<p>Rumours continue to fly around the MLB Hot Stove, and the Blue Jays seem to be in the thick of things for most of the biggest names.</p>
<p>In some cases, it makes all the sense in the world. For example, who wouldn&#8217;t want a generational talent like Juan Soto? To make it an even more obvious fit, they have an opening in their outfield, they&#8217;ve long coveted an elite bat from the left side, and they&#8217;re one of the few teams that could offer enough money to realistically compete for the 4-time All-Star&#8217;s services for the next decade and a half.</p>
<p></p>
<p>That said, signing the best player from this year&#8217;s free agent class isn&#8217;t the only way the Blue Jays could improve this offseason, and dozens of reports would indicate that Ross Atkins and the front office team have been busy engaging with most of the high-end options. They&#8217;ve been <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/news-and-notes-blue-jays-badly-covet-anthony-santander-according-to-bob-nightengale">linked to at least having an interest in names like switch-hitting outfielder Anthony Santander</a>, an elite <a href="https://www.tsn.ca/mlb/buster-olney-toronto-blue-jays-among-teams-making-a-move-on-star-3b-alex-bregman-this-offseason-1.2189307">third baseman in Alex Bregman</a>, <a href="https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/12/blue-jays-recently-met-with-corbin-burnes.html">top arms on the market in Corbin Burnes and Max Fried</a>, and many more.</p>
<h2>Blue Jays and the free-agent pursuit</h2>
<p>The last two names jumped out as a bit of a surprise when I saw those reports, but that was before I had a chance to look at the situation. As things stand the Blue Jays are staring at a 2025 rotation featuring veterans Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, and Chris Bassitt, and then bigger question marks like Bowden Francis and Yariel Rodríguez. While I don&#8217;t mind that group on paper, I&#8217;ll quickly admit that at the very least they could use some more depth. But someone like Burnes or Fried? That felt like a luxury that the Jays likely wouldn&#8217;t have the payroll space for, especially as they look to upgrade the lineup and the bullpen.</p>
<p>Looking at the rotation more closely, it starts to make more sense why Atkins and the front office would consider a longer-term option for the top of their rotation.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly had an in-person meeting with free agent Corbin Burnes, per <a href="https://twitter.com/jonmorosi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jonmorosi</a>. <a href="https://t.co/X946T05TTN">pic.twitter.com/X946T05TTN</a></p>
<p>&mdash; MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/1864680896822919570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>For starters, Bassitt will be a free agent at the end of this coming season, and Gausman&#8217;s contract expires a year later. That also frees up some future payroll, as <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/player/_/id/14068/chris-bassitt#:~:text=2023%2D2025%20free%2Dagent%2D,a%20total%20salary%20of%20%2422%2C000%2C000.">Bassitt will earn $22 million in 2025</a>, and <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/player/_/id/13974/kevin-gausman#:~:text=2022%2D2026%20free%2Dagent%2D,a%20total%20salary%20of%20%2423%2C000%2C000.">Gausman is just ahead at $23 million</a>. Being able to free up that $45 million in a couple of years could give them plenty of options for improving their group of starters, potentially even with an elite option.</p>
<p>That alone would be enough to make sense of the Blue Jays&#8217; pursuit of a high-starter this winter, but then I was reminded that Berríos&#8217; contract throws an interesting wrinkle into their long-term planning. Admittedly, I had forgotten about it, but <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/player/_/id/18945/jos%C3%A9-berr%C3%ADos">Berrios will have the ability to opt out of his contract after the 2026 season</a>, which means there&#8217;s a world the Jays could lose each of their top three starters over the next two years.</p>
<h2>Berríos and his player option</h2>
<p>Will Berrios opt out after the 2026 season? We won&#8217;t know the answer to that question for some time, so there&#8217;s no sense in losing sleep over it. However, if you&#8217;re Ross Atkins, you have at least a couple of reasons to be thinking ahead. This is a club that wants to win in 2025, so adding a talent like Fried or Burnes would obviously improve their chances. Secondly, it would be a proactive way to make sure the rotation has a veteran anchor in the future, something that&#8217;s proven to be more and more important in MLB as time has gone on.</p>
<p>Thirdly, and what I believe may be the most important factor, is that a move like that could help to make sure some of their current stars want to stick around in the future.</p>
<p>If things go poorly for the Jays over the next year, they could be in the midst of a rebuild two years from now, and someone like Berríos might want to play for a contender as he enters his late prime years. Salary will matter of course, with Berríos slated to make just over $18.7 million in each of the next two seasons. If he were to opt in after the 2026 campaign, his salary will jump to around $24.7 million in 2027-28. Depending on how he performs over the next two seasons, that might be reason enough for him to stay. But I also genuinely believe that winning still matters to these guys too, and that&#8217;s even more the case once they enter their 30&#8217;s.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jose Berrios on extending Vladdy:</p>
<p>&quot;When we sign Vladdy, we can sign whoever they want… But I think the priority should be Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and then if we add Juan Soto, it would be a perfect world.&quot;</p>
<p>See like a pretty good idea to me 🤷‍♂️</p>
<p>Quote via: El Vocero&#39;s Jarniel… <a href="https://t.co/xe5pj9JJCg">pic.twitter.com/xe5pj9JJCg</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Blue Jays Today (@TodayJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/TodayJays/status/1859600313524580581?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>It&#8217;s not just Berríos that they&#8217;ll want to convince to stick around. Somewhat lost in all of the hoopla of the Juan Soto chase is the fact that we&#8217;ve heard almost nothing about extension talks with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the current face of the franchise who is set to hit the free agent market at the end of the 2025 campaign. The same goes for Bo Bichette, who despite having a rough 2024 season, is still the kind of building block that 29 other teams would love to have. If you want guys like that to sign up for the long-term then you&#8217;ve gotta show them that there&#8217;s a plan to win now and in the future.</p>
<p>So while I expect the Blue Jays may have higher priorities on their offseason checklist, it makes all the sense in the world that they&#8217;re having serious discussions about some of the best starters on the market, especially when you look through a long-term lens. With so many moving parts to this offseason there&#8217;s not much that would surprise me at this point, and the more I think about their potential pursuit of guys like Burnes and Fried, the more it makes sense.</p>

Rumours continue to fly around the MLB Hot Stove, and the Blue Jays seem to be in the thick of things for most of the biggest names.

In some cases, it makes all the sense in the world. For example, who wouldn't want a generational talent like Juan Soto? To make it an even more obvious fit, they have an opening in their outfield, they've long coveted an elite bat from the left side, and they're one of the few teams that could offer enough money to realistically compete for the 4-time All-Star's services for the next decade and a half.



That said, signing the best player from this year's free agent class isn't the only way the Blue Jays could improve this offseason, and dozens of reports would indicate that Ross Atkins and the front office team have been busy engaging with most of the high-end options. They've been <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/news-and-notes-blue-jays-badly-covet-anthony-santander-according-to-bob-nightengale">linked to at least having an interest in names like switch-hitting outfielder Anthony Santander</a>, an elite <a href="https://www.tsn.ca/mlb/buster-olney-toronto-blue-jays-among-teams-making-a-move-on-star-3b-alex-bregman-this-offseason-1.2189307">third baseman in Alex Bregman</a>, <a href="https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/12/blue-jays-recently-met-with-corbin-burnes.html">top arms on the market in Corbin Burnes and Max Fried</a>, and many more.
<h2>Blue Jays and the free-agent pursuit</h2>
The last two names jumped out as a bit of a surprise when I saw those reports, but that was before I had a chance to look at the situation. As things stand the Blue Jays are staring at a 2025 rotation featuring veterans Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, and Chris Bassitt, and then bigger question marks like Bowden Francis and Yariel Rodríguez. While I don't mind that group on paper, I'll quickly admit that at the very least they could use some more depth. But someone like Burnes or Fried? That felt like a luxury that the Jays likely wouldn't have the payroll space for, especially as they look to upgrade the lineup and the bullpen.

Looking at the rotation more closely, it starts to make more sense why Atkins and the front office would consider a longer-term option for the top of their rotation.

https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/1864680896822919570

For starters, Bassitt will be a free agent at the end of this coming season, and Gausman's contract expires a year later. That also frees up some future payroll, as <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/player/_/id/14068/chris-bassitt#:~:text=2023%2D2025%20free%2Dagent%2D,a%20total%20salary%20of%20%2422%2C000%2C000.">Bassitt will earn $22 million in 2025</a>, and <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/player/_/id/13974/kevin-gausman#:~:text=2022%2D2026%20free%2Dagent%2D,a%20total%20salary%20of%20%2423%2C000%2C000.">Gausman is just ahead at $23 million</a>. Being able to free up that $45 million in a couple of years could give them plenty of options for improving their group of starters, potentially even with an elite option.

That alone would be enough to make sense of the Blue Jays' pursuit of a high-starter this winter, but then I was reminded that Berríos' contract throws an interesting wrinkle into their long-term planning. Admittedly, I had forgotten about it, but <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/player/_/id/18945/jos%C3%A9-berr%C3%ADos">Berrios will have the ability to opt out of his contract after the 2026 season</a>, which means there's a world the Jays could lose each of their top three starters over the next two years.
<h2>Berríos and his player option</h2>
Will Berrios opt out after the 2026 season? We won't know the answer to that question for some time, so there's no sense in losing sleep over it. However, if you're Ross Atkins, you have at least a couple of reasons to be thinking ahead. This is a club that wants to win in 2025, so adding a talent like Fried or Burnes would obviously improve their chances. Secondly, it would be a proactive way to make sure the rotation has a veteran anchor in the future, something that's proven to be more and more important in MLB as time has gone on.

Thirdly, and what I believe may be the most important factor, is that a move like that could help to make sure some of their current stars want to stick around in the future.

If things go poorly for the Jays over the next year, they could be in the midst of a rebuild two years from now, and someone like Berríos might want to play for a contender as he enters his late prime years. Salary will matter of course, with Berríos slated to make just over $18.7 million in each of the next two seasons. If he were to opt in after the 2026 campaign, his salary will jump to around $24.7 million in 2027-28. Depending on how he performs over the next two seasons, that might be reason enough for him to stay. But I also genuinely believe that winning still matters to these guys too, and that's even more the case once they enter their 30's.

https://twitter.com/TodayJays/status/1859600313524580581

It's not just Berríos that they'll want to convince to stick around. Somewhat lost in all of the hoopla of the Juan Soto chase is the fact that we've heard almost nothing about extension talks with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the current face of the franchise who is set to hit the free agent market at the end of the 2025 campaign. The same goes for Bo Bichette, who despite having a rough 2024 season, is still the kind of building block that 29 other teams would love to have. If you want guys like that to sign up for the long-term then you've gotta show them that there's a plan to win now and in the future.

So while I expect the Blue Jays may have higher priorities on their offseason checklist, it makes all the sense in the world that they're having serious discussions about some of the best starters on the market, especially when you look through a long-term lens. With so many moving parts to this offseason there's not much that would surprise me at this point, and the more I think about their potential pursuit of guys like Burnes and Fried, the more it makes sense.

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