While baseball fans gawk at the Blue Jays underwhelming offseason, especially in comparison to their transactions in recent off seasons. Considering since 2019 they’ve signed Robbie Ray, Marcus Semien, Kevin Gausman, Hyun Jin Ryu, Brandon Belt, George Springer, Chris Bassitt, Yimi Garcia, Daniel Hudson, Yusei Kikuchi, Chad Green, Freddy Galvis and Kevin Kiermaier twice. Seeing this offseason pull all but three underwhelming signings over the line in Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Yariel Rodriguez and Justin Turner has left to Jays fanbase stunned. Do they have another plan for success up their sleeves?
There is no denying that being a Blue Jays fan is a frustrating experience. When I first started watching the team in 2015, I grew attached to them. However, 2017 and on has been agonizing to say the least, witnessing Blue Jays teams that either were completely terrible or failed under the brightest lights. After another underwhelming finish in 2023 at the hands of the Minnesota Twins, it marked the Blue Jays 7th straight postseason defeat, now tied for second-longest with the Tampa Bay Rays. Ironically, the Blue Jays lost to the team that previously held the longest postseason losing streak in the league in Minnesota. Toronto was headed into the off-season with massive expectations to spend for offensive improvement, which had been lacking compared to the previous two seasons.
Of course, we all remember the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes. The biggest detriment to their all-in push at the Japanese phenom was giving up on a chance at Juan Soto, who would be traded to the Yankees prior to Shohei’s historic LA signing. As it was made increasingly clear how set of a choice Ohtani to the Dodgers was, guys like me couldn’t help but feel a sense of embarrassment on themselves for Toronto.
As for the rest of the off-season, it definitely wasn’t as smooth as most Jays fans would have hoped. Re-signing Kevin Kiermaier was their first major move. While he is incredible defensively in the outfield, it presented a new dilemma. The outfield was now locked up and no improvements were made. If the Jays wanted to get another outfielder, it would have to be someone who could also play DH. Another looming question was at the hot corner with Matt Chapman entering free agency. This would lead to arguably their most baffling move of the offseason by signing Isiah Kiner-Falefa to likely be their third baseman for the year. Lastly, Toronto signed Justin Turner who is in his 40’s and will likely be the DH as his defensive ability declines. The Jays were also looking at J.D. Martinez and Jorge Soler who had much better offensive seasons than all of these players, but it wasn’t meant to be.
However, there was always one looming thought; does a team with all this talent really need more additions? Obviously, the more talent the better, but with the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, Bo Bichette, Alejandro Kirk, Daulton Varsho and even in some circumstances Cavan Biggio, could they not hold their own? We have seen teams with players like this end up going far with time. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies are recent examples of this. It’s crystal clear that last season was an off-year for nearly every member of the Blue Jays hitting core, with many of the teams offensive stats being rather middle-of-the-pack with the rest of the league. That’s why a lot of talk from the front office has less been about acquiring more talent, but nurturing and improving upon the talent that’s already there.
Guerrero Jr., for example, has been a far cry of his 2021 form. 2023 saw him hitting only 26 home runs and 94 RBI’s, with a slugging percentage of .444, an OPS of .788 and a WAR of 2.0. Every single one of these stats were far worse than 2022, and the craziest thing is that he still led the team in home runs and RBI’s, by a rather significant margin. Players like Bo Bichette did have injury issues that limited their potential, but that doesn’t excuse a lot of the other players for having such poor performances, especially in a season that had lackluster pitching leaguewide. It feels like this team just flip-flops between issues every year and that they can’t click simultaneously. Most of the starting rotation is back, so that’s why Blue Jays fans sincerely hope that the hitting can come back into form. I am a strong believer that if this team fires on all cylinders, it has the opportunity to be as dangerous as teams like Philadelphia, Arizona, or hell even Atlanta.
With all this being said, if these internal improvements turn out to be nothing but buzz words and the team is as sluggish as they were last season, there is a very good chance that we might be seeing an end to this era of Blue Jays baseball with this young core. Atkins in particular should be on the hot seat. To make minimal off-season transactions and promise for the players to collectively improve offensively and fail to deliver would be a damning testament to this organization and how much they truly care about winning for this city. Vlad, fresh off of his MLB The Show 24 cover reveal, went on to make the statement, “This is my season.”
Vlad and Bo are still very young and have time to develop, but in the coming years, they have to perform like they are franchising-altering talents. Mookie Betts, Ronald Acuna Jr., and Yordan Alvarez have all proven to be franchise pieces. If either Bichette or Guerrero Jr. want to make their statements to be on same caliber as these players, they have to make it clear this season. This especially applies to Guerrero Jr. after his statement. Fans can be mad at the offseason moves, or lackthereof, all they want, but will it really matter in the grand scheme when the supporting cast of players are unable to produce around the core? For the Toronto Blue Jays management, coaching staff, and players, it is put up or shut up.
Great article