TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays have a new skipper, fresh faces on the roster and a renewed sense of confidence. With one bold megatrade and a few surprise moves, general manager Alex Anthopoulos has put baseball back on the front burner in a city that is starving for a taste of the post-season. Anthopoulos has addressed several glaring needs and strengthened a sagging starting rotation. The lineup is much deeper, team speed has improved and there is more depth on the roster. Fans of Canadas only major-league team have endured a near two-decade run of mediocrity. After years of looking down the road, the Blue Jays future is now. However, while its tempting for some fans to start planning the parade route, there is a long list of teams that made big off-season splashes in previous years but flopped in the regular season. Its one of the reasons why team officials havent made any bold statements or predictions. "We know we havent won anything yet, we havent done anything yet," Anthopoulos said in a recent interview. "Weve made some trades and I understand its always exciting when trades are made. "But I dont know that anythings ever been won in the winter." Big changes were made shortly after Toronto wrapped up a 73-win season in 2012, good for a fourth-place finish in the American League East. Injuries and ineffectiveness contributed to some mid-season struggles, resulting in another run of inconsequential late-season games and a rather dreary atmosphere at Rogers Centre. Anthopoulos made it very clear at seasons end that beefing up the teams starting pitching would be a top priority. He delivered by acquiring veteran starters Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle in a huge deal with Miami last month, giving the Jays a couple of inning-eating horses at the front end of the rotation. All-star shortstop Jose Reyes also came over from the Marlins along with infielder/outfielder Emilio Bonifacio, catcher John Buck and cash considerations. In return, the Blue Jays gave up infielders Yunel Escobar and Adeiny Hechavarria, catcher Jeff Mathis, pitcher Henderson Alvarez and three prospects. Toronto also got in on the free-agent action this off-season, signing outfielder Melky Cabrera to a two-year deal and infielder Maicer Izturis to a three-year contract. Manager John Farrell was dealt to Boston and John Gibbons was brought back as skipper. On paper the team looks significantly better. If the players can stay healthy and consistent, the Blue Jays should be in the mix of American League contenders. But there are still several question marks heading into next season. Will slugger Jose Bautista have the same pop after undergoing wrist surgery last summer? Can Edwin Encarnacion duplicate the statistics from his breakout season? Will Cabrera be able to post the same numbers he did with San Francisco before his suspension for a positive testosterone test last August? The other teams in the always-tough AL East have also been busy and there is no clear favourite at this point. Anthopoulos feels it will likely come down to health and the performance of every teams key players. "We thought we had a competitive team last year, obviously we had a lot of injuries," he said. "But those other clubs had a lot of injuries as well and we were still in fourth place. So those other clubs are incredibly strong. Theyve shown the ability to withstand and to have the depth with the injuries that they sustained last year. "So from that standpoint, I mean every team in the division, theres just so much parity right now. Its really going to be a coin flip I think in a lot of ways going into next year." The Blue Jays will look to build on last seasons 15 per cent home attendance jump and its a good bet the team will be a hot ticket out of the gate. Toronto hasnt been to the playoffs since winning the World Series in 1993. The Canadian national team is also hungry for success after coming up short at the first two editions of the World Baseball Classic. Japan won the inaugural WBC in 2006 and successfully defended its title in 2009. Canada did not make it to the second round at either event and needed to advance through a qualifying round to reach the 16-team main draw for 2013. Canada is in Pool D along with Italy, Mexico and the United States. Canada will open round-robin play March 8 against Italy at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Ariz. Canada will play Mexico the following day at Chase Field in Phoenix before wrapping up the first round against the Americans on March 10. The top two teams in each of the four pools will advance to the second round. Minnesota Twins slugger Justin Morneau of New Westminster, B.C., and Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., have already been named to the provisional 28-man roster. The rest of the Canadian players will be named in mid-January. Cheap Jerseys China .J. -- A year ago, Peter DeBoer was unemployed and wondering about his future. Cheap Jerseys NFL . But one piece that should be sticking around - and the good news for Als fans is hes the most important piece - is general manager, Jim Popp. “Ive (talked to) three different teams this off-season but things have not materialized where Ive gotten a job and I dont really expect to,” Popp told Cybulski and Company on TSN Radio 1050. http://www.nfljerseysch... . City councillors voted to resume talks with Oilers billionaire owner Daryl Katz after Katz officials promised to abandon demands for an extra $210 million in direct subsidies from taxpayers. 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"It kind of feels like I got the monkey off the back," said the 32-year-old Las Vegas native whose best previous finish in his three years on tour was a tie for sixth at the Honda Classic in 2009. "Ive been in the final group five times I think and didnt close the deal," he said. "I always thought I could do it and it was just a matter of doing it. Now I did it ... A big sigh of relief." His final round of 2-under 70 to finish at 15-under 273 didnt come without some drama. A day after setting the course record with a 61, he had to scramble his way around the 7,472-yard mountain layout to claim the $540,000 winners check. Piercy picked up where he left off on Saturday with a birdie on the first hole and closed out the front nine where he shot an 8-under 28 the day before with two more birdies to make the turn with a three-stroke lead at 16-under. He still led by three through No. 11, but Perez birdied the par-4 12th and par-5 13th. Piercy then bogeyed the 365-yard, par-4 14th when he tried to drive the green, hit a cart path and bounced 30 yards left. Tied with two holes to go, Perez gave a stroke back with a bogey the par-4 17th, missing an 8-footer for par. Piercy hit his drive 387 yards on the 616-yard downhill closing hole but it ran right into the sage brush. After helping his playing partner Josh Teater look for his errant drive in sage on the other side of the fairway for more than five minutes, Piercy knocked his own ball out safely then pitched onto the green about 30 feet from the pin. Needing only a 2-putt to win, he sent his first attempt 7 feeet past the hole before wobbling in the winner.dddddddddddd "Yeah, 30 feet and 2-putting is not as easy as it looks sometimes," said Piercy, who started the week ranked 142nd on the money list with US$365,162 but now will see his earnings approach $1 million for the second time. "I had one little hiccup and just played solid from there," he said about the lone bogey. "Coming down the stretch, you know, making pars is sometimes as good as making birdies." The first native Nevadan to win the 13-year-old tourney also locked up a spot next weeks PGA Championship. "We had vacation planned next week. Now Ive got to cancel," he joked afterwards. Perez shot a 68 to finish at 274, his third runner-up finish to go with one career victory on tour. "I missed three putts inside 10 feet the last three holes. Thats not going to win," said Perez, who added there was nothing good he could think of to take away from the experience. "No, no positive. Second, second, second. First loser," he said. Steve Flesch, who won the 2007 Reno-Tahoe Open, shot a 68 on Sunday and Blake Adams had a 69 to tie for third another stroke back. "Best Ive played in a couple of years," said Flesch, 44, who claimed the most recent of his four career PGA victories four years ago. "It makes me feel good that I can still play. I kind of would get to the point where I didnt know if I could even compete any more out here with some of these guys," he said. "I needed to play the par-5s better this week. Jim Renner shot a 68 to claim fifth place at 12-under. Steve Elkington and first-round leader Nick OHern both closed with 71s to finish in a group another two strokes back with Matt McQuillan (66) and Ben Martin (69). Matt McQuillan from Kingston, Ont., shot a 66 to finish at 11 under and in a tie for sixth. Calgarys Stephen Ames was 1 over for the day and finished at 3 under for the tournament. ' ' '