ekansekans's blog: "df"

Colby Rasmus should be entering the prime years of his career. Maybe he is, but hes also at a crossroad in his career with the Blue Jays. When the Blue Jays acquired this five-tool talent from St. Louis in an eight-player deal with the Redbirds, many insiders considered it a steal for the Jays. After all, they were getting a 24-year-old who could do it all but wanted out of St. Louis due to a conflict with manager Tony LaRussa. In a little over a year in Toronto, Rasmus has provided more questions than answers. His cumulative batting average is just .213. Though hes shown flashes of power and drove in 75 runs last season, his strikeout-to-walk ratio is not good and his on-base percentage in 2012 was only .289. Injuries of the nagging nature have dogged him and it partly explains why he only stole four bases last season and was caught stealing three times. He can definitely play a quality centre field but all-in-all, he hasnt been the player Alex Anthopoulos thought he was getting. That also explains why his name has been mentioned so often in trade rumours. Going through the memory bank, I tried to remember a similar highly-touted player in Blue Jays history. It didnt take long to come up with the name of Jose Cruz Jr. Cruz was one of my all-time favourite Blue Jays. He had talent, he had spunk and he didnt "Big Time" you. There was no "air" about him and he was easy to have a normal conversation with. The Jays acquired Cruz from Seattle at the non-waiver trade deadline in 1997 for relievers Mike Timlin and Paul Spoljaric. The Mariners were desperate for relief help but no one could believe they would give up a prospect like Cruz. He was the son of a former Major League star Jose Cruz of Astros fame and was the third pick overall in the 1995 draft. He was a switch-hitter with pretty good speed who primarily played centre field. In many ways, at 25 he had the same kind of year with the Blue Jays that Rasmus did last year at 25. Cruz hit .241 with 14 homers and 45 runs batted in. The following year, at 26, the same age Rasmus is now, Cruz hit only marginally better at .242 but his power numbers increased to 31 homers and 76 runs batted in. In 2001, at 27 years of age, Cruz had the best and healthiest year of his career. For the one and only time in 12 seasons, he played all 162 games. He slugged 34 home runs, knocked in 88 runs and stole 32 bases. But he was never that good again. Cruz ultimately left the Jays as a free agent and bounced around to the tune of nine teams over his 12 years in the Majors. Jose Cruz Jr. had a string of seven years where he hit between 23 and 38 home runs, but even he would have to admit he never lived up to the potential many felt he had. So this is a dilemma for the Blue Jays. They control Colby Rasmus for this season and next before he becomes a free agent in 2015. Do they stick with him in centre field this year and hope he breaks out or at least hold the position until either Anthony Gose or Moises Sierra or someone else can take over full-time? Its a tough call. Rasmus has the kind of talent that tantalizes us all. He could be a star or like Cruz, turn into a long serving journeyman. This definitely has to be Colby Rasmus year. If not, hell merely be held in the same regard as Travis Snider, Syl Campusano, Junior Felix, and yes, Jose Cruz Jr. If you were wondering about the whereabouts of Jose Cruz Jr., he parlayed that personality into some broadcast work with the Blue Jays last season and is also a player agent. His former Jays teammate, Alex Gonzalez, is also an agent now. Another ex-Jay, right-hander Kelvim Escobar, is going to try and make a comeback in spring training with Milwaukee as a reliever. Escobar, who had 101 victories and 59 saves over his career is 36-yeard-old now and hasnt played in the Majors since a brief stint with the Angels in 2009. It would be nice to see him make it all the way back. Wholesale NFL Jerseys From China . The Alouettes took the lead in the first half and held on for a 28-17 win over Drew Willy and the Saskatchewan Roughriders on a flag-filled afternoon at Percival Molson Stadium on Sunday. Wholesale Jerseys From China . Mark Scheifele and Alexander Burmistrov were among the notable players given assignments at other levels. Drafted seventh overall by the Jets in 2011, Sheifele was assigned to the Barrie Colts of the OHL. http://bloodcopy.org/wholesale.html . The surprising Os have already beaten some big odds, getting past the two-time defending AL champion Texas Rangers and their Japanese ace, Yu Darvish, in the win-or-go-home wild-card playoff.PHOENIX -- Stephen Strasburg relinquished control and found his command Friday night. The right-hander allowed one hit over six innings and Ryan Zimmerman homered to help the Washington Nationals rout the slumping Arizona Diamondbacks 9-1 on Friday night for their seventh straight win. Strasburg (13-5) had been dealing with slight soreness in his mid-back from sleeping awkwardly a couple of starts ago. The stiffness was exacerbated Friday when the game was delayed for nine minutes when Miguel Montero fouled a pitch off home plate umpire Dale Scotts mask, forcing the crew chief from the game. "I got a little stiff standing out there," Strasburg said. "It happens. I just wanted to go out there and grind through it." Strasburg pitched into trouble for the first time all game, walking Montero after already having walked Justin Upton. Chris Johnson followed with a sharp single to left for Arizonas lone run. Nationals manager Davey Johnson took the blame for not pulling Strasburg into the dugout during the delay. "It really affected him," Johnson said. "We should have known it was going to take 10 minutes and I left him standing out there. My coaches did, too, so I blame them, too." But Strasburg regained his command by focusing less on his control, struck out the side looking in the fifth and retiring the final seven hitters he faced. "I just wanted to out there and let it rip and thats when I got my command back," he said. Strasburg struck out six, issued four walks and threw 58 of his 104 pitches for strikes en route to his second career one-hit outing. "When he mixes in his changeup, theres no chance," Johnson said. Strasburg raised his season innings total to 133 1-3, just under 27 fewer than the 160-inning cap the Nationals have planned for him in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery. Michael Morse homered, Steve Lombardozzi had a career-high four hits and scored three runs and Bryce Harper added two sacrifice flies for the Nationals, who remained 4 1-2 games ahead of Atlanta in the NL East. "Its starting to get more exciting," Lombardozzi said. Arizona starrter Trevor Cahill (9-10) went six innings, allowing four runs, six hits and three walks while striking out four.dddddddddddd "They made me work and it was one of those nights I couldnt put anyone away," Cahill said. The Diamondbacks have lost five of seven. Lombardozzi tripled and scored on Harpers first sacrifice fly to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead in the third. Johnson tied the game in the fourth but Washington took the lead for good in the fifth when Lombardozzi singled with one out and Zimmerman homered a dozen rows into the stands in left to put the Nationals ahead 3-1. "We just didnt have a lot of energy to overcome that tonight," Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. Morse led off the sixth with his homer, a 446-foot shot onto the concourse above the wall in centre field. Lombardozzi singled again in the seventh and scored on a throwing error for his third run of the game. Washington added four runs in the ninth off Mike Zagurski, the Diamondbacks fourth pitcher. The last two runs scored on a double by Jayson Werth. NOTES: Johnson said Harper will get Saturday off and return for the series finale Sunday. . Johnson has 17 RBIs in 11 games with Arizona. . Strasburgs four walks were his most since a four-walk, three-inning start June 30 at Atlanta. ... Monteros fourth-inning at-bat was an adventure. One pitch before fouling the ball off Scotts mask, he lost his grip on his bat and it flew into the stands, striking a fan in her abdomen. She was OK and later returned the bat. . Scott immediately spun and dropped to a knee after he was hit before slowly leaving the field under his own power. C.B. Bucknor came in from third base to replace Scott. ... Johnson is 3 for 5 with three RBIs in his career against Strasburg. ... Morses home run extended his suddenly shortened hitting streak to eight games. Morse had an 18-game streak before a scoring change made Friday afternoon turned his lone hit Aug. 2 to an error. ... Before the game, the Diamondbacks placed RHP Josh Collmenter on the 15-day DL because of ulcers and recalled RHP Brad Bergesen from Triple-A Reno. Collmenter is 3-3 with a 4.24 ERA in 22 games, including nine starts. ' ' '