The Toronto Blue Jays slugged their way to a second-place finish in the American League East and the fourth seed in the 2022 MLB playoffs. And they slugged their way to a seven-run lead in Game 2 of their wild-card series … before a Seattle Mariners team determined not to waste its first trip to the postseason since 2001 mounted a stunning comeback.
The Blue Jays couldn’t move on to the ALDS. Now it’s time for them to move on to 2023. Here’s a look at their notable free agents and trade candidates, plus three key questions for their offseason.
Notable free agents: SP Ross Stripling, RP Anthony Bass (option), RP David Phelps
While all three of these pitchers played important roles for the Jays in 2022, the relative sparseness of this list speaks to how much of the roster Toronto has locked down for another run in 2023. The back of the bullpen in front of Jordan Romano was an ongoing project for the Blue Jays, which makes it seem likely that they would pick up Bass’ reasonable $3 million club option. Either way, building bullpen depth either from within the organization or without will be a priority for a team so close to getting over the hump.
Trade candidates: OF Teoscar Hernandez, 2B Cavan Biggio, C Danny Jansen
Hernandez may be a reach as a trade candidate but as a key player with one season of arbitration eligibility remaining, he is by definition a trade candidate. Biggio might have plateaued in terms of production and it’s not a great plateau to be on. But he has decent secondary skills and some team might look at him as a change-of-scenery candidate. As for Jansen, catching is a position of scarcity across the majors, but not in Toronto, where the Jays have the terrific young duo of Gabriel Moreno and Alejandro Kirk in hand. Trading Jansen can help balance the roster.
Extension candidates: 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., SS Bo Bichette, SP Alek Manoah, Kirk, Romano
1. How will the Blue Jays fill out their rotation depth chart?
Toronto has an expensive foursome featured on the rotation depth chart in Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Hyun Jin Ryu and Yusei Kikuchi. None of them ranks as the Toronto ace, with that honor going to second-year righty Manoah. Kikuchi and Berrios struggled mightily in 2022, although the latter can be penciled into the 2023 rotation if only because of the duration of his contract. Ryu’s return from surgery is slated for the second half of next season. The Blue Jays need to push for a division title and the bye that comes with a top-two record, but can they afford to spend much on a rotation that already carries such a high price tag?
2. What is the best way to augment the hitting talent?
The Blue Jays finished fourth in the majors in runs this season and did so without having many hitters who necessarily performed at the upper end of their projection ranges. Scoring should not be a problem. Still, the Blue Jays could be a little more dynamic in terms of defense and baserunning. The obvious move would be to find a high-level defensive center fielder who does damage on the bases while moving George Springer to a corner. The free agent landscape doesn’t feature an obvious fit so getting creative on a trade might be the answer.
3. Is John Schneider the right manager?
The Blue Jays responded well to John Schneider after he replaced Charlie Montoyo in the dugout, going 46-28 after the change. But with a roster that only has so much room and need for any kind of significant overhaul, you wonder if the allure of a big-name manager might be too much for the Blue Jays to ignore. It would be fair to wonder if the biggest kick in the pants for the team going forward might be making such a move. And there are big names out there, like Joe Maddon and Bruce Bochy. It would still be a surprise to see the Blue Jays move on from Schneider given how the team played for him. Still, the team has not committed to him for 2023 and so the question must be asked.
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