Blue Jays: Imagining what the 2020 lineup looks like

Rotation

1. Marcus Stroman
2. Aaron Sanchez
3. Nate Pearson
4. Joe Biagini
5. Connor Greene

By 2020, Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez will be a year away from free agency, but should be in the prime of their careers as well. With the dynamic duo at the top of the rotation in Toronto, they’ll be nicely set up, assuming they still have both on the roster. I think Joe Biagini showed enough to be a viable starter as his career continues, and I’m excited about what Nate Pearson brings to the table, who was selected in the first round of last month’s draft.

It was a toss up to me between Conner Greene and Sean-Reid Foley who to slot in fifth, and they could use that spot for a veteran piece as well. It’s a right-handed heavy rotation, but talent is talent, and this one should be a good one if everything plays out the way I see it.

Bullpen

1. Roberto Osuna
2. Danny Barnes
3. Ryan Tepera
4. Sean Reid-Foley
5. Angel Perdomo
6. Random veteran- Joakim Soria
7. Random veteran- Matt Moore

Trying to predict the bullpen picture three years from now is virtually impossible, but I do hope the Jays still have Osuna finishing games for them. The trio of Stroman-Sanchez-Osuna is dynamic in 2017 (when healthy of course), and should be even better in 2020. And speaking of trios, Tepera and Barnes will still be under contract in 2020. They could get more expensive as they go through arbitration, though there should be plenty of payroll space available.

Sean Reid-Foley could be a rotation guy, but I put him and Angel Perdomo in the bullpen to get them on the 25 man roster. Perdomo offers a left-handed reliever as well, and I think he’s got enough talent to get to the big leagues, but we’ll see if he sticks as a starter.

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/883385913967038464

As is the case most years, the Blue Jays will be bargain shopping for some bullpen help, so I picked a couple veterans who are projected to be free agents in 2020. I went with Joakim Soria and Matt Moore, the latter of which becomes a reasonably effective loogy by then in my “story”, after several failed attempts to stick as a starter. Remember, predicting a bullpen is a crapshoot at the best of times.