News » Saturday as third baseman

Case Keenum is joining his fifth team in five years and the Denver Broncos are turning to their fifth quarterback since Peyton Manning retired 24 months ago.

General manager John Elway called Keenum ”a great fit for us” after the sixth-year pro parlayed a breakout year in Minnesota into a two-year Madison Bowey Jersey , $36 million deal with Denver.

”Along with that experience,” Elway said, ”his leadership and competitiveness are what you look for in a quarterback.”

Elway, by the way, isn’t done looking at quarterbacks.

Elway and coach Vance Joseph were in Norman, Oklahoma, checking out Baker Mayfield’s pro day when free agency opened Wednesday. Then they were headed for Los Angeles to watch Josh Rosen’s pro day at UCLA on Thursday.

Also, a person with knowledge of the talks told The Associated Press the Broncos were in negotiations Wednesday to trade QB Trevor Siemian to Minnesota, where the Vikings are pursuing free agent Kirk Cousins to be their starter.

The Broncos were busy when free agency opened, keeping linebacker Todd Davis (three years, $15 million); adding cornerback Tramaine Brock (one year, $4 million); finalizing Aqib Talib’s trade to the Los Angeles Rams; and trying to move Siemian, who won the starting QB job in Denver each of the last two years.

Keenum is expected to sign his deal Thursday Drew Doughty Jersey , giving the 30-year-old journeyman the big payday that’s long eluded him and taking the pressure off Elway to use the fifth overall pick in the draft next month on a quarterback.

It’s no guarantee, however, that Elway won’t still use that pick on a QB.

Besides Mayfield and Rosen, other high-profile fixes for franchises with quarterback quandaries such as Denver’s include Wyoming’s Josh Allen, USC’s Sam Darnold, Louisville’s Lamar Jackson and Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph.

Coming off a career-changing season, Keenum was widely considered the second-most attractive veteran QB on the market behind Cousins. And he is a player the Broncos know well because Gary Kubiak, now the Broncos’ senior personnel adviser, had him for two seasons while Kubiak was head coach of the Houston Texans.

”Case is perfect for our team, both as a player and as a person,” said Joseph, who also worked for the Texans. ”He’s playing the best football of his career right now and has gotten better with every opportunity he’s had. Being around him in Houston, Case is a tremendous person and teammate with strong leadership skills and a terrific work ethic. He’ll be great in our locker room.”

Keenum Justin Braun Jersey Kids , who made $2 million last year, went 11-3 in place of an injured Sam Bradford, leading the Vikings to the NFC championship game.

He threw for more than 3,500 yards with 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His signature moment was that last-second 61-yard touchdown toss to Stefon Diggs that stunned the Saints 29-24 in the playoffs.

The Broncos haven’t been back to the playoffs since Manning retired following Denver’s 24-10 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 two years ago.

They’ve cycled through Mark Sanchez, Siemian, Brock Osweiler and Paxton Lynch, while going a combined 14-18.

The Broncos, coming off a 5-11 season, were considered an early front-runner to land Cousins. Minnesota, however, had a sparkling stadium, new state-of-the-art training facility, stacked roster and coaching stability to offer him Aaron Ekblad Jersey , while the Broncos’ main magnet was Von Miller.

Even though he issued a public plea for Cousins to join him in Denver, Miller is welcoming Keenum to town .

”Looks/Feels right to me!” Miller said in an Instagram post on Tuesday. ”We got what we were looking for! Franchise QB that’s the perfect fit for DENVER! (at)johnelway with the deep 3 pointer! Like always! Leeettttss Goooo!!! (at)casekeenum7 (at)casekeenum7 Time for me to hold up my end of the deal now!”

Notes: The Broncos placed second-round tenders on two restricted free agents: C Matt Paradis and OLB Shaq Barrett. They declined to offer a tender to WR Bennie Fowler III.

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MINNEAPOLIS — Shin-Soo Choo will try to reach base for a 36th consecutive game Saturday when the Texas Rangers continue their three-game series with the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.

The 35-year-old Rangers outfielder extended his streak to 35 games Friday night with a two-run homer against Fernando Romero.

His streak is the second longest in baseball this season, trailing only Philadelphia’s Odubel Herrera, who reached in 40 straight games. It’s the longest by a Rangers player since Mark Teixeira made it on base in 36 straight games in 2006.

Julio Franco holds the franchise record for a season with 46 straight games and Will Clark reached in 58 straight games at the end of the 1995 and start of 1996 seasons.

“I signed here to get on base, that’s why they brought me here,” Choo said. “When I’ve been healthy, I’ve gotten on base.”

Choo has been on a tear the last month, slashing .306/.468/.556 in his last 30 games, leading to his name being mentioned more frequently in trade rumors as the Rangers remain stuck in the American League West cellar despite winning a season-high six straight games after opening their series in Minnesota with an 8-1 victory Friday night.

While he is open to joining a contender for a stretch run, he knows the $50 million-plus owed to him through the 2020 season could make that difficult.

“Probably (my) contract is still (an obstacle),” Choo admitted earlier this week. “It’s probably not easy. I’m not 28 or 30 anymore.”

The Rangers turn to Yovani Gallardo (0-0, 15.95 ERA) to keep their streak going Saturday. It will be the second start of the season for Gallardo, who was cut by Milwaukee at the end of spring training Henrik Lundqvist Jersey Kids , then allowed eight runs in 2 1/3 innings of relief before he was cut by Cincinnati and eventually signed a minor league deal with the Rangers.

Gallardo posted a 3.81 ERA in 10 starts for Triple-A Round Rock and was called up to face Colorado last Sunday. He allowed five runs and six hits while striking out four in a no-decision.

“I thought Yo threw the ball well,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “It was similar to what we’ve seen in the past from Yo. He gave up a couple of soft hits, the walks are something not typical of Yo, but he managed the game and was able to give us some length.”

Gallardo is 4-2 with a 3.49 ERA in 11 career starts against Minnesota.

Jake Odorizzi (3-4, 3.48 ERA) starts Saturday for the Twins, who are looking to get back on track after losing two straight and scoring just three runs in those games combined.

Odorizzi is looking for a bounce-back outing himself after the Indians tagged him for four runs in five innings his last time out on Sunday.

He is 4-0 with 2.02 ERA in six career starts against the Rangers.

The Twins should get a bit of a boost Saturday as third baseman Eduardo Escobar is expected to return to the lineup. He sat out the series opener Friday after taking a pitch to an elbow a day earlier against the Boston Red Sox.

“I think probably a tad better than I expected,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “He’s sore and there’s some limitation because there’s still a lot of swelling there that impedes his ability probably to throw accurately, as well as take his normal swing. But I’m fairly optimistic that in another, roughly, a little less than 24 hours, that he might be able to start a game tomorrow.”

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