The Toronto Blue Jays fate right now reminds me of the scene in the movie The Princess Bride were the wizard Miracle Max, played by Billy Crystal, is assessing whether the hero Westley is dead or if he can be saved. He used adjectives like "nearly" and "mostly" but saying ultimately that Westley wasnt dead and could be revived with his chocolate-coated miracle pill. Until the great back-to-back pitching performances in San Francisco this week by Josh Johnson and R.A Dickey, I think most Jays fans were looking ahead to next year. In fact, Ive heard many suggest that maybe its time to trade Jose Bautista and get as much as you can for him. For my part, that would be a mistake - at least for now. Its true Bautista will be 33-years old in October and his production has diminished over the last two seasons; largely because of injuries. Still, hes second on the club in RBIs with 30 and tied for second in home runs with 12, and after a horrible start over the first five or six weeks, has his batting average up to .263. Bautista is also the closest thing to a team leader this team has. With Edwin Encarnacion, he gives the Blue Jays a 1-2 power punch that ranks with the best in baseball. Theyre not Cabrera and Fielder in Detroit, but they supply the intimidation factor in the middle of a line-up that a contender simply must have. Bautista still has two years left on his deal with the Blue Jays with an option year, worth $14 million apiece. If things dont work out for this years edition of the Jays and things dont improve by next years trade deadline, that would be the time to move on Bautista. To do it now just doesnt make any sense. I can think of three other teams that traded star right fielders who watched those deals blow up in their faces. Lets start with the Cleveland Indians. On April 17, 1960, they swapped their beloved slugging right fielder Rocky Colavito to Detroit for Harvey Kuenn, who had won the American League batting title the season before. But Rocky was a hero in Cleveland and had blasted 42 homers and drive in 111 runs in 1959. The trade didnt really help either team all that much and hurt Cleveland the most because of how crushed the Indians fans were over their favourite player being moved. Frank Robinson had a solid 10 year career with the Cincinnati Reds and was only 29-years-old when the ball club hinted he was starting to look old and dealt him to Baltimore for pitchers Jack Baldschun, Milt Pappas and outfielder Dick Simpson. Robinson went on to forge a Hall of Fame career in Baltimore, helping the Orioles win a World Series and finished with 586 homeruns. He capped his career by becoming the first African American manager in the Majors in Cleveland. The Reds got burned again on November 3, 1992. They swapped Joe DeBerry and a 29-year-old outfielder by the name of Paul ONeill to the Yankees for outfielder Roberto Kelly, who was touted as a rising star. ONeill turned out to be the difference maker. He played mainly right field for the Yanks and helped them win four World Series titles between 1996 and 2000 under Joe Torre. Though his temper flare-ups were part of the reason the Reds moved him, it was ONeills rage to win that helped put the fire in the belly of those great Yankees teams. Im not saying dont ever trade Jose Bautista -- just not now. See how this season and next play out and then if you have to make, your move. Cuban defector Yasiel Puig is off to an incredible start with the Dodgers. In just four games, the 22-year-old, five-tool player is hitting .438 with three homers, including a grand slam and nine runs batted in. His OBPS is a staggering 1.501. He also has an incredible throwing arm and gunned down a runner at the plate to end a game from the warning track. With Matt Kemp and Carl Crawford injured, Puig will get plenty of playing time playing right field and batting lead-off. But when those two return, the Dodgers are going to have to make some pretty tough decisions, especially with the contracts Kemp, Crawford and their other outfielder Andre Ethier have. Seven of the Blue Jays next 10 games are against Texas - three at Rogers Centre and four at the Ballpark at Arlington next week. Going into last nights game, the Rangers had a 36-22 record - the best mark for 58 games in franchise history. So the next week-and-a-half could really tell the tail on the Blue Jays season.Custom Nike Seattle Mariners Jerseys . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. Custom Nike Washington Nationals Jerseys . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. https://www.customjerseysnikebaseball.com/custom-nike-houston-astros-jerseys/ . "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil. Custom Nike Philadelphia Phillies Jerseys . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Fake . LOUIS -- Lance Lynn was one of the more enthusiastic participants as the St.Mauricio Pochettino says Tottenhams 2-1 win at Manchester City means more than just three points, but refused to get carried away with their title chances.Harry Kane gave Spurs the lead at the Etihad with a 53rd-minute penalty before Christian Eriksen grabbed a late winner after Kelechi Iheanacho equalised.Spurs have now won five in a row in the Premier League and are just two points behind leaders Leicester, who were beaten at Arsenal earlier on Sunday. We are very happy, very pleased, Pochettino told Sky Sports. Its difficult to play against a big team like Man City but the performance was fantastic and Im very happy for our players. Pochettino celebrates victory over Man City I am very pleased because it wasnt only a game you play and win; it means a lot more than three points. It wasnt a normal game, we are only young and this type of game is very important for the future.Asked whether Spurs are now genuine title contenders with 12 games of the season remaining, Pochettino said: My speech is always the same, we need to keep workiing hard.ddddddddddddWe need to keep this feeling, keep working hard and keep the right mentality. In football always you need to respect the competition and you need to give your best. Christian Eriksen (L) celebrates his winner with Harry Kane Spurs are still competing on three fronts and turn their attentions to the Europa League on Thursday as they face Fiorentina in the first leg of their last-32 tie.While Pochettino remained grounded after the win at the Etihad, he was still full of praise for his side.We delivered our plan perfectly, he said. We were very calm and played the way we wanted to play. We have a very young squad against a team with world champions so you have to give full credit to the players.We were calm at 1-1 and played well. We defended well and our mentality is to try to score and win the game.Also See:Man City 1-2 SpursAs it happenedSpurs fixturesGet free ￡10 bet ' ' '
