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DUNEDIN, Florida - General manager Alex Anthopoulos believes the 2014 edition of the Blue Jays will contend in the American League East. It begins with starting pitching. "We have the talent," said Anthopoulos. "Last offseason because guys were hurt, we didnt have the bodies. We didnt have Hutchison or Drabek. We knew we needed Romero to bounce back. Happ was coming off a foot injury. We have a lot more bodies and a lot more depth. Beyond our front five last year we were thin. We had Romero who scuffled as our sixth starter coming out of camp. Beyond that, it was Ramon Ortiz and Chien Ming-Wang and we had to sign five minor league free agent starters. We didnt need to do any of that this offseason." One of the catchphrases of the offseason, and now here in Dunedin, is "internal depth," a reference to the clubs young cadre of pitching prospects beginning to bump their heads on the minor league ceiling. Its needed, too, because Anthopoulos seemed to pour the final dose of cold water on upgrading his rotation via an external option, most notably Ervin Santana, the last marquee free agent pitcher on the market. "Wed like to do it but were not going to do it at all costs," said Anthopoulos. "As we sit here today, I think its unlikely at this point, were getting so late into spring training. Anthopoulos continued, "Its a comparison, how much better are they than what you have." We have to make that evaluation. Term and dollars are important. You like every player but at certain years and dollars they dont make sense for us. If its just a draft or something and youre just picking a player, then abilities are a separate thing but theres obviously an acquisition cost to all of these guys." As for the persistent chatter linking the Jays to Santana and other free agent starters like Ubaldo Jimenez (signed with Baltimore) and Matt Garza (signed with Milwaukee,) Anthopoulos suggested the reports were overblown. "To trades? Yes. We got very close on some trades. Free agency-wise, I dont think we ever got close at all." Fans, understandably, dont want to hear excuses for the misery of 2013. It was clear as early as April the club had flaws, not the least of which were starting pitching that didnt match they hype and poor infield defense. Still, health, or lack thereof, played a role. When J.A. Happ was hit in the head with a line drive by Tampa Bays Desmond Jennings on May 7, he joined Josh Johnson on the disabled list. R.A. Dickey already was pitching with an injured muscle in his neck and Brandon Morrow was dealing with forearm pain, which ultimately was diagnosed as an entrapped radial nerve that would end his season weeks later. Only Mark Buehrle was healthy. Brett Lawrie went down with a strained oblique suffered in a World Baseball Classic tune up game in early March and missed opening day. Jose Reyes was lost to a severe ankle sprain on April 12, which necessitated the expedited return of a rehabbing Lawrie. He wasnt ready and would end up getting hurt again. Reyes was back by the time Lawrie returned on July 13, but Lawrie played at second base that day and the two wouldnt play the left side of the infield together until July 19. Jose Bautista, Melky Cabrera and Colby Rasmus also missed significant time but their injuries occurred once the Jays were out of the race. Anthopoulos had no intention from diverting from the course set out with the major trades of last offseason. He wants the players hes assembled from years past, most of whom remain here, to get the job done. "We werent going to take away from the core of this team," said Anthopoulos. "We made a change behind the plate; that was important to us. Second base, we think theres obviously going to be turnover there. A third of our lineup is probably going to be different from opening day last year." DEALING WITH INJURIES Theres nothing the Blue Jays could do about Jose Reyes and Brett Lawrie injuring their ankles sliding into second base. Nothing could have been done to prevent Brandon Morrows nerve injury. Anthopoulos puts a lot of the aches and pains that befell last years club in the "freak injury" category. The club is concerned about the number of oblique injuries its suffered, however. "Colby (Rasmus) missed about four to six weeks and Rajai (Davis) missed two to three weeks," said Anthopoulos. "There are some things that we tweaked there. Like I talked about at the end of last year, it seems obliques are popping up a lot more or at least theyre being diagnosed a lot more. It felt like for us, the last two years, we were getting a lot more obliques so we reevaluated some of the strength and conditioning work that we were doing and made some tweaks there." Brett Lawries missed time with an oblique strain in each of the last two seasons. He added yoga to his offseason workout regimen in an effort to loosen his core muscles. Brandon Morrow missed almost three months of the 2012 season with an oblique strain. FILLING OUT THE ROTATION Esmil Rogers and Todd Redmond appear to be the early favourites to land the final starters job. Both are out of options, meaning they could be lost to waivers if the Jays tried to send them to the minor leagues. They face stiff competition from emerging youngsters like Drew Hutchison, Marcus Stroman and Kyle Drabek, and could find themselves in the bullpen if they dont win a starting job out of spring training. "We started before with an eight-man bullpen," said Anthopoulos. "We could do that as well. If everyone is throwing the ball that well and we dont want to expose anyone to waivers, or we dont want to trade someone and not get full value, we could go to an eight-man bullpen." HIGH PRAISE FOR GOINS Ryan Goins will have to earn the starting job at second base this spring but his boss loves his defense. "Hes as good defensively, I believe, as weve had here since Orlando Hudson was here," said Anthopoulos. "I think hes that good a defender. Defensively, hes gold glove caliber. The question will be the bat. Obviously weve got some competition for him and if he does make this team we view him right now as the nine-hole hitter. I think with Ryan, because the defense is so good, it allows him to not have to hit as much because he can help us on the other side of the ball to such a great extent." Maicer Izturis, Brent Morel, Chris Getz and Jonathan Diaz also are vying for the second base job. Philadelphia Eagles Brandon Boykin Jersey . One thing that hasnt changed is their friendship. 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Womens Nelson Agholor Jersey .S. on June 21 in Sacramento, Calif., as part of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup. ATLANTA -- The Braves are supposed to be a team that relies on strong pitching and home runs. Instead, Atlanta evened its NL division series against the Los Angeles Dodgers with clutch defence as the complement for Mike Minors strong start. Jason Heyward drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the seventh, Minor allowed only one run and the Braves turned three double plays in their 4-3 win over Los Angeles on Friday night. The defence delivered another key play in the ninth when catcher Gerald Laird threw out pinch-runner Dee Gordon trying to steal second base. The series shifts to Los Angeles tied 1-1. The Braves knew they couldnt afford a second straight home loss. "We definitely didnt want to lose two games in front of our home crowd," said Chris Johnson, who had two hits, including a fourth-inning single that gave Atlanta a 2-1 lead. Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez drove in three runs with three hits, including a two-run homer in the eighth that cut the Braves lead to one run. The homer added more value to Heywards two-run single in the seventh. With the Braves leading 2-1, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly ordered an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Reed Johnson, loading the bases for Heyward. Mattingly wanted left-hander Paco Rodriguez to face Heyward, a left-handed hitter. Heyward drilled a two-run single up the middle for a 4-1 lead. Mattingly said Rodriguez "is a guy we think gets Heyward out. Been getting those guys out all year long for us." The decision to face Heyward instead of Johnson left room for second-guessing. "I mean, you think you obviously look at everything, but were down 2-1," Mattingly said. "Yeah, you always look back at everything. You could have done this, you could have done that. I think you look at it honestly and see what you think." Heyward said he understood the strategy. "Play the matchups," Heyward said. "Thats what the post-season is about. You go lefty-lefty there. "Im glad to have an opportunity to come through big for my team right there. I got a pitch and didnt miss it." Minor allowed one run on eight hits and one walk in 6 1-3 innings. The Braves last double play ended the seventh after the Dodgers had runners on first and third with one out following a pinch-hit infield single by Michael Young. Reliever Luis Avilan fielded a grounder by Carl Crawford and made a quick and accurate throw to shortstop Andrelton Simmons, who then fired to first to complete the double play. Simmons said he didnt expect Ayala to come to seccond with his throw.dddddddddddd "I was hoping hed go home," Simmons said. "He kind of caught (the grounder) a little weird and I was scared he was going to make a bad throw. He made a good throw and it was a good play." Simmons jumped in the air after making the throw to first as Ayala pumped his fist on the mound and Minor applauded in the dugout. "We played good defence," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez, who said Avilan made a bold throw. "You see a lot of those plays end up in centre field," Gonzalez said. Zack Greinke allowed two runs on only four hits and no walks in 6 innings. Right-hander Chris Withrow allowed two runs in the seventh. The Braves also turned double plays in the second and third innings follow leadoff singles by Juan Uribe and Crawford, respectively. David Carpenter almost lost the 4-1 lead in the eighth. Carpenter walked Mark Ellis to open the inning before Ramirez made contact on an awkward, lunging swing for a two-run homer that landed in the first row of the left-field seats. Ramirez also had two doubles, including one that drove in a run in the first. Carpenter recovered to strike out Adrian Gonzalez and Yasiel Puig. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez brought in closer Craig Kimbrel for the final four outs. Kimbrels fastball was clocked at 100 mph when Uribe grounded out to hit the eighth. Kimbrel hit 100 mph again in the ninth when he struck out Skip Schumaker before walking A.J. Ellis. Gordon, running for Ellis, was called out on the close play trying to steal second. Mattingly said after watching a replay he thought Gordon was safe. Said Gordon: "I really dont want to talk about it. You guys saw the replay. ... I felt like everything was good. Simmons blocked the bag and I felt like I got under it. "I need to do better at my job and make sure Im safe next time." Kimbrel walked pinch-hitter Andre Ethier before striking out Crawford to end the game. NOTES: The Dodgers stranded baserunners on first and third in the sixth when Minor struck out Uribe. ... Former Braves manager Bobby Cox threw out the first pitch, making the throw all the way to pitcher Tim Hudson behind the plate. ... Cox sat near the Braves dugout on the same row with former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn. ... NBA legend Magic Johnson, part of the Dodgers ownership team, said the playoff season is "the most fun Ive had in years." ... Attendance was 48,966. ... Braves RHP Julio Teheran will face Dodgers LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu on Sunday night. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '