As frustrating as this season was for the Toronto Blue Jays, their off-season has several topics that will draw an immense amount of attention. All of those topics are geared to reflect a competitive team, something Ross Atkins has said he intends to build. The needs are clear, but overall, this winter needs to be focused on improvement, being competitive, and acquiring talent.

No pun intended, this may be the million-dollar question. When the Blue Jays fell out of playoff contention, the focus shifted to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and his electric second half of baseball. Because of that, conversations heightened about making him a Blue Jay long-term.

Guerrero Jr. arguably had close to (if not the best) season of his career, slashing .323/.396/.544 with 30 home runs, 103 RBIs, and 44 doubles. He finished only one hit away from 200 on the season and ranked second in the American League in hits and batting average. While some have argued that he had his best at-bats with pressure being at its lowest, he also posted those numbers with little protection around him in the batting order, and with free agency looming, he certainly didn’t let that pressure get to him.

In Bichette’s case, it’s important not to let recency bias get the best of what he’s done since coming into the big leagues. Bichette led the MLB in hits in 2021 and 2022, and he was well on his way to doing it last season before multiple injuries sidelined him for a few weeks. He represented a model of consistency for a few seasons, but 2024 has become the outlier. In 81 games, Bichette slashed .225/.277/.322 with four homers and 31 RBIs, all career-worsts by a wide margin. Injuries to his calf and right middle finger sidelined Bichette for half a season, so the Blue Jays are hoping that an off-season dedicated to getting healthy and putting ’24 behind him can reel Bichette back to who they know him to be.

They’ve talked about long-term deals in different ways, but both Guerrero Jr. and Bichette have expressed their desire to remain in Toronto for the long haul. It’s easy to see how much Guerrero Jr. loves Toronto. The postgame Gatorade baths and smiles you could pick out of a crowd and his dominance at the plate have given him an identity within the organization. Bichette, normally more reserved in nature (at least to the viewer’s eye), has given multiple impressions to the media about how his future may shake out. However, he silenced a lot of “Trade Bo” truthers when he told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi a few weeks ago that his “ultimate goal” is to play with Guerrero Jr. forever and win a championship with the Blue Jays.

The quotes have been aplenty, but clearly, no deal has been made yet for either of these two players. At 25 and 26 years old, their youth may leave their best years ahead of them. Locking them up long-term would be an attractive trait to potential free agents; signing one or both of them would prove that there’s a commitment to winning and a foundation ready to be built upon. Both guys objectively and subjectively do things that set them apart from other players in the league. If you’ve got them in the organization already and you can work something out, why not keep them?

A youthful lineup during the second half of this season has been refreshing for Blue Jays fans, but they’re in the AL East and will need to build a lineup that can compete with teams of that calibre.

I mentioned lineup protection with Guerrero Jr. and adding a healthy Bichette along with other run producers can give this lineup some 2021 flavour. Some guys have some serious pop in this free agent class, whether it’s a generational talent in Juan Soto, a home run specialist in Pete Alonso, or a veteran with championship experience in Alex Bregman, Toronto’s offensive needs can be met with this group. Other names to consider are Christian Walker, Anthony Santander, Willy Adames, Teoscar Hernández, and Tyler O’Neill.

Nowadays, prices have never been higher, so that may limit how much Toronto can afford when it comes to how many bats they want to add. There are also other areas (the bullpen) that the Blue Jays will need to supplement, so unless ownership is okay with going all in, the Blue Jays may have to get creative to an extent, or they explore trading for a bat like Brent Rooker.

Ultimately, at least one of the above names needs to be a part of the batting order next year. Not only is the AL East a gauntlet of its own, but the American League as a whole has taken a massive step forward. The AL Central had four playoff contenders this year, and the AL West still poses its own threats with the Rangers, Astros, and Mariners.

Enhancing Toronto’s lineup isn’t a preference. It’s a need.

The depth of Toronto’s farm system has been a rollercoaster ride since the current core has made its way to the big leagues. The wide variety of pitchers they once had have come and gone (anyone remember Ross Atkins’s “42 years of control” quote from 2019?), and the farm isn’t boasting as many impact bats as it once did, although Arjun Nimmala is turning some heads.

Entering 2024, Toronto’s farm system ranked in the bottom third of baseball, but they did a nice job replenishing some talent at the trade deadline. The Yusei Kikuchi trade seems to have benefitted both sides, but it’s hard to undermine the importance of the Blue Jays having three young and controllable players in Jake Bloss, Joey Loperfido, and Will Wagner. Toronto turned Isiah Kiner-Falefa into Charles McAdoo, and they loaded up on position players in most of their deals.

Even a homegrown player like Spencer Horwitz has built his value, and with a lot of young guys fighting for playing time, the Blue Jays are bound to make a trade in the off-season. However, they need to find the right medium between not depleting the farm system again and getting a piece(s) back that can positively impact the major league club.

As for who it will be, the team can go in several different directions. It’ll come down to balancing who can help the big league club win and who complements the team with positional flexibility with who has legitimate trade value.

Here’s where the idea of trading can come in handy. The Blue Jays need impactful bullpen arms really badly. Relievers combined for 27 losses this season, and Toronto had the only bullpen in baseball with a negative WAR.

On one hand, no one could have predicted how some of 2023’s best bullpen arms would have turned out in 2024. Tim Mayza was DFA’d, Jordan Romano appeared in only 15 games, and Erik Swanson had his fair share of struggles. On the other hand, the Blue Jays didn’t have many answers to these struggles. Towards the end of the season, they dabbled in several waiver claims to try and make something work and potentially find a diamond in the rough, but there is still legwork to be done in the off-season.

All of Chad Green, Génesis Cabrera, Jordan Romano, and Erik Swanson are likely safe for next season, with Brendon Little pushing to be in that conversation. Dillon Tate’s experience in the AL East and his success (albeit a small sample size) may also be appealing to the club, and bringing back Ryan Yarbrough to a cheap deal wouldn’t be a bad thing to explore either. With all of that being said, there is still room for 3-4 new relievers who they can count on in the later innings. This is where 2023, as disastrous as that season ended, really proved to be underrated; that bullpen was elite.

Whether by trade or by purchase, the Blue Jays should be active here. The shopping list gets longer.

It won’t sound alarms, but it’s definitely something.

Varsho’s slash line of .214/.293/.407 still needs some work, and he may be better suited if he’s in the bottom half of the batting order. But between his power, base running, and elite outfield defence, the Blue Jays are a better team when he’s on it. Unfortunately, Varsho’s 2024 was cut short due to a lingering shoulder issue, and with the season nearly out of reach, he underwent shoulder surgery last week.

A timeline hasn’t officially been tagged on Varsho, but there is a risk that he could miss some of Spring Training, as well as the beginning of the regular season. Hence, someone will need to fill the void in centre field. The answer may be within the organization right now, as George Springer (unlikely), Jonatan Clase, Loperfido, and Nathan Lukes all have centre-field experience. Lukes may have the upper hand after ending the season with 23 hits in 21 games, but the Blue Jays may want to give Loperfido as many chances as possible, given his prospect status.

Regardless of who it is, Varsho’s absence will be something to monitor throughout the off-season. Blue Jays fans have been spoiled with his outfield defence, and there have been some plays during the last two weeks of the season that haven’t been made that Varsho normally would make. The team hopes he recovers soon enough to miss as little time as possible and/or play without the shoulder, limiting his impact on the field.

There aren’t many areas of the Blue Jays that other teams envy, but the stability of their starting rotation is one of them.

Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt, and Kevin Gausman obviously account for three of the spots, with all three posting their second consecutive season making 30+ starts. Bowden Francis aced his audition during the second half of the season, pitching to a 1.80 ERA and a 58:8 K:BB ratio in his final 11 outings. That string of appearances includes two no-hit bids that were taken into the 9th inning and four starts in which he gave up only one hit in at least seven innings of work. Barring anything unforeseen, that’s Toronto’s #4 starter next season.

Yariel Rodríguez figures to have an early leg up on the final rotation spot now that he has 21 MLB starts under his belt, but that isn’t set in stone yet. Jake Bloss, arguably Toronto’s most decorated trade deadline acquisition, ended his season in Buffalo, but he has a future as a major league starter to some degree. Bloss had tremendous success across three minor league levels in Houston’s organization this season, but he had a rough end to the season in Buffalo. Having some stability and not being traded/expedited through the minors should benefit Bloss to start 2025, and he’ll be at the front of the line if a rotation spot opens up.

When it comes to pitching, no depth is too much depth, so it wouldn’t be shocking at all to see Toronto sign another starting pitcher. Perhaps they should bring back Yusei Kikuchi, a veteran for the back of the rotation like Kyle Gibson, or maybe they should look towards the more expensive echelon with Luis Severino or Sean Manaea. Especially factoring in that their veterans aren’t getting any younger, bringing in more starting pitching seems like more of a reality.

Springer has had some great moments in his career at the top of the order. Hell, he’s chasing history in the leadoff home run department. But, if there’s an opportunity to improve on a .220/.303/.371 slash line for the guy getting the most at-bats in a game, then the Blue Jays should go for it.

Springer had a 22-game stretch this season in which he possessed a 1.230 OPS and nine home runs (almost half of his season total), but outside of that, he struggled immensely at the plate and failed to find much of a rhythm. He had no issue admitting this, opening up on multiple occasions to the media about how much he has held himself accountable.

Forget what Springer looks like on the payroll breakdown. As I mentioned earlier, this off-season needs to be about improvement, being competitive, and acquiring talent.