If you look at the list of the Blue Jays potential free agents for this off season, including the likes of Colby Rasmus and Casey Janssen, the one they can least afford to lose is left fielder Melky Cabrera. Chris Maragos Jersey . Even with missing 23 games to injury, the 29-year-old left fielder bounced back in a huge way from his injury plagued debut season with the Jays where he looked like an old man before his time. He ultimately underwent surgery to have a tumour removed from his spine and looked like a new man in 2014. He hit .301 in the key number two slot in John Gibbons line-up with 16 home runs and 73 runs batted in and played great defence. Melkys numbers almost equaled those of his break-out year in 2011 with the Royals where he batted .305 with 18 dingers and 87 RBIs. He was even better in 2012 with the Giants qualifying for the National League batting title, but then waving his rights to it after testing positive for PEDs and then getting suspended. But this past season with the Blue Jays healthy and we assume clean he was a valuable contributor to an (83-79) Blue Jays outfit. Melky reportedly loves Toronto, is a great friend of Jose Bautistas and wants to return to the Blue Jays. But money and length of contract will ultimately talk, especially in a free agent market that is short of quality outfielders. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported on Thursday the Jays had begun contract talks with Cabrera and would be willing to offer him a three-year deal. At the very least, they would make him a one-year qualifying offer of about $15.3 million. If, and thats a big if, Melky would take a three-year pact, it would probably take $48-51 million dollars to get a deal done. If he wants five years and somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 million, the Jays could conceivably back off and take the draft pick compensation. Right now the Blue Jays highest two paid position players are Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. Jose who just turned 34 and has showed no signs of slowing down will make $14 million next season, and then the club has an option for 2016 worth another 14 million. Edwin soon to be 32 is due to make 10 million next season with the club holding a 10 million dollar option with a 2 million dollar buyout for 2016. It’s hard to see the Jays committing to all three long term at this point and they likely dont want to pay Melky more money than the other two get unless they are convinced they can be World Series contenders within the next two seasons. The bottom line is, I believe Melky will move on, unless he returns at the Blue Jays price and term (three years). That however brings us to what in my mind if the Jays biggest need. They have to do what they should have done last winter and that is to acquire a veteran middle infielder with some versatility. The one I have in mind is Asdrubal Cabrera. The longtime Cleveland shortstop was dealt to Washington at the deadline and made the shift to 2B with the Nationals since they already had Ian Desmond. Asdrubal, isnt quite the defensive shortstop he used to be, and his overall offensive numbers have dipped the past couple of years. But he is a switch hitter, and is more than willing to play second as he showed in Washington. He also smacked 14 homers last season and knocked in 64, while scoring another 74. The Blue Jays second basemen, on the other hand, only hit seven homers with 48 runs batted in while scoring 52 runs. Other than when Ryan Goins was at second, or Brett Lawrie in that brief stint, when he was healthy, the Jays defence at second was inconsistent to sub-par at best. Asdrubal Cabrera is only 28 and would be a solid upgrade at second and could even slide over to short if Jose Reyes continues to slide with his glovework. Signing a player with the versatility of Cabrera would also allow the Jays to keep Brett Lawrie at his best position third base. Ryan Goins may one day learn to hit, and John Berti whos been playing in the Arizona Fall League may be an option down the road, but right now, the Jays need a veteran like Asdrubal Cabrera. He has been quoted as saying he wants to stay in Washington and all he cares about now is winning a World Series. That could knock the Blue Jays out of the picture, but it’s going to be an awfully disappointing off-season, if the Blue Jays dont land at least one Cabrera. *** It’s been quite the week for hitting coaches. The Mets hired Kevin Long who had just been let go by the Yankees. Boston landed Chili Davis, who had been with the Oakland As and San Diego after hitting a paltry .226 this season parted company with their batting coach Phil Plantier. The Padres have actually gone through six batting coaches since moving to Petco Field. I wonder at what point you start looking at the talent and not the men coaching them. *** The Jays Mark Buehrle is one of the pitching finalists for a Gold Glove Award this season for fielding excellence. I was a little bit surprised to see looking back, the Jays have had only one pitcher win a Gold Glove over their 38 year history and that was R,A Dickey a year ago. *** Ive always pictured second base as ranging from about 510 to about 61. They broke the mold with Colorados D.J. LeMahieu. Hes 6-4 an inch taller than his shortstop partner Troy Tulowitzki. LeMahieu helped turn 99 double plays this season, the most in the National League. *** From a purely personal standpoint, Im really torn on this World Series, Im pulling for Jason Frasor. The Blue Jays all-time appearance leader, whos now pitching out of the Royals pen and was just a great guy to deal with. But on the other side, youve got Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti one of my all-time favourites from his Yankee days and his brief stint with the Jays late in his career. If push came to shove, I guess it would be Jason Frasor and the Royals, just because it’s been so long, and they are such a great underdog story. Malcolm Jenkins Jersey .com) - The Carolina Hurricanes placed defenseman John-Michael Liles on injured reserve Tuesday. Custom Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys ." The tournament was set to be held Sept. 15-21 and would have been the first ATP tournament held in Israel since 1996. But amid Israels military campaign against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, ATP President Chris Kermode said "we do not feel we can proceed as planned given the situation in the region. http://www.theeaglesfootballauthentic.com/eagles-jake-elliott-black-jersey/ . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive.PHOENIX - In a three-team trade on Friday, the Arizona Diamondbacks sent slick-fielding, light-hitting Didi Gregorius to the New York Yankees, where he becomes a favourite to replace Derek Jeter at shortstop.Gregorius first major league home run came in Yankee Stadium in his first at-bat as a Diamondback in 2013.The Tigers acquired right-handed pitcher Shane Greene from the Yankees and sent left-handed pitcher Robbie Ray and teenage infielder Domingo Leyba to Arizona.The Diamondbacks had a crowd at shortstop and chose to stick with youngsters Chris Owings and Nick Ahmed.The 24-year-old Gregorius hit .241 with 25 doubles, eight triples, 13 homers and 55 RBIs in 183 games over parts of two seasons with Arizona. He hit .226 in 80 games in two stints with the Diamondbacks last season.We think there is more in the tank there as he continues to develop, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. So I think hes exciting but obviously, hes not a finished product.Greene, 26, was 5-4 with a 3.71 ERA in 15 games, 14 of them starts, over four stints with the Yankees last season. He struck out 81 in what was his first season in the majors.Ray, 23, was 1-4 with an 8.61 ERA in nine appearances for the Tigers last season. He was 7-7 with a 4.22 ERA in 20 games, 19 starts, for Triple-A Toledo.Last year, in his first season as a professional, Leyba hit .323 with 18 doubles, a triple, two homers and 24 RBIs in 67 games with short-season Class A Connecticut and Class A West Michigan.Gregorius came to the Diamondbacks from Cincinnati as part of a three-team trade in 2012. In spring training last year, he was beat out for the Arizona starting shortstop job by the rookie OOwings. Lane Johnson Jersey. Gregorius started last season at Triple-A Reno but had two stints with the Diamondbacks, becoming the full-time starter when Owings went down with a shoulder injury.With Owings healthy, Ahmed rising through the minors and veteran Cliff Pennington still on the roster, somebody had to go.Cashman said the Yankees had targeted Gregorius for some time.We believe he hits right-handed pitching, he said. ... As we open up this 2015 season, at the very least we expect him to be utilized in probably a platoon with Brendan Ryan until he separates himself.Greene joins a Detroit rotation that includes Justin Verlander, David Price, Anibal Sanchez and Rick Porcello. Star right-hander Max Scherzer is a free agent, and although general manager Dave Dombrowski didnt totally rule out a return, he said Friday the Tigers are content with their five starters now.Were not waiting for any type of scenarios, Dombrowski said. Really, right now starting pitchings not our priority.This deal comes five years after the Tigers, Yankees and Diamondbacks pulled off another three-team trade that helped each team to a degree. Detroit got Scherzer from Arizona in that trade, while Curtis Granderson went from the Tigers to New York and Ian Kennedy was sent from the Yankees to the Diamondbacks.Ray went from Washington to Detroit last off-season in a deal that sent Doug Fister to the Nationals.We like Robbie a great deal. We made a big deal for him, Dombrowski said. Shane Greenes a little further along as far as being ready at the major league level.___AP Baseball Writer Ron Blum and AP Sports Writer Noah Trister in Detroit contributed to this report. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '