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TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips answers three questions each week. This week, topics cover the Blue Jays rotation, the futures John Gibbons and Alex Anthopoulos, protecting pitchers and a bonus question on his predictions for the MLB playoffs. 1) With J.A. Happ heading to the DL, the Toronto Blue Jays have announced a starting rotation of R.A. Dickey, Drew Hutchison, Mark Buehrle, Brandon Morrow and Dustin McGowan. Should the Blue Jays feel confident with that group or even this early in the season, should they be looking outside the organization for an upgrade? Or should they have kept a prospect like Aaron Sanchez or Marcus Stroman with the big club? The Blue Jays are starting the season with exact rotation they should be using. Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman both need more development but at some point they may be called upon to help. Certainly there are big questions for three-fifths of the starters but there is definitely upside. RA Dickey is just a year removed from his NL Cy Young Award and is predictable and dependable. I cant believe I am saying that about a knuckleballer but it is true. Mark Buerhle is a more than serviceable innings-eater who gives his team a chance to win start after start. After these two though the questions are significant. Brandon Morrow has suffered injuries in each of the past two seasons after looking like a number one starter at times in 2012. Dustin McGowan is throwing in the mid-nineties and is working on a curve ball to go with his devastating slider, but he has thrown just 46 2/3 innings since 2008 because of recurrent shoulder injuries. Drew Hutchison hasnt pitched in the Major Leagues for the past year and a half due to Tommy John surgery but prior to that he looked like he could be a long-term answer for the rotation. Before the season begins players, front office personnel and fans close their eyes and dream about what could be. I can close my eyes and see RA Dickey commanding his dancing knuckler that will baffle hitter. I can envision Buerhle getting a ton of grounders and working quickly getting the powerhouse offense back in the dugout and scoring a ton of runs. I can picture Brandon Morrow rifling his fastball by the games biggest sluggers and logging a ton of strikeouts. I can imagine McGowan and Hutchison fulfilling the potential that they once had as well. It could happen just that way. But it probably wont. My experience is that the more questions you enter with the more things that will likely go wrong. There is a bunch of unpredictability in this rotation. Depth will be important. It is safe to assume that health will be an issue at some point because it has been an issue in the past. Esmil Rogers and Todd Redmond may make starts if necessary. But Alex Anthopolous is going to have to keep working the phones to look for upgrades. Early in the season other clubs arent typically trading good pitchers but he will need to be ready for when they do become available. So when you close your eyes and dream just hope it is not a nightmare. 2) Is manager John Gibbons on the hot seat with the Blue Jays? If the team is slow out of the gate again this year, will he be replaced? Are his and Alex Anthopouloss future tied together (if one goes, the other follows him out the door)? I dont think John Gibbons is on the hot seat during the season this year. I know there were big expectations last year but the collapse wasnt Gibbons fault. The starting rotation just fell apart on him as Morrow and Josh Johnson got hurt and Ricky Romero imploded. Jose Reyes injury crushed the offense early in the season and more injuries followed. The expectations are less this year than a year ago. It certainly behooves the Jays to get off to a good start so they can start to believe in themselves but Gibbons cant pitch for his team and the staff will be the key. I have never been a believer that managers and general managers are tied at the hip. The manager needs to look at the GM as his boss. Clearly Gibbons was brought back to the Jays because of his relationship with Anthopolous but if Anthopolous thinks a change needs to be made he will have to make it. If ownership gets to a point where they believe the roster is flawed and they decide to make a decision on the general manager it is unlikely Gibbons would survive a change in regime. Anthoplous can possibly survive the firing of Gibbons but I dont believe Gibbons would survive the firing of Anthopolous. As it stands today both the manager and general manager are on firm ground as they should be. They just need to be honest with themselves and their bosses about what the expectations are with the roster they have. The owners can hope to be competitive in the tough AL East but if they expect to win it then both Anthopolous and Gibbons are in trouble. This is a roster for which you can hope but not expect great things. 3) With Reds starter Aroldis Chapman and Rays starter Matt Moore both being hit in the head by comebackers to the mound in spring training, is it time for Major League Baseball and/or the players union to implement mandatory pitcher protection? It seems that pitchers have become more and more vulnerable over the past few seasons. Fortunately, we have avoided major catastrophe but we shouldnt be shocked if a pitcher were to be killed by a hit ball. We have just been lucky so far. I am a firm believer that we should never wait for someone to be killed to make a change. Baseball already did that once. Base coaches wear helmets now because a minor league first base coach was hit in the head by a line drive and killed. If protecting pitchers is being considered then protect them. Lets not wait for a tragedy. It is currently optional for pitchers to wear the new protective headgear that was developed by MLB for this year. The feedback so far is that the hats look funny and are not overly comfortable. MLB needs to keep refining the protective hats to make them functional. This needs to be a priority for the Players Association as well. Protective hats for pitchers need to be made mandatory at the minor league level initially. Let the kids get comfortable with them so by the time they are big leaguers it is commonplace. Once the hat is advanced enough make it mandatory for major league pitchers to wear. There is no clock in baseball but we need to put a clock on this. Every pitch thrown puts a pitcher at risk. Please hurry. 4) With the second and third opening days approaching for Major League Baseball it is time to make predictions. Here is how I see the American League:AL East AL Central AL West 1) Boston Detroit Oakland2) Tampa Bay* Kansas City** LA Angels3) Baltimore Cleveland Texas4) Blue Jays Minnesota Seattle5) New York Yankees Chicago Houston * first Wild Card ** second Wild Card AL CHAMPION: Oakland As defeat Detroit AL AWARDS AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera, DetroitAL MVP: Justin Verlander, DetroitAL Rookie of Year: Yordano Ventura, Kansas CityAL Manager of Year: Ned Yost, Kansas City Here are my predictions for the NL:NL East NL Central NL West1) Washington St Louis LA Dodgers 2) Atlanta** Milwaukee SF Giants*3) NY Mets Cincinnati Arizona4) Philadelphia Pittsburgh Colorado5) Miami Chicago San Diego* first Wild Card ** second Wild Card NL CHAMPION: Washington Nationals defeat Dodgers NL AWARDS NL MVP: Freddie Freeman, Atlanta BravesNL CY Young: Stephen Strasburg, Washington NationalsNL Rookie of Year: Gregory Polanco, Pittsburgh Pirates Manager of the Year: Mike Matheny, St Louis Cardinals WORLD SERIES CHAMPION: Washington Nationals defeat Oakland As LET THE GAMES BEGIN…..PLAY BALL!!! Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys .Y. - Geno Smith still thinks of himself as the New York Jets starting quarterback. Custom Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys . Berkman almost left the game last off-season before signing with the Texas Rangers. He then had another injury-plagued season and was limited to 73 games. http://www.diamondbackssale.com/diamondbacks-luis-gonzalez-jersey/ . While coach Doc Rivers high-fived fans and pumped his fist at the crowd, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul quietly congratulated each other. Curt Schilling Jersey . The 33-year-old defender has spent his entire career at Chelsea, scoring 57 goals in 621 appearances. He regained his regular starting place under Jose Mourinho in the season that ended at the weekend without Chelsea winning a trophy. Randy Johnson Jersey . Carey Price made 27 saves for Montreal (30-21-6) for his fourth shutout of the year and second in four games. David Desharnais added an empty netter for the Canadiens. Reto Berra stopped 25 shots for Calgary (21-28-7).PHOENIX -- Matt Barnes knows shooting nights like this are rare moments to be savored. The 11-year NBA veteran scored 18 of his 28 points in the third quarter and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Phoenix Suns 104-96 Tuesday to match their season best of five victories in a row. Barnes made 12 of his first 13 shots and scored 16 points in the first 5:09 of the third quarter. "I felt like I got good looks every time," he said. "I found a little bit of space and was able to get the shot up. Every time it left my hands it felt good. One of those nights." Blake Griffin added 22 points and Darren Collison had 18 for Los Angeles. DeAndre Jordan had 10 points and 17 rebounds and blocked Goran Dragics layup try with the Suns still in it with 41 seconds to go. P.J. Tucker scored 18 and Gerald Green 17 on 6-of-19 shooting for the Suns, who played without centre Miles Plumlee (right knee sprain). They also lost guard Leandro Barbosa to a broken left hand in the first half. Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said Barbosa would be out four to six weeks. After Jordans block, his two free throws sealed it at 101-94 with 39.5 seconds left. Phoenix led by as many as 12 in the third quarter and trailed by as many as 15 in the fourth before cutting it to three late. Trailing 61-49, Los Angeles outscored the Suns 32-10 to take an 81-71 lead on Barnes layup after a Clippers offensive rebound with 38.9 seconds to go in the third quarter. Markieff Morris scored to cut Los Angeles lead to 81-73 entering the fourth. Barnes shot 7 of 7 for 18 points in the third quarter. Griffin added 12 in the period. The Clippers won despite a 4-for-14 shooting night from Chris Paul. Dragic, his Phoenix counterpart, was 5 for 14. They had nine assists apiece. "It is not going to be Blake and Chris every night," Barnes said. "We have a deep team and you have to be accountable for everybody and we have been showing that lately." Clippers coach Doc Rivers credited his teams second-half defence. "The seconnd quarter was horrendous," he said.dddddddddddd "But then I thought our defence, to hold them to 39 points in the second half -- everybody was in the right spots. We were rotating, and we played with intensity." Los Angeles built its biggest lead at 90-75 on Jared Dudleys layup with 8:48 left. Phoenix got back in it with an 11-0 run. Morris scored on a baseline dunk, then followed with a 3-pointer that cut the Clippers lead to 90-86 with 6:31 left. Green was 3 for 16 before making two 3s and bouncing in a 16-footer to cut the lead to 97-94 with 2:37 to go. Griffin made a fadeaway 13-footer with 2:09 left. "The third quarter, they were more physical, especially on defence," Dragic said. "We were catching the ball way out and we didnt get open shots. They just played hard defence, like we should do." Early on, Phoenix dominated. The Suns outscored the Clippers 16-2 over the final 3 1/2 minutes of the first quarter and the opening 1:45 of the second to lead 30-24 after newcomer Shavlik Randolph made one of two free throws with 10:15 left in the half. Dragic got his offence in gear in the final 1:19 of the half. He sank a 3-pointer, stole Barnes pass for a layup, then fed Alex Len for a layup as Phoenix used a 9-2 run to lead 55-44 at the break. NOTES: Barbosa was hurt taking a charge late in the first quarter but stayed in the game another 6 minutes. ... Phoenix is a half-game ahead of Memphis for the No. 8 playoff spot in the West. ... The Clippers were without Jamal Crawford (strained left calf) for the second game in a row. ... Len, a first-round draft pick, got his first start in place of Plumlee and struggled with six points and six rebounds in 19 minutes. ... Plumlee injured his knee in practice last week and had been trying to play through it. ... Suns G Eric Bledsoe, coming back from knee surgery, participated in a full scrimmage Monday. ... Bledsoe was hurt in the Suns 107-88 win over the Clippers in Los Angeles on Dec. 30, the only other time the teams have met this season. ' ' '