in goals against despite boasting terrific goaltending from Jonathan

NEW YORK, N.Y. - When the New York Yankees take the field against Toronto for their opener on April 6, it will be 556 days since Alex Rodriguez last played in a major league game.Will he resemble the star who won three MVP awards?Or will he look more like the broken-down third baseman who hasnt played a full season since 2007 due to leg injuries, operations on both hips and a season-long suspension this year for violating baseballs drug agreement and labour contract?Really, until he gets out there and starts playing, youre not going to know, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Tuesday.Spring training is more than three months from now, and already the spotlight is on A-Rod.Third base? First base? Designated hitter? The bench, if a suitable replacement is found?Addition or distraction?You have the whole spectrum from minimal contributions to significant contributions, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said at the GM meetings in Phoenix. We are certainly hoping for significant contributions. But I think as you went through the process from a general managers standpoint, you enter that process with the expectations low and hoping for the best. But I dont think I can bank for our fan base on significant contributions and count on it and be surprised if its not there.The only certainty is Rodriguez becoming the focal point wherever he goes.When Alex has walked into spring training, when hasnt there been a lot of attention on him over the last five years? Girardi said. So, yeah, theres going to be attention. Some of it is going to be negative. Some of it is going to be positive. Well deal with it.Rodriguez was limited to 44 games in 2013 following his second hip surgery. He turns 40 next July but wants to come back to earn the $61 million he is owed in salary in the final three years of his contract.Girardi spoke to A-Rod about potentially playing some first base on days Mark Teixeira is given off.I just wanted to put the thought in his mind, Girardi said. He said lets talk about it. So, well sit down and talk about it.But first is likely to be only a part-time destination.He may be the everyday third baseman. He may be the everyday DH, Cashman said. I dont know.Chase Headley, obtained from San Diego in July, could be an option to take over from Rodriguez as the primary third baseman.If I signed or traded for a third baseman, that would be my third baseman, Cashman said.Headley is a free agent, and the Yankees have interest in re-signing him.He really shored up our defence on that side, played a great third base, Girardi said. Grinded out at-bats, had some big hits for us and showed an extreme amount of toughness and was great in the clubhouse.Girardi was at Yankee Stadium for the teams United Service Organizations event to pack goods for American servicemen and servicewomen. While most of the questions were about Rodriguez, he also addressed New Yorks off-season moves in the post-Derek Jeter era, of the need to right the ship. The Yankees hope to rebound from an 84-78 record, their poorest winning percentage since 1992.I think theres some question marks in our starting rotation, number one. Theres going to be some questions marks in our bullpen, and theres some question marks on what our infield is going to be, he said.Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Carlos Beltran, Brett Gardner and Martin Prado are coming back from injuries.New York also has some interest in re-signing Brandon McCarthy, acquired from Arizona last summer and also a free agent.He struggled in Arizona for whatever reasons, but he pitched really well for us, Girardi said. He showed that he had the ability to pitch in New York, and I think thats always important.New York would like to re-sign closer David Robertson, another free agent. If he leaves, Dellin Betances likely would inherit the role.Its somewhat of a different mentality, Girardi said. I think hes capable of handling it.New York finished four games behind Oakland (88-74) for the second AL wild card, and Girardi watched from afar as Kansas City (89-73) reached Game 7 of the World Series before losing to San Francisco, with the potential tying run stranded at third.It shows you how close you were to be possibly being a World Series team, which even makes it hurt more, he said. If you look at five games where you could have scored maybe 10 more runs, two runs a game, with all the one-run games, that could have been us.___Blum reported from New York and Baum from Phoenix. Authentic NHL Jerseys Cheap . -- Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno was admitted to the hospital Friday for observation due to minor complications from cancer treatments, his family said. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . Simona Halep of Romania claimed the fifth title of her career by beating Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (1), 6-2 in the womens final. After trading sets, Gasquet trailed 4-3 in the decider but broke back to 4-4 in a game that went to seven deuces with Kukushkin constantly failing on his forehand shots. http://www.cheapnhlcustomjerseys.com/ . -- D. J. Williams finally has his packing strategy down. Fake NHL Jerseys . Moments after scoring and setting off another wild celebration at Minsk arena, Platt leapt into the arms of Belarusian captain Alexei Kalyuzhny. Wholesale NHL Jerseys Online . At this rate, the Flyers captain is set to be remembered more for a fantastic finish.TAMPA – Tim Gleason has built a career in the NHL on protecting the house. "You hate when they score," he said with some distaste at the thought. "You take pride in it. You think its your fault every time it goes into the net, whether youre on the ice or not. From a defensive standpoint or mindset, its something that you do have to take pride in." At the core of another failed season with the Maple Leafs sitting outside the postseason picture (theyre still technically alive, but just barely) is a defensive foundation that ranks as one of the worst in hockey. And if there is one dominant trend in the organizations failures since the end of the 2004-05 lockout its just that: they cant keep the puck out of their own net. Season Rank (Goals Against) 2005-06 21st 2006-07 27th 2007-08 27th 2008-09 30th 2009-10 29th 2010-11 24th 2011-12 29th 2013 17th 2013-14 26th Hired to replace the high-octane Ron Wilson in the spring of 2012, Randy Carlyle was supposed to help change all that. "I think that our defensive play, its been sporadic," said Carlyle after a late season practice in Tampa, his team nearing elimination from the postseason for the eighth time in the past nine years. And if Carlyle does lose his job for the house of cards that eventually collapsed in Toronto this year it will be in large part to his failing to influence change in the way the Leafs play defence. But a related question that Dave Nonis and the management team will have to ponder in the summer assessment that follows is how much of the defensive struggle is related to coaching and Carlyles system and how much is simply a failing in personnel and their subsequent commitment to defence. Carl Gunnarsson, one half of the teams top pairing on the back-end, downplayed the trouble as a matter of system. "I dont think theres anything wrong with the system," he told the Leaf Report. Instead, Gunnarsson believed it was a matter of execution within that system. He pointed to a lack of patience, a tendency to stray from the game-plan at the first sign of adversity. And if there was one thing, he said, that made a club like Boston the stingiest of stingy it was their wholehearted commitment to the system Claude Julien has put into place. "If theyre down, if theyre up, they always play the same way and they know that it works," he said. "For some reason, we dont seem to get it in our heads [that] when we do play according to the system and everyone is executing its been working." All of which would explain the unpredictability and inconsistency imbued in the Leafs performance this season. One good period has quickly spiraled into two bad ones. One good game has rarely translated into another. Without saying so quite bluntly, Gleason seemed to suggest that an ingredient of will was missing with this Leafs team when it came to keeping the puck out of the net. That was never more apparent than in a lacklustre loss to Winnipeg over the weekend, one that saw Toronto simply outworked with their playoff chances riding on the line. The Jets grinded pucks down low in the Leafs zone for minutes on end, one-on-one battles lost with alarming frequency. "I think were hoping to get things out of the zone instead of bearing down and knowing its going to get ouut," Gleason said.dddddddddddd "The hopes got to stop. "Were good enough offensively to put numbers on the board, we just have to find a way to bear down, take care of our zone first and then go from there." Otherwise, the Leafs have been doomed by an uneasy assortment of fatal blunders resulting in a steady stream of breakaways, odd-man opportunities and two-time Rocket Richard trophy winners left open with far too much time and space. That was the case when the Leafs last played the Lightning – theyll square off again on Tuesday night – Steven Stamkos scoring a hat trick in a Tampa win. At practice Monday, Jake Gardiner went back to retrieve a puck in the defensive zone with pressure from an oncoming forward. "Get inside," Carlyle bellowed. "Dont let him come inside." Only Gardiner did and the puck was quickly lost. "Obviously with the defensive zone coverage we need to be a lot more inside and lot more stiffer and not as giving of many opportunities from that critical area," Carlyle said afterward. It was a point of emphasis for the coaching staff during the Olympic break. "Theres looseness," he said. "We have people back in position and the stick is not in the right position. Its a foot, six inches, two inches [in the wrong place]. And those things are happening to us. Those are the things that are frustrating for everybody." That was evident, he said, in the two of the goals scored by the Bruins in a third period comeback last week (the Leafs won in overtime). Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron tallied the second and third Boston goals with a swarm of Leafs in and around the puck. "We had people right there," Carlyle said. "We had all five guys around the puck. But somehow they snuck the puck through us – they made good plays – but we were in position. Stick position was an area that obviously we didnt have it in good enough position." On the day of his first training camp in Toronto, the Leafs head coach declared that "its going to just as important to prevent a goal as it is to score a goal and recognition of that is not going to be taken lightly." Part of his job then would be to enforce that mandate, infuse his will on the group. He has not managed to do that in either of his two full seasons behind the bench, his preferred style of play often clashing with the personnel. The Leafs have been one of the leagues worst possession teams under his purview, spending far too much time in the defensive zone. They subsequently yield more shots against than any other team and fail all too often in that defence – they rank fifth worst in goals against despite boasting terrific goaltending from Jonathan Bernier for most of the year. A bad penalty kill, one that ranks third from last this season, has only added to the trouble. And if theres credit owed to the coaching staff for the units improvement a year ago, then responsibility must go the other way when that performance falters. But the question for Nonis is how much of the defensive trouble goes beyond coaching and into personnel? A defence that features Gunnarsson and Dion Phaneuf at the very top isnt likely to have much success at goal prevention and needs obvious upgrade. Beyond that is a forward group long on skill, but short on the requisite commitment, competitiveness and attention to detail. Torontos best players are often amongst its worst offenders. Nonis will wrestle with those questions of coaching and personnel in another offseason that comes earlier than was hoped. Whats clear is where improvement for the club has to begin. "Defence," Gleason said, "I think at the end of the day wins championships." ' ' '