BRADENTON, Florida - J. Cris Carter Jersey .A. Happ was pummeled by the Pirates on Tuesday, leaving general manager Alex Anthopoulos with an unappealing conundrum: its become easier for him to sell to the fan base the idea of having $12.7-million (Ricky Romeros and Happs combined 2014 salaries) of dead or differently-allocated money than it is to sell the fan base on including the left-hander in the opening day starting rotation. Happ faced 20 batters in three-plus innings. Twelve of them got hits, including Pittsburgh starter Wandy Rodriguez, who hit a wind-aided, opposite field, two-run home run to cap a four-run second inning. Rodriguez had never homered in 437 career major league at-bats. Happ allowed seven earned runs, bloating his springtime ERA over four starts to 20.57. The Blue Jays lost, wait for it, 22-5. "It wasnt a good day for anybody, really," said manager John Gibbons. "We got pounded pretty good. They werent missing em. We got hit around pretty good." Meanwhile, back in Dunedin, Dustin McGowan, the sudden favourite for the final available rotation job, threw four innings of scoreless baseball in a Triple-A game. His fastball was clocked in the mid-90s; McGowan hit the 62-pitch mark. "I thought he looked great," Anthopoulos told a pool reporter in Dunedin. "Its just trying to get him stretched out here. Every step is a step in the right direction, but well see how he feels tonight, tomorrow, all that kind of stuff. He got up to 62 today off of 48 the (outing) before. Well take it outing by outing at this point." The logical next step, provided McGowans wonky shoulder feels good on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, is to have the right-hander throw another minor league game in Florida on Sunday. "The big thing is that we dont get ahead of ourselves because we re-evaluate it almost daily to see how he feels," said Anthopoulos. "I always remind him as well, I keep reminding him that at any time any concerns, any tweaks, anything at all, he needs to tell us, and he said, Absolutely. Hes obviously a big part of wanting to do this as well. As I told him when were even exploring this, he needs to want to do this because we would never take chances with his career or with his health. Hes the one who knows how he feels. Hes been through this enough times. He has to communicate with us." Happ has had a puzzling spring. He arrived in Dunedin under the impression he had a spot in the starting rotation locked up. After poor starts on February 26 and March 3, he missed game action due to a bad back. His two appearances since his return, on March 19 and on Tuesday, have gone no better. "Yeah, thats not an issue," said Gibbons, when asked if Happs back was still a concern. Happ has an option remaining, meaning he could be sent to the minors without first passing through waivers. However, the fly in the ointment is significant: as a major league veteran with more than five years of service time, Happ has the right to refuse the assignment, at which point the Jays could keep him or release him while paying him full freight. Would Happ be willing to move to the bullpen? "Im not thinking about that," he said. "Ill answer that question if someone else, one of the bosses, decides they need to ask that. Well deal with that then. But thats not something thats on my mind." The Blue Jays still have not officially named Drew Hutchison to their starting rotation although its inconceivable he doesnt make the team. Hutchison has been the clubs best pitcher this spring and Anthopoulos is on the record as saying hes taking the best 25 players north. Assuming Hutchison joins R.A. Dickey, Brandon Morrow and Mark Buehrle in the rotation, Anthopoulos, Gibbons and pitching coach Pete Walker have to decide between McGowan, Happ and Todd Redmond for the final spot. The idea of piggybacking McGowan, that is starting him on a strict pitch count and backfilling with Redmond, Esmil Rogers, maybe even Happ, behind him has been bandied about. It likely will be revisited during internal meetings ahead of Sundays deadline to announce the opening day roster. "When we announce the team, everybody will know who it is," said Gibbons. REYES GOING TO MONTREAL? The Blue Jays are encouraged by the MRI results on Jose Reyes left hamstring, which revealed a minor strain. "Hopefully hes in there the next couple of days, maybe at DH," said manager John Gibbons. "Let him run half-speed, three-quarter-speed. It actually made us feel pretty good after we heard the results." When asked on Monday, before he had his MRI, whether he would play through the strain if the regular season already was underway, Reyes didnt answer. It behooves the Jays to be careful, though, especially considering the club plays 91 games (81 at home, 10 in Tampa Bay) of its 162 on artificial turf. "With baseball, too, there can be a lot of dead time too before you actually get a ball," said Gibbons. "That quick movement will sometimes get you. We feel good about it and you hope it doesnt turn into anything down the road either." Still, Gibbons says the plan is to bring Reyes to Montreal, where two games will be played on turf, if hes healthy enough to go. "Im sure everybody wants to see him play up there," said Gibbons. THE SECOND CATCHER R.A. Dickey is scheduled to start the Blue Jays final Grapefruit League home game on Wednesday. By game time, we should have a better idea of who will back up Dioner Navarro. "I would say the guy who catches him (Wednesday) will be the backup catcher," said Gibbons. "Ill leave it at that." Erik Kratz and Josh Thole are vying for the job. Gibbons has repeatedly said that effectively catching Dickey is the jobs number one priority. Thole, to the extent someone can be, is a master at it. Hes also got the most experience. Dickeys pitched 565 innings to Thole over their time together with the Mets and Blue Jays. Kratz, a 2002 Blue Jays draft pick, returned to the organization in an offseason trade with the Phillies. Hes a threat to hit a home run, having gone deep 18 times in 375 at-bats over the last two seasons. Thole posted a .175/.256/.242 line in limited action last season. If he makes the team it appears the club will have trouble generating offence from the eighth and ninth (Ryan Goins) spots in the lineup on the days he plays. Adam Thielen Jersey . Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. Minnesota Vikings Jerseys .Y. -- Phil Jackson lost out on his preferred coach, but hes working hard on keeping his star player. http://www.vikingssale.com/Vikings-Fran-Tarkenton-Draft-Jersey/ . The star receiver certainly isnt celebrating it with the Texans mired in a franchise-record 13-game skid.Whered they play? Omni Coliseum When they were active? 1972-80 Playoff appearances: 7 Stanley Cup Victories: 0 Teams overall record: 636 GP – 268 W- 260 L - 108 T (.506 winning percentage) Most goals: Eric Vail 174 Most assists: Tom Lysiak 276 Most points – Tom Lysiak 431 Notable players: Tom Lysiak (1973-1979), Eric Vail (1973-80), Guy Chouinard (1974-80), Pat Quinn (1972-77), Dan Bouchard (1972-80) Phil Myre (1972-78), Ken Houston (1975-80), Jean Pronovost (1978-80) and Randy Manery (1972-77) Best Jersey: The jerseys that the Flames wore from 1973-77 were pretty classic. (Image via NHL Uniforms) Worst Jersey: The Flames didnt really have many different designs, so I present you with this amazing picture of rapper and Atlanta enthusiast Lil Jon in a Flames jersey. (Image via The Breakaway) Best goalie masks: Dan Bouchard (Image via SI Kids) (Image via The Vintage Mask) Best flow: Rejean Lemelin is an absolute beauty. (Image via Slapshotnahl) Worst record: The Atlanta Flames were on the wrong end of the playoff record for the fastest three goals scored by one team in a playoff games. The Toronto Maple Leafs scored three goals in 23 seconds – which is absurd – as Darryl Sittler scored twice in 12 seconds and Ron Ellis scored 11 seconds later on April 12th, 1979. Obligatory Pat Quinn photo: The hockey legend played with the team from 1972-77 and looked great rocking the Flames logo. (Image via Amazon) Best brawl: The Flames and Philadelphia Flyers had some great brawls. (Image via Game Worn Auctions) Best quote: Former Flames goaltender Jim Craig was not happy with the fans in Atlanta, saying ";If I were a businessman Id grab this team and put them in a place thats gonna sell out and have a Stanley Cup within three years. Brett Favre Jersey. . Owner Tom Cousins has put us too much time and effort into this to not deserve a winner." The team was sold just two months later. The announcement of the teams impending move: While this video looks at the Flames cup run, there is a good bit on the Cousins saying why he moved the team (spoiler alert, it had to do with money). Last game: The Atlanta Flames were knocked out of the playoffs when the New York Rangers defeated them 5-2 on home ice on April 12th, 1980. Captain: Jean Pronovost (Image via Pinterest) Whyd the move? The team made the playoffs seven times in their nine-year history, so winning wasnt necessarily a problem. Owner Tom Cousins admitted even if they sold out every night they still wouldnt be profitable – the team averaged just over 10,000 fans. Cousins was losing money in his real estate empire and he decided to sell the team to Canadian Nelson Skalania for a cool $16 million dollars. (Image via Biz Journals) What happened to the franchise when they moved to Calgary? The team adopted a similar logo and while it wasnt three years after Jim Craigs prediction, the Flames won the Stanley Cup during 1988-89 season. (Image via SI Kids) Atlanta did get another team but we all know how that ended. So MORE LIL JON! 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