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VANCOUVER -- Alex Anthopoulos was a busy man last off-season. New Balance Australia Online . The Toronto Blue Jays general manager made a series of bold moves that reshaped the club ahead of what would turn out to be a disastrous 2013 campaign. The lead-up to the 2014 season has been relatively quiet in comparison, with the Blue Jays biggest splash coming when they cut ties with catcher J.P Arencibia and replaced him with free-agent Dioner Navarro. While that deal wasnt not on the same level as the headline-grabbing acquisitions of Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey, Anthopoulos says he wont be adding any pieces through trade or free agency unless it fits into the teams model. "We made a lot of big moves early last off-season. It wasnt by design, it just worked out that way," Anthopoulos said Friday. "Weve had a lot of dialogue. Theres still a lot of players out there, just havent been able to line up with respect to a price, whether its trade or free-agent cost. "We do have the ability on some trade fronts to just say Yes. We know what the asking prices are -- just not willing to pay that price. From a free-agent standpoint ... we have been given a price and we just dont necessarily see the value right now." The starting rotation continues to be a point of emphasis after a miserable 2013 that saw Toronto finish last in the American League East after starting the season as World Series favourites. Free agent starters Ervin Santana or Ubaldo Jimenez are still on the open market, but Anthopoulos said theres a chance that the rotation could be filled out from within. "We have a lot of candidates and a lot of options. Someone like Brandon Morrow coming back (from injury) is a huge boost for us, some of our young kids that are coming back are certainly going help," he said. "We still have dialogue and try to upgrade but we do have some upside to some of the guys that are coming back." Anthopoulos, who was in town for a luncheon with the single-A Vancouver Canadians, also touched on the New York Yankees signing of Japanese starter Masahiro Tanaka earlier this week. The 25-year-old right-hander inked a seven-year deal worth $155 million dollars with Torontos AL East rivals that also includes a $20-million dollar payment to his club team. The Blue Jays, who have an internal policy of not signing player contracts longer than five years, were rumoured to be in the running for Tanakas services early on in the process. "Obviously hes a great starter and there was a lot speculation on where the dollars would go just based on the previous two Japanese starters (Daisuke Matsuzaka and Yu Darvish)," said Anthopoulos. "I think it was expected that he would go north of (their price tags) -- $175 million, I dont know if anybody predicted that. "Hes very talented and the Yankees certainly got better." Anthopoulos said the Blue Jays use the five-year limit on contracts as "a guideline" but tend to shy away from longer-term deals because they offer clubs very little wiggle room. "Weve held firm on our five-year policy in terms of contracts. When free agents are signing for seven, eight years, then normally thats where we tap out," he said. "We definitely have the resources financially in terms of annual value and salaries and things like that. I think weve proven that with some of the players we have acquired. But just the length of term -- very rarely do those seven-, eight-year deals work out." Anthopoulos and manager John Gibbons will be feeling the heat if the Blue Jays stumble out of the gate as the they did in 2013. Fans flocked to Rogers Centre with dreams of a return to the teams glory years of the early 1990s that included two World Series titles, but were instead bitterly disappointed with the product on the field. With pitchers and catchers set to report for spring training on Feb. 17, a repeat in 2014 surely wont fly. "Youre always anxious to try to improve the club and to add to it, but you dont necessarily have to guard against it when you know theres a deal that just doesnt make any sense," said Anthopoulos. "We just dont want to force a deal and do it for the sake of doing it. "We want to make moves that we think are going to help the club. If we have to go more years and dollars than we believe in, people might get excited now but a few months into it we may be regretting that deal and be hamstrung with a contract that we dont want." Cheap New Balance Shoes Australia . McCutchen hit his first home run in over a month, doubled twice and scored two runs to help the Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 on Sunday and take three of four from the defending NL West champions. New Balance Australia Sale . PAUL, Minn. http://www.cheapnewbalanceaustralia.com/ . The 48th-ranked Williams made her first appearance in Dubai since she won her second straight title here in 2010. Shed missed the last three years either because of injury or Sjogrens Syndrome.Germany, Belgium and Switzerland qualified for the World Cup in Brazil while Spain, England and Russia also won on Friday to keep their fate in their own hands heading into the European zones final round of group games. Next years tournament is also within sight for Bosnia-Herzegovina, which has never played in a World Cup, but Cristiano Ronaldo looks destined for the playoffs with Portugal after a night when the qualifying picture in the nine groups became much clearer. The Netherlands had already secured their passage to the World Cup before their 8-1 demolition of Hungary, featuring a hat trick by Robin van Persie that put the Manchester United striker top of his countrys all-time scoring chart with 41 goals. Germany eased past Ireland 3-0 through goals by Sami Khedira, Andre Schuerrle and Mesut Ozil to guarantee first place in Group C and reach footballs biggest tournament for the 16th straight time. "Weve won eight from nine games and we should have won the ninth," Germany coach Joachim Loew said. For Belgium, though, it will be a first World Cup in 12 years after the countrys so-called golden generation topped Group A with a 2-1 win in Croatia, with striker Romelu Lukaku scoring twice. "Its a party in Belgium. What more can you ask?" said coach Marc Wilmots, whose team played in front of Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo in Zagreb. Switzerland prompted a jubilant tweet from tennis great Roger Federer after beating Albania 2-1 to win Group E with a game to spare and advance to the World Cup for a third successive occasion. "Switzerland made it to the World Cup, how happy am I on a scale 1-10?" Federer wrote. "About a 25." Spain beat Belarus 2-1 through second-half goals by Xavi Hernandez and Alvaro Negredo and requires just one point from a home match against Georgia to guarantee the world champions will defend their title next summer. England stayed top of Group H, a point clear of Ukraine, after an impressive second-half display sealed a 4-1 win over Montenegro, with in-form strikers Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge and debutant Andros Townsend among the scorers. The English now just need a victory over Poland on Tuesday to go through automatically but a draw will let in Ukraine, which beat the Poles 1-0 and have an easy match against San Marino left. New Balance Australia. "It is only a half-done job, but it is nice to know whatever happens we will not be out," said England coach Roy Hodgson, whose team cant finish lower than second place. The scenario is easier for Russia after its 4-0 win in Luxembourg, which left Fabio Capellos team three points ahead of Portugal and needing only a draw in Azerbaijan to guarantee first place. Portugal conceded a goal to Eden Ben Basat with five minutes left to draw 1-1 at home to Israel and virtually ensure it will be in next months two-legged playoffs, which feature the top eight runners-up. Helped by two goals by Edin Dzeko, Group G leader Bosnia-Herzegovina beat Liechtenstein 4-1 at home and can qualify automatically for its first major tournament with a win at Lithuania on Tuesday. Greece defeated Slovakia 1-0 and is level on points with the Bosnians, but has a vastly inferior goal difference. Elsewhere, Sweden joined Croatia in the playoffs after securing second place in Germanys group with a 2-1 home victory over Austria, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic grabbing a late winner. They are the only two countries definitely in the two-legged playoffs, which will played on Nov. 15 and 19. Italy, which qualified along with the Dutch last month, equalized in injury time to draw 2-2 at Denmark and leave Bulgaria second on goal difference in Group B despite a 2-1 loss in Armenia. Iceland stayed second behind Switzerland after overcoming Cyprus 2-0, while Turkey and Romania won away games on Friday to stay tied on points behind the Netherlands with one match remaining. The Turks have the edge on goal difference but finish off against the Dutch, who showed they are in no mood to relax by ripping apart Hungary in Amsterdam. Van Persie scored twice before half time and seven minutes into the second half to go one goal ahead of Patrick Kluivert in the all-time list. "Records are made to be broken ... Im happy for him," said Kluivert, who is now one of Netherlands coach Louis van Gaals assistants. Thirteen of the 32 spots at the World Cup are now set. The United States, Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, Iran, Japan and South Korea had also already qualified before Friday, and Brazil gets an automatic berth as host. Colombia and Chile were in position to advance later Friday. ' ' '