The Toronto Blue Jays continued their busy offseason, adding

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The Toronto Blue Jays continued their busy offseason, adding Canadian content to boot, by acquiring an everyday outfielder while sending a starting pitcher to Seattle. Cody Eakin Golden Knights Jersey . Numbers Game breaks down the deal bringing Michael Saunders to Toronto. The Blue Jays Get: OF Michael Saunders Saunders, 28, from Victoria, B.C., is an athletic outfielder who has been making strides offensively and was productive, when healthy, in 2014. Shoulder and oblique injuries contributed to Saunders playing 78 games last season, but posted a career-best .273 batting average and .791 OPS while playing home games at Safeco Field, a decidedly pitcher-friendly park. There was some good fortune at play for Saunders, as he had a .327 batting average on balls in play, notably higher than his career mark of .290 without much change in the distribution of types of balls (ground ball, line drive, fly ball) he hit. What worked in Saunders favour is that, for the first time in his career, he had positive results against both fastballs and sliders. He also exhibited better plate discipline and making more contact than hed shown previously in his career. Saunders will provide some lefthanded power, benefitting from a move to a hitter-friendly ball park, and potentially decent speed as the Blue Jays everyday left fielder. Thats a position he hasnt played a whole lot in recent seasons, but hes been an effective right-fielder (below average in centre field) for the Mariners, so left field shouldnt present too much difficulty. Over the past three seasons, Saunders has accumulated 5.3 Wins Above Replacement (per Fan Graphs), which ranks 75th among outfielders in that span, though many have played more than the 349 games which Saunders has played in the past three years. Saunders, who earned $2.3-million in 2014, is arbitration eligible and is projected (by MLB Trade Rumors) to get $2.9-million in arbitration for next season, not an unreasonable price for a starting outfielder. Its also a whole lot less than the Blue Jays would have to pay if they were to retain last years left fielder, Melky Cabrera. With Happ departing, the Blue Jays are looking at a rotation that should include veterans R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle, Marcus Stroman, Drew Hutchison and perhaps Aaron Sanchez. Thats leaning a lot on young arms, so it wouldnt come as a shock if the Jays seek out additional depth, but if Sanchez is inserted into the rotation, the expectation would have to be that his performance would easily surpass Happs 2014 contribution. The Mariners Get: LHP J.A. Happ Happ is a 32-year-old southpaw coming off a decent, but not overpowering, season. Thats who he is. In 30 games last season (26 starts), Happ was 11-11 with a 4.22 ERA and 1.34 WHIP, striking out 133 in 158 innings; fine back-of-the-rotation numbers. He had a 1.3 fWAR, the fourth time in the past five years that his WAR fell between one and two. Happ did allow a career-high 22 home runs last season and that rate should decrease with a move to Seattle. What is notable about Happs performance from last season is that hes added some velocity to his fastball, up to an average speed of 92.7 MPH; two years ago, it was at 90.5 MPH. The added velocity altered Happs approach. He threw more fastballs, fewer sliders, more curves and fewer change-ups. His breaking an off-speed stuff wasnt terrible effective last year, but the fastball was and it allowed Happ to hold down a spot in the rotation. Happ could be a solid No. 5 starter for the Mariners, and stands to benefit from pitching at Safeco Field so his numbers could improve. He will be a free agent at the end of next season, after making $6.7-million in 2015. The Mariners, having recently signed Nelson Cruz, could afford to move Saunders to acquire pitching, but now that they have Happ, the question remains what the Mariners will do with the rest of their staff. Beyond Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma, the Mariners have room for a couple of prospects - say two of James Paxton, Taijuan Walker and Roenis Elias - to fit in the rotation ahead of Happ. Verdict: This is another deal thats easy to like for the Blue Jays. Its not that Saunders is assuredly going to be a star, but he could be an inexpensive regular outfielder who costs less and has more upside than the No. 5 starter that they traded to get him. Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca Adidas Golden Knights Jerseys .Lets go back to the Avs, who have become one of the funnest teams to watch in this years playoffs. Mikhail Grabovski Jersey . TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie tweeted that its believed the Flames are working towards a new contract with the defenceman. http://www.authenticgoldenknightsproshop.com/ .C. -- Theyll remember the OT from the first Syracuse-Duke game -- and the Ts that decided Round 2.TORONTO -- Wins continue to elude Drew Hutchison. Hank Conger homered and drove in a career-high five runs to power the Los Angeles Angels to a 9-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon. Hutchison (1-3) gave up three runs and four walks over just 4 1/3 innings to extend his winless streak to seven starts. "You cant walk four guys," Hutchison said afterwards. Unfortunately, rookie reliever Marcus Stroman also struggled. He was pounded for four runs over 1 2/3 innings after replacing Hutchison as Los Angeles earned its third straight win. Toronto came into this four-game series riding a season-high, five-game win streak. "Thats the way it goes in this business sometimes," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "You think everything is going in the right direction, then all of a sudden, wham, you run into some pretty good pitching and a good offence. "Theyre just out-playing us. But, a well-pitched game can cure all that." Toronto (18-20) will send ace Mark Buehrle (6-1, 1.91 earned-run average) to the mound in the series finale Monday night. The Angels (19-17) will counter with left-hander C.J. Wilson (4-2, 3.21 ERA). On Sunday, Los Angeles feasted on Toronto pitching, with Conger registering three hits before a Rogers Centre gathering of 20,871. But it was a two-out walk to Howie Kendrick in the fourth that was the start of Hutchisons undoing. It was followed by two doubles-- L.A.s first hits of the day -- as the Angels scored twice for a 2-1 advantage and stayed ahead the rest of the way. "I was ahead and I didnt put him away," Hutchison said of Kendricks at-bat. "It was not a good job on my part." The Angels ended Hutchisons afternoon in the fifth. Collin Cowgill, the No. 9 hitter, led off with a walk and went to third on a sharp single by Erick Aybar. That chased Hutchison and Cowgill scored on Mike Trouts double off Stroman. L.A. blew it open in the sixth, sending eight men to the plate and scoring four runs off Stroman for a 7-1 lead. The big blast came from Conger, who belted a 93 mile-per-hour fastball over the right centre-field wall for a three-run shot. Meanwhile, Angels veteran right-hander Jered Weaver (4-2) surrendered a run in the first but nothing more over 6-1/3 innings to win his fourth straaight decision. Colin Miller Golden Knights Jersey. "Jered did a good job mixing his pitches up," said Toronto second baseman Steve Tolleson. "He never really threw the same pitch two times in a row and he would take something off his fast ball, add something to his curve, take something off his changeup. "He was good out there." Toronto threatened in the seventh, loading the bases and chasing Weaver with one out. But right-handed reliever Michael Kohn got Colby Rasmus to pop out behind second before Tolleson struck out looking. Edwin Encarnacion pulled Toronto to within 7-3 with a two-run double in the eighth but L.A. countered with two in the ninth. Toronto slugger Jose Bautista entered Sundays game having reached base safely in all 37 games this season to lead the majors. But that club record was snapped Sunday as Bautista went 0 for 4 with an RBI. Toronto opened the scoring in the first. Jose Reyes led off with a sharp single to left, then stole second on the next pitch. With one out, Reyes got a great jump off Weaver as Bautista cued one off the end of his bat to second. As Kendrick scooped up the ground ball and tossed it to first, Reyes broke from third and slid head-first ahead of first baseman Albert Pujols throw. L.A. took the lead in the fourth, combining a walk and their first two hits of the day, all with two out. Efren Navarro doubled into the left-field corner to score Kendrick, who walked, stole second and advanced to third on catcher Dioner Navarros throwing error. One pitch later, Conger doubled to bring in Navarro with the go-ahead run. After the game when Gibbons said reliever Sergio Santos was headed to the 15-day disabled list with forearm stiffness. The Jays will announce Monday wholl take his spot on the roster. NOTES -- Toronto closer Casey Janssen (left abdominal/lower back strain) returned from the 15-day disabled list prior to Sundays game. To make room on the 25-man roster, infielder Chris Getz was designated for assignment . . . Tolleson, who signed as a free agent this off-season, came into Sundays game batting .429 with all six of his hits with Toronto having gone for extra bases -- four doubles, two triples. That made him the first player since Chris Dickerson with Cincinnati in 08 to do that with his new team. 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