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GOODYEAR, Ariz. - Michael Brantley was smoothly sidestepping a question about whether he should have won the Gold Glove for going an entire season in the outfield without an error. His boss interrupted him in midsentence. "He should have won the Gold Glove," Cleveland Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said. Brantleys response matched his "Dr. Smooth" nickname. He kept right on going, talking about everyone except himself. "Its about winning baseball games," Brantley said. His devotion to that answer helped him get a $25 million, four-year contract on Thursday as the Indians opened spring training. A player who was the last piece in the deal for pitcher CC Sabathia in 2008 is now recognized as one of the Indians core players. Brantley batted a team-leading .284 last season, when Cleveland ended a five-year playoff drought. The Indians lost to Tampa Bay 4-0 in the wild-card game. The challenge is to keep getting better. The Indians decided that the 26-year-old can be instrumental that way. He avoided arbitration by agreeing to the deal, which he signed after passing a physical. Brantley gets a $3.5 million signing bonus and salaries of $1.5 million this year, $5 million in 2015, $6.5 million in 2016 and $7.5 million in 2017. Cleveland has an $11.5 million option for 2018 with a $1 million buyout. His 2017 salary would increase by $1 million if hes among the top five in MVP voting in any year from 2014-16 and would go up by $500,000 if he finishes sixth to 10th. The option price would be boosted by $1 million if hes among the top five from 2014-17 and by $500,000 if he finishes sixth to 10th. "He is a complete player," Antonetti said. "He is a tireless worker, a great teammate, a complete professional in every sense of the word. When youre making investments of this magnitude, those are the things you look for. He embodies everything we look for in our players. "His entire focus is on the team. A lot of guys talk about that and will give the surface, Hey, Im a team player. Michael lives that every day." He proved it last season. Brantley was slotted as the leadoff hitter and centre fielder until the Indians signed Michael Bourn. He agreed to move to left field and floated around in the batting order, hitting everywhere from first through eighth as manager Terry Francona rested regulars. Brantley set career highs with 26 doubles, 10 homers, 73 RBIs and 66 runs. He also stole 17 bases in 21 attempts. And he went the entire season without making an error in his new outfield spot. "Those are the players that you value because regardless of what their personal goals are or their aspirations, theyre able to put the team goals ahead of it," Francona said. "And thats a good example. We all know he wanted to play centre field, and he moved to left. And he probably preferred to stay in one spot in the order, but he moved around. "And he did it willingly." Brantley was part of a four-player package that the Indians got from Milwaukee on July 7, 2008. Originally, it was three players and one to be announced after the season. Brantley heard that he would be the final piece in the deal, which was completed on Oct. 3. Little did the Indians know he would end up being the biggest prize in the package, which included first baseman Matt LaPorta. "In bringing Michael over, we had some sense of those things," Antonetti said. "But Im not sure we could fully appreciate how great of a worker he was, how great of a teammate he was, how driven he was to be successful." Notes: Francona isnt sure where Brantley will bat this season, but said its possible he could move around in the order again. ... The Indians were prepared for an arbitration hearing Friday with RHP Josh Tomlin, who is asking for $975,000. The team has offered $800,000. RHP Justin Masterson also has an arbitration hearing pending. He is seeking $11.8 million, while the club offered $8.05 million. AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report. .com) - Whew! North Dakota States reign as the three-time FCS national champion was pushed to the limit by South Dakota State on Saturday, but freshman R. . "Theyve been good against everybody," he said. Carlos Gomez launched a three-run homer and Matt Garza battled into the seventh inning for his first win in four starts to help the Brewers continue their mastery of the Rockies with a 7-4 victory Saturday. .com) - The NBA will be on display overseas Thursday with the New York Knicks taking on the Milwaukee Bucks at O2 Arena in London. . With just under five seconds remaining - the Raptors having clawed back from a 19-point deficit and pulled within one - DeRozan took the handoff from Chuck Hayes. . Luis Enrique signed the deal with club president Josep Bartomeu two days after it was announced by the club. That was two days after coach Gerardo Martino stepped down when Barcelona finished its first season without a major trophy in six years.MINNEAPOLIS -- Keeping things simple is working just fine for the Houston Rockets. Dwight Howard had 18 points and 15 rebounds, and the surging Rockets used a fourth-quarter push to hold off the Minnesota Timberwolves 107-89 Monday night for their sixth consecutive victory. Chandler Parsons had 20 points and James Harden scored 19 for the Rockets, who have won six straight for the first time since taking seven in a row in January 2012. All five starters scored in double figures for Houston, which has won nine of 11 and 14 of 18. "Its just not trying to make the spectacular play, giving up good shots for great shots, not forcing anything. Thats what weve been doing really good lately and its a lot more fun to play that way," Parsons said. "We have so many talented guys, we can be so balanced every single night." The short-handed Timberwolves do not have that luxury right now. Back after missing one game with a bruised left quadriceps, Kevin Love led Minnesota with 31 points and 10 rebounds. Chase Budinger had 15 points as a fill-in starter and Alexey Shved scored 11 off the bench for the Timberwolves, who have lost four straight and six of seven. Ricky Rubio, who had three straight games in double figures, including a career-best 25 points on Saturday, was 2 of 10 for seven points. Loves strong game -- including a career-best 23 first-half points -- was needed because Minnesota played without starting guard Kevin Martin (broken thumb) and centre Nikola Pekovic (right ankle bursitis). Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman also was absent due to personal reasons. He is expected back Wednesday. Assistant coach Terry Porter filled in for Adelman, but was left scratching his head. "Unfortunately for us, we couldnt make shots," Porter said. "Guys that normally make shots struggled. We had good looks, but just couldnt knock them down. On those misses, they ran out, got some easy baskets and extended the lead." After its 15-point lead had dwindled to four, Houston scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to push its cushion to 93-78. Parsons had a pair of fast-break layups and a dunk to spark the run. This time, the Rockets did nott let Minnesota counter with a run, outscoring the Timberwolves 25-11 in the quarter -- Minnesotas lowest-scoring period of the year.dddddddddddd. "Its almost been like that three games in a row where weve been in pretty good position, either ahead or right within striking distance," Love said. "Then in those first few minutes the other team just gets off to a better start than you do and pushes the lead up. We just need to be better in the fourth quarter." Howard said the key surge came about because the Rockets slowed things down. "We didnt try to rush shots and rush down the floor and take bad shots. We took our time, shared the ball and got good shots," he said. "We do an excellent job of sharing the ball and finding an open man. When we do that its hard for teams to decide what theyre going to do, if theyre going to double out the posts or stay with the 3-point shooters. We just want to make teams make tough decisions on the floor." Down by nine at the break, Minnesota scored the first six points of the second half, but Patrick Beverley had five of his 14 points as Houston countered with a 12-0 spurt to extend its lead to 79-64. The Rockets then began to work the shot clock, but couldnt get shots to fall. Instead, a 12-3 run got Minnesota within four heading into the fourth quarter. Behind 10 points from Harden -- including a pair of 3-pointers -- Houston led 34-28 after one. Love had 17 points in the quarter, including 15 straight at one point for the Timberwolves. Houston had two dunks and a pair of layups as part of a 10-2 run that bumped the lead to 56-45 with 3:43 to play in the second. The Rockets led 67-58 at the break, the most points Minnesota has allowed in a first half this season. NOTES: The Timberwolves were 21 for 21 from the free throw line, but had no attempts in the fourth quarter. ... Houston, which averages an NBA-high 31.22 free throw attempts per game, had just 20. ... Minnesota starting forward Corey Brewer and centre Ronny Turiaf were a combined 3 for 8, scoring just seven points in 48 minutes. ... Houston is home Wednesday against Washington, its lone home game in an eight-game span. ' ' '
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