Blue Jays’ Atkins: “Wouldn’t be surprised if we added a SP”

According to an interview and article with Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, Ross Atkins said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Blue Jays added a starting pitcher.

The offseason checklist has only just begin for Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro, despite the Blue Jays making one significant pick up by trading for Aledmys Diaz last week. The trade gives the Blue Jays an improvement in their middle infield depth, which was especially important after they decided not to tender a contract to long time veteran, Ryan Goins.

Which is likely why Atkins told reporters at the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers of America gathering on Wednesday, that the Blue Jays will still look to add to their keystone depth, especially because of the uncertain health forecast around both Troy Tulowitzki, and Devon Travis. Diaz is a solid pick up to be sure, but he struggled through much of 2017 as well, so having additional depth will likely be needed at some point. I even wrote about it here at the Jays Journal after the trade went down, so it’s music to my ears to hear that Atkins agrees.

The GM also identified other remaining areas of need, saying, “We know we need to complement our infield further, our outfield further, our pitching further”, which is a vague way of saying there’s quite a bit of work yet to be done. That outfielder he speaks of would replace the departed Jose Bautista, and allow the Blue Jays to avoid a scenario where they have to rely on Teoscar Hernandez, whether he’s ready for full time duty in the big leagues or not.

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To me though, the most interesting thing he said was about the starting rotation. Atkins said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if we added a starting pitcher”, which is both a seemingly obvious statement, and a telling one. Out of all the areas the Blue Jays need to address, the rotation seems to be the priority for the Blue Jays’ front office, especially now that they’ve shored up their middle infield position with at least one player by adding Diaz.

As things stand right now, the Blue Jays are set to return a top four of Marcus Stroman, J.A. Happ, Marco Estrada, and Aaron Sanchez, assuming the latter can stay healthy in 2018. He was limited to just eight starts and 36 innings last season, so his health is likely a big factor in the way that Blue Jays have to think about their offseason plans. If he’s healthy he’ll like resume his place as one of the most exciting young arms in the American League. If he’s not, the Blue Jays will be short-handed, and they’ll need to prepare for that scenario.

They do have arms like Joe Biagini and Ryan Borucki who could potentially fill out the rotation, but they’re definitely in a better position if those two can serve as depth rather than a top five option. Biagini could also theoretically return to the bullpen as well, so whether the Blue Jays choose to pursue a premium option in their rotation or not, they’ll need to add to their depth.

"“We know we need to complement our infield further, our outfield further, our pitching further”- Ross Atkins"

The offseason front has been pretty quiet overall, but as far as pitchers go the Blue Jays have been linked to Jake Arrieta, at least as far as kicking tires on the frontline starter. He’ll likely require a four or five year deal at 20 million or more though, so don’t be surprised if the Blue Jays check out other options like Lance Lynn, Alex Cobb, or others.

Either way, it’s good to hear that Atkins and Shapiro seem to be hard at work at building the 2018 roster, and the narrative is still about adding to the team rather than trading away stars like Josh Donaldson. Here’s hoping that whomever they add can help the team recapture the form that took them to the ALCS for two consecutive years in 2015-16.

Next: Winter meetings will bring a checklist item