The Toronto Blue Jays have been relatively secretive about the length and values of the contracts of their executive-types the past few years. No one really knows how long GM Alex Anthopoulos is signed for, and it was a guessing game as to the length of John Farrells pact when the subject of him moving to Boston was first broached after the 2011 season. Cots Baseball contracts (Baseball Prospectus) details something interesting about John Gibbons deal, which was first reported by Shi Davidi back in February. When he replaced Farrell, Gibbons signed a two-year deal with an option for 2015. But heres the interesting part, if Gibbons is not fired by January 1, his option year becomes guaranteed and he gets another option year for 2016. Gibbons absolutely deserves another "kick at the can" after the club was ravaged by injuries for the second year in a row. Still, you have to wonder if upper management did any serious thinking after the club struggled to reach 74 wins after such lofty pre-season expectations. There will be some serious heat on Gibbons and Anthopoulos if the Blue Jays stumble out of the gate in 2014. But at least in Gibbons case, it looks like he wont go into the new season as a lame duck manager. Its smart business and baseball sense to abide by the Blue Jayss policy of only giving five-year contracts to free agents, especially pitchers. You have to wonder, though, if the Jays are going to have to rethink that one after seeing 30-year-old lefty Jason Vargas sign a four-year deal worth $32 million with Kansas City. Vargas has a career record of 51-58 with a 4.30 ERA over eight seasons with four different teams so far. He only has two double-digit win seasons and peaked at 14 with Seattle. Its not so much the $8 million per season hes getting from the Royals but the four years. If Vargas can get four years, then what of the bigger names teams like the Blue Jays might be interested in, such as Matt Garza, Ubaldo Jimenez, Ervin Santana and even Dan Haren. They all have more impressive resumes than Vargas. The Royals were rumoured to be interested in a trade for As 25-year-old lefty Brett Anderson before doing the deal with Vargas. The Jays have been rumoured to be talking to Oakland about Anderson, as well. Maybe there should be a buyer beware tag attached to that one. Though he has a world of potential, the 64" southpaw is only 26-29 over five injury-plagued seasons with the As. Anderson will be 26 in February and he still excites people because of his 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and his more than respectable career ERA of 3.81. He is a risk with potential upside to be sure. Talking Trade I loved the Prince Fielder for Ian Kinsler trade between Detroit and Texas. Fielder had two decent seasons for the Tigers and helped get them to the playoffs twice. However, he had a miserable stretch of no playoff RBIs in 18 games. Kinsler was simply caught in a middle infield squeeze in Texas with the Rangers having a much younger Jurickson Profar ready to step in at second base with the outside chance the Rangers might bid for free agent Robby Cano. With that short right field porch at the Ballpark at Arlington, Fielder could easily rebound next season and hit 45 to 50 homers The Tigers are better off as well moving their two-time MVP Miguel Cabrera from third over to first to take some of the physical stress off his body. Braun on the Market? As impressive as it was that the Tigers could move Fielders huge contract that still has seven years and $168 million dollar left on it, this one would be even more impressive. Milwaukee is considering unloading Ryan Braun in the wake of his PED suspension with GM Doug Melvin claiming a couple of clubs have at least called him to talk about him. Braun is slightly older than Fielder at 30 and he is an MVP. But he has seven years and $127 million still owed to him, plus a mutual option for 2021. This contract is even more injurious to the Brewers than Alex Rodriguez is to the Yankees if Brauns production falls off dramatically once he starts playing clean. If the Brewers are committed to moving him, it will be interesting to see over the winter which team, if any, will be willing to take him on. Nike Air Max Plus Goedkoop .com) - The Minnesota Twins made it official on Wednesday, announcing the signing of outfielder Torii Hunter to a one-year contract. Nike Air Max Sale Nederland . This weeks topics include his take on the Kevin Pillar incident, All-Star snubs, the firing of Padres general manager Josh Byrnes and more. http://www.airmaxkopennederland.com/uitverkoop-air-max-thea.html . Next years tournament is also within sight for Bosnia-Herzegovina, which has never played in a World Cup, but Cristiano Ronaldo looks destined for the playoffs with Portugal after a night when the qualifying picture in the nine groups became much clearer. Nike Air Max 97 Dames Sale .Airport spokeswoman Heather Lissner said that all departing flights were back on schedule. However, arriving flights were still trying to catch up.Super Bowl Sunday got off to an inconvenient start for hundreds of passengers trying to get to Phoenix for the game. Nike Air Max 90 Aanbieding .com) - Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies withstood 18 Dallas 3-pointers, as Memphis took control in the third quarter and fended off a Mavericks rally en route to a 114-105 win in a Southwest Division showdown.EDMONTON - The Calgary Flames havent had much go right this season, but everything certainly came together for one night on Saturday. Curtis Glencross had a hat trick and Matt Stajan had a goal and three assists as the Flames scored four goals in a 3:05 span of the second period to come away with a massive 8-1 victory over the rival Edmonton Oilers. "What a great game," said Flames head coach Bob Hartley. "We wanted to redeem ourselves from (Friday) nights game. I could see that the boys were not very impressed with the performance from last night. We just worked very simple, we were very effective and we scored some great goals." Mike Cammalleri, Mark Giordano, Paul Byron and Kevin Westgarth also scored for the Flames (29-35-7) who have won four of their last six and sit 26th overall in the NHL. Nobody was expecting that kind of offensive explosion, however. "Its been a challenge for us to produce offence this year," Cammalleri said. "Its nice to see pucks go in like they did. You dont expect to score eight goals every night, but its nice to get that feeling where you feel like the puck is going to go in the net for us." It was an emotional game for Stajan, who pointed up to the sky after scoring on a penalty shot in honour of his newborn son, who died earlier this month. "That one means a lot," he said. "Its been obviously not easy and that one was for the little guy. It felt good and it gave us some puck-luck after too. Well move on now and Ill remember that one forever." Jeff Petry replied for the Oilers (25-38-9), who have lost two in a row and remain in second last place in the league. "Its pretty obvious how bad we played tonight. We are obviously very frustrated with how we played this game," said Oilers winger David Perron. "It is pretty embarrassing. We all know how bad it was and that the fans werent happy. If I was sitting in the stands, I would have been doing the same thing they were doing." Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins agreed that the fans were within their rights to voice their disproval to the team. "That was probably the longest last 15 minutes of a game that I have ever been involved with," he said. "I apologize to the fans who were here tonight and had to watch it. It was painful on the bench and Im sure it was painful in the stands. We hope it is just a blip on the radar because we have been playing pretty well lately. "I understand the frustration tonight. Especially losing to Calgary. No disrespect to Calgary, they are working hard and have had a tough year as well. But that is our rival, so it stings even worse." The Oilers started the scoring with a power-play goal four-and-a-half minutes in as Petry sent a long slapshot from the point through a sea of legs and past a screened Karri Ramo in his return to the Calgary net for the first time in seven weeks. Calgary tied the game four minutes later as Giordano got all of a shot from the top of the face-off circle, sending a bullet off the crossbar and into the Oiler net behind Edmonton starter Viktor Fasth.dddddddddddd The Flames went up 2-1 four minutes into the second period as Mikael Backlund sent a cross-ice pass to Cammalleri, who was able to pick the corner with a quick shot before Fasth could get across the net. It was Cammalleris 23rd of the season. The floodgates opened from there. A minute later, Calgary had a two-goal advantage. Stajan was awarded a penalty shot after a rather suspect slashing call on a breakaway from Edmonton defender Mark Fraser. Stajan made the most of the one-on-one opportunity, beating Fasth glove-side with a backhand shot. The Flames scored their third goal in a 1:47 span as Cammalleri stopped short on a quick breakout and allowed two Edmonton defenders to go sliding past before feeding the puck to Byron at the side of the net for his sixth of the season. Just 1:18 later the Flames made it four goals in just over three minutes as Glencross tucked a shot over Fasths shoulder. Ben Scrivens replaced Fasth, who allowed five goals on 16 shots. Late in the second period, Oiler Taylor Hall threw a water bottle in frustration while sitting on the Oiler bench that ended up spraying the coaching staff, earning a terse scolding from head coach Dallas Eakins. "That stuff happens," Hall said. "Dallas and I have a great relationship. At times we all get a little frustrated with how things are going and sometimes you need to take a step back and realize that frustration isnt going to accomplish anything. "I dont expect anything more. We are all good." Calgary made it 6-1 five minutes into the third period as a Glencross shot hit the stick of Edmontons Justin Schultz and went through Scrivens legs. The Flames then struck again 37 seconds later as a Tyler Wotherspoon shot that was going wide was batted out of the air and in by Westgarth at the side of the net. The frustration continued for Edmonton as a jersey was thrown on the ice soon afterwards, prompting Scrivens to hook it up with his stick and fling it back into the crowd. "I always feel like as a fan, you pay your money and you get to do whatever you want," Scrivens explained. "If you want to boo me, jeer me, call me every name, you are entitled to that. You could spit on me for all I care, if I deserve it. But when I see a jersey thrown on the ice… Im from here. You are not just disrespecting the guys in this room, you are disrespecting guys who wore this jersey before us. All of the great guys who have pulled this sweater over their heads, Gretzky, Messier, they all took great pride wearing that jersey. "That logo is a sacred thing for us. It is disheartening for me to see our fans treat it that way." Calgary made it 8-1 with just under seven minutes to play as Glencross recorded his hat trick goal on a long shot through traffic for his 10th goal of the season. The Flames return home for a three-game set, starting with the San Jose Sharks on Monday. The Oilers play the fourth game of a six-game homestand on Tuesday, also against the Sharks. ' ' '
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