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. Custom Toronto Blue Jays Nike Jerseys . "I wouldnt read anything into what happened Saturday at Torrey Pines," Woods said Tuesday after an 18-hole exhibition for past winners of the Dubai Desert Classic. Custom Kansas City Royals Nike Jerseys . Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Fiorentina levelled on aggregate in the 14th minute when Joaquin Sanchez Rodriguez headed back a long ball from David Pizarro and Pasqual smashed home an angled volley. https://www.custombaseballnikejerseys.co...ls-nike-jerseys. -- Theres something about playing on Orlandos floor lately that seems to bring out the best in the Dallas Mavericks. Custom Chicago White Sox Nike Jerseys . Funny, they looked like longtime friends during Pittsburghs 5-1 demolition of Dallas on Tuesday night. Quick to the puck and even quicker to the net, the Penguins top line overwhelmed the suddenly struggling Stars as Pittsburgh bounced back from a dismal weekend sweep at the hands of Philadelphia by jumping on Dallas early. Custom Houston Astros Nike Jerseys . The Detroit Tigers slugger fell short in his bid to become the first player to win the Triple Crown in successive seasons. ST. LOUIS -- After the St. Louis Blues let a two-goal lead get away, Vladimir Tarasenko made sure they skated off with a win. Tarasenko scored and added an assist in regulation, and then netted the deciding goal in the shootout to lead the Blues to a 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday night. Just seconds after Roman Josi gave the Predators a 3-2 lead at 7:33 of the third period, Tarasenko got control of the puck. He moved into the Nashville end, and after hesitating from the high slot, beat goalie Carter Hutton with a wrist shot at 7:49. Tarasenko credited his father, Andrei, who coaches in Russia, for his tying goal. "That was a set play that my father (taught) me," he said. "If you do it right, its probably hard to catch it. I just tried to make it through." But Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said Tarasenko, who has 18 goals, has the kind of skills that cannot be taught. "Theres not many pure shooters," Hitchcock said. "But hes one of them." Brian Elliott, who has won 14 of his last 15 at home, stopped three of four shots in the shootout. Nashville fell to 1-7 in the tiebreaker. Predators coach Barry Trotz was pleased to get one point. "I thought it was a great point for us," Trotz said. "Youre down to the St Louis Blues 2-0, and its a real hard rink to come into. They come at you hard, but I thought as the game went on we got better and better." Jaden Schwartz and David Backes also scored for the Blues, who have beaten the Predators eighht of the last nine.dddddddddddd Elliott made 28 saves to end a three-game losing streak. Paul Gaustad, Mike Fisher and Roman Josi scored the Nashville goals, and Hutton turned aside 31 shots. Fisher got the Predators even 2-2 at 3:25 of the third period when he beat Elliott from a bad angle along the right boards. Josi then gave Nashville its first lead, but it lasted just 16 seconds. "Tarasenko is dangerous off the rush," Trotz said. Derek Roy, who played on a line with Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz, said the sky is the limit for Tarasenko. "I feel like he gets better every game," Roy said. "Hes eager to learn. He wants to play well and he wants to win. Those are good qualities in a player." Schwartz opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 9:11 of the first period when he converted a centring pass from Chris Stewart. Backes gave St. Louis a 2-0 lead when he redirected Jay Bouwmeesters shot from the right point at 3:31 of the second. But Gaustad got the Predators back in it with 3:12 left in the second when the puck came to him in the slot off a scrum in the corner, and he buried a shot past Elliott. NOTES: Nashville D Shea Weber, who scored twice in Friday nights 3-2 win against New Jersey, was listed as questionable because of an upper-body injury but he played his usual shifts. ... Backes played in his 543rd game with the Blues, tying him with Keith Tkachuk for 12th place on the teams career list. ... Josi has 11 points in his last 10 games. ' ' '