The month of May seems like so long ago for the Blue Jays. Since building a healthy lead in the East with an incredible 21-9 record in the second month of the season, the Jays have fallen off dramatically. Since June 1, they are only 14-19 and have actually only won eight of their last 27 games. They are still only two games back of first place Baltimore in the East but if the slide doesnt stop now, its going to be all over by the end of this month. A boost to the starting rotation would have been a good thing when the Jays were in first place and tearing up the league at the plate. But with Brett Lawrie gone for the rest of July with his broken finger, and now Edwin Encarnacion on the 15-day DL with a Grade 2 quad muscle strain, the Jays need to add a bat - preferably someone who can play second base or third or both. It almost has to be a right-hand bat considering the Jays are the worst hitting team in the American League against lefties. Since the Jays are in buying mode theyll probably have to target the teams that have no reasonable hope of getting even a Wild Card berth. In the American League, I count six teams that are realistically out of it, although Im still hesitant to count out Tampa Bay because the East is so weak. So for arguments sake, the six are Tampa Bay in the East, the White Sox and Minnesota in the Central and Texas and Houston in the West. Since Boston and Tampa Bay likely wont trade within their own division, that leaves four teams the Jays can talk with. Since Houston wont give up Jose Altuve and the Twins likely wont surrender Brian Dozier who fit the bill as right-handed hitters and solid second baseman, youre down to Texas and the White Sox. Since the Rangers are so injury ravaged, I cant see them making any significant deals until the off-season. That leaves Chicago. The White Sox have a right-hand hitting second baseman in Gordon Beckham, whom the Blue Jays were rumoured to be interested in in the off-season. Beckham is hitting .248 this season with seven homers and 24 runs batted in. Hes 24 years old. Cleveland is hanging around the .500 mark and isnt technically out, but in a week or two could decide to move some people. Theyve got 33-year-old utilityman Mike Aviles - yes, the same guy the Blue Jays got as compensation from Boston for manager John Farrell. Hes a .272 career hitter who can play second or third and maybe even shortstop in an emergency. In the National League, the six teams on the outside looking in include the Mets and the Phillies in the East, the Cubs in the Central and San Diego, Colorado and Arizona in the West. The Phils have a good one in Chase Utley, but he reportedly wont waive his no-trade clause to go to a team with artificial turf such as the Blue Jays. The Mets Daniel Murphy is rumoured to be available, but he is New Yorks only All-Star rep and hits left handed. Still, hes hitting .294 with seven homers and 35 runs batted in go with 11 stolen bases. The Cubs Darwin Barney at 28 is having his second straight down year at the plate, hitting .219 though he does hit right. The Jays may have an interest in a man they originally drafted in second baseman Aaron Hill. Aaron is two years removed from his last great season with the D-Backs and is hitting only .241 this season with six homers and 42 runs batted in. The right-handed hitter is also 32 years old and is owed just shy of $30 million through 2016. J.P Morosi of Fox Sports has heard that the Jays are talking with San Diego about third baseman Chase Headley. The 30-year-old switch hitter, who has had back trouble on and off over the past couple of years, is only hitting .217 with six homers and 25 runs batted in. On top of that, any team acquiring him would have to make a qualifying offer of about $15 million to retain a draft pick at the end of the first round should Headley decide to walk. Then again if he decides to stay, a team is on the hook for $15 million for a player who may or may not be worth anything close to that. The Padres also have a 25-year-old right hand hitting second baseman in Jedd Gyorko, who cracked 23 homers last year in his first season. But this time around hes only batting .162 with five homers and 24 runs batted in. Of that entire bunch, I would probably opt for the Mets Murphy with Aaron Hill a close second. Unusual Repair Talk about the miracles of modern surgery. On Monday Arizona GM Kevin Towers is having surgery to repair a damaged vocal cord. Hes having it replaced with the vocal cord from a cadaver. Towers figures he will be able to talk again in three or four days and should be back at work in a week. Boston Turnaround They still have over 70 games to go, but the Boston Red Sox are close to doing something very unusual: going from last place, to first and a World Series victory, and back to last place. The Bosox dropped back into the basement behind Tampa Bay at 39-49. In 2012 under Bobby Valentine, they finished 69-93. Then a year ago John Farrell led them to a 97-65 mark and a World Series victory over St. Louis and now they are cellar dwellers again. Shoes Black Friday Deals 2020 . -- The Windsor Spitfires were left with just one goaltender Tuesday after having their starter walk out on them midway through Game 3 of their Ontario Hockey League playoff matchup with the London Knights. Fake Shoes Black Friday .C. -- The Carolina Panthers announced Thursday theyve signed free agent wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery to a two-year contract, helping rebuild a depleted wide receiving corps. https://www.cheapshoesblackfriday.com/. 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According to a release sent by the league, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were the only team to exceed the cap. Their total salary expenditure of $4,417,975 was $17,975 over the salary cap of $4.Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - The top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats will take on the UCLA Bruins at the United Center as part of the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday afternoon. Steve Alfords Bruins are a solid 8-3 on the season and will be playing their second straight top-10 foe after dropping an 87-74 decision to then ninth- ranked Gonzaga a week ago. The loss brought an end to a four-game win streak for UCLA and was the teams first home loss this season in eight bouts. John Caliparis Wildcats have yet to experience the agony of defeat. Kentucky has already played its share of top notch competition and has several marquee victories on the docket, with wins over Kansas (72-40), Texas (63-51) and most recently, last weekends win over North Carolina (84-70). The win over the Tar Heels pushed UKs flawless record to 11-0. These two historic programs have met just 10 times in history, with Kentucky holding a 6-4 series advantage. The Bruins are usually the ones dishing out offensive superiority, but against Gonzaga, UCLA simply couldnt keep up. The Bulldogs managed to shoot a scorching .585 from the floor overall, including a 9-of-19 effort from 3-point range. The loss spoiled a strong outing by Bryce Alford, who hit five 3- pointers and finished with a team-best 23 points. Isaac Hamilton added 18 points, Kevon Looney tacked on 14 points, while Norman Powell chipped in with 12. The Bruins are a strong offensive squad, coming into this game averaging a steady 80.8 ppg on .459 shooting from the floor. The team is averaging just under seven 3-pointers per game (6.9) and holds a +6.9 rebounding margin. All five starters are averaging double diigits in scoring, making the team deep and versatile.dddddddddddd Alford leads the charge at 18.0 ppg, while also finding time to serve as the primary distributor, doling out 6.7 apg. Powell (17.4 ppg) can fill up the basket as well. Looney (13.9 ppg, 10.9 rpg) is one of the most productive freshmen in the country. Hamilton (11.6 ppg) and Tony Parker (10.8 ppg) get involved as well. The Wildcats have pretty much rendered any and all offensive-minded teams ineffective. Kentucky comes in leading the nation in scoring defense (48.0 ppg) as well as blocked shots (91). The team also boasts of inflated rebounding (+10.6) and turnover (+5.9) margins. Offensively, UK isnt shabby either, netting 76.2 ppg to give the team the nations second-largest scoring margin (+28.2). Willie Cauley-Stein leads the way in the frontcourt with team- highs of 10.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Aaron Harrison is the only other Wildcat currently averaging double digits in scoring at 10.2 ppg. However, Dakari Johnson (9.2 ppg), Devin Booker (9.1 ppg) and Karl-Anthony Towns (8.5 ppg) arent far off the mark. Kentucky jumped all over North Carolina early on and took an insurmountable lead into halftime (49-34), before earning a 15-point win last week. The Wildcats shot a sizzling .563 from the floor overall and outscored UNC 23-10 at the free-throw line, while forcing the Tar Heels into 18 turnovers that turned into 24 points for the home team. Four Wildcats notched double figures in the win, led by Cauley-Stein and Booker, who netted 15 points each. Aaron Harrison finished with 14 points and Andrew Harrison tacked on another 11 for the Wildcats. ' ' '