DUNEDIN, Florida – Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos spent a patient offseason waiting for the market value of free agent starting pitchers to drop. In the end, Ervin Santanas desire to pitch in the National League and his willingness to play the waiting game won the day when he signed a one-year deal with the Braves worth a reported $14.1-million, exactly the value of the qualifying offer he rejected from his former team, the Kansas City Royals. Anthopoulos was light on specifics but insisted neither term nor dollars affected Santanas decision. The Jays could have increased their offer to Santana. They cant change the league or division in which they play. “Couldnt compete with it,” said Anthopoulos. “Wish him the best, obviously Im sure us and other clubs would have loved to have had him but were going to move on.” Santana couldnt find a multi-year contract offer which suited him, due largely in part to the draft pick compensation owed Kansas City by the team that signed him. The preference to pitch in the National League, in and of itself, is understandable. “I certainly understand it,” said R.A. Dickey, who pitched in the NL East for the Mets. “You get to face a pitcher every night, you dont have the DH and then the games are quicker and all that stuff, parks a little bit bigger. So, it makes sense logically for him on a one-year deal in particular.” Santana is pitching for his next contract; a deal he hopes will be a multi-year pact. He will be 32 at the time. The Braves play in a division that features the young, rebuilding Miami Marlins, the Bernie Madoff-infected New York Mets and the expensive, aging Phillies. On paper, only the Nationals pose a threat to Atlanta and both could end up in the playoffs, one as a wildcard. The Braves entered the fray on the weekend after two of their top pitchers, Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy, experienced elbow pain. Beachy has had Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery. It appears Medlen is destined for the operation, which would cost him the season, although he was seeking a second opinion. What isnt clear is how close the Blue Jays were to signing Santana before Atlanta emerged. It is clear they thought they close. “Talking about Santana (internally,) that kind of put some things on hold, it kind of changed our opinions on some things but now that hes gone were back to where we were,” said manager John Gibbons. Asked if he thought Santana would sign on the weekend, Anthopoulos kept his cards close. “Um, yeah, you know what, Id rather not say. Id probably rather not say.” Was Anthopoulos surprised the Jays didnt land Santana? “Thats another good (question.) Id probably rather not say on that one as well.” The Blue Jays exercised a full-court press to secure Santanas services. The pitcher has a number of friends on the club – hes a native of the Dominican Republic – and he shares an agent, Jay Alou, with Jose Bautista. None of it was enough. The Blue Jays are back to square one. R.A. Dickey, Brandon Morrow and Mark Buehrle are locks for the starting rotation. At the start of camp, Anthopoulos indicated J.A. Happ had a starters job, too, but has since backtracked. Happ was away from the team for two days late last week dealing with back pain both he and the club say isnt affecting his ability to pitch. Happ has been knocked around, to the tune of a 40.50 ERA in two appearances, and is now part of the larger group of pitchers competing for the final two rotation spots. Happ told TSN.ca on Saturday he hadnt been told of a possible change to his role. He was surprised and appeared vexed. “Well he hasnt told me anything,” said Anthopoulos. “As far as Im concerned, no one said anything to me, so I dont have any concerns.” Fake Vapormax 3 .com) - The Hatch Attack is back in the Southern Conference. Nike Air VaporMax 2019 White-Metallic Gold . The 41-year-old Northern Irishman has proved a perfect fit at Liverpool since taking over from Kenny Dalglish in the summer of 2012 and steered the team to an unexpected title challenge in the Premier League last season. http://www.clearancevapormax.com/cheap-v...-clearance.html. -- Craig Anderson has quite a record against his former team, the Florida Panthers. Cheap Vapormax .com) - Ames, IA (SportsNetwork. Vapormax 2019 Clearance .com) - James Harden had 32 points, including a tying layup late in regulation, and the Houston Rockets scored eight of their 13 points in overtime at the foul line to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 117-111 on Friday night.Harrison, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - Red Bull New York will aim to strengthen its odds of playoff soccer on Saturday when the club welcomes the Houston Dynamo to Red Bull Arena. New York enters the weekend on 41 points, just one point above the postseason divide. The club was unable to strengthen its position last time out as it suffered a 4-0 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy, snapping New Yorks four-match unbeaten run. The Red Bulls were slightly shorthanded in the defeat to the Galaxy as Lloyd Sam and Ambroise Oyongo were sidelined through injury. But RBNY head coach Mike Petke believes that Sam should be fit in time for Saturdays crucial clash with Houston. Lloyd is looking good, and Lloyd is expected, knock on some wood, to be back for this weekend, said Petke in his weekly conference call on Tuesday. His was a minor thing that we didnt feel too comfortable taking a chance with. Oyongos situation is a bit worse, Petke continued. Hes got what looks to be a decent hamstring injury. His (availability) wasnt even a question for last game. ... You never know. Hes young and he could have a heck of a recovery in the next couple days, but Im planning on not having him again. New York is certain to be without Jamison Olave after the Colombian picked up his fifth yellow card in the defeat to L.ddddddddddddA. on Sunday, leaving Petke to pick between Matt Miazga, Armando and Damien Perrinelle to partner Ibrahim Sekagya in the center of the clubs defense. New York still boasts a quality attack that features superstar Thierry Henry and leading scorer Bradley Wright-Phillips. Wright-Phillips has bagged five goals against the Dynamo this term, leaving the visitors with plenty of work to do in order to contain the Englishman. Weve just got to apply a lot of pressure on him, make it difficult for him on the night, thats the best thing we can do - try our best to make sure we dont give him anything too easy, Dynamo defender Kofi Sarkodie told the clubs official website. Were doing better, getting some shutouts, scoring goals so weve just got to keep that going ... I think collectively its just been a good effort from everybody. Last-minute tackles, guys getting in the box - and weve gotten goals early which I think has helped. Houston enters the weekend in fine form, riding a five-game unbeaten run in league play that has seen the club take 11 points from a possible 15. The Dynamo are still alive in the playoff hunt with 36 points from 29 games, but they must pick up three points at Red Bull Arena on Saturday to maintain a realistic shot at locking down a postseason berth. ' ' '