erg, who has 35 points, in the rookie scoring race. Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.

CLEARWATER, Florida – Jose Bautista isnt getting worked up about his red hot spring training. Harrison Bader Cardinals Jersey . After all, established players dont concern themselves with Grapefruit League statistics. "Im just trying to make sure I keep working on my game plan and my mental preparation for each at-bat and the situation that I have in front of me," said Bautista, before offering a glimpse into the extent of his own expectations. "Its been a little bit inconsistent but thats to be expected in spring training." After Thursdays 3-1 win over the Phillies, which marked the first time this season Bautista had played into the eighth inning, hes hitting .304/.465/.717 (1.182 OPS) with five home runs and 11 RBI. Hes looking to regain the form from 2010 and 2011 that catapulted him to superstardom. He led baseball with 54 and 43 home runs, respectively, in those two seasons and in 2011 led baseball with an otherworldly 1.056 OPS. Those are lofty standards and Bautista has battled injuries (wrist, hip) since then but he feels he still can be a consistent threat. "Overall, I feel pretty good about camp and Im seeing the ball well and I think Im staying within the strike zone," said Bautista. "Any time Im doing that I normally do well." Bautista has had a strong start in the field, too. Showing no ill effects from a jammed hip that cost him the final six weeks of last season, he made a great sliding catch on a Jimmy Rollins shallow fly ball in the first inning of Thursdays game; then in the third was credited with his fourth outfield assist of the season on a play at second base. There is legitimate concern about the state of the starting pitching heading into the regular season but Bautista believes improved defence will help the rotation. "Im healthy. So is Colby. So is Melky and the little bit of games he played (last year) he was hurt the whole time. Same with Brett; he started the season on the DL. Jose (got hurt) in the third week of the season and we missed him a lot," said Bautista. "We had two new guys getting used to the turf in Maicer (Izturis) and Bonifacio who struggled a little bit at second. Now, Maicer is more used to it; Goins is really good defensively and the rest of the infield is healthy and ready to go. We have Dioner (Navarro) at catcher. Thats different than J.P. (Arencibia) and J.P. didnt have his best defensive year last year and thats no secret. Not that hes bad defensively, he just didnt have a good year defensively. Overall, we should be better but at the same time we cant just be complacent and think that its going to automatically happen." Earlier this spring, veteran knuckleballer R.A. Dickey told TSN.ca he believed this incarnation of the Blue Jays could be "blown up" if it underperforms for a second consecutive season. Bautista, about to begin what would be his sixth full season in Toronto, said he doesnt dwell on negative thoughts. "Plus, thats a question better suited for Alex Anthopoulos, not me, because I cant make decisions when it comes to anything like that," he said. Bautista hopes to be spending his 34th birthday, on October 19, in a playoff setting. Nobodys found the tonic to slow down Father Time but Bautista has no more a sense of urgency to win now, in his mid-30s, than he did in his younger days. "Its always your number one driver is wanting to win," said Bautista. "I feel that this team is capable of winning, this organization is pretty close to accomplishing that. Let me just say theres nowhere else Id rather be than on this team." Bautista is aware that fans are anxious after the clubs relatively quiet offseason. He reads his Twitter account. "They have to trust the team," he said. "They have to be not only fans but they also have to love their organization and love the team and love their players. Hopefully theyve created some sort of bond with us over the last couple of years because a lot of us have been here for a while. Hopefully they get to know us as people, as athletes and they believe in us as much as we believe in ourselves. Were going to go out and leave it out on the field every single day and hopefully they can do the same either at home or at the stadium when they come out to support us." McGOWAN TO LONG RELIEF Dustin McGowan has been saying since late last season hed like to take one more shot, likely a final shot, at returning to the starting rotation. Manager John Gibbons has been hesitant to embrace the idea and with time running out in spring training, the focus is on building up McGowan to be one of the long men out of the bullpen. "Hes kind of in limbo there," said Gibbons. "We want to be able to stretch him out anyway. If hes in the pen for multiple innings that would benefit us quite a bit down there. We know he can do two. If he can do three that would do wonders for us." McGowan, who turns 32 on Monday, threw three scoreless innings against the Phillies in Clearwater on Thursday. He considered the accomplishment a milestone. "It felt good to finally go three innings," said McGowan. "Its been quite a few years since I reached that mark." After multiple shoulder surgeries which cost him the entirety of the 2009 and 2010 seasons, most of 2011 and all of 2012, McGowan returned in 2013 as a reliever, posting a 2.45 ERA in 25 appearances. "Im kind of interested to see how Im going to feel tomorrow," said McGowan. "The way I feel right now I think Im going to be just fine. I can usually tell right after I come out of the game how Im going to feel. Its one of those days I feel good." He won 12 games for the Blue Jays back in 2007. Gibbons managed that team. "We think hes beyond that kind of stuff and I thought he thrived in the bullpen," said Gibbons. "I thought that was a good role for him." McGowan was set back this spring by a stomach virus that kept him away for the club for a couple of days and resulted in him dropping eight pounds. The calendar isnt his friend. "He had desire to do it," said Gibbons of McGowan starting. "A lot of people had desire to see if he could do it but myself, personally, kind of had some reservations." THE RUNNING GAME The Blue Jays stole 112 bases last season, which tied the club for ninth with Colorado. More than half of those stolen bases, a combined 57, are gone with the departures of Rajai Davis (45) via free agency and Emilio Bonifacio (12), who was traded last August. Anthony Gose stole four bases last year and is expected to begin the season with Triple-A Buffalo. "Thats not one of our strengths," said manager John Gibbons. "Our speed has definitely dropped off. Thats now how the team is built." Toronto was fourth in the major leagues in home runs (185) last season, a number which figures to climb if the club gets injury-free seasons from Jose Bautista, Colby Rasmus and Brett Lawrie. "The teams built for those guys in the middle to drive in a bunch of runs, hit some home runs and Reyes to get things going. We think were strong. Weve got some pop. Weve got some guys that can produce some runs, top to bottom in the lineup." Still, Gibbons wants to mitigate the all-or-nothing approach he feels his team had too often last season. "Well cut down on the strikeouts a little bit I think will definitely help us and (hitting coach Kevin) Seitzers really good about that and hes working some game plans but that takes time," said Gibbons. "I think these guys have all been receptive to him." ROTATION JUGGLING Drew Hutchison has been dropped from his major league start on Saturday in favour of Todd Redmond. Redmond was scheduled to pitch against the Rays on Friday in Port Charlotte but has been pushed back a day. Aaron Sanchez will start on Friday, while Hutchison will pitch on Saturday but in a Triple-A game. While the Blue Jays havent confirmed publicly that Hutchison has made the team, the fact the coaching staff doesnt feel the need to see him versus major league talent this close to opening day bodes well for the 23-year-old. Gussie Busch Jersey . Rico dove horizontally to meet Andoni Iraolas precise long cross from the right to score his second league goal of the season in the 33rd minute. Two minutes later, Aritz Aduriz netted Bilbaos second when he raced forward and pounced on a poor clearance by Villarreal defender Mateo Musacchio, sending a low shot rolling past goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo. St. Louis Cardinals Shirts . After not scoring 40 points in the opening quarter in the last five seasons, the Rockets have done it five times this season and twice in the last three games. https://www.cheapcardinalsonline.com/244t-marcell-ozuna-jersey-cardinals.html . Wheeler said Kane was just making a joke that was misunderstood and misinterpreted by "Winnipeg folks" and the media once again. Wheeler repeated that he believes Kane is a player who has the ability to help the Jets get to the next level as they try once again to reach the playoffs in 2014. He made the comments initially in an interview, when asked how the Jets could compete in the Central Division with teams that have made some high-profile off-season signings.Scott Cullen takes a look at the stories from December 26th through January 2nd, including not-so-happy holidays in New Jersey, an Oilers-Penguins trade, World Juniors, contract extensions and more. DEBOER FIRED A Merry Christmas to former New Jersey Devils coach Peter DeBoer, who was relieved of his duties on Boxing Day, with GM Lou Lamoriello taking over behind the bench, with Adam Oates and Scott Stevens in charge of the forwards and defence, respectively. In 251 games with the Devils, DeBoer compiled a 115-95-41 record (.540 points percentage) and made it to the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Los Angeles Kings, in 2012. In 251 games, the Devils had strong possession numbers (52.5% of even-strength shot attempts in that span ranks sixth), but it has been undone by poor (shooting and save) percentages at both ends of the rink. It’s hard to look at the Devils’ current roster – old and lacking top-end talent – and not pin the blame for their slide on Lamoriello, general manager, more than DeBoer, the coach. PERRON TRADE The Pittsburgh Penguins have been seeking a scoring winger for most of the season and pulled the trigger to acquire David Perron from Edmonton, a team that has begun planning, in earnest, for 2015-16. In this case, it means the Oilers moving out a proven scoring winger with a year-and-a-half left on his contract, in the hopes that they will secure future value from a first-round pick and whatever they might receiver from Rob Klinkhammer, a bruising winger with an expiring contract. At this moment, the Penguins have improved and ought to be Cup contender, while the Oilers have gotten worse and set their sights on a top draft pick. U.S. ELIMINATED FROM WORLD JUNIORS They might well have been the second-best team in the tournament, but after losing to Canada on New Year’s Eve, Team USA was bounced from the medal round when they lost 3-2 to Russia. Such is the peril of a single-elimination tournament. Take some penalties – as the Americans did (eight minor penalties, including seven in the first half of the game) – and run into a hot goalie (Team USA outshot the Russians 41-25) – as the Americans did – and suddenly very realistic hopes of a gold medal are gone. Dylan Larkin, a first-round pick of the Red Wings in 2014, was a standout in the tournament for USA, scoring five goals and seven points in five games, while Jack Eichel, the prospect battling Connor McDavid for top spot in the 2015 Draft, had a goal and four points for the Americans. WORLD JUNIOR LEADERS As always, the World Junior Hockey Championship is a great showcase for young hockey talent and some top prospects are off the terrific starts in this year’s tournament. Canada’s Sam Reinhart, the No. 2 overall pick by Buffalo last summer, has eight points (3 G, 5 A) in four preliminary games to hold an early edge on William Nylander (No. 8 to Toronto), Larkin (No. 15 to Detroit) and David Pastrnak (No. 25 to Boston), who all had seven points. Reinhart’s linemate, Max Domi (No. 13 to Arizona in 2013), Nic Petan (2013 second-round pick to Winnipeg) and Sweden’s Oskar Lindblom (2014 fifth-round pick to Philadelphia) also had seven points. Swedish defenceman Gustav Forsling, a 2014 fifth-round pick of Vancouver, was the top scoring defenceman with six points through the preliminary round. FOLIGNO CASHES IN Enjoying a career year in Columbus, left winger Nick Foligno signed a six-year, $33-million contract extension with the Blue Jackets. Foligno would have been an unrestricted free agent, in a shallow market, in the offseason, but it’s impossible to turn down a deal offering that kind of long-term security. Foligno has 17 goals and 32 points in 34 games this season, easily the best per-game scoring rates of his career and with a career-high 22.1% shooting percentage, he’s almost assureed to regress. Bruce Sutter Cardinals Jersey. It’s possible that Foligno can provide fair value as a top-six forward over the next few seasons, but once he’s past 30, which is more than half of this deal, it seems less likely that he will produce enough to justify $5.5-million per season. SO DOES BJUGSTAD The Florida Panthers also extended a frontline player with a new six-year, $24.6-million contract for centre Nick Bjugstad, signing the 22-year-old centre to a six-year, $24.6-million extension. He’s the Panthers’ leading scorer, with a modest 21 points (13 G, 8 A) in 35 games this season, but he’s driving play while starting more than half of his shifts in the defensive zone, a good sign at a young age that he can handle tough minutes. While the Blue Jackets’ deal for Foligno looks like it’s born out of optimism that he can maintain unsustainable percentages, Bjugstad is finishing more (13.7 SH%) this year, but his on-ice shooting percentage (7.7%) is still rather modest and likely to get better with more skilled linemates over time. That this contract covers relatively early years of Bjugstad’s career, leading into his prime, make it more likely that he will produce enough to justify the price. The deal also covers mostly restricted free agent seasons, along with a couple of years in which Bjugstad would be unrestricted. When this contract expires, and he’s a 29-year-old unrestricted free agent, there will still be an opportunity to sign another lucrative deal, so long as he continues his currently promising career arc. NEW OWNER FOR COYOTES It can get exhausting keeping track of who is in charge of the Arizona Coyotes from one year to the next. The latest to hold a majority ownership stake is Andrew Barroway, a hedge fund manager who agreed to purchase a 51% ownership stake for $155-million. That would put the price of the Coyotes franchise around $300-million, which is more than the $225-million that Forbes had for Coyotes in their most recent valuations. The deal still requires the approval of the NHL Board of Governors. CROWDED CREASE IN ST. LOUIS When the St. Louis Blues decided to sign veteran goaltender Martin Brodeur – following an injury to starter Brian Elliott – that opened up the possibility that the Blues would have three NHL goaltenders under contract once Elliott was healthy and, after nearly five weeks on the sidelines, Elliott is back. Brodeur has a .904 save percentage in six games with the Blues, which would hardly qualify for a significant role going forward, but 24-year-old Jake Allen (.899 SV%) has also struggled. The trouble is that Allen would need to clear waivers to be sent to the AHL and it seems unlikely that he would get through, so the Blues are carrying three goalies for the time being. WASHINGTON WINS THE WINTER CLASSIC Maybe the TV ratings weren’t what they had hoped and the buzz leading up to the outdoor game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals wasn’t quite to the same level as previous Winter Classics, but more than 42,000 fans took in a well-played, competitive game on New Year’s Day in Washington, D.C. Washington’s Troy Brouwer, a former Blackhawk, scored the winning goal with 13 seconds remaining in the third period – a power-play goal after a questionable penalty call on Blackhawks superstar Jonathan Toews. JOHNNY BE GOOD Named the NHL Rookie of the Month for December, after scoring 13 points (8 G, 5 A) in 14 games, Flames left winger Johnny Gaudreau has shown that size isn’t everything. Since starting this season with no points and one shot on goal in his first give games, Gaudreau has put up 30 points (12 G, 18 A) in the past 33 games and is now the only viable challenger for Filip Forsberg, who has 35 points, in the rookie scoring race. Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca ' ' '