Were probably a few weeks away still before teams really get serious about moving pitchers, possibly the likes of Jeff Samardzija, David Price, James Shields and Jason Hamel. In fact the way the Royals are playing and Shields is pitching, you can probably scratch him off the list completely. The Royals have won seven in a row and have climbed to within a game and a half of the Central-leading Tigers heading into a key four-game set at Comerica Park in Detroit on Monday night. Shields is their staff ace at 8-3 and is on a personal 5-0 run. One more quality arm might be all it takes to make the Blue Jays the team to beat in the American League. Thinking about that brought back memories of the greatest pitcher the Blue Jays almost acquired at the July 31st non-waiver deadline, but didnt. Pat Gillick was looking for that something extra in 1993 to put the Blue Jays over the top for a second straight World Series title. He was talking to Oakland about Rickey Henderson, and also Seattle about towering lefty Randy Johnson who was just beginning to come into his own at age 29. Gillick preferred the Johnson deal that would have sent right-handers Steve Karsay and Mike Timlin to the Mariners. Trouble was Seattle GM Woody Woodward was out golfing and in the era before cell phones, Gillick couldnt get a hold of him. In the meantime, As GM Sandy Alderson called back and accepted the Henderson deal for Karsay and a player to be named later (outfielder Jose Herrera). But even then, there was a minor hitch. Rickey wanted to be compensated for giving up his right of refusal on a trade. While that was being negotiated, Woodward called Gillick back and wanted to do the Johnson deal. Gillick had already given his word to Alderson and turned down the Johnson deal. As the clock ticked down, the Jays finally got the Rickey Henderson deal completed. In the short term, all of this paid off for the Blue Jays as they won their second straight championship. Rickey wasnt a huge contributor, but he was always a threat for the other team to worry about at the plate and on the bases. Henderson, though, was in a contract year and left as a free agent in the off-season. Would the Jays have been better off with Randy Johnson? Hard to say. There is no question Johnsons career really took off from that point. Through the 93 season, Johnsons record was 75-69 and he had been an All-Star twice and a runner-up for the Cy Young Award. After that he went 228-97 was an All-Star eight more times and won the Cy Young five times. Yet for all of that, he only won the World Series once, with Arizona in 2001. The Blue Jays in 1997 went out and signed Roger Clemens as a free agent after he opted to leave Boston. Clemens won back-to-back Cy Youngs with the Blue Jays yet they didnt make it to the post-season and attendance didnt get the boost most expected, even on the days Clemens was pitching. You wonder as well if the Jays had already landed Johnson, would they even have bothered to pursue Clemens in 97? If they did, the Jays could have had the same double barreled threat Arizona did when they had Johnson and Curt Schilling and defeated the Yankees in 2001. It makes for a great talking point, but at the end of the day, the Blue Jays still have that second straight World Series crown from 1993. Everything else is supposition. Tiger of the Future? When Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias went down for the season with stress fractures in his legs, Detroit was left with a huge hole to fill at short. Danny Worth, Alex Gonzalez and Andrew Romine were all found wanting. But the Tigers may finally have their answer in rookie Eugenio Suarez, a 23-year-old out of Venezuela. Granted hes only had 24 at-bats, but Suarez is hitting .375 with three homers. This past Saturday against the Twins, he had a homer, a double and a triple. The last Tigers rookie to pull that off was catcher Bill Freehan back on May 7, 1963 versus the Yankees. A couple of Hall of Famers, Frank Robinson and Ted Williams managed to pull off that feat in their rookie seasons as well. If the Tigers still choose to go the veteran route at short, the Phillies Jimmy Rollins could be available after all. After breaking Hall of Famer Mike Schmidts franchise hit record on Saturday, Rollins added another one Sunday bringing his career total to 2,236. He said afterwards he would consider waving his no trade rights if the Phillies brass decided it was time to "blow it up" and rebuild. Swing and a Miss White Sox slugger Adam Dunn is in "hot" pursuit of a rather dubious record. He has moved into fourth place on the all-time strikeouts list with 2,295. He is only 11 back of Sammy Sosa for third and 302 back of strikeout king Reggie Jackson. Interesting that three of the top 10 are in Cooperstown, including Jackson, Willie Stargell and Mike Schmidt. Rough Ride Whether the Jays are fast-tracking Aaron Sanchez for a trip to the Majors or are showcasing him for a trade to get a veteran arm, his first start for Triple-A Buffalo was a little bit rocky Saturday at Toledo. The first-round draft pick from 2010 was knocked out in the 5th inning after giving up four earned runs, six hits and four walks. The Mudhens also stole four bases. Though a tad wild, Sanchez did hit a peak of 97 miles per hour on the radar gun. Wholesale Saints Jerseys .com) - Richard Shermans two interceptions highlighted a dominant defensive effort, as the Seattle Seahawks routed the San Francisco 49ers in a highly anticipated NFC West Thanksgiving clash. Erik McCoy Jersey . Blown save in the ninth inning? No problem. http://www.cheapsaintsjerseyselite.com/?...-johnson-jersey. Alen, 28, hit .315 with five home runs, 59 RBI and a career-high nine stolen bases for the Goldeyes last season. He is the longest serving catcher in Goldeyes history, having already spent five seasons with the organization. Cheap Saints Jerseys China . Johan Franzen had two goals and two assists, Gustav Nyquist a goal and three assists and David Legwand a goal and two assists in the Red Wings 7-4 win over the New Jersey Devils. Cheap Saints Jerseys . “Im not sure well get Melky Cabrera at all,” said Gibbons. The 29-year-old left fielder struggled all season with knee and hamstring problems. Cabrera was first on the disabled list from June 27-July 20 with tendinitis in his left knee.DALLAS -- Dallas Stars centre Cody Eakin skated the length of the ice, got around a sliding defender, closed his eyes and shot just before his stick got ripped out of his hands. The top-seeded Anaheim Ducks can clearly see they are in quite a fight now. Eakin scored on Dallas first shot of the third period, Alex Goligoski scored on the next one 1:22 later and the Stars beat the Ducks 4-2 in Game 4 on Wednesday night to even the best-of-seven series. "Once I came around that D-man ... I saw a guy and there was a lane," Eakin said. "So, I just closed my eyes and shot." Even without captain Ryan Getzlaf, a surprise late scratch with an upper-body injury, and healthy scratch Teemu Selanne, the Ducks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. "Its not often we get outworked," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "But I thought after that, the last 40 was as hard as the boys could go. They emptied the tank." The Stars, who got physical at home after a pair of one-goal losses in Anaheim to start the series, are assured of playing another home game in their first playoff appearance since 2008. "All year weve been good at putting stuff behind us. Things havent been going well, weve been able to put periods behind us," Goligoski said. "We just stuck with the plan, kept going, kept getting in their zone and it paid off." Game 5 is Friday night in Anaheim, and the series returns Sunday to the American Airlines Center for Game 6. Stars captain Jaime Benn scored unassisted, his third goal of the series, off a faceoff 27 seconds into the second period. About 6 minutes later, Vernon Fiddler managed to get the puck in a small gap between the post and rookie goalie Frederick Andersen to tie it at 2. Getzlaf took a puck in the face in the series opener and played the last two games with a half-cage to protect the stitches just below his mouth. It wasnt clear if the upper-body injury was related to that, or was a different issue for the captain, and coach Bruce Boudreau wouldnt elaborate despite being asked about it several times. "It was a previous injury aggravated, but thats all Im going to say," said Boudreau, who downplayed the captains absence being deflating. "In the first period, it made us come out and do whatever we had to do." Bryan Allen scored on a shot from just inside the blue line with 7:43 left in the first period. Anaheim led 2-0 after Matthieuu Perreaults shot that hit Kari Lehtonens glove and fell over the goalies shoulder behind him.dddddddddddd The puck trickled in with help from Patrick Maroon, the left wing who got the goal after talking about retaliation against Dallas after what the Ducks had perceived as over-aggressive play. Just like Game 3, there were plenty of scrums Wednesday night. With 2:10 left, Anaheims Corey Perry and Antoine Roussel got in some big blows before being separated and given 5-minute majors for fighting. It was Roussel who punched Getzlaf in the previous game. There were also five 10-minute misconduct penalties in that closing stretch, and referees had to separate several groups of players when the game ended. "Thats the type of stuff thats their pushback, its our pushback," Ruff said. "I really feel like were in a playoff series now." Eakin hit the post in the opening minute of the third period, but didnt miss the go-ahead goal with 13:38 left. The raucous crowd was still in a frenzy when Fiddler backhanded a pass to Goligoski for a wrist shot that made it 4-2. "I felt a little bit off. It was a shock on the first one, and the second one snuck by me. I was expecting (Fiddler) to pass," Andersen said. " They came out of nowhere in the second. We werent ready for their push." Andersen was then pulled in favour of Jonas Hiller, the veteran goalie who won 29 games during the Ducks best regular season in franchise history before a late slump that left him on the bench until that point. Hiller faced only one shot in his 10 1/2 minutes, and Boudreau said he would discuss the goalie situation his assistants before deciding who starts Game 5. Lehtonen, who was 0-4 in post-season games before stopping 37 shots in Dallas 3-0 win on Monday night, had 21 saves Wednesday night. "Being able to tie this series, its huge," Lehtonen said. "I think were a confident group. ... And even more so now." Notes: The 43-year-old Selanne, who is in his 21st and expected to be his last NHL season, has appeared in a franchise-record 87 post-season games for the Ducks, 15 more than Getzlaf. Selanne also is the teams top post-season scorer with 64 points (33 goals, 31 assists), one more than Getzlaf (23 goals, 40 assists). ... Benn has also had an assist and has scored in each game. It appeared that he added an empty-net goal with 1:04 left, but play had been whistled dead. 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