The Toronto Blue Jays are an intriguing team to watch.
Toronto has a great core, but things just didn’t work out in 2024. The Blue Jays finished in last place in the American League East last season and now seem to be at a crossroads. Toronto tried to land Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto but came away with neither. This isn’t from a lack of trying. The Blue Jays reportedly made massive offers to both, but missed out.
While this is the case, there are a lot of question marks about whether the club will be able to keep its own players. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette will hit free agency after the 2025 season ends and neither have extensions at this point.
Even with both of their futures up in the air, the Blue Jays still have been aggressive in free agency and have been tied to expensive players like Corbin Burnes.
It’s unclear what the team will do, but The Athletic’s Jim Bowden urged the team to go out and sign Burnes and Alex Bregman.
“The Blue Jays need another bat in their lineup and need to improve the makeup and character of their clubhouse,” Bowden said. “Bregman would do both, but they’d have to offer much more than the Astros to get him to walk away from Houston, where he wants to play. If the Blue Jays are willing to do an eight-year deal worth more than $200 million, they’d have a legitimate chance to land him. That would give them one of the best infields in the game with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base, newly acquired Andrés Giménez at second base, Bo Bichette at shortstop, and Bregman at third base.
“In addition, they should sign Burnes to a nine-year, $247 million contract to head their rotation. If the Blue Jays could afford to make massive free-agent offers to the likes of Shohei Ohtani last year and Juan Soto this year, why not pivot and add Burnes and Bregman? It would go a long way in making Toronto a contender in 2025 and beyond.”
These two projected deals would cost a total of $447 million. That’s certainly less than the Blue Jays would’ve given either Ohtani or Soto. But where would that leave Guerrero and Bichette? Keep an eye on Toronto.
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