The Blue Jays are dangerously close to ‘Burnes, Bregman or bust’ this offseason

This winter was suppose to be a huge game-changing offseason for the Toronto Blue Jays. Despite their disappointing 2024 campaign, they had decided against a rebuild but instead an extensive retooling in preparation for the 2025 season. With that in mind, many of the Jays and their fanbase were expecting big things to happen in these few months, whether it be some blockbuster trades or massive free agent signings.

But as of right now, the Blue Jays are heading dangerously towards Corbin Burnes, Alex Bregman or bust territory. Why is that? First of all, they missed out on the biggest fish when Juan Soto ended up signing with the New York Mets. To most people, that was kind of expected of the Jays after seeing how they missed out on Shohei Ohtani the previous offseason.

The Blue Jays are dangerously close to ‘Burnes, Bregman or bust’ this offseason 

However, Toronto was expected to at least have a solid backup plan to land some big name players after failing to recruit Soto. They have managed to nab Andrés Giménez from the Cleveland Guardians, but they have watched a boatload of potentially game-changing players land with new teams this offseason either by trade or free agency. That included the likes of Max Fried, Walker Buehler, Christian Walker, Joc Pederson, Jesús Luzardo, Josh Naylor, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Devin Williams, Kyle Tucker, Garrett Crochet, Willy Adames and Blake Snell just to name a few, which is quite a lot already.

It’s not like there isn’t anymore elite options left in the market, but it’s sure getting close to it. Especially if the Jays intend to add a true difference maker, much like how they did with George Springer during the 2020-21 offseason, and Kevin Gausman during the 2021-22 offseason. For that to happen, they will need to land either Burnes or Bregman, or even both if possible.

After all, Burnes was and is still the top pitching free agent available this winter given his past accolades. As a four-time All-Star and former Cy Young winner, the immediate impact in adding the 30-year-old right-hander will be much like how it was when the Jays added David Price at the 2015 trade deadline. With a career 60-36 record, 3.19 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, along with 1051 strikeouts in just 903.2 innings pitched, Burnes has been one of the best in all of baseball since making his debut back in 2018.

As for Bregman, he is arguably the top positional free agent left following the Soto signing. His awards resume might not be as strong as Burnes, but as a two-time All-Star, former AL MVP runner-up, along with a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Award, it sure isn’t too shabby either. Most importantly, Bregman has something that Burnes does not have, which is two World Series rings and a breadth of postseason experience. With a career .272 average, .848 OPS, together with 191 home runs and 663 RBI during the regular season, along with a .238 average, .789 OPS, together with 19 home runs and 54 RBI during the playoffs, Bregman has shown to be able to get it done at any time and any situation.

As a result, all of the misses that the Blue Jays have had will all likely be forgiven if they can somehow land either one or both of the star players this offseason. In particular, there could be some optimism for Toronto on the Burnes’ front. According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, with the Jays and Giants the two most likely landing spots, the Giants have been getting “impatient” after having their offer on the table which could “prompt them to consider other ways to improve the club via free agency”. Nevertheless, the time to act is now for the Blue Jays.