As baseball executives and reporters prepare to travel to Dallas, Texas, for next week’s Winter Meetings, the Toronto Blue Jays expect to be a team worth monitoring, with seemingly many irons on the fire as they attempt significant roster improvements after only winning 74 games last season.

That, of course, begins with the Juan Soto sweepstakes. While it appears the Blue Jays remain in the hunt for the generational superstar, who, according to multiple reports, could announce his decision in the coming days, they also have other areas to address on their roster this winter — the bullpen, for example.

We’ve already seen Toronto cut loose Génesis Cabrera, longtime closer Jordan Romano and Dillon Tate, further weakening the franchise’s projected 2025 bullpen that’s currently headlined by the likes of Chad Green and Erik Swanson — both of whom are free agents after next season. There’s a ton of work to be done. Because of that, the front office has cast a wide net of potential options.

Historically, the Blue Jays have avoided spending in the upper tiers of free agency for impact relievers, and chances are they’ll likely continue that trend this off-season. However, multiple sources close to the situation suggest that could change depending on the market.

Alternatively, the trade market could be where management makes the biggest splash involving the ‘pen. They’ve already made several calls across the sport, albeit mostly from an information-gathering standpoint, regarding a few high-end relievers — most notably St. Louis’ Ryan Helsley and Milwaukee’s Devin Williams.

Helsley (projected $6.9 million arbitration salary per MLB Trade Rumors) and Williams (projected $7.7 million) are both entering their final seasons of club control and would be massive upgrades for a Blue Jays bullpen that ranked 30th in fWAR (-2.5) in 2024. But neither would likely come cheap, as both the Cardinals and Brewers have attached lucrative acquisition costs to both hurlers.

Further to that point, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported earlier this week that St. Louis has given interested suitors the impression it intends to hold onto Helsley into next season. Milwaukee, meanwhile, seems more willing to move Williams and could look to capitalize on his trade value if his NL Central counterpart stays put.

Williams, a two-time Trevor Hoffman Award winner as the NL’s Reliever of the Year, missed most of 2024 due to injury but remains one of baseball’s most dominating closers. Helsley, the NL’s reigning Reliever of the Year winner, has established himself as a shutdown high-leverage reliever over the last few seasons, culminating in a standout ’24 performance that saw him lead the majors in saves (49).

Another name the Blue Jays have checked in on is San Francisco’s Camilo Doval, the club’s former closer, who’s owed a projected $4.6 million via arbitration and has three more seasons of team control. There’s no urgency for the Giants to move him, as one source described, but they could attempt to save some money with Ryan Walker now their full-time closer.

The 27-year-old is coming off a rough showing, struggling to a 4.88 ERA, nearly doubling his ’23 ERA (2.93), while spending part of his campaign at triple-A. Still, after producing a 21.7-per-cent strikeout-to-walk rate difference the previous season, the hard-throwing righty — whose arsenal includes an upper-90s cutter and a wiffleball slider — remains a potential high-upside acquisition.

That list of high-leverage relievers the Blue Jays have expressed interest in also likely extends beyond Helsley, Williams and Doval. And those trade discussions are expected to continue at next week’s Winter Meetings, as the front office aims to gather additional information.

With an influx of young, controllable infielders — such as Addison Barger, Will Wagner, Spencer Horwitz, Leo Jiménez and Davis Schneider — and outfielders like Joey Loperfido and Jonatan Clase close to MLB-ready, leveraging that group for a few bullpen upgrades appears to be the clearest path forward for this organization, given the exorbitant free-agent prices.