Instead of outdoing what the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays have accomplished, the 2026 Blue Jays have largely disappointed by placing last in the AL East.

There are many factors — including injury luck — that didn’t go in their favour this season, but that doesn’t change the concerns around the general lack of depth in Toronto.

While the Blue Jays’ front office addressed some of the gaps at the trade deadline, here are three areas the team has to improve on this offseason.

Even with their improved play since the deadline, the Blue Jays rank third-last in OPS (.686) out of all 30 teams in Major League Baseball, according to MLB.com. It’s a stark contrast from how the team performed last season. That team ranked at least top 10 in most offensive categories, including OPS.

The Blue Jays’ offence isn’t getting on base much nor are they hitting with enough power throughout the lineup. Their sources of power in the past were stars like Bo Bichette, George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho. But Bichette is now with the New York Mets and Varsho is with the Houston Astros, Guerrero Jr. and George Springer haven’t been the same, compared to their offensive production in 2025.

Outfielders Jesús Sánchez and Anthony Santander were supposed to inject more power, but Sánchez has hit just eight home runs and Santander has remained mostly on the injured list since the beginning of his Blue Jays’ tenure. Third baseman Kazuma Okamoto has been the most dependable power hitters, but even he can strike out too often at times.

Outside of starting pitch depth this year, the 2026 Blue Jays proved that teams can’t go far without power to contend for a playoff spot. The conundrum for the Blue Jays is they have to hope for internal improvement because the free-agent hitter market this offseason is set to be rather unimpressive.

They could consider trading for a hitter, but that would cost them the prospect capital they may not necessarily have. Whichever way the Jays attempt to address this, they won’t be able to disregard this lingering issue if their goal is getting back to where they were in 2025.

The state of the Blue Jays’ outfield, from an offensive-production point of view, is quite bleak. Currently the player with the highest WAR in the outfield is Nathan Lukes with a 1.4 fWAR. Others rank lower and some, like Yohendrick Piñango and Davis Schneider, are in the negatives.

While WAR accounts for offensive and defensive productions, the Blue Jays outfielders still don’t quite pass the eye test in how much they contribute to scoring on the whole. For comparison, some of the outfielders with the highest WAR in the 2025 Blue Jays were Myles Straw (2.8), Varsho (2.7) and Lukes (1.9).

Again, Santander being out has impacted outfield production, while Sánchez has been streaky throughout the year. The Blue Jays’ experiment with both players has proved to be a failure this season. There is still a chance for redemption should the two outfielders outperform their expectations and stay healthy next year, but the likelihood of this ranks low.

There are depth and reinforcements — think Jay Harry and RJ Schreck — in the Blue Jays’ system on the outfield, but whether they will consistently succeed in the big leagues is a gamble. Brett Bateman has performed well of recent, but he has always graded out as a slap and contact hitter rather than a power hitter.

Springer, who already has a limited number of innings in the outfielder this season, will most likely leave in free agency this winter. The Blue Jays could count on hitters like Guerrero Jr., Okamoto, Sánchez and Santander to bounce back in 2027 and fill the hole Springer is leaving in the lineup. Even still, that doesn’t exempt them from still acquiring an everyday outfielder who can offer more power.

With Shane Bieber and Max Scherzer set to become free agents following 2026, the Blue Jays’ front office brought in José Soriano and Spencer Arrighetti via trades to set up the starting rotation for 2027.

Unlike the rotation, the future of the Blue Jays’ bullpen is up in the air. The Jays traded away Jeff Hoffman at the deadline and Yimi García’s tenure with the team may be over with his nagging injury history. The current iteration of the bullpen consists of Braydon Fisher, Mason Fluharty, Brendon Little, Spencer Miles, Tyler Rogers, Paul Sewald, Simeon Woods-Richardson and Louis Varland.

These core relievers may be able to retain the roles if they are able to perform to their expectations again next year. However, relievers are volatile; their performance can change in a dime, given the inherent uncertainty that comes with the role.

There are no guarantees that these relievers will be able to replicate their performances next year and beyond. It also doesn’t help that the Jays’ bullpen has been taxed throughout the 2026 season. As an example, the Blue Jays’ relief pitchers threw nearly 40 innings between August 3 and 9. This pattern wouldn’t be sustainable in the long term, indicating that the Blue Jays could use more arms to support the existing pitching staff.

The 2026 Blue Jays learned the hard way that they didn’t have enough pitching, even after adding more free-agent pitchers last winter. If they want to get ahead to draw out their 2027 roster, adding one or two relievers this winter is a must.