Blue Jays: Who should the front office look to extend first?

The Blue Jays will likely look to re-sign/extend Robbie Ray and/or Marcus Semien this winter, but no matter what they are going to have big contract decisions to make in the near future.

It seems like a no-brainer to try and retain guys like Ray and Semien, but it’s not as simple as thinking about just next season, especially when there are several others that they’ll look to get under contract for the long-term. While we like to think that a big corporation like Rogers Communications could have an endless budget, most Blue Jays know better than that, even if they’re not afraid to run one of the highest payrolls in baseball when things are going well.

For what it’s worth, I’m guessing that it will cost in the neighbour of 40 million annually to retain both Semien and Ray, and while that may be well worth the cost, Ross Atkins and his front office team will have to weigh the immediate value that duo could bring to the roster against what they have to accomplish in the future.

With such a young core of players in place in Toronto, they do have the luxury of taking advantage of some of the pre-arbitration salaries that are regulars in the lineup. That said, that will only last for so long, and with other talented players scheduled to hit free agency over the next couple of years that flexibility is going to disappear in a hurry.

So who will Atkins and company look to sign for the long-term, and which situations do they have to address first? Let’s have a look.