Blue Jays: Will the front office’s patience pay off?

After an offseason in 2016 that saw the front office strike quickly, they’re taking the opposite approach this year. Will it pay off for the Blue jays?

At the beginning of the MLB offseason, most of us were fixated on how quickly the Blue Jays moved last offseason, and how that impatience ended up with Edwin Encarnacion signing in Cleveland for less than the Blue Jays had reportedly offered him. Sometimes things like that happen in free agency, but it was a lesson learned for Encarnacion, his agent, and probably the Blue Jays’ front office. By the time Encarnacion’s market had developed, the Blue Jays had moved on and it was too late.

Which is why this offseason’s approach makes sense from the Blue Jays’ front office, who have taken on a snail’s pace thus far. The only notable moves were the non-tenders they were forced into deciding upon (cutting loose Ryan Goins and Tom Koehler), and making a smaller trade with the Cardinals to bring in Aledmys Diaz, which sent back J.B. Woodman. That’s it.

In some ways things have been out of their control, as many teams were waiting on resolutions from the Shohei Ohtani and Giancarlo Stanton situations, and we’re seeing this week that the hot stove is starting to pick up. The winter meetings this week brought plenty of rumours of interest for Blue Jays’ fans, but nothing concrete to dream on, just yet anyway. For a recap, check out out “Winter Meetings: Rumour Round Up”.

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There are a couple ways to look at this, and realistically we won’t know if they took the right approach until the offseason is nearly over. By waiting and being patient as they have this year, the Blue Jays should have a better idea of what the market is like, what their potential options may be, and whether or not they’re going to be able to achieve their offseason goals. On the latter point, if they don’t feel they can do that, perhaps they do consider trading Josh Donaldson after all, whose price continues to go up the longer desperate teams are in search of a solution. Waiting generally produces better deals, so there’s an argument to be made for taking that approach.

Some folks will be pleased that the Jays aren’t jumping to a decision before they know their options, as many believe was the case with Kendrys Morales last offseason. In hindsight, one has to wonder if Morales would have been able to secure a three year deal from any other team, but the added commitment was enough for the switch-hitter to sign with the Blue Jays early on. On one hand, they were able to cross off one of their checklist items early, but on the other they may have overpaid, and perhaps missed on other options that would have been more favourable than they thought at the start of the offseason (Encarnacion).

As the offseason drags on, players and their agents generally start lowering their demands, and that can lead to some late deals. Ross Atkins has talked about as much when it comes to the reliever market, and one can’t blame him for feeling that way with the available options, and some of the contracts that have been signed thus far.

However, when it comes to starting pitching, and the outfield market, there is another section of the fan base that is starting to get antsy about the lack of movement. As the options start to dwindle, the fear will set in that an upgrade may not come at all. For a fan base that’s hungry to get back to the playoff after a 76 win season in 2017, that’s a hard thought to stomach. When you add all the talk about the Blue Jays’ intentions of contending in 2018, and hanging on to Josh Donaldson in order to do so, some of us are wondering if patience is such a good idea. After all, the longer you wait, the less options are at your disposal.

As I said above, we won’t know the answer until the roster has been constructed, and that’s going to take some time yet from the look of things. To be fair, the entire market has been slow thus far, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see more notable free agents have their situations draw out into the new year.

Next: Besides St. Louis, who else is after Donaldson?

The Blue Jays have some holes on their roster and should have some money to spend, so we’ll see some additions to the roster sooner or later. It just remains to be seen if the more patient approach will pay off or not, and only time will tell.