If you go back over the past five seasons, the Toronto Blue Jays have been one of the top home run slugging teams in the American League. Adidas Superstar Womens Canada Sale . Part of that is due to talent and part is due to the ballpark they play in. Yet, despite being right up there with home run leaders every season over that span, they havent been able to end their post-season drought that extends back to their last appearance in 1993. Since 2009, the Blue Jays have finished in the top five in home runs every season. 2009 was the peak year for round-trippers over the last five seasons in the junior circuit with 2,560. The Yankees led the league with 244 homers, well above the league average of 183 per team. The Blue Jays finished with 209. 2009 was the only season in the last five that the team with the most homers in the American League won the Fall Classic, as the Yankees beat the Phillies for their fifth title in 14 seasons. The Yankees also led in 2011 with 222 homers and 2012 with 245. They also hit over 200 homers every season in the last five except 2013, when they were devastated by injuries. Over the last five years, the Blue Jays have hit 209 homers in 2009 (4th), 257 in 2010 (1st) , 186 in 2011 (5th), 198 in 2012 (5th) and 185 in 2013 (4th). One team that has benefitted a little bit from a power surge has been Oakland. In 2011, the As only hit 114 homers. In 2012, they jumped to 195 (6th) in the A.L. and followed that by climbing to third in the league last season with 186. Of course, they won the American League West each of the last two campaigns. I guess what Im trying to say is that the Blue Jays could and should sacrifice some of their power to boost the starting rotation. Under new hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, the Jays are going to attempt to use the whole field and just drive the ball into the gaps as opposed to just trying to pull the ball for home runs. Trying a different approach and attempting to cut down the strikeouts cant hurt. There has been a lot of talk about home runs diminishing over the past few years. As I mentioned off the top, in 2009 there were 2,560 home runs hit. The next year, the total dropped off to 2,209 - a decrease of 351. From that point on, though, over the past three seasons, home runs are on the rise again. In 2013, the total was 2,504 in the American League - just 54 off the 2009 total. There is another pitcher out there on the rumour mill that the Blue Jays might take a run at. The Chicago Cubs are reportedly trying to get right hander Jeff Samardzijas name on an extension but if he balks, they could consider dealing him over the winter since he could become a free agent after 2015. Samardzija is a bit of a late bloomer at 28 years old. In just his second year as a full-time Cubs starter in 2013, he went 8-13 on a bad ball club with a 4.34 ERA. But hes got what everyone is looking for; durability - 213.2 innings last season - and ability to strike guys out with 214 against just 78 walks. The trouble for the Jays is that Arizona, Washington and the Pittsburgh are also rumoured to be after him, and all three appear to have deeper farm systems flush with the kind of talent the Cubs would want in return. Adidas Superstar Canada . The rest of the team was already on the field stretching before batting practice while Puig was getting dressed in the clubhouse. He had been slated to start in right field for the afternoon game against the San Francisco Giants, who beat the Dodgers 8-4. Adidas NMD For Sale Canada . -- Chad Labelle scored the winner 17:36 into the third period to give Medicine Hat a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos on Sunday and lift the Tigers into the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs. http://www.nmdshoescanada.com/nmd-r1-cheap-canada/womens.html . PETERSBURG, Fla. BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Sabres centre Mikhail Grigorenko was back in Buffalo on Wednesday after the NHL blocked the teams attempt to send the rookie to the minors on a two-week conditioning assignment. In reaching its decision, the league cited its agreement with the Canadian Hockey League preventing teams from assigning players with junior eligibility to the American Hockey League. "We determined that the assignment would not have been consistent with our obligations under the leagues agreement with the CHL," NHL spokesman Frank Brown wrote in an email to The Associated Press. Interim coach Ted Nolan accepted the leagues ruling, which came a day after the Sabres demoted Grigorenko to their AHL affiliate in Rochester N.Y., for conditioning. "We thought we were doing it by the rulebook, but unfortunately we werent," Nolan said. "Now hes back with us. Well have to sit down and evaluate what the next step is." Players remain on their NHL teams roster and are paid their full salary during conditioning stints, which last no more than 14 days. The question became whether the 19-year-old Grigorenko qualified for assignment. The ruling limits the Sabres options in determining how to develop a player who has had difficulty earning regular ice time in Buffalo. Grigorenko has two goals and one assist in 15 games this season and had missed two straight games and five of seven as a healthy scratch before being assigned to AHL Rochester. The Sabres must now choose between keeping Grigorenko on theeir roster and returning him to his Canadian junior team in Quebec. Ultra Boost 4.0 Canada. . Rather than preparing to play against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Wednesday, Grigorenko practiced with the Sabres in Buffalo before the team travelled to Philadelphia for a game against the Flyers on Thursday. Nolan said he had not yet determined whether Grigorenko would play. The NHLs ruling was the latest twist in whats become an unsettled professional career for the Russian-born player, who was selected by Buffalo with the No. 12 pick in the 2012 draft. Grigorenko is now playing for his third coach in Buffalo, after Nolan replaced Ron Rolston, who was fired last week. After opening last season playing in Quebec, Grigorenko earned a spot on the Sabres roster at the end of the NHL lockout. He had a goal and four assists in 22 games before the Sabres elected to return him to Quebec. Grigorenko then came back to Buffalo to play the final three games of the season and two more for Rochester in the playoffs after Quebecs season ended. The Sabres would prefer Grigorenko develop in the AHL rather than the juniors. "Hes a real nice young man. Hes just put in this predicament," Nolan said. "Now we have to go back to the drawing board and see what else might work, and what the best situation is for him to develop his skill and be the dominant player we all think he could be in this organization." On Wednesday, the Sabres also recalled centre Luke Adam and defenceman Brayden McNabb from Rochester. ' ' '