[KootenayFlamesFan]

AA speaks.

"The expectation from talking with the players, from Cito (Gaston) and from myself has been to compete, irrespective of prognostications. We were going to come out and play competitive baseball and going to play hard,” Anthopoulos said. “From that standpoint, we’ve met expectations. The results, the wins and losses over the course of six months is an issue that will settle itself out.

“We thought the lineup would be low average, low on-base but high in the slugging department because of the track record of a lot of these guys. But, leading the major-leagues in home runs?

“We thought we would be a home-run hitting team but to lead the majors? I don’t think we would have thought that.

“With the rotation, we were running a lot of guys out there who had stuff and the ability to strike guys out but they are young and inexperienced. For all the times they were going to throw well, they were going to have times when they were going to scuffle.”

"What do we need to do?” Anthopoulos asks. “I think you’re always looking to be competitive, especially against the good teams. The offence has been there the entire year. I think we’re looking for the rotation to continue to make strides against some of the better teams.

“It’s part of the process with young starters. They’re going to have times when they look great and you’re going to have other times when they scuffle. That’s part of their development but we know the upside is there and we’ve seen it.”

http://www.calgarysun.com/sports/bas.../14164136.html