Diskussionsplattfom » front nine. He jumped up the leaderboard with three

This has been unquestionably the worst season in the history of the Colorado Rockies. They are in last place in the National League, have the worst record in the Senior Circuit and are tied with Texas for the worst record in the Majors at 47-74. To make matters worse, they lost their two biggest stars, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez this week on back-to-back days to season-ending injuries. Tulowitzki, who turns 30 in October, needs surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip. The 28-year-old Gonzalez is a former batting champ and Gold Glove outfielder who needs an operation to repair a partial tear of the patella tendon in his left knee. While not directly demanding a trade, a couple of weeks back Tulowitzki strongly hinted at one by saying he was sick and tired of all the losing in the Mile High City. With he and Gonzalez in their line-up this season the Rockies were 28-27. Without them they were just 19-47. Colorado, barring a trade of one or the other or both in the off-season, will be paying them a combined $36.5 million next season or roughly a third of their payroll. But this story isnt really about Tulowitzki and Gonzalez. Its about their teammate, 35-year-old Michael Cuddyer. You may have forgotten, as I did, that he won the National League batting title a year ago with a .331 average. He was off to a decent start this year as well when he injured his left shoulder making a diving play at third base. Right now, hes finishing off a rehab assignment and should be ready to rejoin Colorado shortly. In the midst of a dreadful Rockies season, Cuddyer will still be motivated. Hes in the final season of a three-year, $31.5 million contract. He claims to want to stay in Denver and definitely doesnt want to retire. But he could be the perfect rental player for a team like, say, the Blue Jays. Though primarily an outfielder, he has played third base and first base and could DH. Hes also a right-handed hitter who would help the Jays out against left-handed pitching - something Toronto has struggled against this season. Cuddyer would be relatively cheap as well, since he is owed somewhere around $3 million for the remainder of this season. Its just a thought. But if the Jays arent motivated to check out any big ticket items before the August 31 waiver trade deadline, they might want to check out Cuddyer in the bargain bin. Another man the Blue Jays maybe should be interested in is Cubs reliever Carlos Villanueva. The 30-year-old right-hander actually spent two years with the Jays before moving on to the Cubs as a free agent. Carlos filled a valuable role with the Blue Jays as a spot starter and long reliever, but ultimately he jumped to Chicago for a little more money than the Jays wanted to pay and for the chance to be a starting pitcher - something the Blue Jays werent willing to let him become. In that regard, maybe the Jays were right. Villanueva hasnt been all that effective as a starter with Chicago, but has been doing a great job since they basically cemented him in a relief role. Villanueva, like Cuddyer, would be a relatively cheap rental. Hes only owned around $1.6 million for the rest of the season before he becomes a free agent again. Both of these guys are character players, and in Villanuevas case, he was a respected confidante in the clubhouse in his former role as the Blue Jays players rep. Id wager the Blue Jays could get both of these guys for a couple of lower to mid-range prospects. It sure wouldnt hurt. I guess youre always rolling the dice a bit when you trade prospects for established rental talent. Take the Texas Rangers. They picked up Canadian-born righty Ryan Dempster from the Cubs on July 31, 2012 to pump up their staff a bit for the stretch run. Dempster made 12 starts for the Rangers, but despite a 7-3 record got hit around a bit to the tune of a 5.09 ERA and needless to say Texas didnt win the World Series. Dempster moved on to Boston, and after a so-so 8-9 campaign for the Bosox decided to take this year off to get away from the game, spend some time with the family and determine whether he wanted to play any more. So what did the Cubs get in return? Well they landed a third base prospect named Christian Villanueva and a fringe pitching prospect by the name of Kyle Hendricks - not to be confused with the Phillies Kyle Kendricks. Two years later Hendricks is the talk of Chicago, at least on the north side. The soft-tossing 24-year-old 63" right-hander is 4-1 with a 1.73 ERA. Hes struck out 26 and walked only nine while utilizing a Mark Buehrle-like array of off-speed pitches including a great change-up. Texas could certainly use him now with practically their entire rotation on the disabled list including Yu Darvish, whos expected to miss a couple of starts with a neck issue. Speaking of the Rangers, ex-Jay J.P. Arencibia actually got to pitch an inning in a 10-1 blowout loss to Tampa Bay the other night. He threw all fastballs, averaging just over 72 miles per hour and peaking at just above 74. J.P. did pretty well, giving up just an infield single to the four batters he faced. Air Jordan 3 Clearance . He made that dream a reality Wednesday night. Olt, who grew up in Branford, Connecticut, attended UConn and made a nearly 2 1-2 hour trek to Boston a handful of times to watch the Red Sox, belted a two-run homer, one of four hit by Cubs in a 16-9 rout that completed a three-game interleague series sweep. Air Jordan 3 Cheap Online . Speaking with TSN 1050 following Brendan Shanahans introductory press conference, the Leafs GM also addressed the clubs perceived leadership issues and the type of working relationship that can be expected within Torontos front office. http://www.airjordan3wholesale.com/ . - Tom Brady and the Patriots routed the Bengals and quieted the doubters. Air Jordan 3 Wholesale .com) - Novak Djokovic easily took care of Andy Murray to reach the final at the $2. Cheap Air Jordan 3 Free Shipping . The defending champions’ roller coaster season included trading offensive star Percy Harvin in the midst of the team’s 3-3 start. That move that reportedly irked several Seahawk players, but one management saw necessary to save the team’s chemistry.Scottsdale, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Martin Laird shot 3-under 68 on Saturday and he extended his lead to three strokes after 54 holes of the Phoenix Open. Laird ended three rounds at 13-under-par 200. He will go for his fourth PGA Tour title on Sunday. Hideki Matsuyama fired an 8-under 63, the low round of the week at the TPC Scottsdale, and he soared into a share of second place at minus-10. He was joined there by Brooks Koepka (64) and Zach Johnson (67). Jon Rahm, who is a member of the Arizona State golf team, posted a 5-under 66 and he improved into a tie for fifth at 9-under-par 204. He stands alongside first-round leader Ryan Palmer (68) and Justin Thomas (69). Bubba Watson (69), Angel Cabrera (69) and Francesco Molinari (64) are among nine players tied for eighth place at minus-8. Molinari had a hole-in-one on the raucous par-3 16th. Laird, who led by two when the second round was completed earlier Saturday, stumbled out of the gate as he bogeyed the first. He atoned for that mistake with a 5-foot birdie putt on the third. Laird made it two in a row as he birdied the fourth from seven feet out. After three straight pars, Laird drained a 15-footer for birdie at the ninth to make the turn at 11-under. He poured in a long birdie try from off the green at No. 11. Laird moved to minus-13 with a kick-in birdie at the 13th. He scrambled for par on 14 after finding the rough off the tee. Thats just a brutal hole. If you miss the fairway, its almost an automatic layup. That was a big up and down for par, stated Laird about the 14th. He found water off the tee at the par-5 15th and that led to his third bogey of the round. The Scotsman bounced back with a 4-foot birdie putt at No. 17. Laird closed with a par at the last to end three clear of the field. It was wedge and I didnt hit that bad of a shot, making bogey with a wedge on a par-3 youre never happy, especially on that hole. Theyre going to let you know about it. So that was a big onee because I had just come off a bogey on the par-5 before, Laird said of his par at 16.dddddddddddd Then I managed to get one back with a birdie at 17. I had fun out there even though it was a little erratic at the end. Matsuyama converted back-to-back birdies at two and three before running off four straight pars from the fourth. He drained a 23-footer for birdie at No. 8 and he birdied the ninth en route to making the turn at minus-5. The reigning Memorial winner started his second nine with three more pars. He chipped to two feet at the par-5 13th and knocked that in for birdie. Matsuyama began a hot closing stretch with a 2-putt birdie at the par-5 15th. He followed with birdies at 16 and 17, both from inside six feet. Matsuyama ran in a 17-footer for birdie at the last to gain a share of second place. Koepka had a slow start to his round with eight pars and a birdie on the front nine. He jumped up the leaderboard with three birdies in the first four holes around the turn. Koepka birdied three in a row from the 15th, all from inside 10 feet, to soar to minus-10. Im very pleased with how I played the back nine. I knocked a bunch of rust off and Im trying to get back into the swing of things since this is the first event of the season for me, said Koepka. Johnson opened with a birdie, but followed with four straight pars. He drained a long birdie try at the sixth, but gave that shot back when he failed to save par from the rough at the eighth. Around the turn, Johnson jumped to minus-10 as he ran off three consecutive birdies from the 13th. He closed his round with three pars in a row. NOTES: Laird, whose last PGA Tour victory was at the 2013 Texas Open, owns the 54-hole lead for the fourth time in his PGA Tour career ... He won one of the previous three times he was in that position ... Matsuyama had one of the 10 bogey-free rounds ... Saturdays attendance was down from last year, but there were still 159,906 at the course during round three. ' ' '