Blue Jays bringing the band back together as non-tender deadline passes

Another phase of the MLB offseason has come and gone and for the Toronto Blue Jays, it's a phase that has passed without any major surprises. However, sometimes the best news is no news and that's exactly how many Blue Jays fans felt as the non-tender deadline officially passed on Friday.

With that deadline gone, the Blue Jays announced that they have in fact tendered contracts to all four of their arbitration eligible players. Those players included INF Ernie Clement, OF Daulton Varsho, LHP Eric Lauer and C Tyler Heineman.

Blue Jays bringing the band back together as non-tender deadline passes

Going into the offseason the Blue Jays actually had seven players on the non-tender list, but they have since parted ways with three pitchers; Ryan Burr, Dillon Tate and Nick Sandlin. That left just that group of four listed above with Varsho projected to earn the most in arbitration ($9.7 MM) followed by Lauer ($4.4 MM) Clement ($4.3 MM) and Heineman ($1 MM).

These all seem like fairly modest one year contracts for four players who played big roles in the Blue Jays' success in 2025. From backup catcher Heineman who had the best season of his career at 34-years-old, to Lauer who was one of the Blue Jays most consistent starters during the middle months of the season.

There's also Clement who produced a 4.3 bWAR and played in 157 games, dividing up that time by manning all four infield positions throughout the season. Finally, there's Varsho, who only appeared in 71 games due to injuries, but still hit 20 home runs and was worth 2.8 bWAR thanks to his superb centre field defence.

Those arbitration numbers are just a projection and there is a chance that both the team and the player will come together and agree on a contract that works for both sides. If that agreement doesn't happen, then they'll go to an arbitration hearing before the beginning of Spring Training. However, unless the Blue Jays do offer either a long term contract or a salary significantly above those projections, the expectation is that they will head to arbitration.