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TORONTO - First things first: Adam Lind loves Toronto and wants to remain a Blue Jay. But Linds future isnt in his hands. With a club option worth $7-million for 2014, or a $2-million buyout should the Blue Jays choose to part ways with their long time first baseman/designated hitter, general manager Alex Anthopoulos has a decision to make. Whatever happens, Lind hopes he finds out soon. "I dont know the date when they have to tell me," Lind told TSN.ca. "Hopefully its after the last day of the season or after that last game of the year because I dont really want to be in limbo until the World Series. Id like to know but with all the number crunchers they have up there they may take their time." Lind has enjoyed a stellar offensive season. With 19 home runs, he has a chance to surpass the third best output of his career - he hit 23 homers in 2010. If Lind goes on a tear, his second-highest number of home runs (26 in 2011) would be in jeopardy. His OPS, a healthy .829, represents a significant increase over the last three seasons when it was no better than .734. Entering Tuesdays play, Lind had 46 walks, which already is the second-most hes had in a season (58 in 2009.) "I dont think anyone, unless youre Miguel Cabrera, would say youre consistent for a whole season," said Lind. "Its hard to do with how many different types of ways the pitchers pitch the ball to stay comfortable and have your rhythm and timing over the course of an entire season. You go from Texas and theyre throwing heaters and then we come back and face Colorado and theyre throwing slop and its hard to stay locked in. Thats part of it and thats why management sticks with players, especially at the beginning of the season, with slow starts." Lind has stayed off the disabled list this season - a stated goal back in spring training. He tweaked his historically-troubled back at Fenway Park on June 30 and missed two games before returning to face Detroits Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander on back to back days. "Ive done a lot of maintenance to make sure it stays (healthy,)" said Lind. "I feel, I dont know if proud is the word, I feel happy especially with the way things have gone with this team this year. I dont think theres been too many, not including the bullpen, only me, Eddie, J.P. Buehrle and Dickey have been here since April 1." Theres a sense of unfinished business for Lind. He believes the club is capable of meeting expectations in 2014 and would like to continue in the only big league city hes ever known. "I feel like Ive been an important part of it more often than not through the course of the past six years," said Lind. "Ive had some great experiences hitting behind Jose in his huge years; Ive hit behind Eddie the past two years. Maybe I havent produced as much as some would have liked but Ive protected the best hitters in the game the last four years." SIMILARITIES BETWEEN DISAPPOINTING JAYS AND ANGELS The Blue Jays and Angels kicked off their three-game September series with identical records. It was easy, at the start of the season, to anticipate the clubs meeting in Toronto with much on the line. Either could have, maybe should have, been division leaders or, at the least, battling each other for wild card positioning. Instead, Toronto and Los Angeles were each 67-76. "Two teams that didnt meet expectations, no doubt," said Mark DeRosa. "I think if you polled a lot of people they would have said this would probably be an ALCS or an ALDS match up, who knows? For whatever reason and we know, weve chronicled them all year; it hasnt gone according to plan." Heres a big reason why neither team has succeeded: their respective starting rotations. The Blue Jays rank 29th (out of 30) in baseball with a 4.83 starters ERA. The Angels arent much better. Their 4.34 starters ERA is ranked 23rd in the majors. RASMUS HEALING Colby Rasmus, whos been on the disabled list since August 11 with a strained left oblique, is back in Toronto and hopes to return to the lineup during this weekends series against the Orioles. "Feeling good," said Rasmus. "Just trying to go through getting back on this turf, taking some swings, like some full hacks. Down in Florida I wasnt able to really get into it, get after it so come up here to try to get some swings going on the field and running some balls down." Rasmus arrives in time to see the Blue Jays play the Angels, for whom is brother, Cory, now plays. Colby doubled off of Cory on May 27 when Cory was pitching for Atlanta. Cory was traded, by the Braves, to Los Angeles for former Blue Jays reliever Scott Downs on July 29. "It kind of worked out funny for me to be here when hes here but thats just the way it worked out," said Colby Rasmus. "I didnt just try to come up here because hes here. I got to feeling good and it worked out to where I could." MONTREAL BOUND The Blue Jays will play two spring time exhibition games in Montreal, March 28-29, against the New York Mets. Maicer Izturis is the only current Blue Jay who played for the Expos (2004.) Mark DeRosa goes back far enough to remember travelling to Olympic Stadium. "Id probably be the only guy who knows how to get the field, I know that," said DeRosa, who traveled often to Montreal while playing with the Braves in the early 2000s. "I think my one memory there would be the ball Vladimir Guerrero hit off Mike Hampton. He smacked it 502 (feet,) they estimated that. I think they put a sign up on one of the runners where he hit it. Probably one of the furthest balls Ive ever seen in my life." College Michael Jordan Jersey . Pekovic had an MRI test Tuesday on his right ankle that revealed bursitis, which is inflammation of the fluid-filled pad that cushions the joint. Sale Michael Jordan Jersey . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. https://www.sportsstarsjerseys.com/tom-brady-jersey/ . 5 Trade Deadline isnt that far away and teams will be making decisions on whether to buy, sell and decide which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Cheap Michael Jordan Jersey . -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Colby Rasmus drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Saturday. Tom Brady Jersey Retro .Brazil midfielder Ricardo Goulart scored the winner in the 50th minute to give the defending champion a four-point advantage in the standings over second-place Sao Paulo, which beat rival Palmeiras 2-0.Here are five thoughts on the Eastern Conference first-round series between the Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets following Game 1. 1. NETS DEFENSE: Im giving Brooklyn credit. Their offense can sometimes betray you on the road but the D is always a constant. Its ironic; just recently an advance scout who I have a lot of respect for gave me his quick thoughts on how hed defend the Raptors. Extend your pickup point and really pressure their guards. Get out and challenge threes and chase them off the line at all cost. Keep the ball out of DeMar DeRozans hands with very physical denials. Body up to their people - they dont like contact and theyll turn it over. If you allow them to have flow theyll punish you. Its interesting in the last two games that the Raptors played versus the NY Knicks on April 11 and 16; the Knicks used this strategy to force the Raptors into a combined 38 turnovers in those games. The Nets came in and did a terrific job in their coverage and forced the Raps into 17 turnovers and never allowed them to get comfortable. Raptors half-court offense needs to toughen up and get sharper. 2. RAPTORS OFFENSE: I say this a ton of times - playoff offense is like having to go five-on-six against an opponent. Some teams will even use this in practice to toughen their teams up and require even higher-end execution. Its that hard, plain and simple! You could see it on Saturday afternoon that the inability to execute their schemes and go to counters/pressure releases when they got taken out of what they wanted was evident. The ability to establish a consistent paint presence with post-ups and penetration was inconsistent. Overall, the level of offensive toughness that you must have to succeed in the playoffs was lacking. Am I surprised? No. A young team in their first playoff game and it looked it. Theyll steadily improve and fight through that and begin to establish their style of play. They looked at their best when they were able to run off their defense and have space to do their thing. A key to the Raptors offense - pick up the defensive pressure and get the Nets on their heels more. Creator of circumstance vs. creature of it - choose your approach. 3. NETS 3-POINT SHOOTING: They were abysmal, shooting 4-24, which is uncharacteristic for them. Raptors brought good energy in trying to defend the line, yet some of the shots that Brooklyn missed were just plain decent looks that didnt go down. Will be important for Toronto to stay after iit and not allow the Nets to get comfortable with the long range game.dddddddddddd 4. PLAY BETTER: (DeMar DeRozan / Terrence Ross / Amir Johnson / John Salmons): Just look at their numbers. Theyd all be the first to tell you that they have to play a whole lot better. Theyre all good players whove been significant to the success of this team and they cant win without each of them playing at the level theyre capable of playing at. Bounce back time for each in Game 2 and beyond. Cant force it yet - come in with that approach thats made you successful all year and get after it. 5. MATCHUPS: Im concerned with the Joe Johnson (24 Points) and Paul Pierce (a very difficult cover at the four-spot) matchups. The Raptors struggled with this and have to do a better job in both instances. Johnson hurt them with his physicality and efficiency in the mid and low post, while Pierces outstanding ball skills and smarts along with his three-point shooting ability at the four-spot are a tough scenario for traditional power forwards to cover. Better effort in these two matchups, along with improved defensive assistance to help the guy having to guard those guys counter the issues will help, yet it cant compromise the ability to rebound and defend the three-ball. Energy level, communication, multiple effort, help/recovery and tight rotations will be things to watch. Just a first guess here; I try not to second guess a whole lot and try to put out there a thought to consider as we go forward. I have no issues with the defensive approach in Game 1. Dwane Casey and his staff are excellent and are on top of the details. They know their team better than anybody else. Not even close. Just a thought as a respectful first guess; in my opinion, I think Landry Fields is someone to consider if the current players in the Joe Johnson and Paul Pierce matchups arent able to get the job done. Hes got the size, athleticism, smarts, defensive range and toughness to hold his own in both instances. Any time you call on him, hes ready to go and does a nice job. I understand the concerns with his lack of perimeter shooting but in the playoffs, matchups become even more important to try and counter. Johnsons size, strength and physicality are an issue and Pierces mobility and distance shooting are a problem. Im confident that if he were ever called upon he could hold his own against both. Its just something to consider, again, as a respectful first guess. ' ' '