HOUSTON – The setting was an upscale restaurant along Dunedins pristine waterfront. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . It was the end of the six-week spring training grind. The 25 men who would comprise the Blue Jays opening day roster gathered with coaches, management and high-level members of the ownership hierarchy for the annual start-of-the-season dinner, held this year just prior to the departure to Montreal for two exhibition games. It was at this dinner that Blue Jays president Paul Beeston addressed the club and, according to multiple sources within the organization, pledged to the players that additional money would be made available to acquire assets in-season if they produced a winner. Playing well of late and with a record of 60-50, good for a three-game lead over the Mariners for the American Leagues second wild card spot, if this isnt a winner then its at least the closest the franchise has fielded since the heady days of the early 1990s. Yet, there was nothing at the deadline. Nothing unless you count right-handed hitting infielder Danny Valencia, acquired from the Royals for Erik Kratz and Liam Hendriks on Monday. While Jon Lester (Oakland), David Price (Detroit), Martin Prado (Yankees) and reliever Andrew Miller (Baltimore) changed addresses, the Blue Jays stood pat but the general manager said it wasnt because of budget restrictions. “We absolutely had the financial resources to add at this trade deadline. If we had a deal, obviously we were in dialogue with (president) Paul (Beeston) all the time and certainly hes keeping ownership up to date, any deal that we felt was a good baseball deal, the finances were certainly there for us,” said Alex Anthopoulos. “That has never been a problem and it was just one of those things that we couldnt find a baseball deal that made sense for us and thats really what it came down to.” Its hard to imagine, looking at the deals the Yankees made for Prado and Chase Headley (earlier this month), that finances didnt play a role in the Blue Jays losing out on both. Prado was acquired for Peter OBrien, a former second round pick who was playing at Double-A. Maybe the Jays were scared off by Prados .686 OPS in his age 30 season, a number well off Prados career .764 OPS, suggesting the start of a decline. Theres no doubt the two years and $22-million left on Prados deal would be worrisome, even though hed be an upgrade at second base. Headley was acquired for Yangervis Solarte – considered by the Yankees to be one of those “Quad-A” players, a strong Triple-A player but not someone who can put it together long enough at the big league level – and Rafael De Paula, a 23-year-old pitcher who hasnt sniffed higher than Single-A. Headley has only the prorated amount of his $10.5-million 2014 salary owed. The Jays took a pass. Lester, Price and John Lackey (St. Louis) were each swapped in deals involving big league players going both ways. Anthopoulos wasnt willing to delete from his current roster. A lack of positional prospect depth, rendering the Jays with little to offer other than whats off the big league roster, surely contributed to the quiet day. Dalton Pompey, an outfielder from Mississauga, is the only position player prospect of any consequence playing at Double-A or higher. He currently toils for New Hampshire, having been promoted from Single-A Dunedin earlier this season. You can find reasons – money, contract term, what youd give up, the type of season a guys having, attitude – that would prevent a ballclub from acquiring anyone at anytime. It seems Anthopoulos found them. His top players, including one of the games best, Jose Bautista, and the longest tenured Blue Jay, Casey Janssen, expressed dismay the club wasnt improved. “I just think from an overall perspective of all these teams getting better, we know its going to be a tough time for us,” said Janssen. “One that isnt impossible but were going to have to do everything right. Obviously, we value our prospects, we value our players, Im sure the other teams do as well. Maybe they just value the player or the opportunity to get into the playoffs more. It takes something to get something and congratulations to those teams that got those guys. Bautista addressed the media, spent about six minutes with the assembled horde, and used a variation of the word “disappointed” four times. “Of course its a little disappointing that we somehow werent able to get anything done but everybody around us thats in contention, and even some teams that arent in contention like the Red Sox, somehow figured it out,” said Bautista. “Theres still time to get stuff done. Itll be a little more difficult having to put people through the waiver process but its not impossible.” Bautista believed different players would have different reactions. Approached for comment, Mark Buehrle said he didnt know enough about the state of the franchises finances or the depth of its minor league system to offer an educated opinion. He was glad Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez remained in the fold, two potential face-of-the-franchise guys who are as much contributors to the present as they will be in the future. Another player, who will remain nameless, shrugged and muttered an expletive loosely related to bovine excrement. If other teams improved and the Blue Jays didnt the club will have to await the returns of Brett Lawrie, Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind and hope those reinforcements are enough to propel the team to the playoffs. What happens to this team if one of its starting pitchers gets injured is another matter. Todd Redmond could backfill. Then who? Brad Mills? The rotation has held up reasonably well but remember it is trotting out a couple of 23-year-olds (Drew Hutchison, Marcus Stroman) who are entering unchartered territory. “Weve heard 92, 93 and I think were tired of hearing it,” said Janssen. “We want to put our on stamp on Toronto and across baseball. For me in my eight years here, Ive never been this close, never had such an opportunity to make it into the playoffs and I think thats where this excitement level for this trade deadline was. Its finally our time, its finally beating down the door and we wanted to come on the scene as strong as we can. Like I said, it didnt happen, we just have to regroup and go about our business again.” Anthopoulos worked the phones. “We were open minded, you definitely want to hear what other clubs have to say and what ideas they might have to say, but when you start to look at your 25-man, and youre trading some of your best players, to address an area of what might be a weakness, or a need, and youre ultimately creating another weakness, create a hole, it wouldnt make any sense for us,” he said. “We definitely talked to clubs and had dialogue and all that, just didnt find anything that made the club better.” Turning 34 in October, Bautista wants to be afforded the best opportunity to win. Now. If not, well, it seems uncertain what would become of this team in the offseason. “All I can say is it gets to a point for everybodys situation and everybodys job that trying and excuses are not good enough,” said Bautista. “For everybodys sake I hope we all play great from now until the end of the season and Im one of those guys who really wants to win. Ive been playing for a long time and never experienced it.” RASMUS DISCIPLINED Colby Rasmus was originally in Thursday nights starting lineup but, about an hour before the game, he was replaced by Nolan Reimold. The official line was an “internal team decision.” After the game, a 6-5 win over the Astros, manager John Gibbons wouldnt say why Rasmus was benched. The player offered up the reason: tardiness. “I was late getting here to the field,” said Rasmus. “I wasnt here when I was supposed to be here and they punished me as they should have.” Rasmus wife and daughter are with him in Houston. He said he was having lunch with them and then got caught in traffic on his way to Minute Maid Park. Wholesale Bruins Jerseys .J. Ellis hit an RBI single in the ninth inning, Hanley Ramirez hit a tape-measure, three-run homer in the first against Cliff Lee and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 on Saturday night. Cheap Bruins Jerseys China . The Oilers will try to get back in the win column on Monday when they continue a four-game road trip with a battle against the Buffalo Sabres. Edmonton won its third straight game last Wednesday against visiting San Jose, beating the Sharks 3-0 as Scrivens stopped 59 shots to set an NHL record for saves in a regular-season shutout.The Freeway Series is set to make its NHL playoff debut on Saturday, as the Anaheim Ducks host the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. Watch the game on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The new format unveiled for the 2014 playoffs was designed to force more geographical rivalries in the first few rounds. It certainly has paid off with this matchup, as these two Southern California rivals get set to meet in the postseason for the first time. The Ducks and Kings are shining examples of Gary Bettmans dream that hockey could work on the West Coast. The Kings entered the league as an original expansion club in 1967-68 -- well before Bettmans tenure as commissioner -- but Anaheim, an expansion club in 1993-94, broke through first with a Stanley Cup title in 2007. L.A., of course, was able to join the same club by winning a Cup as an eighth seed in the spring of 2012. Anaheim, the top seed in the West, finished 16 points ahead of Los Angeles in the Pacific Division standings this season and holds home-ice advantage at the start of this best-of-seven set. The Ducks also will host Game 2 on Monday before the series shifts to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4. The Ducks went 4-0-1 against the Kings during the regular-season series, but a 3-0 win by Anaheim in L.A. on Jan. 25 marked the only encounter that was decided by more than one goal. The Kings enter this second-round series only days after earning a slice of NHL history by combing back from a 3-0 series deficit to eliminate the San Jose Sharks. Los Angeles completed the monumental comeback with its fourth straight win over the Sharks on Wednesday, taking the series with a 5-1 rout in San Jose. L.A. joined the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1975 New York Islanders and 2010 Philadelphia Flyers as the only teams to pull off the monumental comeback. After winning the franchises first Stanley Cup in 2012 and making it to the Western Conference finals last season, the Kings were already on the rest of the leagues radar before the comeback, but the rally against San Jose is another reminder how dangerous this team L.A. can be. Despite dropping the first two games in San Jose by a combined score of 13-5 and losing a home Game 3 in overtime, the Kings came back from the brink of elimination to survive and advance. "It was a result of us staying together as a group of guys. When youve gone to the top of the mountain with the same group of guys its a little bit easier when youre at the bottom to come up," Kings captain Dustin Brown said. L.A. was the top defensive team in the league during the regular season, allowing an average of 2.05 goals per game. After getting torched for 17 goals in losing the first three games against San Jose, the Kings righted themselves and allowed the Sharks to score just five times the rest of the way. By the end of the series even the Kings offense was rolling. L.A. outscored the Sharks 12-2 over the final three games. The historic comeback was a total team effort, but it may not have been possible without Jonathan Quicks play in the crease. The 2012 Conn Smythe winner posted a save percentage of .963 over the final four games against San Jose and that number jumps to .979 over the last three contests. Over 57 career postseason games, the 28-year-old Quick boasts a 2.15 GAA and .927 save percentaage. Cheap Bruins Jerseys Authentic. Including eight shutouts, the American netminder has held the opposition to one goal or less 21 times during his standout playoff career. While Quick is the clear-cut No. 1 in the L.A. crease, the Ducks situation between the pipes is murky to say the least. Anaheim head coach Bruce Boudreau made the controversial decision to go with rookie Frederik Andersen at the start of the clubs first-round series against Dallas, but veteran backstop Jonas Hiller was in the crease when the Ducks finally clinched in Game 6. Hiller will start in Game 1 against the Kings. While Andersen started all six games in Round 1, Hiller was called upon to replace the 24-year-old on two occasions, including the Game 6 comeback win. Andersen was pulled after allowing four goals on 12 shots in that final game and Hiller stopped all 12 shots he faced to earn the series-clinching victory. Hiller is 11-10 with a 2.24 goals against average and .936 save percentage in 22 career playoff appearances. Andersen went 3-2 with a 3.40 GAA and .892 save percentage against the Stars in a rough introduction to the NHL postseason. The Ducks almost were pushed to a decisive seventh game by Dallas if not for a furious comeback to win a road Game 6 in overtime. The Stars led 4-2 heading into third period before Anaheim scored twice in the final 2:10 of regulation and winning it 5-4 early in overtime. Nick Bonino scored two of the games final three goals to help the Ducks pull off the comeback. Bonino tied for the team lead with three goals in Round 1, but Anaheims best player in the series was Hart Trophy finalist Ryan Getzlaf. The star centerman notched three goals and four assists against the Stars despite missing Game 4 due to a lower-body injury. Getzlaf returned to the lineup in Game 5 no worse for wear and helped spark a 6-2 rout with a one-goal, two-assist performance. Getzlafs linemate Corey Perry also had a solid first round, notching two goals and five assists to match his centerman for the team scoring lead in Round 1. All told, the Ducks spread out the goal-scoring against the Stars with 13 different players hitting the net. In addition to Bonino, Getzlaf and Perry, forwards Mathieu Perreault and Devante Smith-Pelly also added multiple goals with two markers apiece. Perreault missed Game 6 with a lower-body injury and is questionable for the opener of this series. Boudreau also created a minor firestorm when he made future Hall of Famer Teemu Selanne a healthy scratch in Game 4. The move may have paid off, however, as the 43-year-old Finn, who is expected to retire after this season, posted two assists in Game 6 after notching just one helper over his first four games of the series. Brown, Jeff Carter, Anze Kopitar and Tyler Toffoli combined to score all seven goals for L.A. in the 2013-14 season series with the Ducks. Kopitar led the way with three markers and Brown added two. Perry paced the Ducks with two goals and two assists in the season series, but Getzlaf only had a goal and an assist over five games. Both of Boudreaus goaltending options fared well against L.A. this season, with Andersen going 3-0 with a 1.62 GAA and Hiller posting a sparkling 0.96 GAA to go with a 1-0-1 record. Quick was 0-2-1 with a 2.30 GAA in three games for the Kings. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
