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There should not be much suspense at spring training this year for the Toronto Blue Jays.

They appear set at most positions after a productive offseason by general manager Alex Anthopoulos.

“This is the least amount of competition we’ve had, at least since I’ve been here,” Anthopoulos said.

He has filled out a quality rotation by acquiring R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson.

He acquired a dynamic shortstop and leadoff hitter in Jose Reyes, a left fielder and No. 2 hitter in Melky Cabrera and candidates to start at second base in Maicer Izturis and Emilio Bonifacio. He also has catchers who have caught Dickey’s knuckleball before in Henry Blanco and Josh Thole.

The Jays have strengthened both the offense and the defense. There will be questions about how players like Jose Bautista (wrist), Casey Janssen (shoulder), Ricky Romero (elbow) and Sergio Santos (shoulder) come back from various surgeries, but all should be ready for spring training.

But barring the unexpected the decisions figure to be easier this year than most.

“We’ll be deciding on a backup catcher (Blanco or Thole), a starting second baseman (Izturis or Bonifacio) and our seven relievers,” Anthopoulos said. “From a management standpoint, with so many positions already set, it might make it a little easier to start bringing the team together a little quicker. We’ll be able to make cuts a lot earlier and get the regulars working with each other as soon as possible.”

The key will be how to bring all the talent together into a winning team. It’s something Anthopoulos has discussed with manager John Gibbons.

“That’s going to be the challenge,” Anthopoulos said. “It starts by bringing high-character guys together, guys who know and accept their roles. The club is so much older than it was a year ago and I mean that in a good way. The young players are J.P. (Arencibia), who’s 26, Colby (Rasmus) is 26, Brett Lawrie is 23. Those are our young players.”

At the club’s annual state-of-the-franchise meeting with season ticket holders, there was an air of optimism and talk of how attendance might reach 3 million. The fans’ questions directed at Anthopoulos, Gibbons and club president Paul Beeston were more like batting practice fastballs than high hard ones from the same event last year. There is always optimism in baseball at this time of year. It just has a little more substance this year for the Blue Jays.