With just a month to go until spring training kicks off, the free agent market is still pretty stagnant. Air Jordan 4 Wholesale . Part of the reason, of course, is the reluctance that teams have in parting with first-round draft picks as compensation for signing certain players, who come with that price tag attached. That made me wonder how valuable first-round picks really actually are. I took a look at three teams, one top dog, the New York Yankees, one middle-of-the-road club in the Toronto Blue Jays and one team generally at the back of the pack, the Chicago Cubs. Since the amateur draft began in 1965, the Yankees have chosen 51 players in the first-round, including supplemental picks. Twenty-seven of those spent some time in the Bigs and 24 didnt make it. The success rate is 52 per cent and this is a team that usually picks in the back end of the first round. The Yankees best first-rounder, without question, is Derek Jeter, taken at number six overall in 1992. The Yankees have done alright with compensation picks for losing free agents, as well. In 1996, they got a quality lefty in Eric Milton for losing infielder Randy Velarde. In 2004, they chose right-hander Phil Hughes when Andy Petitte jumped ship to the Astros before ultimately returning to the Yankees where he finished his career. In 2006, they chose righties Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain upon losing curveball specialist Tom "Flash" Gordon. You might think the Cubs would have far great success with firsts than the Yanks because they miss the playoffs so often. However, the gap is only five per cent on the success scale. The Cubs have drafted 61 players in the first round since 1965 with 35 making it to the Majors. In other words, a percentage of 57 versus the Yankees 52 per cent. The Cubs top picks over the years have included Joe Carter in 1981, Rafael Palmeiro in 1985 and the flame-throwing Kerry Wood in 1995. In 2007, the Cubs used a supplemental first-round pick to take Josh Donaldson, who has since blossomed into a very good player with the Oakland Athletics. The only other supplemental pick of note made by the Cubs was Palmeiro, whom they were able to select for losing reliever Tim Stoddard to free agency. The Cubs made, without a doubt, the worst decision in the history of free agency when they allowed Hall of Famer Greg Maddux to walk away to the Atlanta Braves after the 1992 season. The Cubbies got two draft picks in return, which they used the following June to take pitcher Jon Ratliff and infielder Kevin Orie. In the following three seasons, Maddux won three Cy Young Awards and helped the Braves to a World Series title in 1995. Ratliff and Orie quickly faded into obscurity. Where do the Blue Jays fit in? Well, since they came in the American League in 1977, they have made 64 first-round picks and 36 have seen time in the Majors, good for a 56 per cent success rate. The Blue Jays have had pretty good success with first-rounders over the years, including Lloyd Moseby (1978,) Ed Sprague (1988,) Shawn Green (1991,) Shannon Stewart (1992,) Chris Carpenter (1993,) Roy Halladay (1995,) Billy Koch (1996,) Ricky Romero (2005,) Brett Cecil (2007) and J.P Arencibia in 2007...oh, well on that one. Righty Dustin McGowan (2000,) whos battled through a myriad of injuries, is still around as well. The Blue Jays have greatly utilized their supplemental picks and, well, you really couldnt do much better than they have. When lefty Bud Black, now the manager of the San Diego Padres, signed with the San Francisco Giants, the Jays used the pick they received to take Green. When knuckleballer Tom Candiotti left for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Jays wound up with Stewart and when the "Terminator" Tom Henke returned to the Texas Rangers after the 92 World Series triumph, the Blue Jays used their pick to select future Cy Young winner, Carpenter. Of course, there a few in the not-so-good category, too. When Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar left for the Baltimore Orioles, the payback was Joe Lawrence. I guess the bottom line is that there are no sure things, but if you have a top-notch scouting staff and good development staff, you can risk losing those good, but not great free agents. But the ones you target as stars, you can never let walk away. - ESPN came out with its annual top 100 list of All-time Major League greats. Roy Halladay and Dave Winfield fell within the top 125 and received honorable mentions. Five players, though, who wore the Blue Jays uniform (albeit, briefly in some cases) cracked the top 100. Knuckleballer Phil Niekro was number 100, Paul Molitor came in at 78, Roberto Alomar at 74, "The Big Hurt" Frank Thomas at 70 and Rickey Henderson at number 14. Of the seven in total, Halladay was the only one drafted and developed by the Jays. Does that make him the greatest Blue Jay of all-time? Its a great argument, but my vote is still with Alomar, even though he only spent five seasons in Toronto, and my top Blue Jays pitcher, though just by a hair, is Dave Stieb. - Its great to see former Blue Jays fan favourite John McDonald signing a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Angels with an invitation to spring training, but sad to see Vernon Wells get released by the Yankees after being designated for assignment. Cheap Jordan 4 Shoes . You can watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 3pm et/Noon pt. The Thunder reclaimed the home-court advantage LA took with a Game 1 win on Friday night with a 118-112 road win in Game 3. Jordan 4 Online Store . Anderson is scheduled to have neck surgery April 8 to repair the injury, which occurred when he collided with the Celtics Gerald Wallace during a game in Boston on Jan. 3. The 6-foot-10 Pelicans forward, who had been averaging 19. http://www.wholesaleairjordan4.com/ . -- The Tampa Bay Lightning are disappointed, though not discouraged.DENVER -- Tim Thomas made himself right at home in his adoptive state. Thomas had 32 saves for his 200th NHL victory and Brian Campbell had a goal and an assist in the Florida Panthers 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. Brad Boyes, Tomas Kopecky and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored, and Tom Gilbert had three assists for the Panthers. Ryan OReilly scored for Colorado, which has lost three straight. The bad news kept coming for the Avalanche when coach Patrick Roy said star centre Matt Duchene injured an oblique during the third period. He played only three shifts after the second intermission. "Hopefully its not too serious," Roy said. The Avalanche have cooled off after setting a franchise record for the hottest start through 16 games. They dropped road games in Carolina and St. Louis and came home looking to turn things around against lowly Florida. Thomas had a lot to do with Saturdays loss. The 39-year-old goalie moved to the Colorado Springs area in 2012, where the elevation is more than 2,000 feet higher than Denver. "I dont know if its the mountain air," he said after looking sharp on consecutive nights. "Obviously, I lived out here in Colorado the last year, but I felt real good and I was seeing the puck real well." The Panthers, who lost in Minnesota on Friday, looked like the fresher team throughout. They outshot Colorado 14-10 in the first period and had more scoring opportunities. They cashed in when Scottie Upshall found Boyes alone in front of the net, and he beat Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov with a wrister to make it 1-0 with 7:20 left in the first period. Varlamov finished with 29 saves. "We set the pace pretty good," Gilbert said. "Weve had slow starts and we just got pucks deep and played a great game down low.&" Colorado stayed on its heels in part because of four penalties -- one a double-minor for high sticking by Nate Guenin. Cheap Jordan 4 Wholesale. The Panthers capitalized on that early in the second when Campbells slap shot from the top of the circle beat Varlamov to make it 2-0 1:15 into the frame. It was the first two-goal lead of the season for the Panthers. "Its nice playing with a lead, its a good feeling and thats what you want all the time," Campbell said. The Avalanche cut the deficit in half when OReillys shot went off Gilberts leg and past Thomas early in the second, but Kopecky restored the two-goal lead when he scored 2 seconds after Colorado killed off its fifth penalty in the first 33 minutes of the game. "We got some energy back after the goal and gave up a goal," Roy said. "We were battling and played them more even in the third." Colorado amped up the pressure in the third, but couldnt get one past Thomas, who made 15 saves in the period. Huberdeau sealed it with his fifth goal at 12:16 of the third. "We havent had the lead very often, but when we have had it weve played pretty well," Thomas said. "We play very composed with the lead and thats a good sign. Its been our goal at times this year. The last thing we need is to have problems in that area." NOTES: Upshall had two assists. ... Avalanche D Matt Hunwick was in the lineup for the first time since being recalled from Lake Erie of the AHL on Nov. 4. ... Colorado was the second stop of the Panthers five-game, eight-day Western Conference road swing. ... Avalanche LW Cody McLeods wife Jessica gave birth to a baby girl early Saturday morning. ... Floridas five wins have come against teams with winning records. It was the Panthers first win in Denver since Jan. 2, 2003. 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