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Heading into this weekends three game set with Tampa Bay, the Blue Jays have 35 games left to play. They have to make up a four game deficit on Detroit for the second Wild Card spot. Theyre also 3.5 games back of Seattle, are tied with the Yankees and are sitting just a half-game ahead of Cleveland. It will take a 23-12 stretch run, just to finish at 88 wins and there is no guarantee even that will be enough, But I suppose the key point is, they are still alive with just 38 days remaining in the season and are still playing "meaningful" ball. I decided to look back at six of Jays most significant seasons to see just how they did from August 15 up until the regular seasons final day. Lets start with 1984, the year the Blue Jays had the best team of their young history. Detroit started out that season 35-5 and looked unbeatable. The Jays, to their credit stayed relatively close for most of the season. In mid-August, they were (68-51), But from that point on they went (21-22) and didnt win two in a row after September 12 to finish at (89-73). In 1985 the Blue Jays won their first division title, eliminating the Yankees and clinching the top spot with a victory over Billy Martin and company on the final Saturday of the regular season at Exhibition Stadium. On August 16th of that season, the Jays were (72-43), while this years Jays were 63-60 on the same date. The Jays went 27-19 down the stretch, though they did drop five of their last six to give the Yanks one last fleeting chance. Bobby Cox and the troops finish with a franchise record 99 victories. 1987 was the year of the heartbreak. The Blue Jays lead the AL East over Detroit with just seven games to play. Rocked by injuries to Tony Fernandez and Ernie Whitt, they dropped all seven including the final three at Tigers Stadium and finished second to Detroit. That year they were 69-48 in mid-August and went (27-18) the rest of the way. In 1989, the Blue Jays won their second division title, and ultimately lost the ALCS in five games to Oakland. Still, the season featured a great stretch run. They were just (60-59) on August 15, two games worse off than they are this season. Cito Gastons crew went 29-14 the rest of the way to take the East with an 89-73 mark. In 1991 they laid claim to their third division title, before losing to Minnesota in five in the ALCS, dropping the last three at home. They did play well over the last six weeks, going 28-18 to finish at 91-71. In 1992 it all came together as they won their first World Series title beating Atlanta in six games. They were 20 games over .500 on August 15 at 68-48 and finished with another 28-18 run to wind up at 96-66, the second best record in club history. In 1993 the Blue Jays made it a repeat by beating Philadelphia in six, winning the series at home on Joe Carters "Touch em all, Joe" walk off homer against Mitch Williams. The Jays went 27-16 down the stretch that season to finish at 95-67. The bottom line is this: If the Blue Jays need to finish at 23-12 at the very least, they have only done that twice before in franchise history in the years they made the post-season. In 1989 when they were won 15 more games than they lost and 1993, when they won 11 more than they lost. Those were decidedly stronger teams and won division titles and the 93 World Series. If the Blue Jays make the playoffs now even as a Wild Card, it would be an epic achievement considering the odds. Cuban Option A number of teams had been monitoring the workouts of Cuban defector Rusney Castillo with the Red Sox agreeing to terms with him on Friday on a reported seven-year, $72.5 million deal. Castillo has a bit of pop in his bat and can play either 2B or CF. It puzzles me why the Blue Jays havent been in on this 27-year-old. They have needs in both those areas, and they wouldnt have to give up anything but money to get him. On The Farm Big night for the kids Thursday night at Buffalo. Lefty Daniel Norris ran his record to 3-0 with the Herd and dropped his ERA to 1.08. He struck out nine over five innings in Buffalos 5-1 victory over Scranton Wilkes-Barre. Norris has 32 strikeouts in 16-plus innings with the Bisons. Anthony Gose batting second and playing right field tied a Buffalo modern record by stealing four bases in the game and 21-year-old Dalton Pompey made his Triple-A debut in front of a crowd of 11,134 batting leadoff and playing centre field. The 21 year old Mississauga, ON-native went 1-for-4, with his first Triple-A hit coming in the fifth inning on a single. At the very least, all three figure to be September call-ups. Neven Subotic Jersey . Ellis had a season-high 37 points and two key assists late, Dirk Nowitzki led a fourth-quarter rally with 14 of his 35 points, and the Mavericks spoiled Howards best offensive night in Houston with a 123-120 victory over the Rockets on Wednesday night. Omer Toprak Jersey . 31-Feb. 2. While organizers havent decided if itll be red or green clay, they feel their choice of surface will give the Americans an advantage over Britain, which is expected to be led by defending Wimbledon champion Andy Murray. http://www.dortmundfcfanshop.com/c-42-andriy-yarmolenko-fc-borussia-dortmund-jersey.aspx . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. Nuri Sahin Jersey .85 million contract with the two-time Gold Glove outfielder. Parra earned his second Gold Glove last season when he set a club record with 17 outfield assists. Lukasz Piszczek Jersey . Lack replaced an injured Roberto Luongo late in the first period then watched defenceman Chris Tanev score the winning goal midway through the third as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Jets 2-1 in a tight NHL game. Lacking game-breaking scorers, the Nashville Predators dont have the greatest fantasy appeal, though they do have a top-end defenceman and goaltender to lead those that might provide value later in drafts. Top Picks: Over the last five seasons, D Shea Weber has scored 83 goals, leading all defencemen (Washingtons Mike Green is the only other one with more than 60), and Webers 1081 shots on goal lead all defencemen in that time, so the production comes naturally through the Predators dependence on their franchise player. Hes not going to put up as many points as Ottawas Erik Karlsson, but Weber could be the next defencemen off the board. Over the last five seasons, G Pekka Rinne has posted a .919 save percentage, ranking fifth (among goalies with at least 150 games played), but last seasons .910 save percentage was a career-low and he had hip surgery in the offseason. Rinne plays a lot -- 116 of a possible 130 games in the last two seasons -- so if hes recovered from his hip woes then hes a quality fantasy starter. If not, then there is some risk because his heavy workload can play havoc with the percentages if isnt better than last season. Value Plays: Mike Fisher 33-year-old C Mike Fisher played 19:28 per game for the Predators last season, the second-highest average ice time of his career, but there is a definite ceiling on his offensive production as hes topped 50 points twice and 20 goals five times in his career. With decent peripheral stats, Fisher is a safe option as a No. 4 fantasy centre, but generally one that will go very late in drafts, if at all, because he doesnt possess the same kind of scoring potential as other, younger, centres. Sleepers/Breakthrough: It figures that one of Nashvilles most useful fantasy forwards is a winger who tallied four goals last season. RW Patric Hornqvist is a three-time 20-goal scorer who generates lots of shots -- 3.31 per game over the last four seasons, ranking 17th -- but he scored on just 4.6% of his shots in 2013, half of his career rate. He also played only 24 games due to a variety of injuries, so hes a player who could provide value simply by returning to good health and previous form. Coming over from Chicago, where he scored 31 goals in the last two seasons, LW Viktor Stalberg is looking for more ice time than the 14 minutes per game he received with the Blackhawks, perhaps even some time on the power play. His 31 even-strength goals over the last two seasons ranks 37th, ahead of Marian Hossa, Patrick Marleau, Jeff Carter, Ilya Kovalchuk and Daniel Sedin, some qaulitty socring wingers, so Stalberg is worth a look based on the potential opportunity he has in Nashville.dddddddddddd Last year looked to be LW Colin Wilsons breakout campaign, as he put up 19 points in 25 games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. One concern about Wilson is that he genrates so few shots on goal. Last year, it was 1.04 per game -- Calgarys Matt Stajan was the only player to finish with more points with fewer shots per game and Stajan played 43 games. Given the Predators offensive needs, though, Wilson will get chances to produce this season, so he could be worth a late-round flier. After scoring 36 points in 72 games as a rookie in 2011-2012, RW Craig Smith flopped to just 12 points in 44 games last season. Smith has skill, but is also minus-20 through 116 career NHL games, so hes not a finished product and may not have enough potential to be anything more than waiver wire material in most leagues. D Roman Josi moved into a more prominent role on the Predators blueline last season, playing 23:32 per game and scoring 18 points, so he has some offensive upside, but he also spent last season paired with Weber and could lost that spot to top pick Seth Jones. How the minutes get allocated, particularly on the power play, will determine if Josi still has fantasy appeal. Rookies: Taylor Beck, Seth Jones, Filip Forsberg As justifiably excited as the Predators may be about landing D Seth Jones with the fourth pick in the draft, it would be asking a lot for him to step in and produce enough to generate fantasy interest. Jones did score 56 points in 61 WHL games last year, but it wont be easy for him to generate offence on a team that lacks goal-scorers. A couple of young Predators wingers might be able to help in that regard. RW Taylor Beck had 41 points in 50 AHL games last season before adding seven points in 16 games with the Predators. If he wins a spot in the top six, he could score enough to help in deep leagues. Acquired from Washington in the Martin Erat trade, LW Filip Forsberg is a talented prospect, and he had one point in five late-season games with Nashville last season, but it would be asking a lot for the 19-year-old to move from the Allsvenskan, which is the league below the Elite League in Sweden, to having an immediate impact in the NHL. Its possible, but seems like a wait-and-see situation. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. 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