Blue Jays: An ideal offseason from this point forward

Will they bring in a new outfielder?

One of the more frequent discussions around the Blue Jays this offseason has been the need to improve their outfield defence. That’s usually talked about in the form of bringing in a new centre fielder to anchor the group, and the popular name discussed has mostly been George Springer.

While I’m becoming more of a fan of that idea all the time, I’ve decided to spend my money in another way for this exercise. No, that doesn’t mean I’m going to roll with what the Blue Jays have. Instead, I think they should sign Jackie Bradley Jr., who MLBTR has slated for two years and 16 million. That could turn out be a bit light to get him under contract, but it’s also hard to say in such a strange offseason.

Bradley Jr. would give the Blue Jays that premium defender up the middle that would raise the floor of the group overall. They’ve been missing that defensive presence since Kevin Pillar was traded, and while Randal Grichuk is a decent outfielder, he’s far better suited for a corner.

“JBJ” is a former All-Star and Gold Glover, and has spent his entire 8-year career with the Red Sox. He performed pretty well at the plate in 2020 as well, slashing .283/.364/.450 with seven home runs, 11 doubles, and 22 RBI over 55 games, but it’s his glove that would really make the fit work in Toronto. It would also help that his left-handed bat could bring some balance to a right-heavy group of hitters, which we know Charle Montoyo values.

Adding Bradley Jr’s eight million per season brings our offseason total to 42 million, and getting close to the range where the work will be done. However, there’s still that last spot in the infield to fill.