PICTUREGeorgia earned a split in the CBE Classic, and losing to Kansas doesnt hurt its NCAA Tournament resume. The Bulldogs showed in their win over George Washington that they can be competitive.Ka

Ian Desmond didnt settle on a new team until late February, his puzzling free-agent saga finally ending when he signed a one-year deal with Texas.Now Desmond looks like a bargain for the Rangers -- and a big reason theyre comfortably ahead in the AL West.Desmonds $8 million deal with the Rangers seemed almost humbling after hed rejected a qualifying offer from Washington worth nearly twice that amount. He also had to switch positions, moving from shortstop to the outfield. But Desmond has been outstanding after a slow start, and through Wednesdays games, he was batting .320 with 15 home runs, 54 RBI and 15 stolen bases.Its off-the-charts incredible. Just the leadership, athleticism, manager Jeff Banister said. I dont want to put any one single player ahead of any others. But you take him out of our lineup and off our team, it has a different look to it.Desmond wasnt the biggest name to change teams last offseason, and he certainly wasnt the most expensive signing, but moves like this can shift the course of a division race if they pan out. Desmond has turned a tough situation into a success story, and Texas has been rewarded for its confidence in him.You look at the slugging numbers, the OPS and what hes done out of the 2-hole for us in runs scored -- has been as good as anybody in our lineup, Banister said. To make the transition to the outfield, has been more than serviceable. He has been really good in center field.Here are a few other offseason acquisitions who have made significant contributions for their new teams:ZACK GREINKE, DIAMONDBACKSThe Diamondbacks signed Greinke to a six-year, $206.5 million contract, and the right-hander got off to an awful start, finishing April with a 5.50 ERA. He eventually settled in and started to look like the pitcher he was last year.He won seven straight starts from May 17 to June 18, and hes now 10-3 with a 3.62 ERA.Hes great, Arizona slugger Paul Goldschmidt said. Hes been pitching for 10-plus years so he knows what hes doing. He had a few rough starts but then he was really, really good for eight, nine, 10. It was a lot of fun to play behind him after being on the other side the last few years.Greinke is on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left oblique. The team has set no timetable for his return but hopes it is shortly after the All-Star break. Arizona is well under .500 despite Greinkes efforts.DANIEL MURPHY, NATIONALSAfter his big postseason helped the New York Mets win the National League pennant, Murphy signed a $37.5 million, three-year contract with division-rival Washington. The Nationals now lead the Mets by four games atop the NL East, in part because Murphy is hitting an NL-best .345. The 31-year-old second baseman also has 14 homers and 56 RBI.JOHNNY CUETO, GIANTSCueto had his ups and downs during a brief stint with Kansas City that ended in celebration when the Royals won the World Series. The Giants have little to complain about after signing the right-hander to a $130 million, six-year deal. Hes 13-1 with a 2.47 ERA after pitching his fourth complete game of the season Wednesday night. That victory gave San Francisco the best record in baseball.MARK TRUMBO, ORIOLESAfter going deep twice Wednesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Trumbo leads the majors with 26 home runs. He came to Baltimore in a December trade with Seattle, and hes complemented his typical power with a higher-than-usual .285 batting average for the AL East-leading Orioles.FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ, TIGERSIt was easy to be skeptical when Detroit traded for K-Rod, considering the Tigers track record with closers lately. 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Most recently he was the schools assistant football coach.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Frank Mason III and Josh Jackson took it as a shot to their pride.Bill Self was just trying to win a game.The Jayhawks coach turned to a zone defense Tuesday night, a rarity for a guy whose hallmark is a relentless man-to-man, and that slowed down Georgia enough to give fifth-ranked Kansas a 65-54 victory over the Bulldogs in the CBE Classic championship game.I didnt think it was a hit (to their pride), Self explained, but you know, if you cant guard their bigs and you cant rebound out of man, we had to try to do something.On the other end, Mason led the way with 19 points, Jackson had 15 points and 11 rebounds and Devonte Graham contributed 14 points for the Jayhawks (4-1), who won their third consecutive in-season tournament title and second CBE Classic. They also won the event in 2012.Jackson, one of the nations top freshmen, was voted MVP.Kansas hopes its the beginning of a sweet ride at the Sprint Center this season. The Jayhawks face Davidson in the same building in a couple of weeks, then play the Big 12 Tournament there in March before the arena hosts an NCAA Tournament regional final, where they hope to earn a spot in the Final Four.Yante Maten had 30 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (3-2), but they were done in by 3-for-18 shooting from the perimeter, equally lousy foul shooting and turnovers that led to easy runouts.J.J. Frazier, who had been averaging 19 points per game, was held to two on 1-for-10 shooting.You have to make shots to win, Georgia coach Mark Fox said. We didnt shoot the ball very good. Give Kansas defense credit for that. But we shot the ball so poorly the first three-quarters of the game, we didnt score enough to get in position to win it.The zone defenses, which neither coach particularly enjoy, were a big reason for it. They slowed the game and turned it into a shooting contest.We havent really done it much so it was kind of new to us, Jackson said, but obviously it worked. For our pride a little bit, we really wanted to play man, but to win the gamee, we had to go zone.dddddddddddd.Kansas was a bit more efficient from the perimeter, slowly drawing away after trailing 20-19 with about 8 minutes to go, to forge a 35-25 lead at the break. The Bulldogs only made one of their final 16 field goal attempts, and their only scoring in the final 5 minutes came at the foul line.The lead was still just 42-34 with 16 minutes to go when Mason drove for a basket, the first of eight straight points for the Jayhawks. Mason added another basket, Jackson solved the Bulldogs zone for a dunk and Graham and Dwight Coleby finished it off to give Kansas a comfortable cushion.Georgia went more than 7 minutes without scoring as the game got away.We were prepared to play. We thought we could win the game. Were disappointed we didnt win, Fox said. We didnt have enough guys chip in, and for us to win, we have to have more guys contribute.POST PROBLEMSThe Jayhawks post players were virtually non-existent. Landen Lucas never took a shot before fouling out in 10 minutes, Udoka Abuika played only 5 minutes and never took a shot, and Carlton Bragg Jr. finished 1 for 3 from the floor while gathering just one rebound in 10 minutes.Theyre just not playing very well and not playing very smart and not contributing, Self said. They are good kids and they want to do well, but for whatever reason they have really struggled.BIG PICTUREGeorgia earned a split in the CBE Classic, and losing to Kansas doesnt hurt its NCAA Tournament resume. The Bulldogs showed in their win over George Washington that they can be competitive.Kansas has already proven it can score this season. On Tuesday night, the Jayhawks proved they can play a little defense, too, even if it meant ditching Selfs preferred man-to-man.UP NEXTGeorgia begins a five-game homestand against Gardner-Webb on Friday night.Kansas plays UNC-Asheville on Friday night in its second game at Allen Fieldhouse this season. ' ' '