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. 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The 17-time Grand Slam champion, who lose three straight finals in Monte Carlo to Rafael Nadal from 2006-08, has not played in the tournament since 2011, when he lost to Jurgen Melzer in the quarterfinals. Reynaldo Lopez Jersey . "I met her, I think, a week ago. We went to a Norwood hockey store and picked her out some gear.COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Toronto Maple Leafs found out less than an hour before the start of their game Friday night in Columbus that forward Joffrey Lupul would be out indefinitely after breaking his right hand in a fall at practice the day before.They didnt seem to miss him.Daniel Winnik and Phil Kessel each had a goal and two assists, and Jonathan Bernier made 28 saves to lead the Leafs past the injury-riddled Blue Jackets 4-1.It was kind of a surprise to everyone that it was actually broken, coach Randy Carlyle said. But then the game goes on. Thats what you have to do. Tonight we found a way to get the job done. It wasnt pretty, but it was effective.Nazem Kadri added a goal and an assist and David Clarkson also scored for the Maple Leafs, who are 3-0-1 on the road and 2-4-0 at home.Its fun to see back-to-back games with a great effort, Bernier said, referring also to his 4-0 shutout victory over Buffalo on Tuesday. Maybe the only thing we were missing a little bit is just the compete level — taking it a notch up. We had that in the last two.Kessel punched in a shot that went to video review before it was confirmed. Clarkson redirected a pass from Dion Phaneuf on the power play, and Kadri finished a 2-on-1 feed from Kessel in the third. Winnik scored his 50th NHL goal late in his 500th career game.If you wanted to write up how a 500th game is supposed to go, tonight is (it), Winnik said.After a 10-minute review, Kessel was awarded his goal in the first.He was at the left doorstep after shots by Winnik and Kadri were deflected by goalie Curtis McElhenny. Kessels shot off a rebound was deflected off the right skate of Columbus defenceman Fedor Tyutin, who had come in behind McElhenny. The review showed the puck briefly crossed the goal line before ricocheting out off Tyutins blade.A large contingent of Toronto fans in the crowd of 14,479 chanted Lets go, Leafs! several times during the game.Shortly after Columbus Jack Johnsoon — also playing his 500th game — went off for interference, Phaneufs drive from the point was redirected by Clarkson for his third of the season.ddddddddddddClarkson had his stick straight out at waist height and deflected the puck down and past a helpless McElhenny.Kessel then carried the puck down the right wing early in the third, making a late feed behind the defenceman for a jam shot by Kadri.Its nice to get some puck luck and a couple of bounces here and there, Kadri said. Thats what happens when you play the right way and you stay with it.Cam Atkinson scored and Ryan Johansen had an assist to set a Columbus record with his 10-game point streak to start the season. It was the fourth loss in a row for the Blue Jackets.Bernier lost his shutout midway through the third period when he stopped Johansens drive from the right circle but lost track of the puck, which was underneath him. Atkinson chopped it into the net for his fifth goal.The Blue Jackets have been hurt by a scourge of injuries. They were without eight players, including forwards Nathan Horton (back), Boone Jenner (broken hand), Brandon Dubinsky (abdominal surgery), Matt Calvert (upper body), Artem Anisimov (concussion), Mark Letestu (groin), goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (broken finger) and top offensive defenceman James Wisniewski (broken finger).For guys being called up and the second, third and fourth lines being jumped around a little bit, its tough for them, Johansen said. Its not easy adjusting to different players all the time. But weve got to find a way to make it work.NOTES: Blue Jackets LW Nick Foligno, just back from missing one game after injuring his neck in a collision with an official, celebrated his 27th birthday. ... The Maple Leafs James van Riemsdyk stayed down on the ice after Jared Boll rolled over his legs late in the second, then returned for the third.___Follow Rusty Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RustyMillerAP ' ' '