Blue Jays: Five goals for the Winter Meetings

It seems like this nearly every offseason, but the Blue Jays have a delicate and intricate winter ahead of them. They’ll need to be clever and efficient if they want to stay on schedule, so what should they do to keep the rebuild moving forward?

This offseason is primed to be an eventful one for the Toronto Blue Jays and their fans. With a new manager, a largely new coaching staff (most of which has yet to be announced), and the inevitable promotion of a generational prospect, the team needs to add complementary pieces in order to ensure that next year isn’t a complete lost cause.

So what should they do? And perhaps more importantly, when should they do it? The Winter Meetings, an annual event in which general managers and executives meet to discuss trades and signings (among other things), is the perfect place to start. On December 9, the most powerful baseball minds in the world will be in one place all trying to improve their team in time for Spring Training.

At this point, it’s unlikely that the team will make any monumental transactions. Massive free agent signings, blockbuster trades or spontaneous designations are unlikely to take place over the next four weeks, but that doesn’t mean that impactful moves can’t be made. Minor-league free agent signings, prospect trades, and various other transactions could happen in the next two weeks.

With that being said, here are five realistic goals the Blue Jays front office should have for the upcoming Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Add Cheap, Expendable Pitching

Last season, the Blue Jays did quite well by adding relievers on MiLB deals and then eventually flipping them at the trade deadline for low-level prospects. John Axford, who’d been signed in February, was traded to the Dodgers at the deadline for another, younger pitcher. Tyler Clippard, who was certainly worthy enough to warrant getting traded, also signed a minor-league pact late in the offseason.

These types of veteran relievers are the perfect target for a team that’s in the prospect stockpiling phase. Even if three out of five arms signed turn out to be dealt for something of moderate value, it’ll still be considered a success. At first glance, Jeanmar Gomez, Boone Logan, Jerry Blevins, and Tony Barnette appear to be names that, if signed for the right price, could be dealt for a decent profit. They’ve had moderate success in the past and are entering a stretch of their careers where a minor-league pact might be the only ones they’ll be able to snag. Other names that could be resurrection candidates on this year’s free agent list include Fernando Salas, Hector Santiago, and Blaine Boyer.

Even those signed to short-term, major league deals, like Seunghwan Oh, could turn a profit if dealt at the right time. Though the relievers mentioned above don’t appear to be overly flashy (they all put up less than 0.75 WAR this past season), teams in desperate need of relief could pony up a relatively useful prospect at the deadline. Thus, the Blue Jays should go in expecting to add a few veteran arms for cheap.

Shed a Bad Contract

In what may seem like an obvious ask, it would be monumentally beneficial for the Blue Jays to be able to trade off a bad contract this offseason. Whether it be Troy Tulowitzki ($20 million in 2019), Russell Martin ($20 million), or Kendrys Morales ($12 million), getting rid of at least one of the big three deals would open up a huge amount of financial flexibility.

Of course, this is so much easier said than done, as Tulowitzki, in particular, will be nearly impossible to trade. Martin, however, could have some market, as a few insiders have suggested over the past week. With the catching market relatively weak this offseason and several bonafide contenders looking for a concrete backstop, the Jays could deal him and still come out of it looking good, even if they do have to pay a chunk of his salary.

Regardless, the Blue Jays are definitely going to explore possible solutions to this problems, as long as they get something in return. They might not be able to deal all three, but saving themselves of one might be enough of a victory to warrant the necessary work. This will, despite the complexity involved, be one of the stories to watch this offseason.

Explore the Market for Smoak

It’s been well documented that Justin Smoak, a 2018 Gold Glove finalist, has been a relative bargain for the Blue Jays over the past few seasons. Slashing a cumulative .256/.353/.495 over the past two seasons, he’s been the most consistent hitter on the roster over the last two years. With an All-Star appearance under his belt and a stellar 63 homers since 2017, Smoak has been worth a combined 5.5 WAR.

His $8 million salary, which looks more and more reasonable by the day, increases his attractiveness on the trade market. Now, this is not to say that the Jays should be actively looking to trade Smoak, because, after all, they need someone to hit behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and anchor the offence next year. But, they should at least be exploring the market and feeling out just what a potential Smoak trade might bring them. I won’t pretend to have a complete understanding of Smoak’s trade value right now, but they could do a lot worse than explore other teams’ interest in him, especially with the Winter Meetings right around the corner.

While the front office isn’t exactly likely to put this at the top of their priority list, someone like Smoak could help a number of contenders and even some playoff hopefuls with restrictive payrolls for next year.

Round Out the Coaching Staff

Though the major league coaching is beginning to take shape, Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro should concentrate on hiring the remaining members of the coaching staff so that those decisions, as important as they are, are put aside for now.

Former bench coach DeMarlo Hale is presumed to be staying in the organization, but that still leaves the first base coach and hitting coach positions vacant. Even if Hale steps into one of those, they still need another coach. It’s futile to start suggesting names, but the team should surely be looking into potential candidates for those positions, and soon.

These suggestions are, well, suggestions, and while the front office undoubtedly has their own ideas about how they want to structure their offseason, it’s nevertheless endlessly fun to speculate and plan it out in different, variably fantastical ways.