The Blue Jays second day of Spring Training is in the books with all of the pitchers and catchers now in attendance. Second baseman Kelly Johnson, outfielder Ben Francisco and infielder Omar Vizquel were among the new arrivals of position players with the reporting date for that group set for Friday.

On the main site you will find today’s Notebook with items on Vizquel and Johnson. Also you’ll find my feature on the club needing improved performance from their starting rotation in order to have any chance at the postseason and a piece looking at the signing of Rick VandenHurk with an injury update on prospect Alan Farina.

I’ve included some leftovers from John Farrell’s scrum with the media today. Also, don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter @gregorMLB where I’m posting daily pictures and also including any breaking news.

Farrell:

On the improved bullpen…

“Alex did an outstanding job of bringing in the guys that are here today. The one thing that became very clear during the offseason, as we continue to add either through trade or free agent signing, is that they were guys that had more recent success in the roles that they are coming off from a year ago.

“It’s a diverse group in the standpoint of the ability to matchup. We’ve got some guys that can go multiple innings. With the addition of VandenHurk today, he’s going to be a guy that will mix in and compete for the long guy out of the bullpen.

On the need for a second lefty…

“We want the best pitchers who are going to make us the best and most complete pitching staff. If that’s right handed or left handed that will work itself out but any time you have multiple left-handers that can be a luxury obviously to be able to match up earlier in the game before you get into that seventh, eighth, ninth inning type of a situation but we want the most dependable, reliable guys when we break north.”

On Cordero starting with a clean inning…

“It would be (ideal). That’s our view right now and that’s how we would look to approach things — is to give him a clean inning. That’s what he has been accustomed to as a closer and I think any reliever, you’d like ideally for them to come into an inning they can come in and start themselves.”

On the interest in VandenHurk…

“We’ve always had very good reports on him. He’s always had very good arm strength, he’s had good swing and miss, particularly effective against right-handed hitters. He’s a guy that has started in the past, and with that starting experience behind him, he’s a guy that can pitch multiple innings out of the bullpen.”

On McGowan…

“Consistent with his bullpens before camp opened up. He doesn’t take added time to get into the flow of the bullpen, he doesn’t need extra throws to get loose. By comparison, relative to everyone else in cam,p he has mainstreamed. The ball has good sink coming out of his hand and it has been very encouraging in the two weeks leading up to today the way he has thrown the ball off the mound.”

On Bautista reportedly being drug tested 16 times in the past two years…

“When you see that number of tests administered it makes you take a step back and say is there additional thought behind that. We’re privy to seeing his work ethic and intelligence, and the adjustments he’s capable of making, you might look at it and say are those tests because this is someone whose broken out and really become and elite player and superstar, I’d like to think and which we all know, it’s the result of hard work and adjustments along the way and not something artificial.

“The fact that he’s had that many tests and they’ve all been negative, speaks more volume to the fact there’s nothing hidden here and there’s nothing for it to be attributed to other than the fact that you’re looking at a damn good player who’s put in a lot of hard work and learned along the way. That’s the reason for his success, not a shortcut.”

Greetings from the Sunshine State where the Blue Jays pitchers and catchers officially reported for their physicals on Tuesday evening. They’ll be joined on Friday by the position players with the first full squad workout taking place the following day. 

To get you started, make sure to check out my article on Toronto’s new closer Sergio Santos and there’s also an article on the start of Spring Training with quotes from Ricky Romero and John Farrell. Below, I’ve also included a lot of leftover items from Farrell will be expanded upon in coming days but the nuts and bolds can be found below.

Also, don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter @gregorMLB. I will be posting pictures from Spring Training every morning and will also provide news throughout the day when it becomes available. 

On the competition in left field…

“I thought that the way Eric came up last year and handled himself offensively, he hits with a lot of confidence, he believes in himself when he’s in the batter’s box. Thought he worked extremely hard and improved his defense, which is still an area where there is some development left.

“Yet, Travis Snider, who is probably a stronger defender right now, the consistency, the production, the swing and how he maintains that swing is really how we’re going to continue to monitor in Travis’ case. But it will be a head up competition in camp.”

On Snider’s chances…

“There has been some references to time running out and I would dispute that emphatically. He is a talented player, has a multi skill set. We want the best player in that position, and as Travis has come up and done very well, it has been the consistency of that production that has been a little elusive and that has been the course of three different times that has taken place. So, he’s well aware, as is Eric, of the situation that he comes into and it will be a battle.

“We’ll make the decision on which player makes us the best team. While they’re not the same, we’re going to factor in what each player can do individually and what gives us the best 25-man roster when we break and go north.”

On McCoy’s versatility…

“His versatility is a plus, there’s no question about it, but we also look at what Omar can bring to us. His veteran leadership, his mentoring ability, I don’t want to play on that too heavily because he’s still a player with a lot of talent and as I said we’ll get into that as we get into Spring Training.”

On Vizquel’s defense at SS…

“The one thing that you look at over time — and you read the reports and get evaluations of other people — he has had a long career as a shortstop. Whether the arm strength is as good as it was a few years ago, might not exactly be the case, but you can also look at an alignment with Lawrie at third who has tremendous range that can cover up the six hole a little bit more than the average third baseman. That takes away from some of the concern that might be there with the throw coming out of the hole at shortstop.”

On starting staff…

“We’re confident in the guys that are here … We know that we’ve got to get a greater number of quality innings pitched by that three, four, five slot. If guys hadn’t had success previously it would leave a little bit more in question but the fact that you have Cecil, who has been a 15-game winner, the way Dustin is throwing the ball in the early, going on top of the way he finished out last year, he we all feel will continue to improve and get better. Henderson did an outstanding job in the time that he was here, the 10 starts that he made.

“What our focus and emphasis will be in camp is to create a much mor clear mindset that the our starters intent is to go deeper into the game. That stems from their physical work, that stems from being efficent and attacking the zone … We’ve got the people here that we feel like will make up the difference — and I refer to that 10-game difference in the standings — and that’s going to primarily come from an improved starting rotation.”

On Cecil losing 32 pounds during the offseason…

“It speaks volumes and he is to be commended for it. We sat down and had some very candid conversations with him at the end of the season. He was well aware of it, he wasn’t pleased with the way things went last year and to his credit, he went out and made the committment from a body composition standpoint to get him in better shape. Whether that transitions into increased velocity we’ll see but I think more importantly his body control and ability to repeat his delivery is where this will really help him.”

On McGowan being treated the same as other SPs…

“Right now, he’s grouped in. For lack of a better term, he has mainstreamed into the routine and the throwing program we’ll go through with every starter. Once we get closer to games, and the intensity as it picks up if he needs — because last year he didn’t throw bullpens between starts — we’ll monitor that. If that is needed to where it’s some flat ground and loss toss rather than throwing off a mound inbetween starts that’s not uncommon for starting pitchers to use that type of routine.

“We know more about him after going through a full year last year. Both from a rehab standpoint and what he did in September. But like any other starting pitcher, regardless of whether it’s Dustin or not we’ll monitor their needs and adjust accordingly.”

“Honestly, he pitched with more velocity in September than I anticipated, or any of us anticipated. Those are all positive signs. Any time a pitcher goes through what he has gone through, you’re going to go through a bit of a learning curve again to pitch effectively with the stuff that you have now versus pre-injury but he’s a smart kid and he’s making the adjustments along the way.”

On how may starters will receive multiple innings this spring…

“We have 10 that we mapped out that will get multiple innings and start when those opportunities arise. Certainly they’re going to have back-to-back outings, or build on top of maybe one of the guys we have penciled in to begin the season in our rotation, but we have a stretch of 10 days where we play three split-squad games and there’s going to be ample innings to get those starters stretched out.” (Note: the 10 are Romero, Morrow, Cecil, Alvarez, McGowan, Laffey, Drabek, McGuire, Hutchison, Jenkins.)

On who bats second…

“The hope is that Kelly Johnson takes that spot and runs with it. We’re still going to try to alternate through the lineup as best we can. If there are matchups that will dictate otherwise then we’ll make that adjustments. Yunel will lead off but I’d like to see Kelly in that two hole.

“He’s had years where has been very good at getting on base. To me, that’s the most important things. Guys that can get on base at a higher rate in front of Bautista, Lind, in front of Lawrie, Encarnacion that’s where we’re looking to build it from.”

The blog has been in a hiatus for awhile but it will be back up and running on Feb. 21 when I officially report for Spring Training in Dunedin, Florida. I’ll be there for the entire six weeks and will have daily updates and regular photo galleries posted here.

In the meantime, all of my articles can be found on the main site. The latest entries include a Spring Training preview and features on J.P. Arencibia and Ricky Romero. Keep checking http://bluejays.com for all the breaking news and check back here in a little over a week for the start of Spring Training. 

The New York Post reported late Thursday night that the Blue Jays were the perceived front runners to land Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish. The report speculated that Toronto submitted a bid to the Nippon Ham Fighters between $40-50 million but also mentioned the Cubs submitted a large bid of their own at an unknown value.

Toronto’s Alex Anthopoulos and Texas’ Jon Daniels were the only two general managers to watch Darvish pitch in Japan. The Blue Jays also had multiple scouts watch Darvish throughout his season in the Nippon Professional Baseball League where he posted a 1.44 ERA in 232 innings this season.

The 25-year-old would be a big coup for Anthopoulos, who has made it his offseason priority to upgrade the starting rotation.

– Gregor Chisholm

When the Blue Jays traded for outfielder Colby Rasmus in July there were three players to be named later or cash considerations going to the Cardinals as part of the deal.

Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos confirmed to MLB.com on Monday night that cash considerations were sent to St. Louis to complete the trade. There will not be any players to be named later going to the Cardinals as part of the transaction.

As is customary with this type of move, the amount of cash sent to St. Louis was not disclosed. The final trade with St. Louis will go down as Colby Rasmus, Brian Tallet, Trever Miller and P.J. Walters for Edwin Jackson, Marc Rzepczynski, Octavio Dotel, Corey Patterson and an undisclosed amount of cash. 

The Blue Jays acquired outfielder Ben Francisco from the Phillies on Monday afternoon in what appears to be a minor move but one that could be a precursor for something much bigger.

Toronto already has a plethora of outfielders on its 40-man roster. Travis Snider and Eric Thames have been expected to compete for the starting job in left field while Colby Rasmus and Jose Bautista round out the three positions. The speedy Rajai Davis likely fits in as the club’s fourth outfielder but Francisco and Edwin Encarnacion can be found on the club’s depth chart as well.

That’s too many players for too few positions on the Blue Jays’ roster and it’s possible this now gives the club enough flexibility to make a run at Oakland No. 1 starter Gio Gonzalez. The two sides engaged in trade talks during last week’s Winter Meetings in Dallas but it was not immediately clear whether a trade could be worked out.

Oakland expressed interest in Snider last season but the A’s would also need a package a prospects to pull the trigger on dealing Gonzalez, who is under club control for the next four seasons. 

– Gregor Chisholm

The Winter Meetings have now come and gone. I hope everyone enjoyed the coverage on MLB.com this week. It was a busy four days and a lot of sleepless nights for myself and my fellow baseball writers as we tried to keep everyone up-to-date on the latest news surrounding the Blue Jays.

You can find my official Winter Meetings wrap-up on the main site. At the time of this posting, the article had not yet gone live but it should be there later this afternoon. You can also find an Offseason Notebook with items on Yu Darvish, Brian Jeroloman and the Rule 5 Draft. Please make sure to check those out and go through the news archive to catch up on any of the news you might have missed this week.

Thanks a lot for following along this week and you can continue to do so on Twitter throughout the offseason @gregorMLB. I plan on now taking a few days off but if the Blue Jays make a surprise move I’ll be here with the coverage. If not, then check back on Monday for another edition of the Inbox — you can submit your questions to bluejaysmailbag@gmail.com

In the meantime, here are plenty of leftovers from Alex Anthopoulos’ debriefing with the media on Thursday morning:

On Kelly Johnson accepting arbitration…

“It was expected. I had spoken to his agent and it was expected. It’s a good outcome for us. I think either way it would have worked but we’re a better club right now with Kelly Johnson on this team.”

Game plan moving forward…

“I think there are a lot of areas we could still address. You’d always love if you could add a bat to the middle of the lineup — that would be great. Realistically, I don’t know how possible that would be and right now I don’t see us being able to do that but things could change.

“I would love to add a mid to front rotation starter, again, that’s easier said than done because I think every team in the game is going to look to do something like that.

We definitely still need to solidify our bullpen. We’ve taken care of the ninth inning but we still need to take care of the eighth inning and continue to build that depth.”

Would you be okay with the status quo in the starting rotation…

“I guess I would be okay with it. The one thing is we have a lot of depth with young arms and young starters but they are young and there’s always an unknown there with how they’re going to react. But at the same time there’s value to getting those guys the innings and I think they all have the ability to click and do very well for us.”

Strictly trades to improve the bullpen or would you sign a free agent…

“I think it will be a combination of both. I think you’re always going to end up signing one or two free agent relievers. Sometimes it’s Minor League free agents and there are some guys we’re going to look at in trade too. So, getting those late innings eighth inning guys I see that being via trade rather than in terms of free agents but that could change as well.”

On what was accomplished this week…

“I think anytime we get together and we have meetings you move the ball forward. You continue to have dialogue and you continue to narrow your scope, narrow your focus, and realize things can happen or can’t happen.

“I definitely leave these meetings with more information, more of a sense of what it would take to get things done than before I got here. I felt the same way at the GM meetings. I think each time we get together, each time we have dialogue with teams, free agents, you have a better sense of what you can get done.”

Reaction to Pujols signing…

“I think Jerry DiPoto is going to be a great GM, I really mean that. I was really impressed with him when I dealt with him a little bit when he was with the Arizona Diamondbacks. If I’m an Anaheim fan I’m very excited that he’s there and I think he’s going to do great things.”

On the Angels giving Pujols a 10-year contract…

“He’s one of the great players in the game, a Hall of Famer. There are certainly players that are above and beyond anything else. I think everyone has their own philosophies and things like that. I think we’ve been pretty clear what ours is. I’m never one to really have an opinion on what other teams are doing, the parameters of what everyone else has, and things they do and why. They have their own reasons for doing that but Anaheim has always been a great club, great ownership and they’re going to continue to be one of the better teams in the AL.”

How does Darvish compare to Dice-K…

“I wouldn’t get into specifics about how good I think a player is going to be or isn’t going to be. Maybe after players are signed and things like that I would be a lot more to commenting about abilities and things like that. But there’s no doubt it he’s a very talented player.”

Could you go to Rogers and ask for more funds…

“We don’t need to. I have more than enough resources to put a good product and a competitive team on the field. It’s on me to be able to do it. There has never been an issue with that, there hasn’t been a problem at all with all of that stuff.

“That being said, if there’s something out there that makes a lot of sense, we always have the ability to go to ownership. They’ve always been willing to help and try to make the team better.”

On Wednesday you said you would consider Johnson in LF. Is that still the case?

“Right now we don’t have a second baseman — he would be the second baseman as of right now. But we know the fact that he has played left field and we think he did a fine job with it back when he did it with Atlanta. We have the ability to do that, so if some opportunity does present itself, knowing that we have the ability to shift him that’s definitely encouraging from our standpoint because it does keep from a roster construction standpoint a lot more flexibility on my end.”

Are you surprised Johnson didn’t have more suitors?

“It’s hard to say because I wasn’t necessarily in the second base market. I was one foot in and one foot out because I didn’t know. We never really went after anybody, I didn’t engage any agents because I was very clear from the outset that we were waiting on Kelly to find out what was going to happen. The landscape and the dynamics of other teams, and what their needs were, I don’t know a lot of teams that have a need at that position.

“I think we had a clear cut hole there, we had a clear cut need and I can’t speak for Kelly but I think the five weeks that he was here, I think he enjoyed his time. Beyond that, from our standpoint, sure if he left we would have gotten two draft picks but I think the players we would have had to give up in trade would have been significantly better than the two draft picks. From that respect, one, I think we are a stronger team and two we’ve kept some of younger players.”

Are you a better team now than at the end of the season…

“I believe we’re a more talented team now but we still have holes. Our core talent continues to improve. We still need to fill in the remaining relievers, we’re hoping some of our younger players continue to take a stride forward. I would say the biggest thing is I don’t think we lost a core piece in the off-season so far, we added one. From my standpoint that’s an improvement because that’s what we need to do.

“I just would like to have depth. Casey did a nice job for us but we’re that much stronger if he can pitch in the seventh inning. The more we can solidify that bullpen and make it that much stronger the better off we’re going to be.

Depth to make another big deal?

“We’re pretty deep in terms of minor-league players, that being said we’re not looking to trade all of them. But the minor-leagues are there to either help the big-league club by coming up there and playing or to use them in trade, and not all of them are going to pan out. If you take a Baseball America top 30, all 30 of them are not going to be playing for you, we don’t have room. At some point players are going to be used in trade and I think from our standpoint, timing is very important, whether it’s where their value is, if they’re block. I think timing is very important.”

Lots of leftovers from today’s extended media session with Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos. You can find an article outlining Toronto’s current financial situation on the main site and another article stating that second baseman Kelly Johnson is very likely to accept salary arbitration prior to Wednesday night’s deadline. I’ll also be updating the piece on Johnson when his decision becomes final shortly after midnight eastern.

Please don’t forget that you can follow me on Twitter @gregorMLB. In the meantime, here are the Anthopoulos leftovers for your enjoyment:

On saying he had to work under payroll parameters…

“Everything is great and I think all my intention with that was, we’re here, we’re negotiating with teams, we’re negotiating with agents. Everyone reads media, they read newspapers and I think it has been just so overblown that the Toronto Blue Jays have trucks of money sitting here and we’re just going to sign blank checks for players, trades, this and that. It just doesn’t work that way.

“That doesn’t mean we don’t have a lot of room to operate with. We don’t have a lot of ability to acquire players, sign free agents, do things like that and there’s also things we don’t believe in — starting with me.

“This is all relative to where our team is and as we continue to build, if the right opportunity presents itself with our team we’re going to continue to explore it and have the ability to do it.”

“I’ve had agents and teams say, well you have all this money. It’s not about that, it doesn’t work that way. I feel like my reputation with teams or media wise is pretty honest and if I come out and say something to somebody directly, and certainly from a media standpoint, for the most part I don’t plan things or misdirect things or use the media to send a mixed signal.

“It’s just taken on such a life that I think every agent feels like we can just spend whatever we want to spend and it doesn’t work that way.

What about adding salary in trades…

“It all depends with where we’re at … have we added anybody, things like that. But sure. Now if I’ve done five other things and added five other $10 million players then maybe it doesn’t make any sense. But there’s no question, if I see value then I’ll go and sit down with Paul.

Does not receiving revenue sharing under the new CBA change things…

“(Paul Beeston) abhorred the fact that we received any revenue sharing money because he knows what we can be and where we can go and the upside. He feels we should ultimately be one of the teams that should be paying into it. We are a large market club. The CBA has shown that, we know that, and I think everyone is starting to realize that we’re absolutely a large market club. We’re not
there yet in terms of tapping into our potential and that’s because the product is not as good as it needs to be.

“That’s why we’re trying to build it the right way. As much as we want to do it fast, if it’s done in a short sighted manner it won’t last and it will be torn apart again.”

Did the timing of Kelly Johnson’s modified Type-A status negatively impact his value…

“I don’t think so. Plenty of time to get a deal done. We’ve seen deals get done — Jerry Hairston just signed a two year deal. I think everyone looks at the Winter Meetings as a time where things come to a head. Maybe it’s because of arbitration deadlines and things like that, but no, I think free agent market has been slow to begin with.”

On attempting to trade for an upgrade at SP still under contract for a few years...

“No club looks to trade that type of player. The same way the White Sox weren’t looking to trade Sergio Santos. There is no motivation on behalf of clubs to trade young, controllable players. You need to do something to make them motivated and that means pay a high price.

On adding a veteran SP for depth…

“We’d be very open to doing that and we’ve talked about that as well. Ideally we’d like to get a mid rotation guy and so on. It ultimately depends on who that guy is going to take innings from. Maybe there is someone right now that needs a little bit more time in the Minor Leagues, needs a bit more work or we need to create that depth. But we’d have to explain that or we’d want them to come in and compete.

“We’ll look in that market and be open to it because it’s a young rotation and as we sit here right now you don’t know how McGowan is going to react, Alvarez just came up, Drabek obviously didn’t establish himself yet, Cecil was down at the start but I thought pitched well after he came back.”

Have you talked to other teams in case Johnson declines arbitration…

“There’s no question I’ve had backup plans and I’ve had dialogue with other teams about second base options and free agents.

“We offered on Kelly Johnson because we were fine with whatever outcome. Either he comes back or we get the draft picks. We’re fine, we’re happy, it’s a good outcome, it’s a no lose for us.”

The annual Rule 5 Draft will take place on Thursday morning at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas. It’s the final event before the Winter Meetings officially come to an end but the Blue Jays are going to have to do some roster shuffling if they want to become involved.

Toronto currently does not have any openings on its 40-man roster to select any players. The club didn’t select anyone last year and it’s very possible a similar approach will be taken again but a spot on the roster will need to be opened up on Wednesday night if that plan changes,

“We may create a spot,” Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos said. “There is a very select group of guys that we would consider in the Rule 5. We’re trying to determine if we think they’ll get to us. If there’s a strong possibility that they won’t we won’t create a spot. If we think there’s a chance we may create a spot.”

Anthopoulos also ruled out taking a player that could potentially make the 25-man roster but not have a major impact down the road. For example, if he selects a reliever it’s because Anthopoulos thinks he has a chance to be a set-up man and not just someone who can fill out the seventh spot in the bullpen.

“For me, I know there have been a lot of very successful Rule 5 picks but I’m more of a ceiling guy when it comes to the Rule 5,” Anthopoulos said. “Some teams look at it like, let’s just get someone who can be on the big league roster, and there’s some value to that, I’d rather be aggressive and go ceiling, swing for the fences for the pick if we can.”

A player selected in the Rule 5 Draft must remain on his new club’s 25-man roster for the entire season or be offered back to his original team. 

The Blue Jays acquired right-hander Sergio Santos from the White Sox for prospect Nestor Molina on Tuesday afternoon.

Santos is expected to take over the closer’s role for Toronto. He went 4-5 with a 3.55 ERA and 30 saves in 36 opportunities for the White Sox in 2011.

Molina became one of the Blue Jays top prospects this past season with a breakout campaign for both Class-A Dunedin and Double-A New Hampshire. Molina went a combined 12-3 with  a 2.21 ERA in 130 1/3 innings in the Minor Leagues.

Santos arrives in Toronto with a club-friendly contract. He is set to earn a total of $8.25 million over the next three seasons followed by three club options. Molina could earn $6-million in 2015, $8-million in 2016 and $8.75 in 2017.

Update — *8:20 p.m. 

I’ll have my own reaction to the trade in a post on Wednesday morning but in the meantime make sure you check out my piece that outlines the trade and also another article that deals with Santos’ reaction to the trade / background information about how he made the transition from shortstop to the mound.

You can also follow me on Twitter @gregorMLB. Here some leftovers from today’s coverage:

John Farrell:

 How happy are you about the new acquisition today?

“Extremely happy.  You know, we were able to get a guy that ‑‑ Alex outlined very clearly that for potentially the next six years, he’s a Toronto Blue Jay, and to get someone that’s got such strike‑out ability for that role that late in the game, an area that we came into this winter meetings as a focal point to address, we were able to do that.  We gave up a good pitcher, a guy that we really believed in, even though he’s a guy that was just pitching in Double‑A, but gave up a very good pitcher to get a quality closer.”

Do you feel like now it’ll be easier to let the rest of the bullpen fall into place in some sort of order of roles?

“Well, depending on what our bullpen ultimately looks like, the fact that we’ve got someone to build back to and work from the ninth inning back towards the middle of the game, sure, I think that stability, that known commodity is what every team strives to put in place, and we were able at that do that here today.”

What were your observations of him?  I know you didn’t see him pitch much, but from what you saw.

“You know, always have seen him quickly in the last two years.  It’s a remarkable story when you think of a position player to make that quick of a transition and to have dominating stuff as he does, power arm with a well above average slider, and you look at the strikeout rates, again, if you try to draw up a profile this is the type of stuff, you’re looking to put in the ninth inning.”

Given his relative inexperience, how close to a finished product is he?

“You know, I don’t know that any player is ever a finished product.  You’re always evolving, you’re always making adjustments to the league and to your opponents and to Father Time.  I don’t know what his ultimate product is.  I just know he’s got a very good arm with two well above average pitches, and a guy that we’re confident in is going to close out a lot of games for us.”

But he doesn’t strike you as a raw pitcher at this point?  Does he have a pretty good idea what he wants to do or do you see some evolution there?

“I’ll probably reserve comment on that until getting a chance to see him day in and day out, but there is some electric type stuff from a right‑handed closer.  Again, I think you just look at the strike out rates, and that’s one indicator that the fewer balls put in play, the better off I think we’ll all be.”

I know he would have faced those teams before, but is there an adjustment coming in facing teams he’ll face on a regular basis?

“I mean, you’ve got good lineups in every division, so to say that the lineups in the East are better than any others is probably disrespecting everybody in the American League or in Interleague play.

“The ninth inning in and of itself is a unique setting, and the fact that he saved 30 this past year gives us a lot of confidence with his experience at least in that one year and the success rate that he had.  This is a great acquisition by Alex and the rest who have been able to work this deal.”

Alex Anthopoulos:

Thoughts on the trade…

“Molina is a guy that they liked for a long time and we didn’t want to move him. Obviously he’s one of our better prospects, definitely it was a tough one.

“But at the same time we’re getting a guy that we feel has a chance to be an elite closer in the American League. He fits the profile of years of control with six years and the strikeout stuff for the lineup he’s going to face.”

How hard was it to pull the trigger…

“It’s hard, you can get guys to close games, but to find someone who has a chance to be elite and under contract for that period of time, at the end of the day we had to pay a steep price and it was not easy to do. We certainly had a split camp internally because we think very highly of Molina but where our team is right now, where our payroll is right now, all of those things made sense for us.”

Depth in the Minors help make this deal possible….

“It’s part of it but I think more than anything else, the years of control, the salaries, and where our team is currently with the core of the team that we have in place, and what our needs and alternatives are. This is someone that fits right into the timeframe of the other parts of our core and we still do have a lot of prospects but we’re not going to look to trade all of them just because we have depth in certain areas.

“It took some time to really wrap our heads around it. There were a lot of heated debates in the room about it but ultimately I just felt with everything that we have going on this makes sense for us.”

On the budget…

“I have parameters to work with, with respect to the payroll and so on. This gives me flexibility to do some other things and that was definitely a very appealing part of this and the years of control were very appealing. We’re not talking about a Molina unless we’re getting a lot of years of control.”

Does this signify that you’re ready to win now…

“We’re definitely trying to move the team forward, there’s no question. We have some players in the prime of their careers, we have some players that we think are only going to improve. So there’s no question we’re trying to win and get better each year but we’re not going to take shortcuts because we do want to win a team that has a chance to win over a long period of time. That’s why the years of control are so important.”

Sergio Santos:

Were you surprised by the deal…

“A little bit. It was definitely a shock at first, but the writing was on the wall as far as Chicago’s stance, kind of what they were going to do, I didn’t think I was going to be part of those plans, but here I am and I’m excited to be with a new team, and going in the direction Toronto’s going in.”

Best pitch…

“I think everything is off my fastball. In order for me to have an effective slider, I have to be locating my fastball in and out consistently to put that in hitters’ minds. I do have a good changeup, I would need to be more consistent with it, that’s something I’m going to really work on this year to take my game to the next level.”

On the man in white… what’s the real story…

“I have no idea. Hopefully whoever it is, if he’s there, if he’s not there, if he’s a ghost, he’s a help in helping guys put up monster numbers and they score some runs for us and we can win some games.”

More on being surprised…