The Blue Jays have been the most active team of the winter, making splashes in the rotation (Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce), bullpen (Tyler Rogers), and mostly recently the lineup with their signing of third baseman Kazuma Okamoto. While Okamoto has a chance to be an impact bat, given his track record as one of the best hitters in NPB, he’s not on the same level as a few other hitters to whom Toronto has been linked. On one level or another, the Jays have been connected to most of the top free agent hitters this offseason. Most recently, reports have centered around three names: outfielder Kyle Tucker, infielder Bo Bichette, and third baseman Alex Bregman.
Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reported yesterday that while the Blue Jays could add more from here, that might require the team to subtract payroll elsewhere on the roster. Buster Olney and Jesse Rogers of ESPN wrote this morning that the Okamoto signing does not take the Jays out of the running for either Tucker or Bichette.
It’s been relatively quiet on the Tucker front, though Rogers and Olney suggest he has both short- and long-term possibilities in front of him. Whichever route he takes, the annual commitment will be significant. Toronto has expressed a willingness to deal Jose Berrios this winter, but his contract is underwater. They wouldn’t be able to shed the full freight of the $66MM he’s still owed. Anthony Santander is making significant money as well, but he’d be even more difficult to trade coming off of a career-worst season where he was limited to 54 games by injuries; Santander also posted a .175/.271/.294 slash (61 wRC+) when healthy enough to play.
Neither Berrios nor Santander would subtract enough payroll to fully offset the addition of a Tucker, Bichette or Bregman. Berrios is owed $18MM in 2026 and has matching $24MM salaries in 2027-28. Santander is owed $16.5MM in 2026 and ’27, $14.75MM in ’28 and $12.75MM in ’29. A hefty $10MM of his salary is deferred in each of those seasons.
If the Blue Jays are truly nearing maximum capacity when it comes to payroll, it’s hard to imagine them coming out on top for one of those star free agents. The Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, and Mets are among the other big market clubs to have been connected to at least one of those free agents in some capacity.
Of course, it’s possible the Jays don’t feel much need to subtract salary at all. Their $279MM payroll and $308MM of luxury tax obligations (according to RosterResource) are franchise records that thrust them into the top bracket of luxury penalization, but the Jays have a great deal of money coming off the books after this season. George Springer, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Daulton Varsho, Yimi Garcia, and Eric Lauer are all set to reach free agency after 2026. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Varsho and Lauer for a combined $14.1MM in arbitration this year, while the other four will combine for $70.5MM. That’s nearly $85MM in salary set to come off the books, and declining Myles Straw’s club option for next season would push that figure even higher.
Some of that money would surely need to be re-invested in the roster to replace the departing veterans, but next year’s free agent class doesn’t figure to boast a transformational, middle-of-the-order bat on the level of Tucker or even Bichette. Seiya Suzuki, Randy Arozarena, Nico Hoerner, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. are among the top position players set to reach free agency next winter. While all are talented players in their own rights, none is a surefire perennial All-Star like the top bats of this winter’s class. That could make it prudent for the Jays to throw caution to the wind this year and do some of next offseason’s shopping a year early.
How do MLBTR readers expect the Jays to proceed this winter? Will they come away with another top free agent before Opening Day, or will Okamoto be their top addition on offense? Have your say in the poll below:
100%
Yes, Tucker will be next
I am going to say Bo.
Why not Tucker? Maybe both.
Cap – I still say Tuck to LAD and Bo to Tor.
Are they spelunking?
I was gonna say, I dunno what Micheal Keaton, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Val Kilmar, or Ben Affleck have for career batting averages, but if the Jays are interested… ~
Not a fan of the new Batman, Robert Pattinson?
They’ll had another hitter, whether one of the top dogs or someone else depends on negotiations with said hitter(s).
Kilmer might be hard to pull off
crease – Yeah he broke on through to the other side ….
Tucker
If they need good big bats, I’d recommend Marucci AP5, LS R161, Victus V243 and Chandler CB271.
They are adding Tucker or re-signing Bo. Rogers has finally learned that being a really good team that consistently makes deep playoff runs is very profitable.
Blue Jays are ruining baseball
and everyone in Canada is thrilled!!!
Make Canada great again!!!
Always has been.
@Bensmack
Correction: Dodgers and Blue Jays are ruining baseball. Soon, it will just be rematches of Dodgers-Blue Jays each year in the world series.
Perfect
Season two coming up this October!
Don’t get me wrong the blue jays look extremely good but they are not going to be in the World Series every year since all it takes is a vlad jr injury
Dodgers are able to spend a billion and have a great farm system and also have a guy named shohei in ohtani so they can go for a 3 or 4 peat
No the Blue Jays are just overpaying by a ton because they’re in Canada. And Ross is just throwing money around willy nilly. Probably just albatrossing themselves with silly overpays.
The whole system of free agency is specifically designed to overpay players.
This narrative that it’s just Toronto is boring and has no backup
@Ignorant Son-of-a-b
Says the fan of the team that… that almost went to the World Series with the 15th highest payroll. Sounds like the Mariners are also ruining baseball! 😀
Did anyone else know that Santander was going to plummet? Wouldn’t have touched him with a barge pole
Yeah, he had the classic great walk year and predictably fell off a cliff after signing the new deal. Similar to Tyler O’Neil and Eduardo Rodriguez recently. Jorge Polanco is likely going to be this year’s version.
He was consistent and good for 3 years going in to his walk year and last year got hurt.
Good chance he’s back to a 120 OPS+ next year with 30 bombs.
Santander was injured and tried to play through it. More than likely he’s back to the guy he was for three years straight than what he was last year.
I don’t think so unless they can move Berrios or Gimenez.
Absolutely, and both Tucker and Bo fit
The Blue Jays got a taste of World Series ring and are absolutely flooring the accelerator. They are definitely bringing back Bichette or signing Tucker.
Acoss – Agreed, I just don’t see them signing Bregman. As much as he’d love to play with Springer again, he’s not a good fit unless he switches to 2B which is doubtful.
No they won’t add a big bat. They will add 2 with Bo and Tucker
I really think they’re done. I hope I’m wrong, but I think that is the case.
if Bo resigns in Toronto he’s got steak for life
Animl, a Toronto steakhouse owned by nightlife impresario Charles Khabouth and Ink Entertainment, is offering Bo Bichette free “steak for life” if he re-signs with the
BlueJays
So if he doesn’t resign,
it will be a missed steak.
Talk about raising the steaks.
That’s good clean humor right there.
I find it a little bit moo.
The steaks are very high for Bo
They tried that with Kawhi … didn’t help.
I don’t see Bichette leaving Toronto.
I think the Jays will sign Bo and Tucker and trade Gimenez, Berrios, Schneider and Lukes while eating some salary.
@bobbymac7
Some salary? They’re going to have to eat a ton of it just on Berrios and especially Gimenez. He’s owed 16M in ’26 and about 24M per for the next 3 seasons after that.
If they wanna be/beat the dodgers they’re gonna have to get another big bat
Yankees are still good and the Red Sox and Orioles are much improved. Jays are not a lock for anything
Both are good but not good enough. So are Yankees and not good enough.
It’s crazy that all 3 of those teams on paper right now are probably 90+ win teams.
Blue Jays, Brewers, and Dodgers are 100+ win teams.
Jays are not going to win 100 games in the AL east, there is too much competition and no one to beat up on
Schedules have changed. They play each team an equal amount of times now.
They do not play each team an equal amount.
Beginning with the 2025 season, teams play a balanced schedule as follows: thirteen games are played against each of the other four teams in their own division (52 games total), six or seven games against each of the other ten teams in their own league (62 games total), six games against one “geographic rival” from the other league, and three games against each of the other fourteen teams from the other league, for 48 total interleague games.
The schedule is more balanced than it used to be, but is still unbalanced with more games against divisional opponents than not.
Okay instead of equal I should have said balanced. Which means it isn’t 18 games against each like it used to be. So there are teams that can be beat up on. With that said the Jays beat up on the Yankees last year anyways so here’s hoping for similar returns this year lol
I wasn’t discounting the Yankees or the Red Sox or anyone really, just saying that really any team that wants to win needs to keep their foot on the gas like the dodgers do.
On paper as of right now the Jays are the best team in the American League and it’s not close. If they add Tucker or resign Bichette, they are clearly the #2 team in baseball
AL East is the best division in sports. Blue Jays could win 90 and finish 3rd.
If talking all major sports now- NFC West. Also, Red Sox been only one of late hoisting championships.
Because of 1 season? No.
Please……you said now in context of Toronto could win 90/take 3rd. That’s the present condition and even speculation.
MLB also by design is uncapped and geography is huge. NY/Boston, etc can’t spend its way to a good record in other sports…Jets are terrible b/c no advantage. Pats are back after short struggles b/c they are run well (not financial advantage).
NFC West should have a better winning percentage. Go Hawks!
No one is taking Berrios. The bad Gimenez contract and the truly terrible Santander contract are here to stay and will hang over this team for years.
No chance they are in on Bregman. The only chance they have at Bichette or Tucker will involve a very significant trade, and I don’t see it. The roster is set.
I have a feeling the people who think Santander’s contract is terrible are the same people who last year thought Springer’s contract was terrible. A player has one down year out of four and all of a sudden he’s trash. Unless Santander’s injury is something he can’t recover from it’s a safe bet to say he’ll return to form. But then I’ve been hearing this kind of thing since Lyle Overbay so maybe I just have to accept the things I can’t change.
Remember when Bichette was a fraction of his former self? Not one bad season being the outlier? All of the good to great seasons meant nothing. His age 26/27 season in which he was battling injuries literally all year was the one that mattered most. It’s a head scratcher to say the least.
The payroll is very high, but George is off the books next year so long term I dont think its an issue. I would be disappointed if they dont because Bo to Kazuma is probably a downgrade and Springer will likely regress from his career year and then be gone in 2027. They are in a weird spot here if they dont add a big bat.
It’s hard to say though, if they actually need to go out to get that big bat.
Addison Barger has a full year of experience under his belt and could very well break out even farther and be a 30+ homer guy.
Santander is a very good power hitter who obviously had a bad start to his contract, but there’s no reason to think he can’t bounce back next season. He is a notorious slow starter who, even by his own standards, got off to a slow start. He was just starting to heat up the last week or two before the injury ended his year. The prior season, his biggest, most of the damage was done in the last 2/3 of the season.
They ‘should’ be able to get 20+ HR’s from Springer, Okamoto, Varsho, Vladdy, Barger and Santander.
They may not end up with a true big time homer guy, but much like their whole offensive approach, they’ll have plenty of punch as an overall team.
Exactly, and a weird spot specifically in the OF.
They decline Straw’s option, Springer leaves, Varsho’s contract is up… who’s left out there? Santander, Lukes, Schneider, Barger. That’s alright but not championship caliber.
Tucker may create a logjam in 2026 but he makes all the sense in the world in 2027 and beyond.
There’s not going to be a 2027. Planning for a 2027 that isn’t going to exist is silly.
Planning as if it’s inevitable is also silly
If Jays sign Tucker then possibly trade Varsho and either Santandar or Berrios to Mets in salary dump.
Who’s playing CF?
Unless the Jays signed Bader, Varsho’s staying put. But CF needs to be addressed at some point.
Straw is a GG candidate
Rww59 you are correct. The question is could they roll a Lukes/Straw CF platoon? If Santander had some wheels I think Varsho would be more expendable given his pending free agency after the 2026 season.
Unfortunately there’s no designated fielder position
Santander signing becoming more trouble than its worth.
I’d be shocked if they trade Varsho. If they have to move an OF after signing Tucker it’ll probably be Lukes.
I’d say they’ll trade Davis Schneider, but Santander will rebound, Berrios will regain his strength as a starter, and Okamoto will prove to outshine an overweight Bo Bichette
Bo makes the most sense based on the current roster. For those saying Tucker there is no chance unless a trade is made.
Tucker actually makes way more sense than Bichette.
No it doesn’t, and you don’t believe it.
Bo puts Gimenez on the bench. Tuckers puts….Barger? Varsho? Santander? Even position depth says Tucker’s not a fit without a trade.
Yes it does and I absolutely do believe it. And so do all of the prognosticators.
Then you and the prognosticators are delusional. As I’ve said over and over, Tucker is only a Blue Jay if a trade happens.
I kind of feel like they have to. The offense is worst than last year right now and you should expect some regression.
Change goes both ways. It’s also reasonable to factor in Barger taking a step further forward and Santander having a bounce back year. That would offset Springer (and others) cooling off. Okamoto ‘should’ replace a decent amount of Bo’s production, even if not all of it. I don’t see the offense being worst than last year right now. I see it as mostly about the same.
You could also argue the opposite quite easily. Barger had a fantastic post season but his regular season was average and very streaky, next year is not guaranteed he gets better. Santander was hurt not his fault but his whole game is power shoulder injuries could zap that a bit which is not good. Guys like Okamoto while stars in Japan face weaker pitching, every year this site has a bunch of posts about guys most of us haven’t heard of signing there after not be able to major league deals in the MLB. I think a lot went right last year, which is saying something considering all of Ross’s FA signings and Gimenez didn’t contribute much.
Agree with this. Jays fans have stars in their eyes after one extraordinary year.
I said all that as a life long Jays fan, must remember Murphey’s law, especially when it comes to baseball.
I am not sure it is worse than last year unless you have a major regression out of some players. Last year they started the year with Will Wagner as DH and Alan Roden in RF. 6 players should be in that were in last year at the start of the year with the differences being Okamoto, Barger and Varsho vs Bichette, Wagner and Roden. Yes, the Bichette loss is big but Wagner and Roden were pretty crappy.
Jays started the year with Gimenez batting cleanup lol
Some players will regress but some players won’t and some players will be better
Santander for sure, Vlads regular season wasn’t elite, full year of Barger will help fight the regression
Realistically they can sign both Bo and Tucker, lower aav this year, higher signing bonuses and deferred money. Run a payroll of 340/350. Clement and Barger would still be able to get about 400+ abs with a rotation of Santander, Giminez, springer and 3rd base every couple games. That doesn’t include when bo or tucker neeed a rest. It would give an absolute balanced lineup that can pass the baton and bash.
DH- Springer (r)
RF- TUCKER (l)
1b- Vlad (r)
2b- Bo (r)
LF- Santander (s)
Cf- Varsho (l)
C – kirk (r)
3b- Barger (l)
Ss- Giminez (l).
W.e lefty righty match ups you want to do you can add Clement, Okamto and schinder. They all play infield and outfield.
You live in a dream world. They are not signing either, let alone both.
I am not saying they will but realistically they could.. they have the money. The own the stadium, they get paid for all ad revenues on TV, radio or in stadium for the jays.. they could do it and they should do it.. will they? Probably not?
Keep dreamin’
The Blue Jays so far have subtracted a big bat in Bichette. To ADD a big bat the Jays have to sign TWO big bats.
This is very early elementary school math.
Agreed.. they tried signing Seager when bo was still here, they tried signing ohtani and Soto while Bo was here.. they can no doubt add bo/Bergman and tucker
They just sign Okamoto and are getting a healthy Santander back
They added Okamoto so if they sign Bo or Tucker they ADDED a “big bat” to last years team. You could argue Sanatander could perform but i cant guarantee that, and I know Springer will regress to the mean, hopefully not too much though.
I guess you missed the signing over the last couple of days
They Said today okamoto is going to be utility player.
No way. It is nice that they’ve opened the wallet a bit at least, but Edward Rogers is not spending more. If they were bringing Bo back, it would have happened by now. They are happy with the new guy at third, Gimenez at short and Ernie at second. As it stands, Barger is getting squeezed a bit.
Rogers has opened up more than a bit, by my count they’ve invested close to 2B in this team in the last 3 years when you add up salary commitments, renovations to the park and spring training facility.
If Bo does end up taking a short deal with an opt out to re enter free agency I could see Jays being a good fit for that and he would want to be in a comfortable place
from a Jays standpoint, they would want longer deal with lower AAV I would think. Their 2026 payroll is so high and Springer/Varsho/etc are coming off the books after.
I think the Jays will add another big bat, but not in free agency. With Okamoto now in the fold, I could see Toronto willing to move Addison Barger,and plenty of young pitching (Rickey T, J Bloss, Johnny King or Stanifer) etc. in a huge deal for Ketel Marte.
Maybe more of a wish than actual reality. But, my point is this line-up is nearly the best in baseball, if not the very best if Toronto can acquire Marte. ROSS!! Make this happen!
I think the only way they move Barger is if they sign Tucker.
I really hope they don’t trade Ricky T tho.
Barger is not being moved. Lefty power even with a Tucker on board is still a need. He has power in spades. Far more likely the trade Lukes thank Barger. Even dump Santander
They’re not dumping Santander.
Far more likely than Barger being moved.
And now you know how Tucker could be signed.
The Blue Jays are the UNDISPUTED Dodgers of Canada!
Of the AL
Ross Aktins (jays gm) just said during the Okamoto conference that any additional signings would impact playing time as the roster is full of major leaguers already. Bo isnt coming back unfortunately and Tucker is going elsewhere. I like the new look Jays actually. We will miss Bo.
They seem to have too many position players already.
The Jays brought-in over $100 million on their 2025 World Series run, and will realize even more with new fans worldwide, all buying team merchandise. The Jays have turned the corner, but expect a major trade using some superb minor league pitching. The Jays can add Marte, or Stevan Kwan through trade, or just sign Tucker. Right now, jays ownership is committed to being all-in on winning a World Series Championship!!