5 reunions the Blue Jays absolutely cannot pursue during the 2024-25 offseason

Whit Merrifield, UTIL

When Whit Merrifield joined the Jays at the 2022 trade deadline, his numbers were actually already on the decline amidst a down season with the Kansas City Royals. That made his acquisition at the time that much more puzzling, given that Toronto was looking for pitching help as well as a potential offensive boost in the lineup.

Nevertheless, a hot two-week stretch during the final month of the 2022 season gave both Merrifield and the Jays a glimmer of hope that he might be on his way to rediscover his prior dominant form.

That ultimately came to fruition when Merrifield surprisingly put together a strong season in 2023, becoming an All-Star for the third time in his career in the process. He batted .272 with a .700 OPS, along with 66 runs scored, 27 doubles, 11 home runs, 67 RBI and 26 stolen bases over 145 games played.

However, toward the end of the 2023 campaign, Merrifield’s struggles down the stretch eventually led to him losing playing time to Cavan Biggio and actually becoming a bench player during the Jays’ brief postseason run. Added to the fact that he clearly showed his frustrations on how Toronto bowed out in their AL Wild Card Series, it subsequently led to his departure to free agency. From there, he landed a value one-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies for the 2024 season.

With a potent lineup like the Philiies, one would have expected Merrifield to flourish in such an environment, especially with his motivation to play for a perennial contender. But instead, he proceeded to put up the worst numbers of his career, as he struggled to a .199 batting average, .572 OPS, with 21 runs scored, four doubles, three home runs, 11 RBI and 11 stolen bases in 53 games played with the Phillies.

That ultimately led to the Phillies releasing Merrifield on July 12. He eventually caught on with the Atlanta Braves for the remainder of the 2024 season. But after a solid start with his new club, he ended up struggling again, losing playing time down the stretch and not seeing any postseason action.

With his disappointing performance this past season, it has now proven that 2023 was more likely an outlier and that what we observed happening in 2022 in terms of his regression was indeed real. As a result, despite his veteran leadership and his versatility to play multiple positions in the infield and outfield, a reunion with Merrifield should not be in the cards for the Jays.