Predicting the Blue Jays Opening Day roster if the season started today

Position Players

The biggest loss of the offseason was Marcus Semien, who ended up signing a massive deal with the Rangers. He signed a one-year prove-it contract prior to the 2021 season and he did better than anyone could’ve possibly expected. He hit 45 home runs which set a single-season record for second basemen. He won the Gold Glove at second base, a new position for him, and finished third in the American League MVP balloting.

That kind of production is seemingly impossible to replace, but the Blue Jays have made no attempt to replace it as of now. They finished second in the majors in runs per game and led the league in home runs and OPS as a team last season, so even without Semien in the lineup, they should still be very good.

The Jays do still have the MVP runner-up in Vladimir Guererro Jr. He’s going to hit in the middle of the order around other young cornerstones Bo Bichette and Teoscar Hernandez. They should hopefully get more than 78 games from George Springer as well.

14) George Springer
15) Bo Bichette
16) Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
17) Teoscar Hernandez
18) Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
19) Randal Grichuk
20) Cavan Biggio
21) Santiago Espinal
22) Danny Jansen

From top to bottom, the Jays lineup has depth and should be able to score a ton of runs. It’s not as long of a lineup as last season with the departure of Semien, but it’s without a doubt one of the best lineups in the game.

I do believe the Jays could benefit from a third baseman to lengthen the lineup a little more but it should be good as is.

It should be interesting to see how Biggio bounces back after really struggling last season. Espinal took a lot of his at-bats by the end of the year and should get a majority of the third base reps at least to start the season.

I believe the starting catcher will be determined by whether Alejandro Kirk is hitting or not. If he is hitting well, he’ll get a bulk of the playing time. Jansen is a premier defensive catcher so anything productive with his bat is just gravy. Both should get plenty of reps behind the plate.

What’s interesting is the bench. Right now, the Jays only have seven position players on their 40-man roster who don’t project as starters. Two of those players have no MLB experience while another has just one at-bat. Depth is an area the Jays will have to address when the lockout is over.

23) Alejandro Kirk
24) Kevin Smith
25) Josh Palacios
26) Reese McGuire

I do have three catchers on my Opening Day roster. This might not be ideal, but there weren’t really any other options. Gabriel Moreno, as much as I’d like to see him, is not going to make the team out of Spring Training. Leo Jimenez does not have an at-bat above A-ball. Otto Lopez has one big-league at-bat. Those are the only options on the 40-man.

Kevin Smith struggled in his cup of coffee with the Jays last season but should be fine in a bench role getting some starts at third base sometimes.

Josh Palacios also struggled in his cup of coffee last season but he won’t have to play much with the Jays having four reliable outfielders on the roster.

The Jays I’m sure will address their bench whenever the lockout is over as this bench is not great by any stretch outside of Alejandro Kirk. The Jays will probably also get another arm or two.