ern Conference. They have a winning record and no one really

DUNEDIN, Florida - General manager Alex Anthopoulos believes the 2014 edition of the Blue Jays will contend in the American League East. Miralem Pjanic Jersey . 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. Blaise Matuidi Jersey .Hammel pitched inside more and it helped him get into the seventh inning as the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 3-2 on Friday night. Emre Can Jersey .500 ball against teams with winning records, so they needed a huge lift from somebody Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders. http://www.juventusfcpro.com/Kids-Mattia-Perin-Jersey/ .com) - The Utah Jazz look to put an end to their five-game losing streak when the Denver Nuggets visit Salt Lake City Monday night.Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - It is now time for the 2015 edition of the Vince McMahon No Chance All-Stars, a showcase for those enjoying great seasons, yet not great enough to merit honest consideration for a roster spot in the NBA All-Star Game. The rules are simple. For the sake of the column, we will assume the starting lineups, as voted (and pretty well must I say) by the fans remains. The conference coaches vote for the reserves with the formula of two backcourt players, three frontcourt players and two wild-card, any-position players. These players selected in this column are not under real consideration for a spot on their respective conferences All-Star team. The reasons vary as does their closeness to making the actual game in New York. Most of these gentlemen miss out on a spot because of how the real All-Stars are chosen. Winning teams send more players to the game, thus, this list comprises quite a few names from losing teams. The other type of player is the slightly better than a role player for a great team. Anyway, the 14 men mentioned below represent the 2015 Vince McMahon No Chance All-Stars. WESTERN CONFERENCE NO CHANCE BACKCOURT TY LAWSON, Denver Nuggets; TYREKE EVANS, New Orleans Pelicans Lawson shares the NBA lead in assists at 10 per game. Hes scoring 17.0 points per game, which is less than a point off his career-best campaign. Lawsons sin is two-fold. First, the Nuggets stink. Theres no way to justify a roster spot for a Denver player unless that statistical season was frightening. Ten assists a night is awesome, but not enough. Secondly, think very quickly about the Western Conference backcourt situation. Did you do it? There are going to be guards out west who dont make the team with better cases than Lawson. Thats why I created this. Evans scoring is up almost three points per game and hes done a lot of heavy lifting while Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday and Eric Gordon have all missed time. Evans has played the hybrid role to perfection for a team in legitimate position to make the playoffs. He is fifth in assists among non-point guards and the four chaps ahead of him are all going to Madison Square Garden. WESTERN CONFERENCE NO CHANCE FRONTCOURT DEANDRE JORDAN, Los Angeles Clippers; DRAYMOND GREEN, Golden State Warriors; GORDON HAYWARD, Utah Jazz Do you know who leads the NBA in rebounding? Do you know who leads the NBA in field-goal percentage? Do you know who is second in the NBA in blocked shots? Same guy - DeAndre Jordan. Those are ridiculous rankings and the numbers are insane as well. Rebounding - 13.4 per game. Field-goal percentage - 72.1 percent. Blocked shots - 2.36 per game. And, for you analytics nerds, Jordan is the only player in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive rating. Massive, massive production. However, for all of these tremendous numbers, the Clippers are just 18th in opponents scoring and 20th in opponents field-goal percentage. So Jordan is the anchor of the defense, but its just not a great defense. The Clippers are getting two All-Stars and three is too many for the sixth-best team in the Western Conference, thus costing Jordan a spot. If Green made the actual roster, his inclusion would give me the most delight. Hes the epitome of what the All-Star game should be showcasing. Green is a team winner. His all-around game and emergence has allowed the Warriors to do different things than seasons past, namely on the defensive side. Greens length, size and athleticism make switching so easy for Golden State. Green is first in the league in defensive rating and defensive win shares. His stat line is impressive, while not overwhelming - 11.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocked shots per game. The Warriors are the best team, so lets get as many as we can into the game. Haywards Jazz arent good, but theyre inching there. Hayward upped his scoring average to 19 ppg this season. His other numbers are down a bit, but all shooting percentages climbed from last season. Hayward has become one of the best offensive small forwards in a league dominated by great wing players. WESTERN CONFERENCE NO CHANCE WILD CARDS DERRICK FAVORS, Utah Jazz; TREVOR ARIZA, Houston Rockets A wonderful month of January gave Favors one of these final spots. In his last eight games, Favors is averaging nearly 16.3 ppg and 10.3 rpg while shooting 55.6 percent from the floor. He is one of nine players averaging at least 16 ppg and 8.5 rpg. Favors isnt quite there yet, but his major big-man stats (scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage) are all trending up for the third consecutive season. Arizas production has tailed off as the season has progressed, but the Rockets were 23rd in opponents scoring last season and are now 11th. Ariza is a stud defender and he gets the most credit for Houstons improvement on that side of the ball. His offensive numbers have declined some this season, but thats expected when you play with The Beard and Superman. Ariza is an impact guy. Hes exactly what Im looking for in a No Chance All-Star. EEASTERN CONFERENCE NO CHANCE BACKCOURT KEMBA WALKER, Charlotte Hornets; KYLE KORVER, Atlanta Hawks Walker was the impetus for this column three years ago. Gianluigi Buffon Jersey. Hes closest to making the All-Star team as hes ever been. Walker averages 19.2 ppg and 5.4 apg. His scoring is up from last season when the Hornets were a playoff team and his assists are down. Walkers doing a lot to remind the coaches about his worth. Over his last six games, Walker has averaged 29.8 ppg and Charlotte has gone 5-1. Korver has by far the most interesting case for this All-Star team. Can he ride the Atlanta Hawks wave to Madison Square Garden? The Detroit Pistons sent four players when they were dominant earlier this century and other teams didnt offer much potential candidates. Will the Hawks? (Yes, spoiler alert, I think the Hawks get three All-Star nods). Korver leads the NBA in 3-point shooting at a crazy 53.6 percent clip. He shoots 51.5 percent from the floor and 92 percent from the foul line. Plus, according to Basketball Reference, Korver shoots 68.8 percent from long range in fourth quarters and overtimes this season. Theres another formula calculated by Basketball Reference that shows Korver is the best clutch shooter in the league based on percentages in fourth quarters and overtime, not just from 3-point range. If he keeps his current pace, hell join Steve Kerr as the only players in league history to shoot over 50 percent from the floor, 50 percent from beyond the arc and 90 percent from the free-throw line. And Kerr did it in role-player bench minutes while Korver is a starter. There are great backcourt candidates in the Eastern Conference outside presumptive starters John Wall and Dwyane Wade. Korver wont crack the reserve list, but he deserves a serious debate. EASTERN CONFERENCE NO CHANCE FRONTCOURT NIKOLA VUCEVIC, Orlando Magic; ANDRE DRUMMOND, Detroit Pistons; KEVIN LOVE, Cleveland Cavaliers Full disclosure - I think Vucevic is the closest player on this list to making the real version. Hes averaging 18.8 ppg and 11 rebounds, which is eighth- best in the NBA. Vucevics 24 double-doubles this season tie him for the league lead. The Eastern Conference doesnt have great choices in the reserve frontcourt situation. Vucevic could crack that group, but he probably wont since the Magic are slightly less than average. At some point, the NBA should start rewarding players with great numbers like this and avoid selecting the same, boring crop. (Oddly enough, this season I have a member of the old boring crop as one of my reserves.) The Detroit Pistons are surging and only 1 1/2 games out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Greg Monroe has been playing well. Brandon Jennings has been a revelation. But, Drummond has been consistently stout all season. Hes second in the league in rebounding, 10th in blocked shots, first in offensive rebounding percentage, sixth in defensive rating and eighth in defensive win shares. Drummond is one of the best defensive big men in the league. Hes in the middle of a renaissance in the Motor City. Love brings about a very fascinating discussion. The Cavs have underachieved considerably, despite their winning streak of late. LeBron James is going to start. Maybe the point guard is going, too. Do the Cavs warrant three choices? If the Hawks, who are 12 games ahead of Cleveland in the standings, only get two All-Stars, how can Love make this team? Politics at its finest, but Love is statistically in decline. Numbers-wise, Love is having a very good campaign, just not as great as other seasons he went to the All-Star game. Loves averaging 17.6 ppg and 10.4 rpg. Both his 3-point and field-goal shooting are down, but there arent many averaging a double-double and Love is one of them. For example, Loves numbers dominate Al Horfords. Yet, Horford is probably going to New York because of where the Hawks are in the standings. Personal numbers vs. team success. That philosophical battle always rears its ugly head around this time. EASTERN CONFERENCE NO CHANCE WILD CARDS BRANDON KNIGHT, Milwaukee Bucks; BRADLEY BEAL, Washington Wizards The Milwaukee Bucks are the sixth seed right now in the Eastern Conference. They have a winning record and no one really near All-Star contention. Knight is their leading scorer and best player. He has won them games late, and deserves to hear his name mentioned a little in the possibility of making the team. He wont. But, Knight is a No Chance All-Star. Beal is fourth in 3-point shooting and has emerged as a potential elite two guard. He and Wall could become the best backcourt in the league. This pick, however, was not easy. There really isnt anyone left in the Eastern Conference. Toronto and Washington will each have one representative and that seemed low based on the standings. I took the best available player from either team. DeMar DeRozan missed too many games. Marcin Gortat got a look, but in the end, Beal is the final wild card because there are simply not enough All-Star-caliber players in the Eastern Conference. Authentic Bills Jerseys Dolphins Stitched Jerseys Cheap Patriots Jerseys Wholesale Jets Jerseys Wholesale Texans Jerseys Cheap Colts Jerseys Jaguars Jerseys Store Authentic Titans Jerseys Authentic Broncos Jerseys Authentic Chiefs Jerseys Cheap Raiders Jerseys Chargers Jerseys Store Cheap Ravens Jerseys Wholesale Bengals Jerseys Cheap Browns Jerseys Steelers Jerseys Store Wholesale Cowboys Jerseys Wholesale Giants Jerseys Authentic Eagles Jerseys Cheap Redskins Jerseys Authentic Falcons Jerseys Panthers Jerseys Store Wholesale Saints Jerseys Authentic Buccaneers Jerseys Wholesale Cardinals Jerseys Cheap 49ers Jerseys Seahawks Jerseys Store Wholesale Rams Jerseys Wholesale Bears Jerseys Authentic Lions Jerseys Cheap Packers Jerseys Vikings Jerseys Store ' ' '