Forennews » of that and thats where weve got

NEW YORK – It was only 338 days ag in this city, but at its other big league ballpark, Citi Field, that Steve Delabar was one of four Blue Jays representing the disappointing 2013 version of the ball club at the All-Star Game. On Tuesday afternoon in this city, but at its American League cathedral in the Bronx, Delabar was given the news that he was being optioned, the technical term for a demotion, to Triple-A Buffalo. “Its the business,” said Delabar. “Im not crushed or beat up. I understand the move. Its obviously a team move. They have to do this or designate someone and they dont want to do that so Im the guy right now. Theyre going to send me out.” The Blue Jays found themselves in a roster predicament thanks to two injuries that, while considered relatively minor, have left them short a bench player and a reliever. Brett Cecil tweaked his groin in the eighth inning on Friday night. He was not available for the two weekend games in Baltimore and was to be used only in a pinch on Tuesday night in New York. The ailment which affected Delabars status is Adam Linds. He fouled a pitch off his right foot in the sixth inning on Saturday. He required the assistance of a golf cart to get off the team bus on Sunday. Lind wore a walking boot and was on crutches, making the injury optically worse than the Jays say it is. “Thats just a precautionary think to take the weight off it,” said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. “The walking boot allows it to heal a lot sooner.” Lind is “day-to-day,” Anthopouloss words, and wasnt ruled out for Wednesdays game. Lets let the general manager explain. “The fact that we had the off-day, our bullpen is fresh and we needed to make a move,” said Anthopoulos. “Delabar hasnt performed as well as he did last year. He can use the consistent work. Its just a combination of things. We needed to clear up a spot to get an infielder up here and out of the relievers that were there, Chad (Jenkins) provided us a little more length right now and we can get Steve the work as well. That was the move for us, unless we were going to go the DL route.” Regardless of the reasons, this stings Delabar. He pitched to a 3.22 ERA and a 2.72 FIP in 58 2/3 innings in 2013, a key part of a strong bullpen, which was the saving grace of an injured, bad team. Now, he was at best the third right-handed bullpen option leading to Casey Janssen. Dustin McGowan took Delabars coveted eighth-inning role weeks ago and Sergio Santos, back from the disabled list, will get a chance to reestablish himself as a viable right-handed, late-inning guy. Delabars main issue has been fastball command. Hes seen his walk rate jump from 11.5 per cent last year to 14.8 per cent in 2014. Delabars strikeout rate has plummeted. He whiffed 32.4 per cent of enemy hitters in 2013 compared with 19.4 per cent this season. “Some small mechanical things that I was off line and it was causing me to be a little erratic in my command,” said Delabar. “Kind of cleaned that stuff up recently and theres really nothing to go down and really clean up; its just go down there and get some consistent innings and just work on what Ive been doing.” Munenori Kawasaki was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo and started at second base on Tuesday night. Kawasaki was hitting .276/.320/.388 and 11 of his 32 hits for the Bisons were doubles. “We dont know how long the move is going to be for,” said Anthopoulos. “Hes on the (40-man) roster, its a left-handed bat, were not facing any left-hander, will give you a good at-bat and you know all the other stuff he brings and so on. Hes someone who can grind an at-bat and the fact we dont face any left-handers, it makes sense for us. And he can also play the outfield if we needed him to.” Wholesale Seattle Seahawks Jerseys . Kelli Stack and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Americans, who avoided a repeat of Finlands upset at the Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., in November. Finnish goalie Noora Raty made 58 saves in that one, but the three-time Olympian could stop just 40 of 43 U. Authentic Seattle Seahawks Jerseys . Her return engagement begins tonight as TSN presents Day 1 coverage of the 2015 event from Melbourne. Watch Eugenie Bouchards opening round match at the Australian Open live tonight on TSN5 at 3am et/Midnight pt. http://www.cheapseahawks.com/. Horford is out 3-to-4 months with a torn pectoral muscle for the Hawks, who have won two straight and five of six games. Atlanta improved to 2-0 on the residency with Saturdays 93-91 triumph over Minnesota, as Ivan Johnson scored his teams final four points, including the game-winning free throw with 4. Seattle Seahawks Jerseys Outlet . Parmelee hit a game-ending shot in the ninth inning and the Minnesota Twins overcame David Ortizs big night to beat the Boston Red Sox 8-6 on Tuesday. Cheap Seattle Seahawks Gear . - Nikita Jevpalovs scored 6:22 into the second overtime as the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada edged the visiting Rimouski Oceanic 2-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action.TORONTO - Ten months after their previous general manager pulled the trigger on a franchise-altering trade, the Raptors are still searching for their identity offensively while working around the obstacles created by that roster shakeup. On Jan. 30 Bryan Colangelo acquired Rudy Gay in a three-team trade, jettisoning Ed Davis and the expiring contract of starting point guard Jose Calderon. Since then, Torontos most consistent area of weakness has been moving the ball. It has been a focus for Dwane Caseys team early this season after spending most of training camp emphasizing defensive principles. The Raptors coach has shouted it from the sidelines, preached it after games and drilled it in practice but still, sharing the ball appears to be an incurable allergy for this team, as its currently constructed. "Were 30th in the league in assists, so were trying to promote ball movement," Casey acknowledged after practice Tuesday afternoon. "Its something weve just got to stay on, harp on and try to do what fits our team." TSN 1050s Josh Lewenberg and Duane Watson weigh in on the teams ailing offence and ongoing ball movement concerns in this weeks Raptors Report podcast. Through 11 games, the Raptors are last in the NBA, averaging 16.5 assists per contest. Their offence has routinely looked stagnant, relying mostly on isolation sets and late-game hero ball. Its not necessarily for a lack of effort on the part of Casey and his coaching staff. "We do it every day," point guard Kyle Lowry admitted. Ball movement has been a daily focus in practice. "We have drills where you dont shoot it before [theres] five passes, so its nothing new," Casey has said. The problem boils down to personnel, a team - built primarily by Colangelo - that was not designed to front a fluid NBA offence. Caseys challenge is essentially to teach old dogs - by league standards - new tricks. "We want there to be movement," he said following Sundays overtime loss to Portland, a game in which only three of his players recorded an assist. "We have our limitations from that standpoint but we want to move the ball. Weve got to do a better job of that and thats where weve got to find ourselves offensively, in ball movement." For the most part those limitations can be traced back to last seasons trade and arent likely to be corrected as easily as they were created. In 45 games prior to the trade last year, Toronto ranked 10th in assists (22.7 per game) and was second among 30 teams in that category (25.1 per) during the 23 contests that Calderon started directly before he was moved. In 47 games since, the team is last in the Association averaging 19.2 assists. To put that in perspective, the Raptors recorded 20 or more assists in 22 of those 23 games Calderon started in succession. Theyve exceeded 19 dimes in just 19 of 47 games since, including one of 11 this season. Calderon, one of the most reliable distributors in the league, was a pllayer Casey trusted to run the pick and roll efficiently and with consistency.dddddddddddd Replacing the long-time Raptors point guard - who may have bolted as a free agent during the summer anyway - continues to be a significant factor in the teams offensive identity crisis, but not the only factor. Its fair to argue that Lowry is an upgrade over Calderon - in many areas of the game he has been - but theres no denying hes a very different point guard than his predecessor, one who is less renowned for his work in the pick and roll. Then you add a high-volume scorer in Gay and pair him with a similar wing player in DeMar DeRozan. With Gay, the Raptors got what they paid for. Hes led them in scoring, become the face of the franchise and has played the role of a closer, for better or for worse. Hes also a player - like DeRozan - who takes a lot of shots, many of them outside the flow of a cohesive team offence. Simply put, theyre iso players. That duo has accounted for 46 per cent of the teams field goal attempts, shooting a combined 39 per cent to begin the season. Until Masai Ujiri takes his first stab at reconstructing this talented, albeit flawed roster, Casey has no choice but to work with the pieces he has. Therein lies the challenge. "To turn a guy into Pete Maravich at this stage in their career is very difficult," Casey pointed out. "Youve got to tailor your team according to your personnel and try to get movement out of that. A guys DNA is who he is. Weve got to tailor our offence to fit our players." Torontos best ball movement was achieved in the first half of its win over the Grizzlies in Memphis, also their most impressive outing; not a coincidence. In that game both Gay and DeRozan set the tone early by looking for their teammates. The Grizzlies put pressure on Torontos top scorers but they both passed out of double teams with poise and found cutters on the weak side, a focus for Caseys club in practice Tuesday. Not surprisingly, whenever the Raptors have moved the ball good things have happened. They just havent done it enough. "Believe me theres not a selfish bone, I dont think, in our players bodies," Casey said. "When the game starts guys will revert to what they do naturally, but what weve got to do is try to help them see their options, understand where their teammates are in certain sets and read it from there." Casey knows his team. He knows their strengths and he accepts their weaknesses. Still, masking one with the other is easier said than done. Defence is the great equalizer. Even if the Raptors offence can never function quite like Portlands - the team responsible for their most recent defeat - Casey knows they will remain competitive if they can defend with the ferocity of the Bulls, the team that handed them their previous loss. As long as the current core remains intact, these roadblocks will continue to stand in their way. How well they work around them will determine their success. Cheap Buffalo Sabres Gear Wholesale Calgary Flames Jerseys Cheap Adidas Colorado Avalanche Jerseys Montreal Canadiens Outlet Store Wholesale New Jersey Devils Jerseys Adidas Arizona Coyotes Jerseys Cheap Adidas Boston Bruins Jerseys Cheap Adidas Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys Chicago Blackhawks Shop Free Shipping Wholesale Columbus Blue Jackets Jerseys Dallas Stars Shop Free Shipping Cheap Adidas Detroit Red Wings Jerseys Anaheim Ducks Jerseys China Wholesale Edmonton Oilers Jerseys Florida Panthers Shop Free Shipping Wholesale Los Angeles Kings Jerseys Minnesota Wild Outlet Store Cheap Adidas Nashville Predators Jerseys Cheap Adidas New York Islanders Jerseys New York Rangers Winter Classic Jerseys Cheap Adidas Ottawa Senators Jerseys Cheap Adidas Philadelphia Flyers Jerseys Wholesale Pittsburgh Penguins Jerseys Cheap Adidas San Jose Sharks Jerseys St. Louis Blues Winter Classic Jerseys Wholesale Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys Toronto Maple Leafs Outlet Store Vancouver Canucks Outlet Store Cheap Adidas Vegas Golden Knights Jerseys Cheap Adidas Washington Capitals Jerseys Cheap Adidas Winnipeg Jets Jerseys ' ' '