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. 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 Alec Mills Cubs Jersey . Not sure yet. #livetweetingthegreatuntangle — Strombone (@strombone1) April 17, 2014 Stage three, coping: I feel like I could use a cigarette or something. Billy Williams Cubs Jersey .com) - P.K. Subbans power-play goal 4:08 into overtime sent the Montreal Canadiens into the All-Star break with a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. https://www.cheapcubs.com/2160t-robel-garcia-jersey-cubs.html . The 36-year-old Colts receiver is going back to the playoffs as a division champion. Chicago Cubs Shirts . The match, billed as a "next-gen" encounter between two of the sports rising stars, lasted two and a half hours. The loss kept Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., from reaching a third fourth-round spot in Melbourne over the past four years. Ryne Sandberg Jersey . With newly minted president of hockey operations Trevor Linden looking on from above one day after being handed the keys to the franchise, it was more of the same on Thursday night.PHILADELPHIA – Back troubles limited Randy Carlyle in recent weeks, but the Maple Leafs head coach was back on his feet and busy at draft weekend in Philadelphia. Carlyle, alongside team president Brendan Shanahan and general manager Dave Nonis, continued to hunt for the remainders of a coaching staff, following the dismissal of his three assistant coaches – including long-time no. 2 Dave Farrish – in early May. The Leafs plan on hiring two new assistant coaches to support Carlyle, who received a two-year contract extension after Farrish, Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon were fired. Touching down in the state of Pennsylvania with team personnel on Wednesday, Carlyle has been speaking with prospective candidates all week and throughout the early stages of summer. "We have a criteria," he said of the interview process, minutes before Fridays draft was to begin. "We sat down and we created a few boxes that we felt we needed to fill. "And its typical where youre in an interview process you look for peoples strengths and the experience is always a factor – where theyve worked before or who theyve worked with; have they ever been a head coach before; what programs have they run; what were their jobs with their previous employer; did they run power-play or penalty killing units. Those are the kind of things that typically go into an interview process." Though he managed to hold onto his job, significant alterations to his coaching staff were deemed necessary after a season that rapidly deteriorated into another playoff-less season. Absent answers to the wreckage amid the unraveling, Carlyle has finally digested what took place and is looking to turn the page. But he remains of the view that "compete" was the downfall of a club that tumbled out of a certain playoff position in the final weeks. "We didnt comppete enough in the situations that we were presented with and consistently enough," said Carlyle, noticeably relaxed after a stressful season.dddddddddddd. Change is coming, he understands, and not just to the coaching staff. With a glut of unrestricted free agents – many of whom wont return – and multiple pieces to adjust and rearrange, the Leafs will resemble a different team in the fall. Just how different remains unclear, but it appears that youth should be part of the agenda with Morgan Rielly, Peter Holland, Carter Ashton, Jerry DAmigo, Petter Granberg, Josh Leivo among others in line to either garner more opportunity or earn NHL jobs. "Theyre going to be given more of an opportunity," Carlyle said. "Thats our plan. Our teams not going to be the same coming back. Its as simple as that. With the amount of unrestricted free agents that we have and the make-up of our group we know that some of those players wont be back with our hockey club." A favourite of Carlyle, in spite of his brief Toronto experience, Dave Bolland could be among them. The Leafs have engaged in a back and forth with the Bolland camp – fronted by agent Anton Thun – but have yet to find agreeable terms ahead of July 1st."Its not that were not speaking to each other," Nonis said Thursday, "its at this point we havent been able to find common ground for a deal." Bolland is one among many potential changes for the Leafs, who are also likely to shuffle their bottom-six forward group (with a glut of unrestricted free agents), defence, and backup goaltending position. Adjustment to the core group, following the second regular season collapse in three years, is also a distinct possibility. All of which means a busy offseason ahead for Carlyle and the Toronto management team. ' ' '