The Blue Jays still have plenty of work to do to alleviate infield logjam

After the New York Mets claimed infielder Luis De Los Santos off waivers from Toronto Blue Jays earlier this month, it reduced the number of infielders on their 40-man roster to eight players. Including Davis Schneider, who’s listed as an outfielder, six currently rostered players spent time at second base this year. Four of their top 10 prospects are also infielders.

Two more infielders with more than 20 starts at second for the Jays in 2024 are no longer with the team. Cavan Biggio was DFA’d and then traded to the Dodgers after playing 199 innings in 23 starts at second, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa was traded to Pittsburgh at the deadline after 27 starts and 246.2 innings there. Santiago Espinal was traded to Cincinnati before the 2024 season started.

Blue Jays fans could be forgiven for assuming that a front office — in danger of losing their jobs if the team doesn’t make the playoffs in 2025 — would be laser-focused on addressing the team’s greatest areas of need: two power bats, starting pitching and a completely revamped bullpen.

However, despite that infield logjam, we’ve already heard that general manager Ross Atkins expressed interest in free agent second baseman Gleyber Torres as well as middle infielder Ha-Seong Kim at the recent GM Meetings in San Antonio. Both Torres and Kim are right-handed hitters, as are five of the players already on Toronto’s 40-man roster who spent time as middle infielders in 2024.

Blue Jays have lots of work to do to alleviate infield logjam

While Torres had 15 home runs, if we look at second basemen ranked by wRC+, current Blue Jay Spencer Horwitz’s 127 ranked third overall amongst players who played at least 250 innings at second (27% better than the league average at weighted runs created per plate appearance).

Horwitz also had 12 homers in 381 plate appearances, one every 32 times at the plate, versus 44 for Torres (wRC+ 104). Neither Horwitz nor Torres will win a Gold Glove at second; both had a negative DRS, with Torres the worst at -11 (with an OAA of -4) and Horwitz at -5 (0 OAA).

Kim, who underwent surgery for a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, is a better infielder, winning a Gold Glove as a utility infielder in the National League in 2023 when he played games at second, short and third.

If Toronto were to sign one of the available free agent middle infielders like Kim or Torres to play second next to Bo Bichette next season, what would that mean for Horwitz, Schneider, Leo Jiménez, Will Wagner, Orelvis Martínez and to a lesser extent, Ernie Clement and Addison Barger?

Martínez is Toronto’s only Top 100 prospect on Baseball America’s ranking at No. 75 (subscription required), and their scouting report suggests that his best long-term position is likely second base, where he has enough range and arm strength. Shortstop Arjun Nimmala is No. 5 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 prospects for Toronto, while third baseman Charles McAdoo is No. 7 and shortstop Josh Kasevich is No. 9.

Two more 22-year-old second base prospects, Eddinson Paulino, who was acquired from Boston in the Danny Jansen trade, and Arizona Fall League All-Star Adrian Pinto, were left unprotected off the 40-man roster on Tuesday, making them eligible for the Rule 5 Draft and available to every other organization. Paulino is No. 17 on MLB Pipeline’s Blue Jays Top 30 ranking, just ahead of No. 18 Will Wagner.

And we’re not even discussing potential free agents the Blue Jays could sign to play third base, including Alex Bregman and Willy Adames. Clement was a Gold Glove finalist at third this year after posting a +10 DRS as a third baseman despite playing only 661 innings at the position. He finished with 2.2 Defensive bWAR overall, tying for sixth-best in MLB. He also posted a 3.4 bWAR with 12 home runs and 51 RBI.

Trades are likely for the Blue Jays

Assuming the Blue Jays sign a top free agent like Kim to play second, that immediately makes players rostered on the 40-man, including Horwitz, Schneider, Wagner and Jiménez, expendable. Martínez and Barger could be added to that list as well, as could minor league prospects Paulino and Pinto.

Apart from Martínez, none of those players are likely to return much in the way of difference-making MLB talent. They could, however, be used in trades for MLB-ready relievers to help rebuild the Blue Jays bullpen, which ranked dead last in baseball in 2024 with a FIP of 4.84 and an fWAR of -2.5.

We’ve argued that the Blue Jays should spend at least $50M in terms of contract average annual value (AAV) on four free agent relievers this offseason, with names like Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, Clay Holmes and Carlos Estévez at the top of the list. Sadly, that’s not this front office’s style.

For every MLB player the Blue Jays sign or trade for this offseason, they’ll have to remove someone from the currently full 40-man roster. With a logjam of six rostered players who can play second, the most likely scenario is that at least three of them will be moved for relief pitchers. Ernie Clement and Leo Jiménez, who are both out of minor league options, have probably earned bench roles on the 2025 roster, which leaves Horwitz, Schneider, Wagner, Martínez and Barger as the most realistic candidates to trade for roster upgrades.

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