KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Royals extended a $15.3 million qualifying offer to right-hander James Shields, which assures Kansas City of draft pick compensation if its staff ace signs a major league contract with another team before June 8.Shields has until Nov. 10 to accept, and it is expected he will not. In the past two years, none of the 22 free agents given qualifying offers have accepted.The Royals also exercised a $7 million option for next season on reliever Wade Davis and selected the contract of outfielder Paulo Orlando from Triple-A during a busy Monday.Over the weekend, the Royals elected to pay designated hitter Billy Butler a $1 million buyout rather than exercise their $12.5 million option. The decision was widely expected, and Butler said he hopes hell be able to agree with the Royals on a new contract.Its unlikely the Royals will be able to do the same with Shields, who helped them win the AL pennant after reaching the playoffs for the first time in 29 years. With higher-payroll clubs in the market for pitching, Shields is expected to sign elsewhere.If that happens, the Royals would receive a compensatory draft pick between the first and second rounds of next years amateur draft by extending to him a qualifying offer.General manager Dayton Moore said recently he expects the Royals to be in the market for pitching, too. But it will likely be a starter carrying a much smaller price tag, similar to deals signed by right-hander Jeremy Guthrie and left-hander Jason Vargas in recent years.Were going to have to make some tough decisions with our roster, and you know well continue to look to add players that fit in, Moore said, but were going to have to certainly look to add starting pitching. Well continue to try to put it together the way we have.Shields, who arrived along with Davis in a December 2012 trade, went 13-9 with a 3.15 ERA in his first season in Kansas City. He was 14-8 with a 3.21 ERA this year, logging more than 200 innings for the seventh time in eight years.Perhaps the heavy workload took its toll in the playoffs. Shields was battered by Oakland in the AL wild-card game, which Kansas City rallied to win in 12 innings. He fared better against the Angels in the division series, but was pounded again by Baltimore in the AL Championship Series — though the Royals once again picked up him during their four-game sweep.In two World Series starts against the San Francisco Giants, Shields went 0-2 with a 7.00 ERA. He only lasted nine innings over the two outings, outdueled each time by Madison Bumgarner.Im not too worried about my free agency right now, Shields said after the Royals lost Game 7 last week. Obviously I have to think about that and well see what happens.Davis earned his option — a significant raise from the $4.8 million he made this season — by having one of the best seasons by a relief pitcher in major league history.The hard-throwing right-hander, a middling starter, went 9-2 with a 1.00 ERA in a team-high 71 appearances. His ERA led all big league relievers and was the eighth-best ever by an AL relief pitcher. He mostly handled the eighth inning ahead of Greg Holland, but also recorded three saves while filling in as the closer late in the season.Kansas City also has an $8 million option for next season with a $500,000 buyout. If the Royals exercise it, they would have a $10 million option for 2017 with a $250,000 buyout.By exercising their option on Davis, the Royals will bring back the dominant back of their bullpen intact, though Holland and seventh-inning star Kelvin Herrera could both get hefty raises through arbitration after stellar seasons.Holland, an All-Star the past two seasons, had a 1.44 ERA with 46 saves in 65 appearances this season. He saved two games against the Angels in the ALDS and joined Dennis Eckersley as the only pitchers to save all four games in an ALCS against the Orioles.Herrera was 4-3 with a career-best 1.41 ERA in 70 appearances this season. Anthony Kay Blue Jays Jersey . Rockies manager Walt Weiss was unhappy, too. Weiss addressed the issue in a 15-minute meeting with his pitcher and catcher after the Rockies gave up 14 hits and lost 10-1. De La Rosa lasted only 4 1-3 innings and allowed five runs in his first opening-day start. Willie Upshaw Blue Jays Jersey . The 49ers, 6-2 and riding a five-game winning streak following the bye week, also waived cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and activated cornerback Eric Wright from the reserve/non-football injury list. Manningham made 42 receptions for 449 yards and one touchdown in 12 games and 10 starts last season before injuring his left knee in a loss at Seattle Dec. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/596h-randa...-blue-jays.html. Under the deal, the Vikings will donate an undisclosed sum of money to five gay rights-related charities over the next five years. Kluwe said he wont receive any money as part of the settlement. "This will help a lot of people that really do need that help," Kluwe said. Homer Bush Jersey .com) - James Harden needed just seven made field goals to drop 35 points on the Philadelphia 76ers, leading the Houston Rockets to a 104-93 win on Monday. Fred Mcgriff Jersey . The 29-year-old Mills started three games for Oakland this season, posting a 1-1 record with a 4.41 earned-run average. He opened the season appearing in 14 games and making 12 starts for the Milwaukee Brewers triple-A affiliate in Nashville, posting a 4-2 record with a 1. LAS VEGAS -- Frustrated in his big fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Canelo Alvarez found a much easier target in Alfredo Angulo. Alvarez battered a game but outclassed Angulo on Saturday night before stopping him with an uppercut that prompted referee Tony Weeks to move in at 47 seconds of the 10th round of their junior middleweight fight. Alvarez (43-1-1) never was able to put down Angulo (22-4), but hit him throughout the fight with hard combinations that almost always found their mark. By the middle rounds, the only suspense left was whether Angulo could go the distance. The fight was in marked contrast to the last bout for Alvarez, who was dominated by Mayweather in the richest bout ever. But while Mayweather was the master of defence, Angulo was there to be hit all night long -- and Alvarez did just that. "Tonight, I was the best fighter and definitely rebounded from the Mayweather fight with my performance," Alvarez said. Angulo, who was never close to going down, protested when Weeks moved in to stop the fight after a big left uppercut to the head. Before the 10th round began, Angulos corner had pleaded with the ring doctor to give their fighter one more round to try and turn things around. "Im upset because they should have let the fight go on," Angulo said. "Im fine and I was fighting." Angulo never stopped going forward, but he paid a price, taking shot after shot to the head as Alvarez teed off seemingly at will. Alvarez won all but one of the first nine rounds on two ringside scorecards, and two on the third. The Associated Press had him winning eight of the first nine rounds. Ringside punching stats were just as lopsided, with Alvarez landing 295 punches to 104 for Angulo. The ending was booed by many in the crowd that filled the MGM Grand arena for the junior middleweight showdown between the two Mexican fighters. There was no title at stake, but the 23-year-old Alvarez seemed determined to win big to erase memories of the loss to Mayweather, the only one of his career. He landed the first left hook he threw seconds into the fight and it wwas quickly apparent that Angulo would have no answer for his speed and power.dddddddddddd "He wanted to please the fans because he felt in the Mayweather fight he let a lot of people down," promoter Richard Schaefer said. "Canelo was not satisfied with just the win. He came to make a statement and you saw that." Alvarez was already a big star when he met Mayweather in September, but the red-haired fan favourite was frustrated by Mayweathers defence and lost almost every round. He said before this fight that he learned a lot against Mayweather, and vowed to show it in his comeback fight. The only time Angulo even seemed to be in the fight was in the eighth round when he landed some good punches to the head and kept advancing. But Alvarez came back to dominate the ninth round, prompting the ring doctor to look at Angulo between rounds to see whether he could continue. "I was so secure in my jab and my stamina was there," Alvarez said. "Of course I was a little tired, its boxing. But I was ready to finish the fight and even go 10 more rounds." Alvarez was guaranteed $1.15 million to $850,000 for Angulo. The purses were adjusted when Alvarez agreed to pay $100,000 to Angulo on Friday to raise the weight limit to 155 pounds from 154 because he couldnt make the original weight. Before the main event, Alvarez watched from his dressing room as his brother, Ricardo Alvarez, was knocked down twice on the way to a decision loss to Sergio Thompson in a 135-pound fight. Thompson was the harder hitting fighter from the opening bell, winning easily on one scorecard and narrowly on the other two in taking the 10-round decision. In another undercard fight, Leo Santa Cruz remained unbeaten in defending his 122-pound title with a lopsided decision win over Cristian Mijares of Mexico. Santa Cruz, who lives in Los Angeles, shook off a cut near his right eye from a head butt in the fourth round to win every round on two ringside scorecards and all but one round on the third in improving to 27-0-1. Mijares, a former 115-pound champion, fell to 48-8-2. ' ' '