Baseball\u2019s hot stove season is winding down. Spring training and the World Baseball Classic are just around the corner. Overall, it has been a bit of a slow-moving free agent and trade market, despite the Blue Jays being one of the more aggressive teams.<\/p>\n
The additions of Dylan Cease<\/a>, Cody Ponce and Tyler Rogers<\/a> bring impact and depth to the pitching staff. The Jays have Cease, Ponce, Kevin Gausman<\/a>, Shane Bieber<\/a>, Trey Yesavage<\/a>, Jose Berrios<\/a>, Eric Lauer<\/a> and Bowden Francis<\/a> as options in the starting rotation. Rogers will replace Seranthony Dominguez<\/a>, who signed with the White Sox as a free agent, in the bullpen.<\/p>\n The Dodgers proved the benefits of extraordinary starting pitching depth last year. It allowed the team to overcome injuries and stay atop the division during the regular season because they always had a good starting pitcher available. Plus, it allowed them to be patient and make sure the best of their staff was ready for postseason. It even allowed the Dodgers to use their well-rested starters as relievers in October.<\/p>\n The Jays\u2019 starting rotation is the deepest and best in the AL East. They will throw as many or more quality innings than the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles and Rays.<\/p>\n Although the Jays lost Bo Bichette<\/a> (three years, $126 million) to the Mets in free agency, after they lost out on Kyle Tucker<\/a> (four years, $240 million), to the Dodgers, they did sign corner infielder Kazuma Okamoto (four years, $60 million) from Japan. Okamoto is a contact hitter with some pop in his swing, much like Bichette.<\/p>\n Bichette is better and will be missed, but the Jays should get a full season from Daulton Varsho<\/a> in 2026, which will add to the overall offence. Addison Barger<\/a> and Ernie Clement<\/a> made major progress during the 2025 season and are legitimate threats in the lineup now. They both grew up last season. The Jays got nothing from Anthony Santander<\/a> last season, but I fully expect him to return to being the slugger who hit 44 homers in 2024. <\/p>\n Toronto will still be a very good defensive team in 2026 \u2013 arguably, they will be even better than they were in 2025 on the defensive side.<\/p>\n Andres Gimenez<\/a> is head-and-shoulders better defensively at shortstop than Bichette. Clement\u2019s best position is second base, which is where he will take the bulk of his at-bats. Okamoto is not thought of as a great defender, but he has been adequate in his career at third base. Expect Barger to get plenty of at-bats at third in addition to the outfield.<\/p>\n I know that signing Tucker would have been an exciting acquisition but adding him would have meant Barger losing playing time as he would have had to share at-bats at third base with Okamoto. Barger would have been a super sub. If the Jays had brought Bichette back as a second baseman, Clement would have lost playing time, having to share with Okamoto at third. In this scenario, Clement would have become a super utility man.<\/p>\n I want Barger to be an everyday player. I think he has a chance to continue to develop as an impact bat in the lineup. He will get his chance this season.<\/p>\n I believe the Jays are a better team than they were last season, even without Bichette or Tucker.<\/p>\n That being said, the Red Sox and Orioles are improved, and the Yankees will be very good and will get better during the year as key pitchers come back from injury.<\/p>\n Closer still a question mark<\/p>\n The one major flaw in the off-season for the Jays is that they haven\u2019t added a premium closer to the bullpen.<\/p>\n Jeff Hoffman<\/a> gave it up in Game 7 against the Dodgers and he took on the blame for the loss in interviews after the game. It wasn\u2019t all his fault by any means. But I much prefer him as a setup man in the bullpen rather than the closer. There is still a spot for him, but the Jays need a new option in the ninth inning.<\/p>\n Edwin Diaz<\/a> (three years, $69 million to Dodgers), Robert Suarez<\/a> (three years, $45 million with Atlanta) or Devin Williams<\/a> (three years, $51million) would have been better considerations. The Jays are a World Series-calibre roster in every role except closer.<\/p>\n I think they should have targeted only one of Okamoto, Bichette, or Tucker and then used the remaining money for one of the closers. Instead, they focused on a second hitter after signing Okamoto.<\/p>\n They should be able to get through to the trade deadline with Hoffman as the closer, but that puts a lot of pressure on general manager Ross Atkins to make a deal by July 31. <\/p>\n The off-season has been a win<\/p>\n Although it feels like the Jays took losses over the past couple of weeks by not signing Bichette or Tucker, they are still one of the big winners this off-season.<\/p>\n I would still look to add a utility man who can play shortstop, like Isiah Kiner-Falefa<\/a> or Jose Iglesias<\/a>. I wouldn\u2019t shy away from IKF just because of the baserunning play in Game 7 of the World Series, where he didn\u2019t get a great jump on a grounder to second base while he was on third and cost the Jays a run. <\/p>\n I would also add to the depth in the bullpen from the left side. Guys like Danny Coulombe<\/a>, Justin Wilson<\/a>, and Andrew Chafin<\/a> are still available.<\/p>\n This is going to be another exciting year for the Blue Jays, but rest assured the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles and Rays will not make it easy, and Toronto will get everybody\u2019s best this season.<\/p>\n They will play with a target on their back, and we shouldn\u2019t want it any other way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Baseball\u2019s hot stove season is winding down. Spring training and the World Baseball Classic are just around the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2378],"tags":[30173,5,377,2554,48286,62437,46738,4,282,70,46737,2553],"class_list":{"0":"post-539333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-blue-jays","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-blue-jays","11":"tag-bluejays","12":"tag-bo-bichette-sports-baseball-player-player-statscom-917949","13":"tag-dylan-cease-sports-baseball-player-player-statscom-829000","14":"tag-jeff-hoffman-sports-baseball-player-player-statscom-709602","15":"tag-mlb","16":"tag-toronto","17":"tag-toronto-blue-jays","18":"tag-toronto-blue-jays-sports-baseball-team-team-statscom-238","19":"tag-torontobluejays"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}