The last two seasons injuries have ruined any chances the Toronto Blue Jays might have had of contending, especially those to t

The last two seasons injuries have ruined any chances the Toronto Blue Jays might have had of contending, especially those to the pitching staff. Cheap Nike Air Vapormax . This time around the injury bug has bitten hard on the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Tampa Bay has three of their elite starting pitchers sidelined right now. Over the weekend, Alex Cobb strained a left oblique muscle during a stellar performance against the Cincinnati Reds. Hes gone four-to-six weeks. Lefty Matt Moore is due to play catch on the side today in Baltimore as doctors are trying to decide if he needs Tommy John surgery or whether his left elbow will get better with treatment and rest. Right hander Jeremy Hellickson, who also has an elbow issue, is hoping to be back in May or early June. Even a team as deep and talented as the Rays cant afford to lose three starting pitchers. The Red Sox also have problems. Star second baseman Dustin Pedroia has had to return to Beantown to get his left wrist checked out. Shane Victorino is out as well with a thumb injury and 39-year-old closer Koji Uehara is being examined to determine the cause of shoulder stiffness. The Yankees are no different. They lost their new closer David Robertson to the 15-day DL with a groin muscle pull, first baseman Mark Teixiera is injured again, catcher Francisco Cervelli has a hamstring problem, second baseman Brian Roberts had to sit out with back tightness and team captain Derek Jeter missed two games in a row over the weekend with quad tightness. The Yankees were so thin in the infield, they had to move Kelly Johnson back to third base, rookie Yangervis Solarte to second and have Carlos Beltran play his first game ever at first. The Baltimore Orioles biggest concern is star third baseman Manny Machado, who continues to rehab his surgically repaired knee. The Blue Jays have a few problems of their own with Maicer Izturis tripping on the dugout steps Sunday in Baltimore and spraining his left knee and then having to go on the 15-day DL. On the plus side, Jose Reyes and closer Casey Janssen could be back by next weekend in Cleveland and lefty J.A. Happ is already back up from Triple-A Buffalo. The bottom line is, the Blue Jays, Yankees and Rays are locked in a three-way tie for first in the A.L East at 7-6. The Orioles are second at 5-7 and the Red Sox are bringing up the rear at 5-8. By the weekend, the Jays should have the healthiest line-up in the division and this is the time for them to take advantage of their rivals injury woes and do some real damage. - The team that has really come of nowhere in the first two weeks of the season is the Milwaukee Brewers. Coincidentally, they had an identical record to the Blue Jays a year ago at 74-88. They are off to a torrid start this time around, winning nine-straight through Sunday and a 10-2 record. This is the second-best start in franchise history after 1987 when they started the year 13-0. Their starting rotation of Yovani Gallardo, Kyle Lohse, Matt Garza, Marco Estrada and Wily Peralta have nine quality starts in 12 games, and the staff ERA is a sparkling 1.80. Ryan Braun has had a good bounce back year, so far, from his Biogenesis PED suspension and has made a successful move from left field to right to clear a spot for youngster Khrys Davis, who is regarded as a budding star. The other big story for the Brewers is closer Francisco Rodriguez, once a star with the Angels. He stepped on a cactus is Spring Training and was still pulling out spines until about a week ago. His left foot, his plant foot when throwing, was so tender that he had to pay extra attention to his delivery to keep it consistent. K-Rod has been perfect so far, going four-for-four in save situations. The teams payroll, according to Cots Baseball Contracts, is about $103.4 million. Thaats roughly $29 million less than the that of the Jays. The interesting thing is that they have a dozen players on their roster making the minimum of between $500-534K. In other words, there is a good mix of veterans and youth. The Brewers lead the NL Central by three games on the St. Louis Cardinals and they open an early season showdown series at Miller Park on Monday night against the Redbirds. - There is a Milwaukee connection to one of the players the Blue Jays have in Buffalo. Juan Francisco is a 62", 245-pound first/third baseman, who was released by the Brewers during spring training. The Jays picked him up to add a little punch with the Bisons. The 26-year-old left-handed hitter has provided just that. In fact, last season he hit 18 homers split between the Brewers and the Atlanta Braves. The knock on Francisco is that hes not every good defensively, but hes turned into a good pick-up for Buffalo especially since the Brewers are picking up $331,967 of his salary. - Tuesday marks the 11th-annual Jackie Robinson Day where the MLB honours the man who broke the colour barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The year before Jackie broke in with the Dodgers organization, he played with the old Montreal Royals in the International League. I was curious to find out who was the first African-American to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs in that same league. It didnt happen until 1951. In July of that year, Jack Kent Cooke, the communications mogul who later owned the Washington Redskins and Los Angeles Kings, bought the Leafs. A week-and-a-half later, he signed two African-American players, pitcher Leon Day and catcher-third baseman Charlie White. Later in that season, another black pitcher, Frank Barnes, joined the Leafs. He only made two appearances with the club and had an ERA of 45. Of the three, though, according to my research, Barnes is the only one of the trio still alive. He is 87-years-old. Yankees great Mariano Rivera was the last player to wear the number 42. Now that Rivera has retired, the number 42 will never be worn again. Discount Nike Air Vapormax . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Steve Mason, Philadelphia (4) - Mason was brilliant all night long with save after big save on Benoit Pouliot, Carl Hagelin and Derick Brassard. Nike Air Vapormax Outlet .Y. -- It was as if Matt Moulson never left the New York Islanders. https://www.fakevapormaxwholesale.com/ . "Canada," Bolland said with a smile. "Is that a question?" One day earlier, though, fellow Toronto Maple Leafs centre Nazem Kadri wasnt so sure his home and native land could pull off the win against the United States in the semi-finals of the Olympic hockey tournament.MUNICH - Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness was found guilty Thursday and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for evading millions of euros (dollars) in tax through an undeclared Swiss bank account. The 62-year-old Hoeness, one of the most powerful figures in German soccer, was initially charged with dodging 3.5 million euros ($4.85 million) in taxes through the Swiss account. But when his trial opened Monday he admitted to avoiding 15 million euros more. Then it came out through an examination of documents he provided to investigators shortly before the trial that he owed 27.2 million euros in total — a number Hoeness did not dispute. Hoeness had faced up to 10 years in prison, and the sentence came between the 5 1/2 years suggested by the prosecution and the defences plea for probation, based on the fact that he had turned himself in for tax evasion and provided details to the court, the dpa news agency reported. Following the verdict, defence attorney Hanns Feigen said he would appeal the decision to see how a higher court would value Hoeness "not ideal" confession. He added that he was convinced the appeals court would come to a "better result" than the Munich state court did. Hoeness will remain free on bail pending the outcome of the appeal. German authorities have been cracking down on tax evaders in recent years, and have recovered hundreds of millions of euros. Their widely-publicized purchase of leaked account information on thousands of investors, as well as high-profile cases such as that against Hoeness and former Deutsche Post AG CEO Klaus Zumwinkel, has led to thousands of people turning themselves in. Hoeness, who also is part owner of a Nuremberg sausage factory, reported himself to the tax authorities last April — around the same ttime that German media were investigating reports of high-profile tax evaders. Clearance Nike Air Vapormax. News of the case against the national icon prompted even Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman to weigh in and say the countrys leader was disappointed in him. As a player, Hoeness was a Bayern star who won the 1972 European Championship and the 1974 World Cup with West Germany and three straight European Cups — the predecessor of the Champions League — before retiring in 1979 with chronic knee problems. He became the Bundesligas youngest coach when he was 27. Bayern has been enjoying unprecedented success under Hoeness presidency. The club stood by him during the investigation, and its supervisory board was expected to meet following the verdict to see what steps to take next. Bayern Munich said it would issue a statement later Thursday. In three decades as manager and president of Bayern, Hoeness conducted a prudent financial policy that left the club not only without debts but with a fat bank account. Hoeness refused to spend lavishly on foreign superstars but brought in the best of German talent. In recent years, Bayern started spending more on players and the result was its first treble last season, when it won the Champions League, the Bundesliga and the German Cup. The club is on course to win the Bundesliga again — perhaps even undefeated — and could become the first team to defend the Champions League title. Bayern could accomplish the treble again. Hoeness was also instrumental in signing coach Pep Guardiola. With three "strategic partners" — Adidas, Audi and Allianz, which each have an 8.33-per cent stake in the club — Bayern has some of Germanys best known companies behind it. The club has also paid off its stadium. ' ' '