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TORONTO – Apparently, Black Friday knows no borders. Alex Anthopoulos, the Canadian general manager of Major League Baseball’s only Canadian team, spent America’s favourite shopping day putting the finishing touches on a deal with the Oakland Athletics, a trade which set the hot stove ablaze and left the principles involved stunned. Josh Donaldson is a Toronto Blue Jay. Going to the Athletics are Brett Lawrie, pitchers Kendall Graveman and Sean Nolin, and shortstop prospect Franklin Barreto. The deal was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Anthopoulos spoke to Donaldson shortly after the deal was finalized, approximately 9:30 p.m. EST. “He was excited,” said Anthopoulos. “I told him he reminded me a little bit of (Jose) Bautista with his swing and, you know, he has the leg lift.” In Donaldson, the Jays get one of the game’s best third basemen, a 28-year-old who’s hit 53 home runs in his first two big league seasons. He’s done so in the regrettable pit that is the Oakland Coliseum, a cavernous monstrosity which gets bigger at night thanks to the marine layer which floats in off of San Francisco Bay and tends to keep fly balls from clearing the outfield fence. He’s posted Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) numbers of 147 in 2013 and 129 last year, good for second best among American League third basemen in both seasons. Donaldson is a solid defender at the hot corner. He may not be to Lawrie’s caliber, but he’s in a different offensive class and that more than offsets whatever Toronto is losing with the glove. Most importantly, Toronto has Donaldson under club control for the next four years. Despite being 28, Donaldson has a little more than two years of big league service time, which means he won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2018 seasons. When you consider that two third basemen in the same age range as Donaldson, Pablo Sandoval with the Red Sox and Kyle Seager with the Mariners, just signed $100-million contracts, the Jays are getting a player worth at least that much on the cheap. Donaldson is first-time arbitration eligible this winter. Lawrie couldn’t stay healthy, appearing in only 302 of 486 games in his first three full big league seasons for a 62-percent appearance rate. Given big billing when, as a prospect, he was acquired from Milwaukee, in a trade for Shawn Marcum, Lawrie shone defensively but was inconsistent with the bat. His brilliant two month trial run in late 2011, during which he posted a .953 OPS in 43 games, set the bar too high. The general manager bristled when asked if Lawrie fell short of expectations. “No, I don’t think that’s fair at all. I think it’s wrong,” said Anthopoulos. “I think Brett is a very, very good player and he can get even better. He’s a gold glove caliber defender at third. He energizes his teammates. He plays hard. He plays to win.” Graveman, a college draft pick who shot through the farm system after developing a cut fastball, and Nolin, who seemed to get lost in the shuffle after a disastrous one-and-done debut in May, 2013, were expendable because the Jays envision a starting rotation featuring Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Stroman, Drew Hutchison and Daniel Norris. That Anthopoulos could acquire Donaldson without having to spin off any of aforementioned big arms makes the trade all the more impressive. Franklin Barreto, an 18-year-old shortstop, had worked his way to short season Vancouver, where he posted an .865 OPS in 73 games for the Canadians. He may have a long and successful career but the big league portion isn’t starting this year or next. Consider it the price of doing business. From Oakland’s point of view, general manager Billy Beane may feel he’s plugged a long-term hole created when he moved hotshot Addison Russell to the Cubs in the deadline deal that brought the Athletics Jeff Samardzija. Anthopoulos called Donaldson a “gamer,” which comes on the heels of his effusive praise of free agent signee Russell Martin, who Anthopoulos said “checked off all the boxes.” In the area of intangibles, the Jays have brought in two men who play key positions well above average and who have tasted postseason baseball in each of the last two years. Martin’s been to the playoffs seven times in nine big league seasons. Gone from a clubhouse some on the inside called “dysfunctional” are Lawrie, Adam Lind, Colby Rasmus and Anthony Gose. Make of that what you will. The bullpen and the outfield still need attention. Second base could use some certainty. This team still has holes. But Anthopoulos is spending the offseason being proactive and the savings on Donaldson, related to his actual on-field dollar value, are immeasurable. It’s cash that, arguably, can now be used in other spots. The Blue Jays are a better team today than they were on November 27, just as they improved the moment Martin put pen to paper. With the annual Winter Meetings in San Diego just over a week away, it’s reasonable to expect Anthopoulos’ work has just begun. Vans Old Skool España . Rinne had surgery on his left hip May 9 and recovered in time to start the season. He then had arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 24 because of a bacterial infection in his hip. Vans Old Skool Tienda Online . New York secured second place in the Metropolitan Division when the Philadelphia Flyers lost at Tampa Bay later Thursday. The Rangers will face either the Flyers or Columbus in the opening round of the post-season. The Rangers struggled throughout against the lowly Sabres and goalie Matt Hackett, who played in just his seventh NHL game of the season. http://www.vansoldskoolbaratas.es/. Siddikur, who led on all four days and took a four-stroke lead going into the final day, bogeyed four out of six holes starting at the sixth and continued a forgettable last round in which he returned a three-over 75 to finish with a 14-under 274. Vans Old Skool Baratas Online . MLB.com reported that the Dodgers locked the left-hander in for one year at $10 million with up to $4 million in incentives. Vans Old Skool En Oferta . PAUL, Minn. PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins have tweaked their approach in hopes of taking some of the pressure off goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. While Fleury appreciates his teammates effort to play a little more responsibly on defence, he doesnt mind showing he can still handle himself when things get busy in front of him. Fleury stopped a season-high 37 shots Friday night in a 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, earning his NHL-high 10th victory by shutting down the Blue Jackets early and buying Pittsburghs offence enough time to chase reigning Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky. "We gave them way too many chances to play in our end," Pittsburgh centre Brandon Sutter said. "Youve got to look at Flower and how he played. He did a great job for us." The Blue Jackets certainly werent arguing. After Chris Kunitzs seventh goal of the season gave the Penguins the lead 7:01 into the game, Fleury made it stand up by keeping Columbus at bay. He made a series of sprawling saves on a Blue Jackets power play near the end of the first period, including a point-black stop on Ryan Johansen in which he slid all the way across the crease to get in front of a rebound. "It was a big (penalty kill) for us," Fleury said. "You want to keep it 1-0 there and not give them a chance to come back." Pittsburgh responded by taking control early in the second period. Sutter and Kris Letang scored 1:51 apart to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead and send Bobrovsky to the bench after allowing three goals on 13 shots in just 23 minutes. "The start of (the second) periods havent been our best," Johansen said. "Weve got to find ways to win 60-minute games." Thats hardly a problem at the moment for Pittsburgh, which improved to 10-4 and leads the newly formed Metropolitan division by eight points not even a month into the season. Jason Megna scored his second NHL goal for the Penguins, and Sidney Crosby recorded an assist to push his point total to an NHL-leading 22. Johansen and Derek MacKenzie scored for Columbus, but the Blue Jackets couldnt match Pittsburghs firepower or goaltending. Bobrovsky entered the game 5-1-1 in his last seven games against the Penguins, all while playing for Philadelphia. He struggled from the openning faceoff, never looking comfortable in a building in which he has been dominant.dddddddddddd The meeting was the first between the clubs as division rivals. Columbus switched from the Western Conference to the Metropolitan in the East as part of realignment, and the quickly improving Blue Jackets are hoping to create a rivalry based on more than geography. Not quite yet. Though Columbus is the closest NHL city to Pittsburgh, the gulf remains significant even if it didnt look that way in the opening minutes. Columbus controlled most of the first period, sending 15 shots at Fleury. It was one of the rare times the Penguins have been on their heels at home. It didnt last. Pittsburgh gathered itself during the first intermission and then took over. Sutter, who had a 17-game goal drought end in a victory over Boston on Wednesday, collected a pass off the boards from Tanner Glass and worked around Columbus defenceman Jack Johnson before slipping the puck under Bobrovskys pads to make it 2-0 just 1:10 into the second. "I dont really pay too much attention to trying to score goals all the time," Sutter said. "It feels better to get a couple and get the monkey off the back. Hopefully Ill try to stay hot." The Penguins needed less than 2 minutes to push their advantage to 3-0. Letang fired a shot from outside the left circle that Bobrovsky mishandled. The puck slipped between his arm and his chest, and seconds later he was pulled in favour of backup Curtis Mclhinney. McElhinney wasnt even warmed up when Megna tapped in a beautiful backhand pass from Jussi Jokinen to put Pittsburgh up 5:34 into the second period. That was more than enough for Fleury, who improved to 21-2 in his last 23 regular-season starts at home. NOTES: The teams will meet again in Columbus on Saturday. ... The Penguins are 8-1 when scoring first. ... Crosby has at least one point in 12 of Pittsburghs 14 games. ... Pittsburgh centre Evgeni Malkin recorded two assists but had a second-period goal overturned when replay showed the puck didnt entirely cross the goal line. ... The Blue Jackets scratched D Nikita Nikitin and F Boone Jenner. ... The Penguins scratched D Rob Scuderi (ankle), F Chuck Kobasew (lower body) and F Matt DAgostini (lower body). ' ' '