What do Dave Stieb, Tim Wakefield, and Sergio Santos have in common? All three started out as position players, and made the conversion to pitchers. Jermon Bushrod Jersey . A couple of more players trying to make the switch came to light over the weekend. Both have Blue Jays connections, one direct and one in a more roundabout way. Justin Jackson was drafted as a shortstop by the Blue Jays in 2007. He was a decent fielder with a strong arm who just never came around as a hitter. Over the course of this past year, the Blue Jays convinced him to give pitching a try. Jackson worked 49.2 innings between Lansing in low "A" ball and Dunedin of the Florida State League in high "A" ball. Jackson put together a decent ERA of 3.26 over the two stops. The Jays decided not to put Jackson on the 40-man roster, so he will be available for the Rule 5 Draft next month in Orlando. The organization is gambling that no team will take a chance on claiming a newly minted pitcher with so little experience. The other pitcher-to-be is the younger son of former Blue Jays right fielder Jesse Barfield. Jeremy Barfield is a 25-year-old 65" outfielder in the Oakland As chain. Back in July, the As approached Jeremy about making the switch. He has the arm strength of his father and is a left hander to boot. The As figure its worth a shot, especially in light of the success theyve had with lefty reliever Sean Doolittle. The 27-year-old was drafted in 2007 by the As to be a 1B/OF. However, he had been a standout pitcher through high school and college. During instructional league in 2007, the As converted Doolittle back into a pitcher. In two seasons in the As bullpen, the hard throwing 63" southpaw has pitched so well, Oakland is at least considering making him their closer for 2014. We mentioned Jeremy Barfield. Well, Jesses older son Josh is still playing as well. Once considered a top prospect with San Diego and Cleveland, the 31-year-old finished up last season with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. Rumours and Deals The Jeff Samardzjia to the Blue Jays rumours picked up a little steam over the weekend. Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago claimed that Alex Anthopoulos was putting together a list of prospects to make an offer for the 28-year-old right-hander. The number mentioned for Samardzjia was three to four prospects and you would have to think a couple of those would need to be Major League ready. Samardzjia has struck out 394 batters over the past two seasons, but at age 28 has never won in double digits with a career record of 29-35 and a 4.19 ERA. He still might be their best option considering the money and length of contract that the likes of Ervin Santana, Matt Garza and Ubaldo Jiminez should be able to command as free agents. Another pitching option came off the board on Sunday. Veteran right-hander Dan Haren, who really wanted to pitch on the West Coast, agreed to a one-year, $10 million deal with the Dodgers. Jermon Bushrod Saints Jersey . Of all the names out there who could realistically be dealt by Wednesdays deadline, Ryan Kesler remains No. 1 on the most desired list. And while were not sure if theyre any closer to a deal, we now have a defined price. TreQuan Smith Jersey . For the Athletics, hes extremely important at the top of the order, especially with Coco Crisp hurting. Jaso drove in three runs Sunday night, helping Scott Kazmir and Oakland beat the Texas Rangers 9-3. http://www.saintsrookiestore.com/Saints-Cameron-Meredith-Jersey/ . Louis Blues have returned to the top spot in the TSN.LOS ANGELES -- Even after three games and a cross-country flight in the previous five days, the Los Angeles Kings came out roaring at home with a three-goal first period against Winnipeg. Coach Darryl Sutters team knows all about peaking for the post-season after its Stanley Cup title run two years ago, and the Kings are counting down the games until they can try it again. Anze Kopitar scored two goals in the first period, Jonathan Quick made 24 saves, and the Kings beat the Jets 4-2 Saturday night for their sixth straight victory. Trevor Lewis and Tyler Toffoli also scored for the Kings, who havent lost since March 17. Marian Gaborik and Willie Mitchell had two assists apiece as Los Angeles took a big early lead and cruised to its 14th win in 17 games. "I dont think there is any coasting goes on, period," Sutter said. "Youre just trying to refine parts of your game, very simple. You are trying to take care of your own business first. Youre not a playoff team until you clinch the playoff spot." The Kings are just a couple of wins away from clinching their fifth straight playoff trip and a first-round matchup with San Jose or Anaheim. After 4 1/2 weeks of outstanding play out of the Olympic break, theyre all but locked into third place in the Pacific Division. Los Angeles has won 13 of 16 since Sochi, with three one-goal losses between two lengthy winning streaks. Kopitars third multigoal game of the season was set up by another strong offensive game from Kings newcomer Gaborik, who had his second multipoint performance on Los Angeles top line. "We have a chance to finish very strong and prepare for the playoffs," said Gaborik, who has eight points in his past nine games with Los Angeles. "This team works well in a system. Everybody is on the same page. Everybody is trusting each other. Its like one big machine." And that machine steamrolled the Jets in the opening 20 minutes. Matt Halischuk and Blake Wheeler scored in the third period for the Jets, who hadnt visited Los Angeles since Jan. 3, 1996. Ondrej Pavelec gave up three goals in the first period before getting pulled, and Al Montoya stopped 12 shots iin the final 40 minutes. Cameron Meredith Saints Jersey. Winnipeg has lost four of six and 10 of 13, its playoff hopes dwindling to a faint prayer. The Jets trail eighth-place Phoenix in the Western Conference standings by nine points with seven games to go and three teams between them. The erstwhile Atlanta Thrashers finally have appeared in every NHL road arena since their move to Manitoba in 2011, but they couldnt keep up in the first period against their surging hosts. "We got taught a real good lesson in the first period about being ready to play a hard game," Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. "We were just giving up so much ice and backing up. The last two periods, we were ready to play. Theres a learning lesson for some." The Kings went ahead just 2:42 in when a sharp-angled shot somehow got past Pavelec for Lewis career-best sixth goal of the season. Lewis didnt score in his first 38 games of the season, but the grinding forward has four goals in March. Kopitar then scored when a rebound of Gaboriks shot banked off his skate and in for the Slovenian centres 23rd goal. Gaboriks shot sent Winnipeg defenceman Mark Stuarts stick flying into Pavelecs chest. Kopitar scored again late in the period, muscling past the Winnipeg defence for a rebound backhand. "There is no explanation," Wheeler said of the Jets early effort. "They came out with the kind of energy you need to start a hockey game. We didnt. Thats what happens. After the opening period, we figured it out a little bit." After a scoreless second period, Halischuk scored his first goal since Dec. 14 from right in front of Quick, banging home Evander Kanes pass from below the goal line in the corner. Quick made an amazing facedown save with 1 minute to play, sticking his right leg into midair to block a long Winnipeg shot. NOTES: The Kings have outscored their opponents 19-11 during their winning streak. ... Los Angeles has 44 victories, two shy of the regular-season club record with seven games to go. ... Mitchell had his first multipoint game since April 5, 2012. The stay-at-home defenceman missed all of last season with injuries, and he had seven points in his first 69 games this season. Cheap Blackhawks Jerseys Cheap Avalanche Jerseys Cheap Team USA Hockey Jerseys Cheap Stars Jerseys Cheap Wild Jerseys Cheap Predators Jerseys Cheap Blues Jerseys Cheap Jets Jerseys Cheap Ducks Jerseys Cheap Coyotes Jerseys Cheap Flames Jerseys Cheap Oilers Jerseys Cheap Kings Jerseys Cheap Sharks Jerseys Cheap Canucks Jerseys Cheap Golden Knights Jerseys Cheap Winter Classic Jerseys ' ' '