Blue Jays have 2 clear choices to fulfill their latest lineup desire

One of the offseason shopping items the Toronto Blue Jays would like to check off is a left handed hitting outfielder. Someone they can bring into the fold to be a left handed compliment to Vlaidimr Guerrero Jr. According to one MLB insider, there are two clear choices above the rest that the Blue Jays are going to be making a play for.

One of those is the guy who is perceived to be at the very tip top of the free agent market, while the other is a guy who played on a division rival in 2024.

Blue Jays have 2 clear choices to fulfill their latest lineup desire

Jeff Passan of ESPN has recently reported that not only are the Blue Jays interested in Kyle Tucker but he also sees former New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger as a guy they have some interest in. Bellinger is an interesting name as Toronto has been linked to him a few times over the past couple of seasons.

Bellinger, a former Rookie of the Year and MVP winner played his first six seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and for a time was one of the best players in the game - capped off by his 8.7 bWAR season in 2019. But he struggled over the next three years and was granted free agency as a 27-year-old in 2023. He signed with the Chicago Cubs, played there in 2023, went to the market again only to end up back with the Cubs, who then traded him during the 2024 offseason to the Yankees.

This past year in New York, Bellinger put up his third straight good season which leads many to believe he will get a sizeable contract on the open market. Since leaving the Dodgers, Bellinger has been worth 12 bWAR while hitting .281/.338/.477 with an OPS+ of 125. He's compiled 73 home runs and has 450 hits in 412 games. He's played in at least 130 games in each of those three years, including 152 this past season while hitting 29 home runs and had a strikeout rate of just 13.7%, better than George Springer (18.9%) Bo Bichette (14.5%) and just in front of Guerrero (13.8%).

It's not hard to see why the Blue Jays have liked Bellinger ever since his days with LA. Even though he struggled in his final three years there, Toronto's front office clearly liked the skills that Bellinger could bring to the table. Some of those concerns though still exists as Bellinger took advantage of Yankee Stadium's short porch. He hit 302/.365/.544 at home while falling to .241/.301/.414 on the road.

If the Blue Jays strike out on Tucker, Bellinger feels like a solid back up plan and could come in at a bargain price compared to Tucker's percieved contract. Tucker will likely get north of $300 million with some sites suggesting he could even get into the $400 million range for a contract that extends into double digit years. Bellinger may only command have that contract length and a quarter of that salary.

Even though the Blue Jays feel like they have a crowded outfield at the moment with Daulton Varsho as the every day guy in centerfield and the corner compliments made up of Springer, Anthony Santander, Addison Barger, Nathan Lukes, Myles Straw and Davis Schneider - it's fair to say that both Tucker to a large extent, and Bellinger, to a smaller extent, make the Blue Jays a much better team.