rity.” Anderson – who was extremely relaxed during his media availa

MINNEAPOLIS – It doesnt matter how but it does matter when. The Blue Jays two All-Star representatives are counting on seeing a different looking club by the time the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline rolls around. They wont deny it, if general manager Alex Anthopoulos swings a deal, it would be welcome. “Huge impact,” said Bautista. “Any team that does a trade at the deadline in order to improve their club is going to benefit from it. Obviously thats why you do it. Well see. We have capable guys, though, that we dont necessarily need to go out there but it would be a tremendous help for us to go get somebody. More importantly we need our guys that are hurt to come back into the line-up so we can have our real team come on the field altogether.” Mark Buehrle echoed Bautistas last sentiment, while opining the four-day break would do the Blue Jays some good. “Lets hope,” said Buehrle. “Everybody goes home and clear their minds and gets away from baseball for a few days and comes back refreshed like its the beginning of the year. The injuries, to me, are the biggest key right now.” Anthopoulos faces a delicate balancing act as he tries to upgrade his club for today while retaining its best pieces of tomorrow. Hes dealing with budget parameters, the numbers of which arent clear but Anthopoulos often talks of being “creative” with any deal. Translation: dollar in-dollar out is the likely requirement of a completed trade. The Jays would like to move reliever Sergio Santos and the remainder of his $3.75-million salary. Theyd explore takers for Colby Rasmus and whats left of his $7-million contract. Neither player would be tied to an acquiring team next season. Santos has the first of three successive club options ($6-million in 2015) while Rasmus enters his final year of arbitration eligibility. While trading Rasmus would leave the Jays weaker in centrefield, at least offensively, his deletion would free up significant cash to acquire an asset. The Blue Jays need help in the infield, in the bullpen and like most other clubs not playing in Oakland and perhaps Southern California, could use another starting pitcher. The players realize the division is available. Bautista said the Jays chance of winning the American League East is the best since he arrived in Toronto. “Not necessarily record-wise but momentum, division, competition,” said Bautista. “Ive been here and our team has been hovering around .500 but it seems like, in the past, the division leader has [run] away with it and this time its not the case. Were certainly within striking distance and weve got to take this break and hopefully come back with a different mindset like we were in the first two months.” Injuries to Brett Lawrie (finger), Edwin Encarnacion (quadriceps) and Adam Lind (foot) have exacerbated an offensive downturn which began while all three were still in the lineup. Its reasonable to believe that if manager John Gibbons was able to field his starting line-up, the offence would have reawakened by now. The Blue Jays continue to play in the top 10 in most major offensive categories despite the struggles of the last five weeks. If theres a point of concern, aside from recent performance, its the abundant reliance on the home run. The issue is the lack of depth to cover for the injuries. Mississauga native Dalton Pompey, who isnt major league-ready, is the clubs only hot non-pitching prospect playing as high as Double-A. “You would like to have some depth in your minor league system and some capable guys to come in and replace if somebody gets hurt,” said Bautista. “Theres an opportunity for a lot of guys to step up right now and make a name for themselves and contribute and help out with wins. Right now were going to the farm system but there are different methods of acquiring talent and if its working out a trade or whatever it is … bottom line is there [are] opportunities out there on our team right now and how we get the players doesnt really matter as long as the guys that come in step up.” Bautista slams turf Jose Bautista made waves on the recent road trip when he spoke out strongly against Major League Baseballs flawed replay system. While that topic wasnt broached during Mondays media availability, Bautista touched on a topic closer to home: the turf at the Rogers Centre and the effect it has on players bodies. Only two teams, Toronto and Tampa Bay, still utilize turf. “It seems like us and the Rays, we all have to deal with more injuries than normal and playing banged up a little bit because of the turf,” said Bautista. “Its the only two stadiums left with turf. Even in football and other sports, you can see and you can tell teams that play on turf get hurt more often than teams that play on natural grass.” Players often murmur about the turf, especially toward the end of lengthy homestands when they feel the aches and pains associated with a consecutive stretch of games on the fake surface. Bautista is realistic about the natural grass solution, or lack thereof, and called on the organization to otherwise adapt. “I dont know if theres a way to address it in Rogers Centre so we just have to deal with it and figure out a way to get deeper with our farm system and have guys that can step in and contribute right away if somebody gets hurt,” said Bautista. “Weve got to get creative and weve got to figure it out. Just like we have to figure out how to win weve got to figure out how to stay on the field or have capable guys to come in and replace because some of these injuries, theyre not even caused by any lack of preparation or people not working, its just that you get beat up more when you play on turf.” Buehrle isnt fussed about Tuesday At 35 years-old and in his fifth All-Star Game, his first since 2009, Mark Buehrle knows his chances of returning to the Midsummer Classic are dwindling. Still, hes not concerned about pitching on Tuesday night if American League manager John Farrell decides to go in a different direction. “If I dont throw its not going to be the end of the world,” said Buehrle. “Theres some young guys. Ive been here and Ive thrown in these games before and if there [are] some younger guys that they want to get in there, hometown guys playing in Minnesota that they want to throw and they come over and say, hey, were not going to throw you, Im not going to argue, its not going to be the end of the world. Im just here to enjoy it and have fun.” With 10 victories at the All-Star Break, Buehrles assured himself of a 14th-straight double digit win total. Hes four wins shy of 200 for his career. Buehrles midseason ERA of 2.64 is a run and a half better than his final number from last season (4.15). In his 15th year, Buehrles never finished with an ERA below 3.00. His best, 3.12, came in 2005, the year his White Sox won the World Series. A family affair Mark Buehrles wife, Jamie, and his son and daughter are in Minneapolis to share in his All-Star experience. One of his brothers, along with his wife and children are also here. Buehrles son, Braden, is now seven years old. His daughter, Brooklyn, is five. This is the first time hes been an All-Star when his kids have an opportunity to remember the event. The treatments been first class. “We took a private jet up here,” said Buehrle. “Im like, these kids are so spoiled right now. Like, they dont realize how spoiled they are so hopefully they can soak it in and have fun with it.” Buehrles mother, Pat, and father, John, arent taking part. John underwent knee replacement surgery earlier this month and is struggling to get back on his feet. John insisted on attending but Mark put his foot down. “Im not going to make mom or have mom be pushing you around,” said Buehrle. “Youre going to get bumped. Youre going to be sweating so, a chance of getting infected, there were too much health risks to get him here.” Hurry-up Offence The Blue Jays played back to back nine-inning games, on Wednesday in Anaheim and on Friday in Tampa Bay, which combined took almost eight hours to play. “Its annoying how long some of these games are,” said Buehrle. Buehrle is one of baseballs fastest-working pitchers. He notices the length of games, their lack of pace and admitted its becoming increasingly talked about amongst players. “I think they did that speed up rule a couple of years ago and it seems like since theyve done that the games have gotten actually longer,” said Buehrle. “I dont know exactly how you can enforce it or make it more strict but they need to do something.” Buehrle on Jeter Buehrle tipped his cap to outgoing Yankees captain Derek Jeter. “Hes owned me over his career so Im not too sad to see him go and obviously get out of the game,” said Buehrle. “Obviously what hes done for baseball and over his career, I mean hes the top guy in Major League Baseball on and off the field so its going to be sad to see him go.” Buehrles right. Jeters hit him well, lifetime .341/.356/.545 in 46 plate appearances with two home runs and three doubles. Wholesale Nike MLB Jerseys . 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Crawford hit his slam off Pirates starter Edinson Volquez to give San Francisco a four run lead in the fourth and they never looked back. Brandon Belt had three runs batted in as well. Bumgarner pitched all nine innings and allowed just four hits.Craig Anderson has done his best to block out the trade talk that has been swirling around him for the past couple of weeks. But the 33-year-old netminder is well aware that his name would be at the top of the list should the Senators decide to go into a seller’s mode in the coming weeks. And because he doesn’t own a no-trade clause in his contract, he is also mindful of the fact that the organization holds all of the cards when it comes to his future in Ottawa. “The ball is in their court and all I can do is go out and play hockey. If something fits their needs where I don’t belong in their plans then so be it,” Anderson told a group of reporters on Thursday morning. “But I don’t even want to talk about it like that because there’s been no speculation about that at all.” What may have started as a quiet whisper amongst Sens fans to trade their No. 1 goaltender a few weeks ago has turned into a rather loud conversation on talk radio and social media in the past few days with the Senators gradually slipping out of the playoff picture. The club is now sitting 10 points behind the Boston Bruins for the final wild card berth in the Eastern Conference, making it virtually impossible for them to make a post-season run. If the best course of action is for the club to bottom out this season, then trading Anderson would make perfect sense, given the fact that he’s posted a .928 save percentage and a 2.35 GAA on a club that has struggled defensively all season. The belief is that a number of teams may view Anderson as a viable No. 1 option and could be willing to part with assets to complete a trade with Ottawa before the March deadline. “I try to stay away from that and let you guys handle most of the speculation. For us, our job is to come in here and play hockey and do the best we can. At the end of the day, just let the chips fall where they may. That’s all you can really worry about,” added Anderson. Ironically, Anderson signed a three-year, $12.6 million contract extension in the summer that was supposed to curb any discussion about his future in the short term. But given the Senators’ struggles this season – and thhe fact they have a potential No.dddddddddddd 1 netminder Robin Lehner waiting in the wings – suddenly Anderson seems like he could be trade bait. The goalie chuckled at the suggestion of what type of circus it would be if he didn’t sign that extension and instead would have been playing out his final year before becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer. “Signing that extension just gave me some security to come in here and focus on my game play and not have any outside distractions. I’d hate to think what it could be if I didn’t have a contract,” he said. “The mind starts going and starts telling you stuff that isn’t true when things don’t go the way you want and you don’t have that security.” Anderson – who was extremely relaxed during his media availability on Thursday - re-iterated that his top desire is to stay in Ottawa, where he credits the Senators organization for resuscitating his career after a tumultuous season in Colorado in 2010-11. He maintained that he signed the extension in Ottawa this past summer because he believed this group was headed in the right direction. And while the playoffs are likely out of the question this season, the veteran netminder could see a return to post-season action next year. “I think a lot of it had to do with where this team can go and what the future holds for us. Obviously the first 40-some games haven’t gone the way we’ve planned, but you’ve got to keep the faith and keep striving forward. As long as we keep growing as a group, you just never know. Look around the league and in the past when teams have struggled, they have been able to get out of it the next year or the year after that and they are a consistent playoff team.” Anderson has been traded twice in his career and says that has taught him a valuable lesson. “There are two things guaranteed in hockey: trades and injuries. We’ve had our fair share of injuries. And when you don’t win, lots of changes happen. And when you do win, some changes happen. It’s what we’re kind of used to. The more you win, the more guys get to stay together and the more you get to stay with your teammates.” ' ' '