Around the Horn

- The Columbus Blue Jackets missed a golden opportunity.  Their star, Rick Nash, demanded a trade.  Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson made a bad decision not trading the unhappy Nash.  I won't say Nash will quit on the team, he doesn't appear to be that kind of player.  However, New York Rangers GM, according to a twitter post by WFAN's Brian Monzo, offered Brandon Dubinsky, Tim Erixon, J.T. Miller, Christian Thomas, and a first round draft pick.  Those are some very nice pieces for the Blue Jackets to build around.  Now, he is stuck with a disgruntled forward for the rest of the year on a team that is going nowhere.

- Remember when Joel Zumaya wowed the baseball world with his 100 MPH fastball?  If you don't, you have good reason.  Zumaya burst onto the scene in 2006, pitching to a 1.94 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and recorded 93 strikeouts in 83.1 innings.  Then the injuries started and he never appeared in more than 31 games in any season, the 31 came in 2010.  He missed all of last season and, his 2012 campaign is already over after 13 pitchers.  He will need to have Tommy John surgery, or elbow ligament replacement surgery.  He is now mulling retirement according to an ESPN.com report.  Zumaya has had a myriad of issues with his health.  It's not like it has been one area.  He has missed time with elbow, foot, shoulder, and finger issues.  He once hurt himself moving boxes in his father's attic.  He also played the video game Guitar Hero so much that he suffered an injury and missed the 2006 American League Championship Series.  This guy is not very lucky.

- Terry Francona needs to keep his mouth shut.  He is no longer the Red Sox manager and he needs to stop undermining new manager Bobby Valentine.  Valentine recently banned beer in the Red Sox clubhouse, something he has done at other managerial stops in the past.  Francona then goes "Mike and Mike" on ESPN radio and says it is a PR ploy and could backfire.  The only thing that backfired Terry was the Red Sox last year.  You are no longer the manager, so just shut up, accept the fact you were at the helm of one of the worst collapses in baseball history and oversaw what appears to be a dysfunctional clubhouse.  Be thankful you were lucky enough to get a gig commenting on baseball but don't abuse that gift, and that's really what it is, by badmouthing your replacement.  There was no reason for him to say anything.  Why not say something about the 19 other teams around the league that have a similar policy?  Oh, he didn't get fired by any of them.

- So let me get this straight, Ryan Braun is clean because his triple-sealed drug test was in one place for too long, showed no evidence of being tampered with, and I'm supposed to believe this guy was clean all along? Color me skeptical.  OK, so the guy had the test for too long, yet doctors say that wouldn't affect his test.  Temperature wouldn't affect his test.  I might be jaded by the fact that everyone seemed to be doing steroids or some other performance enhancer at the turn of the century but Braun's reasoning that an STD forced him to take something that spiked his testosterone just doesn't seem to hold water.  Now, he has to stay clean the rest of his career and keep producing at the level he was in order for me to believe him.  This is what these players have done to themselves.  Just because you got off on a technicality doesn't mean anything, nor does your willingness to take a retest 3 months after the positive test.

- How does Nicki Minaj keep getting the chance to do events.  If I recall correctly she put in a poor performance at the Super Bowl, made the entire world scratch their heads during the Grammy's and was still invited to perform at the NBA All-Star game.  I'm willing to bet she doesn't get another invite to a sporting event though.

- Speaking of the NBA All-Star game, ummm, yeah, so apparently they played it and the West won.  I am beginning to think the only All-Star game worth a damn is MLB's and even then it isn't great but at least they know how to celebrate the game and it means something even if it shouldn't.  The second best All-Star game is the NHL's where the skills competition had star power and skill on display.  The NFL and NBA don't even rank anywhere close to the other two.

-  The Nationals signed star third-baseman Ryan Zimmerman to a six-year extension.  These ain't the expos anymore folks.  The Nationals are supported by their fanbase and the team is investing in that fanbase by keeping star players around.  It should be fun to see Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon, and a slew of others in the next few years.  Zimmerman could be a National until 2020.  I don't think I ever remember that kind of stability from the franchise formerly known as the Expos.