Stars und Sternchen! » be Slovenian Polona

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – Its not for a lack of interest or due to a lack of effort - the Blue Jays are trying - but so far there is no trade to be made to enhance the club. "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. So if you want to, look at that as encouraging." While young pitching prospects Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman continue to be in high demand – Anthopoulos isnt opposed to moving either if the deal is right – its the Jays big bats that are attracting the most attention. "The one thing we have on this team is power," said Anthopoulos. "Theres not a lot of power out there on the market or the free agent prices dont work for some of the clubs so weve been approached by clubs asking for some of our position players that have power." Anthopoulos then moved quickly to deny a Toronto Sun report that Colby Rasmus had been offered to two teams in the search for starting pitching. "With respect to rumours and some of our position players, I would say just to kind of bury some of those. With all our players well be open-minded if people want to approach us but I can say as we sit here today I feel pretty confident that most, if not all, our position player core will be with the club to start the year," he said. The Blue Jays havent ruled out signing Rasmus to a long-term extension. The 26-year-old is coming off his best season since his breakout campaign in 2010 with the Cardinals. Limited by injury to 118 games, Rasmus authored a slash line of .276/.338/.501, and lifted his OPS to .840 from .689 the previous season. Anthopoulos is leaving the door open to a long-term extension with Rasmus, who will be a free agent for the first time after this season. In fact, only Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays starting outfielders is signed beyond 2014. Citing Edwin Encarnacion as a player given a long-term commitment in the middle of a breakout campaign, Anthopoulos said hes willing to wait on Rasmus in order to "gather more information," even if the centerfielder continues to perform at a high level and a deal becomes more costly. "We feel time is on our side in the sense of we dont feel the need to necessarily have to do it so early," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "Weve got more resources from a payroll standpoint." Jose Bautistas and Edwin Encarnacions team-friendly contracts – Bautista has two years left at $28 million with a club option for 2016 at $14 million while Encarnacion is signed for two more years at $19 million with a club option for 2016 at $10 million – make Rasmus a logical choice to be moved out of the group of power bats. Given this years offseason market for outfielders – Jacoby Ellsbury signed for $153 million over seven years with the Yankees and Shin-Soo Choo is expected to receive a similar figure in free agency – Anthopoulos has a difficult decision to make on Rasmus value. WEBER HEADS TO KOREA The Blue Jays will enter Thursday mornings Rule 5 draft with 39 players on their 40-man roster. Right-hander Thad Weber has been sold to NC Dinos of the Korean Baseball Organization. MOTTOLA NEARING DEAL WITH RAYS Former Blue Jays hitting coach Chad Mottola and the Tampa Bay Rays are finalizing the paperwork on his contract to become the clubs new minor league hitting coordinator. Mottola served in the same capacity for the Blue Jays in 2009 before spending three seasons as the hitting coach at Triple-A Las Vegas. Mottola and Dwayne Murphy, who retired, are the two members of last seasons coaching staff that wont be returning to Toronto. Kevin Seitzer, who was the hitting coach in Kansas City when manager John Gibbons served as Royals bench coach, was hired last month to replace Mottola. Cheap Ecco Shoes Online . Nothing pretty. But this is 1/4 World Cup. Usually plays out this way. Cheap Ecco Shoes Clearance . - The Oakland Athletics say they are stopping negotiations to extend their lease at the Coliseum. http://www.cheapecco.net/ . Heather, the first Gaiter to win the award, set a Canadian Inter-university Sport record with 3,132 passing yards in eight league games, an average of 391.5 yards per game. That beat the mark of 3,047 set only one week earlier by Westerns Will Finch, a Hec Crighton finalist. Cheap Ecco Shoes China . Lisicki beat South African Chanelle Scheepers by a 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) margin. Next up for the Wimbledon runner-up will be Slovenian Polona Hercog, who outlasted Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. Wholesale Ecco Shoes . His absence against the Celtics comes a day after he scored 43 points in the Heats 100-96 win at Cleveland.CHICAGO -- Neither the brutal cold nor the leagues worst defence could stop Josh McCown and the Bears. Instead, Chicago jumped right back into the playoff race. McCown threw for a career-high four touchdowns, and the Bears scored on their first eight possessions to grab a share of the NFC North lead with a 45-28 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on a frigid Monday night. The Bears (7-6) retired Hall of Famer Mike Ditkas number at halftime and pulled even with Detroit in the division race on a night when the game-time temperature was in single digits and the wind chill factor was below zero. The loss left Dallas (7-6) a game behind Philadelphia in the NFC East and owner Jerry Jones calling for more aggressive play-calling on defence. The bone-chilling conditions didnt stop McCown from throwing for 348 yards or keep the Bears from running away with a lopsided victory. It was one they desperately needed after consecutive losses, and although Detroit holds the head-to-head sweep, the Bears are back in the thick of the playoff race. "All we could do is try to beat the Dallas Cowboys," coach Marc Trestman said. "We kept it as simple as that. We didnt get into all the hypotheticals and all the things that go into winning or losing a game." Alshon Jefferys leaping catch between two defenders in the corner of the end zone in the closing seconds of the second quarter gave the Bears a 24-14 lead, and they continued to pour it on in the second half after a gut-wrenching overtime loss at Minnesota last week. McCown, making his fourth straight start with Jay Cutler sidelined by a high left ankle sprain, became the first Bears quarterback to throw for 300 or more yards in three straight games. And for that, DeMarcus Ware blamed Dallas defence. "If you were back there quarterbacking and we played the way we played you probably would have five touchdowns," he said. McCown, meanwhile, insisted hes still the backup. And Trestman said the plan with Cutler hasnt changed. "Well see where Jay is this week," he said. "Hell have to be released by the doctors and when Jay is ready to play, hell be playing." Brandon Marshall caught six passes for 100 yards, and Jeffery added 84 yards receiving after breaking his own team record the previous week with 249. Matt Forte chipped in with 102 yards rushing and 73 receiving, and the Bears racked up 490 yards in all.dddddddddddd "Basically, we will have to make some adjustments in what we are doing defensively," Jones said. "What that usually means is taking more risks on defence. But if youre going to have the kind of match like we had tonight or certainly in New Orleans you have to take some risks. We have to double up and Im sure that will be part of the plan on defence; more risks." Tony Romo threw for three touchdowns but completed just 11 of 20 passes for 104 yards for Dallas. DeMarco Murray ran for 146 yards against the leagues worst run defence, but the Cowboys were overmatched after winning two straight. They also lost linebacker Sean Lee to another injury -- this time a neck issue after making a tackle in the third quarter. He missed the previous two games with a hamstring problem. "Certainly, it was a disappointing loss and the loss stings," coach Jason Garrett said. "The worst thing we can do is have a hangover after this loss." The game-time temperature was 8 degrees with the wind chill at minus 9, but the freezing conditions did nothing to slow either team in the early going. Garrett said both teams handled it well. Murray burned Chicago for 52 yards on six carries on the games opening possession to set up a 2-yard scoring pass from Romo to Dez Bryant, but the Bears scored just about every time they got the ball. After Bryants TD, McCown tied it with a 4-yard pass to Earl Bennett and put Chicago ahead 14-7 early in the second quarter with a 7-yard scramble, leaping at the goal line and getting spun in midair. Jason Witten tied it at 14 when he dragged Major Wright across the goal line on a 10-yard touchdown catch, but the Bears grabbed a three-point lead on Robbie Goulds 27-yard field goal with 1:33 remaining in the half. Jeffery added to it with that neat catch after Dallas was forced to punt. "Im just trying to give him a chance to go up and make the play but not really put the ball in jeopardy, so to speak," McCown said. "My part was relative easy to the catch." NOTES: The record low temperature for a Bears home game is 2 degrees against Green Bay on Dec. 22, 2008. The lowest wind chill was minus 15 against the Packers on Dec. 18, 1983. ... There was a moment of silence for Nelson Mandela before the game. ' ' '