SAN DIEGO—He we sit, a mere 39 days after the conclusion of the San Francisco Giants’ World Series victory and still 119 days away from opening day, but judgment is already being rendered with regard to the Blue Jays and 29 other major-league teams.

With the winter meetings officially underway on Monday, Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos has already made more moves in less than six weeks than he did all of last winter. Back then, he was still reeling from the failure of the 2013 season, a summer which saw Las Vegas establish the Jays as AL favourites for the World Series with a crew of ex-Marlins, Mets and Melky Cabrera.

The thing about Anthopoulos — he isn’t very spontaneous in his methods. He puts his mind to a certain task, a certain aspect of the team, accomplishes — or fails to accomplish — that and then moves on to the next. Now, it’s time for the bullpen.

“When you start the off-season, you may have five or six areas you want to address,” Anthopoulos said, explaining the madness to his methods. “We’ve been able to knock some of those out. Now we’ll be able to really focus our attention to the bullpen.

“It’s probably a little easier to operate that way because there’s still an order. You need to be able to react and not get paralyzed because you thought this was supposed to come first and you may miss an opportunity if you do it. But now . . . we’ve replaced a middle of the order bat with (Adam) Lind with (Josh) Donaldson. So we do feel better about our position player group right now, we feel pretty good about our offence.”

Heading into a baseball hot-stove week full of rumours, often signifying nothing, here is a preliminary report card on how the Jays and Anthopoulos have stacked up compared to last season, all things being equal, all players being healthy.

The ratings are better, worse or neutral:

Bullpen: Worse

Let’s start with the problem to which the GM has now turned his attention. In 2013, the bullpen was a strength but fell off to become a weakness a year later, ranked No. 12 in the AL in bullpen ERA. From that group, Casey Janssen is a free agent and Aaron Sanchez is projected to be moved into the rotation. Dustin McGowan is a free agent.

Anthopoulos readily admits he needs two, maybe three more solid relievers via free agency or trade. Luckily for him, there is a strong second-tier of free agent arms out there beyond David Robertson, Andrew Miller, Francisco Rodriguez and the like. Plus, he can also trade for other swing-and-miss arms and then audition for closer at spring training.

“It’s not to say we haven’t talked to free agent relievers, but we’ve been so focused on other areas a little bit more,” Anthopoulos said. “Ultimately where it goes, it’s still early. Ideally you’d love to have someone that’s named and he’s got the (closer’s) job. I don’t think we’re afraid to have candidates, but we think we have good relievers, guys that are all capable if we want it to be a competition. We don’t feel strongly that we need to have a closer named, more concerned with having good relievers.”

Catcher: Better

Even though Anthopoulos would gladly unload Dioner Navarro to a team that will allow him to catch 110 games or more, those are few and far berween and he will only trade the incumbent if it makes the team better in another area. Navarro may backup Martin and DH.

First Base: Worse

The signing of Justin Smoak to a one-year, $1 million (U.S.) deal is just to set a floor for the position and allow for Edwin Encarnacion to mentally prepare to be the primary DH. The meetings will be spent looking for an upgrade in trade in a multi-player deal.

Middle Infield: Neutral

Even though it’s no better or worse than it was last winter when Ryan Goins was being trumpeted as the next starting second baseman, the defence of Jose Reyes and the offence of whoever is on hand, including Goins, Devon Travis and Maicer Izturis, combines to be below major-league average for a championship keystone combo. The GM is looking to get better.

Third Base: Better

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What makes the Jays better this coming season at the hot corner is not necessarily the talent one-on-one, but the fact that when Brett Lawrie was out they struggled to replace him. Donaldson has been a reliable every-day option for two straight years and is a solid defender.

Left Field: Worse

No matter what Anthopoulos says right now about Michael Saunders, he is not as good a player as Melky Cabrera. In order to make this acceptable, the saved money must be invested elsewhere. The Jays do have control of Saunders for two years as opposed to J.A. Happ, who they traded to Seattle for Saunders, for one.

Centre Field: Neutral

In hindsight, the expectation that a free-agent entry season for Colby Rasmus would produce great results did not pan out. There are huge offensive question marks surrounding Dalton Pompey and Kevin Pillar. Don’t overlook free agent Ezquiel Carrera.

Right Field: Neutral

Veteran Jose Bautista remains one of the most feared power hitters in the league and can do more than just swing the bat. The aging process is not slowing him down.

DH: Better

If Encarnacion does most of his work at DH, this will be an improvement over a year ago, and the fact he can play first base allows others to have a day off and DH when they need it.

Rotation: Neutral

Two veteran horses, Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey, joined by three young studs with high celings in Drew Hutchison, Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez. If they improve their numbers it may be a direct result of improved defence around the diamond. Anthopoulos has suggested he could add some veteran help for the short term or, less likely, a top of the rotation guy. The spots 6-10 are led by Marco Estrada and Daniel Norris.

In order, Anthopoulos will be working on the bullpen, second base, first base and another starting pitcher, as well as bench players with at least one of the five tools being above average.

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