Roster flexibility is often the name of the game, and players with minor-league options provide teams with just that.

The Toronto Blue Jays will begin spring training this month with a small group of out-of-option players — as will the sport’s 29 other clubs. That means those players can’t be assigned to the minors before first being designated for assignment (removing them from the 40-man roster) and clearing outright waivers.

Any player entering their final option year also holds significance, too. They don’t typically face as much risk of becoming a DFA candidate as those without options, especially during the spring. However, they can certainly improve their standing within the organization by turning in a noteworthy performance, both during exhibition play and throughout the ensuing season.

As a refresher, here are the rules involving minor-league options: each player starts with three option years (one per season). Players can be optioned to the minors a maximum of five times each season. To be optioned a sixth time, a player must first be placed on outright waivers. An option year is burned once a player spends at least 20 days in the minors.

This year, the Blue Jays will only have a few around-the-edges players who’ll enter spring training without any options remaining. So they likely won’t have many, if any, tough decisions to make in that regard. As a guide, here are the players who’ll enter camp with either zero or one option left.

Heineman is a pretty safe bet to break camp with the Blue Jays this spring, following his career year as baseball’s best backup catcher, serving as a two-win backstop behind Alejandro Kirk — who also enjoyed the top all-around performance of his career in 2025.

Nance impressed in his limited opportunities with the big-league club last season, pitching to a 1.99 ERA and 1.87 FIP with a 19.8 per cent strikeout-minus-walk rate (all career bests) over 31.2 innings, but will likely have to compete for a bullpen spot this spring. Jiménez will be relying on an injury or underperformance at the major-league level to avoid hitting waivers.

Barger opened last season at triple-A Buffalo before emerging as a breakout star for Toronto. After an off-season that featured a failed pursuit of marquee free agent Kyle Tucker, the 26-year-old slugger won’t be returning this time around. Still, the franchise is counting on him to take that next step and prove he can become an everyday player this season.

Lukes’ breakout performance from last year should be enough to keep him in the majors, even as a reserve outfielder alongside teammate Myles Straw. But that final option could prove useful if the left-handed-hitting outfielder’s bat regresses more than expected, and the club turns to either Loperfido or Clase for an offensive spark.

The emergence of Mason Fluharty (who has two options remaining) has put pressure on Little to overcome his roller-coaster, stuff-over-command experience from last season. He proved that he’s more than an elite ground-ball pitcher in ’25, though he’ll need to show improved command — both in and outside the strike zone — to remain Toronto’s primary lefty reliever.

The Blue Jays’ surplus of MLB-calibre starters guarantees that Francis, Macko and Bloss (when he returns) will open this season as triple-A rotation depth. Since all three will likely be out of options next year, the 2026 campaign will act as a platform for that trio — as well as Loperfido and Clase — to help determine their statuses ahead of next spring’s pivotal showcase.