Trades make Jays a contender

Toronto Blue Jays definitely won the winter, but winning the spring, summer and fall will be a little tougher.

The perennial also-rans in the powerful American League East rode the strong horse-trading talents of general manager Alex Anthopoulos over the winter to remake the Jays into an instant contender.

When the dust had settled from a series of astonishing trades, a Blue Jays fan takes one look at the roster and sees a pitching rotation that compares with the best in the Bigs: Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle from the Miami Marlins, knuckleballing sensation R.A. Dickey from the New York Mets (the reigning Cy Young Award winner in the National League) and holdovers Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow. It's an embarrassment of mound riches, something the Jays haven't experienced since the glory days in the 1990s of Dave Stieb, Jimmy Key and Tom Henke.

Around the diamond, the Jays throw out returning sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, scrappy hitters like B.C. native Brett Lawrie and Colby Rasmus, dependable first baseman Adam Lind and veteran catcher J.P. Arencibia.

Oh, yeah: The flurry of trades Anthopoulos pulled off over the winter also netted a couple of other gems: Melky Cabrera, a free agent who would have won the NL batting title in 2012 had he not been suspended for 50 games for detection of advanced levels of testosterone in his body; and all-star shortstop Jose Reyes, who was the NL batting champion in 2011 before signing a mega deal free agent contract with Miami and came to the Jays as part of the trade that brought them Buehrle and Johnson.

Jays fans could hardly believe their good fortune, but the naysayers who claim Toronto shouldn't count its chickens before the 2013 pennant hatches just have to listen to Las Vegas oddsmakers, whose numbers legitimize the optimism bubbling around the Jays. Those Vegas brains have made the Jays No. 3 choice in the A.L, behind only Los Angeles Angels (who, after signing slugger Josh Hamilton in the off-season, have the best Big Three in baseball alongside Albert Pujols and Mike Trout) and Detroit Tigers, the defending league champs.

Neither of those teams play in the A.L. East, however, the division in which the Jays finished a poor fourth in 2012. If the season unfolds the way the powerful roster indicates it could,Anthopoulos will be the leading contender for GM of the Year.

Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald: "The Chicago Bears hired Montreal Alouettes coach Marc Trestman, who once worked with Jay Cutler to prepare him for the draft. He knew Cutler when Cutler was young and immature. Now Cutler is no longer young."

Norman Chad of the Washington Post: ". . . when (Lance) Armstrong says emphatically, "Absolutely not," you know there's an 85 per cent chance that it's actually "Absolutely."

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald: "The NFL kicking off its Super Bowl Week with the Pro Bowl is like you kicking off your expensive gourmet meal with an appetizer of dog poo."

Brad Dickson again: "AJ McCarron's girlfriend covered the Super Bowl for "Inside Edition." Considering how many people go to "Inside Edition" for their Super Bowl news, they may as well have hired Manti Te'o's girlfriend."

Another one from Dickson: "Rex Ryan was involved in a minor three-car accident after he ran a red light. The Jets organization is withholding comment until it can figure out how to make Tim Tebow the scapegoat."

R.J. Currie of sportsdeke.com: "Temperatures in Manitoba recently dipped to -44 C with wind chill. It hasn't felt that cold in Winnipeg since skip Jennifer Jones fired Cathy Overton-Clapham."

Currie again: "The women's champion has been decided at the Australian Open. Victoria Azarenka beat Li Na eight syllables to two."

Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: "So, golfer Tiger Woods is reportedly dating skier Lindsey Vonn? Guess he just wants a look-see at a career that goes downhill on purpose."

Blogger TC Chong, on next year's Super Bowl being played outdoors in New Jersey: "Watch for SB XLVIIIBRRRR."

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: "The two biggest stories of the year involve Oprah Winfrey interviewing a teary-eyed cyclist and Katie Couric interviewing a forlorn football player about his fake girlfriend. The sissification of American sports is complete."

Jay Leno of NBC: "There's been a lot of criticism of the NFL for not hiring enough minority coaches. And, of course, the NFL is trying to spin it. They said, 'What are you talking about? We got two brothers coaching the Super Bowl.' "

NBC's Jimmy Fallon: "Manti Te'o's online girlfriend was a complete fabrication. When they heard that, nerds were like, "Man, even imaginary girls only like jocks."

Dwight Perry again: "Since golfer Vijay Singh gave deer-antler spray a try, does that mean he putts for doe now?"