Finally healthy, McGowan will get a chance to start

--RHP Dustin McGowan is ready to compete for a spot in the rotation. He returned to the majors late last season for the first time in more than three seasons after twice undergoing shoulder surgery. He was good enough to earn a chance this spring training to make the rotation. "If I'm healthy, I've always felt like I can win a job," McGowan told the Toronto Star. "I think this offseason was the time to rest my arm up and let it heal completely. The plan is to go as if it was a normal season." McGowan did some throwing off a flat surface at the minor league complex in Dunedin, Fla., and the Blue Jays were encouraged by the results. McGowan was 0-2 with a 6.43 ERA in five games, including four starts, with Toronto in 2011.

--RHP Francisco Cordero, who had 37 saves in 43 opportunities with the Reds last season, was signed to a $4-million, one-year contract as a free agent to set up for RHP Sergio Santos. The 36-year-old Cordero has lost a little on his fastball but says he has adjusted. "It's good to get a strikeout, but sometimes when you get a strikeout you throw a lot of pitches," Cordero said. "When you become a ground-ball pitcher, you save yourself a lot of pitches and you can pitch a lot more in a series against any team. ... When you're not that young kid anymore that used to throw 100 miles an hour, you've got to learn how to pitch. That's what I've been doing for the past few years. I've been learning how to pitch, in and out, moving the ball a lot better, throwing a lot of sinkers."

--OF Darin Mastroianni was designated for assignment to make room for RHP Francisco Cordero on the roster.

--3B Brett Lawrie was the talk of spring training last year and later lived up to expectations when given his chance in the majors in August and September. When was asked who that person might be this year, manager John Farrell said, "Maybe (RHP) Drew Hutchison, (C) Travis d'Arnaud, (RHP) Deck McGuire or (CF Anthony) Gose."

--CF Colby Rasmus disappointed after his arrival in late July from the Cardinals in a three-player trade that also involved the White Sox. He batted .173 with three home runs and 13 RBI in 35 games with Toronto, but was hampered by a wrist injury that put him on the disabled list. General manager Alex Anthopoulos was asked if he might have given up too much pitching to get Rasmus. "We gave up (LHP) Marc Rzepczynski (to St. Louis) and (RHP) Zach Stewart (to Chicago), who are under control, everyone else is a free agent. We looked at this year's market, saw (CF) Coco Crisp was the best and did not want to rush (CF) Anthony Gose."

--RF Jose Bautista said he has been tested 16 times for performance-enhancing substances during the last two years and that reports to the contrary are false. Bautista made the announcement at a banquet in the Dominican Republic, and his comments were later reported in a Dominican newspaper. "I don't really care how times I have been tested," Bautista told mlb.com. "If I get tested 100 times, I'm fine with it. I have never in any shape or form had a problem with the number of times I have been tested. Somebody asked me a question and I gave an honest answer. ... I know how many times I was tested, and I don't really care if anybody says I wasn't." Bautista has been the major league home run leader in each of the last two seasons, with 54 in 2010 and 43 last year.

BY THE NUMBERS
49 -- Hits allowed by RHP Francisco Cordero in 69 2/3 innings last season with Cincinnati, when he had a WHIP of 1.019, the second best of his career.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"With a lot of players, at times, some of them don't want to play on turf, no matter what money. Some of them don't want to DH at no matter what money, and some of them have health concerns from the medical staff that the club may feel they have to DH, and if they have to DH, they're unwilling to sign no matter what the dollars are. At that point, I don't know what you can do, other than taking the shot." -- General manager Alex Anthopoulos, addressing a gathering of about 800 season ticket holders on why the Blue Jays did not sign a free-agent hitter like OF Carlos Beltran.

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