"As spring training approached, the Blue Jays had added a closer but not an experienced starting pitcher.

There was still time, although general manager Alex Anthopoulos said that after the official signing of free-agent left-hander Darren Oliver that he was probably done dealing for now.

Meanwhile, manager John Farrell was talking about how the improvement in the starting staff could come from pitchers who are with the team already. The rotation is the key to making the next jump to being contenders.

"That is still the one area where we've got to make the greatest strides to add 10 more wins," Farrell said.

The Blue Jays were 81-81 last season.

"We can get there," Farrell said. "It will take more quality innings from our rotation. We think Brett Cecil can regain his form of two years ago when he led (the team) with 15 games."

Farrell talked about help possibly coming from youngsters such as Henderson Alvarez and Kyle Drabek. He also mentioned Dustin McGowan, who returned late last season after missing three years because of shoulder surgery.

And, of course, there might be other young pitchers who emerge in spring training, the way left-hander Ricky Romero did in 2009. Drew Hutchison could be in that category."