Toronto Blue Jays have Financial Advantage in Free Agency

The Toronto Blue Jays should have an advantage financially over other teams across Major League Baseball in the free agency market.

Due to the financial ramifications from the COVID-19 pandemic that it had on Major League Baseball, owners of teams may not be willing to spend much on free agents. Major League Baseball has reportedly suffered $8.3 billion in debt due to the fact that fans were not allowed to watch games in person.

Not only did teams suffer loses from ticket sales, but also from merchandise, food, promotions and other financial income sources.

Because of this and the fact that fans may still not be able to attend games for the 2021 season, owners will be hesitant to spend on expensive players. This shouldn’t be the case with the Toronto Blue Jays though.

More from Jays Journal

• Blue Jays: Alek Manoah on pace to succeed in possible postseason
• Blue Jays: Bradley Zimmer has carved himself a valuable role
• Anthony Bass has been the shutdown reliever the Blue Jays needed
• Blue Jays: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. open to a long-term contract
• Blue Jays: Snapping cold streaks at the right time

The Blue Jays aren’t a sole proprietorship type business, as they are owned by Rogers Communications, an internet and phone service company. For Rogers, the main source of income and their number one priority is their internet service, as well mobile phones, TV subscriptions, etc. The Blue Jays are more of an extra source of income and another side business that they own. For instance, Rogers is estimated to be worth $11.57 billion.

As it’s a company that owns the Blue Jays and not a sole person, they haven’t suffered losses by the COVID-19 pandemic to anywhere near the same measure. More specifically, the fact that Rogers is a telecommunications company, they’ve been largely unaffected by the pandemic as people still rely heavily on their services to get by in their daily lives.

The Blue Jays are not a team like the Chicago Cubs where it’s owned the Ricketts Family, whose main source of income is the baseball team. Before the pandemic hit, the Cubs were apparently cash strapped and the Coronavirus must have only made things worse financially.

As this is the case, Rogers may be willing to spend some money towards their baseball team to improve their chances of winning after making the playoffs in the 2020 season. Like Ross Atkins said, the best way to financial recovery is winning.

The Blue Jays have apparently been aggressive already in pursuit of free agents and are expected to be one of the bigger spenders this offseason.