Clan-Members » right out of the gate, he said.Kelly

OAKLAND, Calif. -- First baseman Justin Smoak has agreed to a two-year contract extension worth $8.25 million with the Toronto Blue Jays.The contract announced by the team on Saturday will pay the 29-year-old Smoak $4.125 million per season in the first two years of the deal, with a $6 million option in 2019.Smoak would have been a free agent after this season in a thin market but said he wanted to stay in the American League East.We love Toronto, me and my family, and we wanted to stay here as long as we can, Smoak said. So we just wanted to get something done.Smoak is in his seventh season in the majors with his third team. He was the 11th overall selection in the first round of the 2008 draft by the Texas Rangers.He batting .234 with nine home runs and 23 runs batted in this season. In seven major league seasons, hes had a .225 batting average with 101 home runs, 316 RBI and a .310 on-base percentage.Smoak, by his own admission, says he hasnt lived up to the expectations of his elite pre-draft status.No, not even close, Smoak said Saturday before the game against Oakland. I know I can be a better player. Its all about staying consistent. Thats what you strive for every day and thats the goal to keep working on ... to be a more consistent player.Smoak, an everyday player with the Seattle Mariners for four seasons, has accepted being a role player with the Blue Jays.I know what it takes to play every day for a full season, and I also know what it takes to be a guy off the bench and be ready to help this team out, Smoak said. I want to play every day, thats always the goal. But if thats not the case, thats not the case.Whatever it takes to help this team win ballgames.Barry Bonds Pirates Jersey . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. Jameson Taillon Pirates Jersey .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. http://www.pittsburghpiratesprostore.us/Lonnie-Chisenhall-pirates-jersey/ . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. Francisco Liriano Jersey . Soukalova missed only one target and completed the 15-kilometre course in 40 minutes, 32.6 seconds for both victories in this seasons individual discipline. Darya Domracheva of Belarus was second, 34. Barry Bonds Jersey . LOUIS -- St.SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- About the only thing Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly can say for certain about the quarterback position on the eve of practice is he doesnt expect DeShone Kizer and Malik Zaire to play at the same time.He wasnt willing to rule out much more than that Friday as he fielded repeated questions about different scenarios on the eve of practice beginning Saturday in Culver, 30 miles south of campus.I have not taken anything off the table, honestly, Kelly said. If you go down the roster ... and look at the playmakers on offense, two of them are on the quarterback side. So I have to look at all of those, and factor every one of those in.Its not the answer Kizer or Zaire want to hear, but both realize it is the reality they are facing. Each is focused only on being the starter.This is what I came here to do, to compete and try to be the Notre Dame quarterback, Kizer said. Im pretty happy with where I stand. Now its time to go out there and prove it.Kizer, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound right-hander, led the Irish to nine victories, completing 211 of 335 passes for 2,884 yards with 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.Zaire, a 6-foot, 225-pound left-hander, won the starting job last year and completed 19 of 22 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns in a season-opening 38-3 win over Texas, with his 86.4 percent completion rate ranking second in school history for a single game. But he broke his right ankle a week later against Virginia and watched as Kizer led the Irish to a 10-3 finish and a No. 11 ranking.Zaire said hes not focusing on being the best quarterback at NNotre Dame; hes working to be the best quarterback in college football.ddddddddddddThats what Im focused on and I know thats going to translate into wins for the team, he said.Kelly, entering his seventh season as coach of the Irish, said he doesnt have a timetable for picking a starter before the Sept. 4 opener at Texas. He said depth at quarterback is what leads him to believe the Irish can vie for a playoff spot this season despite losing experience at receiver and along the offensive line.I think in college football any time you have a quarterback -- quarterbacks, were full with quarterbacks -- that gives you a fighting chance right out of the gate, he said.Kelly isnt worried that letting the competition continue could hurt the offense, saying the pair arent that different and he knows what he wants the offense to look like.They have some strengths and weaknesses within the offense that well tweak just a little bit, but theres no overhaul of the offense if one is in vs. the other. Theres just some play selections that would be different, he said. So we can still lay down our entire installation seamlessly.Game notesKelly said he expects sophomore quarterback Brandon Wimbush to sit out this season and compete for a starting spot next season. ... Kelly also announced that defensive lineman Grant Blankenship, who was suspended from the team in April for violating unspecified team rules is no longer with the team and seeking a transfer. ' ' '