Baseball season is just around the corner and TSN.
[b]Womens Nationals Jerseys[/b] .ca has you covered for whos in, whos out and what to expect from all 30 teams. Today, TSN Blue Jays reporter Scott MacArthur answers the key questions facing the 2014 Toronto Blue Jays and how they stack up in the always competitive American League East. GM: Alex Anthopoulos Manager: John Gibbons 2013: 74-88 5th in AL East, Did not qualify for playoffs QUESTION: What is the answer to the Blue Jays starting rotation problems? MacARTHUR: Cross your fingers. This is a starting rotation that could pleasantly surprise. If it falters, well, that would lead some to conclude that it simply met expectations. If we work off the assumption that we generally know what the Jays will get from R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle (double-digit victories, ERAs on either side of 4.00 and more than 200 innings each,) then Brandon Morrow and Drew Hutchison become the keys to this whole thing. Morrow, 29, is healthy after missing the final four months of last season with an entrapped radial nerve in his right forearm. He has never pitched 180 innings in a single season (he did come close in 2011 when he threw a career-high 179 1/3 innings) and is out to prove he can stay healthy and be effective. Win totals arent always an accurate reflection of a pitchers season but the Jays need Morrow to swallow up 15 to 18 victories. If nothing else, the win total reflects that the pitcher went deep into enough ballgames to factor in to the result. Morrow is potentially in a contract year. The Blue Jays hold a $10-million option on his services for 2015. Hutchison, 23, was Torontos best pitcher in the Grapefruit League. He underwent Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery in July, 2012, and threw 35 1/3 innings late last season in the minor leagues. The Jays, however, insist the gloves are off and Hutchison will not be subject to an innings limit this year. The right-hander is a control pitcher and routinely was clocked with a fastball in the low-to-mid 90s this spring. More importantly, Hutchison was painting both corners and was keeping hitters off-balance with his changeup. Take this whichever way you will, but if were talking in September about Hutchison having been the Jays best starting pitcher in 2014, I wouldnt be surprised. Thats a good thing if he turns out to be the ace of a surprisingly strong staff. Thats a not so good thing if Hutchison goes through the typical ups and downs of a young pitcher while the rest of the rotation implodes around him. Regardless, Hutchisons future is bright. Aside from his stuff and his command, the Blue Jays salivate over his mound presence and his desire not just to pitch in the big leagues, but to be a dependable, dominant staff ace. You can look at the addition of Dustin McGowan to the rotation two ways and both are accurate. From a personal perspective, McGowans perseverance through multiple shoulder surgeries and various other ailments is to be commended and celebrated. He was a trustworthy arm in 25 appearances out of the bullpen last year and when, in September, he expressed an interest in stretching out to become a starter once more, people looked at one another puzzled. What could he possibly be thinking? Well, at least to this point, hes proven this doubter wrong and good for him. Can he stay healthy? Who knows. Only time will tell. From a club perspective, McGowan is the best option, which reflects poorly on J.A. Happ, who will begin the season on the disabled list with a bad back and who pitched poorly in four spring games. Happ, essentially, pitched himself out of the rotation. Esmil Rogers, who cannot throw strikes consistently enough to be a starter and Todd Redmond, a strike-thrower who struggles the second time through an oppositions lineup, are better suited to the bullpen. Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez will begin their seasons at Triple-A Buffalo and Double-A New Hampshire, respectively. Both need more seasoning before they join Hutchison in what could be a potent starting rotation for years to come. Dont be surprised if both Stroman and Sanchez make their big league debuts this year. Both are more than capable of making spot starts in case of injury or the poor performance of others. General manager Alex Anthopoulos didnt secure external starting pitching help, either via free agency or via trade, and is left with some uncertainty at the back end of his rotation as a result. QUESTION: Does Alex Anthopoulos take the blame if this season is a failure? MacARTHUR: Yes, Anthopoulos will take some blame if this season is a failure, as he should. So should manager John Gibbons. So should the players. So should everybody in the organization. Will Anthopoulos be fired? The heat is getting turned up on the general manager, who took significant risks when making the blockbuster trades with the Miami Marlins and the New York Mets last offseason. Those deals represented a sudden change in course, ushering in a "win now" mentality instead of the previous plan to draft, develop and patiently cultivate talent. If Toronto has another down year, the club will have to determine whether it can win with a nucleus of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. Both are elite sluggers on team-friendly tickets, possibly through 2016, and could fetch significant return. Should Anthopoulos be fired, it will be interesting to see which direction the club takes. Anthopoulos was a lieutenant of former general manager J.P. Ricciardi and there are people who work for Anthopoulos who date back to the Ricciardi days. It could be time for the Blue Jays to fundamentally reset the baseball operations department by bringing in an outsider. QUESTION: Is this the final season of the championship window? MacARTHUR: This is a tough question to answer because, after last season, it feels like the window either never existed or was bolted shut. The strange thing, despite whats been sold in these parts over the last 15 months, is that the future of the starting rotation (Drew Hutchison, Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez) seems to be much brighter than the present. Maybe the so-called "championship window" is down the road a little bit. The Blue Jays have shopped high-priced talent like Mark Buehrle in the past. Theyd be open to moving him again if the season goes bust, although its a difficult proposition considering Buehrle is owed $18-million this year and $19-million next season, the heavily back-loaded years of the contract he signed with the Marlins. R.A. Dickey is locked in at $12-million per for this year and next. He has a club option for the same amount in 2016. Hes being paid to be the ace. Would another club be willing to take on the money for an almost 40-year-old who throws an unpredictable pitch? Offensively, with good health the Blue Jays should score their share of runs. They wont be a station to station ballclub; dont look for a lot of stolen bases. It will be up to Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion to combine for 75 home runs and for Colby Rasmus, in a contract year, to repeat the .840 OPS he posted last season while cutting down on the strike outs. Brett Lawrie, now 24, is showing signs of maturity at the plate. Hes devoted himself to studying video of opposing pitchers with Encarnacion. I believe the Blue Jays will be a better team this season. However, I also believe the Tampa Bay Rays and the defending world champion Boston Red Sox remain the two best teams in the division. The Baltimore Orioles have a potent offence but are dealing with questions in their starting rotation. The New York Yankees retooled after missing the playoffs for only the second time in 19 seasons but theyre dealing with health concerns of their own – namely Derek Jeter (how he bounces back from a serious ankle injury,) Mark Teixeira (recovering from a torn tendon sheath in his wrist) and CC Sabathia (had elbow problems last season; his fastball has topped out at 91 miles per hour this spring.) Typically, I dont like predicting because there are too many variables. Ill go so far as to say I think Rays starting pitching will catapult them to the American League East crown this year. The Red Sox will finish second in the division and win a wild card spot. That leaves the Blue Jays, Orioles and Yankees to finish in spots three to five. The order is anyones guess. Whos in?: 1B Dan Johnson (minor league deal), C Erik Kratz (acquired from PHI), C Dioner Navarro (Two-year contract) Whos out?: C J.P.Arencibia (Signed with TEX), OF Rajai Davis (Signed with DET), IF Mark DeRosa (retired), SP Josh Johnson (Signed with SD), RP Brad Lincoln (Traded to PHI), RP Darren Oliver (retired), SP Chien-Ming Wang (Signed with CIN)
[b]Adam Eaton Jersey[/b] . - Ryan Spooner scored twice to lead the Boston Bruins to a 6-1 victory over the New York Islanders in a preseason game Friday night.
[b]Wholesale Nationals Jerseys[/b] . He learned about pressure and expectations at the 2010 Games in his hometown of Vancouver. His next mission is to build on that experience at his next Olympic appearance in Sochi, where he plans to ride the momentum from the teams strong start to the season.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Al Jefferson knows few people will be giving the Charlotte Bobcats a chance to upset the Miami Heat in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. That doesnt matter to the veteran centre. "They didnt give us a chance in October, if you remember," Jefferson said. "We were going to be last in the league, right? So we dont worry about what is said outside of these walls right here." The Bobcats defeated the Chicago Bulls 91-86 in overtime on Wednesday night to finish the season 43-39 and as the seventh seed in the East. Not bad for a team that was a combined 28-120 over the previous two seasons. But now there is the monumental task of beating the two-time defending NBA champions, something the Bobcats havent done in the LeBron James era. The Heat are 15-0 against the Bobcats since James signed. "Its going to be a challenge, but its the playoffs and anything can happen," Bobcats guard Kemba Walker said. "Its not going to be easy. Were going to go out there and give it all we got just like we have been doing all year." The series starts on Sunday. "Its going to be a dogfight," Jefferson said. The Bulls finished as the No. 4 seed in the East and will face the Washington in the first round after the Wizards leap-frogged the Brooklyn Nets on the final night of the season to grab the fifth spot. "They are a great transition team with a lot of shooters and size," Bulls forward Carlos Boozer said. "To make the playoffs you have to be a good team, and theyre a good team." After missing a jumper that would have won the game in regulation, Walker scored eight of his 22 points in overtime to help the Bobcats beat the Bulls for the first time this season and finish the regular season with eight wins in their final nine games. Jefferson added 10 points and 18 rebounds for Charlotte, and Chris Douglas-Roberts finished with 13 points after being held scoreless for the first three quarters. Josh McRoberts made a key play in overtime, his block of D.J. Augustins 3-point attempt leading to a fast-break layup by Walker that gave the Bobcats an 888-81 lead with 1 minute left.
[b]Cheap Nationals Jerseys[/b]. "This was the type of game we needed going into the playoffs," Jefferson said. "Thats a playoff team and thats a playoff game that we played tonight." Joakim Noah finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds for Chicago, Boozer added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Augustin scored 17 points. The Bulls came in having won 10 of their last 11 against the Bobcats, including five straight in Charlotte by an average of 22 points per game. And it looked early on like this would be another road blowout for Michael Jordans former team. The Bobcats started the game cold, missing 21 of their first 29 shots from the field to fall behind 33-23. But Jefferson hit a short jumper and the Bobcats made 11 straight shots to take 43-37 lead at halftime. After a back-and-forth third quarter, the Bulls entered the final period leading 60-59. Every time Chicago attempted to pull away, Douglas-Roberts seemed to have an answer. Two nights after a buzzer-beater to sink the Atlanta Hawks, Douglas-Roberts had 12 points in the fourth period, including a left-handed layup off an offensive rebound with 3:42 left to tie the game at 75. After Taj Gibson missed a jumper with 25 seconds left, Walker had a chance to win the game but missed an open step-back jumper from 18 feet at the buzzer. "I had a great look at it," Walker said. "Just missed it." Walkers big overtime helped the Bobcats improve to 20-9 since the All-Star break. "The guys have done a great job," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said. "We wont think about it right now, but when we reflect back on the year we will. We didnt have a definitive number because I didnt know how good we could be. Its a good group and hopefully we have a lot more in us. It was good to see the locker room tonight. Theyve worked hard. Theyve been grinding from the jump." NOTES: Jefferson was taken to the locker room for observations with a left knee contusion midway through the third quarter. He did return to the game and played the entire fourth quarter. ... With the win, the Bobcats avoided a season series sweep by the Bulls.
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