With Darren Oliver’s baseball fate up in the air, one of the men who potentially stand to benefit the most should Oliver retire or be traded says he hopes the 42-year-old pitches for the Blue Jays in 2013.

Brett Cecil, who along with Aaron Loup would be strong internal candidates to replace Oliver as a late-inning lefty specialist in the Toronto bullpen, says if Oliver doesn’t return, he’d lose as much as he might gain.

“Darren is an amazing guy, on and off the field,” Cecil said Saturday at Rogers Centre where the Blue Jays were hosting a baseball clinic for local youth. “I really enjoyed playing with him. Obviously it would help me out a bit if he did retire, but I would rather have him back to be honest.”

So would the Toronto Blue Jays. It just remains to be seen at what price.

When the 2012 season ended the Blue Jays wasted little time picking up Oliver’s $3 million club option for 2013. It was a no-brainer really.

Last season Oliver enjoyed arguably the most effective season of his 19-year MLB career, posting career bests in ERA (2.06) and WHIP (1.024) over 56.2 innings while proving to be equally adept at getting batters out from both sides of the plate.

But as the summer dragged on, Oliver suggested he was leaning towards retirement while citing a strong desire to spend more time with his Dallas-based family. Not wanting to force his hand, the Blue Jays told Oliver they wanted him back, but they weren’t going to pressure him. A decision from Oliver was expected in early January.

On Jan. 3 everyone heard from Oliver all right, but it wasn’t the message the Blue Jays were hoping for.

In an interview with MLB.com, Oliver’s agent — former Blue Jays player Jeff Frye — said his client was willing to return to the Blue Jays, but not unless he received a substantial raise on his current $3 million salary.

“It’s going to take a lot more money for Darren to play in Toronto than play in Texas,” said Frye. “We’re waiting on the Blue Jays to pay him what he deserves. If not, we have asked them to trade him to Texas if the Rangers are interested.

“If not he’ll ride off into the sunset after a great 19-year career and enjoy his family.”

The next day Anthopolous responded, telling Chris Toman of MLB.com he does not expect Oliver to pitch for the team in 2013 and he doesn’t foresee the Blue Jays meeting his demands.

“I don’t want to really get into the trade talk; things can happen,” Anthopoulos said. “As far as restructuring his contract, I would never say never, but his contract is his contract. That’s what we signed him to.

“I don’t see us doing that.”

The situation has opened a potential door for Cecil, who enjoyed tremendous Oliver-like success against left-handers in 2012.

LHB vs. Darren Oliver in ’12: .234/.314/.330/.644 (95 PA). LHB vs. Brett Cecil in ’12: .214/.281/.321/.603 (64 PA). #bluejays

— Mike Cormack (@MikeCormack) January 5, 2013

The Blue Jays projected 2013 bullpen currently leans heavily to the right with the likes of Casey Janssen, Sergio Santos, Steve Delabar, Esmil Rogers and Brad Lincoln. In terms of left-handers, J.A. Happ figures to serve in long relief, leaving the likes of Cecil and terrific 2012 rookie Aaron Loup to fight it out for Oliver’s late-inning duties.

Cecil’s struggles in the rotation — more specifically against right-handed batters — led to a pair of demotions in 2012 before he was finally handed a full-time bullpen role with Toronto in September. Over those final five weeks of 2012 Cecil spent a lot time in that bullpen talking to, and watching, Oliver.

“He’s just a great guy and I loved my month in the bullpen with him and talking to him,” Cecil explains. “Sometimes guys in the bullpen stick to guys in the bullpen, but even when I was a starter, I found him really easy to talk to.”

What Cecil heard was the voice of a “friendly, down-to-earth” veteran. What he observed was the smooth, confident, measured manner in which Oliver would prepare to enter a game, often at one its most critical junctures.

“It was fun to watch,” Cecil recalls. “You’d get the phone call and he would do his thing. Some guys want to hurry up and get them the ball. He was just real easy, real casual. That was his thing and that’s how he got into the game, and obviously it works.”

What happens in the next few weeks with his mentor from a year ago could go a long way to determining how often Cecil sees action with the Blue Jays in 2013.

#bluejays Brett Cecil at the Dome this morning. All set for Winnipeg: twitter.com/MikeCormack/st…

— Mike Cormack (@MikeCormack) January 5, 2013