Blue Jays: How many names in ink? Not as many as you’d think

After the Blue Jays have endured a free fall in August, it’s fair that fans have started wondering about what the roster could look like in 2022.

As I think about the same thing, I can’t help but marvel at how much my opinion has changed over the last month. In some cases with certain players, not much has changed in the way I view them, and with others the situation is quite different. I guess that’ll happen when you go from looking like a legitimate playoff team to an obvious outsider, and even more when it happens in a matter of a couple of weeks.

The Blue Jays are set to lose several significant contributors in free agency, unless they decide to make competitive offers of their own to retain them. That includes a potential Cy Young candidate in Robbie Ray, an All-Star and down-ballot MVP candidate in Marcus Semien, and several more who have contributed to the success of the 2021 team. I’m confident that Ross Atkins and the front office will make an effort to retain at least one of those two, but it’s going to be hard to keep the whole band together.

With that in mind, I started thinking about how many names would be “written in ink” for next year’s roster at this early stage. Obviously a lot can change over the last 34 games, especially for young players like Santiago Espinal, Kevin Smith, and even Alejandro Kirk, but it’s also getting pretty late in the year for things to change too drastically.