TORONTO -- Alex Anthopoulos was prepared to stay the course with catcher J. Adidas Zx 700 Baratas .P Arencibia, until he discovered the Toronto Blue Jays could make an upgrade behind the plate with free agent Dioner Navarro. The Jays officially parted way with Arencibia on Monday by declining to tender a contract offer to the fourth-year catcher. The move came after Anthopoulos signed Navarro to a two-year, US$8-million deal. "Dioner had a wonderful year last year in 240 at bats, and we think that theres some upside there, especially considering his age," the Blue Jays GM said on a conference call Tuesday. "We just think its a nice fit, and obviously well find out." Arencibia struggled through the worst season of career in 2013, with a .194 batting average, 21 home runs and 55 RBIs. The 27-year-old fan favourite, who began his Blue Jays career with so much promise -- homering on his first major-league pitch in 2010 -- struck out 148 times this past season, 15th most in Major League Baseball. Anthopoulos said he has no idea why Arencibia regressed so much last season. "I wish I did. I do think hes going to bounce back," Anthopoulos said. "He was a little banged up, and one thing about J.P., hes a very durable guy, very tough, plays through a lot of injuries. There was a time we almost put him on the (disabled list), he wanted to keep playing, he battled through it and grinded through it, and Ive seen him play with a broken hand and things like that. "But I really dont know, certainly we didnt expect him to have that type of year. .. Obviously hes very proud and has extreme pride in his job, and I think it may have just worn on him." Still, Anthopoulos said the decision to replace Arencibia wasnt made until the "last few weeks or so." The 29-year-old Navarro, a 10-year veteran from Venezuela, has served mostly as a backup but was an all-star with Tampa Bay in 2008. He hit .300 with a career-high 13 home runs in 89 games for the Chicago Cubs last season. He also had 34 runs batted in. "Navarro was someone who has pretty good contact rate, low strikeouts, pretty good on base skills, been able to take a walk and work the count," Anthopoulos said. "From a game-calling standpoint, the work that we did on him, everyone really raved about his game-calling, and how guys love throwing to him." Anthopoulos said Navarro -- whos also played for the New York Yankees, Los Angeles, Cincinnati and the Chicago Cubs -- is keen to get return to a starting role in the majors. "The fact that Dioner has played over a hundred games three times in his career, has been an all-star and is only 29, that certainly factored into the decision," he said. "Dioner is very motivated and very hungry to get back to being that everyday guy, he just hasnt had an opportunity to be the everyday guy since he left the Rays." The GM said he called Arencibia on Sunday night to let him know his plans. Through his struggles on the field, the catcher became a lightning rod for criticism this past season when the Jays were failing to live up to lofty pre-season expectations. The catcher lashed out on Twitter at Sportsnet analysts Dirk Hayhurst and Gregg Zaun over their negative comments. He then deleted his Twitter account, posting in a final three-part tweet to his some 145,000 followers: "Its unfortunate to see how words are twisted to make false stories. "I give way too much of myself to have others try and make me out to (be) something/someone Im not." "I will no longer be on twitter," he said. "Thanks to all the fans who support and praying for the others that hate. God bless." Anthopoulos said in the "grand scheme of things," the fact Arencibia vented his frustration on Twitter wasnt a big deal, and said there were never any off-field issues with the former Jays catcher. "I think he was probably one of our best guys in the community, always was available, always was a great supporter of the ball club, any time we had a need in the off-season," Anthopoulos said. "Theres a lot of things he did behind the scenes that no-one saw so to me he was outstanding." Adidas Superstar 2 Hombre . -- Chris Wondolowski scored his 10th goal of the season and the San Jose Earthquakes made it stand for a 1-0 victory against the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday. Zapatillas Nike Air Max 90 Outlet . Louis is going to get a chance to represent his country at the Winter Olympics after all. CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks helped their coach reach another milestone by putting forth the kind of buttoned-down, hard-nosed effort Joel Quenneville admires. But it came with quite a price -- an injury to leading scorer Patrick Kane that is expected to sideline the star forward for about three weeks. Corey Crawford stopped 23 shots for his second shutout this season, backstopping the Blackhawks to a physical 4-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night that gave Quenneville his 700th NHL win. "Ill take any kind of win, but I certainly liked everything about how we went about tonights game," Quenneville said. "It was a real solid team victory for us, something weve been trying to do against these guys all year." It was a costly victory, though. Kane left the game at 7:56 of the second period, favouring his left leg as he headed to the dressing room following a collision with Brenden Morrow. Kane is expected to miss about three weeks with a lower-body injury, Quenneville said. "Hes a special player," Quenneville said. "Well work our way through this. Its a huge loss for us." Duncan Keith, Andrew Shaw, Marcus Kruger and Ben Smith scored as Chicago ended the league-leading Blues nine-game point streak (8-0-1) and dealt St. Louis its first regulation loss against a Central Division opponent this season. The Blues entered 20-0-2 against division foes and hadnt lost in regulation since a 1-0 defeat at Anaheim on Feb. 28. Quenneville, who previously guided St. Louis and Colorado, has the most wins of any active NHL coach and ranks third all-time behind Al Arbour and Scotty Bowman, now the Blackhawks senior adviser of hockey operations. Crawford earned his 10th career shutout in Chicagos first win against the Blues this season after three losses. After St. Louis set the tone early, the Blackhawks regrouped, pushed back and took charge for the remainder of the game. "Tonight we knew was going to be a tough matchup," Crawford said. "It was physical -- it seems like its always physical against these guys. It felt like a playoff atmosphere." Kane, who has 29 goals and 40 assists, set up Keiths oppening goal. Zapatillas New Balance 574 Baratas. His loss tempered one of Chicagos biggest victories this season. "He brings so many things to the table offensively for us," Keith said. "When you have a guy like that out with an injury, you have to look at the positives from it." St. Louis goalie Ryan Miller lost in regulation for the first time since joining the Blues following a trade from Buffalo on Feb. 28. Miller, now 7-1-1 with St. Louis, was replaced by Brian Elliott at 7:58 of the third period after allowing four goals on 27 shots. "We let him out to dry," Blues captain David Backes said. "We could have had three goalies in there on some of them. We just didnt play well in front of him." St. Louis needs one win to clinch a playoff spot for the 38th time in franchise history. But on Wednesday, the Blues got shut down after a solid start. "The first 10 minutes we were really good," coach Ken Hitch**** said. "Then they dialed it up and we started reacting and they took it to us. A good wake-up call." The win moved Chicago one point ahead of Colorado for second in the Central Division and fourth in the Western Conference. The Blackhawks have struggled this season against their top rivals in the Central. Chicago entered Wednesdays game with only one win and five points in eight games against St. Louis and Colorado. Keith scored the only goal in a physical first period on a power play with 58 seconds left. The play got tighter and grittier in the second, and Chicago took a 2-0 lead thanks to Shaws goal on a deflection with 4:25 left in the period. Kruger and Smith scored 2:15 apart in the third period to ice it for Chicago. Notes: Blackhawks C Michal Handzus played in his 1,000th NHL game and was honoured in a pregame ceremony. ... St. Louis RW Vladimir Tarasenko underwent surgery for a right hand injury sustained last Saturday at Nashville in the final minute of the game. He will be re-evaluated in six weeks. ... Blues RW T.J. Oshie returned to the lineup after missing one game for the birth of his first child. ... Chicago LW Brandon Saad sat out his second game with an upper-body injury and is day to day. wholesale jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
