DUNEDIN, Florida – Ryan Goins 35th-career major league game will be his first on an Opening Day. "Yes he is the second baseman," said manager John Gibbons, confirming Goins has made the team. "Thats official today." The Blue Jays love Goins glove. General manager Alex Anthopoulos said earlier this spring he believes Goins is the best defensive second baseman the club has had since the days of Orlando Hudson, going so far as to call Goins Gold Glove-caliber. Goins offence, specifically his lack of offensive production, is where the concern lies, although youd be hard-pressed to find anyone in the organization to admit to it publicly. Instead, there is great optimism, most notably from hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, whos developed a bond with Goins dating back to a week spent together in Kansas City during the offseason. The two continue to work on adjusting Goins swing, the latest tweak made Sunday morning before a trip to play the Yankees. Goins has changed the position of his hands in his stance on multiple occasions, first bringing them down and then bringing them in closer to his body. The latest adjustment involves the elimination of a small hitch as Goins cocks his bat, allowing him to get his bat through the strike zone quicker and better square up the pitch. The hitch wasnt happening during soft toss and batting practice but would appear in game action. Far too often, Goins was rolling over on pitches. He hit into a double play in his first at-bat against the Yankees on Sunday but his contact was solid, which is viewed as a positive step. The pitch was a 94 mile per hour cut fastball. The club says it isnt just about results. "I just took a chance yesterday of getting (his hands) back even further and then just saying, feel like theyre not moving, which theyre still going to move but mentally hes thinking theyre not doing anything, load with your body, and his BP was probably the best its been yesterday," said Seitzer. "I feel like Im in a good place," said Goins. "Going into the season I feel like Im ready to go, ready to get it going. The hits havent come in spring training but Ive really made some strides and had some production and really been working on stuff so that when the season comes I dont have to worry. Thats kind of what spring training is for, to get your timing and get everything ready for the season so I think Im in a good spot." The Blue Jays held their annual minor league awards banquet at the Bobby Mattick complex on Monday morning. Goins took home the Triple-A MVP award for his 2013 season at Buffalo. He acquitted himself well defensively with the Blue Jays in 34 games following a mid-August call up. Hell bat ninth, where his .609 OPS from last season belongs and Gibbons has said Goins will need to "hold his own." The club is willing to trade some offence for defence at the bottom of the order. "Thats my job is to make productive outs," said Goins. "Whatever way I can help the team. Hitting a ground ball to the right side to get a guy over, bunting guys over, getting them in from third, just however I can get them in Im willing to do it. Whatever I need to do to stay here." "Hes doing everything that he needs to do to give himself the best chance against big league pitching," said Seitzer. "Im ecstatic from that standpoint. Hes seeing the ball good, recognitions good, plate disciplines been much better than what I understand its been in the past. Hes very confident on whats going on." REYES UNDERGOES MRI While Jose Reyes insists hes not concerned about the tightness hes feeling in his left hamstring, its enough of a concern that he underwent an MRI on Monday afternoon. Reyes was lifted after the third inning of Saturdays game against Detroit. Is this something he would play through if the games mattered? "Its not the regular season," said Reyes. "The regular season hasnt started yet so I cant think that way. Right now, thats my goal is to be ready for opening day." Manager John Gibbons says Ryan Goins likely will be the clubs shortstop on days when Jose Reyes needs a rest or is injured. Goins is a natural shortstop. MORROWS OUTING Brandon Morrow pitched five innings and threw a personal spring high of 74 pitches in Mondays 6-3, rain-shortened loss to the Phillies. His line was mixed: four earned runs on five hits, three walks and four strikeouts. "Obviously I would have liked to not have walked the two guys in the two scoring innings," said Morrow. "That kind of set up the scoring innings for them." Morrow has one more start before hes penciled in to pitch either the fourth or the fifth game of the season. Hell make that start on Saturday at Olympic Stadium in Montreal and the plan is for Morrow to exceed the 74 pitches he threw on Monday. Manager John Gibbons says the club will closely monitor Morrows pitch count during his early regular season outings. JANSSEN MAKES FIRST GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE APPEARANCE Casey Janssen, whos been on his own program this spring as he battles stiffness in the back of his pitching shoulder, stranded two Phillies singles over a scoreless inning in his first Grapefruit League appearance this year. A control artist not known for his velocity, Janssen wasnt concerned that his fastball topped out at 86 miles per hour. "I think as I continue to challenge my arm the velocity will come," said Janssen. "Still kind of feel like youre kind of breaking through some stuff from the winter and each and every day you kind of hit a new high and continue on like that." Janssen plans to pitch on back to back days on Thursday, against the Phillies in Clearwater, and on Friday versus the Mets in Montreal. TUIASOSOPO ARRIVES Its been quite the odyssey for Matt Tuiasosopo, who was finally in a Blue Jays uniform on Monday morning. "A little crazy," he said. "Flown a lot of miles." Tuiasosopo was in Sydney, Australia, where his former team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, played two season-opening games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was placed on waivers and picked up by the Blue Jays on Friday, necessitating a Sydney-to-Dallas-to-Tampa trip, 16 hours all told, not to mention the time change. Tuiasosopo is a right-handed hitter with some pop. He has a career .638 OPS hitting against left-handers in a limited major league sample size. He offers the Jays some defensive versatility, able to play the two corner outfield positions as well as first base and third base. "Not a lot of time, just a couple of days," said Tuiasosopo. "Better make the most of every opportunity I get." CAMP CUTS The Blue Jays pared down their major league roster by four bodies on Monday. Outfielder Anthony Gose was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. Infielders Chris Getz and Steve Tolleson, and catcher Mike Nickeas were reassigned to minor league camp. Zack Granite Rangers Jersey .com) - Jenny Boucek is the new head coach of the Seattle Storm. Delino DeShields Jr. Jersey .ca! Hi Kerry, Im sure youve received many emails wondering what your take is on the Spezza goal that looked like Neil blatantly kicked it in while standing directly in the middle of the crease where, you know, usually a goalie is to make a save but couldnt be due to Neil being there! Thanks! Jon - Westfield, MA Jon: Lets first ask Henrik Lundqvist what he thought of the scoring of the Sens second goal with . https://www.cheaprangersbaseball.com/289...ey-rangers.html. -- Jesse Lussier scored 8:24 into overtime as the Halifax Mooseheads erased a four-goal deficit to beat the host Val-dOr Foreurs 6-5 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action. Bartolo Colon Jersey . The cause of his death is as of yet undetermined, but police said foul play is not suspected. Rangers Jerseys 2019 . According to a police report, Douglas is accused of grabbing his girlfriend by the neck and slamming her against the wall several times while he carried her from the elevator to their Hartford hotel room early Sunday morning.NASHVILLE -- Jeff Skinner is providing a big offensive boost for the Carolina Hurricanes. Skinner got his first career hat trick to lead the Hurricanes to a 5-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night. He has five goals in his past two games. Justin Faulk and Riley Nash also scored for Carolina, winners of its past two. Mike Fisher and Viktor Stalberg scored for Nashville, which completed a four-game homestand 0-3-1. Faulk scored the games first goal just 23 seconds after the opening faceoff with a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot that beat Nashville goaltender Marek Mazanec between the pads. "Any time you can establish good play or good momentum early in the game, let alone a goal, is always huge," Faulk said. "You dont go into the game expecting to score on your first shift or your first shot on net, but obviously when you do that it kind of gives your team a little bit of a boost." Nashville tied it at 50 seconds of the second on Fishers goal. Defenceman Victor Bartley fired a slap shot toward the Carolina net from the left point. Standing just to the left of the slot, Fisher tipped the puck over the shoulder of Carolina goaltender Justin Peters. Bartleys assist was his first point of the season. "Its been a long time since I had a point so that was definitely nice to get," Bartley said. "Fisher did a great job getting on the net, and (Seth) Jones made a nice pass to me. We had some traffic and good things happened." Less than two minutes later, Stalberg gave Nashville the lead at 2:41. Coming down the right side on a 2-on-1 break with Nick Spaling, Stalbergs initial shot was turned aside by Peters, but he skated around the goal and swatted it into the net with a backhand for his third goal of the season. Skinner evened the game at 2 at 6:11 of the second on a wrist shot from the right circle low to Mazanecs glove side. Carolina regained the lead at 11:51 of the second. Just out of the penalty box, Ron Hainsey intercepted a clearing attempt by Nashvilles Roman Josi leading to a 3-on-1 break for the Hurricanes. Hainsey found Patrick Dwyer, who made a nice pass to Nash for his second of the season. "That thirrd goal, it was just a blatant turnover," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said.dddddddddddd "That changed the whole game right there. It got them excited and it got us on our heels again." Nashs score snapped a 19-game goal-scoring drought. Skinners second goal came on the power play at 19:08 of the second when he ripped a slap shot from above the circle by Mazanec. "The PP has sort of been struggling throughout the year, but I think the last couple of games we have sort of felt good about that," Skinner said. "Its always nice to get goals late in the periods, coming into the locker room with that good feeling." Carter Hutton replaced Mazanec in the Nashville goal at the start of the third period. Mazanec, who was named the NHLs Rookie of the Month for November, stopped just nine of the 13 shots he faced in 40 minutes. Skinner completed the hat trick at 17:53 of the third with an empty-net goal. "Hes shooting the puck," Carolina coach Kirk Muller said. "Hes a goal scorer when he shoots the puck. He can score when he gets those opportunities, so hes working for it." Carolinas Patrick Dwyer, Mike Komisarek, and Dryason Bowman all left the game with injuries and did not return. Notes: Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne underwent an MRI on Thursday, and the results were improved according to general manager David Poile. Rinne will continue limited physical activity for the next two weeks and, if all goes well, will be able to advance to more strenuous conditioning later in December. "In a nutshell, the doctor is happy with the progress," Poile said. "What he is recommending is two more weeks basically of rehab if you will. December 20th is sort of a target date to hopefully get him into more strenuous activity leading back to playing." ... Nashville D Shea Weber missed his third straight game with an eye injury. The team announced that he would practice with the team Friday and return to the lineup as early as Saturday in Washington. ... Mazanec has started Nashvilles past 12 games. Carolina C Eric Staal has points in three straight games. ... The Hurricanes previous win in Nashville came Dec. 3, 2002. ' ' '