TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed free agent receiver Cecil Shorts III and waived receiver Evan Spencer.Shorts entered the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011. He spent the first four years of his career with the Jaguars before signing with the Houston Texans last season.The sixth-year pro has 218 career receptions for 2,877 yards and 14 touchdowns.The Bucs announced the signing Tuesday, three days after trimming the roster to the regular-season limit of 53 players.Spencer spent most of 2015 on Tampa Bays practice squad before making his NFL debut in the final game of the season.---AP NFL website:
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http://twitter.com/AP-NFL . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. . It was hard for Luck to pull off another comeback, or even get into the end zone, while standing on the sideline. Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to give the Chargers a 19-9 victory against the Colts on Monday night. . Badenhop was 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 63 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He is 18-20 in his career with three saves and a 3. ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Right-hander?Nick Tropeano?has elected to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair his torn ulnar collateral ligament,?Los Angeles Angels?general manager Billy Eppler announced Wednesday.Tropeano opted for surgery after considering more conservative treatments, including stem cell treatments, Eppler said. He will be the second Angels starter this season to have Tommy John surgery.?Andrew Heaney had Tommy John surgery in July, and C.J. Wilson hasnt pitched all season because of various elbow and shoulder injuries and was shut down July 5 to have shoulder surgery.Nick has decided to undergo UCL construction, so he will have Tommy John surgery, Eppler said. Were still working on the date, but that will be in the near future. Right now, hes still deliberating over a couple physicians, and well make that announcement when it comes to light.Also Wednesday, Angels ace Garrett Richards will continue stem cell treatments on his injured elbow after seeing positive results.Richards is still confident that he will not need surgery to repair his torn UCL after he was cleared to begin the next stage in his recovery. An imaging appointment with Los Angeles-based physician Dr. Steve Yoon showed continued healing in the injured ligament.The next course of action now will be to test the elbow and also to put him through some exercises, Eppler said. In about 10 days to 144 days, hell have a follow-up ultrasound, and it will determine if he can pitch.ddddddddddddIf further progress shows in the next round of imaging, Richards will be cleared to start a throwing program. He could potentially face live hitting as soon as September or October. Eppler said they are considering the Arizona Fall League or instructional league, but he will not pitch in a winter league.I think that you still want to have him end this year and go into the winter with the feeling of having some answers, some questions answered, and not having to wonder if he will pitch and so on and so forth in spring training, Eppler said. So I think if we can get him back up on the mound and get him pitching in a competitive environment, I think we would like to see that happen and I think Garrett will as well.Richards echoed Epplers sentiments.I think its a must, I dont think theres any way I can not get into a competitive setting before this season is over, Richards said. I need to get off a mound and throw 90-95 percent for several pitches and full comfortable not only with myself, but make sure that my stuff is still there. Then Ill feel comfortable going into the offseason with what I have going.The Associated Press contributed to this report. ' ' '
