rtunately necessary.___AP Sports Writers Howie Rumberg and Bernie

TORONTO – The Blue Jays wrapped up a nine-game homestand with a 7-4 win over Milwaukee on Wednesday afternoon and afterward, boarded a plane for the long flight to Californias Bay Area. Custom Jerseys China . It will be in Oakland, on Thursday night, where the club begins a 10-game, pre-All-Star Break road trip which will be a grind, both in terms of miles logged and quality of opponents. After four with the Athletics, the Jays travel down the pacific coast for three with the Angels and then across the southern part of the continent, concluding with three against the Rays in St. Petersburg. Then comes the Midsummer Classic in Minneapolis, where general manager Alex Anthopoulos expects trade discussions will begin to heat up. “We still have a month. A lot can change,” said Anthopoulos. “We started out June 5-0 and obviously we did play well down the stretch. I think you reassess at the All-Star Break and this trip will be part of it. As long as youre in the hunt is probably an important way to look at it. Knock on wood; unless we go on a long streak where we dont win some games and our competition goes on a streak, as long as youre still within reach, then its going to be a battle.” The Blue Jays approach the break in a unique position, legitimate contenders for a playoff spot for the first time in a generation. The lineup is veteran laden, built to win now. Jose Bautista is 33 years old, turning 34 in October. Edwin Encarnacion 31 and so is Adam Lind. Yet, theres understandable hesitancy to part with pieces viewed as part of the future core, including star pitching prospect Aaron Sanchez, whos now toiling at Triple-A Buffalo. Anthopoulos wades into unfamiliar territory but he approaches this deadline no different than those previous, willing to make any trade to improve his ballclub. There are no untouchables. He wont divulge priority areas so as to not create a competitive disadvantage in trade talks. The bullpen and an additional infielder, be it a second or a third baseman (Brett Lawrie can play the other spot), should be points of emphasis. He would be willing to acquire a third baseman. “Lets say theres an all-star calibre player, a great player, there, I think wed be open to doing that,” said Anthopoulos. “That makes the team better. But I dont want to make that a story. Thats not the plan. Were not close to doing that. Were not actively pursuing that. Bretts our third baseman. Hes got the positional flexibility to play all over the place.” The starting rotation has been a pleasant surprise this season. Mark Buehrles 10 wins and 2.50 ERA have led the way. J.A. Happ, with seven more effective innings on Wednesday, has solidified himself after missing the start of the year injured and returning out of the bullpen. Drew Hutchison has run hot and cold but is a promising young pitcher. Marcus Stroman has fit in well and R.A. Dickey is logging innings even though the results have been mixed. The organization believes Sanchez, 23, has turned a corner with the Bisons after struggling for parts of this season with his command. Hes changed his arm slot slightly, staying better on top of the ball as a result. Anthopoulos didnt deny Sanchez could contribute to the Blue Jays down the stretch. “To me, if he can do it again, Im convinced that they got him right on track and hell be ready if we have a need,” said Anthopoulos. HOFFMAN AND PENTECOST SIGN The Blue Jays locked in their two first-round picks from last months amateur draft. General manager Alex Anthopoulos confirmed that Jeff Hoffman (ninth overall), a 21-year-old right-handed pitcher out of East Carolina University and Max Pentecost (11th overall), a 21-year-old catcher who attended Kennesaw State University, signed for their bonus slot. Hoffman cashes in slightly more than $3-million; Pentecost comes in just shy of $2.9-million. Hoffman underwent Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery in May. Its club policy that no pitcher appear in a competitive game until at least one year after the procedure was completed. Hoffman is in Florida, in the early stages of his rehabilitation. Pentecost is in Dunedin, getting back into baseball shape after his college season ended about a month ago. Pentecost is waiting for his passport and when it arrives, hell report to the Blue Jays short season affiliate in Vancouver. Fake China Jerseys . -- Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen took the second-round lead Saturday in the Champions Tours Legends of Golf, teaming for a 6-under 48 in windy conditions on the par-3 Top of the Rock course. Fake Jerseys 2020 . Stepanek gave the Czech Republic its second straight Davis Cup title Sunday, sweeping past Dusan Lajovic in straight sets in the fifth and decisive match to secure a 3-2 win over Serbia in the final. http://www.jerseyscheapcustom.com/ . The All Blacks played their best rugby of recent years when they beat South Africa 38-27 in Johannesburg two weeks ago, clinching the Rugby Championships in a match which has been hailed as one of the best ever played.CLEVELAND - The Indians addressed the need for more power in their lineup. Now Brandon Moss has to provide it.Cleveland finalized a trade — the first of the winter meetings — that has been in the works for weeks by acquiring Moss, a first baseman/outfielder and All-Star last season, from the Oakland Athletics on Monday for minor league infielder Joey Wendle.The 31-year-old Moss batted .234 with 25 homers and 81 RBIs in a career-high 147 games for the As. The left-handed hitter drew 67 walks and scored 70 runs. Moss hit .268 with 21 homers in the first half of the season to earn his first All-Star selection, but a nagging hip problem cut into his production over the final months.On Oct. 21, Moss underwent an operation on his hip. Moss said Dr. Thomas Byrd was prepared to perform microfracture surgery but all that he needed was a labrum repair and cartilage cleanup, which should make his rehab somewhat easier.Moss said his rehab is coming along well and he expects to be cleared to run later this month.The chance to join the Indians, who contended for a playoff spot until the seasons final weekend, excited Moss. He said the club is similar to some of the Oakland teams he has played for.Theres a great core group of guys and, in all honesty, it reminds me of after 2012, when they brought us all up and we all kind of took off, he said. That next year in 2013, we had that core group of guys and the young pitching staff and we won the division by a pretty good margin. It reminds me of a team like that. Its a team with a lot of talent and a lot of capability and its going to be exciting to be a part of it.Despite the hip issue, Moss, who also has played for Boston, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, finished among the AL leaders in homers, RBIs, extra-base hits and slugging percentage. He played 67 games at first base, 56 in left field and 34 in right for the wild-card winning As.One of the things that attracted us to Brandon is hes got the versatility to play either corner spot in the outfield and first base, Indians general manager Chris Antonettti said at the winter meetings in San Diego. Wholesale Authentic Jerseys. Acquring Moss to solidfy the middle of the order could mean decreased playing time for David Murphy and Nick Swisher, who hit .208 with eight homers in a season cut short at 97 games because of injuries. The switch-hitter had surgery on both knees in August. With two more years on a four-year, $56 million contract, moving Swisher in a deal likely would be difficult.We still expect Nick to be a big part of our team, Antonetti said. Right now his focus is on getting healthy for the start of spring training.Moss is eligible for arbitration for the second time after making $4.1 million last season.Hes glad he wont have to play in spacious Oakland Coliseum, where his statistics were not nearly as good as they were on the road.I love the fans there, he said. I hated playing at the Coliseum. It killed me as a hitter. I know this past year I hit under .200 at home and the year before that I think I hit exactly .200. Ive pretty much made my seasons on the road. Id hit 10 or 11 or 12 home runs there, but its just a tough place to hit. You dont get rewarded for fly balls unless you absolutely crush the ball.Its just a tough place to play, so Im really excited about playing in a park where Ive had some success. Ive always enjoyed playing there.Wendle batted .253 at Double-A Akron last season.As general manager Billy Beane said Wendle would be penciled in at Triple-A next season.The As traded another All-Star last month, sending third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays for third baseman Brett Lawrie, left-hander Sean Nolin, right-hander Kendall Graveman and minor league shortstop Franklin Barreto.Weve done it before, Beane said about making big moves in the last several months. Weve had to. The tough thing is youre talking about players who are really good players for us in a very successful period. Its tough having to do this every few years but unfortunately necessary.___AP Sports Writers Howie Rumberg and Bernie Wilson in San Diego contributed to this report. ' ' '