Dein erstes Forum » uring the teams practice Friday afternoon at R

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. Memphis Grizzlies Jerseys .Y. - Major League Soccer is prepared to start its season this weekend even if there isnt a labour deal with its referees and other on-field officials. Shareef Abdur-Rahim Grizzlies Jersey . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. http://www.grizzliesbasketballpro.info/K...izzlies-Jersey/. The Toronto Argonauts running back hurt his left ankle during the teams practice Friday afternoon at Rogers Centre. Kyle Anderson Grizzlies Jersey . The defending champions sent their preliminary list to FIFA on Tuesday, with coach Vicente del Bosque to announce the final 23-man squad on May 25. Costa is set to lead the attack in his native Brazil, with Atletico Madrid teammate David Villa and Chelseas Fernando Torres also included, while David de Gea replaces injured goalkeeper Victor Valdes. Dillon Brooks Grizzlies Jersey . Philippe Desrosiers stopped 42 shots through overtime and three more in the shootout to pick up his third shutout of the season for Rimouski (31-15-7). Zachary Fucale made 28 saves for Halifax (34-17-3) in the loss.The CFLs ninth franchise - the Ottawa Redblacks - completed their expansion draft on Monday in Ottawa. The first round of picks featured eight import players and was highlighted by Calgary Stampeders quarterback Kevin Glenn. Glenn, a Detroit native, has played 13 years in the league for the Stampeders, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He was a CFL East All-Star in 2007, and is currently 10th on leagues list of all-time leading passers with 36,666 yards. "Kevin has been a great contributor to our success the past two seasons and we wish him the best in Ottawa," said Stampeders head coach and general manager John Hufnagel in a statement. "Kevin was a true professional on and off the field and I thank him for all the great things he has done for us. "Were sad to see Kevin go, but were confident that our quarterback situation is in good hands with Drew Tate and Bo Levi Mitchell, who benefitted a great deal from having been Kevins teammate these past two years." The Redblacks also selected quarterback Thomas DeMarco, defensive linemen Moton Hopkins and Jonathan Williams, Receivers Wallace Miles and Carlton Mitchell, offenive lineman James Lee and running back Chevon Walker in the first round. DeMarco has played for the BC Lions the last two seasons. "Our philosophy getting into this is to take the best players, it wasnt going to be a function of offence or defence," Redblacks general manager Marcel Desjardins told reporters. "Really, were sticking to that philosophy." "It became a function of having two guys that we felt were the best quarterbaccks available that were not going to be free agents," Desjardins told reporters.dddddddddddd "Thats a key component for us. "Obviously Kevin is very familiar with what were going to want to do offensively, which is a bonus. And we also have a combination of veteran leadership and younger players so we have all the elements in place that we think are going to help us be a strong team, specifically at that position." Walker, who has played two seasons for the Tiger-Cats, will likely be the feature back in Ottawa. Hopkins spent three seasons in the league, two in Montreal and one in Winnipeg, and Williams spent his two seasons playing for the Lions and Toronto Argonauts. Miles spent his two seasons in Winnipeg and Mitchell spent his this past season, his first, in Edmonton. Lee played this past season, his only in the CFL, with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The second round allowed the team to select eight non-import players. The picks were: Offensive linemen Joe Eppelle (Toronto), Alexandre Kruasnick (Edmonton), JMichael Deane (Calgary), and Matt Albright (BC), as well as fullbacks John Delahunt (Hamilton) and Patrick Lavoie (Montreal), linebacker James Green (Winnipeg) and defensive lineman Keith Shologan (Saskatchewan). The third and final round allowed Ottawa to select eight more non-import: linebacker Jordan Verdone (Montreal), linebacker Jason Pottinger (Toronto), centre Marwan Hage (Hamilton), receiver Rory Kohlert (Winnipeg), defensive tackle Zack Evans (Saskatchewan), defensive end Justin Capicciotti (Edmonton), safety Eric Fraser (Calgary), and defensive tackle Andrew Marshall (BC). ' ' '