What do Dave Stieb, Tim Wakefield, and Sergio Santos have in common? All three started out as position players, and made the conversion to pitchers. David Silva Jersey . A couple of more players trying to make the switch came to light over the weekend. Both have Blue Jays connections, one direct and one in a more roundabout way. Justin Jackson was drafted as a shortstop by the Blue Jays in 2007. He was a decent fielder with a strong arm who just never came around as a hitter. Over the course of this past year, the Blue Jays convinced him to give pitching a try. Jackson worked 49.2 innings between Lansing in low "A" ball and Dunedin of the Florida State League in high "A" ball. Jackson put together a decent ERA of 3.26 over the two stops. The Jays decided not to put Jackson on the 40-man roster, so he will be available for the Rule 5 Draft next month in Orlando. The organization is gambling that no team will take a chance on claiming a newly minted pitcher with so little experience. The other pitcher-to-be is the younger son of former Blue Jays right fielder Jesse Barfield. Jeremy Barfield is a 25-year-old 65" outfielder in the Oakland As chain. Back in July, the As approached Jeremy about making the switch. He has the arm strength of his father and is a left hander to boot. The As figure its worth a shot, especially in light of the success theyve had with lefty reliever Sean Doolittle. The 27-year-old was drafted in 2007 by the As to be a 1B/OF. However, he had been a standout pitcher through high school and college. During instructional league in 2007, the As converted Doolittle back into a pitcher. In two seasons in the As bullpen, the hard throwing 63" southpaw has pitched so well, Oakland is at least considering making him their closer for 2014. We mentioned Jeremy Barfield. Well, Jesses older son Josh is still playing as well. Once considered a top prospect with San Diego and Cleveland, the 31-year-old finished up last season with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. Rumours and Deals The Jeff Samardzjia to the Blue Jays rumours picked up a little steam over the weekend. Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago claimed that Alex Anthopoulos was putting together a list of prospects to make an offer for the 28-year-old right-hander. The number mentioned for Samardzjia was three to four prospects and you would have to think a couple of those would need to be Major League ready. Samardzjia has struck out 394 batters over the past two seasons, but at age 28 has never won in double digits with a career record of 29-35 and a 4.19 ERA. He still might be their best option considering the money and length of contract that the likes of Ervin Santana, Matt Garza and Ubaldo Jiminez should be able to command as free agents. Another pitching option came off the board on Sunday. Veteran right-hander Dan Haren, who really wanted to pitch on the West Coast, agreed to a one-year, $10 million deal with the Dodgers. Phil Foden Jersey . -- So much for concern that running back Marshawn Lynch would be absent from the Seattle Seahawks minicamp. Gabriel Jesus Jersey . -- Arizona pitcher Bronson Arroyo is expected to miss a week to 10 days because of a back injury. http://www.tmancitysoccershop.com/c-17-kevin-de-bruyne-manchester-city-fc-jersey.aspx . - Mike Zimmer has brought a demanding style to the Minnesota Vikings. SEATTLE -- It wasnt lost on Chris Nelson that Felix Hernandez was the one he took deep to provide the Los Angeles Angels all their offence. "It was huge because you know he is not going to give up a lot. History just tells us were not going to score a bunch of runs," Nelson said. Nelson hit a two-run homer off Hernandez and the Angels ruined Eric Wedges return to the dugout with a 2-0 victory over the Mariners on Friday night. Wedge managed the Mariners for the first time since he had a mild stroke a month ago. He acknowledged being anxious about getting back on the bench and called his ailment "a heads up." Then Wedge watched his offence be unable to solve Garrett Richards (4-5) and a pair of relievers who combined on a five-hitter for the Angels. "As the game wore on I felt more and more comfortable and then by the end of the game I felt like I was right there," Wedge said. "I wasnt sure how the energy was going to be, but my energy was good and the focus was good. Just didnt have a whole hell of a lot of action tonight." Nelson snapped an 0-for-17 slide when he connected in the second for his third homer. Josh Hamilton scored on Nelsons long ball after leading off the inning with a single, and it was the only time Hernandez (12-7) was touched all night. The biggest problem for Hernandez was the gem Richards was tossing on the other side. "Richards throw an unbelievable game, so you got to give credit to that," Hernandez said. Richards (4-5) struck out four and walked two in 7 1-3 innings, but was forced out of the game after taking a liner off his right forearm. The right-hander had thrown just 89 pitches and was in line for a career performance before leaving. Dustin Ackley led off the eighth with a shot back to the mound that caught Richards and deflected to shortstop Erick Aybar, who threw to first for the out. Manager Mike Scioscia immediately went to the mound and Richards was replaced by Dane De La Rosa. The Angels said Richards had a forearm contusion. De La Rosa finished off the eighth and Ernesto Frieri pitched the ninth for his 27th save. Richards said the ball only grazed him, avoided his elbow and he should be fine to make his next start. "I didnt have my sharpest stuff inn the beginning and as the game went on I got a feel for the breaking ball and the extension on my fastball," Richards said. Eliaquim Mangala Jersey. "I was just filling up the zone and throwing quality strikes and going right at guys." Wedges month off was filled with doctors appointments and meetings, researching and relaxing, with the goal of figuring out why he had suffered a stroke at 45 years old and how to prevent it from happening again. "Its a shot across the bow, its a mulligan, its a heads up," Wedge said before the game. "And Im taking it as such." Hernandez was handed consecutive losses for the third time this season, even though he was cruising in his final innings. But a taxing fourth inning where he had to throw 29 pitches and left runners stranded on the corners ended up equaling an early exit. Hernandez struck out Grant Green to end the threat in the fourth, and then struck out four of the final six batters he faced. He recorded 10 strikeouts for the 25th time in his career and the fourth time this season. Seattle finally got multiple runners on base in the same inning when Brad Miller led off the sixth with a single and Kyle Seager walked on a 3-2 pitch with one out. Richards quickly defused the threat, getting Kendrys Morales to ground into a double play. He also got Endy Chavez to ground into a double play to end the seventh after Justin Smoak singled. "He was not ahead of hitters tonight -- his first-ball strike ratio was not good -- but his stuff played," Scioscia said. "He got back into counts, got some outs when he had to, got some double play balls. He had good stuff, I just dont know if his command was as crisp tonight." NOTES: Minor leaguer D.J. Peterson, Seattles first-round pick in the June draft, underwent surgery in Iowa to repair a broken jaw after he was hit in the face by a pitch on Thursday night. Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik said Peterson might need a second surgery to fully repair the injury. ... The Angels recalled RHP Cory Rasmus from Triple-A Salt Lake and designated RHP Billy Buckner for assignment. Rasmus will be the 25th pitcher used by the Angels this season. ... Seattle 2B Nick Franklin missed his second straight game with a laceration on his knee. Jerseys NFL Cheap Wholesale Jerseys China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Camo Cheap NFL T-shirts Cheap NFL Black Jerseys Cheap Jerseys 2020 ' ' '