Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson?accepted the Philadelphia Phillies $17.2 million qualifying offer on Monday.Hellickson was one of 10 players to receive qualifying offers from their teams. Monday was the deadline for players to either accept or reject the offers.New York Mets second baseman Neil Walker was the only other player to accept the qualifying offer.Eight other free agents did not accept the offers from their former teams by Mondays 5 p.m. ET deadline: outfielders Jose Bautista (Blue Jays), Yoenis Cespedes (Mets), Ian Desmond (Rangers), Dexter Fowler (Chicago Cubs) and Mark Trumbo (Orioles), designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion (Blue Jays); closer Kenley Jansen (Los Angeles Dodgers); and third baseman Justin Turner (Dodgers).Hellickson said at the end of this season that, although he had hoped to sign a multiyear contract this offseason, hed love to be back next year with the Phillies.Its not the stability I wanted, but its a lot of money for one year, Hellickson told The News Journal in a telephone interview. I believe in myself to go out there and have another good year, even a better year and put myself in position to get the stability in the next offseason.He told the newspaper that he received interest from several teams, but those clubs were reluctant to part with a first-round draft pick to sign him. Aside from teams picking in the first 10 slots of the draft, teams forfeit a first-round pick if they sign a player who has received a qualifying offer. Teams in the top 10 forfeit their second-highest pick.Hellickson said he considered rejecting the qualifying offer, but changed his mind because of the draft pick restrictions associated with signing him.Ive been playing six years to get to this point and its just unfortunate that free agents like myself have this first-round pick attached to us, Hellickson told The News Journal. It sucks.The guys that are free agents this year, its tough for me to not laugh at people who say this is a weak free-agent market, he continued. Its tough with the uncertainty of the market right now to turn down that much money for one year, especially for a team I enjoyed playing for and a city I love playing for.Hellickson, 29, was 12-10 with a 3.71 ERA last season. He tied career highs with 32 starts and 189 innings pitched and struck out a career-best 154 batters, while walking just 45.His 12 victories were the most by a Phillies pitcher last season.The Phillies acquired Hellickson in a 2015 trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks.The Associated Press contributed to this report.Gordon Hayward Jersey .S District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and his own union, the MLBPA. Danny Ainge Celtics Jersey . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. http://www.celticssale.com/kids-john-havlicek-celtics-jersey/ . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. Gordon Hayward Celtics Jersey . -- Josh Sterk scored once and set up two more as the Oshawa Generals edged the visiting Belleville Bulls 3-2 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Marcus Smart Celtics Jersey . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position.SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Austin Ruder and Jarrid Rhodes combined to hit 10 3-pointers and score 34 points and Missouri State beat Alabama A&M 96-62 in the season opener for both teams on Friday night.Ruder hit six 3-pointers and finished with 18 points while Rhodes made 6 of 7 field-goal attempts, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and scored 16. Alize Johnson added 16 more, on 8-of-8 shooting and Ronnie Rousseau III had 15 points for Missouri State.Eugene Jones Jr.s jumper gave Alabama A&M a 2-0 lead nearly 2 1/2 minutes in but, 8 seconds later, Rouusseau made a tying layup and Missouri State never again trailed.dddddddddddduder hit four 3-pointers during a 14-2 run that made it 20-8 with 12 minutes left in the half and a 3 by Rhodes gave the Bears a 45-25 lead 10 minutes later.Missouri State made 40 of 65 shots, including 12 of 27 from 3-point range, and shot 67.6 percent in the second half.Quinterian McConico and DeEderick Petty scored 14 apiece for Alabama A&M. ' ' '