It seems like the running gag for the Blue Jays over the past few years has been the club’s ability to cast a wide net in the free-agent market but come up empty-handed more often than not.

Toronto isn’t the only club that sits in this group by any means but ask any Jays fan and they will likely tell you that the thing they hate seeing the most during the offseason are articles like ‘The Jays kicked the tires on’ or ‘ Toronto appears interested’ in a wide range of free agents without any of the players signing with the organization.

Last winter, the club was tied to numerous players such as Shohei Ohtani, Cody Bellinger, Jorge Soler, Jeimer Candelario, Matt Chapman, Kyle Gibson, and a host of other names who mostly signed elsewhere.

The sting of missing out on Ohtani and the whole plane debacle alone added another level to the hurt that fans feel in the offseason given his stardom and ability to change the entire complexity of any organization he joins. The Jays instead pivoted to a host of veteran bats, utility player Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and pitcher Yariel Rodríguez to help work alongside the core already in place and that resulted in a fifth-place finish in the division and a trade-off of assets at the deadline.

With general manager Ross Atkins at the helm for another offseason run, fans will likely need to prepare for the same mentality this winter when it comes to the free agent rumour mill. The Jays enter this offseason with a lot more uncertainty than the years before, mostly because there are a limited number of players locked down for the long term but the notion to win in 2025 remains on the table. This screams like a ‘push all the chips in and go for it’ perspective, especially since Atkins is likely on the hot seat (and some are even wondering how he made it this far) and the club appears to be able to spend again similar to last year – and with good reason.

Heading into the new year, the Jays need to find some outside help if they want to find a way to the top of the division. The bullpen is an absolute mess and needs some support in a major way, with at least a few arms needed (at a minimum) to support the cause. Toronto desperately needs to lock down some power on the open market, especially considering extra-base hits and home runs were the game plan for teams that found success in the postseason this year (and years prior). The rotation doesn’t need much compared to the other areas of the roster but the Jays are exploring that early as well. One could nitpick certain areas that need a bit more support than others (another outfielder or a full-time third baseman for example) but the team needs to add at least two bats this winter at a minimum and find a way to pump up those home run totals while improving the bullpen if they want to find any hope of success in 2025.

Luckily for the Jays front office, the 2024/2025 free agent class is strong this go around, with Juan Soto leading the charge.

With the outfielder poised to cash in this winter, should the Jays want to find some power further down the list, they can find suitable options based on how much they are willing to spend while keeping in mind positional fit, injury risk, and other factors that impact free agency decisions behind closed doors.

Players that fit this mould include Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, Teoscar Hernández, and Anthony Santander towards the top of the rankings/salary commitment podium (position player-wise). Others like Tyler O’Neill, Joc Pederson, and Michael Conforto can fit in with the Jays’ game plan without too much financial commitment (in comparison) but come with more asterisks compared to someone like Bregman or Alonso (and understandably so).

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Throw in a boatload of relievers ranging from top-of-the-range arms like Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, and Clay Holmes down to experienced pitchers in A.J. Minter, Kirby Yates, Andrew Kittredge, and Tommy Kahnle and the organization can find a way to craft out a serviceable bullpen. Again, all the names listed have their respective pros and cons and that comes with the price tag at the end of the day.

The Jays have to also consider keeping some funds in mind for locking down players like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Bo Bichette past the 2025 campaign if that fits into the game plan. However, don’t let the extension conversations sway the spending narrative. There are still funds to play with this offseason regardless of the extension conversations since Bichette’s money is guaranteed this year and Guerrero’s arbitration projection values are already taken into consideration when looking into the overall salary picture. The Blue Jays could spend this offseason if they wanted to.

The fine folks at MLB Trade Rumours did a top 50 free agents board with team predictions for each one and the Jays were linked to 11 of them and numerous others as dark horse options. This coincides with the notion that the Blue Jays need to be active this winter, which is a tough sell to the fanbase after a rough 2023/2024 offseason but Atkins and co. at least have some positive history behind them with the signings of Hyun Jin Ryu, George Springer, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Marcus Semien, and countless others since 2020.

You can knock on the duo as much as you want but one strength of theirs has been their ability to bring quality free agents North of the border at a high rate compared to other previous general managers. Their problem has been translating those additions with the core group into postseason wins, which is the only thing that matters at the end of the day and something that needs to be bucked sooner rather than later.

With so many needs, Blue Jays fans must be prepared for another winter of articles titled ‘The Jays kicked the tires on’ and ‘Toronto connected to (insert player)’ as the club looks to turn the page on a disastrous 2024 season.

The bigger question remains on whether those articles will translate into ‘the Jays signed’ so and so and the team fills in the holes that are going to saddle them in the bottom of the division next year if they stand pat this go around.

Until that happens, Toronto fans will have to endure the hot stove rumours, the social ‘influencers’ and their ‘insight, and the numerous journalists fighting to be the first to report on ‘Arson Judge‘.