Raids » 0-0 draw with Lille. Third-place Lille i

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 Mark McGwire Jersey . Felix Pie had an RBI double earlier in the inning, as Baltimore rallied for three runs to overcome a 3-2 deficit. J.J. Hardy had two hits and Matt Wieters chipped in with an RBI double for the Orioles, who pushed their winning streak to three games. Cheap Reggie Jackson Jersey . Follow all the action live on TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto, TSN Radio 690 in Montreal, TSN Radio 1260 in Edmonton and TEAM 1410 on Friday at 3pm et/Noon pt. http://www.cheapathleticsjerseys.com/?ta...hunter-jersey.Y. -- Syracuse guard Trevor Cooney was mired in a shooting slump, and his woes coincided with a late-season swoon by the Orange. Cheap Oakland Athletics Jerseys . Inter Milan ended its five-match winless streak in all competitions by beating 10-man Bologna 3-1 on new manager Claudio Ranieris debut, while injury-plagued AC Milan edged Cesena 1-0 with an early goal from Clarence Seedorf. Cheap Jose Canseco Jersey . A top pitching prospect, one who the ball club is pinning some of its future hopes, takes the spot of a veteran who once was viewed as a future ace but who, to this point, hasnt realized his potential and may never.PARIS - Zlatan Ibrahimovic took his tally to 37 goals in another remarkable season on Sunday, scoring a hat trick as defending champion Paris Saint-Germain won 4-2 at Toulouse to maintain its five-point lead over Monaco. Ibrahimovic, who also helped set up the other goal for Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi, has scored 22 league goals and is closing in on his career-best total of 30 from last season. At this pace, he is on course to get 50 goals in all competitions. "It was a good game. It wasnt easy to play on this pitch because it wasnt in a good state," said Ibrahimovic, who scored twice in the 4-0 rout of Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday. "I feel good, very good physically. I dont know how far we can go but I hope the team keeps on playing like this, and well see what we can win." PSG is finding its best form again at just the right time and next faces bitter rival Marseille at home next weekend. "Weve scored a lot of goals in one week. It shows our attacking talent and its going to be very hard to catch us," PSG midfielder Blaise Matuidi said. "Now we can recover properly before the Marseille game." Toulouse coach Alain Casanova promised to attack and was true to his word, with lively striker Wissam Ben Yedder scoring twice to set up a nervous finish before Ibrahimovic converted his second penalty of the match in the last minute. "We didnt play particularly well, because the players were a bit tired (after Tuesday night)," PSG coach Laurent Blanc said. "We didnt create an enormous amount of chances but we took them, and when you score four goals the coach can only be happy." Meanwhile, Lille fell further behind the top two after a dour 0-0 draw with Lille. Third-place Lille is 10 points behind Monaco and one point ahead of fourth-place Saint-Etienne, while Lyon is five points behind Lille in sixth place. PSG took the lead in the 33rd minute when Serbian defender Uros Spajic brought down Lavezzi, and Ibrahimovic drilled his spot kick down the middle with goalkeeper Zacharie Boucher guessing wrong as he dived to his right.dddddddddddd PSG should have scored again in the 43rd when Ibrahimovic crossed from the left and centre back Thiago Silva failed to hit the target as he lunged in at the far post. A minute later, Toulouse punished PSG for that miss when Ben Yedder volleyed in a cross from midfielder Etienne Didot. But PSG regained the lead in the 56th when Ibrahimovic again crossed from the left, Matuidi let the ball run and Lavezzi finished with a first-time shot. Ibrahimovic seemed to have put the result beyond doubt in the 70th, heading in substitute Yohan Cabayes free kick after the impressive Lavezzi had been fouled, but sloppy play let Toulouse back into the game three minutes later. After PSG midfielder Thiago Motta went to challenge forward Martin Braithwate, the ball bounced into the penalty area and Ben Yedder beat goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu with a calm finish. Not to be outdone, Ibrahimovic went close with another header from Cabayes free kick — which Boucher kept out — and then scored another penalty after Issiaga Sylla had handled his free kick. Ibrahimovic was lucky, however, as he tried to dink it over Boucher. The goalkeeper saved the shot, only for the rebound to fall kindly into the Sweden forwards path. Hardly anything happened at Lille until the hour mark, when Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes thwarted 18-year-old forward Divock Origi and then tipped away Salomon Kalous cross before it reached striker Nolan Roux. The game finally started to open up and, when Lyon midfielder Clement Grenier clipped the ball over onrushing goalie Vincent Enyeama, defender Pape Souare had to make a goal line clearance. Lopes then made an excellent finger-tip save to push Origis strike from 20 yards onto the bar, and Lyon forward Alexandre Lacazette shot straight at Enyeama from a good position. Earlier, struggling Rennes moved nine points away from the relegation zone with an impressive 3-0 win at Nantes, with Sweden forward Ola Toivonen, strike partner Paul-Georges Ntep and Norwegian midfielder Anders Konradsen getting the goals. ' ' '