Alex Anthopoulos was a busy man last off-season

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VANCOUVER -- Alex Anthopoulos was a busy man last off-season. The Toronto Blue Jays general manager made a series of bold moves that reshaped the club ahead of what would turn out to be a disastrous 2013 campaign. The lead-up to the 2014 season has been relatively quiet in comparison, with the Blue Jays biggest splash coming when they cut ties with catcher J.P Arencibia and replaced him with free-agent Dioner Navarro. While that deal wasnt not on the same level as the headline-grabbing acquisitions of Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey, Anthopoulos says he wont be adding any pieces through trade or free agency unless it fits into the teams model. "We made a lot of big moves early last off-season. It wasnt by design, it just worked out that way," Anthopoulos said Friday. "Weve had a lot of dialogue. Theres still a lot of players out there, just havent been able to line up with respect to a price, whether its trade or free-agent cost. "We do have the ability on some trade fronts to just say Yes. We know what the asking prices are -- just not willing to pay that price. From a free-agent standpoint ... we have been given a price and we just dont necessarily see the value right now." The starting rotation continues to be a point of emphasis after a miserable 2013 that saw Toronto finish last in the American League East after starting the season as World Series favourites. Free agent starters Ervin Santana or Ubaldo Jimenez are still on the open market, but Anthopoulos said theres a chance that the rotation could be filled out from within. "We have a lot of candidates and a lot of options. Someone like Brandon Morrow coming back (from injury) is a huge boost for us, some of our young kids that are coming back are certainly going help," he said. "We still have dialogue and try to upgrade but we do have some upside to some of the guys that are coming back." Anthopoulos, who was in town for a luncheon with the single-A Vancouver Canadians, also touched on the New York Yankees signing of Japanese starter Masahiro Tanaka earlier this week. The 25-year-old right-hander inked a seven-year deal worth $155 million dollars with Torontos AL East rivals that also includes a $20-million dollar payment to his club team. The Blue Jays, who have an internal policy of not signing player contracts longer than five years, were rumoured to be in the running for Tanakas services early on in the process. "Obviously hes a great starter and there was a lot speculation on where the dollars would go just based on the previous two Japanese starters (Daisuke Matsuzaka and Yu Darvish)," said Anthopoulos. "I think it was expected that he would go north of (their price tags) -- $175 million, I dont know if anybody predicted that. "Hes very talented and the Yankees certainly got better." Anthopoulos said the Blue Jays use the five-year limit on contracts as "a guideline" but tend to shy away from longer-term deals because they offer clubs very little wiggle room. "Weve held firm on our five-year policy in terms of contracts. When free agents are signing for seven, eight years, then normally thats where we tap out," he said. "We definitely have the resources financially in terms of annual value and salaries and things like that. I think weve proven that with some of the players we have acquired. But just the length of term -- very rarely do those seven-, eight-year deals work out." Anthopoulos and manager John Gibbons will be feeling the heat if the Blue Jays stumble out of the gate as the they did in 2013. Fans flocked to Rogers Centre with dreams of a return to the teams glory years of the early 1990s that included two World Series titles, but were instead bitterly disappointed with the product on the field. With pitchers and catchers set to report for spring training on Feb. 17, a repeat in 2014 surely wont fly. "Youre always anxious to try to improve the club and to add to it, but you dont necessarily have to guard against it when you know theres a deal that just doesnt make any sense," said Anthopoulos. "We just dont want to force a deal and do it for the sake of doing it. "We want to make moves that we think are going to help the club. If we have to go more years and dollars than we believe in, people might get excited now but a few months into it we may be regretting that deal and be hamstrung with a contract that we dont want." Vapormax Cheap Online . The star receiver certainly isnt celebrating it with the Texans mired in a franchise-record 13-game skid. Cheap Vapormax Wholesale . Giants manager Bruce Bochy told The Associated Press of the decision before NL West-leading San Francisco opened a 10-game homestand Monday night with the first of three games against second-place Arizona. http://www.cheapvapormaxwholesale.com/. -- Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe was alert and recovering at a Denver hospital Saturday after suffering seizure-like symptoms when the teams bus pulled into the airport Friday afternoon for the flight to Kansas City. Nike Vapormax Wholesale China .com) - Delon Wright scored 17 points and No. Discount Nike Vapormax .com) - Eric Fehrs goal 42 seconds into overtime lifted the Washington Capitals to a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Columbus, halting the Blue Jackets seven-game win streak.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, I looked for a comment online from you on the Nazem Kadri hit on Cody Ceci on Saturday night from the Sens/Leafs game, but didnt find one! I have always respected your on-ice decision skills, so I would like your opinion regarding this hit. Was this a case of the player turning his back when he was going to be hit or did Kadri hit a player in a vulnerable position? Thanks,Randy Eades Hi Randy: I did post a late comment @kfraserthecall on Twitter that you must have missed. Sorry it was late but I was engaged in Twitter combat (and being duly vilified) by Canadiens fans over the Brendan Gallagher episode against the Jets! With regard to your question, Cody Ceci was positioned facing the end boards in order to retrieve the puck after it was turned back from the corner by teammate Jared Cowen and as he was being pressured on the forecheck by Nikolai Kulemin of the Leafs. Ceci didnt intentionally turn his body at the last second to set himself up for a hit by Nazem Kadri. That had no bearing on why a penalty call did not result. Instead, Ceci was facing square to the end boards waiting for the puck to arrive on his stick just as Kadri angled from the front of the net and delivered a body check that should have resulted in a boarding minor penalty. The initial point of contact delivered by Kadri was to the left hip of Ceci and not on the numbers. The finishing upward push exerted by Nazem Kadri caused the Ottawa player to tumble forward into the boards. Let me explain for Senators coach Paul McLean and the Ottawa fans why the call was missed by the referees. When you re-examine the video clossely, you will see that referee Paul Devorski, working past his 1,500th game, pivoted out from the corner toward the end faceoff circle in order to vacate the space that Jared Cowen and Nikolai Kulemin would occupy in pursuit of the puck.dddddddddddd The referee then rotated his body 360 degrees in a drift back below the goal line but retained visual focus on both Cowen and Kulemin with a fixed glance over his shoulder well after Cowen dished the puck back toward Ceci. It is clearly evident from the footage that referee Devorski did not turn his head and visual focus toward the action near the net until after Kadri had delivered the illegal hit on Ceci. All the referee witnessed at this point was Ceci down on the ice and Kadri in possession of the puck just prior to a tape-to-tape pass out front to Joffrey Lupul for the Leafs goal. I am positive that referee Devorski would have deemed the hit by Kadri to be worthy of a boarding minor infraction if he had been focused on and witnessed the contact. Since the hit happened directly behind the net the back referee would have at best, an obstructed view if he was looking in that direction. His primary responsibility and area of coverage however was on the action away from the puck; which at that point would have included Cowen and Kulemin in the corner. While we do not see the back referee in the footage, it is conceivable that both refs failed to transition their area of focus once the puck was thrown back behind the net by Cowen. If that were the case, both refs maintained visual focus on the two players in the corner and did not observe the Kadri boarding on Ceci. I hate to be bearer of bad news coach Paul, but that is how the boarding penalty to Kadri was missed and resulted in the Leafs goal that tied the game at two! ' ' '