Johnny Cash » talk about a guy like Thomas Vanek and they talk about

DUNEDIN, Florida – Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos spent a patient offseason waiting for the market value of free agent starting pitchers to drop. In the end, Ervin Santanas desire to pitch in the National League and his willingness to play the waiting game won the day when he signed a one-year deal with the Braves worth a reported $14.1-million, exactly the value of the qualifying offer he rejected from his former team, the Kansas City Royals. Anthopoulos was light on specifics but insisted neither term nor dollars affected Santanas decision. The Jays could have increased their offer to Santana. They cant change the league or division in which they play. “Couldnt compete with it,” said Anthopoulos. “Wish him the best, obviously Im sure us and other clubs would have loved to have had him but were going to move on.” Santana couldnt find a multi-year contract offer which suited him, due largely in part to the draft pick compensation owed Kansas City by the team that signed him. The preference to pitch in the National League, in and of itself, is understandable. “I certainly understand it,” said R.A. Dickey, who pitched in the NL East for the Mets. “You get to face a pitcher every night, you dont have the DH and then the games are quicker and all that stuff, parks a little bit bigger. So, it makes sense logically for him on a one-year deal in particular.” Santana is pitching for his next contract; a deal he hopes will be a multi-year pact. He will be 32 at the time. The Braves play in a division that features the young, rebuilding Miami Marlins, the Bernie Madoff-infected New York Mets and the expensive, aging Phillies. On paper, only the Nationals pose a threat to Atlanta and both could end up in the playoffs, one as a wildcard. The Braves entered the fray on the weekend after two of their top pitchers, Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy, experienced elbow pain. Beachy has had Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery. It appears Medlen is destined for the operation, which would cost him the season, although he was seeking a second opinion. What isnt clear is how close the Blue Jays were to signing Santana before Atlanta emerged. It is clear they thought they close. “Talking about Santana (internally,) that kind of put some things on hold, it kind of changed our opinions on some things but now that hes gone were back to where we were,” said manager John Gibbons. Asked if he thought Santana would sign on the weekend, Anthopoulos kept his cards close. “Um, yeah, you know what, Id rather not say. Id probably rather not say.” Was Anthopoulos surprised the Jays didnt land Santana? “Thats another good (question.) Id probably rather not say on that one as well.” The Blue Jays exercised a full-court press to secure Santanas services. The pitcher has a number of friends on the club – hes a native of the Dominican Republic – and he shares an agent, Jay Alou, with Jose Bautista. None of it was enough. The Blue Jays are back to square one. R.A. Dickey, Brandon Morrow and Mark Buehrle are locks for the starting rotation. At the start of camp, Anthopoulos indicated J.A. Happ had a starters job, too, but has since backtracked. Happ was away from the team for two days late last week dealing with back pain both he and the club say isnt affecting his ability to pitch. Happ has been knocked around, to the tune of a 40.50 ERA in two appearances, and is now part of the larger group of pitchers competing for the final two rotation spots. Happ told TSN.ca on Saturday he hadnt been told of a possible change to his role. He was surprised and appeared vexed. “Well he hasnt told me anything,” said Anthopoulos. “As far as Im concerned, no one said anything to me, so I dont have any concerns.” Leo Komarov Jersey . 42 sitting next to the bench. The 57-year-old with greying hair couldnt box out or grab a rebound, but owner Ted Leonsis waved his red towel and egged on a cheering crowd that chanted "Free Nene!" The Wizards did just fine without the suspended Brazilian forward. Custom New York Islanders Jerseys .Y. - Terry and Kim Pegula have no immediate plans to tinker with their new NFL team. http://www.islanderssale.com/authentic-adam-pelech-islanders-jersey/ . Sixteen teams have moved on. Sixteen teams have gone home. Mathew Barzal Islanders Jersey . Every. Single. Game. Thats 1,230 in total to cover the regular season. The man is Corey Sznajder, a soft-spoken 23-year-old Salisbury University grad who lives in Annapolis, Maryland and has been charting zone entries and zone exits throughout the NHL. I love big projects, he said. No kidding. At the 2013 Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, I met Eric Tulsky, who presented research on the value of controlled zone entries (short answer: about twice as valuable to enter with control of the puck rather than dumping it in) and Sznajder had charted a couple hundred games that were included in that study. Nick Leddy Islanders Jersey .C. -- Martin Kaymer set a U.Montreal Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien isnt giving up on Dustin Tokarski, announcing that the 24-year-old goaltender will get the start again in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final against the New York Rangers on Thursday. Tokarski, who had played in three games earlier in the regular season, allowed three goals on 30 shots in a 3-1 loss to the Rangers in his playoff debut on Monday. Therrien also sent a message to Thomas Vanek to pick up his game, rotating the struggling winger on the fourth line at Wednesdays practice with Michael Bournival, Daniel Briere and Brandon Prust at practice. Vanek, who has four goals in the second round against the Boston Bruins, has been held off the scoresheet in Montreals first two games of the Eastern Conference Final. The Canadiens had 41 shots on Henrik Lundqvist in Game 2, with none from Vanek. He had only one shot in their 7-2 loss in Game 1. Therrien told reporters not to read into it as it all could change again ahead of Game 3. "One thing, the (Tomas) Plekanec line needs to give us more," he said. "Im ready to stick sometimes with combinations and with three guys working together as long as I see results. "Sometimes the results are not there but the chances are there. But if I see there are no chances, not much happening, now Im at a point where I have to make some deecisions.dddddddddddd. Hopefully by making some changes, somethings going to happen." Max Pacioretty came to Vaneks defence, noting how difficult it can be to score in the postseason. "In playoffs its even harder," he said. "If you walked into one of (the Rangers) meetings, theyll talk about a guy like Thomas Vanek and they talk about him around the net and having to play physical on him. Being expected to deliver every night, its impossible and youve seen it in these playoffs with numerous stories of different players. "All you can ask now is, if theyre not contributing offensively, is to help out in other areas. Hes a great guy in the room as well. Hes helped me, especially through my slump. Theres other areas you can contribute. Its not just on the scoreboard." With Vanek sliding down to the fourth line, winger Dale Weise moved up to the third line and Brian Gionta was bumped up to the second with Tomas Plekanec and Alex Galchenyuk. Wednesdays Practice Lines: Pacioretty - Desharnais - GallagherGalchenyuk - Plekanec - GiontaBourque - Eller - WeisePrust/Bournival - Brière - VanekMoen - White - Parros Markov - EmelinGorges - SubbanBeaulieu - WeaverMurray - Bouillon TokarskiBudaj PP1: Pacioretty - Desharnais - GallagherMarkov - Subban PP2: Brière - Eller - VanekBeaulieu - Weaver ' ' '