisclosed pick in the 2011 draft. The Bucs also will receive an undisclosed pick in the deal. Magee was a third-round pick by the Chiefs in 2009. The second-year pro appeared in 17 games for Kansas City, including one start.

The Wichita Wingnuts completed a deadline deal acquiring all-star closer Dustin Cameron from the Fort Worth Cats on Friday afternoon. Cameron currently ranks fifth in the league with 16 saves while pitching to a 3.35 ERA in 40 appearances. The sidearming right-hander has struck out 36 hitters in 40.1 IP this season. The Joplin, MO native is in his fifth professional season and entered 2010 with a career ERA of 3.13 and 165 strikeouts in 195.2 IP. Cameron saved 14 games for the Pensacola Pelicans in 2008 and notched 14 more last season for the Cats.

The San Francisco 49ers made their trade of quarterback Alex Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs official on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after the two sides agreed to it. The 49ers will receive the Chiefs' second-round pick, 34th overall, and a conditional choice in next year's draft, a person familiar with the terms told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the terms were not disclosed. Smith must still pass a physical for the trade to be completed.

The Wichita Wingnuts have traded third baseman Michael Thompson to Quebec of the Can-Am league in exchange for third baseman Michael Bell.  Thompson has been on the Wingnuts team since its inception in 2008. The Wingnuts also making a couple moves in the bullpen today.  Wichita has sent Doug Hurn to Ft. Worth to complete the Ryan Patterson trade and placed former Shocker Clint McKeever on waivers.  Wichita added two rookie relievers to their bullpen, signing left-hander David Jensen and right-hander J.R. Boling.

Zookeepers have a fun job, but it can also be really dirty.  I got see both sides as I learned the tricks of the trade!

The Kansas City Royals optioned left-handed pitcher Francisley Bueno to Triple-A Omaha on Saturday. Bueno, who gave up a run and two hits in 2 2-3 innings Thursday against Seattle, has no record and a 3.86 ERA in three relief appearances over two stints with Kansas City. The move was made to clear roster space for right-hander Jeremy Guthrie, who was acquired Friday in a trade with Colorado and will start Sunday against Minnesota.

It was bright and clear in Lower Manhattan as the newest skyscraper at the World Trade Center reached its full height Friday morning. One World Trade Center is now 1,776 feet tall. Workers cheered as a crane lifted the 408-foot spire to the top of the building. An American flag waved in the breeze, a symbol of patriotism nearly 12 years after the attack. The new tower looks down on the 9/11 memorial, where the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001. "I think it symbolizes that Americans aren't going to change how they live life or cower in fear because of a terror attack," said Kimberly Trent, of lower Manhattan.

The Kansas City Chiefs have traded cornerback Javier Arenas to the Arizona Cardinals for fullback Anthony Sherman. A second-round draft pick from Alabama in 2010, Arenas played 47 games in three seasons with the Chiefs, including 12 starts. He had two interceptions and returned kicks for the Chiefs, averaging 21 yards on kickoffs. Arena started a career-high nine games in 2012, with 59 tackles and a forced fumble. He was third in the NFL in punt returns with a 12.8-yard average in 2011.

The Kansas City Chiefs intend to resume trade talks with Miami on Friday that could ultimately send franchise left tackle Branden Albert to the Dolphins. The two sides had been discussing a potential trade that would land the Chiefs a second-round pick, shelved the talks while the first round of the draft was going on Thursday night. Chiefs general manager John Dorsey said he spoke with Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland midway through the round and they agreed to speak again Friday. Kansas City chose a potential replacement for Albert in Central Michigan's Eric Fisher with the first overall pick.

Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid denied a report Thursday that the team has given permission to the Miami Dolphins to speak with left tackle Branden Albert. Reid said the report was not true, denying any suggestion the Chiefs granted permission to help facilitate a trade of the franchise tackle for a second-round pick in next week's draft. Albert has not attended any of the Chiefs' voluntary offseason workouts after expressing his displeasure with getting the franchise tag. Albert said he wants a long-term commitment, and has indicated he's unwilling to move to the right tackle.

The San Francisco 49ers made their trade of quarterback Alex Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs official on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after the two sides agreed to it. The 49ers will receive the Chiefs' second-round pick, 34th overall, and a conditional choice in next year's draft, a person familiar with the terms told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the terms were not disclosed. Smith must still pass a physical for the trade to be completed.

Former Wichita State Shocker Conor Gillaspie has been traded from the San Francisco Giants to the Chicago White Sox.  The trade was announced Friday afternoon. The 25-year old third-baseman Gillaspie was traded for pitching prospect Jeff Soptic. Gillaspie was chosen by the Giants with the 37th overall pick in the 2008 MLB draft.  He was called up to the major league roster on September 6th, 2008. The former Shocker third-baseman has played off and on for parts of three seasons on the big-leauge roster with the Giants.  In his time in the big leagues Gillaspie hit .205 in 48 at bats. 

For What it's Worth---on this February 21 -- Do coaches even have plays to try and get a game winning shot with? All you ever see in college hoops anymore is, usually, a guard holding the ball until about 0:09 seconds are left. Then he usually works off a high screen to try to get a look going to the basket. I get the idea - if you don't make the shot - maybe you force the foul. Maybe it's just the games I'm watching, but it rarely seems to work. Case in point--- ---Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart against Kansas last night at the end of regulation; he was going to take that shot, he never looked anywhere else.

The Wichita Thunder of the Central Hockey League brought back two key pieces from last year's team today, announcing the signings of forward Matt Summers and defenseman Jarred Mohr as well as adding rookie forward Todd Hosmer to the roster for the 2012-13 season.   Summers, 26, enters his sixth season as a pro and second in Wichita. The Savage, Minnesota native led the Thunder in scoring last year with 61 points and was tied for ninth in assists with 42. He was named the Sher-Wood CHL Player of the Month last October and was third in the league in shooting percentage (.202)

The Kansas City Royals optioned left-handed pitcher Francisley Bueno to Triple-A Omaha on Saturday. Bueno, who gave up a run and two hits in 2 2-3 innings Thursday against Seattle, has no record and a 3.86 ERA in three relief appearances over two stints with Kansas City. The move was made to clear roster space for right-hander Jeremy Guthrie, who was acquired Friday in a trade with Colorado and will start Sunday against Minnesota.

Former Shocker-signee Derek Norris is now a member of the Oakland Athletics organization.  Today the Washington Nationals, who drafted Norris in the 4th round in 2007, traded Norris along with two other players in order to acquire pitcher Gio Gonzalez. Norris has yet to make it past double-A ball in Harrisburg but has been playing extremely well and was rated the Nationals' number 2 prospect entering the 2011 season.  This year Norris, a Goddard native, hit 20 home runs in 104 games.