Pfotenbuch » have a long way to go to catch

Certain Toronto Blue Jays were so intent on bringing in free agent pitcher Ervin Santana as a teammate that they were will to defer some of their salaries. First reported by FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal, its unknown if the impetus for the deferral proposal came from players or management, but it never left the preliminary stages. Rosenthal says that a pair of agents had heard word of the plan, but that they were never approached by Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos. Santana turned down a one-year, $14 million offer from the Jays and signed with the Atlanta Braves on the same deal after the Braves lost Kris Medlen for the season with Tommy John surgery. Whether or not the actual deferral proposal would fly in practice is another discussion altogether, as there would likely have been significant hurdles from the MLBPA, who is normally loath to allow its players to concede any sort of contractual edge without commensurate compensation. "I never took it that seriously," an agent told Rosenthal. "No way it would have ever passed the (union) unless there was some gain for the players who did that." In an interview with Matt Galloway on CBCs Metro Morning, Blue Jays president and CEO Paul Beeston confirmed that such discussions took place, but maintained that payroll was there if needed. "There was discussion about that and, to be very honest with you, I think, had it gone that way, it would have been fine, but we are at $140 million [in payroll] right now," said Beeston. "The one thing that we do have is a very generous owner from the point of view of what they have committed to try to build the team. I think that the Rogers people, more importantly [former Rogers Communications CEO] Nadir [Mohamed] last year and carried on this year with [current CEO] Guy Laurence and the Rogers family, have given us the dollars weve wanted, that we need to put a contending team on the field. Its up to us to bring them together." For his part, Anthopoulos believed the deal was done. He would not, however, get into the specifics of how the pact would have been structured. "The takeaway for me is we felt that we had an agreement in place," Anthopoulos told reporters prior to teh Jays Friday home opener. "He was prepared to come here. We had the dollars. How we choose to structure those dollars, those are things that we keep in house. "But I believe if Kris Medlen had not been hurt, Ervin Santana would be here today." Not that Anthopoulos was about to hold that against the 31-year-old. "He had a lot more interest going into the NL, which is his right," he said. When pressed on whether or not the teams spending was capped, Beeston insisted that it wasnt. "Were a business, so the answer to that is that we have a budget," said Beeston. "Its not a cap. If we can increase our revenue, we can increase our expenses, but we run it as a business." With the Jays only signing catcher Dioner Navarro during the offseason, Beeston said that free agency is not the only avenue to improve his team and that trades could be made over the course of the season. "You have to organize it in manner that you might have to make some trades," Beeston explained. "You may have to look at different ways of bringing your players along, but I dont think from the point of view of money, money is our problem. One of the issues that we have is that we had to build our farm system up and we have done that over the last three or four years, but its not like hockey or basketball, where you come right out of the colleges or out of the minor leagues and move right into the Majors. So some of the pitchers that we have down there like [Marcus] Stroman and [Aaron] Sanchez, theyre just ready to come, but those are the guys that you will want to have introduced into your organization because they have to play three or four years before they make the big dollars. So you need a mixture of the players who are at the minimum, as well as your stars. But you dont win without stars." While Beeston acknowledged that teams can win with smalled budgets, free-spending teams are the ones most likely to find success. "Lets be realistic about it," said Beeston. "You can do it, but youre gonna get lucky and have everybody pop at the same time. Ultimately, teams like the Dodgers and the Yankees and Boston, that are spending all kinds of money, are basically the teams that have star players at every position." The Jays open a three-game set with the New York Yankees on Friday night at the Rogers Centre. Marian Hossa Jersey . Austin does not believe the game-time temperature is going to be an advantage for either side heading into the Grey Cup. "We dont think about (the cold)," said Austin. "Im not even sure how you would determine an advantage. Wayne Gretzky Jersey . -- Colin Kaepernick insists he just happened to pull on a pair of socks with dollar bill prints all over them Wednesday morning -- before he learned he had struck a new fortune with the San Francisco 49ers. http://www.officialcoyotesfanstore.com/authentic-jakob-chychrun-coyotes-jersey/ . The ongoing funk on penalty kill and an unusually quiet night on home ice for the power play divided the Leafs from the Bruins at the ACC in a rare Sunday night affair. Keith Tkachuk Jersey . The group of Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, & Slava Kozlov were a dominant force for The Wings at one point in the 90s. Custom Arizona Coyotes Jerseys . The group of Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, & Slava Kozlov were a dominant force for The Wings at one point in the 90s. RALEIGH, N.C. -- For more than 60 minutes, the Columbus Blue Jackets just couldnt manage to give their power-play unit a chance. Once they finally went up a man in overtime, Ryan Johansen made it count. Johansen scored a power-play goal at 2:40 of the extra session to lead Columbus past the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Saturday night. "I was talking to the ref, I was like, Come on, we need a power play," Johansen said with a laugh. "We have confidence in our power play, so if we get opportunities, we feel were at least going to get a lot of momentum out of it and get some chances." Artem Anisimov had a goal and an assist and Matt Calvert also scored to help the Blue Jackets earn an important two points in their push for the second playoff berth in club history and first since 2009. "We can pat ourselves on the back for this one, but starting (Sunday) and the day after, weve got to move on," defenceman Dalton Prout said. "Theres still lots of work to be done, and for the most part, we control our own fate. Its a good feeling." Jeff Skinner and Andrei Loktionov scored and Riley Nash had two assists for the Hurricanes, who fell to 6-11 since the Olympic break. "We seem to be finding ways ... to lose," Carolina captain Eric Staal said. "Its not like were completely out of it every night. Were in the battle. "For whatever reason, we cant seem to get that one that falls for us and it goes the other direction," Staal added. "Our compete, our work ethic, for the most part has been there. Weve got guys that care. Weve got guys that try. Thats not our problem." Curtis McElhinney made 25 saves for Columbus in his second straight start in place of flu-stricken starter Sergei Bobrovsky. The decisive sequence started midway through OT when Brandon Dubinsky rang the left post. Goalie Anton Khudobin couldnt cover the puck, but forward Jiri Tlusty did -- drawing a delay of game penalty and giving the Blue Jackets their first power play of the night at 1:54. Johansenn then ended it with a snap shot from between the circles that trickled past Khudobin, who stopped 29 shots in his second consecutive start for Carolina.dddddddddddd. Loktionov put the Hurricanes up 2-1 when he took a feed from Nash in the circle and snapped the puck past McElhinney with 13:22 left. But for the second time in the game, the Blue Jackets struck back quickly to tie it. This time it was Anisimov, who pushed the rebound of Nathan Hortons shot past Khudobin 50 seconds later. "We found a way to claw back," Johansen said. These teams entered on opposite ends of the playoff spectrum, with the Blue Jackets taking the ice in a four-way tie for two Eastern Conference wild cards. Carolina is mathematically alive for just its second post-season berth since winning the 2006 Stanley Cup, but the Hurricanes -- who entered seven points behind that cluster of four teams -- have a long way to go to catch up. "We dont think were out yet," coach Kirk Muller said. "Were going to push." For much of this game, offensive chances were few for both teams. Khudobin made the save of the night midway through the first period when he slid across the net to thwart Blake Comeau on a 2-on-1. "They knew we were on a back-to-back with travel," Prout said. "They came out hard and I think they carried the play. But we weathered the storm and I think we fought back." The scoring pace picked up near the end of the second: Skinner finally broke through for Carolina when he scored with 3:31 left in the second. He snatched the rebound of rookie Elias Lindholms shot and chipped the puck over defenceman David Savard for his team-leading third goal this season against Columbus. Calvert tied it with 1:14 left in the period when he snapped the puck past Khudobin after a takeaway -- the first goal allowed by the Hurricanes goalie in a span of 121 minutes, 49 seconds. NOTES: Calvert has goals in two straight games. ... Skinner has a four-game points streak and has four points in five games against the Blue Jackets this season. ' ' '