Shapiro: Offseason goal is to increase pitching depth

Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro has been busy this offseason, and three of the four moves he's made since coming over from the Cleveland Indians involve pitchers.

Shapiro acquired his third hurler this fall Friday night, signing southpaw J.A. Happ to a three-year, $36-million deal. He said it's all part of a bigger plan to improve the club's pitching depth.

Related: Blue Jays sign Happ to 3-year, $36M deal

"We obviously had multiple holes to fill in our pitching staff, and our front-office team felt diversifying the risk among multiple pitchers who could start was important, both due to our need at the (major-league) level and our lack of Triple-A depth starting pitchers," Shapiro told FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi on Friday night.

Shapiro also brought back right-hander Marco Estrada on a two-year, $26-million pact, and traded for Oakland Athletics righty Jesse Chavez. Morosi believes the flurry of moves indicates Toronto won't be bringing back David Price, who could command a deal north of $200 million on the free-agent market.

"No one player holds the key to the future of this organization," Shapiro said during his introductory presser.

Toronto's projected starting rotation currently consists of Marcus Stroman, R.A. Dickey, Estrada, Happ, and Chavez. Drew Hutchison is also an option to start games, but his ineffectiveness pitching away from Rogers Centre is an issue.