BOSTON – Its not yet June and thanks to the advent of the two wild card spots in each league, only two of 30 teams can make the argument to their fans that theyre out of the playoff hunt. Custom Arizona Coyotes Jerseys . With apologies to the Arizona Diamondbacks, a club that made offseason moves with the intention of contending and will now give new hire Tony La Russa time to assess the damage of a disastrous start, the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs have dropped far enough in the standings to consider the postseason unachievable. The Cubs have a prized piece at the front of their starting rotation. He is 29-year-old Jeff Samardzija, the ace of a bad baseball team whos expected to top the wish list of teams looking to bolster their pitching staffs ahead of the important games of August and September. Dont let the numbers fool you. Samardzija is good. The Cubs are not good. He is winless in nine starts this season despite posting a big league-best 1.62 ERA. In fact, Samardzijas winless skid stretches to 16 if you go back to last year. Chicago, with its impotent offence, doesnt score him any runs. An even crueler fate: Samardzija pitched seven scoreless innings against the Yankees on Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley Field, departing with a 2-0 lead, only to watch his closer and defence implode in the ninth. The Cubs lost in extra innings. Word around the Blue Jays is if the club is in contention approaching the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, ownership would be willing to loosen the purse strings to acquire additional help. Toronto needs help in its starting rotation with two spots in perpetual question. J.A. Happ is filling one at the moment. Somebody will fill the other come Saturday. Its expected to be Liam Hendriks, a former Minnesota Twin whos off to a strong start at Triple-A Buffalo. Blue Jays catcher Dioner Navarro was a Cub last year and caught Samardzija 10 times. "Hes really good," said Navarro. "I think hes one of those guys the numbers last year didnt show what hes capable of. Hes a horse. He wants the ball. He wants to win. Hes still got that football mentality. Hes that type of player." Samardzija features a sinking fastball, which he pumps up at 91 miles per hour at the low end, 97 at the high end. Hell spike a splitter; he throws a backdoor slider and a cut fastball. "Hes got everything, man," said Navarro. "Hes got it." Should Samardzija land in the American League East, a real possibility considering the interest hell likely draw not just from the Blue Jays but also the injury-riddled Yankees and maybe others, hell quickly find himself in a home run-friendly division with home run-friendly parks and lineups that stretch deep. Its not the National League Central. Navarro doesnt think he would have a problem adjusting. "I believe so," said Navarro. "I think hes a strikeout pitcher. Hes a swing and miss type of guy. I believe that hes got what it takes. I think the most important thing that hes got is hes a really competitive guy and he wants to win. Obviously hes going to have to make some adjustments coming from the NL Central to the American League East but I think hes going to be a huge asset if we get the opportunity to get him." The Cubs reported asking price for Samardzija in the offseason involved both top pitching prospects Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman. Needless to say that would be a steep price to pay. It may, however, be the going rate. With so many teams jumbled around the .500 mark and no sign of that changing in the foreseeable future, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer should have a number of intriguing offers to peruse. If Cliff Lees elbow problem is anything serious for the Phillies, another potential chip comes off the market and Samardzijas price goes up further. How about that? The perpetually weak Cubs will be dealing from a position of strength. CHECK OUT THE PODCAST Episode 5 of The Baseball Podcast, #TBP, is available online. TSN 1050 contributors Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star and Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com and I discuss Fenway Park, the Blue Jays red hot offence, the persistent issues with the back end of the starting rotation, Jose Reyes defence and whether the media is too easy on general manager Alex Anthopoulos. Click here to listen. Richard Panik Jersey . Last year, Matt Kuchar closed with a 4-under 68 to beat Kevin Chappell by two strokes for his second win of the 2013 season and sixth of his career. Jakob Chychrun Jersey . -- Cordell Cato scored his first goal of the season and the San Jose Earthquakes survived a full half playing a man down to beat FC Dallas 2-1 Saturday night. http://www.officialcoyotesfanstore.com/authentic-clayton-keller-coyotes-jersey/ .com) - On the bright side, either the Minnesota Wild or Buffalo Sabres will end their losing streak on Thursday night.Kaupulehu-Kona, HI (SportsNetwork.com) - Despite trailing by as many as four shots on Sunday, Miguel Angel Jimenez caught fire on the back nine as he fired a final-round, 6-under 66 to outlast Mark OMeara and win by one shot at the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship. Jimenez, who has now won two times in just three career starts on the Champions Tour, finished the week at 17-under-par 199 thanks to six birdies over his final nine holes at Hualalai Golf Club. OMeara, who trailed the leaders Jimenez and Rocco Mediate at the start of the final day, started off on fire and held a 3-shot lead at one point in the final round, but he could not quite withstand Jimenezs charge. OMeara carded an 8-under 64 and finished alone in second at 16-under 200. Like Jimenez, Couples also shot a 66 and he finished three shots back at 14- under 202. Mediate, who held the first-round lead and a share of the second- round advantage with Jimenez, carded a 2-under 70 and ended alone in fourth at minus-13. Defending champion Bernhard Langer fired a 5-under 67 to finish tied for fifth at 12-under 204 with Wes Short, Jr. (66), Colin Montgomerie (68) and Olin Browne (69). With Jimenez and Mediate deadlocked at minus-11 to start the day, OMeara started his way up the leaderboard with birdies on his first two holes, putting him at minus-10. After a par on three, OMeara pulled even with Jimenez and Mediate with another birdie on four. Both Jimenez and Mediate poured in gains on three to take the lead back before Jimenez grabbed the outright lead with a birdie on four. With Mediate a shot back, OMeara made his fourth birdie on six to join Mediate at 12-under. Jimenezs big mistake came on No. 5 where he tripped to a double-bogey and fell completely out of the lead and down to 11-under. In the meantime, OMeara drained yet another birdie on seven and Mediate birdied the sixth, putting them both in the lead at 13-under. OMeara continued to play exceptional golf when he chipped in for birdie on No. 9, giving him the outright advantage, but Mediate came back with a gain of his own on seven to tie the two once again. The back-and-forth finally ended when OMeara drained his seventh birdie on No. 10, while Mediate tripped to bogeys on eight and nine. Montgomerie was also making a charge when he made his sixth birdie of the day on 10, pulling him within one of OMeara. Michael Grabner Jersey. Jimenez remained quiet for a while after his double-bogey with four straight pars from six, but it was just the calm before the storm. Trailing OMeara by four when Jimenez made the turn, something clicked and he started off with a gain on 10 to get him to minus-12, three behind OMeara. I needed to make some birdies, said Jimenez. I started to make birdies and thats what you need to do. OMeara tripped to his only bogey on 12, but he rebounded with another gain on 13 to take a 2-shot lead over Montgomerie and three over Jimenez, who was at 12-under among others. Jimenez made it two straight birdies with a gain on 11, moving him to minus-13. While that was happening, Montgomerie made back-to-back bogeys on 13 and 14, dropping him back to 12-under and he never recovered. It appeared as if OMeara had the tournament under control when he took a 3- shot lead with a birdie on 14, but Jimenez quickly came back with a gain of his own on 13 to trim the lead to two. This is when Jimenez really made his move. OMeara wound up finishing with four straight pars from 15 to end at minus-16. Jimenez was able to tap in for birdie on the par-5 14th and he made it three straight gains with another one on 15 to pull even with OMeara. Following a par on 16, Jimenez knocked his approach on 17 about 30 feet from the hole on the fringe. Having putted so well all week, Jimenez just snuck his ball in the left side of the cup for a birdie that wound up winning the tournament. Jimenez stayed calm and made par at the last to claim his title. I tried to hit it as close as possible, Jimenez said about his putt on 17. I put (the second shot) right on line and then I holed that putt that was very important. NOTES: Jimenezs first win on the Champions Tour came at the Greater Gwinnett Championship last year ... Jimenezs other start on tour came at last years Senior British Open, where he ended tied for eighth ... OMeara will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame as a member of the 2015 class ... With the win, Jimenez earned $309,000 ... The Champions Tour is off next week before the Allianz Championship in two weeks, where Michael Allen defeated Duffy Waldorf in a playoff last season. ' ' '