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Once the Blue Jays had made their mega-trades with Miami and the Mets a year ago and signed free agents Melky Cabrera and Maicer Izturis, they became the darlings of Las Vegas. With the World Series over and Boston winning its third title since 2004, the odds are already out for next year on various gaming sites and on Vegas.com, the Blue Jays have literally gone from first to worst in the AL East. This year they are listed at 40-1. Granted, making predictions when teams havent really done any serious off-season retooling yet is ludicrous. Nevertheless, Boston is again favoured in the East at 12-1, followed by the Yankees at 16-1, Tampa Bay at 18-1 and Baltimore at 25-1. Interesting that Arizona, the Phillies and the White Sox, who only won 61 games this season are also pegged at (40-1). By the way, the Red Sox are only ranked fifth to repeat as World Series champs. The four teams listed ahead of them are the favoured Los Angeles Dodgers at 5-1, Detroit Tigers and Washington Nationals at 8-1 and St. Louis Cardinals at 10-1. The longest of longshots are Minnesota, Miami and the New York Mets at 100-1. Bang For Their Buck The Red Sox signed seven free agents last off-season. For somewhere in the neighbourhood of $60 million, they landed rightfielder Shane Victorino, first baseman/designated hitter Mike Napoli, leftfielder Jonny Gomes, shortstop Stephen Drew, back-up catcher David Ross, righthander Ryan Dempster and set-up reliever turned star closer Koji Uehara. They didnt have to commit to ridiculous long-term contracts, they basically struck gold with five of those signings and all seven were worth the investment. The Blue Jays on the other hand, partly through injuries, struck out on both their free agents, Melky Cabrera and Maicer Izturis. Boston could lose Napoli and Drew as free agents in the off-season, but that doesnt diminish the job GM Ben Cherington did. Hes s shoo-in for Executive of the Year. Something Special The World Series clincher at Fenway really was something special. It was the BoSox eighth Fall Classic title, but only the third time they have won the deciding game at Fenway (1912 - the season the Park opened and they beat the New York Giants in eight games, 1918 - when they defeated the Chicago Cubs, 2013 - with a six-game victory over St. Louis). In 1915 and 1916, the Red Sox beat the Phillies and Brooklyn, at home in the clinchers, but those games were played at the home of Bostons National League club, since the seating capacity at Braves field was much larger than Fenway. Loss Leader If you think the Blue Jays had a terrible season, consider this: Chicago has two teams and they both finished with worse records. The White Sox wound up at 63-99, while the Cubs finished at 66-96. Thats a combined total of 195 losses. That breaks the all-time combined Chicago club mark of 191 losses set back in 1948. What About Jimenez? Here is an interesting free agent pitching possibility for the Blue Jays. Righthander Ubaldo Jimenez who, at the age of 29, seems to have his career back on the rails, rejected his $8 million contract option for next season with Cleveland and has opted to become a free agent. Cleveland can still make him a one-year qualifying offer of around $14 million by Monday. If they do, Jimenez has six days to decline or accept. If he declines and becomes a free agent, any team signing him would lose a first round draft pick. Jimenez bounced back from a 17-loss season, to go 13-9 this season with a 3.30 ERA. He also struck out 13 Twins in the Wild Card clincher that put the Indians back in the post-season for the first time since 2007. In his six years as an established starter in the Majors, he has thrown at least 175 innings every season and has broken 200 innings twice. He has also struck out at least 172 in five of those six years. On a two- or three-year deal, he might be worth the risk. Dorance Armstrong Jr. Jersey . - A Tuesday funeral is planned in Toronto for 20-year-old Saginaw Spirit forward Terry Trafford. Antwaun Woods Jersey . The $145.7-million Tim Hortons Field was slated to open this month, a year before it was to host all 32 mens and womens soccer competitions. The delay has forced the Hamilton Tiger-Cats football team to use a smaller facility for the first two home games of the season. http://www.officialdallascowboysfootball...stomized-womens. -- Arizona pitcher Bronson Arroyo is expected to miss a week to 10 days because of a back injury. Bill Bates Jersey . -- The Oakland Raiders added a veteran presence to their young receiving group by signing free agent James Jones to a three-year contract Monday. Deion Sanders Jersey .com) - Ames, IA (SportsNetwork.GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Instead of getting ready for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, in what would surely have been a rocking Madison Square Garden, the New York Rangers quietly packed up their lockers and headed toward summer vacation. The pain and disappointment of Friday nights season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Kings was still palpable Monday as players went through exit interviews at the teams suburban practice facility, but one by one they took positive looks back on their unexpected post-season. After all, it had been 20 years since the Rangers played with the Cup on the line. "Its a little early," star goalie Henrik Lundqvist said. "I am proud of the team and what we did and how we overcame different challenges -- not only in the past couple of months but throughout the entire season. "We have a lot to be happy about, but right now youre still disappointed about not winning." Had they been able to score in overtime on Friday or in either of the first two games of the finals in Los Angeles -- which were both decided in overtime -- New York would have hosted Game 6 on Monday night. The series would have been 3-2, one way or the other, and Rangers fans would have been firmly behind their club as it moved closer to a championship. "The last two or three days have been even worse than today," forward Carl Hagelin said. "Now its kind of faded off. Its enough crying now. You cant cry much more. "It couldve been a game tonight, but were going to have to live another day." The Rangers have reached the conference finals in two of the past three seasons, and now have taken it a step further. Only a few veterans in their room, such as Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis, had gotten to the finals before this run. The collective experience they now share as a group could bode well. "Its hard to swallow right now, but give it a couple of weeks," forward Derek Stepan said. "I think well look back and well see how much fun we had as a group and be able to look at it and say, Hey, we played some really good hockey. "Weve got a good balance of guys. The organization did a good job of building this team, getting the young guys andd getting the old guys.dddddddddddd Weve got a good blend." As is always the case at the end of the season, changes will be made before the team gets back together for training camp in about three months. One player who likely wont be there is Richards, who has become a prime candidate to have his contract bought out by the Rangers to give the club much needed salary cap relief. New York has one remaining amnesty buyout available, and it must be used by July 1. The cap room that would be saved by getting Richards contract off the books could go a long way to signing potential free agents the Rangers have and others who could come in from other teams. "Were going to work on putting a good team on the ice, but every year is different," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "Next years team is going to be different, and youve got to go through the same process. Its going to be a challenge to make the playoffs, and then you take it one series at a time." Richards took on a bigger leadership role after captain Ryan Callahan was traded to Tampa Bay for St. Louis in March. His voiced carried in the room even as his play declined as the playoff run got deeper. Vigneault limited his ice time to fourth-line minutes in the final two games against Los Angeles. "If you look at Brads overall season he had a real good year," Vigneault said. "In the final series, I dont know if it was a combination of some other guys might have been playing a little bit better than he was, but we had some decisions to make in Game 4 and Game 5." No decision on Richards status had been made by Monday afternoon, and he didnt speak to reporters to discuss what might lie ahead for him, either. Vigneault excelled in his first season as coach, after he replaced the fiery John Tortorella, and he will also be looking to win that elusive championship. The Rangers havent hoisted the Cup since their last finals experience in 1994. Vigneault took the Vancouver Canucks to the final step, too, only to fall to Boston in 2011. "Each year you play, your drive gets bigger and bigger," Stepan said. "This group has been close, and certainly that drive is going to be there for next year." 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