Blue Jays: What should the goals be for the rest of the season?

With 27 games remaining in the 2019 season, what should the Blue Jays hope to accomplish as an organization before this season is over?

With the loss to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday evening, the Blue Jays now have 27 games remaining in their calendar, and a record of 54-81.

Because I’m a bit of a nerd, I think of the long 162 game season being split up in all sorts of sections. One third of the season is 54 games, and with 27 left of that, we’re now at the 5/6’s point in the season, and into the final month of the campaign.

Okay, I told you I was a nerd, but when the season is this long I can’t help but compartmentalize it a bit.

With that in mind, I see this last month or so as an opportunity for the Blue Jays to do a few things, even though they’ve long been removed from the playoff race. The question is, what are the best goals for the club to have for the remainder of the year?

In a lot of ways I’m sure the front office is already very pleased with how things have gone since the All-Star break, as several of their young players have put up a strong performance and seemingly even sped up the rebuild in Toronto, at least at this rate. There have been top-rated rookies performing very well, and some pleasant surprises too, and hopefully that will continue into the final season of the month.

This team or front office might not feel an immediate urgency to win, even next year, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t important steps to be taken in that direction. Let’s have a look at some of the key things that could help them get back to being a playoff contender, and how they can use the last portion of the schedule to their advantage.

More experience for their dynamic rookies

Things have been going remarkably well for the Blue Jays’ rookies lately, especially when it comes to the start to Bo Bichette‘s career. The 21-year-old is hitting .341 so far, breaking records and firmly establishing himself as a part of this lineup for the foreseeable future.

He’s not alone in his rookie success, as it’s been an unbelievable second half and a very solid first season for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., a huge step forward for the still-injured Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and great opportunity for growth for others like Danny Jansen, Cavan Biggio, Rowdy Tellez, and more.

These kids are making “the future” start to feel like the present, but we have to remember that there is a lot of learning to be done at the highest level for all of them. The “Sophomore Slump” is a real thing, mostly because there is a book of information collected after a player’s rookie year, and now it’s as much a game of adjusting to their opponents as anything. There will be a stronger game plan for teams playing against the Blue Jays in 2020 than there was this year, and it’ll be interesting to see how these talented youngsters respond.

For that reason, the last month or so of this season will be important for a lot of inexperienced big leaguers looking to add to their resume. You can learn and prepare as much as you like in the minor leagues, but there’s no better way to learn than by doing, and these guys are now squaring off against the best in the world. In fact, most of the rest of the season will see the Blue Jays playing against likely playoff teams, so it’ll be a great test for their young roster.

Most of this new generation of Blue Jays have performed beyond my expectations over the last month or so, and the hope is that they’ll be able to take their experience this season and use it to build on 2020 and beyond. Thankfully they’ve got some time left this year to do just that, and it’s obvious that the Blue Jays are going to take full advantage.

More evaluating/identifying needs for 2020

While the Blue Jay have a lot to figure out yet with their pitching staff, their lineup is really starting to come together nicely for the next core of this team.

Including Guerrero Jr., Bichette, Gurriel Jr., Biggio, Jansen, and Randal Grichuk, I would argue that the Blue Jays already have at least six starters firmly in place for next year, and that’s a great foundation to start with. It’s also possible that the list extends beyond those six, and they’ll likely use the rest of this season to help them figure out whether or not that’s the case.

In my opinion, there are three players that fit that description: Teoscar Hernandez, Derek Fisher, and Rowdy Tellez, and for different reasons.

Of the three of them, Hernandez has impressed the most and as a result is likely the leading candidate for the centre field job next season. He struggled early on, but since his return from Buffalo he’s been a surprisingly serviceable outfielder up the middle, and he’s continuing to tantalize us with his power potential. I think the Blue Jays (and also many of us) are much higher on his future than they were a few months ago, and I’d be surprised if he wasn’t in the picture for next season. That said, he’s going to have to battle for his spot.

That’s because Derek Fisher needs a place to play, and I don’t know that the Blue Jays will want to utilize him as a fourth outfielder. He’ll be out of minor league options next season, which means he’ll have to stay on the 25-man roster or risk being exposed to waivers, and after paying a fair price to get him from the Astros in a three for one swap, I don’t think they’ll play that game. Fisher will need to impress more than he has so far during his Blue Jays’ tenure though, and I’m sure he’ll be a regular starter for the rest of the year, especially as Gurriel Jr. continues to nurse an injury on the IL.

For Tellez, September seems like his audition to see if he’s ready to take over first base next year, or time to see if the Blue Jays might need to bring a veteran in to help in that area. It’s entirely possible that they could re-sign Justin Smoak, but ideally Tellez would grab the job and run with it. That would allow the team to use the DH position to give more of their budding stars days off without taking them out of the lineup, and would also help them fit both Fisher and Hernandez in the lineup at the same time, should they prefer that route.

If the Blue Jays aren’t satisfied with what they have after watching their team over the next month, it’s possible that they could add on the position player side for next season. However, there should be enough talent, especially if the recent improvement continues. We’ll see what the next month or so tells us.

Showcase a trade piece or two?

The Blue Jays did most of their heavy lifting when it comes to trades this past July. They ended up trading away Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, Joe Biagini, David Phelps, Daniel Hudson, Eric Sogard and letting Freddy Galvis go to Cincinnati on a waiver claim. It was a big overhaul in a short period of time, and the roster got even younger in a hurry,

That doesn’t mean that the Blue Jays are done with making trades though, especially with a potential squeeze coming for their 40 man roster next year. As a result, don’t be surprised to see the Blue Jays make a few smaller trades over the winter, mostly because they won’t be able to hang on to everyone that could be worth protecting.

I do think the Blue Jays will revisit the idea of trading Ken Giles this winter, especially if he can finish the season on a healthy note. I’m willing to bet that if there hadn’t been question marks about the health of his arm around the trade deadline that he would already be in another uniform, but this time the Blue Jays wisely held on to him, assuming there was still real interest. He should generate plenty of interest this offseason, even on a contract that expires after the 2020 season.

They haven’t really given indication that they plan on doing so, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blue Jays shopped an outfielder this winter as well. Between Gurriel Jr., Grichuk, Hernandez, Fisher, and Billy McKinney they have five big league outfielders, and there is only so much playing time to go around. If Anthony Alford can ever stay healthy he’s going to eventually push for a spot too, and Jonathan Davis and Dalton Pompey still around for depth, at least for now. Would it be that shocking if the Blue Jays traded someone like Hernandez or McKinney this winter, if they could get a sensible return?

Whatever the front office decides to do this winter as far as trades go, they can certainly use September to help build some player value, and hopefully a strong return.

Build a free agent destination

In order for the Blue Jays to take the eventual step toward being a real contender, they are going to have to dip into the free agent pool. As I’ve mentioned several times, I love the way their lineup is coming together with a homegrown core, but I don’t think they’re going to build a championship calibre rotation overnight, even if I think Nate Pearson and Alek Manoah are both future rotation studs.

One of the important things for this group and front office to consider right now is how they can build the kind of culture that will attract premium free agents. The two easiest ways to do that are by winning, and by offering the most money. As things stand, the Blue Jays are in a position to potentially do both in the next five or so seasons, as they’ll have all kinds of payroll room, and hopefully are on route to building a winner.

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It goes beyond that though, and it will be very important for the Blue Jays to work with this next generation of players to help build their reputation. Fair or not, there have been former Jays like Marcus Stroman, Troy Tulowitzki, Josh Donaldson, and more, who have criticized the front office, and in some cases, the training staff. One could argue that there is varying validity in the various gripes, but the narrative is far from spotless no matter how you look at it.

Taking care of this next generation of players will be important, and hopefully they can move away from the way they started. Thankfully there was no manipulation of service time for Bichette, or anyone else in the way that many suspected the Jays were doing with Vlad Jr., and hopefully that’s a discussion that’s in the past. That said, it likely wouldn’t hurt if the front office at least brought up the idea of a long-term contract with one or two of their future cornerstones, as has become more common around the game recently. Whatever path they choose, hopefully the Blue Jays will have a realistic shot at signing the guy they want when the time is right.

I’m not claiming to be inside the minds of the Blue Jays’ brain trust, but even I can see that there’s plenty of work to be done before the end of the year. No doubt the list is longer and more complicated than what I’ve mentioned here, and hopefully this team can keep moving in the right direction.