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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!!! Puma Wholesale Australia .C. -- Kevin Harvick won his first career pole at Darlington Raceway on Friday as he looks to chase his first Southern 500. Puma Shoes Australia Sale .James scored 29 points, including 16 in the first quarter, and the Cleveland Cavaliers broke a four-game losing streak with a 106-74 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night. http://www.wholesalepumaaustralia.com/ .com) - James van Riemsdyk had two goals with one assist to help the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night. Puma Shoes Australia .Y. -- Scott Chandler is returning to Buffalo, where he spent the past three seasons establishing himself as the Bills top pass-catching tight end. Cheap Puma Shoes Australia . Pierre last November, only to watch St. Pierre leave the UFC octagon with his welterweight title belt and a split-decision victory. INDIANAPOLIS -- As one of the NBAs elite teams, the Indiana Pacers have a target on their backs. The Phoenix Suns came out firing in the first half and held the Pacers off in the second to hand Indiana just its second home loss of the season. "This year theyre not the underdogs anymore," Suns forward Channing Frye said. "Teams come out and give it their best shot. For them to expect us to come in and lay down, for any team to lay down, its not going to happen." Goran Dragic had 28 points and seven assists to lead Phoenix to the 102-94 win over the Pacers on Thursday night. Gerald Green and Marcus Morris scored 16 points apiece to help the Suns win their fourth straight game. Markieff Morris, who finished with 15 points, hit a 3-pointer with 2:58 remaining to give the Suns a 98-92 lead and Dragic dunked to give the Suns a 100-94 lead with 44 seconds left to put the game out of reach. The Suns (28-18) seemed to have the game put away by halftime. Dragic scored 21 of the Suns 66 points in the first half -- the most given up by the Pacers (35-10) in a half this season since the Suns scored 62 on Indiana a week ago in a 124-100 win. "We are at our best when we start the game well," Dragic said. "We played an up-tempo game, so I think they were a little bit tired." The Pacers rallied after trailing 66-49 at the break, but never retook the lead. Roy Hibbert had 26 points and David West added 18 for the Pacers, who have lost three of five games. Indiana went on an 8-2 run early in the second half with shots by David West, Paul George, Lance Stephenson and George Hill to get within 70-53. Later, George was fouled on a layup and converted the 3-point play to make it 71-61 with 7:01 left in the third. Miles Plumlee missed a dunk and Hibbert scored on a putback to get Indiana within eight. Frye answered with a basket and then HHibbert scored Indianas next six points to get the Pacers within 73-69.dddddddddddd "We came out, got ourselves back in it in the second half with defence, but couldnt get up over the hump," Hibbert said. "They outplayed us." The Pacers got within a point when Hill hit two free throws to make it 91-90 with 4:20 remaining, but Green extended the lead with two free throws. Hill made a layup before Green hit a jumper to put the Suns ahead 95-92 and Markieff Morris 3-pointer to give the Suns a five-point lead. "In the end, that third quarter cost us a little bit," Dragic said. "They came really strong. They made some open shots and that made it a little bit of a different game." It was much different from the way Phoenix played in the first half. They took a lead right away in the first quarter. They went on a 9-0 run early in the game when Dragic tied the game on a layup and later hit a jumper to give the Suns a 6-8 lead. Then Green hit a 3-pointer and another basket to make it 13-6 with 6:24 left in the first quarter. The Suns went on a 15-2 run to close out the first quarter with a 36-19 lead. Stephenson, who left the game in the first quarter after getting hit in the right eye, scored 12 second-quarter points. West added 10, but the Pacers were never able to put together a run or cut into the deficit. Even when George hit a jumper falling out of bounds that went over the corner of the backboard and through the hoop, it didnt matter. Dragic hit a 3-pointer to take back the lead and to give the Suns a 62-45 lead. NOTES: In four halves against the Pacers this season, the Suns have scored 62 points or more in three of them. . Stephenson recorded his fourth triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. . Hibbert and George become the first Pacers teammates to earn All-Star honours in the same season since Jermaine ONeal and Ron Artest in 2004. ' ' '