Anthopoulos: Blue Jays will be 'really good' this season

Almost three months have passed since Alex Anthopoulos turned down a five-year contract extension from the Toronto Blue Jays, and the expert prevaricator (and now deposed GM) has yet to offer an explanation for his departure beyond vague statements about Toronto no longer being "the right fit."

This week, however, Anthopoulos - the newly hired vice president of baseball operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers - made one thing clear: The Blue Jays are going to be very good again this year.

"I think they can win the division," he told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe earlier this week. "The Red Sox have done a great job in the offseason, but I think the aspect of the team that was underrated was how much the defense improved."

Improving Toronto's defense was one of Anthopoulos' goals, after all, ahead of last year's non-waiver trade deadline. In exchange for a considerable hunk of prospect capital, he also managed to add a bona fide ace (David Price), the best shortstop of his generation (Troy Tulowitzki), two veteran relievers (LaTroy Hawkins and Mark Lowe), and a new everyday left fielder (Ben Revere) in a three-day frenzy that helped the Blue Jays snap a 22-year playoff drought.

Though Price ended up bolting for Boston in December - just a few weeks after the Blue Jays were ousted by the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series - Anthopoulos remains optimistic about Toronto's staff, largely because of 24-year-old right-hander Marcus Stroman.

"Don't get me wrong, Price was a huge addition for us. What he did was amazing, and he's going to be a big plus for the Red Sox, but I think the Blue Jays are going to be really good," Anthopoulos said. "They have a good pitching staff. They'll have Marcus back for the entire season.

"Listen, I have a lot of friends there and I'll be rooting for them."