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. Terrell Edmunds Jersey . 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. James Washington Steelers Jersey .com) - Coming off a pair of tough losses last week, the Syracuse Orange will try to put an end to their first losing skid of the season when they pay a visit to the Maryland Terrapins at the Comcast Center on Monday night in Atlantic Coast Conference action. Sean Davis Steelers Jersey . She still remembers the massive roar of the home crowd when the Canadians walked out on the pitch before 47,784 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in 2002. Lang expects a similar reception for the Canadian team as the host nation at this years tournament, which begins Tuesday. http://www.steelersfanaticproshop.com/mason-rudolph-steelers-jersey/ .com) - The Calgary Flames are spoilers once again.LOS ANGELES -- Mike Brown had no interest in rehashing his past with the Los Angeles Lakers -- not right now, not with his new team struggling. Hes much more intrigued by the possibilities in the Cleveland Cavaliers future after a breakout game by their newest acquisition. Luol Deng hit five 3-pointers while scoring 27 points, Anderson Varejao added 18 points and 18 rebounds, and the Cavaliers beat the spiraling Lakers 120-118 Tuesday night. Dion Waiters scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers improved to 4-16 on the road. They also won for Brown in his return to Staples Center to face the Lakers, who fired him early last season before descending into the mess of a team that couldnt keep up with Cleveland down the stretch. "I dont care where I am, I really want wins," Brown said. "If we win, I can take some satisfaction from it, but theres a lot of learning we can do from this game, too." Jodie Meeks hit six 3-pointers while scoring a season-high 26 points in injury-plagued Los Angeles fifth straight defeat. Nick Young scored 28 points, but the Lakers have lost 11 of 12 heading into a punishing seven-game road trip starting Wednesday in Phoenix. "This is hard," said Young, who missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. "Were losing, and were losing players daily. Its frustrating, but weve still got to get up and play basketball. Nobody wants to get embarrassed. Youve got to still take pride in that Lakers uniform." Brown coached just 71 games with the Lakers, who hired him to succeed 11-time NBA champion Phil Jackson in 2011 and then pulled the plug on his tenure five games into last season. Brown expressed no hard feelings or regret about his brief tenure with the Lakers, saying hes still on good terms with Kobe Bryant and other Los Angeles players. Deng had five rebounds and four assists his first big game since joining Cleveland in a trade with Chicago a week ago. He was the centerpiece of the highest-scoring regulation performance of the season by the Cavs, who hit 13 of 17 3-pointers and outrebounded Loss Angeles 48-35 to earn their second win in three stops on a five-game trip. Morgan Burnett Jersey. "Theres a lot more optimism and a lot more talent now that Luol has been added to the mix," said Kyrie Irving, who had 13 points. "Hes a great addition, and to get him on this road trip was big for us." Deng and Waiters put the Cavs ahead during a 12-0 rally early in the fourth quarter, but Young hit three free throws with 25.3 seconds to play, trimming the lead to two points. Tristan Thompson missed two of four free throws in the final 16 seconds, but Young missed two late 3-pointers. "We talked at halftime about coming out with a lot of energy, and I thought we responded well," Deng said. "Once we got the lead, they tried to get back in the game, and it was back and forth. But I thought we did a good job of keeping the lead and controlling the game at the end." Pau Gasol had 20 points and 12 rebounds in the Lakers only home game in a 22-day span. Los Angeles will be away for the next two weeks while the Grammys take over Staples Center. Kendall Marshall had 10 points and 16 assists for Los Angeles, which had just nine players in uniform. Bryant, Steve Nash, Steve Blake, Jordan Farmar and Xavier Henry are all out with long-term injuries, and Gasol only determined he could play on his injured big toe after pregame warmups. "It wasnt like our energy and focus werent there," Gasol said. "We hung in there, but we couldnt pull it off. ... The defence needs to improve drastically, thats for sure. Whatever it takes to secure those boards, we need to be there." NOTES: Henry wont return from the bone bruise in his right knee for at least another week, but hes likely to be the first injured player back for Los Angeles. ... Nash wont travel on the Lakers upcoming road trip, instead heading back to Vancouver for rehab on his assorted injuries. The two-time MVP hasnt played since Nov. 10. ... F Earl Clark, who parlayed a decent season with the Lakers into a free-agent contract with Cleveland last summer, scored two points in five minutes. Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Discount Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Store NFL T-shirts From China China NFL Hoodies Wholesale NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys ' ' '
