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Nick Sandlin Elects Free Agency

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November 17: Sandlin has indeed rejected his outright assignment and elected free agency, according to an announcement from the Blue Jays.

November 15: The Blue Jays outrighted Nick Sandlin off the 40-man roster, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction tracker. Sandlin has over three years of service time and will surely elect free agency in the coming days.

It’s effectively an early non-tender of the righty reliever. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Sandlin for a $2MM salary if he were tendered an arbitration contract. That’s not a huge amount, but the Jays soured on his future enough that they didn’t want to lock him into a middle relief role going into next season.

This drops their roster count from 38 to 37. Teams need to decide which eligible prospects they want to keep out of the Rule 5 draft by Tuesday evening. The Jays have an extra spot available than they would have had if they’d waited until Friday’s non-tender deadline to make the cut.

Toronto acquired Sandlin as a secondary piece of last winter’s Andrés Giménez trade. The Southern Mississippi product had pitched to a 3.27 earned run average over parts of four seasons in Cleveland. Sandlin never had great control, but he missed a good number of bats behind a plus slider and a promising splitter. The Jays hoped he could take on a higher-leverage role after being more of a sixth/seventh inning type in a loaded Cleveland bullpen.

Injuries kept that from happening. Sandlin went down three weeks into the season with a lat strain. He returned in mid-June but was shut back down after nine appearances by elbow inflammation. The latter injury ended his year. Sandlin tossed 16 1/3 innings overall. He gave up seven runs (four earned) with 16 strikeouts and eight walks. He recorded five holds and a save but also surrendered three leads.

Sandlin’s stuff was diminished. He averaged career lows on both his slider (78.4 MPH) and four-seam fastball (91.4). While he has never been a flamethrower, his heater was in the 94-95 MPH range during his rookie season and sat between 92-93 last year. Other teams evidently share the Jays’ concerns about the diminished velocity. Sandlin cleared waivers, suggesting no club wanted to take a flier and tender him at that projected $2MM price.

Blue Jays Showing Interest In Raisel Iglesias

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The Blue Jays are among the teams with interest in free agent closer Raisel Iglesias, reports Francys Romero. That’s a logical fit with Toronto on the hunt for a late-game arm. They’ve also been linked to Edwin Díaz at the top of the relief market.

Iglesias remains one of the better relievers in MLB as he enters his age-36 season. The Cuban-born righty is coming off a 3.21 earned run average in 67 1/3 innings for the Braves. Iglesias went 29-34 in save chances, narrowly missing what would have been his sixth career 30-save campaign. Iglesias punched out an above-average 27.4% of opponents while limiting walks to a 6% clip. He got swinging strikes nearly 15% of the time while still getting opponents to frequently chase outside the strike zone.

In aggregate, this year was Iglesias’ worst since at least 2019. That’s mostly attributable to an early-season home run spike. He gave up seven longballs before the end of May and carried a near-6.00 ERA into June. Once he got the home runs in check, Iglesias looked like his usually excellent self. He turned in a 1.96 ERA with a 29.3% strikeout percentage over the final four months. Opponents hit .163/.224/.219 with one homer in their last 174 plate appearances.

Jays general manager Ross Atkins has already said they’re not committed to keeping Jeff Hoffman in the ninth inning. Signing a closer would allow manager John Schneider to use Hoffman as a multi-inning leverage arm earlier in games. Hoffman allowed the second-most home runs (15) among MLB relievers this year. The longball is the biggest concern with Iglesias as well but not to the same extent.

Iglesias’ age is going to cap him at a maximum of two years. He should command an eight-figure annual salary. The Braves didn’t find much trade interest with Iglesias making $16MM this past summer. He elevated his stock by allowing just one run in 23 2/3 frames after the deadline, so it’s not out of the question that he commands something similar to this year’s salary on the open market. That’d especially be true if he takes a one-year guarantee, though MLBTR predicted he’d command a two-year contract at $13MM annually.

The Dodgers are the only other team that has been publicly connected to Iglesias this offseason. The Braves don’t have an obvious closing replacement and will probably stay in touch, but president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said this week that they’re focused on shortstop and the rotation in the short term. If Iglesias receives strong two-year offers this month, he could sign elsewhere before the Braves are ready to pivot to the bullpen.

Blue Jays Targeting High-Leverage Relievers

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The Blue Jays are targeting high-leverage relievers, reports Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. Free agent Edwin Díaz appears to be one possibility, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Rosenthal frames the Jays as the main threat to poach Díaz from the Mets. Rosenthal reports that the Jays recently met with Díaz’s representatives from Wasserman, though he also notes that may not mean anything since everyone meets with everyone at this time of year. Jeff Jones of The Belleville News-Democrat reports that the Jays were interested in Ryan Helsley ahead of the deadline. He is now a free agent and could be a target as well. The Jays were also connected to Pete Fairbanks earlier this week.

The Jays have seemingly been casting a wide net early in the offseason, having been connected to all kinds of different pursuits. The bullpen is one thing on their list and it’s a sensible one. The Jays had a middling relief group in 2025. Toronto relievers had a collective 3.98 earned run average, which was 16th out of the 30 big league clubs. Closer Jeff Hoffman had a 4.37 ERA for the year. He dominated through most of the playoffs but then surrendered the big Miguel Rojas home run when the Jays were two outs away from a title.

Last week, general manager Ross Atkins said that Hoffman would be open to moving to a different role if the Jays found another closer. It seems the Jays are indeed considering that. Díaz is one of the best closers in the game today. He already has 253 saves under his belt. He just wrapped up a season in which he had 1.63 ERA, 38% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 48.4% ground ball rate.

He has been with the Mets since 2019 and it might be assumed by some that he will end up back in Queens. He was approaching free agency three years ago but signed a five-year, $102MM deal to stay with the Mets just days before he was set to hit the open market. That deal contained an opt-out after three years, which Díaz triggered. He is now a free agent for the first time.

The Mets could certainly re-sign him but it doesn’t seem to be a fait accompli. Díaz himself said this week he has been talking with the Mets but put the odds of a return at 50/50, per Laura Albanese of Newsday. “If they came with the best deal for me, I’d enjoy to stay with them,” Díaz said, “but at the end of the day, I don’t know what they’re thinking.”

Díaz is still quite a good reliever but he is three years older than when he signed his previous deal. MLBTR predicted him to secure a four-year, $82MM pact this time around, a similar average annual value but on a shorter commitment since he’ll turn 32 years old in a few months. Díaz appears to be setting his sights a bit higher than that. Earlier this week, reporting from Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic indicated he is looking for roughly the same kind of deal he got last time. Bob Nightengale of USA Today echoed that this week, reporting that Díaz is looking for at least $100MM over five years.

That would be a notable expenditure for any club. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, the $102MM guarantee from the previous Díaz deal is still the record for a reliever. The $20.4MM AAV is also top of the list, apart from swingman Nick Martinez accepting a $21.1MM qualifying offer from the Reds a year ago.

Whether the Jays would be willing to do that remains to be seen. They’ve never given a reliever more than the three years and $33MM they gave to Hoffman a year ago. They might have to triple that to land Díaz. Perhaps getting so close to a World Series will push them there, both because the bullpen let the last game slip away and because they presumably raked in a bunch of extra money from the deep playoff run.

RosterResource projects the Jays for a $235MM payroll next year, more than $20MM shy of their year-end figure in 2025. It’s unknown how high they are willing to go in the wake of their 2025 run. Presumably, there is a limit somewhere and they will have to balance their desire for Díaz against pursuits of Bo Bichette, Kyle Tucker, starting pitching and so on. Díaz also rejected a qualifying offer. Since the Jays paid the competitive balance tax in 2025, signing a player tied to a QO means they would have to forfeit two draft picks and international bonus pool space.

The Mets have been operating with very few payroll limits in recent years but David Stearns has shown a measured approach to building his pitching staff since taking the president of baseball operations job. Despite having Steve Cohen’s seemingly boundless resources, he hasn’t given a pitcher a deal longer than three years yet. The bullpen has mostly been built with one-year deals. A.J. Minter got two years with an opt-out in the middle, though his lack of health in 2025 means he will be coming back for that second year.

Some may speculate that Cohen would just override Stearns and bring back Díaz as a fan favorite. Rosenthal downplays this notion is his column, linked above, referring back to the 50/50 comments from Díaz.

Turning back to the Jays, they could also shop in a different aisle. As mentioned, they have been connected to Fairbanks, who will be far cheaper than Díaz. That’s also true of Helsley, who has a strong track record but is coming off a poor platform season.

From 2022 to 2024, Helsley tossed 167 2/3 innings with a 1.83 ERA, 34.6% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate. In 2025, his ERA jumped to 4.50 as his strikeout rate fell to 25%. He was especially bad after getting traded from the Cardinals to the Mets at the deadline, with a 7.20 ERA after that swap.

That obviously puts a big dent in his earning power but he should still get interest as a bounceback candidate. Plenty of clubs would be happy to try him on a one-year deal with the hope that 2025 was a blip. He might also have enough juice for two years with an opt-out. MLBTR went the latter route, predicting him for a two-year, $24MM guarantee.

There’s no denying the trend lines aren’t good. Helsley’s strikeout rate has gone from 39.3% in 2022 to 35.6%, 29.7% and 25% in the most recent seasons. But he still averaged 99.3 miles per hour on his fastball this year, a tiny drop from his peak of 99.7 mph in in 2023. He may have been tipping his pitches and he also surrendered a fairly high .342 batting average on balls in play. His 14.5% home run to fly ball ratio was far worse than previous seasons. Part of that was him getting hit harder than before but some teams may feel he could be back to his old self with a tweak or two.

If the Jays circle back to Helsley, that would be a far different addition than Díaz. Díaz is about as rock-solid as a closer gets these days and would immediately supplant Hoffman as the top guy in the bullpen. Helsley would be a lower-cost flier and would surely start lower in the pecking order before having to earn his way up. How the Jays play it will presumably depend on the other market factors and how things play out with the other things on their to-do list.

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images

Giants To Hire Hunter Mense As Hitting Coach

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The Giants are going to hire Blue Jays assistant hitting coach Hunter Mense as their hitting coach, reports Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. Yesterday, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reported that the Giants were targeting Mense.

Mense, 41, played baseball at the University of Missouri at the same time as new Giants manager Tony Vitello. Mense was drafted by the Marlins and played in the minor league system for a while, then spent some time in indy ball. Once his playing days were done, he pivoted to coaching, working in the Blue Jays’ minor league system.

He was promoted to the major league staff ahead of the 2022 season. It’s always tough to give one coach credit for the performance of several players, but for what it’s worth, the Jays have performed well during his time as an assistant hitting coach. Over the past four years, the Jays have a .257/.326/.416 line and 109 wRC+, which puts them fourth-best in the majors.

Last week, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said there would be no “proactive subtractions” from the coaching staff. However, it seems Mense has been lured to San Francisco by his former college teammate offering him a promotion. The Giants have had Pat Burrell as their hitting coach for the past two years. It was reported last week that he would be staying with the Giants but in a different role.

The Giants have been hovering around .500 for the past four years. In 2025, they hit .235/.311/.386 for a wRC+ of 97. Perhaps a full season from Rafael Devers and/or a breakout from Bryce Eldridge will help them break through, but Mense will also try to do his part to help. The Jays will presumably look to add an assistant to replace Mense, whether that’s an internal promotion or external hire.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Latest On Blue Jays’ Pursuits

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The Jays came so close to winning it all in 2025 and all signs point to them being aggressive in reloading for 2026. From the General Managers Meetings in Las Vegas, Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet as well as Mitch Bannon of The Athletic report that all signs point to the Jays being strongly involved in various markets, including starting pitchers, relievers and position players.

That’s not surprising framing. The Jays have been one of the more active clubs in recent winters, which has included pursuits of big names like Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and others. Though they missed on those guys, they have signed seven different free agents to deals of at least three years in length over the past five years. Those were George Springer, Anthony Santander, Kevin Gausman, Yariel Rodríguez, Jeff Hoffman, Yusei Kikuchi and Chris Bassitt. They are fresh off a deep playoff run that presumably swelled the coffers a bit and could reinvest some of that into the roster.

Adding to the bullpen would be a logical move, as Toronto’s relief corps was middling this year. The club’s relievers had a collective 3.98 earned run average, which placed them 16th out of the 30 major league teams. They added Seranthony Domínguez and Louis Varland at the deadline but Domínguez is now a free agent. The closer, Hoffman, posted a 4.37 ERA and could be open to moving to a setup role.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the Jays and Dodgers are two clubs expected to pursue Pete Fairbanks, who just became a free agent when the Rays declined his player option. Though the Dodgers just won the title, they did so despite their bullpen falling apart throughout the year. Manager Dave Roberts leaned heavily on his starters through the playoffs, which included using all of Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game Seven of the World Series.

Fairbanks would make sense on a lot of clubs but the Dodgers and Jays are certainly two of them. He spent the last three years as the closer in Tampa, saving at least 23 games in each of those seasons. He also finished each season with an ERA below 3.58, including a 2.83 mark in 2025.

However, there are some yellow flags with Fairbanks. Injuries have been a big part of his career. 2025 was the first time he ever reached the 50-inning plateau in a season. Though he has continued to have good results in the ERA department, other numbers are less encouraging. Over 2022 and 2023, he struck out 39.1% of batters faced, but he was down to 24% over the two most recent seasons. His velocity also dropped two ticks, as he was around 99 miles per hour with his fastball in 2022-23 but has been closer to 97 mph since then.

Teams should still be interested in Fairbanks but the declines have presumably impacted his market. The Rays had an $11MM club option with a $1MM buyout, a net $10MM decision. They presumably tried to trade Fairbanks before declining that and didn’t find too much interest. Teams are usually wary of committing money so early in the offseason but someone would have jumped if they felt that was a bargain.

He could get a one-year deal somewhere in the vicinity of that option price but a multi-year pact at a similar annual value is also possible. The Dodgers and Jays, as well as almost any other club, could easily afford that.

But Fairbanks is just one of dozens of options on the relief market. Bannon mentions Phil Maton and Tyler Kinley as possible fits, seemingly in speculative fashion. Maton has been putting up good numbers for years but the market hasn’t paid him, presumably because he barely gets his velo over 90 mph. His past two trips to free agency have led to modest one-year deals. He got $6.5MM from the Rays going into 2024 and $2MM from the Cardinals last winter.

Dating back to the start of 2022, Maton has thrown 257 innings with a 3.33 ERA, 27% strikeout rate, 9% walk rate and 43% ground ball rate. He was even better in 2025, with a 2.79 ERA, 32.7% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 44.4% grounder rate. He’s generally one of the best pitchers in the league in terms of minimizing hard contract, which was still the case this year. His average exit velocity, barrel rate and hard hit rate were all in at least the 98th percentile of pitchers, according to Statcast. That strong season should earn him a raise but the market has already shrugged him off twice, so he shouldn’t break the bank.

Kinley has spent most of his career pitching for the Rockies, so he has some big ERAs on his track record. However, he finished 2025 strong. Atlanta acquired him at the deadline and then Kinley posted a 0.72 ERA over 25 innings once he was away from Coors Field. There was some good luck in there but his 23.4% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate were decent figures. Despite that finish, Atlanta turned down a $5.5MM club option, going for a $750K buyout instead. If that’s any indication of how the market perceives him, he should be very affordable for the Jays or any club.

Turning to the rotation, general manager Ross Atkins has already indicated that starting pitching will be a target. There are many ways to do that and Bannon reports that the Jays are going after the guys at the top of the market.

As Bannon mentions, the top free agent starters available are guys like Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez and Tatsuya Imai. MLBTR predicted those four to each get deals of at least five years with a guarantee of at least $115MM. The Jays have gone to that range with a pitcher before, as their aforementioned Gausman deal was for $110MM over five years. Depending on how the markets for these pitchers play out, landing one might require stretching a bit farther. MLBTR predicted Cease to get $189MM over seven years, while Valdez and Imai each got $150MM predictions, Valdez over five and Imai over six.

The Jays got a gift when Shane Bieber decided not to opt out of his deal. He took a $16MM salary for 2026 instead of a $4MM buyout, effectively taking $12MM while spurning the chance to head to free agency in search of more. That leaves the Jays with a rotation core of Gausman, Bieber and Trey Yesavage. They should have José Berríos at the back somewhere, as he is expected to be healthy by next year.

Guys like Eric Lauer, Bowden Francis, Ricky Tiedemann, Adam Macko, Lázaro Estrada and others could compete for a final spot, but the club would be in a better position if they brought in someone else. Lauer could be bumped to #6 and a long relief role if everyone is healthy, while the others could pitch in Triple-A. It would also make sense to sign someone beyond 2026, as Gausman and Bieber are slated for free agency a year from now, while Berríos will have an opt-out chance at that point as well.

A big strike on the position player side is also an option. Bringing back Bo Bichette is already known to be on the table. Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported this week that Bichette is getting a lot of interest as a shortstop but also from clubs who need help at second and third base. Bichette’s shortstop defense has never been strong and he has dealt with numerous lower-body injuries in recent years. He finished 2025 playing second base for the Jays in the World Series, after missing several weeks due to a knee injury.

It’s unknown if Bichette will have strong preferences about his defensive home or if he just wants to secure the biggest payday. For the Jays, they probably prefer to keep Andrés Giménez at short since he’s a slick defender, but it’s unknown if they would be willing to put Bichette back at that spot in order to lure him back to Toronto.

There’s also a bit of smoke about a run at Kyle Tucker. Bob Nightengale of USA Today mentioned the possibility a few times in a column earlier this week. Both Bannon and Nicholson-Smith/Davidi column address the Tucker rumors but both suggest pitching is likely to be a bigger priority.

The Jays certainly could go after Tucker, even though he is likely to be quite expensive. MLBTR predicted he could land a $400MM guarantee over 11 years. As mentioned up top, the Jays have made strong runs at players above that stratosphere before and they gave Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a $500MM extension.

The current outfield mix includes Springer, Santander, Daulton Varsho, Nathan Lukes, Myles Straw, Joey Loperfido, Addison Barger and Davis Schneider. They don’t need Tucker in there but he would make the group stronger. Loperfido still has options while Barger and Schneider can play the infield. Springer, Varsho and Straw are all slated for free agency after 2026. Straw’s deal has club options for 2027 and 2028 but they might be a bit pricey for a bench outfielder like him. By 2027, it’s possible those three are gone with Santander moving into the designated hitter spot. It’s possible that guys like Yohendrick Pinango or RJ Schreck could come up and fill the void by then but Tucker would give the Jays more long-term certainty on the grass/turf.

At this stage of the offseason, there are still many paths available to the Jays. The report from Nicholson-Smith and Davidi characterizes them as involved everywhere but not desperate, so perhaps it’s not wise to expect their aggression to lead to a quick deal. They may slow-play things and look for opportunities to open up to them, depending on how the various markets develop.

An unknown factor is how much they will have to spend. RosterResource projects them for a $235MM payroll in 2026, which gives them more than $20MM of wiggle room relative to the $258MM payroll they had at the end of 2025. President Mark Shapiro has said that he doesn’t expect the payroll to go down next year. Around $20MM would not be enough to do everything mentioned here, but it’s possible the deep playoff run in 2025 will prompt the Jays to nudge the payroll up a bit.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: Surprising Option Decisions, Qualifying Offers, And Paul DePodesta

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images

Blue Jays Interested In Bo Bichette Reunion, Rotation Upgrades

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Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins met with the media this week to discuss various topics on the heels of the club’s 2025 season, which was mostly sweet but ended bitterly. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet rounded up some of the pertinent details. Most notably, the Jays are interested in reuniting with infielder Bo Bichette and are also on the hunt for pitching. Some trade talks involving starting pitching have already taken place.

Neither detail is a big surprise. The Blue Jays are the only team Bichette has ever known. He has expressed a willingness to return and continue playing alongside Vladimir Guerrero Jr., as the two have done for years. The Jays would surely love to have Bichette back.

The Jays were able to get through the ALDS and ALCS without Bichette, running out an alignment that usually featured Guerrero at first and Andrés Giménez at short, while Ernie Clement, Addison Barger and Isiah Kiner-Falefa split the second and third base duties.

They could run most of that crew back, though Kiner-Falefa is now a free agent. Davis Schneider could factor in at second base at times. But the Jays are surely a better team with Bichette in the lineup, especially when he’s fully healthy. He has a career .294/.337/.469 batting line and had an even better .311/.357/.483 showing in 2025.

Now that Bichette is a free agent, other clubs will come calling. Teams like the Giants, Tigers, Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox and Mets are logical landing spots, among others. MLBTR predicted Bichette to land an eight-year, $208MM contract. The Jays have never given that kind of money to a free agent, though they did more than double that on Guerrero’s $500MM extension. With the recent revenue generated from the club’s World Series run, perhaps they make an aggressive push to bring Bichette back.

Even if the Jays do have the money to get it done, there will be the question of positioning. Bichette has largely been a shortstop in his career. As he was shelved with a knee injury late in 2025, Giménez took over that spot. Bichette got healthy enough to be activated for the World Series but was clearly not 100%. The Jays kept him at second base and put him in the designated hitter spot a few times when George Springer was hurt.

Bichette has never been a great defensive shortstop but Giménez seems to be strong there, despite being mostly a second baseman in recent years. While Bichette was willing to play second in the World Series and while still hurt, would he be willing to make a permanent move to that spot? If he would like to stick at shortstop for a few more years, would the Jays accommodate him? If not, how much would that impact his signing decision?

The non-Bichette part of the free agent market includes players such as Alex Bregman, Eugenio Suárez, Gleyber Torres, Ha-Seong Kim and others. Guys like Brendan Donovan, Brandon Lowe, Alec Bohm, CJ Abrams, Josh Jung, Nolan Gorman and others might be available in trade.

There’s also Japanese infielder Munetaka Murakami, with Nicholson-Smith listing the Jays and Yankees as two teams linked to him. He is to be posted today, so his free agency will be resolved in the next 45 days.

Murakami wouldn’t be a perfect fit for the Blue Jays. He does have massive power from the left side, something that would work well in their lineup. However, his third base defense is considered poor, with many suspecting that he will quickly wind up at first base in the majors. With Guerrero signed at first base for the next 14 years and guys like Springer and Anthony Santander lined up for DH time, Murakami would have to be shoehorned in a bit.

If the Jays do think he can hack it at third, that would bump Clement to second and Barger to the outfield. That is something that could work but it wouldn’t really leave room for Bichette, barring a trade of some kind. The Yankees also have kind of an awkward fit with Ryan McMahon at third, Ben Rice at first and Giancarlo Stanton the DH, though perhaps they could find a way to balance things by having Rice behind the plate.

Turning to Toronto’s pitching, they just got a huge boost when Shane Bieber surprisingly triggered his player option. He can now be slotted into the 2026 rotation alongside Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage. The Jays should also have José Berríos back in the mix. He finished 2025 on the injured list but Atkins said he’s in line for a normal offseason, per Nicholson-Smith.

Guys like Eric Lauer, Bowden Francis, Adam Macko, Lázaro Estrada and Easton Lucas could compete for the #5 spot but the Jays will look at add someone else. In that scenario, Lauer would come into camp as the #6 guy, which was sometimes the case in 2025. He could work a long relief role when everyone is healthy and jump into the rotation as injuries pop up. Everyone else in that cluster of depth arms is optionable and could be in Triple-A. Guys like Angel Bastardo, Ricky Tiedemann and Jake Bloss missed all or most of 2025 while injured and could work into the mix when healthy.

The free agent market features starters like Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, Tatsuya Imai, Ranger Suárez and plenty of others. Guys like MacKenzie Gore, Joe Ryan, Mitch Keller and others should be available on the trade block.

In Nicholson-Smith’s column, Shapiro didn’t give a clear answer about the 2026 payroll but he praised the support the club has received from ownership and said “I don’t see that support going backwards at all.” That’s logical because, as mentioned, the club just raked in a bunch of money from their extended playoff run.

RosterResource projects the club for a $235MM payroll next year. That’s more than $20MM shy of the $258MM they spent in 2025, per RR. If payroll stays steady, that gives the Jays some room to make a notable move, though it would obviously be easier if the budget goes up. Signing both Bichette and a notable starting pitcher, for instance, would require more than $20MM annually.

In the bullpen, there are dozens of potential players they could target, including free agents and trade candidates. They could even go after closers, as Atkins was noncommittal about Jeff Hoffman staying in that role next year, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. “The great thing about Jeff is he’s not married to that,” Atkins said. “I think he would be open to anything that makes us better.”

The Jays signed Hoffman to a three-year, $33MM deal last offseason. He saved 33 games for the Jays this year, plus two more in the playoffs, but in uneven fashion. His strikeout rate was good but he allowed 4.37 earned runs per nine, thanks to allowing 15 home runs on the year, more than in his previous three years combined. As Jays fans well know, or maybe have blocked out, he allowed a game-tying home run to Dodgers #9 hitter Miguel Rojas in the top of the ninth of Game Seven of the World Series.

Home run spikes like that can be fluky. A measure like SIERA, which controls for such things, gave Hoffman a 3.21 mark this year. Still, it’s understandable that the Jays would at least consider adding an established closer and bumping Hoffman into a setup role. The free agent market features guys with closing experience like Edwin Díaz, Robert Suarez, Pete Fairbanks and Devin Williams. Depending on the final payroll, the Jays will have to weigh those pursuits against their other targets.

As for Shapiro himself, his contract only ran through the 2025 season but it would be a shock if he weren’t kept around after such a successful season. He previously hinted that he and the club would likely work out a new deal and he gave similar comments this week. Per Nicholson-Smith, he says he and the team agreed to table extension talks during the postseason run but will “likely work something out soon.”

The coaching staff will also likely be coming back, for the most part. Per Nicholson-Smith, Atkins said there would be no “proactive subtractions,” which seems to be GM speak to indicate no one is getting fired. Bench coach Don Mattingly is walking away and it’s always possible that someone on staff gets offered a promotion with another club, but it’s notable that the Jays plan on keeping the group together as much as they can.

Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images

13 Players Receive Qualifying Offers

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Thirteen players have received a qualifying offer this year, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The list is as follows:

This year’s QO is valued at $22.025MM. All 13 players will have until Nov. 18 to decide whether to accept that one-year offer or decline and become a free agent. They can spend that time gauging the open market to determine interest in their services. If a player accepts the QO, he’ll be treated as a free agent signing and thus will be ineligible to be traded without his consent until June 15 of next year. If he declines, any team that signs him will be subject to draft and/or international bonus forfeitures, depending on its revenue-sharing and luxury tax status.

The bulk of the list was generally expected. Every recipient other than Torres and Imanaga was pegged as likely or a no-doubter to receive the QO on MLBTR’s annual lists of qualifying offer previews for position players and for pitchers. Torres was viewed as something of a long shot, at least on the MLBTR staff. He’s coming off a nice season in Detroit but struggled through a poor finish — perhaps in part due to injury — and wasn’t hit with a QO last offseason when coming off a comparable year at the plate in the Bronx.

Imanaga was listed as a borderline call on our preview as well. The Cubs declined a three-year, $57.75MM option on Imanaga last week. He subsequently declined a $15.25MM player option (which came with an additional player option at $15.25MM) — effectively opting out of a remaining two years and $30.5MM. The Cubs are banking on Imanaga also turning away one year at just over $22MM after turning down that remaining $30.5MM in guaranteed money.

The qualifying offer is determined each year by taking the average of the game’s 125 highest-paid players. We’ve already covered the penalties that each team would face for signing a qualified free agent, as well as the compensation each club would get for losing a qualified free agent to another team.

Among the notable free agents to not receive a qualifying offer are Lucas Giolito, Robert Suarez, Devin Williams and Jorge Polanco. Giolito might have received one had it not been for a late elbow issue that ended his season. Suarez has been excellent and just opted out of the remaining two years and $16MM on his contract, but he’ll be 35 next year. The Padres have been reducing payroll in recent seasons and likely didn’t want to risk Suarez locking in that weighty one-year sum. Williams would have received a QO with a typical season, but he struggled throughout much of the season’s first four months before a dominant finish. Polanco enjoyed a terrific rebound campaign but is 32 years old and was limited to DH work for much of the season due to ongoing injury issues.

The qualifying offer grants each of these free agents the chance at a notable one-year payday, though the majority of them will reject without much thought. Players like Tucker, Bichette, Schwarber, Valdez, Cease, Suarez and Diaz are likely to see comparable or larger (much larger, in Tucker’s case) salaries on multi-year deals in free agency. Even players like Grisham, who probably won’t land a $22MM annual value over multiple years, are still likely to reject. Major league free agents typically — though not always — prioritize long-term earning over short-term, higher-AAV pacts. A three- or four-year deal worth $14-16MM per year, for instance, is typically viewed as preferable to accepting one year at a higher rate.

There’s risk in declining the offer, of course. Teams are more reluctant to sign players who’ll cost them valuable draft picks and/or notable portions of their hard-capped bonus pool for international amateurs. Every offseason, there are a handful of free agents whose markets are weighed down by the burden of draft pick compensation. That typically applies to the “lower end” of the QO recipients. For top stars like Tucker, Bichette, etc. — draft/international forfeitures are simply considered the cost of doing business and don’t tend to have much (if any) impact on the player’s earning power.

Blue Jays Discussing Extension With Manager John Schneider

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The Blue Jays have had conversations with manager John Schneider about a contract extension, GM Ross Atkins confirmed at today’s end-of-season press conference (relayed by Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet). It seems likely that’ll get done at some point this offseason. For the moment, Atkins confirmed that the Jays have officially exercised their 2026 option on Schneider’s contract.

Schneider took over the position on an interim basis when Charlie Montoyo was fired halfway through the 2022 season. The Jays removed the interim tag and signed him to a three-year contract with an option over the offseason. The guaranteed portion of the deal expired at the end of this past season. The Jays weren’t going to make a managerial change on the heels of an American League title.

It was a formality that they’d exercise the option and entirely expected they’d open talks on a multi-year deal. Most teams prefer not to have their managers or top front office personnel working on expiring contracts. That’s especially true when the manager led the team tantalizingly close to a championship. The Jays pushed the Dodgers to the brink in Game 7 of the Fall Classic. They were a blown save and/or one timely hit away from their first title in more than 30 years.

As is the case with any manager, Schneider has made some decisions that came under fire with the fanbase. His handling of the pitching staff during the 2023 Wild Card series loss to the Twins was heavily criticized. One can quibble with how aggressively he pinch ran for many of his best hitters in Game 3 of this year’s World Series, which left the Jays with a mostly punchless lineup in a game that went 18 innings.

Still, the Jays have won just over 54% of their regular season games over three-plus years with Schneider at the helm. He has led the team to two postseason berths, an AL championship, and fostered what appears to be a close-knit clubhouse. That came into play when Shane Bieber exercised a below-market player option to give things another go in Toronto. The Jays’ offseason focus will be on getting a long-term deal done with Bo Bichette and further addressing the pitching staff.

Blue Jays Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Blue Jays announced a series of roster moves this morning. Right-handers Nick Sandlin, Bowden Francis, Yimi Garcia, and Angel Bastardo were all activated from the 60-day injured list. Meanwhile, the Jays outrighted right-handers Dillon Tate, Robinson Pina, and Ryan Burr off their 40-man roster. Tate and Burr both elected free agency, while Pina will qualify for minor league free agency this evening as a player with seven years of experience. Additionally, Toronto has selected the contract of catcher Brandon Valenzuela.

Pina, 27 later this month, made his big league debut earlier this year as a member of the Marlins. His time in Miami lasted just one appearance, as he surrendered a solo home run but allowed no other traffic in his lone inning of work before being designated for assignment. Pina was traded to the Blue Jays just a couple of days later in exchange for minor league hurler Colby Martin, but once again made only one appearance for Toronto in 2025 with a 6.75 ERA in 1 1/3 innings of work. Despite his struggles in the majors in an extremely small sample, Pina did pitch to a respectable 3.58 ERA in 65 1/3 innings of work at Triple-A between his two organizations this year.

Tate, 31, spent most of the year at the Triple-A level. In 39.1 innings there, he pitched to a 2.06 ERA while getting ground balls at a 48.1% rate. He did walk 12.0% of opposing hitters though, and his 4.55 xFIP in the minors suggests that he benefited from good luck. Tate only made it into six big-league games for the Blue Jays in 2025, allowing three earned runs in 6 1/3 innings while striking out eight. His overall body of work is solid and includes a 3.05 ERA with just a 5.5% walk rate as recently as 2022 with the Orioles. He’ll get looks from other organizations as a depth piece.

Burr, 31, underwent season-ending surgery in July to repair a capsule injury in his right shoulder and was therefore seen as a non-tender candidate. He also missed time earlier in the year with shoulder inflammation, which led to him making just two appearances at the big-league level. In 32 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays in 2024, Burr had a middling 4.13 ERA but struck out 33.6% of hitters while walking 8.6% and posting strong peripherals. He’ll find opportunities elsewhere if and when he is recovered from his surgery.

Turning now to the IL activations, these are largely procedural moves. Teams place players on the 60-day IL during the regular season to free up a spot on the 40-man roster. However, they must be added back during the offseason. Sandlin had been out with right elbow inflammation since early July, while Francis went down in June with a right shoulder impingement. Garcia underwent season-ending elbow surgery in August and is expected to be ready for spring training. Bastardo missed the year while recovering from Tommy John surgery. All four are controlled through at least 2026.

As for Valenzuela, the 25-year-old catcher was rated as a top-30 prospect for the Padres in 2024 before being traded to Toronto this past July. He batted a roughly average .229/.313/.387 in 87 games at Double-A but struggled with Toronto’s Triple-A team, with just a 76 wRC+ and a 30.5% strikeout rate in 105 plate appearances. Toronto, of course, has Alejandro Kirk entrenched as their starting catcher, so Valenzuela is likely a depth option behind him and Tyler Heineman.

Valenzuela would have been eligible for minor league free agency as a seven-year minor leaguer if he weren’t added to the 40-man roster. Toronto evidently didn’t want to let him get away for nothing. He still has a full slate of minor league options and can spend the next few seasons in Triple-A, but he’s the clear #3 catcher on the depth chart at the moment.

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