Now that the coaching staff has been officially named, the Blue Jays can turn to their next biggest area that needs addressing in the bullpen.
For a rebuilding team we actually know quite a bit about what the Toronto Blue Jays roster will look like next year, or at least I think we do. The one area that sentiment wouldn’t apply though is in the bullpen.
The bullpen is generally the biggest situation of flux on any big league team, but that’s especially the case in Toronto this offseason. There are a couple of late-inning righties in Ken Giles and Ryan Tepera that will be back as long as they aren’t traded this winter, but beyond that there are a lot of question marks.
The Blue Jays made a claim for Oliver Drake on Monday and designated Mark Leiter Jr. for assignment, but Drake isn’t exactly guaranteed a roster spot next year. The next closest thing to that beyond Giles and Tepera would probably come from a list that includes Tim Mayza, Danny Barnes, and Joe Biagini, but I wouldn’t call any of them locks for the bullpen next season at this stage either. They could also use Sam Gaviglio in a swingman role if they don’t put him in rotation.
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It’s entirely possible that the Blue Jays will spend a bit of money on their bullpen this winter, and I’ve argued earlier this offseason that they should do as much, I especially believe that to be the case if some of the markets for veteran arms like Andrew Miller or Cody Allen are worse than the pitcher’s are looking for after down years, especially if they are interested in a one year pillow contract. That sort of thing the Blue Jays could offer, and it would be mutually beneficial, even if it’s not that likely to happen.
More likely, the Blue Jays will wait out the market and look to add some quality, and hopefully some quantity later in the winter. It’s possible they could lengthen the bullpen by using someone like David Paulino as a reliever, but you have to think the Blue Jays will be looking to develop as many starters as possible as well.
According to Blue Jays website's depth chart, there are only 6 pitchers in the bullpen.
— Nick Ashbourne (@NickAshbourne) November 27, 2018
Only 2 are mortal locks (Giles and Tepera) and 1 got DFA'd yesterday.
Safe to say there's some work to do there. pic.twitter.com/Fu4MTYBqIj
For that reason, I would expect Ross Atkins to be looking for some bargains later in the offseason, and also looking for a few veteran arms that could be bounce back candidates. He had some pretty reasonable luck with experienced guys like Tyler Clippard and John Axford, and those two came on minor league deals. There should be a little more to spend this time around, but that doesn’t mean that Atkins will spend foolishly on the pen.
Fortunately for Atkins, the market is full of talented pitchers, and probably several who will be looking for a job once the calendar turns to 2019. I hope we don’t see the type of slow market we saw for free agents in 2018 again this offseason, but there’s no doubt that there will be talented pitchers looking for a big league contract after several others have probably received a bit of an overpay.
I’m not apologizing for the Blue Jays or Atkins, or asking fans to be patient. It’s kinda strange to look at their bullpen depth chart at the moment and see that there’s barely enough to fill out a group right now. However, we have to remember that there are still about four months before the offseason is over, and in this case the Jays are probably going to benefit from exercising as much patience as they can, especially as they are just beginning a rebuild. It does make for a bit of a wild card bullpen picture though, and one that will be interesting to watch.