Pranger » though they have made 23 deals with

Hands up if you remember the last trade made by the Blue Jays. I admit, I actually had to look it up. It was back on December 14th when the Jays sent reliever Brad Lincoln to the Phillies for 33-year-old catcher Eric Kratz and 24-year-old lefty reliever Rob Rasmussen. It has been a quiet winter hasnt it? Of course we were spoiled in the off-season a year ago, when Alex Anthopoulos pulled off that monster 12 player deal with the Miami Marlins and then followed up with that seven player swap with the Mets that landed R.A Dickey. Off-seasons like that come along every 10 years or so, if that. Over the weekend I was curious to see, which team had been the Blue Jays most common trade partner. I can tell you it wasnt the Yankees, though they have made 23 deals with the Pinstripes. It wasnt Cleveland either, though the Jays have made 23 swaps with the Tribe. No, the team the Blue Jays have made the most deals with over their 37-year history according the BaseballReference.com is the Oakland As; thirty to be exact. Going over them one-by-one, I could see only one that the Jays outright lost. That one went down on Dec. 8, 1984. The Blue Jays dealt left fielder Dave Collins and shortstop Alfredo Griffin to Oakland for Bill Caudill -- the guy who was supposed to be the closer who would push them over the top. Of course that didnt happen, and by June of 1985 Tom Henke became the ninth inning guy and the Jays did in fact go on to win their 1st division title. Eventually Griffin found his way back to Toronto and as a utility infielder became part of the World Series teams in ‘92 and ‘93. The Jays very first trade with the As came on February 24th of 1977, when their original roster was still being formulated. The Jays dealt infielder Mike Weathers to the As for veteran outfielder/first baseman Ron Fairly, who had played with the Expos in their early years as well. Fairly provided a sense of veteran leadership and class in the Jays clubhouse that 1st year. On July 31, 1993 at the non-waiver trade deadline, Pat Gillick was trying to put together a deal for lefty Randy Johnson to help make a run at a second straight World Series title. When he couldnt get the arm he wanted, Gillick turned around and dealt lefty Steve Karsay and a player to be named later (outfielder Jose Herrrara) to the As for all-time stolen base king Rickey Henderson. Though he turned out to be a rental, Rickey helped ensure a World Series win over the Phillies come October. J.P. Ricciardi pulled off a deal with the As on December 7, 2001 that helped both teams. He sent closer Billy Koch to the West coast for third baseman Eric Hinske and right hander Justin Miller. Hinske became American League rookie of the year in 2002. The Jays made two more deals with Oakland that they clearly won. On November 18, 2003 they picked up lefty Ted Lilly for outfielder Bobby Kielty, and then on November 18,? 2007 -- exactly years later -- they acquired SS/2B Marco Scutaro from the As for a couple of prospects who never made it in Kristian Bell and Graham Godfrey. The Jays mistake was not keeping Scutaro around longer as he went on to help the Giants win a couple of World Series titles. If you were wondering, the team the Blue Jays have made the fewest deals with is Tampa Bay. Since the Devil Rays/Rays came into the American League, the two teams have only gotten together on three deals and none of them were really memorable. The last was over nine years ago on December 12, 2004 when the Jays sent catcher Kevin Cash to the Rays for right-hander Chad Gaudin. On December 14, 2003, the Jays pulled off a three-way swap with the Rays and Colorado; the Blue Jays getting reliever Justin Speier from the Rockies and sending lefty Mark Hendrickson and Sandy Nin to Tampa Bay, while Colorado received lefty starter Joe Kennedy from the Rays. The only other deal between the Jays and Rays was supposed to improve the Jays pitching depth for a playoff push in 2000. The Jays sent 2B Brent Abernathy to the Rays for lefty reliever Mark Guthrie and right-hander Steve Trachsel. The deal didnt really work out for the Jays as Guthrie went (0-2) with a 4.79 ERA and in 11 starts, the slow-working Trachsel went (2-5) with a 5.29 ERA. Both were gone at the end of the season after the Jays missed the playoffs under Jim Fregosi. To Trachsels credit, he did revive his career over the next six years with the Mets winning 66 games, including 16 in 2003 and 15 in 2006. The Tampa Bay Rays since 2008 have made four playoff appearances and have been to one World Series (2008). On their roster today, they have only four players who were with that team in 2008: Reliever Grant Balfour, who was just re-acquired as a free agent, lefty David Price , star third baseman Evan Longoria and super utilityman Ben Zobrist. The Blue Jays over that same span have only three players who were with them in 2008: Dustin McGowan, who hardly pitched at all do to injuries, Jose Bautista whos been injury plagued the last two seasons, and Adam Lind, coming off a solid season who nevertheless, over the years has been plagued by inconsistency. Technically Casey Janssen has been with the team that long as well, but he missed the entire 2008 season with a torn labrum. A teams core players tell you a lot about the team. Its not hard to see why the Rays have been contenders the last six seasons and the Blue Jays have not. 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Air Max 95 Uk Release . - Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson sat on the scorers table at Oracle Arena on Wednesday morning.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- With a fierce forecheck and an efficient power play, the Columbus Blue Jackets made up for a blowout in Edmonton last week. Ryan Johansen had a goal and an assist for his third multipoint game this season to lead the Blue Jackets past the Oilers 4-2 on Friday night. "We had more motivation and obviously didnt like the way things went down in Edmonton," said Nick Foligno, who also scored to help Columbus win for only the second time in its last eight home games. Artem Anisimov and Jack Skille each had a goal for the Blue Jackets, who dominated the pace -- until Edmonton scored twice in the third period -- and erased the memory of that 7-0 defeat on Nov. 19. "It felt great," said Matt Calvert, who added two assists. "You still feel it. It was embarrassing. We wanted to come back in our building and especially get a win in front of our fans and beat these guys up." Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for Columbus. He outplayed fellow Russian and former Philadelphia Flyers teammate Ilya Bryzgalov, who stopped 19 shots and was replaced by Devan Dubnyk at the start of the third period. Signed on Nov. 8, Bryzgalov made his second start for Edmonton after shutting out Nashville 3-0 on Thanksgiving. "We werent ready to go right out of the gate," Oilers coach Dallas Eakins said. "Even though I thought we slowly fought back, there was just a lot of head-shaking moments on our bench. Not only from the coaches but the players themselves." Sam Gagner and Jordan Eberle scored for the speedy Oilers, who had won four of five. But they slowed themselves with several penalties and might have been tired while playing for the second consecutive night. Edmonton took four penalties in the second period that added up to 2 minutes for the Blue Jackets with a two-man advantage -- and two power-play goals. A third Columbus goal in the period came on a delayed penalty. Columbus plan to crash the net led to the games first goal. On a dump-in by Calvert and then pressure from Cam Atkinson, Johansen snagged the puck out of traffic, curled into the low slot and roofed his team-leading ninth of the season at 7:50 of the first period. "I was pleased with the energy we came out with and that we played with,&qquot; Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said.dddddddddddd The Blue Jackets made it 4-0 with three goals in the second period. The Oilers got into immediate penalty trouble by taking minors for tripping, delay of game and holding in a span of 1:35. "Wed been struggling on the 5-on-3 lately," Calvert said. "It was awesome to get a goal. It kind of gave the bench a boost and we went from there." Anisimov, positioned near the crease, got his stick blade on a pass from Calvert for his seventh at 3:44. "When you get down on 5-on-3 and especially long ones, those are usually going to end up in your net," Eakins said. About 7 minutes later, with Edmonton back in the box, Foligno pushed home his sixth with Ryan Smyth draped on his back on a nice pass from Boone Jenner to make it 3-0. "Weve practiced it but havent really used it much," Foligno said of the play. "It worked out well. Its always good to make them pay on the power play." Late in the period, Skille took it the distance and snapped an impressive shot from the right circle past Bryzgalov. "I was thinking, just get by that D and make sure to have a quick release on the shot," Skille said. Edmonton tried to creep back into the game in the third period. "I wanted to see us come out and continue to play a hard game (in the third) and make it difficult on them," Richards said. "We went the opposite direction. We took some penalties and it gave them some life." Gagner scored with a long shot along the goal line that sneaked past Bobrovksy at 10:36. Eberle followed with his team-best 10th about 5 minutes later, scoring from the left circle through a screen on the power play. NOTES: RW Corey Tropp, claimed off waivers Thursday from Buffalo, made his Columbus debut and assisted on Skilles goal. ... Edmonton entered 7-1-1 in its last nine games against Columbus. ... The Blue Jackets have not won two in a row since a three-game winning streak Oct. 20-25. ... Jordan Halls five-game points streak (two goals, five assists) ended for the Oilers. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had an assist to extend his streak (one goal, 7 assists) to five games. ... The Blue Jackets first nine shots in the second came on the power play. ' ' '