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. 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. Air Max 1 Sale Cheap . TSN was honoured with several awards, with Rod Smith and James Duthie sharing the win for Best Sports Host for SportsCentre and the NHL: Season On The Brink coverage, respectively. Air Max 1 Sale Australia . The three goals bring Messis career tally for Barcelona to 371 in all games -- including friendlies -- breaking the club record of 369 held by Paulino Alcantara since 1927. The 26-year-old Messi was already the clubs all-time leading scorer in official games. Messi assured Barcelonas fans they will enjoy his goals for years to come, saying "as long as people want me, I will stay here. http://www.wholesaleairmax1australia.com/. The agreement comes a little more than one week after the video game manufacturer agreed to a $40 million settlement in a similar but separate case, bringing the total payout planned for athletes to $60 million, said Steve Berman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, and the NCAA. Wholesale Air Max 1 Australia . PETERSBURG, Fla. Air Max 1 Cheap Australia . The post-season, Pierce said repeatedly, is no time to panic. And the Heat, apparently, are nothing to fear. EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Anze Kopitar politely disagrees with the idea that the Los Angeles Kings top line has dominated the Anaheim Ducks best scorers in their second-round playoff series. Since its Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau who suggested the idea, its clear Kopitar and his linemates are doing something right to put the Kings in control of the series so far. Boudreau didnt hesitate to spotlight the ineffectiveness of centre Ryan Getzlaf and longtime linemate Corey Perry after Los Angeles 3-1 victory in Game 2 on Monday night, putting the Kings up 2-0 heading home to Staples Center for Game 3 on Thursday. Boudreau began the game matching up Getzlaf, Perry and Matt Beleskey against Kopitar, Marian Gaborik and captain Dustin Brown. By the third period, he was sending out his former Hart Trophy winner and current Hart finalist against anybody else. "I did it because Kopitars line was dominating them," Boudreau said. "When theyre dominating them, I could be stubborn and leave them out there all day, but we had to move something around to get away from it, and maybe his line could get something accomplished." Kopitar isnt exactly enjoying a breakthrough season, given that he has been one of the NHLs best centres for several years. Yet with a point in every post-season game and his first Selke Trophy nomination, Kopitar is clearly in top form as the Kings chase their second championship in three years. And Kopitar has been playing against Getzlaf long enough to know he shouldnt claim a shutdown victory just yet. "I dont know about dominating them," Kopitar said Tuesday when told of Boudreaus statement. "I think they were playing good, and they hemmed us in our zone for a little bit, too. We know as a line that we can play better, and were going to have to play better." Even when he raised the Stanley Cup as the playoffs co-scoring leader two years ago, Kopitar never got as much international attention as he did this winter. Kopitar is the Kings leading scorer for the seventh straight year, but he also led Slovenia to the quarterfinals of its first Olympic tournament before becoming a first-time finalist for the Selke as the leagues best defensive forwardd.dddddddddddd Kopitar began Tuesday as the leading scorer in the NHL post-season again, with four goals and 10 assists during his nine-game scoring streak. "Hes been doing this for years, and this might be as good as Ive ever seen him play," Kings centre Mike Richards said. Getzlaf knows the pressure is on him to match Kopitars effort when the series moves to downtown Los Angeles for the next two games, and the Ducks captain has met every challenge so far this season. Getzlaf was the NHLs second-leading scorer in the regular season while developing into an impressive leader. He has assisted on all three of Anaheims goals in the series, but Perry has yet to find the back of Jonathan Quicks net. The Ducks meagre offensive output in the first two games against Los Angeles isnt shocking, given the Kings status as the NHLs best defensive team in front of their dominant goalie. Yet Getzlaf and Perry have been able to score on almost anybody this year, and theyre determined to get their teammates going at Staples Center. "I was mad, and Im still mad," Getzlaf said Tuesday. "I want to win, and when we dont win, I get mad. Thats just the nature of my well-being." Even if Kopitars line was as dominating as Boudreau said, the Kings clearly arent overpowering the Ducks in this series. Anaheim was 7 seconds away from winning Game 1 when Gaborik tied it with the goalie pulled, and Los Angeles sat on a one-goal lead for 46 minutes in Game 2 before an empty-net goal in a 3-1 victory. The Ducks are getting most of the series scoring chances, but theyre not getting the second chances and grind-it-out goals that are usually the only way to beat Quick. Boudreau is emphasizing the importance of getting in front of Quick, whose aggressiveness can be used against him by a team with Anaheims four-line skill. "I think weve got to start using Quick against himself a little bit," Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano said. "He challenges the pucks very well. He sprawls out, and sometimes there is room for shooting pucks off his pads and getting rebounds. ... Now its all about dirty goals. Were not scoring enough goals. Guys are getting good looks, but were not scoring." ' ' '