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Certain Toronto Blue Jays were so intent on bringing in free agent pitcher Ervin Santana as a teammate that they were will to defer some of their salaries. First reported by FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal, its unknown if the impetus for the deferral proposal came from players or management, but it never left the preliminary stages. Rosenthal says that a pair of agents had heard word of the plan, but that they were never approached by Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos. Santana turned down a one-year, $14 million offer from the Jays and signed with the Atlanta Braves on the same deal after the Braves lost Kris Medlen for the season with Tommy John surgery. Whether or not the actual deferral proposal would fly in practice is another discussion altogether, as there would likely have been significant hurdles from the MLBPA, who is normally loath to allow its players to concede any sort of contractual edge without commensurate compensation. "I never took it that seriously," an agent told Rosenthal. "No way it would have ever passed the (union) unless there was some gain for the players who did that." In an interview with Matt Galloway on CBCs Metro Morning, Blue Jays president and CEO Paul Beeston confirmed that such discussions took place, but maintained that payroll was there if needed. "There was discussion about that and, to be very honest with you, I think, had it gone that way, it would have been fine, but we are at $140 million [in payroll] right now," said Beeston. "The one thing that we do have is a very generous owner from the point of view of what they have committed to try to build the team. I think that the Rogers people, more importantly [former Rogers Communications CEO] Nadir [Mohamed] last year and carried on this year with [current CEO] Guy Laurence and the Rogers family, have given us the dollars weve wanted, that we need to put a contending team on the field. Its up to us to bring them together." For his part, Anthopoulos believed the deal was done. He would not, however, get into the specifics of how the pact would have been structured. "The takeaway for me is we felt that we had an agreement in place," Anthopoulos told reporters prior to teh Jays Friday home opener. "He was prepared to come here. We had the dollars. How we choose to structure those dollars, those are things that we keep in house. "But I believe if Kris Medlen had not been hurt, Ervin Santana would be here today." Not that Anthopoulos was about to hold that against the 31-year-old. "He had a lot more interest going into the NL, which is his right," he said. When pressed on whether or not the teams spending was capped, Beeston insisted that it wasnt. "Were a business, so the answer to that is that we have a budget," said Beeston. "Its not a cap. If we can increase our revenue, we can increase our expenses, but we run it as a business." With the Jays only signing catcher Dioner Navarro during the offseason, Beeston said that free agency is not the only avenue to improve his team and that trades could be made over the course of the season. "You have to organize it in manner that you might have to make some trades," Beeston explained. "You may have to look at different ways of bringing your players along, but I dont think from the point of view of money, money is our problem. One of the issues that we have is that we had to build our farm system up and we have done that over the last three or four years, but its not like hockey or basketball, where you come right out of the colleges or out of the minor leagues and move right into the Majors. So some of the pitchers that we have down there like [Marcus] Stroman and [Aaron] Sanchez, theyre just ready to come, but those are the guys that you will want to have introduced into your organization because they have to play three or four years before they make the big dollars. So you need a mixture of the players who are at the minimum, as well as your stars. But you dont win without stars." While Beeston acknowledged that teams can win with smalled budgets, free-spending teams are the ones most likely to find success. "Lets be realistic about it," said Beeston. "You can do it, but youre gonna get lucky and have everybody pop at the same time. Ultimately, teams like the Dodgers and the Yankees and Boston, that are spending all kinds of money, are basically the teams that have star players at every position." The Jays open a three-game set with the New York Yankees on Friday night at the Rogers Centre. Youri Tielemans Belgium Jersey . The matchup will be made up in Minnesota at a later date. The arena was evacuated about 45 minutes before the scheduled 9:30 p.m. EST tipoff when a generator malfunction outside the arena sent smoke pouring into the building, according to NBA spokeswoman Sharon Lima. Belgium Soccer Jerseys .C. - Alberta prop Andrew Tiedemann will captain Canada against Uruguay on Friday, the opening day of competition at the IRB Americas Rugby Championship. http://www.belgiumsoccerpro.com/Dedryck-Boyata-Belgium-Jersey/ . At quarterback, all agree that Andy Dalton has been a wonderful surprise, but to truly progress he has to play his best in the playoffs. The two losses in the wildcard rounds keep the evaluation on Dalton open -- just like it did for Peyton Manning many years ago and Matt Ryan until last year. Thorgan Hazard Jersey . -- Jerome Verrier scored once and set up two more as the Drummondville Voltigeurs downed the visiting Chicoutimi Sagueneens 5-1 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play. Marouane Fellaini Belgium Jersey . Paul George and Darren Collison each scored 17 points and Roy Hibbert added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers (9-3), who won their third straight.DUBLIN, Ohio -- Paul Casey expected to be chasing someone Friday in the Memorial, figuring it would be Rory McIlroy. After two holes, Casey had the lead to himself at Muirfield Village, and that was only the start of another big day. He took advantage of the par 5s for another 6-under 66, giving him a three-shot lead over Masters champion Bubba Watson going into the weekend. McIlroy, whose 63 was the lowest first round in the 39-year history of the tournament, was barely in the picture. He was 15 shots worse with a 78, courtesy of three straight double bogeys and his fourth straight PGA Tour event with a nine-hole score of 40 or higher. McIlroy went from a three-shot lead to nine shots behind. "To be honest, I thought I was going to be playing a round to try and maybe catch a couple of guys," Casey said. "I woke up checking the scores to see what Rory was going to be. Thats really what I was going to be doing -- see how many under I was going to have to try to shoot to chase. Obviously, that didnt happen." Casey, taking another step on a long road back from injuries that nearly derailed his career, was at 12-under 132. He made his first birdie with his best drive of the day on the par-5 11th, setting up a 4-iron onto the green for a two-putt birdie. He made eagle on the par-5 15th hole for the second straight day, and he stuffed it close around the turn for birdies to start pulling away from the field. Watson gave him a good run in an active round that featured six birdies, five bogeys and an eagle. He only was angry at a few shots where he failed to concentrate. Even so, a bogey-bogey finish wasnt enough to entirely ruin his day. Watson has never finished better than 23rd in eight previous appearances. "I cant look at the bogeys," Watson said. "Ive got to look at where Im at. If you told me its my best two days around this golf course, Id take it." Chris Kirk (70) was four shots behind. Hideki Matsuyama (67) and Martin Flores (68) were five back. Adam Scott, who won Colonial in his debut at No. 1 in the world, shot 70 and was at 5-under 139, still in the mix depending on how Casey fares on the weekend. Phil Mickelson was happy to get in two more rounds. He shot a 70, though he was 10 shoots back.dddddddddddd Canadian Mike Weir failed to make the cut after an even par 72 on Friday to finish 1-over through two days. Casey, once a Ryder Cup regular who reached as high as No. 3 in the world, is slowly getting his game and his life back in the right place. He endured injuries to his shoulder and his toe that kept him winless for more than two years. He went through a divorce. He wondered if he would ever return to the brand of golf he was capable of playing. Weeks like this offer promise. Casey won the Irish Open a year ago with what he called "spectacular" golf. The game is still there. "Its slowly crawling along and making progress, climbing back up the ladder, however you want to phrase it," Casey said. "Its very difficult when youve played to a certain level and then ... I genuinely had no clue how to play to that level. "Luckily, I didnt think about that too long." His life is back in order. Casey is married to British television presenter Pollyanna Woodward. They are expecting their first child (a boy) in September. He talks about having perspective, knowing where golf fits on his list of whats important. His golf has looked familiar over the last two days. McIlroy could say the same. Except for last week at the BMW PGA Championship in England, which he won with birdies on the last two holes, McIlroys good golf has been stalled by bad patches, and Friday was no exception. In fact, it nearly has become the rule. He shot a 43 on the back nine -- he started the round at No. 10 -- making this the fourth consecutive PGA Tour event where he shot at least 40 over nine holes. All of them have been in the second round. McIlroy twice hit the trees on the 13th hole and made double bogey. He hit into the water on the 14th for double bogey. And then he double-hit a wedge on the 15th to make it three straight double bogeys. "These little runs Im getting on where it gets away from me, I was able to avoid that last week," McIlroy said. "Not so much this week. Even though I had such a bad day, Im still in with a chance depending on what the guys do this afternoon. So going into the weekend, not exactly where I want to be. But it could be worse." Casey simple made it a lot harder. ' ' '