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BRADENTON, Florida – J.A. Happs hold on a spot in the Blue Jays starting rotation is in question. The tall lefthanders sore back and poor performance this spring, combined with the emergence of Drew Hutchison and the sense that Marcus Stroman is almost ready to contribute to a successful major league club, has cast doubt on his role with the team. "I think were going to take the best team north," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "Especially right now, we have J.A. and the back, the performance, things like that, we have to get him on track, stay healthy. Obviously R.A., Mark and Brandon. Again, we expect J.A. to be in the rotation but at the same time, the backs flared up on him twice. I just dont know. Look, if guys perform well and they force our hand, well take the best team." Hutchison has stood out. Members of the Blue Jays brass caution against overvaluing spring training performance. However, it isnt just about results. Hows a pitchers "stuff?" Is he locating his pitches, especially his fastball? Hutchison was dominant in two innings against the Orioles last Saturday, striking out four. The parks radar gun had his four-seam fastball clocked at 94 miles per hour while Jays scouts say it hit 96 on three or four occasions. The command was there, too. "We saw that velocity at the end of his time in 2012 before he got hurt," said Anthopoulos. "When I went to the Arizona Fall League, it was so encouraging to see him pitch that way. He really started to come into his own in 2012 before he got hurt so Im not surprised. I think I said it before. Hes a guy I expected to really impress. Hes off to a great start, hes definitely opened some eyes, hes a strong candidate to make the rotation but hes got to make it. But I love what I see." The Jays are enamoured with the makeup of both Hutchison and Stroman. Coaches say both men have come to camp on a mission – to make the team – and say neither will be satisfied with simply being a major leaguer and collecting a healthy paycheck. Both are driven to be front end of the rotation pitchers. Both expect to be the ace of a big league staff. About Stroman, the general manager jokes hes never seen a guy chomping gum in the middle of his delivery. Stroman was scheduled to throw three innings in Bradenton on Thursday. Due to rain, the outing has been rescheduled for Friday. To use Anthopoulos words, its a "big day" for the 22-year-old. "Im saying it more tongue-in-cheek. Its not like the decision gets made tomorrow but I think every outing for him is important." "He has a chance. I dont know what the chances are, the percentages, but theres a reason hes getting stretched out, theres a reason were giving him the innings. We want to take a look. If he can impress and really come on, hes going to make it hard on us, which is what we want." Happ was scheduled to pitch on Saturday but has been pushed back in the wake of the rainout. Tests have revealed no structural damage in Happs back, the Blue Jays say, just inflammation. This isnt the first time Happs battled the problem in his career. Anthopoulos remains willing to consider external options to add to the roster. Hes in periodic touch with representatives of free agents and is open-minded to a deal if the prices drop. A trade between now and opening day seems more likely and hell try to deal from a position of strength. "We do have inventory in the bullpen and we talk about it daily but we know how quickly that inventory can vanish," said Anthopoulos. "Guys get hurt. I think as we get to the last 10 days of camp is when things will ramp up a little bit ... Id say the last 10 days of camp or so is when youre expecting guys to stay healthy and itll be interesting, especially with all the guys we have who are out of options." Innings limits for the kids? Some in the organization would prefer Hutchison and Stroman begin at Triple-A Buffalo, to the extent there is debate it is healthy, not confrontational. Given that jobs could be at stake this season, it behooves the front office and coaching staff to take the best team to St. Petersburg on March 31. If that team includes both Hutchison and Stroman and they stick for the season, Anthopoulos says their innings will not be monitored. "Someone said Marcus threw 126 innings and 25 in the Fall League, well he threw more than that because he was being stretched out as a starter last year in extended and no one has those innings," said Anthopoulos. "The year before he was around 160 or something. He has no restrictions at all. He was a pretty high number last year." "Drew, the same way," Anthopoulos continued. "I think Drew, I think Ive said this before, reminds me a lot of a similar scenario with Shaun Marcum. Marcum was more than a year removed from Tommy John. He had it in August the year before, didnt come up in September on the one-year anniversary date, came into spring training, pitched great, was our opening day starter and had a three and a half ERA and pitched 195 innings, I think. Drews got no restrictions. I think it would be the same type of thing. I could see him, if he makes this team, going wire to wire." On second base Anthopoulos continues to be effusive in his praise of Ryan Goins. "Defensively, the more you watch him, the more you realize how good he is defensively, just his actions, the way he moves," said Anthopoulos. "You know, the bat, thats something were going to watch in spring training. The tough part is, you realize its two at-bats a game, three at-bats a game, the competition level varies. I would say, again, the competition is still there. Were going to value the defence because its that good. He has room to do less offensively because the defence is so elite. I dont use that word lightly. I really think hes elite and hes got a chance to win a gold glove there." Chris Getz, Jonathan Diaz, Munenori Kawasaki and Steve Tolleson are on minor league deals and are getting looks. "Goins is the front-runner because of the defence that he showed but he still has to earn that job," said Anthopoulos. Jays rained out Thursday The Blue Jays and Pirates were rained out in Bradenton on Thursday, forcing manager John Gibbons to adjust his pitching lineup. Mark Buehrle, scheduled to start on Thursday, will instead start Fridays home game against the Rays. Marcus Stroman and Ricky Romero will also appear. Drew Hutchison will make the start, at home, on Saturday against Minnesota. R.A. Dickey will take his knuckleball to Kissimmee on Sunday for a date with the Astros. Cheap Air Max 200 . Perhaps their first trip to the city of Winnipeg in 16 years can serve as the shakeup they need. Cheap Air Max Bw . In Englands first game since its worst-ever World Cup showing, Roy Hodgsons side rarely looked like scoring against unambitious opposition and the breakthrough in the friendly only came when Raheem Sterling was tripped in the penalty area. http://www.airmaxsneakersonsale.com/cheap-air-max-tn.html . They actually finished with a better record in ‘07 than they did in ‘06 but only marginally, going from 61 victories to 66. Wholesale Air Max China .com) - Coming off a pair of tough losses last week, the Syracuse Orange will try to put an end to their first losing skid of the season when they pay a visit to the Maryland Terrapins at the Comcast Center on Monday night in Atlantic Coast Conference action. Cheap Air Max 97 White .ca! Hi Kerry, Im sure youve received many emails wondering what your take is on the Spezza goal that looked like Neil blatantly kicked it in while standing directly in the middle of the crease where, you know, usually a goalie is to make a save but couldnt be due to Neil being there! Thanks! Jon - Westfield, MA Jon: Lets first ask Henrik Lundqvist what he thought of the scoring of the Sens second goal with .NEW YORK -- Dirk Nowitzki called it "probably the ugliest game-winner I ever shot," and this is how he described it. "Basically it hit the board, every part of the rim, hit Jerry West over there (the logo on the backboard), came back over and it was definitely an ugly, ugly shot," he said. But when the 19-foot jumper bounced up and then fell in as time expired, the Dallas Mavericks had a 110-108 victory over the New York Knicks on Monday night. The Mavericks blew an eight-point lead in the final 90 seconds, then pulled out their third straight victory when Nowitzkis jumper that seemed to have missed instead fell through. "I didnt even feel like celebrating it was so ugly," Nowitzki said. His teammates and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban did it for him, rushing onto the floor after Dallas moved into seventh place in the Western Conference. Carmelo Anthony had 44 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks. He played strong defence on the Mavericks final possession, but was left standing in disbelief long after the buzzer after Nowitzkis shot appeared to hit the backboard first, then the front rim, then bounced up before dropping. "It was like a needle in a balloon right there," Anthony said. "It sucks all the air out of you. He hit a hell of a shot." Vince Carter made seven three-pointers and scored a season-high 23 points. Monta Ellis had 22 for Dallas (35-23), which has won nine of 11 and is a season-best 12 games over .500. Jose Calderon finished with 20 points for the Mavericks, who swept a three-game road trip and beat the Knicks for the 20th time in the last 25 meetings. Nowitzki had just 15 points after missing all five three-point attempts. "Thats one thing about the greatest players. I played with (Larry) Bird for three years. He took more pleasure in hitting a game-winning shot after he missed eight or nine in a row than having a great game at times," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. Tyson Chandler had 12 points and 12 rebounds against his former team, sparking the Knicks comeback after they trailed 108-100 with 1:37 left. But New York (21-36) lost for the sixth time in seven games and fell a season-worst 15 games below .500. The Knicks had blown big leads in their last two games, giving away a 14-point advantage at Orlando and a 17-point cushion at Atlanta, collapses that coach Mike Woodson called "mind-boggling.ddddddddddddquot; This one had to hurt worse. "There were games last year when our backs were against the wall and we just found a way to win," Woodson said. "This year when weve been in the situation where we needed a big stop or two we havent been able to get it done." The Mavericks seemed to have put it away when Calderon made a three-pointer, and Brandan Wright followed with a basket to stretch the late lead to eight points. But after Raymond Feltons basket, Chandler converted a three-point play, then came up with a steal to start a break that ended with Anthonys three-pointer that tied it at 108 with 50 seconds remaining. The Knicks got the ball back after a Dallas miss but committed a shot-clock violation, giving Dallas the ball for Nowitzkis winner. "We maybe shouldnt be in the situation at the end, I think six points up," Calderon said. "It was a good lead with 1:20 or something, but it was good at the end." Amare Stoudemire scored nine points in his first start since the end of the 2011-12 season for the Knicks, who had just 10 available players after waiving Metta World Peace and Beno Udrih earlier Monday following contract buyouts. The Mavericks shot 55 per cent and led 31-21 after one quarter, but the Knicks came right back and made 14 of 19 shots (74 per cent) while scoring 38 points in the second, when Anthony scored 17 points. New York erased a 14-point deficit to grab a two-point lead on Anthonys jumper with 11 seconds left, but Ellis made a three-pointer as time expired to give Dallas a 60-59 edge. Dallas had the lead back up to eight in the final minute of the third, but Anthony made three free throws, then nailed a three-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining as the Knicks trimmed it to 84-82. NOTES: Woodson said he would talk with team president Steve Mills on Tuesday to discuss filling the teams open roster spots. He said he thought the Knicks needed a big man with Andrea Bargnani and Kenyon Martin still injured, and a guard who could defend on the perimeter. ... The crowd included U.S. Olympian Erin Hamlin, who won a bronze medal in luge, and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks. ' ' '