AL Notes: Blue Jays, Jackson, McFarland, Francona

The 2013 Blue Jays are the only team since 2009 to make three or more waiver claims in April, R.J. Anderson of Baseball Prospectus notes. The Jays have claimed Casper Wells, Edgar Gonzalez and Mauro Gomez this month. The Jays are typically very active on the waiver wire, frequently claiming players and then trying to sneak them through waivers again in an attempt to build depth in their minor-league system. (Toronto also claimed four players in the last half of March: Todd Redmond, Guillermo Moscoso, Alex Burnett and Clint Robinson. Moscoso and Burnett were lost after other teams claimed them.) The Jays' waiver-claim strategy is unusual for a contending team, Anderson says. Here are more notes from around the American League.

• Orioles manager Buck Showalter reiterates that 1B/OF Conor Jackson retired at least in part because his enjoyment of the game diminished, MASN's Roch Kubatko reports. "[Jackson] loved being with the organization and all that, but he's at the stage of his life where it wasn't something he wanted to continue to do," says Showalter. "I just wanted to know whether there was something he was unhappy about. It wasn't at all. He had been thinking about it for a little while and just didn't enjoy going to the park like he used to." Jackson appeared in nine games this year for Triple-A Norfolk, hitting .200/.333/.240.
• Rule 5 Draft pick T.J. McFarland, from the Indians' system, remains in the Orioles' bullpen, notes MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli. He has appeared in just one game so far, throwing 3 1/3 scoreless innings April 6. The Orioles' recent trade of Luis Ayala to the Braves gives McFarland some breathing room, but he'll still have to pitch well to remain on Baltimore's roster the entire year. "We've been throwing him down in the bullpen. Keeping the ball in his hand," Showalter tells Ghiroli. "There will come a time this season, I hope, when it's not always saving him for long relief."
• Indians manager Terry Francona isn't fixated on his past with the Red Sox, against whom the Indians have an upcoming series, MLB.com's Zack Meisel reports. "To be honest, I'm an Indian," says Francona. "I'm aware of the questions and everything, and I have a lot of great memories, but I don't think it's fair to the players. … They don't need to be worrying about me having nostalgia week. They just need to try to beat them." The Red Sox let Francona go in 2011, and after a season working for ESPN, he took over as manager in Cleveland.