The Toronto Blue Jays have already been one of the teams to watch this offseason.
Toronto reportedly showed interest in relievers Ryan Helsley, Raisel Iglesias, and Phil Maton, but was unable to get deals done. On the bright side for them, though, the Blue Jays reportedly agreed to sign Dylan Cease to a long-term deal to help stabilize the starting rotation.
There’s still work to do to help improve the offense. Toronto seemingly has been linked to every big-name player who is available. Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker have stood out as potential options. Bichette has been a fan-favorite in Toronto for a long time and made it clear he would like to stick around with the organization. Tucker is the top free agent available, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan labeled Toronto as the “favorite” for him. But could the Blue Jays sign both? Sportsnet Blue Jays insider Shi Davidi threw cold water on the idea.
“The scale and scope of the Cease deal, on the heels of the World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, has some imaginations running wild, with some predicting an epic spree,” Davidi wrote. “Let’s start with this, the Blue Jays aren’t suddenly taking their payroll to Dodgers or New York Mets levels so, barring an unlikely set of circumstances, they’re not re-signing Bo Bichette and adding Kyle Tucker. But, they could certainly still add one of them, even with Cease’s pending deal, and they’re engaged on both fronts.
“One thing to keep in mind is that if the Blue Jays don’t get Bichette or Tucker, they can’t simply reallocate the money they would have spent on them elsewhere, as they’re being viewed as specific business cases, like Shohei Ohtani two winters ago.”
It’s easy to get caught up in all of the wild speculation of the MLB offseason, but the idea of Bichette and Tucker joining the Blue Jays absolutely seems like a pipe dream.
More MLB: Blue Jays Eyed 3 Relievers, Including Ryan Helsley: Report