Gästebereich » a dramatic turn, he announced

Imagine if you will a Jays team starting this season with Roberto Alomar at second base, Joe Carter in right field, Devon White in centre, John Olerud at first and Paul Molitor at DH. Not to mention a pitching staff, that includes Dave Stewart, Juan Guzman, Pat Hentgen and up-and-comers like Woody Williams, Al Leiter and Todd Stottlemyre. This team would also have three young prospects who could be the foundation of a great team for years to come in Carlos Delgado, Shawn Green and Alex Gonzalez. You might already be printing the World Series tickets. Well it didnt exactly turn out that way for the 1994 Blue Jays. They did win six of their first seven games and got off to decent 12-6 start including a six-game win streak. However it didnt last, and by the time the strike came in mid-August that led to the eventual shutdown of the season, they had faded to 55-60 and the dream of a three-peat gone with it. I painted that little scenario to show you how difficult it can be to predict division winners, let alone World Series champs. The 1994 Jays had most of the key components back from the team that had repeated in 1993, including having WAMCO intact as the top five hitters in the lineup (White, Alomar, Molitor, Carter and Olerud). There were three missing pieces. Closer Duane Ward had injured his shoulder in the offseason and was never really able to come back and be the dominant bullpen stopper he had been. Shortstop Tony Fernandez and left fielder Rickey Henderson had been allowed to leave in the offseason as well. Still, there was more than enough talent for this team to contend. Darren Hall, a mere shadow of Ward took over as closer and recorded 17 saves. Veteran Dick Schofield played the bulk of the games at short and journeyman Mike Huff played left for the most part. I would submit the 94 Blue Jays had far more talent than the current Jays, yet they finished the abbreviated season five games under .500. You dont want to be a total buzz-kill about the 2014 Jays, because they do have talent. If they both stay healthy, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion are capable of hitting at least 40 homers. Melky Cabrera, sans back tumour, is looking more like he could have been batting champ with the Giants a couple of years ago. Jose Reyes, again when healthy, is one of the top shortstops in the game. Brett Lawrie could be on the cusp of developing into one of the top third basemen in the Majors, and this is a free agent contract year for Colby Rasmus, so the pressure is on for him to produce. In other words, the offence should be there. As it has been the past two seasons, pitching is the question. The starting rotation has to log enough innings to give a solid bullpen the chance to produce results for the entire season, not just the first half, after which they could fade from overuse. If Drew Hutchison is the real deal, and it looks as though he just might be, the top three in the rotation looks pretty decent, though you always worry about the inevitable age-related declines of veterans like R.A. Dickey ( 39) and Mark Buehrle (35). The question marks are the 4 and 5 starters. Brandon Morrow has to prove he can put together a dominant healthy season and finally realize his vast potential. As for Dustin McGowan, youd have to have a heart of stone not to be pulling for this guy, whos battled through injury after injury to finally crack the Opening Day roster for the first time since 2008. Top prospects Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman are waiting in the wings, but probably wont make significant contributions this season, unless there is another rash of injuries, or the Jays drop so far back, they just decide to go young. After calling the Jays to win 92 or 93 games a year ago and contend for a wild card spot, Im reluctant to make any kind of a call on where they will finish in 2014. But my gut tells me they will win 83 or 84 games and be battling for fourth with Baltimore or maybe even Boston. I really do hope Im wrong. Jays Elsewhere Not a really good well for Canadians in the Majors or ex-Jays. The Cubs released Canuck catcher George Kottaras, while Minnesota out-righted lefthander Scott Diamond of Guelph, Ontario to Triple "A" Rochester. Lefty Frank Viola, a Cy Young winner and World Series star in his days with the Twins, had a brief stint with the Jays near the end of his career. The now 53-year-old Viola is taking a leave of absence from his job as the Mets Triple "A" pitching coach at Las Vegas after undergoing open heart surgery. The man taking Violas place is Tom Signore, who was the Blue Jays Double "A" pitching coach at New Hampshire the past three years. So Signore will get to work with the Mets top pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard, whom he also had in the Blue Jays system before he was traded as part of the package for R.A Dickey. Former Jays righthander Shaun Marcum was sent to their minor league camp by Clevleand. Marcum, who was dealt to Milwaukee for Brett Lawrie, has seen his career hampered by injuries. Over eight years in the bigs, the 32-year-old Marcum has a 58-46 record with a 3.88 earned run average. The Indians are hoping he can battle his way back at some point this season. J.P Arencibia was hoping to get some significant playing time in Texas this season to re-establish his career. When the Rangers number one backstop Geovany Soto went down for 10-12 weeks with torn meniscus in his right knee, it looked as though J.P would be the man but skipper Ron Washington has been more impressed with Robinson Chirinos. So it appears J.P., at least for now, is stuck as the backup. One Jay having a good week, in fact a good spring, is catcher Yan Gomes. He appears to have won the number one job with Cleveland after the Indians moved Carlos Santana from catcher to third base. The Jays traded Gomes and veteran utility infielder Mike Aviles to the Indians for righthander Esmil Rogers in the previous offseason. Considering how Gomes has progressed and Rogers has faltered this spring, the Jays might like a mulligan on that one. Will Dissly Seahawks Jersey . The veteran NFL receiver received his work permit and is in Montreal for the start of the Alouettes rookie camp. Johnson even took in the Montreal Canadiens Game 5 win over the New York Rangers at the Bell Centre Tuesday night. Dontae Johnson Jersey . The top-ranked Spaniard won his fourth Madrid Open on Sunday after Kei Nishikori was forced to withdraw with a hip injury when trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the final. And Nadal, who is coming off to uncharacteristic quarterfinal losses on clay, said his mental strength is still lacking just two weeks ahead of the French Open. http://www.seahawksauthenticofficialonline.com/authentic-jaron-brown-jersey.html .Tatjana Haenni, FIFAs head of womens competitions, told a FIFA Live Your Goals Tour news conference Friday that the artificial turf is being tested to make sure it meets standards. D.J. Fluker Jersey . "Its embarrassing what were doing here," leading scorer Phil Kessel said Wednesday. The most recent failed season came with even more pain than the six that preceded it. There was no hint of an impending implosion when the Leafs came roaring out of the all-star break with back-to-back games against Pittsburgh -- a 5-4 shootout loss followed by a 1-0 win the next night. Will Dissly Jersey . Knapp defeated American Alison Riske 6-3, 7-5 to secure Italys victory in the best-of-five series. She held a 5-2 lead in the second set, only to let Riske tie it at five.PORTLAND, Ore. - Each time that LaMarcus Aldridge went to the free-throw line late in the game against the Washington Wizards, the Trail Blazers forward was showered with a chant of MVP, MVP, from the hometown fans.Just two days before, Aldridge had announced he was going to have surgery to repair a ligament in his left thumb and would miss the next six to eight weeks.But in a dramatic turn, he announced Saturday that hed play through the pain. And hours later, he had 26 points and nine rebounds in the Blazers 103-96 victory over the Wizards.Even the public address announcer at the Moda Center beckoned the crowd to cheer him for a curtain call as he finally left the court.Im not into the rah-rah story, Aldridge said. I just wanted to come back and play. I wanted to test it out at home, and versus these guys because I felt they were a physical team, and if I could play against these guys then that would be good. And I was OK.Damian Lillard added 20 points and seven assists as the Blazers snapped two-game losing streak.Tied at 79 midway through the fourth quarter, Wesley Matthews made two 3-pointers that gave Portland an 87-85 with 3:28 left. Lillards 3 extended the lead 92-85.Nenes layup closed the Wizards to 94-91 but he missed a free throw then fouled Meyers Leonard on a 3-point attempt on the other end. Leonard made all three free throws to put Portland up 97-91 with 1:07 left and Washington couldnt catch up.John Wall, this week was named an Eastern Conference starter for the All-Star game, led the Wizards with 25 points and nine assists.The Wizards, coming off a 105-103 overtime loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday, led by as many as 14 points in the first half.In the third quarter they really started to make their shots and we didnt. It started to look a lot like the OKC game, Wall said. We gave ourselves opportunities, we just didnt close out possessions.The Blazers had lost five of their last six, including Thursday nights last-second 90-89 loss to the Boston Celtics.It was Aldridges night after he surprised many by deciding to play despite his proclamation 48 hours earlier that he was planning to undergo surgery. He hurt his thumb on Monday against tthe Sacramento Kings and missed two games, both Portland losses.ddddddddddddNow, hell take it a game at a time, he said.My idea now is to play the rest of the season, he said. But if it gets too much where I cant handle it or Im not playing at a very good level then Ill stop. But hopefully it goes well for us.Despite the emotional boost from his return, the Blazers didnt hit a shot from the floor in the first 4 minutes of the game. Then Aldridge made his first two jumpers.The Wizards took advantage of the slow start and led 32-20 after the first quarter. Nene paced Washington with 11 points.CJ McCollum hit a 3-pointer that pulled the Blazers to 43-39 but Wall answered with a jumper and the Wizards led 55-45 at the break.Wesley Matthews answered with a 3 for the Blazers to narrow the gap to 66-61. Dorrell Wright got Portland closer with a falling-down 3 and a free throw that made it 68-67.Aldridge hit a 20-foot-jumper to finally pull the Blazers in front, capping their 16-5 run.But it was short-lived and the Wizards led 70-69 going into the final quarter.___TIP INSWizards: It was the first of a four-game Western Conference road swing for Washington. ... Nene fouled out on the foul against Leonard. ... The Wizards were 9-0 when leading after the three quarters on the road going into the game against the Blazers.Trail Blazers: The Blazers distributed special lapel ribbons to the fans at the Moda Center to call attention to owner Paul Allens campaign to fight the spread of Ebola. Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft who also owns the Seattle Seahawks, has already pledged $100 million toward the effort.PIERCES MILESTONEPaul Pierce hit a 3, the 2,000th of his career, to put the Wizards up 66-58 midway through the third quarter. Pierce is the fourth player all-time to reach that milestone. He joins Ray Allen, Reggie Miller and Jason Terry.MONEY AT THE LINEThe Blazers were a perfect 20-for-20 from the free throw line, including 15 free throws in the final quarter. It is just the seventh time in team history that theyve been perfect from the line with 20 or more attempts.UP NEXTWizards: At Denver on Sunday night.Trail Blazers: At Brooklyn on Monday. Blackhawks Jerseys Store Cheap Wild Jerseys Cheap Red Wings Jerseys Cheap Maple Leafs Jerseys Penguins Jerseys Store Capitals Jerseys For Sale Blues Jerseys Store Cheap Kings Jerseys Adidas Lightning Jerseys Stars Jerseys For Sale Cheap Predators Jerseys Ducks Store Sharks Jerseys For Sale Cheap Sabres Jerseys Rangers Jerseys For Sale ' ' '