TORONTO -- Wasted season or expensive experimental test run? The much-vaunted 2013 Toronto Blue Jays returned to the drawing board after a season rife with underachieving closed Sunday. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . Questions abound after the dismal campaign. "We got off to a slow start and obviously it continued the entire year," GM Alex Anthopoulos said by way of understatement. The season opened April 2 with a home sellout of 48,857 fans at Rogers Centre for a 4-1 loss to Cleveland. Fast forward to Sunday and only two players -- shortstop Jose Reyes and catcher J.P. Arencibia -- remained in the starting lineup. And Reyes missed some 66 games inbetween with an ankle injury while Arencibia came into the season finale batting .195 with 21 home runs and 147 strikeouts in 473 at-bats. It seemed fitting that prior to the ceremonial first pitch Sunday, the PA system played "Pick Up the Pieces" by the Average White Band. The Jays finished last in the American League East at 74-88, compared to 73-89 last season when they finished fourth in the division. Fan Appreciation weekend closed out with an exciting but failed comeback in a 7-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays before a loud crowd of 44,551. Despite Sundays six-run rally, its has a been a rocky road for the Jays -- and a long long way from the optimism of spring training. "Its an exciting season. Everybodys seen the moves," star outfielder Jose Bautista said back in February. "All the bodies are here now. Its all on us now to perform. "We love that challenge and we have a confident, good group of players together. I think were going to go out and have a lot of fun and hopefully we remain healthy. If all that happens, the season should take care of itself. We should be in the playoffs and hopefully the World Series." Manager John Gibbons was slightly more circumspect back then. "We expect to win some things this year ... Weve just got to step up and answer the bell and fulfil those things. But that wont be easy. Theres a lot of good teams in the league." Owner Rogers dug deep into its expansive wallet to fund the new-look Jays, with the 2013 opening day roster coming in at a season salary cost of US$119.3 million (up from $83.7 million) the previous year. The expected starting rotation -- R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle, Brandon Morrow, Josh Johnson and Ricky Romero -- cost $46.75 million alone. It went south quickly, finishing with a combined 30-36 record -- with Dickey and Buehrle accounting for 26 of those wins. "I never would have expected the rotation to be the weak link on this team coming into the year. I would probably have said the bullpen was the area we were most exposed in," said Anthopoulos. Johnsons 2-8 season came at a cost of $13.75 million. Anthopoulos hardly mentioned the big right-hander Sunday, which suggests a qualifying offer might not be forthcoming. He did speak optimistically of Morrow making a return, however. The Toronto GM said he expects to learn his payroll number in October, although the figure will be fluid with case by case re-evaluation. "Were certainly not going to go backwards, from that standpoint," he said of the salary total. "Well continue to move forward." In his end-of-season media meeting, Anthopoulos kept returning to stability of starting rotation, or lack thereof. "Right now we have (pitching) volume. The question is is the quality of that volume enough? .... Were going to look to improve, no doubt about it. We have to." For Anthopoulos, even with great everything else, the team wasnt going to get to the playoffs with the kind of starting pitching it got this year. The Jays starting ERA (4.77 going into play Sunday) ranked 29th in the 30-team majors. And it seemed somehow fitting that pitching coach Pete Walker made a trip to the mound after just two outs in the first inning to speak to Todd Redmond, with a reliever already warming up in the bullpen. The bullpen was far better on the season, ranking 10th in the majors with a 3.39 ERA. Toronto ranked 16th in hitting in the majors, with a .252 average prior to Sunday. The team ranked fourth in homers, with 185. In addition to shoring up the starting rotation, help is needed at second base while the verdict may be out on catcher. And the team needs depth. Its bench was threadbare many games. Injuries certainly cost the Jays. Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Melky Cabrera, Brett Cecil, Maicer Izturis, Johnson, Morrow and Colby Rasmus, almost a third of the opening day roster, finished the season on the disabled list. Some of the injuries were of the rare or freak variety. Doctors found a benign tumour on Cabreras spinal cord. Pitcher J.A. Happ was sidelined after getting hit on the head, injuring his knee as he toppled. Rasmus exited after talking an accidental ball in the face from a teammate. The season also started on a disconnect with players missing a chunk of spring training due to the World Baseball Classic. Anthopoulos has decisions to make. He said the team will likely look to improve via trades more than free agency, saying the available menu does not look that strong. He said he has bullpen assets that could be used in trades. Nothing seems off the table. "No one has a no trade clause," the GM noted, adding "If we can improve in any area ... well look to do that." The team has options on Adam Lind, Mark DeRosa, Munenori Kawasaki and Casey Janssen. Topics up for discussion include what can be done to reduce the injuries that have ravaged the team the last two seasons. Also whether anything can be done to improve the artificial turf before the plan to replace it with natural grass is put into place. On the plus side, Gibbons will return as manager with a vote of confidence from Anthopoulos. "His in-game (management) is outstanding. Thats always been a strength of his. I think it comes down to myself as a general manager giving him a better rotation to work with." Ryan Goins and Anthony Gose showed like they belonged in the final weeks of the season. And Toronto has a choice of arms when it comes to fifth starters and beyond. But while there is an upside to those pitchers, says Anthopoulos, theres isnt a level of certainty. And there was a buzz about the team, with Kawasaki becoming an unlikely fan favourite for his quirks and occasionally timely hitting. Season attendance at the Rogers Centre was 2,536,562, up 436,899 from 2012. "Support has been great ... Whats been proven to everybody is this is definitely a baseball town," said Anthopoulos. "It has tremendous interest in the game." The question is what will the team need to do next year to keep the fans coming back? 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He will wear a cast for a minimum of 10 days before he can put a glove back on it and get some mobility back, said Carlyle, who added the winger wont go on the teams upcoming road trip.MINNEAPOLIS - In six seasons in Minnesota, Kevin Love witnessed how warmly the fans greeted former Timberwolves star Kevin Garnett each time he came back to town.On the eve of Loves first game back at Target Center since he was traded to Cleveland last summer, the second-best player in franchise history isnt expecting the same kind of reception.Truthfully? Boooo, Love said Friday when asked by Cleveland reporters about what kind of environment he expected on Saturday night in Minnesota. Probably more of that than a mix of cheers.Minnesota owner Glen Taylor said he, for one, will welcome Love back with open arms.Id be pleased to give him a hug and wish him the best and hope it goes well and hope he stays healthy, Taylor told The Associated Press. He worked hard and he did well for us and Im appreciative of that.Love came to Minnesota in a draft-night trade in 2008, and eventually supplanted Garnett as the face of the franchise. With a strong work ethic, he turned himself into a three-time All-Star and an Olympic gold medallist . He interacted with fans who had jumped off the bandwagon when Garnett was traded. He also started a successful winter coat drive that provided warm outerwear for thousands of disadvantaged in the Twin Cities.But unlike Garnett, who took the Timberwolves to the playoffs eight times and was named MVP in 2004 while leading them to the Western Conference finals, Love never made it to the post-season.Management failed time and again to surround Love with enough talent to compete in the powerful West. Blunders were committed in the draft (Jonny Flynn over Steph Curry in 2009, Wes Johnson over DeMarcus Cousins in 2010), in trades and free agency (Michael Beasley, Darko Milicic, J.J. Barea) and with coaches (Randy Wittman, Kurt Rambis) and general managers (David Kahn).All of those failures, coupled with injuries to Ricky Rubio and Love, contributed to 323 losses in Loves six seasons with the Wolves.I think it couldve gone better with what we had if we had been a little bit luckier (with injuries), Taylor said. Theres a lot of things. Maybe if we drafted better and did some things, but we did what we did. It isnt Kevins fault. Maybe we shouldnt have made some decisions we made. I dont know what to say about that. I wish we wouldve done better.As much credit as Love deserves for transforming himself from a doughy UCLA freshman to a sculpted offensive force in the NBA, he carries some responsibility for the Wolves failures as well.The relationship soured in 2012, when Kahn refused to give Love a five-year maximum contract extension. Love signed a four-year deal with an opt-out after three seasons and didnt hide his ddisappointment. Cheap Jerseys Paypal. e carried the grudge for the next 2 1/2 seasons, turning from a funny, engaging public personality into a sullen figure on the court and in the locker room. He played in only 18 games because of a twice-broken hand in 2012-13, alienated teammates behind the scenes by withdrawing from the group and struggled mightily on the defensive end.Love requested a trade at the end of last season and a tour of Boston early in the summer didnt sit well with fans back in Minnesota.Minnesota people are pretty loyal. You turn on Minnesota, they dont forgive you, president and coach Flip Saunders said in December. So I think people probably appreciated him while he was here. But you leave under the terms that he did, just the way Minnesota people are, theyre not pretty forgiving along those lines.The Cavaliers sent No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett to Minnesota in a three-team deal that also netted the Wolves Thaddeus Young to get Love. The Wolves again were plagued by injuries during an 8-37 start to the season, but Wiggins development has them hopeful they have found a dynamic, two-way player to team with Rubio.We needed a player that we get to the end of the game and we give him the ball and the other team says, Holy cow, hes going to be hard to stop because we dont know what hes going to do, Taylor said. We just havent had that guy. Kevin Love ... he couldnt do that by himself and the other team could guard it pretty well at the end of the game because they knew what he was going to do.Love has gone through expected adjustments in his first year on a team with championship aspirations. He has become the clear No. 3 option behind James and Kyrie Irving, and his numbers have taken a sizeable dip. He didnt make the All-Star team in the Eastern Conference and the Cavaliers have only recently started to mesh.Love is 6 for 26 in his last two games, but the Cavaliers had won eight straight heading into the game Friday night against Sacramento.Maybe shooting at the baskets he filled up for six seasons will get him going. But hes bracing for an unexpectedly foreign feeling in his old home.Im sure once I get there, it will be a little different feeling for me, Love said. Obviously playing on the visitors side, going into the visitors locker room, going to the different bench. But I havent really given it too much thought, and luckily were on a winning streak right now, so thats really whats first and foremost.But, yeah, once the game is over (Friday night) and we get there, it will be a little different, not staying at my apartment in Minneapolis, well be staying at a different hotel. ' ' '