The Toronto Blue Jays off-season quest for a rotation upgrade continues according to reports, they could be considering a journey through the recent past.Adidas Superstar 2 Sale . Reports surfacing Wednesday in The Globe and Mail and Thursday in the Toronto Star suggest that the Jays could be considering a run at free agent starter A.J. Burnett, now that hes believed to be available. The 37-year-old Burnett had previously announced his intention to retire instead of playing the 2014 season. Based on that assumption, the Pittsburgh Pirates did not tender him a qualifying offer meaning that signing him as a free agent carries no compensatory draft pick. Its believed that Burnett would prefer to pitch closer to his Maryland home, but – unlike previous reports – he is believed to have softened on his desire to pitch only for the Pirates. Burnett is one of several free agent arms that the Jays have been linked to through the rumour mill of late; a list that is also believed to include Ubaldo Jimenez and Ervin Santana. In 30 appearances with the Pirates last season, Burnett posted a 10-11 record with a 3.30 earned-run average and a 1.215 WHIP. He finished with the National Leagues highest strikeout/nine innings ratio last season, with 9.8. His groundout-to-flyout ratios have been higher the past two seasons in Pittsburgh (2.05 in 2012, 1.90 in 2013) than every other year of his MLB career save 2005 with the Florida Marlins and are both well above both his career average of 1.36 and the MLB average of 1.08. Burnett has posted a 147-132 career record over 15 MLB seasons with the Pirates, Marlins, Blue Jays and New York Yankees with a 3.99 career ERA, a 1.315 WHIP and a K/9 ratio of 8.3. He signed with the Jays as a free agent prior to the 2006 season to serve as the teams No. 2 starter behind Roy Halladay. He went 38-26 over those three seasons, including an 18-win performance in 2008 which tied him for the 10th-highest single-season total in franchise history. Originally signed to a five-year, $55 million deal by then-Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi, Burnett opted out of the deal after three years to sign a five-year, $82.5 million deal with the Yankees. Nike Air Max Thea Sale .The Knicks fell 101-91 to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, giving New York its longest in-season skid in the proud franchises 69-year history. Nike Air Max Thea Goedkoop . Mackays position at the Premier League club looked doomed earlier this week after Malaysian owner Vincent Tan sent the manager an email requesting him to stand down or be fired. But Mackay, who insisted he would not resign, has been handed a reprieve with the hierarchy wanting to heal the rift.BOCA RATON, Fla. - Mike Gillis doesnt think John Tortorella deserves full responsibility for the disaster that this Vancouver Canucks season has become, yet also did not absolve him of blame. Gillis wouldnt comment on "rumour and speculation" when asked if Tortorella would remain the coach through the end of the season. In doing that, the general manager did little to quiet the rumblings. But perhaps his most telling comment about the Canucks "remarkable" free fall involved bringing up Tortorellas locker-room incident in Calgary as one reason why things have gone wrong. "Theyre not excuses but weve had massive injuries this year, weve had key guys out of our lineup for extended periods of time," Gillis said Wednesday at the NHL GMs meeting. "We had an incident in January that was hard to describe. It is what it is. We have to continue to try and find ways to win games." Tortorella was suspended for 15 days and six games for trying to enter the Flames locker-room after a first-period brawl in a testy Jan. 18 game. The Canucks are 4-12-1 since that night. Dating to Jan. 1, Vancouver is 6-17-3 and has fallen from one point out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference to six. Gillis called the drastic downturn this year indescribable. "The ebb and flow in this season has been as challenging as its ever been," he said. "Theres reasons for it — multiple reasons for it — but currently, right now, were not meeting my expectations, were not meeting a lot of peoples expectations and that has to change." That includes Tortorella, a Stanley Cup-winner 10 years ago who has become embattled after the trade of Roberto Luongo, request from Ryan Kesler to be dealt and then Monday nights embarrassing loss to the New York Islanders. After building a 3-0 lead, the Canucks gave up seven third-period goals to lose 7-4. Tortorella afterward called it a "kick in the teeth," while Gillis on Wednesday ssaid the aftermath has been tough just like the past month and a half has been. Nike Air Max 1 Dames Sale. Asked if changes to the coaching staff and/or front office were being considered, Gillis said he did not want to comment because it would lend credibility to that talk and that was not good for anyone. Asked directly if Tortorella would be the coach for the remainder of the season, he repeated a similar sentiment. "Thats rumour and speculation," Gillis said. "Im not commenting on that because then it just lends credibility to whats out there with bloggers and all kinds of different people. So its unfair to comment on any future plans other than what weve already said, which is were trying to get younger, were trying to retool and were trying to do some things a little differently the next one, three, five years." Gillis added that the Canucks need to "get behind our team and behind our players and behind our coaching staff." Later in his six-minute chat with reporters at Boca Beach Club, Gillis refused to answer a question about how Tortorella has handled Daniel and Henrik Sedin and then another about the suggestion that the coach lost the locker-room. "Im not going to comment about specific things with John," he said. "I think its unfair to him, its unfair to our team and its unfair to all of us that are responsible for whats going on." After losing to the Islanders, Tortorella shouldered a lot of the responsibility for the Canucks downfall. "You know, Johns an honest guy and he took responsibility, but its all of our responsibility and I dont want to focus on John," Gillis said. "We have a hockey team, we have an organization. To focus on one or two people in that organizations unfair. We have to win as a group, and every guy in that room has to win as a group. To single out anybody is unfair and Im not going to do that." Except for Tortorellas role in the infamous incident against Calgary. wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap soccer jerseys wholesale jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap nfl jerseys china ' ' '
