team said. He receives a $1 million signing bonus and sala

TORONTO - First things first: Episode 3 of The Baseball Podcast is up for your listening pleasure. Toronto Star baseball columnist and TSN contributor Richard Griffin joins me for a half-hour of talk on manager John Gibbons strategy when it comes to his starting pitching and struggling bullpen, whether Brett Lawrie will see increased action at second base and Jose Bautistas great start to the season. Give it a listen here. GIBBONS LIKES HIS OFFENCE The Blue Jays entered Thursdays action with 166 runs scored in 34 games. Thats an average of almost 4.9 runs per game, good for fourth in the majors. Manager John Gibbons is in his seventh season, over two tenures skipping the Blue Jays. He believes this is the strongest offence hes had. "I would think this is probably the top," said Gibbons. "My last go around here we were really strong in the pitching department. We had some good offences but I dont think it equaled what we have here now. You need that in the American League. You need to be able to slug it out." Toronto boasts the league leader in on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) and walks. Hes Jose Bautista. Bautista and Colby Rasmus, with nine home runs each, are amongst the league leaders. Melky Cabreras 48 hits are the most in the sport this season. As a team, the Blue Jays rank second in home runs (44); second in slugging percentage (.432) and third in on-base plus slugging percentage (.761). ENCARNACION DISCUSSES FRANCISCO General manager Alex Anthopoulos has credited Edwin Encarnacion with helping to lure Juan Francisco to the Blue Jays. "Ive known Juan from a long time ago, he was playing with me in Cincinnati," said Encarnacion. "When he was young, I was older in here and hes one of my best friends. He had a couple of more (options) to go so I called him and asked him to come here because they can give him the opportunity to play here at this level." Francisco, 26, hit 18 home runs last season while playing with the Braves and Brewers but was cut by Milwaukee late in spring training. He signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays on April 2 and began the year at Triple-A Buffalo. His contract was selected on April 20 to replace Adam Lind, who went on the disabled list with a back injury. Aside from the opportunity the Blue Jays could afford him, Encarnacion was pressed Francisco to come to Toronto out of fear he would sign with another American League East team. The division, specifically the ballparks in the division, are friendly to power-hitting left-handed bats. "Thats why I dont want him to go to another team, like Tampa or another team," said Encarnacion. SANTOS STARTING FROM SCRATCH Sergio Santos pitched a scoreless eighth inning in Wednesdays 10-0 win over the Phillies. Thanks to the big lead it was a pressure-free inning. After two-straight outings featuring blown saves and three on the season, Santos is in the process of rebuilding his confidence. "It was nice to execute on the things that I wanted to do as far as locating my fastball, moving it in and out," said Santos. "It was nice. Its a nice first step, hopefully in the right direction." His stuff is good. Santos has struck out 18 hitters in 10 1/3 innings. The problem is hes walked nine and of the 12 hits hes allowed, three have been home runs. Santos expects more of himself. "Hopefully I can build off what happened (Wednesday) night and never look back again," he said. LAWRIE UPDATE Brett Lawrie took part in batting practice and fielded ground balls before Thursdays game. He left the fourth inning of Monday nights game in Philadelphia with lingering tightness in his right hamstring. Fridays game against the Angels may be more hopeful than reality. Lawries more likely to return on the weekend. Heath Hembree Jersey . 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Blatter, a 75-year-old Swiss executive who has been in office since 1998, was handed a final four-year term as head of footballs governing body in a vote at FIFAs congress. He won 186 votes out of 203 ballots.SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Giants and free agent Cuban outfielder Daniel Carbonell have agreed to a $1.4 million, four-year contract, giving the team an experienced centre fielder who can play all three outfield positions. The club made the announcement Monday, when the team travelled from the Bay Area to Chicago for an interleague series with the White Sox. Carbonell resides in Merida, Mexico, and will report to Arizona once he has obtained a U.S. work visa, the team said. He receives a $1 million signing bonus and salaries of $100,000 annually in the minor leagues. If he is promoted to the majors, his salaries would be $500,000 this year, $525,000 next season, $600,000 in 2016 and $650,000 for 2017. The deal includes escalators that would bring his 2016 salary to $1 million with 500 or more plate appearances in 2015, and also $1 million for 2017 if he gets 500 or more plate appearances for 16.dddddddddddd He would receive performance bonuses of $50,000 each for 300, 350, 400 and 450 plate appearances, and $100,000 each for 500, 550 and 600 plate appearances. He could opt out of the remainder of the deal if he accumulates enough major league service time to become eligible for salary arbitration. The 23-year-old played for Camaguey in the Cuban Serie Nacional for four years, batting .287 (163 for 568) with nine homers, 70 RBIs, 119 runs, 28 doubles and four triples in 190 games. He hit .298 with five homers and 28 RBIs in 62 games his last season, 2012-2013. The key for San Francisco was signing Carbonell before July 2, making it count against the teams 2013-14 international signing pool rather than 2014-15. ' ' '