Blue Jays: All is quiet north of the border of late

There has been a lull in the offseason action as far as the Toronto Blue Jays go following their free-agent signing of Hyun-Jin Ryu.

The Blue Jays brain trust bolstered their starting rotation adding the likes of Chase Anderson, Tanner Roark, Shun Yamaguchi and their prized addition in Ryu. However, since then all has been quiet on the transaction front.

The roster is much improved compared to that of last season but there are still some holes in the outfield and the bullpen that will need to be addressed before the start of Grapefruit League action play on February 22nd.

Many of the lesser names have been coming off the free-agent board over the past few days including former reliever Daniel Hudson who re-upped with the Nationals. Along with Hudson, Will Harris, Craig Stammen, Shogo Akiyama, Eric Thames, Jose Iglesias, and Starlin Castro have all been the recipients of new contracts.

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It appears that Josh Donaldson and Nicholas Castellanos will have their respective contractual situations remedied by the weekend with neither player landing in Toronto. Donaldson in all likelihood will end back up in Atlanta although the Nationals and Twins are still lurking. The Rangers appear to be in the driver’s seat in regards to Castellanos and all has been quiet on the Marcell Ozuna front.

The Blue Jays may also be gauging the trade market if they truly do plan on adding an outfielder before the end of the offseason. There have been no recent rumours of trade talks but that does not mean that Ross Atkins is not working the phones.

This current regime has also had success slow-playing the reliever market and identifying reclamation projects they can sign for the fraction of the cost. Atkins has not specified what the game plan is for the bullpen but they still require at least one proven arm to eat up innings late in games.

There has been plenty going on around the league, unfortunately, it has not been centered around the Blue Jays making it a little slower than we would all like.