DUNEDIN, Florida - Blue Jays players assembled Monday afternoon for their annual spring meeting with the Players Association, the first gathering chaired by new executive director Tony Clark. Aaron Donald Jersey . Just as the meeting was beginning, Major League Baseball unveiled Rule 7.13, an experimental rule for the 2014 season aimed at eliminating what the league calls “egregious” runner/catcher collisions at home plate. See a full explanation of the rule here: http://tinyurl.com/l4zaqo5 Here is a link to a play at the plate last season, involving Phillies base runner Chase Utley and former Cubs catcher Dioner Navarro, now with the Blue Jays. Watch the clip, keeping in mind the new rule didnt exist, and guess based on the new rule whether Utley would be safe or out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0Qe310Bn4g Assembled media, waiting for Clark to emerge from his seminar with the Jays, couldnt agree on the call. Some saw fault with Utley for initiating contact with Navarro. Others believed Utley would be called safe because Navarro blocked the pathway of the runner to the plate prior to receiving the baseball. If you think Utley is safe, based on the new rule, Clark agrees with you. “My guess is, according to the rule, (Navarro) cant be sitting on the plate without the ball,” said Clark. “Its one thing to catch it and then move and block the baseline. Its another thing to block the baseline and not having the ball.” Blue Jays catchers hadnt seen the new rule as of Mondays availability and had plenty of questions, including the wisdom of asking an umpire to make a split-second determination about more than whether a runner is safe or out. “I think its tough to make that out/safe call at home and theyre always trying to get good positioning,” said Erik Kratz. “Now, is their positioning going to have to change? Are they going to have to talk about that? Are they going to have to look at the runner as hes running, ‘I saw the runners eyes, he was looking at the catcher. You did? What about the ball? What about the catchers eyes? Did he have his fist clenched?” “Im going to do you one better,” said Clark. “During a play on the field you may also have a rotation component here where youve got the home plate umpire running to third and the first base umpire running to home. Its a tough enough play as it is as hes running to try and call a close play but now youre also talking about trying to determine intent and where guys are positioned. Its difficult.” Many other nuances were discussed, which is why, according to Clark, the rule has been made public and is being explained to players only two days before Grapefruit League play is scheduled to begin. A Major League Baseball representative and an umpire will be visiting all 30 teams during spring training to further explain the rule. Manager John Gibbons has met with MLB Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Joe Torre and his right-hand man, Tony La Russa. The intent of the rule is to make close plays at the plate safer for both the catcher and the runner. A catcher in his playing days, Gibbons is skeptical. “I dont know about that,” said Gibbons. “I think when you start trying to mess with the game too much, I mean, youre going to run into problems. Its a big part of the game. The game on the line, thats the winning run or something, guys are trying to stop that run. Instinct tells them to do one thing. But if thats the rule then we live with that. Nothing we can do about that.” Clark of Free Agency Ervin Santana and Stephen Drew are two high-profile free agents whove yet to find work, in large part because there is draft pick compensation tied to their next contracts. “As a union its our responsibility to make sure that player rights are defended, protected and advanced,” said Clark. When asked over the course of the winter about the Blue Jays interest in select free agents, general manager Alex Anthopoulos repeatedly opined that market prices were too high and that the club was willing to wait for player demands to come down. Clark, speaking in general terms, not specifically about Anthopoulos or the Blue Jays, says the union will review the offseasons free agency activity. “If the free agent market as a whole is being manipulated on some level and we have an opportunity to reflect on this offseason, comments that were made, where those comments came from and how they may have affected the free agent market then it is a conversation were going to have going forward to make sure the integrity of the Collective Bargaining Agreement is upheld and that we dont find ourselves in a place where certain information is lending itself to certain understandings and appreciations publicly with respect to free agents,” said Clark. Clark on A-Rod Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez wont play in 2014, suspended for his role in the Biogenesis performance enhancing drug scandal. Rodriguez has since dropped a lawsuit which named, among others, the Major League Baseball Players Association. Clark says if A-Rod is playing in 2015, hell be welcomed back into the union he briefly considered taking to court. “Over the course of 140 years there have been, I believe, a little less than 20-thousand players who have ever worn a major league uniform for one day,” said Clark. “If you have worn a major league uniform for one day then you are part of that fraternity. There are guys that make decisions that guys dont appreciate, that guys dont like, but after Alex serves his suspension he will come back as a member of that fraternity and we expect to see him in 2015.” Clark on an openly gay player Jason Collins is back in the NBA, making history on Sunday night as the first openly gay athlete in the leagues history. Michael Sam appears poised to become the first openly gay player in the NFL. Is baseball ready for such a scenario? “I dont see it being an issue,” said Clark. “Our locker rooms are more diverse than most and as youve heard with a lot of the leagues, whether its the NFL or any other place, inevitably its going to come down to can you help us win ballgames?” Pitching Schedule Manager John Gibbons has drawn up his pitching schedule for the first five Grapefruit League games. Here it is: Wednesday at Phillies: J.A. Happ (2 innings,) Todd Redmond (2,) Kyle Drabek (1-2,) Chad Jenkins (1,) Neil Wagner (1,) Mickey Storey (1.) Thursday vs. Phillies: R.A. Dickey (2,) Esmil Rogers (1,) Dustin McGowan (1,) Brett Cecil (1,) Aaron Loup (1,) Jeremy Jeffress (1,) Rob Rasmussen (1,) Marcus Walden (1.) Friday vs. Pirates: Mark Buehrle (1-2,) Brandon Morrow (1-2,) Steve Delabar (1,) Sergio Santos (1,) Liam Hendriks (1,) Sean Nolin (1,) Aaron Sanchez (1,) Juan Perez (1.) Saturday at Orioles: Drew Hutchison (2,) Ricky Romero (1-2,) Marcus Stroman (2,) Tomo Ohka (1-2,) Deck McGuire (1-2,) Mickey Storey (1.) Sunday vs. Yankees: Esmil Rogers (2,) Todd Redmond (1-2,) Brett Cecil (1,) Aaron Loup (1,) Jeremy Jeffress (1,) Chad Jenkins (1,) Neil Wagner (1,) Casey Janssen (1.) NOTE: Brandon Morrow experienced tightness in his calf on Monday. Gibbons says there is no concern the injury is serious and the plan is for Morrow to pitch on Friday. Eric Dickerson Youth Jersey .Lets go back to the Avs, who have become one of the funnest teams to watch in this years playoffs. Greg Gaines Womens Jersey . Teams one through twenty competing in Englands top flight are each fatally flawed. A wide-open, highly competitive and mistake-filled season has followed. http://www.ramsrookiestore.com/Rams-Jack-Youngblood-Jersey/ . Two weeks after suffering a concussion, Foles will start in place of Michael Vick, who is out for the second time this season with a hamstring injury.BOSTON -- In just a few minutes, Bostons hitters turned a slow offensive night into an easy victory. Dustin Pedroias two-run double capped a seven-run sixth inning Thursday night that sent the Red Sox to their fourth straight win, 9-4 over the Houston Astros. "We came to life. We were able to combine some base on balls with some base hits," manager John Farrell said. "It seemed like we got a couple of pitches up in the zone from (Scott) Feldman. The first time or two in the order he kept us in check and kept us off balance." Pedroia finished with three hits, Daniel Nava had two doubles and David Ortiz added two singles as the Red Sox improved to 8-0 at Fenway Park against the Astros. Matt Dominguez hit a two-run homer for Houston, which opened a 10-game road trip with its fourth loss in five games. Allen Webster (3-1) gave up four runs -- three earned -- and five hits in six innings for Boston. "I grinded through it and then they took over with the seven runs," the soft-spoken Webster said. "I cant complain at all." Trailing 4-1, the Red Sox chased Feldman (6-9) during their biggest inning of the season. "It just snowballed. He was one pitch away from getting out of it, but they just continued to find holes and continued to keep the line moving," Houston manager Bo Porter said. "Before that he was in complete command of the game and really was commanding both sides of the plate." Pedroias ground-rule double bounced off the chalk on the right-field line and caromed into the stands. Ortiz, Mike Napoli and Will Middlebrooks each had an RBI single before Jackie Bradley Jr. drew a bases-loaded walk from reliever Darin Downs that pushed Boston ahead 5-4. Christian Vazquez had a sacrifice fly before Pedroias double. Brock Holt opened the inning with a hustle double and drew a walk as the Red Sox sent 12 batters to the plate. Feldman was charged with seven runs on nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. And he felt he was in trouble before the big inning. "I think it actually started probably before that," hee said. Andrew Whitworth Jersey. "It felt like I had turned into a one-pitch guy. I really had command of only one pitch, from like the fourth, fifth, sixth, something like that." The Astros scored single runs in the second and third before Dominguezs homer made it 4-0 in the fourth. Dominguez homered into the Green Monster seats after Jon Singletons leadoff walk. Boston sliced it to 4-1 when Pedroia scored on Yoenis Cespedes double-play grounder. TRAINERS ROOM Astros: OF Alex Presley (strained right oblique) wont play in games and will only get treatment for a couple of days because he had some discomfort during his minor league rehabilitation assignment at Class A Tri-City. Red Sox: Cespedes was back in the lineup after coming out of Wednesdays game with a bruised right hand, but fouled a ball off his shin and left in the ninth. ... Farrell said outfielder Allen Craig, on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left foot, will take batting practice the next few days before being sent on a rehab assignment. UP NEXT LHP Dallas Keuchel (10-8, 3.07 ERA) pitches Friday for the Astros after losing his last start, giving up five runs in six innings at home against Texas. It was his worst start in more than a month. Red Sox RHP Clay Buchholz (5-7, 5.98) looks for his second strong start against Houston this season. He struck out 12 in a complete-game victory at Minute Maid Park on July 13. WHAT A THROW Nava nailed Jake Marisnick at the plate with a throw on the fly from medium-deep right field when he was trying to score on Jose Altuves fly ball to end the seventh. NO UPDATE Porter joked that hell be shutting down injury updates on rookie outfielder George Springer (right quadriceps), who had a setback in his rehab and was shut down for two weeks. Springer has been out since July 19. "In 13 days we can talk about him again," Porter said, smiling. NO NEED TO PACK FOR A WHILE The Red Sox opened an 11-game homestand, their longest in more than three years. After four games against Houston, they have four with the Los Angeles Angels and three with Seattle. ' ' '